Occupational accident: An example of fatalistic beliefs among medical waste workers in Bangladesh

This study was conducted to see whether fatalism is an important factor in explaining occupational accidents among medical waste operatives in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Data were collected using a variety of qualitative techniques and included observation, formal and informal dialogue. Sampling strategies included formal representative sampling, purposive and authoritative sampling. Employers did not supply PPE or offer training to their staff. Most workers (73%) did not wear PPE regularly, and a further 18% wore only insufficient PPE. Consequently, most waste workers (95%) reported that they had experienced occupational accidents, mostly (75%) from used needles and other sharps. These observations were associated with fatalistic beliefs among the participants, both managers and employees, who attributed these events to “fate” reflecting their perceived lack of control over such accidents. This study reveals many examples of a lack of organisational awareness that can occur within a culture of fatalism.     

Cultural influences on workplace safety: An example of hospital workers’ adoption of patient lifting devices

Aims

A sociological and anthropological view of culture was used to investigate how work culture, independent of “safety culture”, may affect safety in the workplace. We explored how work cultures of nurses and physical/occupational therapists (PT/OTs) in two acute care hospitals are related to the adoption of patient lifting devices.

Methods

Focus groups were conducted between 2006 and 2009, seven with nurse staff (n = 39) and two with PT/OT staff (n = 17), to explore issues concerning a Minimal Manual Lift Environment policy, initiated in 2004, and subsequent use of patient lift equipment. Audio recordings of the sessions were transcribed; text data were analyzed using N6-QSR. Cultural facilitators and barriers to the adoption of patient lift equipment were examined.

Results

Data revealed cultural similarities and differences between these healthcare professions. Both displayed a “patient first” approach to care-giving which may promote lift device use for patients’ benefits, not necessarily for staff safety. Also, the implied purpose of patient lifting devices clashes with the nurses’ cultural emphasis on compassion, and with PT/OTs’ cultural emphasis on independence except when use increases patients’ independence.

Conclusions

Cultural expressions regarding the nature of care-giving among healthcare professionals may affect the propensity to adopt safety measures in complex ways. The workers’ understanding of the purpose of their work, and acceptable means of conducting it, should be understood before implementing safety interventions. The utilization of lift assist teams, who are not socialized into the cultures of nursing or PT/OT, may be one means of circumventing cultural barriers to lift equipment use.     

An evaluation of occupational accidents in the wooden furniture industry - A regional study in South East Asia

Studies on the rate of occupational accidents among workers in the wooden furniture industry is sparse, although the industry is deemed to be highly accident prone. Therefore, the rate of occupational accidents among workers in the wooden furniture industry in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam were studied, in 240 furniture manufacturing factories, using a structured questionnaire. The findings of the study suggest that contract workers are less prone to occupational accidents compared to their permanent counterparts, and hence, are more productive. Further, the results also revealed that the contract workers have a more positive attitude towards the work, and hence, pick up the essentials of safe working practices quickly. It must therefore be recognized that the “production oriented mentality” prevalent in the wooden furniture industry, which has been argued to compromise occupational safety and health standards in the industry may be debatable. In this context, it is essential for the policy makers to re-examine the employment of contract workers for the furniture manufacturing industry, as changing the psycho-economic parameters of the industry may be warranted before the industry is deemed attractive to a permanent workforce.     

铁路糖尿病患病职工血糖控制现状分析

了解某地区铁路糖尿病患病职工血糖控制情况,为改进健康干预措施提供依据。选取新诊断糖尿病职工272人及已确诊糖尿病职工175人,分析其健康体检结果及影响因素。结果表明,目前该地区糖尿病患病职工HbA1c <7%占46.98%,原已确诊糖尿病职工糖化血红蛋白控制率29.14%,入院治疗原因中健康体检检出血糖增高和出现糖尿病症状占75.43%,药物治疗率65.71%,运动和饮食控制率均为21.71%;新诊断与原已确诊糖尿病职工在血脂异常、肥胖、腹型肥胖差异有统计学意义。该地区糖尿病患病职工规范治疗后血脂异常、肥胖等有所降低,但糖尿病患病职工新诊断病例高、血糖控制率低,原已确诊糖尿病患病职工自我健康管理能力不足;提出应充分发挥健康体检筛查作用、早诊断早防治早干预、劝导规范就医、加强精准健康干预等建议。     

Parents’ work injuries and children’s mental health: The moderating role of children’s work centrality

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between parents’ work-related injuries and their children’s mental health, and whether children’s work centrality – the extent to which a child believes work will play an important part in their life – exacerbates or buffers this relationship. Method: We argue that high work centrality can exacerbate the relationship between parental work injuries and children’s mental health, with parental work injuries acting as identity-threatening stressors; in contrast, high work centrality may buffer this relationship, with parental work injuries acting as identity-confirming stressors. We test this relationship with a sample of Canadian children (N = 4,884, 46.2% female, M age = 13.67 years). Results:Children whose parents had experienced more frequent lost-time work-related injuries reported worse mental health with high work centrality buffering this negative relationship. Conclusions: Our study highlights the vicarious effects of work injuries on salient others, specifically parental work injuries on children’s mental health, as well as the role of work centrality in shaping children’s sense-making and expectations about the consequences of work.     

