Building capacity through action research: reflections on working with low-carbon communities in the UK

This paper describes a four-year programme of “action research” (AR) undertaken with six communities in the UK, referred to as the Evaluating Low-Carbon Communities (EVALOC) project. The research combined a programme of research events with phased household-level monitoring of energy and carbon-reduction interventions. The carbon-reduction interventions were funded by the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change prior to the onset of the research. AR has recently been adopted within the context of environmental behaviour change programmes in the UK, with a number of methodological challenges. The EVALOC project’s challenges included developing a collaborative research design; building reciprocity between the researchers and research participants; dealing with biases and burdens in the research process; ensuring analytical rigour in the interpretation of the primarily qualitative evidence and dealing with the long-term and process-driven outcomes that arise from such interactions. This paper explores and discusses the challenges of AR in relation to selected research outcomes from EVALOC. We conclude by suggesting that the AR approach has helped to build capacity in the participating low-carbon communities (LCCs), through supporting the design, delivery and evaluation of their energy and carbon-reduction activities.     

Knowledge and beliefs regarding agricultural pesticides in rural Guatemala

Throughout Central America, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural School support a Safe Pesticide Use program. In 1993, a study of results was carried out among farmers and housewives in eastern Guatemala. Aspects of the methodology included: (1) participation of extension workers in all aspects of the study; (2) small, region-focused samples (eight cells, 30 interviews per cell); (3) comparison to control groups of untrained farmers and housewives; (4) a traditional questionnaire for studying acquisition of specific knowledge; and (5) a flexible instrument for building a cognitive map of knowledge and beliefs regarding pesticides. The cognitive map is a step toward applying modern psychocultural scaling, an approach already well developed for medicine and public health, to environmental problems. Positive results detected include progress at learning the meaning of colors on containers that denote toxicity and where to store pesticides. Pesticide application problems detected were mention by farmers of highly toxic, restricted pesticides as appropriate for most pest problems and of insecticides as the correct solution to fungus problems, and the widespread belief that correct pesticide dosage depends on number of pests seen rather than on land or foliage surface. Health-related problems detected were admission by a vast majority of housewives that they apply highly toxic pesticides to combat children's head-lice; low awareness that pesticides cause health problems more serious than nausea, dizziness, and headaches; and a common belief that lemonade and coffee are effective medicines for pesticide poisoning.     

Environmental impact assessment of sprayed-on asbestos in buildings

This study evaluated the environmental impacts of sprayed-on asbestos, which had been used as insulation material in buildings, from multiple perspectives, mainly at the disposal stage. The health risks from asbestos emission and energy consumption were estimated. Two disposal scenarios were assumed for the asbestos: melting for reduced-risk disposal and ordinary packaging/landfilling. We estimated the asbestos emission and health risk in the case of packaging/landfilling, assuming uncontrolled management of the landfill site. A difficulty with introducing health-risk concepts into life cycle assessment (LCA) is the pulse–flux problem, which is discussed in the light of these estimations. In order to solve this problem, we proposed a method using a conversion factor representing exposure-dose/emission, and showed that emission could be converted into health risk. We also estimated the energy consumption for melting asbestos in the disposal stage, which can decrease the health risk. If we consider the energy consumption for the life cycle of asbestos, only a little energy is required for melting, compared with the large amount of energy saved in the use stage owing to the insulating effect of the asbestos. The trade-off relationship between health risk and energy consumption for the disposal scenarios indicated the need for weighting methods to handle trade-offs such as this. Received: July 2, 1998 / Accepted: December 20, 1999     

22家企业建立职业健康安全管理体系前后社会和经济效益对比分析

作者抽取已建职业健康安全管理体系的22家企业,对其建立体系前后的企业经营活动、安全生产投入、因事故和职业病的经济投入(损失)进行分析.分析结果表明职业健康安全管理体系的建立和运行对企业有良好的社会和经济效益.     

Assessment and improvement of integrated HSE and macro-ergonomics factors by fuzzy cognitive maps: The case of a large gas refinery

This study analyzes and assesses the integrated health, safety, environment (HSE) and ergonomics (HSEE) factors by fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM) approach. This is achieved through integrating ergonomic and macro-ergonomic as well as occupational health and safety arrangements in an integrated modeling for assessment of their multi-faceted impact on workers' productivity, injury rate and satisfaction. This paper uses FCM to assess the direct and indirect effects of HSEE factors on system performance indicators. The results of FCM are used to develop leading indicators useful for proactive management of productivity, injury rate, and job satisfaction. The result of a comprehensive survey of 37 experts in control rooms and maintenance activities in a large gas refinery is used to show the applicability and usefulness of FCM approach. Moreover, FCM results are used to determine the causal structure of HSEE factors and system performance indicators. It is concluded that macro-ergonomics factors such as instructions and education, familiarity with organization's rules, and proper communications most contribute to improve workers' safety, satisfaction, and productivity.     

