American journal of industrial medicine最新文献

Background: Manual deconstruction-an alternative to mechanical demolition-is a crucial technique in the building industry that facilitates a circular economy for the built environment and achieves sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, the current body of literature lacks a thorough grasp of the OHS (occupational health and safety) hazards related to the deconstruction process. The current work closes this scholarly gap by outlining the deconstruction process as phases and sets of activities and highlighting potential health and safety hazards throughout different activities and phases.

Methods: The study uses numerous case studies and applies a descriptive case study technique to gather and analyze primary data from hundreds of photos and notes from over 40 field visits. The primary data are first used to prepare a comprehensive process map of deconstruction. Six construction safety experts and four industrial hygiene experts were then interviewed to identify and characterize health and safety hazards in images representative of the deconstruction activities.

Results: A taxonomy of OHS hazards for deconstruction was developed based on identifying 35 unique safety and 51 unique health hazards. Significant safety hazards in deconstruction activities include "struck-by," "trip, slip, and fall" hazards, and "lack of personal protective equipment." Major health hazards include ergonomic concerns, respiratory diseases, and eye strain.

Discussion: The study highlights the occupational health and safety issues faced by the deconstruction trade with a granularity rarely covered in existing literature. The assessments can be helpful for OHS practitioners to identify potential health and safety improvements across various deconstruction phases.

Background: Compared to other industry sectors, construction workers experience a disproportionately high rate of occupational injuries and fatalities. As research findings suggest, most of these incidents could be prevented if hazards were proactively recognized and properly addressed. In the construction industry, pre-task planning (PTP) is a preventive process intended to describe each step of work, identify associated safety and health hazards, and recommend controls to eliminate or mitigate the hazards before work begins. Despite its importance, the construction industry lacks comprehensive guidelines to design and implement PTP in a consistent and effective manner. To fill this gap, this study pursued two objectives: (1) identify shortcomings in current PTP practices and explore recommended solutions from practitioners' perspectives and (2) translate research findings into an applied tool to help practitioners assess and improve the quality of their PTP process.

Methods: To fill the gap, 28 construction safety and health professionals and 104 workers were interviewed, and seven onsite PTP sessions were directly observed.

Results: Shortcomings of current PTP practices as well as recommended solutions were categorized as (1) planning and implementation, (2) all-trades coordination, (3) engagement and buy-in, (4) training and logistics, (5) workforce diversity and the language barrier, and (6) PTP content accessibility.

Discussion/conclusions: An effective PTP process should be based on workers' direct involvement and input on task requirements and hazards. It needs to be regularly updated to reflect the changing work conditions. In addition to task-related information, to increase workers' awareness, PTP should paint a holistic view of the project and other trades' scopes.

Background: Bullying and harassment in the workplace are increasingly recognized as hazardous exposures associated with poor mental health and suicidality. The construction sector has one of the highest rates of suicide among all occupations and is actively engaged in efforts to destigmatize mental health support. However, there has been less focus on reducing factors that may be contributing to poor well-being among construction workers.

Methods: As a step toward addressing work-related determinants of mental health in construction, we collaborated with a large construction union to survey members about their experiences of abusive conduct. We adapted standardized questionnaires to better suit the sector, such as by assessing "hazing that went too far" and apprenticeship status. Additionally, we included questions on reporting of abuse, concern about the impacts of abuse, and an open-response to allow participants to share their perspectives.

Results: We developed and tested a carefully-tailored survey of abusive conduct. The responses to the survey (over 3300, including 500 narrative responses) will facilitate data-driven interventions with the potential to prevent and address abuse. This paper describes the survey development process in collaboration with the union, domains of abuse that are relevant to the construction context, and the survey protocol.

Conclusion: Through a collaborative effort, we developed an instrument to understand abusive conduct in construction and benchmark success in reducing adverse experiences of bullying and harassment. We recommend its use throughout the sector to reduce exposure to this well-being hazard.