International journal of injury control and safety promotion
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Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot · Jan 2015
Risk compensation behaviours in construction workers' activities.
The purpose of this study was to test whether the construction workers have the tendency of engaging in risk compensation behaviours, and identify the demographic variables, which may influence the extent to which the construction workers may show risk compensation behaviours. Both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interviews) approaches were used in this study. A questionnaire survey was conducted with all the construction workers on three building construction sites of a leading construction company in Australia. ⋯ The workers with more working experience, higher education, or having never been injured at work before have a higher tendency to show risk compensation in their activities than the others. The implication is that contractors need to assess the potential influence of workers' risk compensation behaviours when evaluating the effect of risk control measures. It is recommended that supervisors pay more attention to the behavioural changes of those workers who have more experience, higher education, and have never been injured before after the implementation of new safety control measures on construction site.
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Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot · Jan 2015
Use of safety management practices for improving project performance.
Although site safety has long been a key research topic in the construction field, there is a lack of literature studying safety management practices (SMPs). The current research, therefore, aims to test the effect of SMPs on project performance. ⋯ Discussion about the impact of these three SMPs on construction was provided. Assuring safe construction should be an integral part of a construction project plan.
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Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot · Jan 2015
Observational StudyThe prevalence of motorcycle helmet use from serial observations in three Mexican cities.
Motorcycle use as a functional and recreational means of transportation is increasing in Mexico; the associated mortality rate has also increased. Appropriate helmet use can reduce a motorcyclist's risk of death or serious injury. This study quantified the prevalence of motorcycle helmet use in three Mexican cities (Cuernavaca, Guadalajara-Zapopan, and León) within the context of several ongoing road safety initiatives. ⋯ Helmet use decreased in León (p = 0.003) but increased in Guadalajara-Zapopan (p = 0.000) during this period. Motorcycle helmet use could be improved in all three cities. Since motorcycle use is increasing, interventions targeting motorcycle users and greater enforcement of helmet use are necessary to reduce crashes and non-fatal and fatal injuries.
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Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot · Jan 2014
Electrical deaths in the US construction: an analysis of fatality investigations.
Electrocution is among the 'fatal four' in US construction according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Learning from failures is believed to be an effective path to success, with deaths being the most serious system failures. ⋯ Results reveal the features of the electrical fatalities in construction and disclose the most common electrical safety challenges on construction sites. This research also suggests the sociotechnical system breakdowns and the less effectiveness of current safety training programmes may significantly contribute to worker's unsafe behaviours and electrical fatality occurrences.
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Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot · Jan 2014
A needle in a haystack: the use of routinely collected emergency department injury surveillance data to help identify physical child abuse.
A retrospective, descriptive analysis of a sample of children under 18 years presenting to a hospital emergency department (ED) for treatment of an injury was conducted. The aim was to explore characteristics and identify differences between children assigned abuse codes and children assigned unintentional injury codes using an injury surveillance database. ⋯ Superficial injury and bruising were the most common types of injury seen in children in the abuse group and the possible abuse group (26.9% and 18.8%, respectively), whereas those with unintentional injury were most likely to present with open wounds (18.4%). This study demonstrates that routinely collected injury surveillance data can be a useful source of information for describing injury characteristics in children assigned abuse codes compared to those assigned no abuse codes.