Pub Date : 2022-04-29DOI: 10.24840/2184-0954_006.001_0002
Isabel Siow, Cheun Chan Yee, K. Ng, J. Vijayan, Alison Y Y Ng, Jonathan J Y Ong, Anslem Mak, Amanda C. Y. Chan
Introduction. Small fibre neuropathy (SFN) is a heterogeneous condition involving the thinly-myelinated Aδ and unmyelinated C-fibres, characterised by pain and altered temperature sensation and perception. Toxins such as alcohol and chemotherapeutic agents are known causes of SFN, with research into other toxic aetiologies well underway. Pathologists are routinely exposed to a variety of organic solvents, such as xylene, acetone and methanol, which potentially lead to the development of SFN. Methods. We performed a retrospective review of all pathologists who were treated at the SFN clinic in our hospital between January 2020 and May 2021. Their clinical presentation, disease course, treatment and outcomes were described. Results. Three patients with SFN were identified. These patients experienced somatic symptoms of SFN such as burning pain, paraesthesia and autonomic symptoms including tachycardia and postural hypotension. Normal nerve conduction studies indicated intact large nerve fibres. Abnormal SFN tests including quantitative sensory testing, quantitative sudomotor axonal testing, and tilt table testing contributed to the diagnosis of SFN. Inflammatory and autoimmune markers were raised in two of the three pathologists. Toxicology screens performed later were negative, possibly indicating that blood solvent concentrations had decreased to undetectable levels over time. Administration of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) resulted in an improvement in symptoms and functional outcomes. Conclusion. Chronic exposure to organic solvents in the routine job scope of pathologists may lead to the development of SFN. Awareness of this hazard is imperative in order to ensure occupational safety.
{"title":"Toxic exposure in a clinical pathology laboratory as a potential occupational hazard causing small fibre neuropathy","authors":"Isabel Siow, Cheun Chan Yee, K. Ng, J. Vijayan, Alison Y Y Ng, Jonathan J Y Ong, Anslem Mak, Amanda C. Y. Chan","doi":"10.24840/2184-0954_006.001_0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24840/2184-0954_006.001_0002","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction. Small fibre neuropathy (SFN) is a heterogeneous condition involving the thinly-myelinated Aδ and unmyelinated C-fibres, characterised by pain and altered temperature sensation and perception. Toxins such as alcohol and chemotherapeutic agents are known causes of SFN, with research into other toxic aetiologies well underway. Pathologists are routinely exposed to a variety of organic solvents, such as xylene, acetone and methanol, which potentially lead to the development of SFN. \u0000Methods. We performed a retrospective review of all pathologists who were treated at the SFN clinic in our hospital between January 2020 and May 2021. Their clinical presentation, disease course, treatment and outcomes were described. \u0000Results. Three patients with SFN were identified. These patients experienced somatic symptoms of SFN such as burning pain, paraesthesia and autonomic symptoms including tachycardia and postural hypotension. Normal nerve conduction studies indicated intact large nerve fibres. Abnormal SFN tests including quantitative sensory testing, quantitative sudomotor axonal testing, and tilt table testing contributed to the diagnosis of SFN. Inflammatory and autoimmune markers were raised in two of the three pathologists. Toxicology screens performed later were negative, possibly indicating that blood solvent concentrations had decreased to undetectable levels over time. Administration of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) resulted in an improvement in symptoms and functional outcomes. \u0000Conclusion. Chronic exposure to organic solvents in the routine job scope of pathologists may lead to the development of SFN. Awareness of this hazard is imperative in order to ensure occupational safety.","PeriodicalId":201704,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132800301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-29DOI: 10.24840/2184-0954_006.001_0005
Marko Salomäki, A. Reiman, H. Haapasalo
Construction work is one of the most hazardous industries worldwide. Accidents, incidents, injuries, occupational diseases, and illnesses at work represent a significant burden for various stakeholders, including society. Different project management approaches have been introduced to facilitate construction work and occupational safety (OS) in practice. This study focuses on OS in construction alliance projects. Alliances are an emerging new form of a project delivery method in construction. In construction alliance projects, the project stakeholders collaborate with mutual interest to achieve the best result for the entire project. Alliance projects are a relatively new mode of project deliveries in construction. A systematic literature review was conducted using Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed—to learn how OS has been acknowledged in alliance projects. The literature review shows the scarcity of research in this area. To in-depth the review, personal interviews were conducted at two large alliance projects in Finland. Interviews bring out the complex nature of OS management in alliances and highlight issues related to partner selection and site-specific OS management within alliances. This study deepens the very limited scientific knowledge of OS in alliance projects. By drawing together the existing knowledge on the topic, new insights are provided on developing OS management in alliance projects. In addition, several new arenas for novel empirical research in the field of OS in construction and the alliance context are proposed.
