Journal of safety research
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Exclusive reliance on such practices as policy review, audiometric testing audits, and noise surveillance to evaluate the effectiveness of workplace hearing conservation programs (HCP) fails to capture the impact of these programs as experienced by workers at the "shop floor" and offers little insight into the reasons and potential remedies for noted deficiencies. ⋯ Yearly program evaluation with input from all end-users is important in the process of hearing loss prevention. The qualitative assessment outlined in this paper serves as a basis for future quantitative assessments of HCP effectiveness using hearing threshold data and noise exposure assessments to examine changes in hearing levels as a function of noise exposure and other risk factors for hearing loss.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Effects of naturalistic cell phone conversations on driving performance.
The prevalence of automobile drivers talking on cell phones is growing, but the effect of that behavior on driving performance is unclear. Also unclear is the relationship between the difficulty level of a phone conversation and the resulting distraction. ⋯ Because an increasing number of people talk on the phone while driving, crashes caused by distracted drivers using cell phones will cause disruptions in business, as well as injury, disability, and permanent loss of personnel.
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Freeway entrance and exit ramp interchanges are the sites of far more crashes per mile driven than other segments of interstate highways, but the characteristics and circumstances of ramp crashes have been the subject of relatively little recent research. ⋯ Candidate countermeasures for run-off-road crashes include geometric design changes to increase ramp design speed such as increasing curve radii. Speed-related crashes may be reduced by the use of speed cameras accompanied by publicity. Rear-end crash countermeasures could include surveillance systems that quickly detect unexpected congestion, incident response programs, and variable message signs to alert drivers to traffic congestion ahead. Countermeasures for sideswipe/cutoff crashes could include extending the length of acceleration lanes.
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Motor-vehicle crash rate comparisons by age and gender usually are based on the extent to which drivers in a particular age/gender category are themselves injured or involved in crashes (e.g., the number of 20-year-old females in crashes). Basing comparisons instead on the extent to which drivers in various age/gender groups are responsible for deaths (including themselves) in their crashes is more revealing of their overall contribution to the problem. ⋯ The results highlight the contribution of young drivers to the motor-vehicle crash problem, the need for measures such as passenger restrictions in graduated licensing systems, and the need for vehicle modifications to better protect older occupants.