The acceptance of personal protective equipment among Hong Kong construction workers: An integration of technology acceptance model and theory of planned behavior with risk perception and safety climate

Introduction: The phenomenon that construction workers do not use personal protective equipment (PPE) is a major reason for the high occurrence frequency of accidents in the construction industry. However, little efforts have been made to quantitatively examine the factors influencing construction workers’ acceptance of PPE. Method: In the current study, a PPE acceptance model for construction workers (PAMCW) was proposed to address the noted need. The PAMCW incorporates the technology acceptance model, theory of planned behavior, risk perception, and safety climate for explaining construction worker acceptance of PPE. 413 construction workers participated in this study to fill out a structured questionnaire. The PAMCW was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results: Results provide evidence of the applicability of the technology acceptance model and theory of planned behavior to the PPE acceptance among construction workers. The positive influence of safety climate and risk perception-severity on attitude toward using PPE was significant. Safety climate positively influences perceived usefulness. Risk perception-worry and unsafe was found to positively affect intention to use PPE. Practical Applications: Practical suggestions for increasing construction workers’ use of PPE are also discussed.     

Ensuring social acceptance of the energy transition. The German government’s ‘consensus management’ strategy

This study deals with the German Federal Government’s approach of ensuring public support for its ‘Energiewende’, the swift and complete transition to an energy system based on renewable sources. First, the government’s ‘consensus management’ strategy is described as consisting of four elements: the setup of stakeholder deliberation fora; the funding of organisations dedicated to the public promotion of the energy transition; public campaigns that appeal to people’s commitment and the support of research on energy technologies. The study then traces the need for a strong social mandate of the energy transition back to the scope of the regulatory challenge and the recently growing conflicts around implementation, to institutional constraints of a consensus democracy and to the narrative of ‘Energiewende’ as the ‘grand national task’.     

人口统计学变量对环境保护公众参与意识的影响实证研究

采用问卷调查和数理统计等研究方法,研究了人口统计学变量在环境保护公众参与意识上的差异,以及与环境保护公众参与各个变量之间的相关性。结果表明:居民的年龄在公众环保行为和环保政策满意度上呈现显著性差异,居民的职业在环境保护认知、公众环保行为环保政策满意度上呈现显著性差异,居民的受教育程度在环境保护认知、个人环保习惯、公众环保行为、环保政策满意度上呈现显著性差异。婚姻状况与公众环保行为、环保政策满意度之间存在显著性负相关,年龄与环境保护认知之间存在显著性正相关,与环境政策满意度、环境表现满意度之间出现显著性的负相关性,职业与环境保护认知、个人环保习惯、公众环保行为之间存在显著性正相关性,与环保政策满意度、环保表现满意度之间存在显著性负相关。     

浅析建设项目试运行期的环境监理

介绍了项目试运行期环境监理的涵义、环境监理的主要内容和常用方法,说明环境监理的重要性,促进建设项目顺利通过竣工环境保护验收.     

环境信息公开——一项新的环境管理手段

环境信息公开是继指令性控制手段和经济手段后一项新的环境管理方法。该手段通过对环境信息的公开来加强环境管理的公众参与和监督,从而促使污染者重视环境保护,加强污染治理。文中对环境信息公开的作用和类型作了简要的阐述,并重点介绍了企业环境信息公开的设计原则、方法和步骤。同时以呼和浩特市为例,对企业环境信息公开的方案进行了初步的设计。      

2019年扬州市公共场所健康危害因素监测结果分析

为了提升扬州市公共场所卫生状况和传染病防控能力,按照国家标准于2019年对扬州市宾馆(酒店)类、沐浴类、理发店类、美容店类和候车室类5类公共场所的健康危害因素(空气质量和公共用品用具)进行监测,按照《公共场所卫生指标及限值要求》(GB 37488—2019)进行评价。结果表明,共监测空气质量样品216份,合格率为84.26%,共监测公共用品用具1 414份,合格率为96.46%,不同场所的空气质量合格率和公共用品用具微生物指标合格率差异均具有统计学意义(P 0.05)。不同类型公共用品用具监测项目中,金黄色葡萄球菌的合格率最高(100%),而真菌总数的合格率最低(93.75%)。各类公共用品用具中,拖鞋合格率最低(91.67%),床单相对较高(99.70%)。扬州市公共卫生状况总体良好,在空气质量监测中,物理项目和微生物项目合格率较低,在公共用品用具监测中,细菌总数和大肠菌群存在不合格现象。     