建筑工作是世界上最危险的行业之一。事故、事故、伤害、职业病和工作中的疾病对包括社会在内的各种利益攸关方构成了重大负担。我们采用不同的项目管理方法，以促进建筑工程和职业安全的实践。本文主要研究建筑联盟项目中的操作系统问题。联盟是一种新兴的建筑项目交付方式。在建设联盟项目中，项目利益相关者以相互利益为基础进行合作，以实现整个项目的最佳结果。联盟项目是一种相对较新的项目交付模式。使用Scopus、Web of Science和pubmed进行了系统的文献综述，以了解OS在联盟项目中的认可情况。文献综述表明，这一领域的研究较少。为了深入研究，在芬兰的两个大型联盟项目中进行了个人访谈。访谈揭示了联盟中操作系统管理的复杂性，并突出了与合作伙伴选择和联盟中特定地点操作系统管理相关的问题。本研究加深了联盟项目中非常有限的OS科学知识。通过汇集关于该主题的现有知识，为在联盟项目中开发操作系统管理提供了新的见解。此外，本文还提出了在构建和联盟背景下操作系统领域进行新的实证研究的几个新领域。
{"title":"On occupational safety management in construction alliance projects","authors":"Marko Salomäki, A. Reiman, H. Haapasalo","doi":"10.24840/2184-0954_006.001_0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24840/2184-0954_006.001_0005","url":null,"abstract":"Construction work is one of the most hazardous industries worldwide. Accidents, incidents, injuries, occupational diseases, and illnesses at work represent a significant burden for various stakeholders, including society. Different project management approaches have been introduced to facilitate construction work and occupational safety (OS) in practice. This study focuses on OS in construction alliance projects. Alliances are an emerging new form of a project delivery method in construction. In construction alliance projects, the project stakeholders collaborate with mutual interest to achieve the best result for the entire project. Alliance projects are a relatively new mode of project deliveries in construction. A systematic literature review was conducted using Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed—to learn how OS has been acknowledged in alliance projects. The literature review shows the scarcity of research in this area. To in-depth the review, personal interviews were conducted at two large alliance projects in Finland. Interviews bring out the complex nature of OS management in alliances and highlight issues related to partner selection and site-specific OS management within alliances. This study deepens the very limited scientific knowledge of OS in alliance projects. By drawing together the existing knowledge on the topic, new insights are provided on developing OS management in alliance projects. In addition, several new arenas for novel empirical research in the field of OS in construction and the alliance context are proposed. ","PeriodicalId":201704,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety","volume":"71 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128953240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-30DOI: 10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0005
Patrick McGuinn, C. Buggy, A. Drummond, P. Sripaiboonkij
Background: Workers who are exposed to high levels of noise should consider wearing HPDs when elimination of noise cannot be put in place. There are several factors including health and safety management systems, peers and policy that could influence workers to either use or not use HPDs. Objectives: To determine worker’s perception of noise risk in a mining setting and to determine if there is an association between organisational rules, knowledge, and the wearing of Hearing Protection Devices (HPDs). Methods: A cross- sectional study was conducted at a mining setting in Ireland in which 116 workers participated; a self-administered questionnaire survey was used. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics and binary regression analysis. Results: The study had a response rate of 94% of the entire population. The mean exposure to noise levels that require HPDs is 5.32 hours. The results showed an association between using HPDs and organisation rules; and no association between preventing abnormal hearing, perceived influences in the workplace, knowledge and information. Conclusion: Factors that can influence workers likelihood to wear HPDs are organisation rules; this is unaffected by the influence of colleagues. Each company should have a clear policy to encourage workers to wear HPDs for preventing Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Application: The findings highlighted that a company’s health and safety policy is important to encourage employees to wear HPDs. Mine settings or noisy workplaces should have transparent policies for employees to follow and benefit their hearing health, even if an employee is not aware of the full content of a policy, aspects are known.