劳动安全卫生管理体系要素中的“方针”和“组织”

全面管理原理是建立和运行劳动安全卫生管理体系的最重要的原则之一。其他原则在文中也简要地说明了。这些原则是组织的价值观和哲学的体现,并决定组织的安全卫生方针。安全卫生文化是组织的价值观、理念、能力和行为方式的产物,是人们的行事方式,在劳动安全卫生管理体系要素之一的“组织”中被体现出来,表现在四个方面,即：控制——管理人员的责任关系,协作——工人参与,通讯联络——共识和共同行动,能力——培训和专家顾     

Limiting the impact of light pollution on human health, environment and stellar visibility

Light pollution is one of the most rapidly increasing types of environmental degradation. Its levels have been growing exponentially over the natural nocturnal lighting levels provided by starlight and moonlight. To limit this pollution several effective practices have been defined: the use of shielding on lighting fixture to prevent direct upward light, particularly at low angles above the horizon; no over lighting, i.e. avoid using higher lighting levels than strictly needed for the task, constraining illumination to the area where it is needed and the time it will be used. Nevertheless, even after the best control of the light distribution is reached and when the proper quantity of light is used, some upward light emission remains, due to reflections from the lit surfaces and atmospheric scatter. The environmental impact of this "residual light pollution", cannot be neglected and should be limited too. Here we propose a new way to limit the effects of this residual light pollution on wildlife, human health and stellar visibility. We performed analysis of the spectra of common types of lamps for external use, including the new LEDs. We evaluated their emissions relative to the spectral response functions of human eye photoreceptors, in the photopic, scotopic and the 'meltopic' melatonin suppressing bands. We found that the amount of pollution is strongly dependent on the spectral characteristics of the lamps, with the more environmentally friendly lamps being low pressure sodium, followed by high pressure sodium. Most polluting are the lamps with a strong blue emission, like Metal Halide and white LEDs. Migration from the now widely used sodium lamps to white lamps (MH and LEDs) would produce an increase of pollution in the scotopic and melatonin suppression bands of more than five times the present levels, supposing the same photopic installed flux. This increase will exacerbate known and possible unknown effects of light pollution on human health, environment and on visual perception of the Universe by humans. We present quantitative criteria to evaluate the lamps based on their spectral emissions and we suggest regulatory limits for future lighting.     

Evaluating the PM damage cost due to urban air pollution and vehicle emissions in Seoul, Korea

This study evaluated the prospective damage costs of PM(2.5) inhalation. We performed a health risk assessment based on an exposure-response function to estimate the annual population risk in the Seoul metropolitan city, Korea. Also, we estimated a willingness-to-pay (WTP) amount for reducing the mortality rate in order to evaluate a statistical life value. We combined the annual population risk and the value-of-statistical-life to calculate the damage cost estimate. In the health risk assessment, we applied the PM(2.5) relative risk to evaluate the annual population risk. We targeted an exposure population of 5,401,369 persons who were over the age of 30. Using a Monte-Carlo simulation for uncertainty analysis, we estimated that the population risk of PM(2.5) inhalation during a year in Seoul is 2181 premature deaths for acute exposure and 18,510 premature deaths for chronic exposure. The monthly average WTP for 5/1000 mortality reduction over ten years is $20.20 USD (95% C.I: $16.60-24.50) and the implied value-of-statistical-life (VSL) is $485,000 USD (95% C.I: $398,000-588,000). The damage cost estimate due to risk from PM(2.5) inhalation in Seoul is about $1057 million USD per year for acute exposure, and $8972 million USD per year for chronic exposure. It is important to note that this cost estimate does not reflect all health damage cost estimates in this urban area. This recommendation is a model for evaluating a mortality risk reduction and as such we must re-evaluate an integrated application of morbidity risk.     

For whom does safety pay? The case of major accidents

Government agencies regularly use the argument that ‘safety pays’ as a way of motivating employers to attend to occupational health and safety. This paper looks at the effectiveness of this argument in the case of catastrophic hazards. It suggests that, while it may be true that safety pays in an abstract sense, this is irrelevant unless it can be shown that safety pays for relevant decision makers. All too often it does not. The article illustrates its claims by drawing on the literature on the Zeebrugge, Bhopal and Piper Alpha disasters, as well as on a study of a mine disaster in Australia.     

HIA and pollution prevention control: What they can learn from each other

Following the implementation of the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations on 1st August 2000, health authorities (now Primary Care Trusts) became statutory consultees for permits issued to industry by the environmental regulators (the Environmental Agency, Local Authorities). The aims of this paper are to review the process of providing public health input in the light of its similarities to and differences from HIA and to identify the opportunities for both HIA and PPC to learn from each other's practice. We emphasise the challenges that are encountered by public health professionals who provide the public health input in the PPC. We use both our own experience of providing this input on behalf of health authorities and our expertise in HIA, environmental epidemiology and contaminated land.