Modeling the Relationship between Safety Climate and Safety Performance in a Developing Construction Industry: A Cross-Cultural Validation Study.

PubMed

Zahoor, Hafiz; Chan, Albert P C; Utama, Wahyudi P; Gao, Ran; Zafar, Irfan

2017-03-28

This study attempts to validate a safety performance (SP) measurement model in the cross-cultural setting of a developing country. In addition, it highlights the variations in investigating the relationship between safety climate (SC) factors and SP indicators. The data were collected from forty under-construction multi-storey building projects in Pakistan. Based on the results of exploratory factor analysis, a SP measurement model was hypothesized. It was tested and validated by conducting confirmatory factor analysis on calibration and validation sub-samples respectively. The study confirmed the significant positive impact of SC on safety compliance and safety participation , and negative impact on number of self-reported accidents/injuries . However, number of near-misses could not be retained in the final SP model because it attained a lower standardized path coefficient value. Moreover, instead of safety participation , safety compliance established a stronger impact on SP. The study uncovered safety enforcement and promotion as a novel SC factor, whereas safety rules and work practices was identified as the most neglected factor. The study contributed to the body of knowledge by unveiling the deviations in existing dimensions of SC and SP. The refined model is expected to concisely measure the SP in the Pakistani construction industry, however, caution must be exercised while generalizing the study results to other developing countries.

The influence of organizational factors on patient safety: Examining successful handoffs in health care.

PubMed

Richter, Jason P; McAlearney, Ann Scheck; Pennell, Michael L

2016-01-01

Although patient handoffs have been extensively studied, they continue to be problematic. Studies have shown poor handoffs are associated with increased costs, morbidity, and mortality. No prior research compared perceptions of management and clinical staff regarding handoffs. Our aims were (a) to determine whether perceptions of organizational factors that can influence patient safety are positively associated with perceptions of successful patient handoffs, (b) to identify organizational factors that have the greatest influence on perceptions of successful handoffs, and (c) to determine whether associations between perceptions of these factors and successful handoffs differ for management and clinical staff. A total of 515,637 respondents from 1,052 hospitals completed the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture that assessed perceptions about organizational factors that influence patient safety. Using weighted least squares multiple regression, we tested seven organizational factors as predictors of successful handoffs. We fit three separate models using data collected from (a) all staff, (b) management only, and (c) clinical staff only. We found that perceived teamwork across units was the most significant predictor of perceived successful handoffs. Perceptions of staffing and management support for safety were also significantly associated with perceived successful handoffs for both management and clinical staff. For management respondents, perceptions of organizational learning or continuous improvement had a significant positive association with perceived successful handoffs, whereas the association was negative for clinical staff. Perceived communication openness had a significant association only among clinical staff. Hospitals should prioritize teamwork across units and strive to improve communication across the organization in efforts to improve handoffs. In addition, hospitals should ensure sufficient staffing and management support for patient safety. Different perceptions between management and clinical staff with respect to the importance of organizational learning are noteworthy and merit additional study.

Update from C3RS lessons learned team : safety culture and trend analysis.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-07-01

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) believes that, in addition to process and technology innovations, human-factors-based solutions can significantly contribute to improving safety in the railroad industry. To test this assumption, FRA implemen...

Safety climate practice in Korean manufacturing industry.

PubMed

Baek, Jong-Bae; Bae, Sejong; Ham, Byung-Ho; Singh, Karan P

2008-11-15

Safety climate survey was sent to 642 plants in 2003 to explore safety climate practices in the Korean manufacturing plants, especially in hazardous chemical treating plants. Out of 642 plants contacted 195 (30.4%) participated in the surveys. Data were collected by e-mail using SQL-server and mail. The main objective of this study was to explore safety climate practices (level of safety climate and the underlying problems). In addition, the variables that may influence the level of safety climate among managers and workers were explored. The questionnaires developed by health and safety executive (HSE) in the UK were modified to incorporate differences in Korean culture. Eleven important factors were summarized. Internal reliability of these factors was validated. Number of employees in the company varied from less than 30 employees (9.2%) to over 1000 employees (37.4%). Both managers and workers showed generally high level of safety climate awareness. The major underlying problems identified were inadequate health and safety procedures/rules, pressure for production, and rule breaking. The length of employment was a significant contributing factor to the level of safety climate. In this study, participants showed generally high level of safety climate, and length of employment affected the differences in the level of safety climate. Managers' commitment to comply safety rules, procedures, and effective safety education and training are recommended.

[Safety of food additives from a German and European point of view].

PubMed

Gürtler, R

2010-06-01

There are about 300 food additives permitted in the EU for which a re-evaluation program was initiated recently. Occasionally, it is speculated that the use of single food additives might be of safety concern. First results of the re-evaluation could give an impression on how such concerns were taken into account by responsible authorities, such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). For some of the food additives, the lowest dose resulting in adverse effects was lower in recent studies compared to previous studies. Thus, the acceptable daily intake (ADI) derived applying the common uncertainty factor was lower than the ADI derived using data from previous studies. Therefore, it has to be considered whether the conditions of use need to be modified for these food additives.

The predictive validity of safety climate.

PubMed

Johnson, Stephen E

2007-01-01

Safety professionals have increasingly turned their attention to social science for insight into the causation of industrial accidents. One social construct, safety climate, has been examined by several researchers [Cooper, M. D., & Phillips, R. A. (2004). Exploratory analysis of the safety climate and safety behavior relationship. Journal of Safety Research, 35(5), 497-512; Gillen, M., Baltz, D., Gassel, M., Kirsch, L., & Vacarro, D. (2002). Perceived safety climate, job Demands, and coworker support among union and nonunion injured construction workers. Journal of Safety Research, 33(1), 33-51; Neal, A., & Griffin, M. A. (2002). Safety climate and safety behaviour. Australian Journal of Management, 27, 66-76; Zohar, D. (2000). A group-level model of safety climate: Testing the effect of group climate on microaccidents in manufacturing jobs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(4), 587-596; Zohar, D., & Luria, G. (2005). A multilevel model of safety climate: Cross-level relationships between organization and group-level climates. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 616-628] who have documented its importance as a factor explaining the variation of safety-related outcomes (e.g., behavior, accidents). Researchers have developed instruments for measuring safety climate and have established some degree of psychometric reliability and validity. The problem, however, is that predictive validity has not been firmly established, which reduces the credibility of safety climate as a meaningful social construct. The research described in this article addresses this problem and provides additional support for safety climate as a viable construct and as a predictive indicator of safety-related outcomes. This study used 292 employees at three locations of a heavy manufacturing organization to complete the 16 item Zohar Safety Climate Questionnaire (ZSCQ) [Zohar, D., & Luria, G. (2005). A multilevel model of safety climate: Cross-level relationships between organization and group-level climates. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 616-628]. In addition, safety behavior and accident experience data were collected for 5 months following the survey and were statistically analyzed (structural equation modeling, confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, etc.) to identify correlations, associations, internal consistency, and factorial structures. Results revealed that the ZSCQ: (a) was psychometrically reliable and valid, (b) served as an effective predictor of safety-related outcomes (behavior and accident experience), and (c) could be trimmed to an 11 item survey with little loss of explanatory power. Practitioners and researchers can use the ZSCQ with reasonable certainty of the questionnaire's reliability and validity. This provides a solid foundation for the development of meaningful organizational interventions and/or continued research into social factors affecting industrial accident experience.

Patient safety in surgical environments: cross-countries comparison of psychometric properties and results of the Norwegian version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety.

PubMed

Haugen, Arvid S; Søfteland, Eirik; Eide, Geir E; Nortvedt, Monica W; Aase, Karina; Harthug, Stig

2010-09-22

How hospital health care personnel perceive safety climate has been assessed in several countries by using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety (HSOPS). Few studies have examined safety climate factors in surgical departments per se. This study examined the psychometric properties of a Norwegian translation of the HSOPS and also compared safety climate factors from a surgical setting to hospitals in the United States, the Netherlands and Norway. This survey included 575 surgical personnel in Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, an 1100-bed tertiary hospital in western Norway: surgeons, operating theatre nurses, anaesthesiologists, nurse anaesthetists and ancillary personnel. Of these, 358 returned the HSOPS, resulting in a 62% response rate. We used factor analysis to examine the applicability of the HSOPS factor structure in operating theatre settings. We also performed psychometric analysis for internal consistency and construct validity. In addition, we compared the percent of average positive responds of the patient safety climate factors with results of the US HSOPS 2010 comparative data base report. The professions differed in their perception of patient safety climate, with anaesthesia personnel having the highest mean scores. Factor analysis using the original 12-factor model of the HSOPS resulted in low reliability scores (r = 0.6) for two factors: "adequate staffing" and "organizational learning and continuous improvement". For the remaining factors, reliability was ≥ 0.7. Reliability scores improved to r = 0.8 by combining the factors "organizational learning and continuous improvement" and "feedback and communication about error" into one six-item factor, supporting an 11-factor model. The inter-item correlations were found satisfactory. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire need further investigations to be regarded as reliable in surgical environments. The operating theatre personnel perceived their hospital's patient safety climate far more negatively than the health care personnel in hospitals in the United States and with perceptions more comparable to those of health care personnel in hospitals in the Netherlands. In fact, the surgical personnel in our hospital may perceive that patient safety climate is less focused in our hospital, at least compared with the results from hospitals in the United States.

Considerations in the use of microneedles: pain, convenience, anxiety and safety.

PubMed

Jeong, Hye-Rin; Lee, Han-Sol; Choi, In-Jeong; Park, Jung-Hwan

2017-01-01

Transdermal delivery using microneedles is gaining increasing attention from pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies as one of the promising drug delivery methods. Microneedle products have recently become available on the market, and some of them are under evaluation for efficacy and safety. To be available in the market for cosmetic and therapeutic use, several factors should be considered, including pain, anxiety, convenience and safety. These factors are summarized and reviewed in this article according to type of microneedle. Various kinds of materials have been used for manufacturing microneedles and developing drug formulations for microneedles. Safety information about materials used for microneedles is summarized in terms of type of microneedles. In addition to their biocompatibility, mechanical safety is also discussed. This review can provide guidelines for designing microneedle products for proper use.

Workforce perceptions of hospital safety culture: development and validation of the patient safety climate in healthcare organizations survey.

PubMed

Singer, Sara; Meterko, Mark; Baker, Laurence; Gaba, David; Falwell, Alyson; Rosen, Amy

2007-10-01

To describe the development of an instrument for assessing workforce perceptions of hospital safety culture and to assess its reliability and validity. Primary data collected between March 2004 and May 2005. Personnel from 105 U.S. hospitals completed a 38-item paper and pencil survey. We received 21,496 completed questionnaires, representing a 51 percent response rate. Based on review of existing safety climate surveys, we developed a list of key topics pertinent to maintaining a culture of safety in high-reliability organizations. We developed a draft questionnaire to address these topics and pilot tested it in four preliminary studies of hospital personnel. We modified the questionnaire based on experience and respondent feedback, and distributed the revised version to 42,249 hospital workers. We randomly divided respondents into derivation and validation samples. We applied exploratory factor analysis to responses in the derivation sample. We used those results to create scales in the validation sample, which we subjected to multitrait analysis (MTA). We identified nine constructs, three organizational factors, two unit factors, three individual factors, and one additional factor. Constructs demonstrated substantial convergent and discriminant validity in the MTA. Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.50 to 0.89. It is possible to measure key salient features of hospital safety climate using a valid and reliable 38-item survey and appropriate hospital sample sizes. This instrument may be used in further studies to better understand the impact of safety climate on patient safety outcomes.

Safety Factors in Educational Facilities. An Annotated Reference List.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wakefield, Howard E.

Abstracts and descriptor terms are presented for 26 selected references with safety orientation. Included in addition to several general planning handbooks are topics related to--(1) stairways, (2) air structures, (3) site planning, (4) lighting, (5) bidding practice, (6) physically handicapped, (7) laboratory design, (8) mobile classrooms, (9)…

Increased risk of sadness and suicidality among victims of bullying experiencing additional threats to physical safety.

PubMed

Pham, Tammy B; Adesman, Andrew

2017-11-23

Objective To examine, in a nationally-representative sample of high school students, to what extent one or more additional threats to physical safety exacerbates the risk of sadness and suicidality among victims of school and/or cyber-bullying. Methods National data from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) were analyzed for grades 9-12 (n = 15,624). Victimization groups were characterized by school-bullying and cyber-bullying, with and without additional threats to physical safety: fighting at school, being threatened/injured at school, and skipping school out of fear for one's safety. Outcomes included 2-week sadness and suicidality. Outcomes for victimization groups were compared to non-victims using logistic regression adjusting for sex, grade and race/ethnicity. Results Overall, 20.2% of students were school-bullied, and 15.5% were cyber-bullied in the past year. Compared to non-victims, victims of school-bullying and victims of cyber-bullying (VoCBs) who did not experience additional threats to physical safety were 2.76 and 3.83 times more likely to report 2-week sadness, and 3.39 and 3.27 times more likely to exhibit suicidality, respectively. Conversely, victims of bullying who experienced one or more additional threats to physical safety were successively more likely to report these adverse outcomes. Notably, victims of school-bullying and VoCBs with all three additional risk factors were 13.13 and 17.75 times more likely to exhibit suicidality, respectively. Conclusion Risk of depression symptoms and suicidality among victims of school-bullying and/or cyber-bullying is greatly increased among those who have experienced additional threats to physical safety: fighting at school, being threatened/injured at school and skipping school out of fear for their safety.

A guide to structural factors for advanced composites used on spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vanwagenen, Robert

1989-01-01

The use of composite materials in spacecraft systems is constantly increasing. Although the areas of composite design and fabrication are maturing, they remain distinct from the same activities performed using conventional materials and processes. This has led to some confusion regarding the precise meaning of the term 'factor of safety' as it applies to these structures. In addition, composite engineering introduces terms such as 'knock-down factors' to further modify material properties for design purposes. This guide is intended to clarify these terms as well as their use in the design of composite structures for spacecraft. It is particularly intended to be used by the engineering community not involved in the day-to-day composites design process. An attempt is also made to explain the wide range of factors of safety encountered in composite designs as well as their relationship to the 1.4 factor of safety conventionally applied to metallic structures.

Chemistry of Food Additives: Direct and Indirect Effects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pauli, George H.

1984-01-01

The primary component(s), impurities, and degradation products of polysorbate 80, nitrate and nitrite salts, and diethylpyrocarbonate (DEPC) are discussed. Safety considerations related to these food additives are also noted. The chick-edema factor which results from an additive in poultry feed is also discussed. (JN)

Low edge safety factor operation and passive disruption avoidance in current carrying plasmas by the addition of stellarator rotational transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandya, M. D.; ArchMiller, M. C.; Cianciosa, M. R.; Ennis, D. A.; Hanson, J. D.; Hartwell, G. J.; Hebert, J. D.; Herfindal, J. L.; Knowlton, S. F.; Ma, X.; Massidda, S.; Maurer, D. A.; Roberds, N. A.; Traverso, P. J.

2015-11-01

Low edge safety factor operation at a value less than two ( q (a )=1 /ι̷tot(a )<2 ) is routine on the Compact Toroidal Hybrid device with the addition of sufficient external rotational transform. Presently, the operational space of this current carrying stellarator extends down to q (a )=1.2 without significant n = 1 kink mode activity after the initial plasma current rise phase of the discharge. The disruption dynamics of these low edge safety factor plasmas depend upon the fraction of helical field rotational transform from external stellarator coils to that generated by the plasma current. We observe that with approximately 10% of the total rotational transform supplied by the stellarator coils, low edge q disruptions are passively suppressed and avoided even though q(a) < 2. When the plasma does disrupt, the instability precursors measured and implicated as the cause are internal tearing modes with poloidal, m, and toroidal, n, helical mode numbers of m /n =3 /2 and 4/3 observed on external magnetic sensors and m /n =1 /1 activity observed on core soft x-ray emissivity measurements. Even though the edge safety factor passes through and becomes much less than q(a) < 2, external n = 1 kink mode activity does not appear to play a significant role in the disruption phenomenology observed.

The Introduction of "Safety Science" into an Undergraduate Nursing Programme at a Large University in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

White, Nick; Clark, Deborah; Lewis, Robin; Robson, Wayne

2016-04-13

Implementing safety science {a term adopted by the authors which incorporates both patient safety and human factors (Sherwood, G. (2011). Integrating quality and safety science in nursing education and practice. Journal of Research in Nursing, 16(3), 226-240. doi: 10.1177/1744987111400960)} into healthcare programmes is a major challenge facing healthcare educators worldwide (National Advisory Group on the Safety of Patients in England, 2013; World Health Organisation, 2009). Patient safety concerns relating to human factors have been well-documented over the years, and the root cause(s) of as many as 65-80 % of these events are linked to human error (Dunn et al., 2007; Reason, 2005). This paper will describe how safety science education was embedded into a pre-registration nursing programme at a large UK university. The authors argue that the processes described in this paper, may be successfully applied to other pre-registration healthcare programmes in addition to nursing.

Effects of a Workplace Intervention Targeting Psychosocial Risk Factors on Safety and Health Outcomes

PubMed Central

Hammer, Leslie B.; Truxillo, Donald M.; Bodner, Todd; Rineer, Jennifer; Pytlovany, Amy C.; Richman, Amy

2015-01-01

The goal of this study was to test the effectiveness of a workplace intervention targeting work-life stress and safety-related psychosocial risk factors on health and safety outcomes. Data were collected over time using a randomized control trial design with 264 construction workers employed in an urban municipal department. The intervention involved family- and safety-supportive supervisor behavior training (computer-based), followed by two weeks of behavior tracking and a four-hour, facilitated team effectiveness session including supervisors and employees. A significant positive intervention effect was found for an objective measure of blood pressure at the 12-month follow-up. However, no significant intervention results were found for self-reported general health, safety participation, or safety compliance. These findings suggest that an intervention focused on supervisor support training and a team effectiveness process for planning and problem solving should be further refined and utilized in order to improve employee health with additional research on the beneficial effects on worker safety. PMID:26557703

A new understanding of multiple-pulsed laser-induced retinal injury thresholds.

PubMed

Lund, David J; Sliney, David H

2014-04-01

Laser safety standards committees have struggled for years to formulate adequately a sound method for treating repetitive-pulse laser exposures. Safety standards for lamps and LEDs have ignored this issue because averaged irradiance appeared to treat the issue adequately for large retinal image sizes and skin exposures. Several authors have recently questioned the current approach of three test conditions (i.e., limiting single-pulse exposure, average irradiance, and a single-pulse-reduction factor) as still insufficient to treat pulses of unequal energies or certain pulse groupings. Schulmeister et al. employed thermal modeling to show that a total-on-time pulse (TOTP) rule was conservative. Lund further developed the approach of probability summation proposed by Menendez et al. to explain pulse-additivity, whereby additivity is the result of an increasing probability of detecting injury with multiple pulse exposures. This latter argument relates the increase in detection probability to the slope of the probit curve for the threshold studies. Since the uncertainty in the threshold for producing an ophthalmoscopically detectable minimal visible lesion (MVL) is large for retinal exposure to a collimated laser beam, safety committees traditionally applied large risk reduction factors ("safety factors") of one order of magnitude when deriving intrabeam, "point-source" exposure limits. This reduction factor took into account the probability of visually detecting the low-contrast lesion among other factors. The reduction factor is smaller for large spot sizes where these difficulties are quite reduced. Thus the N⁻⁰·²⁵ reduction factor may result from the difficulties in detecting the lesion. Recent studies on repetitive pulse exposures in both animal and in vitro (retinal explant) models support this interpretation of the available data.