代际差异视角下农民工乡城迁移与宅基地退出影响因素分析——基于推拉理论的实证研究

在2011年天津市农民工调查数据的基础上,本文借鉴推拉理论重新梳理影响农民工城乡迁移与宅基地退出意愿的因素,建立了农民工宅基地退出影响因素的推拉分析框架,并通过实证研究析出和显化在不同代际农民工城乡迁移和宅基地退出过程中起关键作用的因素。研究发现:在推力因素方面,对第一代农民工宅基地退出意愿产生较大影响的因素主要是年龄、受教育程度、宅基地在住房养老中的作用、供养系数和对农村基础设施满意程度;对新生代农民工宅基地退出意愿产生较大影响的因素主要有性别、教育程度、供养系数和对农村基础设施满意程度。在拉力因素方面,对第一代农民工宅基地退出意愿产生较大影响的因素主要是有无专业培训经历或证书、是否签订劳动合同、区位、单位性质和外出务工时所利用的方式;对新生代农民工宅基地退出意愿产生较大影响的因素主要是有无专业培训经历或证书、是否签订劳动合同、区位、单位性质、外出务工时所利用的方式和是否同城里的人交过朋友。在此基础上,提出了相应的政策建议。     

我国女职工劳动保护立法问题研究

在多年从事妇女劳动问题研究的基础上 ,对我国企业执行女职工劳动保护法律、法规和政策的状况 ,从不同的角度进行描述和评价。分析各类所有制企业在女职工劳动保护方面存在的突出问题 ,并探讨修正现行女职工劳动保护立法的可能性 ,特别是对国务院的行政法规———《女职工劳动保护规定》提出比较具体的修订建议。这些建议包括对妇女进入劳动或工作过程之前的平等就业机会的保护 ,但主要侧重妇女就业之后 ,在工作场所中的劳动保护问题     

Using public procurement to achieve social outcomes

The use of public procurement to achieve social outcomes is widespread, but detailed information about how it operates is often sketchy and difficult to find. This article is essentially a mapping exercise, describing the history and current use of government contracting as a tool of social regulation, what the author calls the issue of ‘linkage’. The article considers the popularity of linkage in the 19^th century in Europe and North America, particularly in dealing with issues of labour standards and unemployment. The use of linkage expanded during the 20^th century, initially to include the provision of employment opportunities to disabled workers. During and after World War II, the use of linkage became particularly important in the United States in addressing racial equality, in the requirements for non‐discrimination in contracts, and in affirmative action and set‐asides for minority businesses. Subsequently, the role of procurement spread both in its geographical coverage and in the subject areas of social policy that it was used to promote. The article considers examples of the use of procurement to promote equality on the basis of ethnicity and gender drawn from Malaysia, South Africa, Canada, and the European Community. More recently, procurement has been used as an instrument to promote human rights transnationally, also by international organizations such as the International Labour Organisation. The article includes some reflections on the relationship between ‘green’ procurement, ‘social’ procurement, and sustainable development, and recent attempts to develop the concept of ‘sustainable procurement.’     

Occupational injury and psychological distress among U.S. workers: The National Health Interview Survey, 2004–2016

Introduction: Injuries at work may negatively influence mental health due to lost or reduced working hours and financial burden of treatment. Our objective was to investigate, in U.S. workers (a) the prevalence of serious psychological distress (SPD) by injury status (occupational, non-occupational, and no injury) and injury characteristics, and (b) the association between injury status and SPD. Methods: Self-reported injuries within the previous three months were collected annually for 225,331 U.S. workers in the National Health Interview Survey (2004–2016). Psychological distress during the past 30 days was assessed using the Kessler 6 (K6) questions with Likert-type scale (0–4, total score range: 0–24). SPD was defined as K6 ≥ 13. Prevalence ratios (PR) from fitted logistic regression models were used to assess relationships between injury and SPD after controlling for covariates. Results: The prevalence of SPD was 4.74%, 3.58%, and 1.56% in workers reporting occupational injury (OI), non-occupational injury (NOI), and no injury, respectively. Workers with head and neck injury had the highest prevalence of SPD (Prevalence: OI = 7.71%, NOI = 6.17%), followed by workers with scrape/bruise/burn/bite (6.32% for those with OI). Workers reporting OI were two times more likely to have SPD compared to those without injury (PR = 2.19, 95%CI: 1.62–2.96). However, there was no significant difference in SPD between workers with OI and workers with NOI (PR = 0.98, 95%CI: 0.65–1.48). Conclusion: The prevalence of SPD varied by injury status with the highest being among workers reporting OI. We found that the workers reporting OI were significantly more likely to have SPD than those without injury, but not more than those with NOI. Practical Applications: Mental health management programs by employers are necessary for workers who are injured in the workplace.     

Micronuclei Frequency in Lymphocytes and Antioxidants in the Blood of Traditional Limited-Resource Farm Workers Exposed to Pesticides

Chronic low-level exposure to synthetic pesticides is implicated in many health conditions that result from the induction of oxidative stress, including cytogenetic damage. The objective of this study was to assess the risk of genotoxicity using micronuclei (MN) formation in lymphocytes and to determine changes in blood antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD) in erythrocytes (E) and glutathione (GSH) in E and plasma (PL) in farm workers for six months during a growing season. Blood and urine samples were collected once a month for six months (June to November 2003) from farm workers (n = 15) and urban unexposed controls (n = 10). Lymphocytes from blood were separated by density gradient centrifugation using Histopaque and cultured using the standard technique. There was no significant difference in the cytokinesis blocked proliferation index (CBPI) of lymphocytes between the farm workers and the control group, but there was a 76% increase in average MN frequency in lymphocytes of the farm worker group (P ≤ 0.05). In addition, MN frequency peaked during August as compared to the other months and the controls (P ≤ 0.05). An 18% decline was observed in the activity of E-SOD in the farm worker group (P ≤ 0.05). GSH in E and PL were similar in both groups. These data suggest that the farm workers may be at a greater risk of developing genotoxicity due to continued exposure to pesticides, especially during the intensive growing season.