{"title":"Factors influencing the use of hearing protection devices in Irish mine workers","authors":"Patrick McGuinn, C. Buggy, A. Drummond, P. Sripaiboonkij","doi":"10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0005","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Workers who are exposed to high levels of noise should consider wearing HPDs when elimination of noise cannot be put in place. There are several factors including health and safety management systems, peers and policy that could influence workers to either use or not use HPDs. Objectives: To determine worker’s perception of noise risk in a mining setting and to determine if there is an association between organisational rules, knowledge, and the wearing of Hearing Protection Devices (HPDs). Methods: A cross- sectional study was conducted at a mining setting in Ireland in which 116 workers participated; a self-administered questionnaire survey was used. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics and binary regression analysis. Results: The study had a response rate of 94% of the entire population. The mean exposure to noise levels that require HPDs is 5.32 hours. The results showed an association between using HPDs and organisation rules; and no association between preventing abnormal hearing, perceived influences in the workplace, knowledge and information. Conclusion: Factors that can influence workers likelihood to wear HPDs are organisation rules; this is unaffected by the influence of colleagues. Each company should have a clear policy to encourage workers to wear HPDs for preventing Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Application: The findings highlighted that a company’s health and safety policy is important to encourage employees to wear HPDs. Mine settings or noisy workplaces should have transparent policies for employees to follow and benefit their hearing health, even if an employee is not aware of the full content of a policy, aspects are known.","PeriodicalId":201704,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128637124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-30DOI: 10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0003
Michel Lagarde
The offshore environment is a high-risk and demanding workplace exposing crew members to various physical and psychological stressors. Health and safety programs are implemented to prevent accidents and promote well-being among personnel. This study aims to determine the association between vital exhaustion and psychosocial health among offshore workers in the Philippines. Quantitative non-experimental descriptive correlational design was used and standardized questionnaires namely: Maastricht Vital Exhaustion (MVEQ) and Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaires (COPSOQ III) were utilized to gather data from fifty-five respondents (54 male; Mage = 42.69). Majority of them are assigned in the maintenance and marine departments with an average offshore experience of 11.69 years. Offshore workers have low vital exhaustion (VE) levels and good psychosocial health (PH) scores. Highest recorded scores for PH fall under Influence and Development, Outcome Scales and Interpersonal relations and leadership. Lower mean scores in Further Parameters and Demands at work also translate to favourable PH. There was a significant relationship among four PH scales and VE levels of respondents. There was also a significant relationship between VE and the demographic profile of offshore workers in terms of job assignment and work type however there was no significant association between PH and all demographic variables considered in the study. Majority of the participants claimed that environmental conditions are well-designed and safety concerns are managed appropriately in the workplace. The responses from offshore personnel provide a clear picture of their overall health. The resilience and camaraderie among the all-Filipino crew played a major role in keeping their VE levels low and promoting good PH scores.