Consumer Perceptions of the Safety of Ready-to-Eat Foods in Retail Food Store Settings.

PubMed

Levine, Katrina; Yavelak, Mary; Luchansky, John B; Porto-Fett, Anna C S; Chapman, Benjamin

2017-08-01

To better understand how consumers perceive food safety risks in retail food store settings, a survey was administered to 1,041 nationally representative participants who evaluated possible food safety risks depicted in selected photographs and self-reported their perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. Participants were shown 12 photographs taken at retail stores portraying either commonly perceived or actual food safety contributing factors, such as cross-contamination, product and equipment temperatures, worker hygiene, and/or store sanitation practices. Participants were then asked to specifically identify what they saw, comment as to whether what they saw was safe or unsafe, and articulate what actions they would take in response to these situations. In addition to the survey, focus groups were employed to supplement survey findings with qualitative data. Survey respondents identified risk factors for six of nine actual contributing factor photographs >50% of the time: poor produce storage sanitation (86%, n = 899), cross-contamination during meat slicing (72%, n = 750), bare-hand contact of ready-to-eat food in the deli area (67%, n = 698), separation of raw and ready-to-eat food in the seafood case (63%, n = 660), cross-contamination from serving utensils in the deli case (62%, n = 644), and incorrect product storage temperature (51%, n = 528). On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 was very unsafe and 5 was very safe, a significant difference was found between average risk perception scores for photographs of actual contributing factors (score of ca. 2.5) and scores for photographs of perceived contributing factors (score of ca. 2.0). Themes from the focus groups supported the results of the survey and provided additional insight into consumer food safety risk perceptions. The results of this study inform communication interventions for consumers and retail food safety professionals aimed at improving hazard identification.

34 CFR 668.49 - Institutional fire safety policies and fire statistics.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Institutional fire safety policies and fire statistics... fire statistics. (a) Additional definitions that apply to this section. Cause of fire: The factor or... statistics described in paragraph (c) of this section. (2) A description of each on-campus student housing...

Exploring the effects of state highway safety laws and sociocultural characteristics on fatal crashes.

PubMed

Dong, Chunjiao; Nambisan, Shashi S; Clarke, David B; Sun, Jian

2017-04-03

Distinguished from the traditional perspectives in crash analyses, which examined the effects of geometric design features, traffic factors, and other relevant attributes on the crash frequencies of roadway entities, our study focuses on exploring the effects of highway safety laws, as well as sociocultural characteristics, on fatal crashes across states. Law and regulation related data were collected from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, State Highway Safety Offices, and Governors Highway Safety Association. A variety of sociodemographic characteristics were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, cultural factors and other attributes from a variety of resources are considered and incorporated in the modeling process. These data and fatal crash counts were collected for the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia and were analyzed using zero-truncated negative binomial (ZTNB) regression models. The results show that, in law and regulation-related factors, the use of speed cameras, no handheld cell phone ban, limited handheld cell phone ban, and no text messaging ban are found to have significant effects on fatal crashes. Regarding sociocultural characteristics, married couples with both husband and wife in the labor force are found to be associated with lower crash frequencies, the ratios of workers traveling to work by carpool, those driving alone, workers working outside the county of residence, language other than English and limited English fluency, and the number of licensed drivers are found to be associated with higher crash frequencies. Through reviewing and modeling existing state highway safety laws and sociocultural characteristics, the results reveal new insights that could influence policy making. In addition, the results would benefit amending existing laws and regulations and provide testimony about highway safety issues before lawmakers consider new legislation.

Healthcare quality and safety: a review of policy, practice and research.

PubMed

Waring, Justin; Allen, Davina; Braithwaite, Jeffrey; Sandall, Jane

2016-02-01

Over the last two decades healthcare quality and safety have risen to the fore of health policy and research. This has largely been informed by theoretical and empirical ideas found in the fields of ergonomics and human factors. These have enabled significant advances in our understanding and management of quality and safety. However, a parallel and at time neglected sociological literature on clinical quality and safety is presented as offering additional, complementary, and at times critical insights on the problems of quality and safety. This review explores the development and contributions of both the mainstream and more sociological approaches to safety. It shows that where mainstream approaches often focus on the influence of human and local environment factors in shaping quality, a sociological perspective can deepen knowledge of the wider social, cultural and political factors that contextualise the clinical micro-system. It suggests these different perspectives can easily complement one another, offering a more developed and layered understanding of quality and safety. It also suggests that the sociological literature can bring to light important questions about the limits of the more mainstream approaches and ask critical questions about the role of social inequality, power and control in the framing of quality and safety. © 2015 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

Workforce Perceptions of Hospital Safety Culture: Development and Validation of the Patient Safety Climate in Healthcare Organizations Survey

PubMed Central

Singer, Sara; Meterko, Mark; Baker, Laurence; Gaba, David; Falwell, Alyson; Rosen, Amy

2007-01-01

Objective To describe the development of an instrument for assessing workforce perceptions of hospital safety culture and to assess its reliability and validity. Data Sources/Study Setting Primary data collected between March 2004 and May 2005. Personnel from 105 U.S. hospitals completed a 38-item paper and pencil survey. We received 21,496 completed questionnaires, representing a 51 percent response rate. Study Design Based on review of existing safety climate surveys, we developed a list of key topics pertinent to maintaining a culture of safety in high-reliability organizations. We developed a draft questionnaire to address these topics and pilot tested it in four preliminary studies of hospital personnel. We modified the questionnaire based on experience and respondent feedback, and distributed the revised version to 42,249 hospital workers. Data Collection We randomly divided respondents into derivation and validation samples. We applied exploratory factor analysis to responses in the derivation sample. We used those results to create scales in the validation sample, which we subjected to multitrait analysis (MTA). Principal Findings We identified nine constructs, three organizational factors, two unit factors, three individual factors, and one additional factor. Constructs demonstrated substantial convergent and discriminant validity in the MTA. Cronbach's α coefficients ranged from 0.50 to 0.89. Conclusions It is possible to measure key salient features of hospital safety climate using a valid and reliable 38-item survey and appropriate hospital sample sizes. This instrument may be used in further studies to better understand the impact of safety climate on patient safety outcomes. PMID:17850530

Factors associated with self-reported inattentive driving at highway-rail grade crossings.

PubMed

Zhao, Shanshan; Khattak, Aemal J

2017-12-01

This research identified factors associated with inattentive driving at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings (HRGCs) by investigating drivers' self-reported inattentive driving experiences and factors pertaining to their socioeconomic, personality, attitudinal, and other characteristics. A random selection of 2500 households in Nebraska received a survey questionnaire designed for licensed motor vehicle drivers; respondents returned 980 questionnaires. Factor analysis identified latent variables evaluating drivers' patience and inclination to wait for trains, attitudes toward new technology, law enforcement or education regarding HRGC safety, and the propensity to commit serious traffic violations at HRGCs. The investigation utilized a structural equation model for analysis. This model indicated that drivers with a higher risk of inattentive driving at HRGCs were: female, younger in age, from households with higher incomes, with shorter tenure (in years) in their current city of residence, more frequently used HRGCs, received less information on safety at HRGCs, had less patience to wait for trains to pass and had less interest in safety improvement technology, law enforcement or safety education at HRGCs. These research findings provide useful information for future research and to policy makers for improving public safety. Additionally, the results are useful for safety educational program providers for targeted program delivery to drivers that are more vulnerable to distracted driving at HRGCs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbiological Food Safety Surveillance in China

PubMed Central

Pei, Xiaoyan; Li, Ning; Guo, Yunchang; Liu, Xiumei; Yan, Lin; Li, Ying; Yang, Shuran; Hu, Jing; Zhu, Jianghui; Yang, Dajin

2015-01-01

Microbiological food safety surveillance is a system that collects data regarding food contamination by foodborne pathogens, parasites, viruses, and other harmful microbiological factors. It helps to understand the spectrum of food safety, timely detect food safety hazards, and provide relevant data for food safety supervision, risk assessment, and standards-setting. The study discusses the microbiological surveillance of food safety in China, and introduces the policies and history of the national microbiological surveillance system. In addition, the function and duties of different organizations and institutions are provided in this work, as well as the generation and content of the surveillance plan, quality control, database, and achievement of the microbiological surveillance of food safety in China. PMID:26343705

A case example of asphyxia due to occupational exposure to airborne chemicals and review of workplace fatalities.

PubMed

Frame, Meredith H; Schandl, Cynthia A

2015-03-01

Although worker injury and fatalities have decreased since adoption of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970, it remains an important safety issue. This article describes a 27-year-old white male who died from occupational exposure to airborne chemicals. Several trends in the last several decades, both in the types of injuries and the occupations associated with fatalities, are noted. Additionally, individual risk factors such as age, gender, chronic disease, smoking, and alcohol and drug use are implicated in worker health and safety. The role of the forensic pathologist in the investigation of workplace deaths is highlighted, in addition to the future of occupational safety and current improvements brought about by such incidents. © 2014 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

ASRDI oxygen technology survey, Volume 7: Characteristics of metals that influence system safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pelouch, J. J., Jr.

1974-01-01

A literature survey and analysis of the material and process factors affecting the safety of metals in oxygen systems is presented. In addition, the practices of those who specify, build, or use oxygen systems relative to the previous is summarized. Alloys based on iron, copper, nickel, and aluminum were investigated representing the bulk of metals found in oxygen systems. Safety-related characteristics of other miscellaneous metals are summarized. It was found that factors affecting the safety of metals in oxygen systems exit in all phases of the evolutionary process, from smelting and mill techniques through end-production fabrication. The safety of a given metal in an oxygen system was determined to be influenced by the particular service requirement. The metal characteristics should favorably influence fulfillment of these requirements. Thus, no singular metal or alloy could be classified as safest for all types of oxygen service.

Perceived safety and controllability of events: Markers of risk for marijuana use in young adults?

PubMed

Sartor, Carolyn E; Ecker, Anthony H; Kraus, Shane W; Leeman, Robert F; Dukes, Kristin N; Foster, Dawn W

2017-03-01

Drawing on constructs from the trauma literature, the current study evaluated perceptions of safety and controllability of events as potential markers of risk for marijuana use. In addition, we characterized these perceptions in relation to individual level substance abuse risk factors (marijuana expectancies, impulsivity, depression, and anxiety), gender, and race. Data were collected via web survey from college students at two northeastern universities (n=228, 82.0% female). Controllability of events (CE) was rated significantly higher by Blacks than Whites. Safety/vulnerability (SV) and CE were associated with impulsivity, depression, and anxiety. CE was also associated with marijuana expectancies. Logistic regression analyses revealed a modest but significant association between SV and lifetime use even after adjusting for race, gender, age, and individual level substance abuse risk factors (odds ratio=1.10, 95% confidence intervals:1.02-1.18). No association between SV and past 3month frequency of use or between CE and either marijuana outcome was found. Findings support a link between perceptions of safety and ever using marijuana. They further demonstrate overlap of both perceived safety and controllability of events with substance use related risk factors, and suggest that they differ by race. Additional studies that assess substance use more broadly and query trauma history, using larger, more diverse samples, are needed to more fully grasp the relevance of these constructs to substance use, including their potential as targets for substance abuse prevention efforts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Methodology to develop crash modification functions for road safety treatments with fully specified and hierarchical models.

PubMed

Chen, Yongsheng; Persaud, Bhagwant

2014-09-01

Crash modification factors (CMFs) for road safety treatments are developed as multiplicative factors that are used to reflect the expected changes in safety performance associated with changes in highway design and/or the traffic control features. However, current CMFs have methodological drawbacks. For example, variability with application circumstance is not well understood, and, as important, correlation is not addressed when several CMFs are applied multiplicatively. These issues can be addressed by developing safety performance functions (SPFs) with components of crash modification functions (CM-Functions), an approach that includes all CMF related variables, along with others, while capturing quantitative and other effects of factors and accounting for cross-factor correlations. CM-Functions can capture the safety impact of factors through a continuous and quantitative approach, avoiding the problematic categorical analysis that is often used to capture CMF variability. There are two formulations to develop such SPFs with CM-Function components - fully specified models and hierarchical models. Based on sample datasets from two Canadian cities, both approaches are investigated in this paper. While both model formulations yielded promising results and reasonable CM-Functions, the hierarchical model was found to be more suitable in retaining homogeneity of first-level SPFs, while addressing CM-Functions in sub-level modeling. In addition, hierarchical models better capture the correlations between different impact factors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient safety in out-of-hours primary care: a review of patient records.

PubMed

Smits, Marleen; Huibers, Linda; Kerssemeijer, Brian; de Feijter, Eimert; Wensing, Michel; Giesen, Paul

2010-12-10

Most patients receive healthcare in primary care settings, but relatively little is known about patient safety. Out-of-hours contacts are of particular importance to patient safety. Our aim was to examine the incidence, types, causes, and consequences of patient safety incidents at general practice cooperatives for out-of-hours primary care and to examine which factors were associated with the occurrence of patient safety incidents. A retrospective study of 1,145 medical records concerning patient contacts with four general practice cooperatives. Reviewers identified records with evidence of a potential patient safety incident; a physician panel determined whether a patient safety incident had indeed occurred. In addition, the panel determined the type, causes, and consequences of the incidents. Factors associated with incidents were examined in a random coefficient logistic regression analysis. In 1,145 patient records, 27 patient safety incidents were identified, an incident rate of 2.4% (95% CI: 1.5% to 3.2%). The most frequent incident type was treatment (56%). All incidents had at least partly been caused by failures in clinical reasoning. The majority of incidents did not result in patient harm (70%). Eight incidents had consequences for the patient, such as additional interventions or hospitalisation. The panel assessed that most incidents were unlikely to result in patient harm in the long term (89%). Logistic regression analysis showed that age was significantly related to incident occurrence: the likelihood of an incident increased with 1.03 for each year increase in age (95% CI: 1.01 to 1.04). Patient safety incidents occur in out-of-hours primary care, but most do not result in harm to patients. As clinical reasoning played an important part in these incidents, a better understanding of clinical reasoning and guideline adherence at GP cooperatives could contribute to patient safety.

Financial Management: Extending the Financial Statements Audit Requirement of the CFO Act to Additional Federal Agencies

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-05-14

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has balance-sheet-only audits every 3 to 5 years, most recently for fiscal year 1997. It did not prepare fiscal...associated with the agency’s operations were the most important factors to Have had financial statements audits Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety...audits, the International Trade Commission and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, did not have financial statements audits for fiscal year

A Qualitative Comparison of Susceptibility and Behavior in Recreational and Occupational Risk Environments: Implications for Promoting Health and Safety.

PubMed

Haas, Emily Joy; Mattson, Marifran

2016-06-01

Although internal factors that influence risk are frequently studied to understand human behavior, external factors, including social, cultural, and institutional factors, should be better utilized to inform ways to efficiently target, tailor, and promote safety messaging to at-risk populations. Semi-structured interviews obtained data from 37 motorcyclists and 18 mineworkers about their risk perceptions and behaviors within their respective dynamic environments. A comparative thematic analysis revealed information about external factors that influence risk perceptions and behaviors. Results support the importance of qualitative approaches for assessing and targeting individuals' risk perceptions and behaviors. In addition, segmenting at-risk subgroups within target populations and tailoring messages for these at-risk groups is critical for safety behavior modification. Practitioners should utilize strategic, culture-centric risk communication that takes into account external factors when determining when, who, and what to communicate via health promotion activities to more accurately disseminate valid, empathetic, and engaging communication with a higher level of fidelity.

Racism and Illicit Drug Use Among African American Women: The Protective Effects of Ethnic Identity, Affirmation, and Behavior.

PubMed

Stevens-Watkins, Danelle; Perry, Brea; Harp, Kathi L; Oser, Carrie B

2012-11-01

Though recent evidence indicates that rates of illicit drug use among African American women are now higher than the national average, little is known about the etiology of substance use in this population. In addition, the effects of racism and other cultural factors are understudied and may be unique amongst African American women. This cross-sectional study explores risk and protective factors for drug use among 204 African American women. More specifically, associations between racism experiences and drug use are investigated in the context of potential moderating influences (i.e., psychosocial resources, social safety net variables, and cultural identity and practices). Findings suggest that racism is associated with drug use, but that its effects diminish with age. In addition, results suggest that psychosocial resources, social safety net factors and culturally specific factors like ethnic community membership and engagement in cultural practices afford African American women some protection against the detrimental effects of racism.

Racism and Illicit Drug Use Among African American Women: The Protective Effects of Ethnic Identity, Affirmation, and Behavior

PubMed Central

Stevens-Watkins, Danelle; Perry, Brea; Harp, Kathi L.; Oser, Carrie B.

2012-01-01

Though recent evidence indicates that rates of illicit drug use among African American women are now higher than the national average, little is known about the etiology of substance use in this population. In addition, the effects of racism and other cultural factors are understudied and may be unique amongst African American women. This cross-sectional study explores risk and protective factors for drug use among 204 African American women. More specifically, associations between racism experiences and drug use are investigated in the context of potential moderating influences (i.e., psychosocial resources, social safety net variables, and cultural identity and practices). Findings suggest that racism is associated with drug use, but that its effects diminish with age. In addition, results suggest that psychosocial resources, social safety net factors and culturally specific factors like ethnic community membership and engagement in cultural practices afford African American women some protection against the detrimental effects of racism. PMID:24482547

Road death trend in the United States: implied effects of prevention.

PubMed

Robertson, Leon

2018-05-01

This study estimates road deaths prevented by U.S. vehicle safety regulations, state laws, and other efforts based on comparison of actual deaths to those predicted from temperature and precipitation effects on exposure, migration to warmer areas, population growth, median age of the population, and vehicle mix. Logistic regression of risk factors predictive of road deaths in 1961, prior to the adoption of federal vehicle safety regulations, state behavioral change laws, and other preventive efforts were used to predict deaths in subsequent years given the changing prevalence of the risk factors from 1962 to 2015. The included risk factors are strong predictors of road death risk. Without the preventive efforts, an additional 5.8 million road deaths would likely have occurred in the U.S. from the initiation of federal safety standards for new vehicles in 1968 through 2015.

The Analysis of the Contribution of Human Factors to the In-Flight Loss of Control Accidents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ancel, Ersin; Shih, Ann T.