Saving power to conserve your reputation? The effectiveness of private versus public information

Environmental damage is often an unseen byproduct of other activities. Disclosing environmental impact privately to consumers can reduce the costs and/or increase the moral benefits of conservation behaviors, while publicly disclosing such information can provide an additional motivation for conservation - cultivating a green reputation. In a unique field experiment in the residence halls at the University of California – Los Angeles, we test the efficacy of detailed private and public information on electricity conservation. Private information was given through real-time appliance level feedback and social norms over usage, and public information was given through a publicly visible conservation rating. Our analysis is based on 7,120 daily observations about energy use from heating and cooling, lights and plug load for 66 rooms collected over an academic year. Our results suggest that while private information alone was ineffective, public information combined with private information motivated a 20 percent reduction in electricity consumption achieved through lower use of heating and cooling. Public information was particularly effective for above median energy users.     

Multiscale Factors Affecting Human Attitudes toward Snow Leopards and Wolves

The threat posed by large carnivores to livestock and humans makes peaceful coexistence between them difficult. Effective implementation of conservation laws and policies depends on the attitudes of local residents toward the target species. There are many known correlates of human attitudes toward carnivores, but they have only been assessed at the scale of the individual. Because human societies are organized hierarchically, attitudes are presumably influenced by different factors at different scales of social organization, but this scale dependence has not been examined. We used structured interview surveys to quantitatively assess the attitudes of a Buddhist pastoral community toward snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and wolves (Canis lupus). We interviewed 381 individuals from 24 villages within 6 study sites across the high‐elevation Spiti Valley in the Indian Trans‐Himalaya. We gathered information on key explanatory variables that together captured variation in individual and village‐level socioeconomic factors. We used hierarchical linear models to examine how the effect of these factors on human attitudes changed with the scale of analysis from the individual to the community. Factors significant at the individual level were gender, education, and age of the respondent (for wolves and snow leopards), number of income sources in the family (wolves), agricultural production, and large‐bodied livestock holdings (snow leopards). At the community level, the significant factors included the number of smaller‐bodied herded livestock killed by wolves and mean agricultural production (wolves) and village size and large livestock holdings (snow leopards). Our results show that scaling up from the individual to higher levels of social organization can highlight important factors that influence attitudes of people toward wildlife and toward formal conservation efforts in general. Such scale‐specific information can help managers apply conservation measures at appropriate scales. Our results reiterate the need for conflict management programs to be multipronged. Factores Multi‐Escala que Afectan las Actitudes Humanas hacia Leopardos de las Nieves y Lobos     

Sovereign financial disaster risk management: The case of Mexico

In 2006, Mexico became the first transition country to transfer part of its public-sector natural catastrophe risk to the international reinsurance and capital markets. The Mexican case is of considerable interest to highly exposed transition and developing countries, many of which are considering similar transactions. Risk financing instruments can assure governments of sufficient post-disaster capital to provide emergency response, disaster relief to the affected population and repair public infrastructure. The costs of financial instruments, however, can greatly exceed expected losses, and for this reason it is important to closely examine their benefits and alternatives. This paper analyzes the Mexican case from the perspective of the risk cedent (the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit), which was informed by analyses provided by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). The rationale for a government to insure its contingent liabilities is presented along with the fiscal, legal and institutional context of the Mexican transaction. Using publicly available data, the paper scrutinizes the choice the authorities faced between two different risk-transfer instruments: reinsurance and a catastrophe bond. Making use of IIASA's catastrophe simulation model (CATSIM), this financial risk management decision is analyzed within the context of a public investment decision.     

The influence of public transportation on housing values

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is becoming an increasingly common development strategy with potential consequences on property values. This study explores the potential relationship between the proximity to public transportation and housing values. The objective is achieved by performing a hedonic regression using the 2013 American Housing Survey (AHS) sample, which includes 25 metro areas. In 2013, the AHS added a topical supplement addressing public transportation issues which makes understanding public transportation impacts on housing values more feasible. In this study, being located within half a mile of a public transportation stop was a significant factor in explaining housing values for 6 out of 25 metro areas. This research is important to real estate practitioners operating within TODs as proximity to public transportation may significantly influence property values.