{"title":"Vital exhaustion and psychosocial health among offshore personnel working in the Philippines","authors":"Michel Lagarde","doi":"10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0003","url":null,"abstract":"The offshore environment is a high-risk and demanding workplace exposing crew members to various physical and psychological stressors. Health and safety programs are implemented to prevent accidents and promote well-being among personnel. This study aims to determine the association between vital exhaustion and psychosocial health among offshore workers in the Philippines. Quantitative non-experimental descriptive correlational design was used and standardized questionnaires namely: Maastricht Vital Exhaustion (MVEQ) and Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaires (COPSOQ III) were utilized to gather data from fifty-five respondents (54 male; Mage = 42.69). Majority of them are assigned in the maintenance and marine departments with an average offshore experience of 11.69 years. Offshore workers have low vital exhaustion (VE) levels and good psychosocial health (PH) scores. Highest recorded scores for PH fall under Influence and Development, Outcome Scales and Interpersonal relations and leadership. Lower mean scores in Further Parameters and Demands at work also translate to favourable PH. There was a significant relationship among four PH scales and VE levels of respondents. There was also a significant relationship between VE and the demographic profile of offshore workers in terms of job assignment and work type however there was no significant association between PH and all demographic variables considered in the study. Majority of the participants claimed that environmental conditions are well-designed and safety concerns are managed appropriately in the workplace. The responses from offshore personnel provide a clear picture of their overall health. The resilience and camaraderie among the all-Filipino crew played a major role in keeping their VE levels low and promoting good PH scores. \u0000 ","PeriodicalId":201704,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130668717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-30DOI: 10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0004
R. Mira, C. Jacinto, B. Dias, M. Carrasqueira, A. Fundo
The “Safety Score Permit” (SSP) is a new tool that focuses on behaviour and is based on a point system which allows individual performance’s tracking, thus encouraging safe actions. The present study aims at verifying the applicability and practical validation of the first SSP version; the ultimate goal is to evaluate its coverage within different industrial contexts and identify limitations and opportunities for improvement. A pilot implementation was conducted in three large companies, presented as three case studies. The records of safety behaviour observations (SBO) of each case were analysed to verify if all the “observed deviations” fitted into the classes and subclasses typified in the system. Although the study basis was the same in all three cases, in two of them the research was based on existing SBO records collected in 2019, whilst in the 3rd case there was a much higher interaction throughout the work. In this case, the process was started from scratch, including the SBO procedure, its monitoring and subsequent data analysis, to create the necessary conditions for the implementation of the full system. The results obtained revealed that, in general, the SSP platform has the ability to cover most deviations identified in an organization. The system has the potential to become a useful and transparent tool to monitor employees’ safety performance at all hierarchical levels; it also helps to identify weaknesses in the companies’ OHS processes. This work was essentially exploratory but it shed light on how to improve the system further and also unveiled new opportunities. A key issue to enhance SSP as a management tool is to expand its scope to all types of human errors, thus offering better support to strategic OHS decisions.
{"title":"Testing and practical validation of an individual safety performance assessment methodology – the SSP System","authors":"R. Mira, C. Jacinto, B. Dias, M. Carrasqueira, A. Fundo","doi":"10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0004","url":null,"abstract":"The “Safety Score Permit” (SSP) is a new tool that focuses on behaviour and is based on a point system which allows individual performance’s tracking, thus encouraging safe actions. The present study aims at verifying the applicability and practical validation of the first SSP version; the ultimate goal is to evaluate its coverage within different industrial contexts and identify limitations and opportunities for improvement. A pilot implementation was conducted in three large companies, presented as three case studies. The records of safety behaviour observations (SBO) of each case were analysed to verify if all the “observed deviations” fitted into the classes and subclasses typified in the system. Although the study basis was the same in all three cases, in two of them the research was based on existing SBO records collected in 2019, whilst in the 3rd case there was a much higher interaction throughout the work. In this case, the process was started from scratch, including the SBO procedure, its monitoring and subsequent data analysis, to create the necessary conditions for the implementation of the full system. The results obtained revealed that, in general, the SSP platform has the ability to cover most deviations identified in an organization. The system has the potential to become a useful and transparent tool to monitor employees’ safety performance at all hierarchical levels; it also helps to identify weaknesses in the companies’ OHS processes. This work was essentially exploratory but it shed light on how to improve the system further and also unveiled new opportunities. A key issue to enhance SSP as a management tool is to expand its scope to all types of human errors, thus offering better support to strategic OHS decisions.","PeriodicalId":201704,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety","volume":"70 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132407158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-30DOI: 10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0001
Julian Zehetner, I. Häring, U. Weber, W. Riedel
Complementary protective measures are of increasing importance with rising degree of automation. As free robots become part of our daily life in industry, on shop floors and beyond, the overall safety of persons has to be ensured. However, assessing the reliability of complementary safety functions remains a challenge, particularly when humans are in the loop. The paper shows how to use the eye-tracking methodology to gain data for assessing the reliability of the human interaction with machine interfaces for complementary protective measures. The paper first identifies factors relevant for eye-tracking, then selects related eye tracking test parameters and finally provides a systematic procedure to assess both, in particular regarding visibility and susceptibility. The methodology is applied and the parameter selection is validated. It is found that in particular the identified and measured parameters fixation count for area of interest (AOI) and the associated average visit duration can be used to assess the factor perceptibility. The parameter deviation of fixation can thereby be used to assess usability. Based on this, a full-scale eye-tracking assessment is proposed for the reliability of the interaction of humans with the machine interfaces of supplementary protective measures. In summary, the preliminary test run execution shows that eye-tracking technology is a promising method for measuring and quantifying the human reliability when interacting with safety-related human-machine interfaces.
{"title":"Eye-tracking based quantification of the safety of human-machine interfaces of complementary protective system functions","authors":"Julian Zehetner, I. Häring, U. Weber, W. Riedel","doi":"10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0001","url":null,"abstract":"Complementary protective measures are of increasing importance with rising degree of automation. As free robots become part of our daily life in industry, on shop floors and beyond, the overall safety of persons has to be ensured. However, assessing the reliability of complementary safety functions remains a challenge, particularly when humans are in the loop. The paper shows how to use the eye-tracking methodology to gain data for assessing the reliability of the human interaction with machine interfaces for complementary protective measures. The paper first identifies factors relevant for eye-tracking, then selects related eye tracking test parameters and finally provides a systematic procedure to assess both, in particular regarding visibility and susceptibility. The methodology is applied and the parameter selection is validated. It is found that in particular the identified and measured parameters fixation count for area of interest (AOI) and the associated average visit duration can be used to assess the factor perceptibility. The parameter deviation of fixation can thereby be used to assess usability. Based on this, a full-scale eye-tracking assessment is proposed for the reliability of the interaction of humans with the machine interfaces of supplementary protective measures. In summary, the preliminary test run execution shows that eye-tracking technology is a promising method for measuring and quantifying the human reliability when interacting with safety-related human-machine interfaces.","PeriodicalId":201704,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124843892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-30DOI: 10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0002
Olga Costa, J. Matias, C. Pimentel
Background: This study was conducted to demonstrate the importance of occupational health and safety (OHS) management in construction project environments, taking into account the successful development of those projects. The associated problems in OHS management projects were also studied, as substantial empirical research has shown this is a complex theme with a large number of associated factors. Methods: In this study three projects developed in the Portuguese petrochemical industry were analysed using documentary analysis, on-going interaction with workers and direct observations of work activity. A systematic literature review was also carried out. Results: Strengths and weaknesses related to OHS management of the three analysed projects were identified. Grounded on the case studies results a proposal of OHS management in construction projects, in a recommendations format, is also presented. Conclusion: Good results from OHS management in projects can be obtained as long as it is focused on success factors such as: top management commitment; line responsibility; involvement of all employees and, mainly, of direct and indirect managers. Well-defined OHS responsibilities; a well sized and structured organization and the creation of an honest, healthy, motivating and useful OHS environment team with a competent and dynamic coordinator leader are also important success factors.