2012-01-01

In-flight loss of control (LOC) is currently the leading cause of fatal accidents based on various commercial aircraft accident statistics. As the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) emerges, new contributing factors leading to LOC are anticipated. The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), along with other aviation agencies and communities are actively developing safety products to mitigate the LOC risk. This paper discusses the approach used to construct a generic integrated LOC accident framework (LOCAF) model based on a detailed review of LOC accidents over the past two decades. The LOCAF model is comprised of causal factors from the domain of human factors, aircraft system component failures, and atmospheric environment. The multiple interdependent causal factors are expressed in an Object-Oriented Bayesian belief network. In addition to predicting the likelihood of LOC accident occurrence, the system-level integrated LOCAF model is able to evaluate the impact of new safety technology products developed in AvSP. This provides valuable information to decision makers in strategizing NASA's aviation safety technology portfolio. The focus of this paper is on the analysis of human causal factors in the model, including the contributions from flight crew and maintenance workers. The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) taxonomy was used to develop human related causal factors. The preliminary results from the baseline LOCAF model are also presented.

The likelihood of achieving quantified road safety targets: a binary logistic regression model for possible factors.

PubMed

Sze, N N; Wong, S C; Lee, C Y

2014-12-01

In past several decades, many countries have set quantified road safety targets to motivate transport authorities to develop systematic road safety strategies and measures and facilitate the achievement of continuous road safety improvement. Studies have been conducted to evaluate the association between the setting of quantified road safety targets and road fatality reduction, in both the short and long run, by comparing road fatalities before and after the implementation of a quantified road safety target. However, not much work has been done to evaluate whether the quantified road safety targets are actually achieved. In this study, we used a binary logistic regression model to examine the factors - including vehicle ownership, fatality rate, and national income, in addition to level of ambition and duration of target - that contribute to a target's success. We analyzed 55 quantified road safety targets set by 29 countries from 1981 to 2009, and the results indicate that targets that are in progress and with lower level of ambitions had a higher likelihood of eventually being achieved. Moreover, possible interaction effects on the association between level of ambition and the likelihood of success are also revealed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors Influencing Attitude, Safety Behavior, and Knowledge regarding Household Waste Management in Guinea: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

Mamady, Keita

2016-01-01

Waste indiscriminate disposal is recognized as an important cause of environmental pollution and is associated with health problems. Safe management and disposal of household waste are an important problem to the capital city of Guinea (Conakry). The objective of this study was to identify socioeconomic and demographic factors associated with practice, knowledge, and safety behavior of family members regarding household waste management and to produce a remedial action plan. I found that no education background, income, and female individuals were independently associated with indiscriminate waste disposal. Unplanned residential area was an additional factor associated with indiscriminate waste disposal. I also found that the community residents had poor knowledge and unsafe behavior in relation to waste management. The promotion of environmental information and public education and implementation of community action programs on disease prevention and health promotion will enhance environmental friendliness and safety of the community. PMID:27092183

Ethanol-diesel fuel blends -- a review.

PubMed

Hansen, Alan C; Zhang, Qin; Lyne, Peter W L

2005-02-01

Ethanol is an attractive alternative fuel because it is a renewable bio-based resource and it is oxygenated, thereby providing the potential to reduce particulate emissions in compression-ignition engines. In this review the properties and specifications of ethanol blended with diesel fuel are discussed. Special emphasis is placed on the factors critical to the potential commercial use of these blends. These factors include blend properties such as stability, viscosity and lubricity, safety and materials compatibility. The effect of the fuel on engine performance, durability and emissions is also considered. The formulation of additives to correct certain key properties and maintain blend stability is suggested as a critical factor in ensuring fuel compatibility with engines. However, maintaining vehicle safety with these blends may entail fuel tank modifications. Further work is required in specifying acceptable fuel characteristics, confirming the long-term effects on engine durability, and ensuring safety in handling and storing ethanol-diesel blends.

Factors Influencing Attitude, Safety Behavior, and Knowledge regarding Household Waste Management in Guinea: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PubMed

Mamady, Keita

2016-01-01

Waste indiscriminate disposal is recognized as an important cause of environmental pollution and is associated with health problems. Safe management and disposal of household waste are an important problem to the capital city of Guinea (Conakry). The objective of this study was to identify socioeconomic and demographic factors associated with practice, knowledge, and safety behavior of family members regarding household waste management and to produce a remedial action plan. I found that no education background, income, and female individuals were independently associated with indiscriminate waste disposal. Unplanned residential area was an additional factor associated with indiscriminate waste disposal. I also found that the community residents had poor knowledge and unsafe behavior in relation to waste management. The promotion of environmental information and public education and implementation of community action programs on disease prevention and health promotion will enhance environmental friendliness and safety of the community.

Patient Safety Culture Survey in Pediatric Complex Care Settings: A Factor Analysis.

PubMed

Hessels, Amanda J; Murray, Meghan; Cohen, Bevin; Larson, Elaine L

2017-04-19

Children with complex medical needs are increasing in number and demanding the services of pediatric long-term care facilities (pLTC), which require a focus on patient safety culture (PSC). However, no tool to measure PSC has been tested in this unique hybrid acute care-residential setting. The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture tool slightly modified for use in the pLTC setting. Factor analyses were performed on data collected from 239 staff at 3 pLTC in 2012. Items were screened by principal axis factoring, and the original structure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identify the best model fit for the pLTC data, and factor reliability was assessed by Cronbach alpha. The extracted, rotated factor solution suggested items in 4 (staffing, nonpunitive response to mistakes, communication openness, and organizational learning) of the original 12 dimensions may not be a good fit for this population. Nevertheless, in the pLTC setting, both the original and the modified factor solutions demonstrated similar reliabilities to the published consistencies of the survey when tested in adult nursing homes and the items factored nearly identically as theorized. This study demonstrates that the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture with minimal modification may be an appropriate instrument to measure PSC in pLTC settings. Additional psychometric testing is recommended to further validate the use of this instrument in this setting, including examining the relationship to safety outcomes. Increased use will yield data for benchmarking purposes across these specialized settings to inform frontline workers and organizational leaders of areas of strength and opportunity for improvement.

Safety Performance of Airborne Separation: Preliminary Baseline Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Consiglio, Maria C.; Hoadley, Sherwood T.; Wing, David J.; Baxley, Brian T.

2007-01-01

The Safety Performance of Airborne Separation (SPAS) study is a suite of Monte Carlo simulation experiments designed to analyze and quantify safety behavior of airborne separation. This paper presents results of preliminary baseline testing. The preliminary baseline scenario is designed to be very challenging, consisting of randomized routes in generic high-density airspace in which all aircraft are constrained to the same flight level. Sustained traffic density is varied from approximately 3 to 15 aircraft per 10,000 square miles, approximating up to about 5 times today s traffic density in a typical sector. Research at high traffic densities and at multiple flight levels are planned within the next two years. Basic safety metrics for aircraft separation are collected and analyzed. During the progression of experiments, various errors, uncertainties, delays, and other variables potentially impacting system safety will be incrementally introduced to analyze the effect on safety of the individual factors as well as their interaction and collective effect. In this paper we report the results of the first experiment that addresses the preliminary baseline condition tested over a range of traffic densities. Early results at five times the typical traffic density in today s NAS indicate that, under the assumptions of this study, airborne separation can be safely performed. In addition, we report on initial observations from an exploration of four additional factors tested at a single traffic density: broadcast surveillance signal interference, extent of intent sharing, pilot delay, and wind prediction error.

[Endorsement of risk management and patient safety by certification of conformity in health care quality assessment].

PubMed

Waßmuth, Ralf

2015-01-01

Certification of conformity in health care should provide assurance of compliance with quality standards. This also includes risk management and patient safety. Based on a comprehensive definition of quality, beneficial effects on the management of risks and the enhancement of patient safety can be expected from certification of conformity. While these effects have strong face validity, they are currently not sufficiently supported by evidence from health care research. Whether this relates to a lack of evidence or a lack of investigation remains open. Advancing safety culture and "climate", as well as learning from adverse events rely in part on quality management and are at least in part reflected in the certification of healthcare quality. However, again, evidence of the effectiveness of such measures is limited. Moreover, additional factors related to personality, attitude and proactive action of healthcare professionals are crucial factors in advancing risk management and patient safety which are currently not adequately reflected in certification of conformity programs.

Impact of Safety Training and Interventions on Training-Transfer: Targeting Migrant Construction Workers.

PubMed

Hussain, Rahat; Pedro, Akeem; Lee, Do Yeop; Pham, Hai Chien; Park, Chan Sik

2018-05-01

Despite substantial efforts to improve construction safety training, the accident rate of migrant workers is still high. One of the primary factors contributing to the inefficacy of training includes information delivery gaps during training sessions (knowledge-transfer). In addition, there is insufficient evidence that these training programs alone are effective enough to enable migrant workers to transfer their skills to jobsite (training-transfer). This research attempts to identify and evaluate additional interventions to improve the transfer of acquired knowledge to workplace. For this purpose, this study presents the first known experimental effort to assess the effect of interventions on migrant work groups in a multinational construction project in Qatar. Data analysis reveals that the adoption of training programs with the inclusion of interventions significantly improves training-transfer. Construction safety experts can leverage the findings of this study to enhance training-transfer by increasing worker's safety performance and hazard identification ability.

Factors influencing African-American mothers' concerns about immunization safety: a summary of focus group findings.

PubMed Central

Shui, Irene; Kennedy, Allison; Wooten, Karen; Schwartz, Benjamin; Gust, Deborah

2005-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine the vaccine safety concerns of African-American mothers who, despite concerns, have their children immunized. METHODS: Six focus groups of Atlanta-area African-American mothers who were very concerned about vaccine safety but whose children were fully vaccinated were conducted. RESULTS: Major factors influencing participants' concerns about immunizations included: lack of information and mistrust of the medical community and government. Factors that convinced parents to have their child immunized despite their concerns included social norms and/or laws supporting immunization and fear of the consequences of not immunizing. Suggestions given to reduce concerns included improving available information that addressed their concerns and provider-patient communication. CONCLUSIONS: Addressing mothers' concerns about immunization is important both from an ethical perspective, in assuring that they are fully informed of the risks and benefits of immunizations, as well as from a practical one, in reducing the possibility that they will decide not to immunize their child. Changes in the childhood immunization process should be made to reduce parental concern about vaccine safety. Some changes that may be considered include improved provider communication about immunizations and additional tailored information about the necessity and safety of vaccines. PMID:15926642

Food Supply and Food Safety Issues in China

PubMed Central

Lam, Hon-Ming; Remais, Justin; Fung, Ming-Chiu; Xu, Liqing; Sun, Samuel Sai-Ming

2013-01-01

Food supply and food safety are major global public health issues, and are particularly important in heavily populated countries such as China. Rapid industrialisation and modernisation in China are having profound effects on food supply and food safety. In this Review, we identified important factors limiting agricultural production in China, including conversion of agricultural land to other uses, freshwater deficits, and soil quality issues. Additionally, increased demand for some agricultural products is examined, particularly those needed to satisfy the increased consumption of animal products in the Chinese diet, which threatens to drive production towards crops used as animal feed. Major sources of food poisoning in China include pathogenic microorganisms, toxic animals and plants entering the food supply, and chemical contamination. Meanwhile, two growing food safety issues are illegal additives and contamination of the food supply by toxic industrial waste. China’s connections to global agricultural markets are also having important effects on food supply and food safety within the country. Although the Chinese Government has shown determination to reform laws, establish monitoring systems, and strengthen food safety regulation, weak links in implementation remain. PMID:23746904

Geotechnical risk analysis user's guide

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1987-03-01

All geotechnical predictions involve uncertainties. These are accounted for additionally by conservative factors of safety. Risk based design, on the other hand, attempts to quantify uncertainties and to adjust design conservatism accordingly. Such m...

Examining occupational health and safety vulnerability among Canadian workers with disabilities.

PubMed

Breslin, F Curtis; Lay, A Morgan; Jetha, Arif; Smith, Peter

2017-05-26

To compare workers with and without disabilities on their reported workplace hazard exposure and the presence of occupational health and safety vulnerability factors. Working-aged adults in Ontario or British Columbia were recruited to participate in a cross-sectional survey (n = 1988). Self-reported measures included demographic factors, work-related variables, perceived level of activity limitation at work, and presence of work safety vulnerability factors utilizing a novel framework. Reporting a disability at work was significantly associated with greater hazard exposure than those without a disability. In addition, those reporting a disability at work were more likely to be employed in conditions where hazard exposure was combined with inadequate policies and procedures, or hazard exposures were combined with inadequate empowerment. Work safety vulnerability is one way that health inequalities can be perpetuated even among those with disabilities who have found work. Our results suggest that employers and policy makers need to focus on assessing and addressing hazard exposures and targeting occupational health and safety resources in the workplace in a way that includes workers with disabilities. Implications for Rehabilitation Workers with disabilities experience greater hazard exposure than those without a disability. Those with moderate and severe disabilities reported occupational health and safety vulnerability, suggesting that workplace accommodations should be available to a broader range of disability levels. It appears that, above and beyond standard safety procedures, providing workplace accommodations for people with disabilities may further reduce their hazard exposure and improve their safety.

Survey of factors associated with nurses' perception of patient safety.

PubMed

Park, Sun A; Lee, Sui Jin; Choi, Go Un

2011-01-01

To describe the nurses' perception of hospital organization related to cultural issues on the safety of the patient and reporting medical errors. In addition, to identify factors associated with the safety of the patient and the nurse. A survey conducted during December 2008-Jannuary 2009, with 126 nurses using the Korean version of the AHRQ patient safety survey, a self-report 5-point Likert scale. Stata 10.0 was used for descriptive analysis, ANOVA (Analysis of variance) and logistic regression. National Cancer Center in Korea. The means for a working environment related to patient safety was 3.4 (±0.62). The associated factors of duration were at a present hospital, a special area, and direct contact with patients. Among organizational culture factors related to patient safety, the means were 3.81(±0.54) for the boss/manager's perception of patient safety and 3.37(±0.49) for the cooperation/collaboration between units. The frequent number of errors reported by nurses were 1~2(22.2%) times over the past 12 months. For incidence reporting, the items that the 'nurses perceived for communication among clinicians as fair' had a means of 3.23(±0.40) and the 'overall evaluation of patient safety was a good' 3.34(±0.73). The nurses' perception of cooperation and collaboration between units were associated with the direct contact between the patient and the nurse. The frequency of incidence reporting was associated with the duration of working hours at the present hospital and also their work experience. The nurses' perception of hospital environment, organizational culture, and incidence reporting was above average and mostly associated with organizational culture.

Recommendations for Laboratory Containment and Management of Gene Drive Systems in Arthropods.

PubMed

Benedict, Mark Q; Burt, Austin; Capurro, Margareth L; De Barro, Paul; Handler, Alfred M; Hayes, Keith R; Marshall, John M; Tabachnick, Walter J; Adelman, Zach N

2018-01-01

Versatile molecular tools for creating driving transgenes and other invasive genetic factors present regulatory, ethical, and environmental challenges that should be addressed to ensure their safe use. In this article, we discuss driving transgenes and invasive genetic factors that can potentially spread after their introduction into a small proportion of individuals in a population. The potential of invasive genetic factors to increase their number in natural populations presents challenges that require additional safety measures not provided by previous recommendations regarding accidental release of arthropods. In addition to providing physical containment, invasive genetic factors require greater attention to strain management, including their distribution and identity confirmation. In this study, we focus on insects containing such factors with recommendations for investigators who are creating them, institutional biosafety committees charged with ensuring safety, funding agencies providing support, those managing insectaries handling these materials who are responsible for containment, and other persons who will be receiving insects-transgenic or not-from these facilities. We give specific examples of efforts to modify mosquitoes for mosquito-borne disease control, but similar considerations are relevant to other arthropods that are important to human health, the environment, and agriculture.

Recommendations for Laboratory Containment and Management of Gene Drive Systems in Arthropods

PubMed Central

Burt, Austin; Capurro, Margareth L.; De Barro, Paul; Handler, Alfred M.; Hayes, Keith R.; Marshall, John M.; Tabachnick, Walter J.; Adelman, Zach N.

2018-01-01

Abstract Versatile molecular tools for creating driving transgenes and other invasive genetic factors present regulatory, ethical, and environmental challenges that should be addressed to ensure their safe use. In this article, we discuss driving transgenes and invasive genetic factors that can potentially spread after their introduction into a small proportion of individuals in a population. The potential of invasive genetic factors to increase their number in natural populations presents challenges that require additional safety measures not provided by previous recommendations regarding accidental release of arthropods. In addition to providing physical containment, invasive genetic factors require greater attention to strain management, including their distribution and identity confirmation. In this study, we focus on insects containing such factors with recommendations for investigators who are creating them, institutional biosafety committees charged with ensuring safety, funding agencies providing support, those managing insectaries handling these materials who are responsible for containment, and other persons who will be receiving insects—transgenic or not—from these facilities. We give specific examples of efforts to modify mosquitoes for mosquito-borne disease control, but similar considerations are relevant to other arthropods that are important to human health, the environment, and agriculture. PMID:29040058

The daily relationships between staffing, safety perceptions and personality in hospital nursing: A longitudinal on-line diary study.

PubMed

Louch, Gemma; O'Hara, Jane; Gardner, Peter; O'Connor, Daryl B

2016-07-01

The association between poor staffing conditions and negative patient safety consequences is well established within hospital nursing. However, many studies have been limited to nurse population level associations, and have used routine data to examine relationships. As a result, it is less clear how these relationships might be manifested at the individual nurse level on a day-to-day basis. Furthermore, personality may have direct and moderating roles in terms of work environment and patient safety associations, but limited research has explored personality in this context. To further our understanding of these associations, this paper takes a within-person approach to examine nurses' daily perceptions of staffing and patient safety. In addition, we explore the potential role of personality factors as moderators of daily level associations. We recruited eighty-three hospital nurses from three acute NHS Trusts in the UK between March and July 2013. Nurses completed online end-of-shift diaries over three-five shifts which collected information on perceptions of staffing, patient-nurse ratio and patient safety (perceptions of patient safety, ability to act as a safe practitioner, and workplace cognitive failure). Personality was also assessed within a baseline questionnaire. Data were analysed using hierarchical linear modelling, and moderation effects of personality factors were examined using simple slopes analyses, which decomposed relationships at high and low levels of the moderator. On days when lower patient-nurse ratios were indicated, nurses reported being more able to act as a safe practitioner (p=.011) and more favourable perceptions of patient safety (p=<.001). Additionally, when staffing was perceived more favourably, nurses reported being more able to act as a safe practitioner (p=<.001), more favourable perceptions of patient safety (p=<.001) and experienced less workplace cognitive failure (p=<.001). Conscientiousness and emotional stability emerged as key moderators of daily level associations between staffing and patient safety variables, with many relationships differing at high and low levels of these personality factors. The findings elucidate the potential mechanisms by which patient safety risks arise within hospital nursing, and suggest that nurses may not respond to staffing conditions in the same way, dependent upon personality. Further understanding of these relationships will enable staff to be supported in terms of work environment conditions on an individual basis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neighborhood Safety and Major Depressive Disorder in a National Sample of Black Youth; Gender by Ethnic Differences

PubMed Central

Assari, Shervin; Caldwell, Cleopatra Howard

2017-01-01

Adolescence is a developmental period marked by increased stress, especially among Black youth. In addition to stress related to their developmental transition, social factors such as a perceived unsafe neighborhood impose additional risks. We examined gender and ethnic differences in the association between perceived neighborhood safety and major depressive disorder (MDD) among a national sample of Black youth. We used data from the National Survey of American Life - Adolescents (NSAL-A), 2003–2004. In total, 1170 Black adolescents entered the study. This number was composed of 810 African American and 360 Caribbean Black youth (age 13 to 17). Demographic factors, perceived neighborhood safety, and MDD (Composite International Diagnostic Interview, CIDI) were measured. Logistic regressions were used to test the association between neighborhood safety and MDD in the pooled sample, as well as based on ethnicity by gender groups. In the pooled sample of Black youth, those who perceived their neighborhoods to be unsafe were at higher risk of MDD (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.25; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.02-1.51). The perception that one’s neighborhood is unsafe was associated with a higher risk of MDD among African American males (OR=1.41; 95% CI = 1.03–1.93) but not African American females or Caribbean Black males and females. In conclusion, perceived neighborhood safety is not a universal psychological determinant of MDD across ethnic by gender groups of Black youth; however, policies and programs that enhance the sense of neighborhood safety may prevent MDD in male African American youth. PMID:28241490

Patient safety risks associated with telecare: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the literature.

PubMed

Guise, Veslemøy; Anderson, Janet; Wiig, Siri

2014-11-25

Patient safety risk in the homecare context and patient safety risk related to telecare are both emerging research areas. Patient safety issues associated with the use of telecare in homecare services are therefore not clearly understood. It is unclear what the patient safety risks are, how patient safety issues have been investigated, and what research is still needed to provide a comprehensive picture of risks, challenges and potential harm to patients due to the implementation and use of telecare services in the home. Furthermore, it is unclear how training for telecare users has addressed patient safety issues. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify patient safety risks associated with telecare use in homecare services and to investigate whether and how these patient safety risks have been addressed in telecare training. Six electronic databases were searched in addition to hand searches of key items, reference tracking and citation tracking. Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were set. All included items were assessed according to set quality criteria and subjected to a narrative synthesis to organise and synthesize the findings. A human factors systems framework of patient safety was used to frame and analyse the results. 22 items were included in the review. 11 types of patient safety risks associated with telecare use in homecare services emerged. These are in the main related to the nature of homecare tasks and practices, and person-centred characteristics and capabilities, and to a lesser extent, problems with the technology and devices, organisational issues, and environmental factors. Training initiatives related to safe telecare use are not described in the literature. There is a need to better identify and describe patient safety risks related to telecare services to improve understandings of how to avoid and minimize potential harm to patients. This process can be aided by reframing known telecare implementation challenges and user experiences of telecare with the help of a human factors systems approach to patient safety.

Understanding nurses' and physicians' fear of repercussions for reporting errors: clinician characteristics, organization demographics, or leadership factors?

PubMed

Castel, Evan S; Ginsburg, Liane R; Zaheer, Shahram; Tamim, Hala

2015-08-14

Identifying and understanding factors influencing fear of repercussions for reporting and discussing medical errors in nurses and physicians remains an important area of inquiry. Work is needed to disentangle the role of clinician characteristics from those of the organization-level and unit-level safety environments in which these clinicians work and learn, as well as probing the differing reporting behaviours of nurses and physicians. This study examines the influence of clinician demographics (age, gender, and tenure), organization demographics (teaching status, location of care, and province) and leadership factors (organization and unit leadership support for safety) on fear of repercussions, and does so for nurses and physicians separately. A cross-sectional analysis of 2319 nurse and 386 physician responders from three Canadian provinces to the Modified Stanford patient safety climate survey (MSI-06). Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, multiple linear regression, and hierarchical linear regression. Age, gender, tenure, teaching status, and province were not significantly associated with fear of repercussions for nurses or physicians. Mental health nurses had poorer fear responses than their peers outside of these areas, as did community physicians. Strong organization and unit leadership support for safety explained the most variance in fear for both nurses and physicians. The absence of associations between several plausible factors including age, tenure and teaching status suggests that fear is a complex construct requiring more study. Substantially differing fear responses across locations of care indicate areas where interventions may be needed. In addition, since factors affecting fear of repercussions appear to be different for nurses and physicians, tailoring patient safety initiatives to each group may, in some instances, be fruitful. Although further investigation is needed to examine these and other factors in detail, supportive safety leadership appears to be central to reducing fear of reporting errors for both nurses and physicians.

Patient safety attitudes of paediatric trainee physicians.

PubMed

Parry, G; Horowitz, L; Goldmann, D

2009-12-01

To measure the patient safety attitudes of trainee physicians at an academic paediatric hospital. Cross-sectional survey. An academic paediatric hospital. 209 trainee physicians based at the academic paediatric hospital in January 2004. Patient safety attitudes of trainee physicians measured using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (Inpatient Version) and a specific trainee survey. In the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire, responses were most positive in areas associated with independent care: job satisfaction (mean factor score = 77.5) safety climate (76.1), working conditions (75.6), perception of management (70.4) and less positively in areas associated with interdependent care: teamwork climate (64.6) and stress recognition (59.1). In the trainee survey, following a principal component analysis to identify summary factors, responses were most positive in the independent areas of clinical supervision and support (75.0), communication with their immediate senior physician (65.5) and orientation of new personnel (63.9), and less positive in the interdependent areas of handoffs and multiple services, (58.1), role identification during codes (51.0) and support following an adverse event (42.8). The combined independent factor scores were higher than the interdependent (difference = 17.9, 95% CI 16.1 to 19.7, p<0.001). Fellows reported higher independent factor scores than residents (5.5, 95% CI 2.2 to 8.9, p = 0.001), but not for the interdependent scores (-0.5, 95% CI -3.6 to 2.7, p = 0.767). Trainees appear comfortable with caring independently for patients but less so caring interdependently. With experience, trainee physicians may experience improvement in their ability to act independently but not interdependently. Recently developed patient safety culture instruments may enable additional understanding of what could be implemented to make improvements.

Derailments Decrease at a C3RS Site at Midterm

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-04-01

The Federal Railroad Administrations (FRA) Office of Railroad Policy and Development believes that in addition to process and technology innovations, human factors-based solutions can make a significant contribution to improving safety in the rail...

Update from C3RS lessons learned team : four demonstration pilots.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-07-01

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) believes that, in addition to process and technology innovations, human-factors-based solutions can significantly contribute to improving safety in the railroad industry. To test this assumption, FRA implemen...

Home fire safety beliefs and practices in homes of urban older adults.

PubMed

Coty, Mary-Beth; McCammon, Colette; Lehna, Carlee; Twyman, Stephanie; Fahey, Erin

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine factors influencing urban older adults and develop a thematic analysis of how these factors affect seniors' home fire safety (HFS) beliefs and practices. This was a focused ethnography using participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Additionally, public housing records, cognitive functioning, and general health status were assessed. Individual interviews were transcribed verbatim using a constant comparative analysis. Eight seniors participated in the study. Two main themes described older adults' HFS while aging in place: the risk associated with the living environment and the journey associated with maintaining independence. All participants experienced HFS challenges such as limited mobility and financial constraints. Participants' general health and cognitive status additionally influenced their ability to maintain HFS. The findings suggest that urban seniors may have diverse HFS environment risks compared with the general population, highlighting the need for older adult focused HFS interventions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Physicians' and nurses' perceptions of patient safety risks in the emergency department.

PubMed

Källberg, Ann-Sofie; Ehrenberg, Anna; Florin, Jan; Östergren, Jan; Göransson, Katarina E

2017-07-01

The emergency department has been described as a high-risk area for errors. It is also known that working conditions such as a high workload and shortage off staff in the healthcare field are common factors that negatively affect patient safety. A limited amount of research has been conducted with regard to patient safety in Swedish emergency departments. Additionally, there is a lack of knowledge about clinicians' perceptions of patient safety risks. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe emergency department clinicians' experiences with regard to patient safety risks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 physicians and 10 registered nurses from two emergency departments. Interviews were analysed by inductive content analysis. The experiences reflect the complexities involved in the daily operation of a professional practice, and the perception of risks due to a high workload, lack of control, communication and organizational failures. The results reflect a complex system in which high workload was perceived as a risk for patient safety and that, in a combination with other risks, was thought to further jeopardize patient safety. Emergency department staff should be involved in the development of patient safety procedures in order to increase knowledge regarding risk factors as well as identify strategies which can facilitate the maintenance of patient safety during periods in which the workload is high. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Annual Report to Congress - Fiscal Year 2000, from the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-03-01

perchlorate bioremediation systems. The objective of this project is to identify the key environmental factors in subsurface environments that inhibit... environment . For the Health and Safety for Innovative Environmental Technologies subthrust, DoD is working to improve the health and safety of workers and...dilution of pollutants. Similarly, other relevant environments range from humid , forested landscapes to high, arid mountainous domains. In addition, DoD

Using narrative text and coded data to develop hazard scenarios for occupational injury interventions

PubMed Central

Lincoln, A; Sorock, G; Courtney, T; Wellman, H; Smith, G; Amoroso, P

2004-01-01

Objective: To determine whether narrative text in safety reports contains sufficient information regarding contributing factors and precipitating mechanisms to prioritize occupational back injury prevention strategies. Design, setting, subjects, and main outcome measures: Nine essential data elements were identified in narratives and coded sections of safety reports for each of 94 cases of back injuries to United States Army truck drivers reported to the United States Army Safety Center between 1987 and 1997. The essential elements of each case were used to reconstruct standardized event sequences. A taxonomy of the event sequences was then developed to identify common hazard scenarios and opportunities for primary interventions. Results: Coded data typically only identified five data elements (broad activity, task, event/exposure, nature of injury, and outcomes) while narratives provided additional elements (contributing factor, precipitating mechanism, primary source) essential for developing our taxonomy. Three hazard scenarios were associated with back injuries among Army truck drivers accounting for 83% of cases: struck by/against events during motor vehicle crashes; falls resulting from slips/trips or loss of balance; and overexertion from lifting activities. Conclusions: Coded data from safety investigations lacked sufficient information to thoroughly characterize the injury event. However, the combination of existing narrative text (similar to that collected by many injury surveillance systems) and coded data enabled us to develop a more complete taxonomy of injury event characteristics and identify common hazard scenarios. This study demonstrates that narrative text can provide the additional information on contributing factors and precipitating mechanisms needed to target prevention strategies. PMID:15314055

Analysis of human factors effects on the safety of transporting radioactive waste materials: Technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abkowitz, M.D.; Abkowitz, S.B.; Lepofsky, M.

1989-04-01

This report examines the extent of human factors effects on the safety of transporting radioactive waste materials. It is seen principally as a scoping effort, to establish whether there is a need for DOE to undertake a more formal approach to studying human factors in radioactive waste transport, and if so, logical directions for that program to follow. Human factors effects are evaluated on driving and loading/transfer operations only. Particular emphasis is placed on the driving function, examining the relationship between human error and safety as it relates to the impairment of driver performance. Although multi-modal in focus, the widespreadmore » availability of data and previous literature on truck operations resulted in a primary study focus on the trucking mode from the standpoint of policy development. In addition to the analysis of human factors accident statistics, the report provides relevant background material on several policies that have been instituted or are under consideration, directed at improving human reliability in the transport sector. On the basis of reported findings, preliminary policy areas are identified. 71 refs., 26 figs., 5 tabs.« less

SAFE FOOD

EPA Science Inventory

NHEERL research is providing the scientific basis for policy decisions regarding the need for an additional safety factor for children, the need to assess cumulative exposures, and the best way to deal with risk management issues related to common mode of action. Research can be ...

New developments in pediatric venous thromboembolism and anticoagulation, including the target-specific oral anticoagulants.

PubMed

Lyle, Courtney A; Sidonio, Robert F; Goldenberg, Neil A

2015-02-01

Pediatric venous thromboembolism (VTE) can affect children of all ages, requiring considerable pharmacologic intervention and is often associated with significant morbidity. Current research efforts are directed toward the development of risk-stratified VTE prevention strategies employing pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis, the optimization of conventional anticoagulation, and the investigation of the safety and efficacy of target-specific oral anticoagulants (TSOACs) in children. Recent research has considerably improved the understanding of risk factors of hospital-acquired VTE and how these factors may be employed in risk-stratified paradigms for VTE prevention in children. Additional insight has been gained in the optimization of conventional anticoagulants in special populations such as neonates and children with inflammatory conditions, and in improving the overall safety and compliance with periprocedural anticoagulation and the use of home International Normalized Ratio monitoring. Furthermore, the use of TSOACs has been described in children and is the focus of numerous ongoing clinical trials that are evaluating the safety and efficacy of these agents in children with VTE. Identification of hospital-acquired VTE risk factors may inform pediatric VTE prevention strategies. Although initial use of TSOACs may be promising, investigation of safety and efficacy in children is still underway.

Prevention and control of food safety risks: the role of governments, food producers, marketers, and academia.

PubMed

Lupien, John R

2007-01-01

Food systems are rapidly changing as world population grows, increasing urbanization occurs, consumer tastes and preferences change and differ in various countries and cultures, large scale food production increases, and food imports and exports grow in volume and value. Consumers in all countries have become more insistent that foods available in the marketplace are of good quality and safe, and do not pose risks to them and their families. Publicity about food risk problems and related risks, including chemical and microbiological contamination of foods, mad-cow disease, avian flu, industrial chemical contamination all have made consumers and policy makers more aware of the need of the control of food safety risk factors in all countries. To discuss changes in food systems, and in consumer expectations, that have placed additional stress on the need for better control of food safety risks. Food producers, processors, and marketers have additional food law and regulations to meet; government agencies must increase monitoring and enforcement of adequate food quality and safety legislation and coordinate efforts between agriculture, health, trade, justice and customs agencies; and academia must take action to strengthen the education of competent food legislation administrators, inspectorate, and laboratory personnel for work in government and industry, including related food and food safety research . Both Government and the food industry must assure that adequate control programs are in place to control the quality and safety of all foods, raw or processed, throughout the food chain from production to final consumption. This includes appropriate laboratory facilities to perform necessary analysis of foods for risk and quality factors, and to carry out a wide range of food science, toxicological and related research.

Senior Cross-Functional Support -- Essential for Implementing Corrective Actions at C3RS Sites

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-08-01

The Federal Railroad Administrations (FRA) Office of Railroad Policy and Development believes that, in addition to process and technology innovations, human factors-based solutions can make a significant contribution to improving safety in the rai...

Allergic and immunologic reactions to food additives.

PubMed

Gultekin, Fatih; Doguc, Duygu Kumbul

2013-08-01

For centuries, food additives have been used for flavouring, colouring and extension of the useful shelf life of food, as well as the promotion of food safety. During the last 20 years, the studies implicating the additives contained in foods and medicine as a causative factor of allergic reactions have been proliferated considerably. In this review, we aimed to overview all of the food additives which were approved to consume in EU and find out how common and serious allergic reactions come into existence following the consuming of food additives.

Individual and Contextual Factors Associated with Immigrant Youth Feeling Unsafe in School: A Social-Ecological Analysis.

PubMed

Hong, Jun Sung; Merrin, Gabriel J; Crosby, Shantel; Jozefowicz, Debra M Hernandez; Lee, Jeoung Min; Allen-Meares, Paula

2016-10-01

Despite the increasing proportion of immigrant youth in U.S. school districts, no studies have investigated their perceptions of their school. This study examines factors associated with perceptions of school safety among immigrant youth within individual, family, peer, and school contexts. Data were drawn from Wave II of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (n = 4288) and hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted. African-Americans, females, and youth with limited English proficiency were more likely to perceive their school as unsafe. Youth who reported that family cohesion was important and those who had close friends perceived their school as safe. Also, those who experienced illegal activities in school reported feeling unsafe. Assessment and intervention in schools needs to consider individual and contextual factors associated with perceptions of school safety. Additional research is needed to examine individual and contextual factors related to immigrant youths' perceptions of school.

Advances in Predictive Toxicology for Discovery Safety through High Content Screening.

PubMed

Persson, Mikael; Hornberg, Jorrit J

2016-12-19

High content screening enables parallel acquisition of multiple molecular and cellular readouts. In particular the predictive toxicology field has progressed from the advances in high content screening, as more refined end points that report on cellular health can be studied in combination, at the single cell level, and in relatively high throughput. Here, we discuss how high content screening has become an essential tool for Discovery Safety, the discipline that integrates safety and toxicology in the drug discovery process to identify and mitigate safety concerns with the aim to design drug candidates with a superior safety profile. In addition to customized mechanistic assays to evaluate target safety, routine screening assays can be applied to identify risk factors for frequently occurring organ toxicities. We discuss the current state of high content screening assays for hepatotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, neurotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and genotoxicity, including recent developments and current advances.

47 CFR 54.1304 - Calculation of safety net additive.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Calculation of safety net additive. 54.1304... safety net additive. (a) Safety net additive support. Only those local exchange carriers that qualified for safety net additive based on 2011 or prior year costs shall be eligible to receive safety net...

[Evaluation of the risk of delayed adverse effects of chronic combined exposure to radiation and chemical factors with the purpose to ensure safety in orbital and exploration space missions].

PubMed

Shafirkin, A V; Mukhamedieva, L N; Tatarkin, S V; Barantseva, M Iu

2012-01-01

The work had the aim to anatomize the existing issues with providing safety in extended orbital and exploration missions for ensuing estimation of actual values of the total radiation risk for the crew, and risks of other delayed effects of simultaneous exposure to ionizing radiation and chemical pollutants in cabin air, and a number of other stressful factors inevitable in space flight. The flow of chronic experiments for separate and combined studies with reproduction of air makeup and radiation doses in actual orbital and predicted exploration missions is outlined. To set safety limits, new approaches should be applied to the description of gradual norm degradation to pathologies in addition to several generalized quantitative indices of adaptation and straining of the regulatory systems, as well as of effectiveness of the compensatory body reserve against separate and combined exposure.

Adaptation to vestibular disorientation. VIII, "Coriolis" vestibular stimulation and the influence of different visual surrounds.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1967-08-01

Disorientation caused by 'Coriolis' vestibular reactions has been cited frequently as a significant factor in flying safety. In addition, personnel who maintain rotating radar towers may also be adversely affected by 'Coriolis' problems. In the study...

75 FR 20533 - Interpretation of “Children's Product”

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-20

... ``Children's Product'' AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission. ACTION: Proposed interpretative rule... proposed interpretative rule that would interpret the term ``children's product'' as used in the Consumer... additional guidance on the factors that must be considered when evaluating what is a children's product...

Restaurant manager and worker food safety certification and knowledge.

PubMed

Brown, Laura G; Le, Brenda; Wong, Melissa R; Reimann, David; Nicholas, David; Faw, Brenda; Davis, Ernestine; Selman, Carol A

2014-11-01

Over half of foodborne illness outbreaks occur in restaurants. To combat these outbreaks, many public health agencies require food safety certification for restaurant managers, and sometimes workers. Certification entails passing a food safety knowledge examination, which is typically preceded by food safety training. Current certification efforts are based on the assumption that certification leads to greater food safety knowledge. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted this study to examine the relationship between food safety knowledge and certification. We also examined the relationships between food safety knowledge and restaurant, manager, and worker characteristics. We interviewed managers (N=387) and workers (N=365) about their characteristics and assessed their food safety knowledge. Analyses showed that certified managers and workers had greater food safety knowledge than noncertified managers and workers. Additionally, managers and workers whose primary language was English had greater food safety knowledge than those whose primary language was not English. Other factors associated with greater food safety knowledge included working in a chain restaurant, working in a larger restaurant, having more experience, and having more duties. These findings indicate that certification improves food safety knowledge, and that complex relationships exist among restaurant, manager, and worker characteristics and food safety knowledge.

Restaurant Manager and Worker Food Safety Certification and Knowledge

PubMed Central

Brown, Laura G.; Le, Brenda; Wong, Melissa R.; Reimann, David; Nicholas, David; Faw, Brenda; Davis, Ernestine; Selman, Carol A.

2017-01-01

Over half of foodborne illness outbreaks occur in restaurants. To combat these outbreaks, many public health agencies require food safety certification for restaurant managers, and sometimes workers. Certification entails passing a food safety knowledge examination, which is typically preceded by food safety training. Current certification efforts are based on the assumption that certification leads to greater food safety knowledge. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted this study to examine the relationship between food safety knowledge and certification. We also examined the relationships between food safety knowledge and restaurant, manager, and worker characteristics. We interviewed managers (N = 387) and workers (N = 365) about their characteristics and assessed their food safety knowledge. Analyses showed that certified managers and workers had greater food safety knowledge than noncertified managers and workers. Additionally, managers and workers whose primary language was English had greater food safety knowledge than those whose primary language was not English. Other factors associated with greater food safety knowledge included working in a chain restaurant, working in a larger restaurant, having more experience, and having more duties. These findings indicate that certification improves food safety knowledge, and that complex relationships exist among restaurant, manager, and worker characteristics and food safety knowledge. PMID:25361386

Promoting the safety performance of industrial radiography using a quantitative assessment system.

PubMed

Kardan, M R; Mianji, F A; Rastkhah, N; Babakhani, A; Azad, S Borhan

2006-12-01

The increasing number of industrial radiographers and their considerable occupational exposure has been one of the main concerns of the Iran Nuclear Regulatory Authority (INRA) in recent years. In 2002, a quantitative system of evaluating the safety performance of licensees and a complementary enforcement system was introduced by the National Radiation Protection Department (NRPD). Each parameter of the practice is given a weighting factor according to its importance to safety. Assessment of the licensees is done quantitatively by summing up their scores using prepared tables. Implementing this system of evaluation showed a considerable decrease in deficiencies in the various centres. Tables are updated regularly as a result of findings during the inspections. This system is used in addition to enforcement to promote safety performance and to increase the culture of safety in industrial radiography.

Safety regulations, firm size, and the risk of accidents in E&P operations on the Gulf of Mexico outer continental shelf

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Iledare, O.O.; Pulsipher, A.G.; Baumann, R.H.

1996-12-31

The current expanded role of smaller independent oil producers in the OCS has led to concern about the possibility of increased risk of accidents in E&P operations on the Gulf of Mexico OCS. In addition, questions have been posed concerning the effects of the Minerals Management Service`s (MMS) safety regulations and inspection program, firm size, and industry practices on the risk of accidents in E&P operations on the Gulf of Mexico OCS. The specific purposes of the study reported in this paper were to ascertain (1) whether any empirical justification exists for the widespread concern that an increase in independentsmore » relative share of E&P operations in the Gulf OCS region will be detrimental to safety, and (2) whether MMS policies and safety programs have reduced the frequency or severity of accidents on the OCS. Our statistical and descriptive analyses of data on accidents from MMS provide no statistical evidence to support the apprehension that an expanded role for independents in E&P activity constitutes any major threat to safety on the OCS. Further, the results of our econometrics analysis confirm the expectation that the more effective MMS inspectors are at detecting incidents of noncompliance the lower the rate of accidents on the OCS is, ceteris paribus. In addition the results indicate that the variability in platform exposure years--cumulative age of operating platform--in comparison to other factors explains a significant portion of the variation in accidents per operating platform. That is, the platform aging process provides more opportunity for accidents than any other contributing factors. Our econometrics analysis also suggests that, if the other factors contributing to offshore accidents are held constant, the responsiveness of accident rate to drilling activity is inelastic while the response of accident rate to production activity levels is elastic.« less

Multilevel Safety Climate and Safety Performance in the Construction Industry: Development and Validation of a Top-Down Mechanism

PubMed Central

Gao, Ran; Chan, Albert P.C.; Utama, Wahyudi P.; Zahoor, Hafiz

2016-01-01

The character of construction projects exposes front-line workers to dangers and accidents. Safety climate has been confirmed to be a predictor of safety performance in the construction industry. This study aims to explore the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between multilevel safety climate and safety performance. An integrated model was developed to study how particular safety climate factors of one level affect those of other levels, and then affect safety performance from the top down. A questionnaire survey was administered on six construction sites in Vietnam. A total of 1030 valid questionnaires were collected from this survey. Approximately half of the data were used to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the remaining data were submitted to structural equation modeling (SEM). Top management commitment (TMC) and supervisors’ expectation (SE) were identified as factors to represent organizational safety climate (OSC) and supervisor safety climate (SSC), respectively, and coworkers’ caring and communication (CCC) and coworkers’ role models (CRM) were identified as factors to denote coworker safety climate (CSC). SEM results show that OSC factor is positively related to SSC factor and CSC factors significantly. SSC factor could partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and CSC factors, as well as the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance. CSC factors partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance, and the relationship between SSC factor and safety performance. The findings imply that a positive safety culture should be established both at the organizational level and the group level. Efforts from all top management, supervisors, and coworkers should be provided to improve safety performance in the construction industry. PMID:27834823

Multilevel Safety Climate and Safety Performance in the Construction Industry: Development and Validation of a Top-Down Mechanism.

PubMed

Gao, Ran; Chan, Albert P C; Utama, Wahyudi P; Zahoor, Hafiz

2016-11-08

The character of construction projects exposes front-line workers to dangers and accidents. Safety climate has been confirmed to be a predictor of safety performance in the construction industry. This study aims to explore the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between multilevel safety climate and safety performance. An integrated model was developed to study how particular safety climate factors of one level affect those of other levels, and then affect safety performance from the top down. A questionnaire survey was administered on six construction sites in Vietnam. A total of 1030 valid questionnaires were collected from this survey. Approximately half of the data were used to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the remaining data were submitted to structural equation modeling (SEM). Top management commitment (TMC) and supervisors' expectation (SE) were identified as factors to represent organizational safety climate (OSC) and supervisor safety climate (SSC), respectively, and coworkers' caring and communication (CCC) and coworkers' role models (CRM) were identified as factors to denote coworker safety climate (CSC). SEM results show that OSC factor is positively related to SSC factor and CSC factors significantly. SSC factor could partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and CSC factors, as well as the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance. CSC factors partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance, and the relationship between SSC factor and safety performance. The findings imply that a positive safety culture should be established both at the organizational level and the group level. Efforts from all top management, supervisors, and coworkers should be provided to improve safety performance in the construction industry.

The occupational health and safety of flight attendants.

PubMed

Griffiths, Robin F; Powell, David M C

2012-05-01

In order to perform safety-critical roles in emergency situations, flight attendants should meet minimum health standards and not be impaired by factors such as fatigue. In addition, the unique occupational and environmental characteristics of flight attendant employment may have consequential occupational health and safety implications, including radiation exposure, cancer, mental ill-health, musculoskeletal injury, reproductive disorders, and symptoms from cabin air contamination. The respective roles of governments and employers in managing these are controversial. A structured literature review was undertaken to identify key themes for promoting a future agenda for flight attendant health and safety. Recommendations include breast cancer health promotion, implementation of Fatigue Risk Management Systems, standardization of data collection on radiation exposure and health outcomes, and more coordinated approaches to occupational health and safety risk management. Research is ongoing into cabin air contamination incidents, cancer, and fatigue as health and safety concerns. Concerns are raised that statutory medical certification for flight attendants will not benefit either flight safety or occupational health.

How important is vehicle safety in the new vehicle purchase process?

PubMed

Koppel, Sjaanie; Charlton, Judith; Fildes, Brian; Fitzharris, Michael

2008-05-01

Whilst there has been a significant increase in the amount of consumer interest in the safety performance of privately owned vehicles, the role that it plays in consumers' purchase decisions is poorly understood. The aims of the current study were to determine: how important vehicle safety is in the new vehicle purchase process; what importance consumers place on safety options/features relative to other convenience and comfort features, and how consumers conceptualise vehicle safety. In addition, the study aimed to investigate the key parameters associated with ranking 'vehicle safety' as the most important consideration in the new vehicle purchase. Participants recruited in Sweden and Spain completed a questionnaire about their new vehicle purchase. The findings from the questionnaire indicated that participants ranked safety-related factors (e.g., EuroNCAP (or other) safety ratings) as more important in the new vehicle purchase process than other vehicle factors (e.g., price, reliability etc.). Similarly, participants ranked safety-related features (e.g., advanced braking systems, front passenger airbags etc.) as more important than non-safety-related features (e.g., route navigation systems, air-conditioning etc.). Consistent with previous research, most participants equated vehicle safety with the presence of specific vehicle safety features or technologies rather than vehicle crash safety/test results or crashworthiness. The key parameters associated with ranking 'vehicle safety' as the most important consideration in the new vehicle purchase were: use of EuroNCAP, gender and education level, age, drivers' concern about crash involvement, first vehicle purchase, annual driving distance, person for whom the vehicle was purchased, and traffic infringement history. The findings from this study are important for policy makers, manufacturers and other stakeholders to assist in setting priorities with regard to the promotion and publicity of vehicle safety features for particular consumer groups (such as younger consumers) in order to increase their knowledge regarding vehicle safety and to encourage them to place highest priority on safety in the new vehicle purchase process.

Work Safety Climate, Safety Behaviors, and Occupational Injuries of Youth Farmworkers in North Carolina

PubMed Central

Rodriguez, Guadalupe; Quandt, Sara A.; Arcury, Justin T.; Arcury, Thomas A.

2015-01-01

Objectives. The aims of this project were to describe the work safety climate and the association between occupational safety behaviors and injuries among hired youth farmworkers in North Carolina (n = 87). Methods. We conducted personal interviews among a cross-sectional sample of youth farmworkers aged 10 to 17 years. Results. The majority of youths reported that work safety practices were very important to management, yet 38% stated that supervisors were only interested in “doing the job quickly and cheaply.” Few youths reported appropriate work safety behavior, and 14% experienced an injury within the past 12 months. In bivariate analysis, perceptions of work safety climate were significantly associated with pesticide exposure risk factors for rewearing wet shoes (P = .01), wet clothes (P = .01), and shorts (P = .03). Conclusions. Youth farmworkers perceived their work safety climate as being poor. Although additional research is needed to support these findings, these results strengthen the need to increase employer awareness to improve the safety climate for protecting youth farmworkers from harmful exposures and injuries. PMID:25973817

Evolved atmospheric entry corridor with safety factor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Zixuan; Ren, Zhang; Li, Qingdong

2018-02-01

Atmospheric entry corridors are established in previous research based on the equilibrium glide condition which assumes the flight-path angle to be zero. To get a better understanding of the highly constrained entry flight, an evolved entry corridor that considers the exact flight-path angle is developed in this study. Firstly, the conventional corridor in the altitude vs. velocity plane is extended into a three-dimensional one in the space of altitude, velocity, and flight-path angle. The three-dimensional corridor is generated by a series of constraint boxes. Then, based on a simple mapping method, an evolved two-dimensional entry corridor with safety factor is obtained. The safety factor is defined to describe the flexibility of the flight-path angle for a state within the corridor. Finally, the evolved entry corridor is simulated for the Space Shuttle and the Common Aero Vehicle (CAV) to demonstrate the effectiveness of the corridor generation approach. Compared with the conventional corridor, the evolved corridor is much wider and provides additional information. Therefore, the evolved corridor would benefit more to the entry trajectory design and analysis.

Contamination and changes of food factors during processing with modeling applications-safety related issues

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Chemical and microbiological contamination of food during processing and preservation can result in foodborne illness outbreaks and food poisoning. Chemical contaminations can occur through exposure of foods to illegal additives, pesticides and fertilizer residues, toxic compounds formed by microbes...

NASA Aviation Safety Program Weather Accident Prevention/weather Information Communications (WINCOMM)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feinberg, Arthur; Tauss, James; Chomos, Gerald (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Weather is a contributing factor in approximately 25-30 percent of general aviation accidents. The lack of timely, accurate and usable weather information to the general aviation pilot in the cockpit to enhance pilot situational awareness and improve pilot judgment remains a major impediment to improving aviation safety. NASA Glenn Research Center commissioned this 120 day weather datalink market survey to assess the technologies, infrastructure, products, and services of commercial avionics systems being marketed to the general aviation community to address these longstanding safety concerns. A market survey of companies providing or proposing to provide graphical weather information to the general aviation cockpit was conducted. Fifteen commercial companies were surveyed. These systems are characterized and evaluated in this report by availability, end-user pricing/cost, system constraints/limits and technical specifications. An analysis of market survey results and an evaluation of product offerings were made. In addition, recommendations to NASA for additional research and technology development investment have been made as a result of this survey to accelerate deployment of cockpit weather information systems for enhancing aviation safety.

Assessing contextual factors that influence acceptance of pedestrian alerts by a night vision system.

PubMed

Källhammer, Jan-Erik; Smith, Kip

2012-08-01

We investigated five contextual variables that we hypothesized would influence driver acceptance of alerts to pedestrians issued by a night vision active safety system to inform the specification of the system's alerting strategies. Driver acceptance of automotive active safety systems is a key factor to promote their use and implies a need to assess factors influencing driver acceptance. In a field operational test, 10 drivers drove instrumented vehicles equipped with a preproduction night vision system with pedestrian detection software. In a follow-up experiment, the 10 drivers and 25 additional volunteers without experience with the system watched 57 clips with pedestrian encounters gathered during the field operational test. They rated the acceptance of an alert to each pedestrian encounter. Levels of rating concordance were significant between drivers who experienced the encounters and participants who did not. Two contextual variables, pedestrian location and motion, were found to influence ratings. Alerts were more accepted when pedestrians were close to or moving toward the vehicle's path. The study demonstrates the utility of using subjective driver acceptance ratings to inform the design of active safety systems and to leverage expensive field operational test data within the confines of the laboratory. The design of alerting strategies for active safety systems needs to heed the driver's contextual sensitivity to issued alerts.

Defining the Relationship Between Human Error Classes and Technology Intervention Strategies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiegmann, Douglas A.; Rantanen, Esa; Crisp, Vicki K. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

One of the main factors in all aviation accidents is human error. The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), therefore, has identified several human-factors safety technologies to address this issue. Some technologies directly address human error either by attempting to reduce the occurrence of errors or by mitigating the negative consequences of errors. However, new technologies and system changes may also introduce new error opportunities or even induce different types of errors. Consequently, a thorough understanding of the relationship between error classes and technology "fixes" is crucial for the evaluation of intervention strategies outlined in the AvSP, so that resources can be effectively directed to maximize the benefit to flight safety. The purpose of the present project, therefore, was to examine the repositories of human factors data to identify the possible relationship between different error class and technology intervention strategies. The first phase of the project, which is summarized here, involved the development of prototype data structures or matrices that map errors onto "fixes" (and vice versa), with the hope of facilitating the development of standards for evaluating safety products. Possible follow-on phases of this project are also discussed. These additional efforts include a thorough and detailed review of the literature to fill in the data matrix and the construction of a complete database and standards checklists.

Risk and safety perception on urban and rural roads: Effects of environmental features, driver age and risk sensitivity.

PubMed

Cox, Jolene A; Beanland, Vanessa; Filtness, Ashleigh J

2017-10-03

The ability to detect changing visual information is a vital component of safe driving. In addition to detecting changing visual information, drivers must also interpret its relevance to safety. Environmental changes considered to have high safety relevance will likely demand greater attention and more timely responses than those considered to have lower safety relevance. The aim of this study was to explore factors that are likely to influence perceptions of risk and safety regarding changing visual information in the driving environment. Factors explored were the environment in which the change occurs (i.e., urban vs. rural), the type of object that changes, and the driver's age, experience, and risk sensitivity. Sixty-three licensed drivers aged 18-70 years completed a hazard rating task, which required them to rate the perceived hazardousness of changing specific elements within urban and rural driving environments. Three attributes of potential hazards were systematically manipulated: the environment (urban, rural); the type of object changed (road sign, car, motorcycle, pedestrian, traffic light, animal, tree); and its inherent safety risk (low risk, high risk). Inherent safety risk was manipulated by either varying the object's placement, on/near or away from the road, or altering an infrastructure element that would require a change to driver behavior. Participants also completed two driving-related risk perception tasks, rating their relative crash risk and perceived risk of aberrant driving behaviors. Driver age was not significantly associated with hazard ratings, but individual differences in perceived risk of aberrant driving behaviors predicted hazard ratings, suggesting that general driving-related risk sensitivity plays a strong role in safety perception. In both urban and rural scenes, there were significant associations between hazard ratings and inherent safety risk, with low-risk changes perceived as consistently less hazardous than high-risk impact changes; however, the effect was larger for urban environments. There were also effects of object type, with certain objects rated as consistently more safety relevant. In urban scenes, changes involving pedestrians were rated significantly more hazardous than all other objects, and in rural scenes, changes involving animals were rated as significantly more hazardous. Notably, hazard ratings were found to be higher in urban compared with rural driving environments, even when changes were matched between environments. This study demonstrates that drivers perceive rural roads as less risky than urban roads, even when similar scenarios occur in both environments. Age did not affect hazard ratings. Instead, the findings suggest that the assessment of risk posed by hazards is influenced more by individual differences in risk sensitivity. This highlights the need for driver education to account for appraisal of hazards' risk and relevance, in addition to hazard detection, when considering factors that promote road safety.

Safety incidents involving confused and forgetful older patients in a specialised care setting--analysis of the safety incidents reported to the HaiPro reporting system.

PubMed

Kinnunen-Luovi, Kaisa; Saarnio, Reetta; Isola, Arja

2014-09-01

To describe the safety incidents involving confused and forgetful older patients in a specialised care setting entered in the HaiPro reporting system. About 10% of patients experience a safety incident during hospitalisation, which causes or could cause them harm. The possibility of a safety incident during hospitalisation increases significantly with age. A mild or moderate memory disorder and acute confusion are often present in the safety incidents originating with an older patient. The design of the study was action research with this study using findings from one of the first-phase studies, which included qualitative and quantitative analysed data. Data were collected from the reporting system for safety incidents (HaiPro) in a university hospital in Finland. There were 672 reported safety incidents from four acute medical wards during the years 2009-2011, which were scrutinised. Seventy-five of them were linked to a confused patient and were analysed. The majority of the safety incidents analysed involved patient-related accidents. In addition to challenging behaviour, contributing factors included ward routines, shortage of nursing staff, environmental factors and staff knowledge and skills. Nurses tried to secure the patient safety in many different ways, but the modes of actions were insufficient. Nursing staff need evidence-based information on how to assess the cognitive status of a confused patient and how to encounter such patients. The number of nursing staff and ward routines should be examined critically and put in proportion to the care intensity demands caused by the patient's confused state. The findings can be used as a starting point in the prevention of safety incidents and in improving the care of older patients. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Addressing fear of crime in public space: gender differences in reaction to safety measures in train transit.

PubMed

Yavuz, Nilay; Welch, Eric W

2010-01-01

Research has identified several factors that affect fear of crime in public space. However, the extent to which gender moderates the effectiveness of fear-reducing measures has received little attention. Using data from the Chicago Transit Authority Customer Satisfaction Survey of 2003, this study aims to understand whether train transit security practices and service attributes affect men and women differently. Findings indicate that, while the presence of video cameras has a lower effect on women's feelings of safety compared with men, frequent and on-time service matters more to male passengers. Additionally, experience with safety-related problems affects women significantly more than men. Conclusions discuss the implications of the study for theory and gender-specific policies to improve perceptions of transit safety.

47 CFR 36.605 - Calculation of safety net additive.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Calculation of safety net additive. 36.605... § 36.605 Calculation of safety net additive. (a) “Safety net additive support.” Beginning January 1... costs, shall be eligible to receive safety net additive pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section. Local...

47 CFR 36.605 - Calculation of safety net additive.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Calculation of safety net additive. 36.605... § 36.605 Calculation of safety net additive. (a) “Safety net additive support.” Beginning January 1... costs, shall be eligible to receive safety net additive pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section. Local...

47 CFR 36.605 - Calculation of safety net additive.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Calculation of safety net additive. 36.605... § 36.605 Calculation of safety net additive. (a) “Safety net additive support.” A rural incumbent local exchange carrier shall receive safety net additive support if it satisfies the conditions set forth in...

47 CFR 36.605 - Calculation of safety net additive.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Calculation of safety net additive. 36.605... § 36.605 Calculation of safety net additive. (a) “Safety net additive support.” A rural incumbent local exchange carrier shall receive safety net additive support if it satisfies the conditions set forth in...

Effects and safety of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in healthy volunteers

PubMed Central

Anderlini, Paolo

2015-01-01

Purpose of Review Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) is now widely used in normal donors for collection of peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) for allogeneic transplantation and granulocytes for transfusion. Currently available data on biologic and molecular effects, and safety of rhG-CSF in normal healthy volunteers are reviewed. Recent Findings In addition to its known activating role on neutrophil kinetics and functional status, rhG-CSF administration can affect monocytes, lymphocytes and the hemostatic system. G-CSF receptors were identified in a variety of non-myeloid tissues, although their role and functional activity have not always been well defined. Moreover, rhG-CSF is capable of modulating complex cytokine networks and can impact the inflammatory response. In addition to its known mobilizing role for PBPCs, rhG-CSF can mobilize dendritic and endothelial progenitor cells as well. On a clinical level, serious rhG-CSF-related adverse events are well described (e.g. splenic rupture) but remain rare. Summary rhG-CSF effects in healthy volunteers, while normally transient and self-limiting, are now believed to be more complex and heterogeneous that previously thought. While rhG-CSF administration to healthy volunteers continues to have a favorable risk-benefit profile, these new findings have implications for safeguarding the safety of normal individuals. PMID:19057203

10 CFR 100.10 - Factors to be considered when evaluating sites.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... reactor incorporates unique or unusual features having a significant bearing on the probability or consequences of accidental release of radioactive materials; (4) The safety features that are to be engineered... radioactive fission products. In addition, the site location and the engineered features included as...

10 CFR 100.10 - Factors to be considered when evaluating sites.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... reactor incorporates unique or unusual features having a significant bearing on the probability or consequences of accidental release of radioactive materials; (4) The safety features that are to be engineered... radioactive fission products. In addition, the site location and the engineered features included as...

10 CFR 100.10 - Factors to be considered when evaluating sites.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... reactor incorporates unique or unusual features having a significant bearing on the probability or consequences of accidental release of radioactive materials; (4) The safety features that are to be engineered... radioactive fission products. In addition, the site location and the engineered features included as...

Behavior of fiber reinforced sandy slopes under seepage

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Seepage flow is a major contributor to instability of natural hill slopes, river banks and engineered embankments. In order to increase the factor of safety, an emerging technology involves the inclusion of synthetic fibers in the soil. The addition of tension resisting fibers has a favorable effec...

The roles and functions of safety professionals in Taiwan: Comparing the perceptions of safety professionals and safety educators.

PubMed

Wu, Tsung-Chih

2011-10-01

The perspectives of both internal and external members have to be considered when developing safety curricula. This study discusses perceptional differences between safety educators (SEs) and safety professionals (SPs) regarding the function of SPs. The findings will serve as a reference framework for the establishment of core safety competencies and the development of safety curricula for SPs. 248 respondents, including both SEs and SPs, completed self-administered questionnaires, which included the 45-item safety function scale (SFS). Nine factors were extracted from the scale using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), namely inspection and research, regulatory tasks, emergency procedures and settlement of damage, management and financial affairs, culture change, problem identification and analysis, developing and implementing solutions, knowledge management, and training and communications. Descriptive statistical results indicated that SPs and SEs hold differing views on the rank of the frequency of safety functions. MANOVA results indicated that SPs' perceptions of developing and implementing solutions, training and communications, inspection and research, and management and financial affairs were significantly higher than that of SEs. On the other hand, SE's perceptions regarding participation in regulatory tasks were significantly higher than those of SPs. Based on these results, the author suggests that a clear communication channel should be established between universities and industry to reduce the gap between the perceptions of SEs and SPs. The results of the study are statistically and practically significant. In addition to serving as a reference for the development of safety curricula, the results are also conducive to the establishment of SP roles and functions. Ultimately the development of more suitable safety curricula would open up employment competition for students who graduate from safety-related programs. SPs, on the other hand, can correctly recognize their roles and functions so as to realize the safety expectations invested in them by organizations. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

77 FR 54402 - Dichlorvos (DDVP); Order Denying NRDC's Objections on Remand

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-05

... may be calculated separately for different age-based population groups (e.g., non-nursing infants) or... in conjunction with experimental toxicity data in assessing risk to humans from exposure to chemical substances. (Ref. 4). These numerical factors are designed to provide an additional margin of safety so that...

30 CFR 816.151 - Primary roads.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... accordance with the approved plan. (b) Safety Factor. Each primary road embankment shall have a minimum... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Primary roads. 816.151 Section 816.151 Mineral... roads. Primary roads shall meet the requirements of section 816.150 and the additional requirements of...

30 CFR 817.151 - Primary roads.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... with the approved plan. (b) Safety factor. Each primary road embankment shall have a minimum static... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Primary roads. 817.151 Section 817.151 Mineral... roads. Primary roads shall meet the requirements of § 817.150 and the additional requirements of this...

Parental concern about vaccine safety in Canadian children partially immunized at age 2: a multivariable model including system level factors.

PubMed

MacDonald, Shannon E; Schopflocher, Donald P; Vaudry, Wendy

2014-01-01

Children who begin but do not fully complete the recommended series of childhood vaccines by 2 y of age are a much larger group than those who receive no vaccines. While parents who refuse all vaccines typically express concern about vaccine safety, it is critical to determine what influences parents of 'partially' immunized children. This case-control study examined whether parental concern about vaccine safety was responsible for partial immunization, and whether other personal or system-level factors played an important role. A random sample of parents of partially and completely immunized 2 y old children were selected from a Canadian regional immunization registry and completed a postal survey assessing various personal and system-level factors. Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) and adjusted ORs (aOR) were calculated with logistic regression. While vaccine safety concern was associated with partial immunization (OR 7.338, 95% CI 4.138-13.012), other variables were more strongly associated and reduced the strength of the relationship between concern and partial immunization in multivariable analysis (aOR 2.829, 95% CI 1.151-6.957). Other important factors included perceived disease susceptibility and severity (aOR 4.629, 95% CI 2.017-10.625), residential mobility (aOR 3.908, 95% CI 2.075-7.358), daycare use (aOR 0.310, 95% CI 0.144-0.671), number of needles administered at each visit (aOR 7.734, 95% CI 2.598-23.025) and access to a regular physician (aOR 0.219, 95% CI 0.057-0.846). While concern about vaccine safety may be addressed through educational strategies, this study suggests that additional program and policy-level strategies may positively impact immunization uptake.

Potential safety issues and other factors that may affect the introduction and uptake of rotavirus vaccines

PubMed Central

Aliabadi, N.; Tate, J.E.; Parashar, U.D.

2018-01-01

Rotavirus vaccines have demonstrated significant impact in reducing the burden of morbidity and mortality from childhood diarrhoea in countries that have implemented routine vaccination to date. Despite this success, in many countries, rotavirus vaccine coverage remains lower than that of other routine childhood vaccines. Several issues may potentially affect vaccine uptake, namely safety concerns related to intussusception with consequent age restrictions on rotavirus vaccination, contamination with porcine circovirus, vaccine-derived reassortant strains and hospitalization in newborn nurseries at time of administration of live oral rotavirus vaccine. In addition to these safety concerns, other factors may also affect uptake, including lower vaccine efficacy in the developing world, potential emergence of strains escaping from vaccine protection resulting in lower overall impact of a vaccination programme and sustainable vaccine financing. Although further work is needed to address some of these concerns, global policy bodies have reaffirmed that the benefits of rotavirus vaccination outweigh the risks, and vaccine use is recommended globally. PMID:27129416

Potential safety issues and other factors that may affect the introduction and uptake of rotavirus vaccines.

PubMed

Aliabadi, N; Tate, J E; Parashar, U D

2016-12-01

Rotavirus vaccines have demonstrated significant impact in reducing the burden of morbidity and mortality from childhood diarrhoea in countries that have implemented routine vaccination to date. Despite this success, in many countries, rotavirus vaccine coverage remains lower than that of other routine childhood vaccines. Several issues may potentially affect vaccine uptake, namely safety concerns related to intussusception with consequent age restrictions on rotavirus vaccination, contamination with porcine circovirus, vaccine-derived reassortant strains and hospitalization in newborn nurseries at time of administration of live oral rotavirus vaccine. In addition to these safety concerns, other factors may also affect uptake, including lower vaccine efficacy in the developing world, potential emergence of strains escaping from vaccine protection resulting in lower overall impact of a vaccination programme and sustainable vaccine financing. Although further work is needed to address some of these concerns, global policy bodies have reaffirmed that the benefits of rotavirus vaccination outweigh the risks, and vaccine use is recommended globally. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Drug-device combination products in the twenty-first century: epinephrine auto-injector development using human factors engineering.

PubMed

Edwards, Eric S; Edwards, Evan T; Simons, F Estelle R; North, Robert

2015-05-01

The systematic application of human factors engineering (HFE) principles to the development of drug-device combination products, including epinephrine auto-injectors (EAIs), has the potential to improve the effectiveness and safety of drug administration. A PubMed search was performed to assess the role of HFE in the development of drug-device combination products. The following keywords were used in different combinations: 'human factors engineering,' 'human factors,' 'medical products,' 'epinephrine/adrenaline auto-injector,' 'healthcare' and 'patient safety.' This review provides a summary of HFE principles and their application to the development of drug-device combination products as advised by the US FDA. It also describes the HFE process that was applied to the development of Auvi-Q, a novel EAI, highlighting specific steps that occurred during the product-development program. For drug-device combination products, device labeling and usability are critical and have the potential to impact clinical outcomes. Application of HFE principles to the development of drug-delivery devices has the potential to improve product quality and reliability, reduce risk and improve patient safety when applied early in the development process. Additional clinical and real-world studies will confirm whether the application of HFE has helped to develop an EAI that better meets the needs of patients at risk of anaphylaxis.

A Review of Recent Advances in Perioperative Patient Safety.

PubMed

Fowler, Alexander J

2013-01-01

Major complications in surgery affect up to 16% of surgical procedures. Over the past 50 years, many patient safety initiatives have attempted to reduce such complications. Since the formation of the National Patient Safety Agency in 2001, there have been major advances in patient safety. Most recently, the production and implementation of the Surgical Safety Checklist by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a checklist ensuring that certain 'never events' (wrong-site surgery, wrong operation etc.) do not occur, irrespective of healthcare allowance. In this review, a summary of recent advances in patient safety are considered - including improvements in communication, understanding of human factors that cause mistakes, and strategies developed to minimise these. Additionally, the synthesis of best medical practice and harm minimisation is examined, with particular emphasis on communication and appreciation of human factors in the operating theatre. This is based on the resource management systems developed in other high risk industries (e.g. nuclear), and has also been adopted for other high risk medical areas. The WHO global movement to reduce surgical mortality has been highly successful, especially in the healthcare systems of developing nations where mortality reductions of up to 50% have been observed, and reductions in patient complications of 4%. Incident reporting has long been a key component of patient safety and continues to be so; allowing reflection and improved guideline formation. All patients are placed at risk in the surgical environment. It is crucial that this risk is minimised, whilst optimising the patient's outcome. In this review, recent advances in perioperative patient safety are examined and placed in context.

The forgotten realm of the new and emerging psychosocial risk factors.

PubMed

Chirico, Francesco

2017-09-28

In Europe, employers of all private and public enterprises have a legal obligation to protect their employers by all the different types of workplace hazards to the safety and health of workers. The most important methods developed for the work-related stress risk assessment are based on the Cox's research commissioned by European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and are the Management Standard HSE for work-related stress in United Kingdom, the START method in Germany, the Screening, Observation, Analysis, Expertise (SOBANE) in Belgium, and the National Institute for Prevention and Safety at Work (INAIL-ISPESL) model in Italy, the latter based on the British Management Standard. Unfortunately, the definition of "work-related stress" elaborated by EU-OSHA was criticized, because it is not completely equal to the broader "psychosocial risk," which includes new and emerging psychosocial risk factors, such as the combined exposure to physical and psychosocial risks, job insecurity, work intensification and high demands at work, high emotional load related to burnout, work-life balance problems, and violence and harassment at work. All these new emerging psychosocial hazards could require different and additional methodologies to save workers' health and safety. For this reason, the concept that stakeholders and policy makers should keep in mind in order to develop better national regulations and strategies is that work-related stress risk and psychosocial risk factors are not the same.

Consensus achievement of leadership, organisational and individual factors that influence safety climate: Implications for nursing management.

PubMed

Fischer, Shelly A; Jones, Jacqueline; Verran, Joyce A

2018-01-01

To validate a framework of factors that influence the relationship of transformational leadership and safety climate, and to enable testing of safety chain factors by generating hypotheses regarding their mediating and moderating effects. Understanding the patient safety chain and mechanisms by which leaders affect a strong climate of safety is essential to transformational leadership practice, education, and research. A systematic review of leadership and safety literature was used to develop an organising framework of factors proposed to influence the climate of safety. A panel of 25 international experts in leadership and safety engaged a three-round modified Delphi study with Likert-scored surveys. Eighty per cent of participating experts from six countries were retained to the final survey round. Consensus (>66% agreement) was achieved on 40 factors believed to influence safety climate in the acute care setting. Consensus regarding specific factors that play important roles in an organisation's climate of safety can be reached. Generally, the demonstration of leadership commitment to safety is key to cultivating a culture of patient safety. Transformational nurse leaders should consider and employ all three categories of factors in daily leadership activities and decision-making to drive a strong climate of patient safety. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The science behind codes and standards for safe walkways: changes in level, stairways, stair handrails and slip resistance.

PubMed

Nemire, Kenneth; Johnson, Daniel A; Vidal, Keith

2016-01-01

Walkway codes and standards are often created through consensus by committees based on a number of factors, including historical precedence, common practice, cost, and empirical data. The authors maintain that in the formulation of codes and standards that impact pedestrian safety, the results of pertinent scientific research should be given significant weight. This article examines many elements of common walkway codes and standards related to changes in level, stairways, stair handrails, and slip resistance. It identifies which portions are based on or supported by empirical data; and which could benefit from additional scientific research. This article identifies areas in which additional research, codes, and standards may be beneficial to enhance pedestrian safety. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

14 CFR 29.303 - Factor of safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Strength Requirements General § 29.303 Factor of safety. Unless otherwise provided, a factor of safety of 1.5 must be used. This factor applies to external and inertia... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Factor of safety. 29.303 Section 29.303...

14 CFR 27.303 - Factor of safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... STANDARDS: NORMAL CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Strength Requirements General § 27.303 Factor of safety. Unless otherwise provided, a factor of safety of 1.5 must be used. This factor applies to external and inertia... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Factor of safety. 27.303 Section 27.303...

Fatal connections--socioeconomic determinants of road accident risk and drunk driving in Sweden.

PubMed

Krüger, Niclas A

2013-09-01

In recent years a considerable number of papers have examined socioeconomic factors influencing the number and the outcome of traffic accidents. There is however more research needed to confirm the previous results in order to generalize them and a need to examine additional factors that might have an impact. This paper uses both regional panel data and national time series data combined with filtering techniques to determine what factors influence the number of accidents, the accident outcome and detected drunk driving. Using time series data, it is found that the number of traffic fatalities increases for both per capita and per person kilometer travelled during economic booms. This indicates that the death risk rises not only because of increased mileage or motorization during booms. Using panel data, it is found that traffic fatalities decrease with unemployment, whereas personal injuries increase on a per capita basis with youth and the number of cars. In contrast to property crimes and other types of crime, drunk driving in Sweden decreases during economic contractions. The main policy conclusion from our results is that resources for safety measures should not be spend uniformly across time and space. Instead, safety measures should be concentrated to areas with a high share of young people and to periods with low unemployment. The results of the time series analysis suggest that factors other than increased mileage during booms contribute to the higher rate of fatalities during good times. Increased risk taking, such as drunk driving, might be an explanatory factor. The results might be interesting for safety-oriented car and truck producers as well for developers of traffic safety products, since the results indicate in what regional markets and under what market conditions their products are most needed. Copyright © 2013 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Structural Deterministic Safety Factors Selection Criteria and Verification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Verderaime, V.

1992-01-01

Though current deterministic safety factors are arbitrarily and unaccountably specified, its ratio is rooted in resistive and applied stress probability distributions. This study approached the deterministic method from a probabilistic concept leading to a more systematic and coherent philosophy and criterion for designing more uniform and reliable high-performance structures. The deterministic method was noted to consist of three safety factors: a standard deviation multiplier of the applied stress distribution; a K-factor for the A- or B-basis material ultimate stress; and the conventional safety factor to ensure that the applied stress does not operate in the inelastic zone of metallic materials. The conventional safety factor is specifically defined as the ratio of ultimate-to-yield stresses. A deterministic safety index of the combined safety factors was derived from which the corresponding reliability proved the deterministic method is not reliability sensitive. The bases for selecting safety factors are presented and verification requirements are discussed. The suggested deterministic approach is applicable to all NASA, DOD, and commercial high-performance structures under static stresses.

De-boned beef - an example of a commodity for which specific standards could be developed to ensure an appropriate level of protection for international trade.

PubMed

Thomson, G R; Leyland, T J; Donaldson, A I

2009-03-01

De-boned beef from which lymph nodes and risk material associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy have been removed, is a product which can be produced for safe international trade irrespective of whether the locality of production is recognized as free from so-called transboundary diseases or not. Further processing of such beef provides an additional safety factor. However, this approach requires specific control measures being in place, supported by appropriate auditing and certification procedures. This document presents the arguments supporting this concept and details how safety in respect of both animal diseases and human food safety can be achieved using an integrated hazard analysis and critical control points approach.

Factors Influencing International Students' Choice of an Education Destination--A Correspondence Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shanka, Tekle; Quintal, Vanessa; Taylor, Ruth

2005-01-01

A correspondence analysis technique was employed to elicit information from international students pertaining to their choice of study destination. A survey of international students at a major Australian university revealed that the proximity of the city to the students' home countries, in addition to safety, the educational quality/variety, etc.…

What Are College Students' Perceptions about Campus Safety?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chekwa, Charles; Thomas, Eugene, Jr.; Jones, Valerie James

2013-01-01

Crime and violence on college and university campuses have found their way into the media spotlight. As a result, criminal and violent acts have become issues that warrant research. We discuss literature focused on the potential contributing factors that may lead to violent behavior. Additionally, we review legislation intended to protect students…

2009 Human Factors and Roadway Safety Workshop : Teen Driver Safety [SD .WMV (720x480/29fps/177.0 MB)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-11-05

Iowa Department of Transportation Research and Technology Bureau video presentation from the 2009 human factors and roadway safety workshop session titled: Teen Driver Safety : Keynote Speaker Dan McGehee, director, Human Factors & Vehicle Safety Res...

Influences on the adoption of patient safety innovation in primary care: a qualitative exploration of staff perspectives.

PubMed

Litchfield, Ian; Gill, Paramjit; Avery, Tony; Campbell, Stephen; Perryman, Katherine; Marsden, Kate; Greenfield, Sheila

2018-05-22

Primary care is changing rapidly to meet the needs of an ageing and chronically ill population. New ways of working are called for yet the introduction of innovative service interventions is complicated by organisational challenges arising from its scale and diversity and the growing complexity of patients and their care. One such intervention is the multi-strand, single platform, Patient Safety Toolkit developed to help practices provide safer care in this dynamic and pressured environment where the likelihood of adverse incidents is increasing. Here we describe the attitudes of staff toward these tools and how their implementation was shaped by a number of contextual factors specific to each practice. The Patient Safety Toolkit comprised six tools; a system of rapid note review, an online staff survey, a patient safety questionnaire, prescribing safety indicators, a medicines reconciliation tool, and a safe systems checklist. We implemented these tools at practices across the Midlands, the North West, and the South Coast of England and conducted semi-structured interviews to determine staff perspectives on their effectiveness and applicability. The Toolkit was used in 46 practices and a total of 39 follow-up interviews were conducted. Three key influences emerged on the implementation of the Toolkit these related to their ease of use and the novelty of the information they provide; whether their implementation required additional staff training or practice resource; and finally factors specific to the practice's local environment such as overlapping initiatives orchestrated by their CCG. The concept of a balanced toolkit to address a range of safety issues proved popular. A number of barriers and facilitators emerged in particular those tools that provided relevant information with a minimum impact on practice resource were favoured. Individual practice circumstances also played a role. Practices with IT aware staff were at an advantage and those previously utilising patient safety initiatives were less likely to adopt additional tools with overlapping outputs. By acknowledging these influences we can better interpret reaction to and adoption of individual elements of the toolkit and optimise future implementation.

A structural equation modelling approach examining the pathways between safety climate, behaviour performance and workplace slipping

PubMed Central

Swedler, David I; Verma, Santosh K; Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; Lombardi, David A; Chang, Wen-Ruey; Brennan, Melayne; Courtney, Theodore K

2015-01-01

Objective Safety climate has previously been associated with increasing safe workplace behaviours and decreasing occupational injuries. This study seeks to understand the structural relationship between employees’ perceptions of safety climate, performing a safety behaviour (ie, wearing slip-resistant shoes) and risk of slipping in the setting of limited-service restaurants. Methods At baseline, we surveyed 349 employees at 30 restaurants for their perceptions of their safety training and management commitment to safety as well as demographic data. Safety performance was identified as wearing slip-resistant shoes, as measured by direct observation by the study team. We then prospectively collected participants’ hours worked and number of slips weekly for the next 12 weeks. Using a confirmatory factor analysis, we modelled safety climate as a higher order factor composed of previously identified training and management commitment factors. Results The 349 study participants experienced 1075 slips during the 12-week follow-up. Confirmatory factor analysis supported modelling safety climate as a higher order factor composed of safety training and management commitment. In a structural equation model, safety climate indirectly affected prospective risk of slipping through safety performance, but no direct relationship between safety climate and slips was evident. Conclusions Results suggest that safety climate can reduce workplace slips through performance of a safety behaviour as well as suggesting a potential causal mechanism through which safety climate can reduce workplace injuries. Safety climate can be modelled as a higher order factor composed of safety training and management commitment. PMID:25710968

Identification of Crew-Systems Interactions and Decision Related Trends

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Sharon Monica; Evans, Joni K.; Reveley, Mary S.; Withrow, Colleen A.; Ancel, Ersin; Barr, Lawrence

2013-01-01

NASA Vehicle System Safety Technology (VSST) project management uses systems analysis to identify key issues and maintain a portfolio of research leading to potential solutions to its three identified technical challenges. Statistical data and published safety priority lists from academic, industry and other government agencies were reviewed and analyzed by NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) systems analysis personnel to identify issues and future research needs related to one of VSST's technical challenges, Crew Decision Making (CDM). The data examined in the study were obtained from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Aviation Accident and Incident Data System, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Accident/Incident Data System and the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). In addition, this report contains the results of a review of safety priority lists, information databases and other documented references pertaining to aviation crew systems issues and future research needs. The specific sources examined were: Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) Safety Enhancements Reserved for Future Implementation (SERFIs), Flight Deck Automation Issues (FDAI) and NTSB Most Wanted List and Open Recommendations. Various automation issues taxonomies and priority lists pertaining to human factors, automation and flight design were combined to create a list of automation issues related to CDM.

14 CFR 23.303 - Factor of safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Factor of safety. 23.303 Section 23.303... STANDARDS: NORMAL, UTILITY, ACROBATIC, AND COMMUTER CATEGORY AIRPLANES Structure General § 23.303 Factor of safety. Unless otherwise provided, a factor of safety of 1.5 must be used. ...

A cross-cultural study of organizational factors on safety: Japanese vs. Taiwanese oil refinery plants.

PubMed

Hsu, Shang Hwa; Lee, Chun-Chia; Wu, Muh-Cherng; Takano, Kenichi

2008-01-01

This study attempts to identify idiosyncrasies of organizational factors on safety and their influence mechanisms in Taiwan and Japan. Data were collected from employees of Taiwanese and Japanese oil refinery plants. Results show that organizational factors on safety differ in the two countries. Organizational characteristics in Taiwanese plants are highlighted as: higher level of management commitment to safety, harmonious interpersonal relationship, more emphasis on safety activities, higher devotion to supervision, and higher safety self-efficacy, as well as high quality of safety performance. Organizational characteristics in Japanese plants are highlighted as: higher level of employee empowerment and attitude towards continuous improvement, more emphasis on systematic safety management approach, efficient reporting system and teamwork, and high quality of safety performance. The casual relationships between organizational factors and workers' safety performance were investigated using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results indicate that the influence mechanisms of organizational factors in Taiwan and Japan are different. These findings provide insights into areas of safety improvement in emerging countries and developed countries respectively.

Organizational factors affecting safety implementation in food companies in Thailand.

PubMed

Chinda, Thanwadee

2014-01-01

Thai food industry employs a massive number of skilled and unskilled workers. This may result in an industry with high incidences and accident rates. To improve safety and reduce the accident figures, this paper investigates factors influencing safety implementation in small, medium, and large food companies in Thailand. Five factors, i.e., management commitment, stakeholders' role, safety information and communication, supportive environment, and risk, are found important in helping to improve safety implementation. The statistical analyses also reveal that small, medium, and large food companies hold similar opinions on the risk factor, but bear different perceptions on the other 4 factors. It is also found that to improve safety implementation, the perceptions of safety goals, communication, feedback, safety resources, and supervision should be aligned in small, medium, and large companies.

The outcomes of recent patient safety education interventions for trainee physicians and medical students: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Kirkman, Matthew A; Sevdalis, Nick; Arora, Sonal; Baker, Paul; Vincent, Charles; Ahmed, Maria

2015-01-01

Objective To systematically review the latest evidence for patient safety education for physicians in training and medical students, updating, extending and improving on a previous systematic review on this topic. Design A systematic review. Data sources Embase, Ovid Medline and PsycINFO databases. Study selection Studies including an evaluation of patient safety training interventions delivered to trainees/residents and medical students published between January 2009 and May 2014. Data extraction The review was performed using a structured data capture tool. Thematic analysis also identified factors influencing successful implementation of interventions. Results We identified 26 studies reporting patient safety interventions: 11 involving students and 15 involving trainees/residents. Common educational content included a general overview of patient safety, root cause/systems-based analysis, communication and teamwork skills, and quality improvement principles and methodologies. The majority of courses were well received by learners, and improved patient safety knowledge, skills and attitudes. Moreover, some interventions were shown to result in positive behaviours, notably subsequent engagement in quality improvement projects. No studies demonstrated patient benefit. Availability of expert faculty, competing curricular/service demands and institutional culture were important factors affecting implementation. Conclusions There is an increasing trend for developing educational interventions in patient safety delivered to trainees/residents and medical students. However, significant methodological shortcomings remain and additional evidence of impact on patient outcomes is needed. While there is some evidence of enhanced efforts to promote sustainability of such interventions, further work is needed to encourage their wider adoption and spread. PMID:25995240

Factors influencing Australian agricultural workers' self-efficacy using chemicals in the workplace.

PubMed

Blackman, Ian R

2012-11-01

A hypothetical model was formulated to explore which factors can simultaneously influence the self-reported ability of agricultural employees to embrace chemical safety practices. Eight variables were considered in the study, including the employees' gender, age, duration of current employment status, and whether they were employed full-time or part-time. The self-efficacy measures of 169 participants were then estimated by measuring their self-rated ability to understand and perform different chemical safety practices. Models identifying employee self-efficacy pathways leading to worker readiness to engage in chemical safety were then tested using Partial Least Squares Path Analysis. Study results suggest that employees' self-efficacy to successfully engage in safe chemical practices in their workplace can be directly predicted by four variables, with additional indirect effects offered by one other variable, which cumulatively account for 41% of the variance of employees' chemical safety self-efficacy scores. The most significant predictor variables that directly influenced employees' self-efficacy in adopting chemical safety practices in the workplace were worker age, gender, years of employment, and concurrent confidence (self-efficacy) arising from prior experience using chemicals in the workplace. The variables of employees' prior knowledge and understanding about the use of administrative controls and personal protective equipment to protect workers from chemical exposure had no direct influence on self-efficacy to handle chemical emergencies. Employees' unfamiliarity with risk control strategies and reliance on material safety data sheets for information suggest that ongoing and targeted training are necessary if chemical safety issues are to be addressed.

Risky Food Safety Behaviors Are Associated with Higher Bmi and Lower Healthy Eating Self-Efficacy and Intentions among African American Churchgoers in Baltimore

PubMed Central

Anderson Steeves, Elizabeth; Silbergeld, Ellen; Summers, Amber; Chen, Lenis; Gittelsohn, Joel

2012-01-01

Background There are an estimated 9.4 million cases of foodborne illness each year. Consumers have a key role in preventing foodborne illness, but differences in the practice of food safety behaviors exist, increasing risk for certain groups in the population. Identifying groups who are more likely to practice risky food safety behaviors can assist in development of interventions to reduce the disease burden of foodborne illnesses. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationships of health indicators and psychosocial factors with self-reported food safety behaviors. Methods and Findings Data were collected via questionnaire from 153 African Americans who attend churches in Baltimore City. Individuals reported high overall concern with food safety (mean score: 0.80±0.49 on a scale of −1 to +1) and practiced food safety behaviors with moderate overall frequency (mean score: 5.26±4.01 on a scale of −12 to +12), with considerable variation in reported frequencies depending on the food safety behavior. After adjusting for demographic variables, food safety behaviors were significantly associated with BMI and psychosocial variables. Riskier food safety behaviors were associated with higher body mass index (BMI) (β = −0.141 95%CI (−0.237, −0.044), p = 0.004). Self-efficacy for healthy eating (standard β [std. β] = 0.250, p = 0.005) and healthy eating intentions (std. β = 0.178, p = 0.041) were associated with better food safety behaviors scores. Conclusions These results show important relationships between weight-related health indicators, psychosocial factors and food safety behaviors that have not previously been studied. Interventions tailored to higher-risk populations have the potential to reduce the burden of food-related illnesses. Additional studies are needed to further investigate these relationships with larger and more diverse samples. PMID:23284894

Investigation of structural factors of safety for the space shuttle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

A study was made of the factors governing the structural design of the fully reusable space shuttle booster to establish a rational approach to select optimum structural factors of safety. The study included trade studies of structural factors of safety versus booster service life, weight, cost, and reliability. Similar trade studies can be made on other vehicles using the procedures developed. The major structural components of a selected baseline booster were studied in depth, each being examined to determine the fatigue life, safe-life, and fail-safe capabilities of the baseline design. Each component was further examined to determine its reliability and safety requirements, and the change of structural weight with factors of safety. The apparent factors of safety resulting from fatigue, safe-life, proof test, and fail-safe requirements were identified. The feasibility of reduced factors of safety for design loads such as engine thrust, which are well defined, was examined.

Safety self-efficacy and safety performance: potential antecedents and the moderation effect of standardization.

PubMed

Katz-Navon, Tal; Naveh, Eitan; Stern, Zvi

2007-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a new safety self-efficacy construct and to explore its antecedents and interaction with standardization to influence in-patient safety. The paper used a survey of 161 nurses using a self-administered questionnaire over a 14-day period in two large Israeli general hospitals. Nurses answered questions relating to four safety self-efficacy antecedents: enactive mastery experiences; managers as safety role models; verbal persuasion; and safety priority, that relate to the perceived level of standardization and safety self-efficacy. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the scale's construct validity. Regression models were used to test hypotheses regarding the antecedents and influence of safety self-efficacy. Results indicate that: managers as safety role models; distributing safety information; and priority given to safety, contributed to safety self-efficacy. Additionally, standardization moderated the effects of safety self-efficacy and patient safety such that safety self-efficacy was positively associated with patient safety when standardization was low rather than high. Hospital managers should be aware of individual motivations as safety self-efficacy when evaluating the potential influence of standardization on patient safety. Theoretically, the study introduces a new safety self-efficacy concept, and captures its antecedents and influence on safety performance. Also, the study suggests safety self-efficacy as a boundary condition for the influence of standardization on safety performance. Implementing standardization in healthcare is problematic because not all processes can be standardized. In this case, self-efficacy plays an important role in securing patient safety. Hence, safety self-efficacy may serve as a "substitute-for-standardization," by promoting staff behaviors that affect patient safety.

14 CFR 31.25 - Factor of safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... envelope stress. (c) A factor of safety of at least five must be used in the design of all fibrous or non... any single failure will not jeopardize safety of flight. (d) In applying factors of safety, the effect...

14 CFR 25.303 - Factor of safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Factor of safety. 25.303 Section 25.303... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Structure General § 25.303 Factor of safety. Unless otherwise specified, a factor of safety of 1.5 must be applied to the prescribed limit load which are considered...

Impacts of Job Stress and Cognitive Failure on Patient Safety Incidents among Hospital Nurses.

PubMed

Park, Young-Mi; Kim, Souk Young

2013-12-01

This study aimed to identify the impacts of job stress and cognitive failure on patient safety incidents among hospital nurses in Korea. The study included 279 nurses who worked for at least 6 months in five general hospitals in Korea. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires designed to measure job stress, cognitive failure, and patient safety incidents. This study showed that 27.9% of the participants had experienced patient safety incidents in the past 6 months. Factors affecting incidents were found to be shift work [odds ratio (OR) = 6.85], cognitive failure (OR = 2.92), lacking job autonomy (OR = 0.97), and job instability (OR = 1.02). Patient safety incidents were affected by shift work, cognitive failure, and job stress. Many countermeasures to reduce the incidents caused by shift work, and plans to reduce job stress to reduce the workers' cognitive failure are required. In addition, there is a necessity to reduce job instability and clearly define the scope and authority for duties that are directly related to the patient's safety.

Impacts of Job Stress and Cognitive Failure on Patient Safety Incidents among Hospital Nurses

PubMed Central

Park, Young-Mi; Kim, Souk Young

2013-01-01

Background This study aimed to identify the impacts of job stress and cognitive failure on patient safety incidents among hospital nurses in Korea. Methods The study included 279 nurses who worked for at least 6 months in five general hospitals in Korea. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires designed to measure job stress, cognitive failure, and patient safety incidents. Results This study showed that 27.9% of the participants had experienced patient safety incidents in the past 6 months. Factors affecting incidents were found to be shift work [odds ratio (OR) = 6.85], cognitive failure (OR = 2.92), lacking job autonomy (OR = 0.97), and job instability (OR = 1.02). Conclusion Patient safety incidents were affected by shift work, cognitive failure, and job stress. Many countermeasures to reduce the incidents caused by shift work, and plans to reduce job stress to reduce the workers' cognitive failure are required. In addition, there is a necessity to reduce job instability and clearly define the scope and authority for duties that are directly related to the patient's safety. PMID:24422177

Human factors in waste management - potential and reality

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thompson, J.S.

There is enormous potential for human factors contributions in the realm of waste management. The reality, however, is very different from the potential. This is particularly true for low-level and low-level mixed-waste management. The hazards are less severe; therefore, health and safety requirements (including human factors) are not as rigorous as for high-level waste. High-level waste management presents its own unique challenges and opportunities. Waste management is strongly driven by regulatory compliance. When regulations are flexible and open to interpretation and the environment is driven so strongly by regulatory compliance, standard practice is to drop {open_quotes}nice to have{close_quotes} features, likemore » a human factors program, to save money for complying with other requirements. The challenge is to convince decision makers that human factors can help make operations efficient and cost-effective, as well as improving safety and complying with regulations. A human factors program should not be viewed as competing with compliance efforts; in fact, it should complement them and provide additional cost-effective means of achieving compliance with other regulations. Achieving this synergy of human factors with ongoing waste management operations requires educating program and facility managers and other technical specialists about human factors and demonstrating its value {open_quotes}through the back door{close_quotes} on existing efforts. This paper describes ongoing projects at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in support of their waste management groups. It includes lessons learned from hazard and risk analyses, safety analysis reports, job and task analyses, operating procedure development, personnel qualification/certification program development, and facility- and job-specific training program and course development.« less

Evaluation of liquefaction potential for building code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nunziata, C.; De Nisco, G.; Panza, G. F.

2008-07-01

The standard approach for the evaluation of the liquefaction susceptibility is based on the estimation of a safety factor between the cyclic shear resistance to liquefaction and the earthquake induced shear stress. Recently, an updated procedure based on shear-wave velocities (Vs) has been proposed which could be more easily applied. These methods have been applied at La Plaja beach of Catania, that experienced liquefaction because of the 1693 earthquake. The detailed geotechnical and Vs information and the realistic ground motion computed for the 1693 event let us compare the two approaches. The successful application of the Vs procedure, slightly modified to fit historical and safety factor information, even if additional field performances are needed, encourages the development of a guide for liquefaction potential analysis, based on well defined Vs profiles to be included in the italian seismic code.

Work zone safety analysis and modeling: a state-of-the-art review.

PubMed

Yang, Hong; Ozbay, Kaan; Ozturk, Ozgur; Xie, Kun

2015-01-01

Work zone safety is one of the top priorities for transportation agencies. In recent years, a considerable volume of research has sought to determine work zone crash characteristics and causal factors. Unlike other non-work zone-related safety studies (on both crash frequency and severity), there has not yet been a comprehensive review and assessment of methodological approaches for work zone safety. To address this deficit, this article aims to provide a comprehensive review of the existing extensive research efforts focused on work zone crash-related analysis and modeling, in the hopes of providing researchers and practitioners with a complete overview. Relevant literature published in the last 5 decades was retrieved from the National Work Zone Crash Information Clearinghouse and the Transport Research International Documentation database and other public digital libraries and search engines. Both peer-reviewed publications and research reports were obtained. Each study was carefully reviewed, and those that focused on either work zone crash data analysis or work zone safety modeling were identified. The most relevant studies are specifically examined and discussed in the article. The identified studies were carefully synthesized to understand the state of knowledge on work zone safety. Agreement and inconsistency regarding the characteristics of the work zone crashes discussed in the descriptive studies were summarized. Progress and issues about the current practices on work zone crash frequency and severity modeling are also explored and discussed. The challenges facing work zone safety research are then presented. The synthesis of the literature suggests that the presence of a work zone is likely to increase the crash rate. Crashes are not uniformly distributed within work zones and rear-end crashes are the most prevalent type of crashes in work zones. There was no across-the-board agreement among numerous papers reviewed on the relationship between work zone crashes and other factors such as time, weather, victim severity, traffic control devices, and facility types. Moreover, both work zone crash frequency and severity models still rely on relatively simple modeling techniques and approaches. In addition, work zone data limitations have caused a number of challenges in analyzing and modeling work zone safety. Additional efforts on data collection, developing a systematic data analysis framework, and using more advanced modeling approaches are suggested as future research tasks.

Advanced bridge safety initiative : phase 2, task 2 - effects of curb and railing inclusion on rating factors of reinforced concrete flat slab bridges using finite element analysis.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-03-01

The Maine Department of Transportation (Maine DOT) owns a number of existing reinforced concrete slab : bridges that utilize the standard Maine concrete bridge rail. At issue is the additional stiffening and strengthening : that the curb and this rai...

Seniors Falls Investigative Methodology (SFIM): A Systems Approach to the Study of Falls in Seniors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zecevic, Aleksandra A.; Salmoni, Alan W.; Lewko, John H.; Vandervoort, Anthony A.

2007-01-01

An in-depth understanding of human factors and human error is lacking in current research on seniors' falls. Additional knowledge is needed to understand why seniors are falling. The purpose of this article is to describe the adapting of the Integrated Safety Investigation Methodology (ISIM) (used for investigating transportation and industrial…

Pre-flight safety briefings, mood and information retention.

PubMed

Tehrani, Morteza; Molesworth, Brett R C

2015-11-01

Mood is a moderating factor that is known to affect performance. For airlines, the delivery of the pre-flight safety briefing prior to a commercial flight is not only an opportunity to inform passengers about the safety features on-board the aircraft they are flying, but an opportunity to positively influence their mood, and hence performance in the unlikely event of an emergency. The present research examined whether indeed the pre-flight safety briefing could be used to positively impact passengers' mood. In addition, the present research examined whether the recall of key safety messages contained within the pre-flight safety briefing was influenced by the style of briefing. Eighty-two participants were recruited for the research and divided into three groups; each group exposed to a different pre-flight cabin safety briefing video (standard, humorous, movie theme). Mood was measured prior and post safety briefing. The results revealed that pre-flight safety briefing videos can be used to manipulate passengers' mood. Safety briefings that are humorous or use movie themes to model their briefing were found to positively affect mood. However, there was a trade-off between entertainment and education, the greater the entertainment value, the poorer the retention of key safety messages. The results of the research are discussed from both an applied and theoretical perspective. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Residues of carcinogenic animal drugs in food: difficulties in evaluation of human safety.

PubMed

Somogyi, A

1979-01-01

The indisputable need to intensify animal production in order to provide an adequate food supply for the world population involves the use of substances that are highly potent pharmacologically and toxicologically. The history of regulatory action with regard to such additives is similar to that for other substances: first, no regulation; next, an over-reaction; and now decisions based on judicious evaluation of scientific facts. One factor that differentiates the chemicals used in animal production from other food additives is that both the parent compounds and their metabolites appear in edible products, posing problems both for the analytical detection and safety evaluation of such residues. It would be unrealistic to propose 'zero' tolerances for these additives, even if they are carcinogenic. The benefits gained from drugs that cure and prevent infections and parasitic diseases in food-producing animals, and the fact that analytical methods can now detect very small quantities make the presence of low levels of these substances in food unobjectionable.

Factors influencing internal color of cooked meats.

PubMed

Suman, Surendranath P; Nair, Mahesh N; Joseph, Poulson; Hunt, Melvin C

2016-10-01

This manuscript overviews the pertinent research on internal color of uncured cooked meats, biochemical processes involved in meat cookery, and fundamental mechanisms governing myoglobin thermal stability. Heat-induced denaturation of myoglobin, responsible for the characteristic dull-brown color of cooked meats, is influenced by a multitude of endogenous (i.e., pH, muscle source, species, redox state) and exogenous (i.e., packaging, ingredients, storage) factors. The interactions between these factors critically influence the internal cooked color and can confuse the consumers, who often perceive cooked color to be a reliable indicator for doneness and safety. While certain phenomena in cooked meat color are cosmetic in nature, others can mislead consumers and result in foodborne illnesses. Research in meat color suggests that processing technologies and cooking practices in industry as well as households influence the internal cooked color. Additionally, the guidelines of many international public health and regulatory authorities recommend using meat thermometers to determine safe cooking endpoint temperature and to ensure product safety. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of airfield pavement evenness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pietruszewski, Paweł; Poświata, Adam; Wesołowski, Mariusz

2018-05-01

The evenness of airfield pavements is one of the basic operating parameters, which characterize them. The evenness determines not only comfort of traffic along an airfield pavement, but also influences the size of dynamic effect on the pavement, hence, the safety of air operations. In addition, the evenness condition changing as a result of dynamic loads, adverse weather conditions or inappropriate airfield pavement construction technology, lead to deviations from the desired condition in the form of longitudinal and transverse unevenness. As a result, systematic and correct performance of tests is a very significant and required factor impacting the improvement of traffic safety on airfield pavements. If the data obtained through the measurements are not sufficiently reliable, they may consequently lead to making incorrect decisions, which can ultimately impact the safety of air operations.

Work, obesity, and occupational safety and health.

PubMed

Schulte, Paul A; Wagner, Gregory R; Ostry, Aleck; Blanciforti, Laura A; Cutlip, Robert G; Krajnak, Kristine M; Luster, Michael; Munson, Albert E; O'Callaghan, James P; Parks, Christine G; Simeonova, Petia P; Miller, Diane B

2007-03-01

There is increasing evidence that obesity and overweight may be related, in part, to adverse work conditions. In particular, the risk of obesity may increase in high-demand, low-control work environments, and for those who work long hours. In addition, obesity may modify the risk for vibration-induced injury and certain occupational musculoskeletal disorders. We hypothesized that obesity may also be a co-risk factor for the development of occupational asthma and cardiovascular disease that and it may modify the worker's response to occupational stress, immune response to chemical exposures, and risk of disease from occupational neurotoxins. We developed 5 conceptual models of the interrelationship of work, obesity, and occupational safety and health and highlighted the ethical, legal, and social issues related to fuller consideration of obesity's role in occupational health and safety.

An examination of the impact of five grade crossing safety factors on driver decision making

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-04-01

The authors applied signal detection theory to model the impact : of five grade-crossing safety factors to understand their impact : on driver decision making. The safety factors were improving : commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver safety through f...

Middle School Students' Perceptions of Safety: A Mixed-Methods Study.

PubMed

Sweeney, Shannon M; Von Hagen, Leigh Ann

2015-10-01

Active travel to school has been on the decline, despite its beneficial influence on children's current and future well-being. Adults' safety perceptions have been shown to influence children's active travel. Children's perceptions, particularly of safety, may be an important link not only to their present health and travel behaviors, but also their future health and behaviors. This study examined middle school students' perceptions of the built environment and safety. Overall, 776 students from 3 schools in Hudson County, New Jersey participated in a visual survey and structured, interactive classroom discussions. Emergent themes from the discussions were tested using multivariate statistical models. Findings suggest that older students, boys, and students who self-identified as black, rated built environment scenes as safer. Students also perceived being near adults, traveling in a group, and using crosswalks as significantly safer and want additional recognition of these to further improve safety. Students perceived that being near a school, in daylight, and aesthetics as factors contributing to safety. Schools and municipalities may increase programs for students to travel in groups, prioritize maintenance in school zones, and increase the number of crossing guards, particularly outside the immediate school proximity to further improve safety. © 2015, American School Health Association.

Understanding parental motivators and barriers to uptake of child poison safety strategies: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Gibbs, L; Waters, E; Sherrard, J; Ozanne-Smith, J; Robinson, J; Young, S; Hutchinson, A

2005-12-01

To develop an understanding of factors acting as barriers and motivators to parental uptake of child poison safety strategies. A qualitative study involving semistructured interviews and focus groups. A grounded theory approach was used for the collection and analysis of data. Sixty five parents of children under 5 years of age, some of whom had experienced an unintentional child poisoning incident. A range of knowledge based, environmental, and behavioral barriers to comprehensive parental uptake of poison safety practices were identified. As a result there tended to be only partial implementation of safety initiatives in the home. Selection of safety practices was often guided by the interests and behaviors of the child. This made the child vulnerable to changes in the home environment, inadequate supervision, and/or shifts in their own behavior and developmental ability. Personal or vicarious exposure of a parent to a child poisoning incident was a significant motivator for parental review of safety practices. Environmental measures targeting child resistant containers, warning labels, and lockable poisons cupboards will support parents' efforts to maintain poison safety. Additional education campaigns using stories of actual poisoning incidents may help to increase awareness of risk and encourage increased uptake.

Social cognitive determinants of the intention to wear safety gear among adult in-line skaters.

PubMed

Deroche, Thomas; Stephan, Yannick; Castanier, Carole; Brewer, Britton W; Le Scanff, Christine

2009-09-01

In-line skating is increasing in popularity with a concomitant raise in the number of injuries associated with this activity. Studies have emphasized the value of protective gears in reducing the incidence of injuries and the subsequent need to identify the factors and processes involved in decision making about safety gear-wearing. The present study examined the contribution of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) variables, and perceived susceptibility to and perceived severity of skating injury on the safety gear-wearing intention of adult skaters. Skaters (n=181) completed a questionnaire assessing the constructs of the TPB, perceived susceptibility to and perceived severity of skating injuries, and intention to wear safety gear. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed significant contributions of instrumental attitude and subjective norm to the prediction of safety gear-wearing intention. In addition, perceived susceptibility to and perceived severity of injuries enhanced the prediction of intentions to wear safety gear over and above the contribution of TPB components. As the TPB focuses only on behavioural evaluation, it seems promising to include threat perceptions in this theory as another aspect of health-related cognitions motivating intention formation about safety gear use. Practical implications for future campaigns and countermeasures are discussed.

Achieving the Proper Balance Between Crew and Public Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gowan, John; Rosati, Paul; Silvestri, Ray; Stahl, Ben; Wilde, Paul

2011-01-01

A paramount objective of all human-rated launch and reentry vehicle developers is to ensure that the risks to both the crew onboard and the public are minimized within reasonable cost, schedule, and technical constraints. Past experience has shown that proper attention to range safety requirements necessary to ensure public safety must be given early in the design phase to avoid additional operational complexities or threats to the safety of people onboard. This paper will outline the policy considerations, technical issues, and operational impacts regarding launch and reentry vehicle failure scenarios where crew and public safety are intertwined and thus addressed optimally in an integrated manner. Historical examples and lessons learned from both the Space Shuttle and Constellation Programs will be presented. Using these examples as context, the paper will discuss some operational, design, and analysis approaches to mitigate and balance the risks to people onboard and in the public. Manned vehicle perspectives from the FAA and Air Force organizations that oversee public safety will also be summarized. Finally, the paper will emphasize the need to factor policy, operational, and analysis considerations into the early design trades of new vehicles to help ensure that both crew and public safety are maximized to the greatest extent possible.

Impact Assessment of Effective Parameters on Drivers' Attention Level to Urban Traffic Signs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazemi, Mojtaba; Rahimi, Amir Masoud; Roshankhah, Sheida

2016-03-01

Traffic signs are one of the oldest safety and traffic control equipments. Drivers' reaction to installed signs is an important issue that could be studied using statistical models developed for target groups. There are 527 questionnaires have been filled up randomly in 45 days, some by drivers passing two northern cities of Iran and some by e-mail. Therefore, minimum sample size of 384 is fulfilled. In addition, Cronbach Alpha of more than 90 % verifies the questionnaire's validity. Ordinal logistic regression is used for 5-level answer variables. This relatively novel method predicts probability of different cases' considering other effective independent variables. There are 18 parameters of factor, man, vehicle, and environment are assessed and 5 parameters of number of accidents in last 5 years, occupation, driving time, number of accidents per day, and driving speed are eventually found as the most important ones. Age and gender, that are considered as key factors in other safety and accident studies, are not recognized as effective ones in this paper. The results could be useful for safety planning programs.

Drug formulary review process for sargramostim and filgrastim: focus on analysis of adverse drug reactions.

PubMed

Kellihan, M J

1993-01-01

Selection of a drug for formulary inclusion involves evaluation of safety, efficacy, and cost. The colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) sargramostim and filgrastim have a broad range of potential indications and represent a costly formulary addition when acquisition price alone is considered; their comparative safety is unclear. These factors suggest that the CSFs should be closely scrutinized prior to formulary addition. In the absence of direct comparative studies, an assessment of the safety of CSFs involves evaluation of information provided in the product circular, official drug compendia, adverse biologic reports submitted to the United States Food and Drug Administration, and data from key clinical trials. Data in the product circulars report on adverse events in small numbers of patients treated for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (filgrastim) or neutropenia subsequent to bone marrow transplantation (sargramostim). The official compendia and clinical trials include experience with CSFs produced in a variety of expression systems; these data are not limited to sargramostim and filgrastim. Importantly, there was a similar incidence of adverse events in patients who received sargramostim or filgrastim and in those who took placebo reported in the product circulars and the pivotal trials, suggesting that the underlying disease may have an important role in determining the side-effect profile of these agents. Adverse biologic reports represent experience with sargramostim and filgrastim obtained under actual clinical conditions and suggest that the same types of adverse events are seen with sargramostim as with filgrastim. This analysis suggests that a decision to select filgrastim over sargramostim for formulary inclusion based on the safety profile is not appropriate because currently available data are equivocal and that such decisions would more appropriately be based on efficacy and cost.

Lateral drill holes decrease strength of the femur: an observational study using finite element and experimental analyses.

PubMed

Fox, Melanie J; Scarvell, Jennie M; Smith, Paul N; Kalyanasundaram, Shankar; Stachurski, Zbigniew H

2013-08-30

Internal fixation of femoral fractures requires drilling holes through the cortical bone of the shaft of the femur. Intramedullary suction reduces the fat emboli produced by reaming and nailing femoral fractures but requires four suction portals to be drilled into the femoral shaft. This work investigated the effect of these additional holes on the strength of the femur. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to calculate compression, tension and load limits which were then compared to the results from mechanical testing. Models of intact femora and fractured femora internally fixed with intramedullary nailing were generated. In addition, four suction portals, lateral, anterior and posterior, were modelled. Stresses were used to calculate safety factors and predict fatigue. Physical testing on synthetic femora was carried out on a universal mechanical testing machine. The FEA model for stresses generated during walking showed tensile stresses in the lateral femur and compression stresses in the medial femur with a maximum sheer stress through the neck of the femur. The lateral suction portals produced tensile stresses up to over 300% greater than in the femur without suction portals. The anterior and posterior portals did not significantly increase stresses. The lateral suction portals had a safety factor of 0.7, while the anterior and posterior posts had safety factors of 2.4 times walking loads. Synthetic bone subjected to cyclical loading and load to failure showed similar results. On mechanical testing, all constructs failed at the neck of the femur. The anterior suction portals produced minimal increases in stress to loading so are the preferred site should a femur require such drill holes for suction or internal fixation.

Modeling the factors affecting unsafe behavior in the construction industry from safety supervisors' perspective.

PubMed

Khosravi, Yahya; Asilian-Mahabadi, Hassan; Hajizadeh, Ebrahim; