A survey of forest workers in New Zealand. Do hours of work, rest, and recovery play a role in accidents and injury?

PROBLEM: A number of structural and organizational changes have occurred recently within the New Zealand Forestry Industry, with concerns being raised about the impact of these changes on the forestry worker in terms of fatigue, sleepiness, and compromised safety. This study explored the relationship of fatigue, and some of its key determinants, with accidents and injuries in a group of forestry industry workers in New Zealand. METHOD: A total of 367 forestry workers responded to a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Fatigue was found to be commonly experienced at work in the forest, with 78% of workers reporting that they experienced fatigue at least "sometimes." This study found that certain groups of workers reported long working hours, reduced sleep, compromised recovery time, and intensely paced work. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that recent sleep, number of breaks taken during the workday, and specific job/tasks were independently associated with reporting of high fatigue levels at work. Near-miss injury events were significantly more common among those reporting a high level of fatigue at work. Accidents and lost-time injury were associated with length of time at work, ethnicity, and having had near-miss injury events. DISCUSSION: Together, these results suggest that fatigue and aspects of work organization, which are likely to be fatiguing, may be associated with compromised safety for forest workers. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: With an already slim margin of error present in forest operations, an impairment due to increased fatigue may constitute a significant risk factor for accidents and injuries in this workforce. The results indicate the need for further examination of shift and workload management among forestry workers, as well as a role for improving industry awareness about the causes and consequences of fatigue.     

Risk assessment of the use of PAS100 green composts in sheep and cattle production in Scotland

A generalized quantitative risk assessment for the use of source-segregated green waste (SSGW) compost use in livestock production is presented. This assessment focussed on potential risks associated with a specific product, PAS100 compost that meets the UK publicly available specification 100 and represents the majority of compost available for use in extensive Scottish livestock systems. A hazard screening approach was used to identify all potentially hazardous agents present in compost. A total of 497 potentially hazardous agents were screened, with 147 finally put forward for quantitative risk assessment. Scenarios modelled in the assessment included surface application of compost to grazing land and also incorporation into soil and subsequent uptake by fodder crops. Risk estimates were compared to those associated with six comparator materials, including various sludges, slurries and farm yard manures. Overall, five potentially hazardous agents (PCB28, PCB138, PCB153, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD, Clopyralid) returned a hazard quotient >1 but within margins of uncertainty, indicating that further investigation may be required. Within the limitations of available information, SSGW compost was found to pose less risk to grazing livestock, or the environment, than other commonly-used soil amendments. While this assessment relates to a specific product/standard used in the UK, the methodology could easily be applied to other composts/products/situations. Therefore these results have wider applicability.     

Characterising populations living close to intensive farming and composting facilities in England

• Bioaerosol emitted from farming and composting facilities may pose health risks. • We describe population characteristics around these sites and infer public concern. • Sites were mapped and overlaid with population, demographic and school data. • Approximately 16% of the population and 15% of schools are located near these sites. • More community health studies need to be conducted around these sites. Bioaerosol exposure has been linked to adverse respiratory conditions. Intensive farming and composting facilities are important anthropogenic sources of bioaerosols. We aimed to characterise populations living close to intensive farming and composting facilities. We also infer whether the public are becoming more concerned about anthropogenic bioaerosol emissions, using reports of air pollution related incidents attributed to facilities. We mapped the location of 1,257 intensive farming and 310 composting facilities in England in relation to the resident population and its characteristics (sex and age), area characteristics (deprivation proxy and rural/urban classification) and school locations stratified by pre-defined distance bands from these bioaerosol sources. We also calculated the average number of air pollution related incidents per year per facility. We found that more than 16% of the population and 15% of schools are located within 4,828 m of an intensive farming facility or 4,000 m of a composting facility; few people (0.01%) live very close to these sites and tend to be older people. Close to composting facilities, populations are more likely to be urban and more deprived. The number of incidents were attributed to a small proportion of facilities; population characteristics around these facilities were similar. Results indicate that populations living near composting facilities (particularly>250 to≤4,000 m) are mostly located in urban areas (80%–88% of the population), which supports the need for more community health studies to be conducted. Results could also be used to inform risk management strategies at facilities with higher numbers of incidents.     

Mapping interactions between the sustainable development goals: lessons learned and ways forward

Pursuing integrated research and decision-making to advance action on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) fundamentally depends on understanding interactions between the SDGs, both negative ones (“trade-offs”) and positive ones (“co-benefits”). This quest, triggered by the 2030 Agenda, has however pointed to a gap in current research and policy analysis regarding how to think systematically about interactions across the SDGs. This paper synthesizes experiences and insights from the application of a new conceptual framework for mapping and assessing SDG interactions using a defined typology and characterization approach. Drawing on results from a major international research study applied to the SDGs on health, energy and the ocean, it analyses how interactions depend on key factors such as geographical context, resource endowments, time horizon and governance. The paper discusses the future potential, barriers and opportunities for applying the approach in scientific research, in policy making and in bridging the two through a global SDG Interactions Knowledge Platform as a key mechanism for assembling, systematizing and aggregating knowledge on interactions.