{"title":"Occupational health and safety in construction projects: a case study on chemical industry sector","authors":"Olga Costa, J. Matias, C. Pimentel","doi":"10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0002","url":null,"abstract":"Background: This study was conducted to demonstrate the importance of occupational health and safety (OHS) management in construction project environments, taking into account the successful development of those projects. The associated problems in OHS management projects were also studied, as substantial empirical research has shown this is a complex theme with a large number of associated factors. Methods: In this study three projects developed in the Portuguese petrochemical industry were analysed using documentary analysis, on-going interaction with workers and direct observations of work activity. A systematic literature review was also carried out. Results: Strengths and weaknesses related to OHS management of the three analysed projects were identified. Grounded on the case studies results a proposal of OHS management in construction projects, in a recommendations format, is also presented. Conclusion: Good results from OHS management in projects can be obtained as long as it is focused on success factors such as: top management commitment; line responsibility; involvement of all employees and, mainly, of direct and indirect managers. Well-defined OHS responsibilities; a well sized and structured organization and the creation of an honest, healthy, motivating and useful OHS environment team with a competent and dynamic coordinator leader are also important success factors.","PeriodicalId":201704,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134328334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-30DOI: 10.24840/2184-0954_005.001_0005
Amin Nowfal, B. Çubukçuoğlu
Lebanon and Northern Cyprus are two developing regions where both have been witnessing an increase in population size and medium-rise buildings. Therefore, workers and construction sites increase, which makes workers more vulnerable to various fatal/non-fatal accidents. The effective and efficient management of health and safety is crucial for all projects undertaken under significant risk levels. This study investigates the Occupational Health and Safety regulations and how both countries deal with them to achieve maximum knowledge regarding construction health and safety. The data collected based on personal observations by site visits and conducting brief face-to-face informal interviews. Both oral interviews and observations are informal data collection methods but are suitable for certain kinds of data collection methods or techniques. The most common type of accident is falling from heights, electrical shocks that occur in construction sites of both countries. The findings of this research work proved that accidents could be prevented and even eliminated if all the required safety precautions are implemented. The root causes of the accidents need to be identified, and effective prevention measures should be taken to minimize the frequency and intensity of the accidents. This will surely improve the safety performance of the personnel on construction sites.
{"title":"Investigation of health and safety measures in construction sites in Lebanon and Northern Cyprus","authors":"Amin Nowfal, B. Çubukçuoğlu","doi":"10.24840/2184-0954_005.001_0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24840/2184-0954_005.001_0005","url":null,"abstract":"Lebanon and Northern Cyprus are two developing regions where both have been witnessing an increase in population size and medium-rise buildings. Therefore, workers and construction sites increase, which makes workers more vulnerable to various fatal/non-fatal accidents. The effective and efficient management of health and safety is crucial for all projects undertaken under significant risk levels. This study investigates the Occupational Health and Safety regulations and how both countries deal with them to achieve maximum knowledge regarding construction health and safety. The data collected based on personal observations by site visits and conducting brief face-to-face informal interviews. Both oral interviews and observations are informal data collection methods but are suitable for certain kinds of data collection methods or techniques. The most common type of accident is falling from heights, electrical shocks that occur in construction sites of both countries. The findings of this research work proved that accidents could be prevented and even eliminated if all the required safety precautions are implemented. The root causes of the accidents need to be identified, and effective prevention measures should be taken to minimize the frequency and intensity of the accidents. This will surely improve the safety performance of the personnel on construction sites.","PeriodicalId":201704,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety","volume":"38 8","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114132254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-30DOI: 10.24840/2184-0954_005.001_0001
R. Malone
On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organisation declared the SARS-CoV-2 viral outbreak a pandemic. This rapid review aimed to identify the pandemic's impact on frontline healthcare workers during the viral outbreak's initial months. Database searches December 1, 2019 to August 29, 2020 retrieved 18 relevant studies. Findings showed that healthcare workers internationally were negatively impacted by the pandemic. Compared to non-frontline healthcare workers a significantly greater proportion of frontline healthcare workers experienced: burnout, stress, and stressors regarding: childcare, job interference with work-family balance and difficulty getting off-duty time. Compared to male physicians, a significantly greater proportion of female physicians scored low for psychological well-being. Mean scores for stress were significantly higher among females and young healthcare workers (22 to 35 years). Mean scores for anxiety were significantly higher for: nurses compared to technicians, healthcare workers reporting extreme lack of protective equipment and those aged > 30 years. The prevalence of depression among frontline healthcare workers across studies in this review ranged from 9% to 51%. The prevalence of sleep issues ranged from 24% to 60% with some reporting nightmares. However, these studies lack homogeneity. Healthcare workers experienced fear of: contracting the virus (89.8%), spreading it to family (91.3%) and fear of an uncontrollable epidemic (86.8%). Over 90% reported skin lesions due to prolonged use of personal protective equipment. Many lost their lives to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. One prominent impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is the reported loss of healthcare worker's lives and this paper wishes to pay them tribute.
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Pub Date : 2020-11-30DOI: 10.24840/2184-0954_004.002_0006
Daniele Costa, J. Guedes, J. Santos Baptista
Thermal comfort affects satisfaction in the workplace, which impacts work efficiency and productivity. Since office workers spend most of their working hours performing sedentary tasks, a scoping review is proposed to contextualize how thermal sensation and thermal comfort are experimentally assessed in the scientific literature. This work presents the scoping review protocol for the scoping review. It follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for systematic review protocols (PRISMA-P). The scoping review will be elaborated based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The scoping review will consider peer-reviewed articles written in English, published or in-press. Grey literature and conference papers will be excluded. Only studies performing the experimental assessment of thermal sensation and thermal comfort of human subjects engaged in sedentary activities within homogeneous environments will be considered suitable for the scoping review. Studies will be retrieved from the Journal Storage (JSTOR), PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. The search strategy will consist of the use of the expression ("thermal comfort" OR "therm* sensation" OR "thermosensation") AND ("sedentary" or "office work*" or "office task*"). After removing duplicates, the remaining studies will have their title, abstract, and keywords screened. Studies meeting the eligibility criteria will be selected for full-text screening. Data items will be summarized using summary tables, and their reporting will consider the PRISMA-ScR checklist. The scoping review aims to summarize the existing scientific evidence and identify research needs to experimentally assess the thermal sensation and the thermal comfort of subjects performing sedentary tasks.
热舒适影响工作场所的满意度，从而影响工作效率和生产力。由于办公室工作人员的大部分工作时间都花在久坐不动的任务上，因此我们建议对科学文献中热感觉和热舒适的实验评估进行范围审查。本工作为范围审查提出了范围审查协议。它遵循系统评价的首选报告项目和系统评价方案的元分析(PRISMA-P)。范围审查将根据范围审查的系统审查和元分析扩展首选报告项目(PRISMA-ScR)进行详细阐述。范围审查将考虑同行评议的英文文章，已发表或正在出版。灰色文献和会议论文将被排除在外。只有对在均匀环境中从事久坐活动的人类受试者的热感觉和热舒适进行实验评估的研究才被认为适合于范围审查。研究将从期刊存储(JSTOR)、PubMed、Scopus和Web of Science数据库中检索。搜索策略将包括使用表达(“热舒适”或“热感觉”或“热感觉”)和(“久坐”或“办公室工作”或“办公室任务”)。删除重复项后，对剩余研究的标题、摘要和关键词进行筛选。符合资格标准的研究将被选中进行全文筛选。数据项将使用汇总表进行汇总，其报告将考虑PRISMA-ScR核对表。本综述旨在总结现有的科学证据，并确定实验评估受试者进行久坐任务时的热感觉和热舒适的研究需求。
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