Investigation of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among male kitchen workers in South India

Objective. This study aims to quantify the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and risks among male kitchen workers in the catering industry. Method. Data were collected with the help of the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire and by direct observations. Results. In total, 114 male kitchen workers from various hostels of a college in South India were considered for this study. The average age and mean years of employment of the workers are 26.4 (SD 7.7) and 7.8 respectively. The statistical analysis carried out reveals that 67.5% of male kitchen workers reported MSDs during the past 12 months. The highest prevalence rate has been found in the lower back (65.8%) and shoulder region (62.3%). Among different categories of kitchen work analyzed, it is evident that chief cooks suffer more from MSDs (79.2%) than assistant cooks (74.3%) and kitchen aides (30.0%). Workers in the older group, i.e., ≥41 years, and workers with 6–10 years of experience suffer with higher risk of MSDs, i.e., 93.9% and 87.5%, respectively. Conclusion. The male kitchen workers who participated in this research were found to possess both MSDs and ergonomic hazards.     

Relationship of safety climate perceptions and job satisfaction among employees in the construction industry: the moderating role of age

This study examines the degree to which construction sector employees perceive that safety is important in their organizations/sites and how job satisfaction affects these perceptions when age is introduced as a moderator variable. Two-way analysis of variance demonstrated that job satisfaction has a strong effect on perceived management commitment to work safety and that this relationship was moderated by respondents’ age. Job satisfaction was associated with perceived accident rate and safety inspection frequency, but the proposed role of age in this linkage was not confirmed. Consequently, the findings indicated that by increasing the level of job satisfaction, perceptions of these safety climate aspects proved to be more positive. The conclusion is that these relationships could further lead to a lower percentage of accidents and injuries in the workplace and better health among employees. A significant relationship between job satisfaction, age and perceived co-workers’ commitment to work safety was not found.     

Safety Management in Coal Mines—Risk Assessment

The present state of accident hazard at work in the Polish mining industry is presented. A comparison is made of the accident indices in relation to other countries. A reference is made to the work safety management system implemented in the mines. Safety management is discussed in terms of risk management. On the basis of the natural death index and that of accidents at work, numerical scales are presented defining the limits of the inadmissable, tolerable, and acceptable risk. The course of variation of risk indices for fatal, serious, and minor accidents is evaluated. The results of the assessment for all kinds of accidents at work in the mining industry are presented.     

基于层次分析法的森林火险区划 —以徂徕山林场为例

森林火险区划是林火管理的基础。利用层次分析法将影响森林火险的静态因子评判指标分成三个层次,根据专业知识确定各因子权重,充分利用现有的可燃物和地形数据信息,以徂徕山林场为例进行了森林火险区划。区划结果表明,徂徕山林场大部分地区的火险为中低火险,高和极高火险区域面积分别占林场总面积的11.6%和3.1%。本研究为林场尺度上开展科学的火险区划提供技术参考。     

Multiple dimensions of work-related risk factors and their relationship to work ability among industrial workers in Iran

Objectives. The present study was designed to investigate the simultaneous effects of physical, psychosocial and other work-related risk factors on the work ability index (WAI) score among industrial workers. Methods. This study used a cross-sectional design with a questionnaire survey. A total of 280 workers were included in the study. Data were collected using three questionnaires including the Persian version of the WAI, the Persian version of the job content questionnaire and an author-developed measure (to assess work-related factors, health-related factors and socio-demographic characteristics). Results. The majority of the participants were young, but they had poor WAI scores (mean 37.3?±?6.4) and 44.3% of them had poor or moderate work ability. Occupational accidents and injuries were found to be the strongest predictors of WAI scores. Additionally, there was a strong association between WAI scores and supervisor support, skill discretion, occupational training, sleep quality, work nature and educational level. Conclusions. Intervention programs should focus on improving supervisor support, sleep quality, job skills and knowledge and on decreasing physical and mental work demands. Additionally, implementing a comprehensive occupational health and ergonomics program for controlling and reducing hazardous working environments and occupational injury rates should be considered.     

HAZOP 分析在酸性水汽提装置上的应用与研究

危险与可操作性分析对于石化装置的工艺安全管理具有重要意义,介绍了HAZOP分析方法在工艺装置上的应用流程,并讨论了HAZOP分析与风险矩阵的结合运用。以克拉玛依石化公司的80吨/小时酸性水汽提装置为例,详细阐述了HAZOP分析的流程及其与半定量分析相结合的方法在实践中的应用,并针对危险源给出了风险削减措施。基于HAZOP分析在实践中的应用情况,总结了一些客观存在的问题,并提出了意见和建议。     

基于累积Logistic回归模型对化工园区人群认知风险的研究

随着化工园区重大危险源集中监管的深化,政府和企业在安全生产活动中扮演着比以往更重要的角色.如何降低园区内人群对危险源的敏感性,以便在有谣言时不会伴随更大的混乱;什么样的因素对园区内人群认知风险具有显著相关性,以便政府和企业在安全生产活动中更好地发挥职能.针对上述问题,通过对江西省某化工园区进行问卷调查,所得的数据采用累积logistic模型进行分析,得出对风险认知具有显著性差异的因素.有助于政府及企业管理人员对园区内人群认知风险的了解,建议化工园区以及政府需要进一步宣传安全知识,配套安全设备等,最终降低谣言对生产活动的影响、冲击,稳定社会秩序.     

Some lessons for resilience from the 2011 multi-disaster in Japan

With the goal of resilience becoming ever more present in diverse policy discourses, it is important to reflect critically on its meaning and realisation. In this viewpoint, we re-emphasise that understanding the systemic nature of social and ecological interactions and interdependencies is fundamental to developing resilience to shocks and stresses in whatever context they materialise. Through the lens of the 2011 Japanese multi-disaster, we reflect on some of the difficulties in generating knowledge to underpin resilience-building processes and illustrate some dilemmas inherent in seeking to cultivate resilience in practice. Events in Japan underscore the complex vulnerabilities of place in multi-hazard scenarios and highlight, in particular, the choices to be made in determining which systemic interactions are to be imagined, characterised, assessed and forewarned and which are not. These events also emphasise that while resilience ultimately must be located where consequences are felt, strategies for a resilient future have to take on the multi-scale interactions and tensions within which local processes are embedded. There are dangers, we argue, in thinking about resilience in overly simple and non-systemic ways and in responding to these challenges only as a matter of extended techno-managerial competence.     

Achieving sustainable lifestyles or encouraging a counter-reflexivity: exploring motivations for sustainability in a mediated risk society

Ulrich Beck's World Risk Society is becoming an increasingly relevant analysis of contemporary human/environment interaction. However, with this said, Beck's observations remain broad and significantly lacking empirical evidence. This paper explores the relationship between sustainable lifestyles and assertions of one of Beck's central ideas, the emergence of a reflexive modernity at the local scale. By empirically examining the motivation of participants for joining a scheme designed to enhance sustainable lifestyles, this paper will progressively outline the way that individuals in a risk society negotiate global images in a local context and what this means for a reflexive modernity. By exposing the complex interaction of global risk imagery and the effect this has on achieving local sustainability, a more realistic understanding of Beck's theoretical assertions can be applied to an increasingly important policy arena.     

The importance of the “not-so-cool” sectors: creative solutions to reconcile environmental and economic sustainability within a floodplain

Creative cities are generally considered as “cool” spaces which attract a particular “creative class” whose ability to innovate and transform – particularly in the media and cultural sectors – offers urban economies a competitive edge. This paper argues that, in the face of dangerous climate change, the creativity of the “not-so-cool” sectors needs to be acknowledged and valued. A case study of Salford in the north-west of England shows how political, technological and economic creativity has secured sustainable regeneration within a floodplain. It is argued that the concept of “creativity” in urban economic discourse needs to be widened to acknowledge the importance of the creativity of planners, civil engineers and builders in securing environmentally sustainable cities. Environmental sustainability, it suggests, not only underpins economic sustainability. Faced with dangerous climate change and society's need to respond, the skills and expertise can in themselves contribute to a city's competitiveness.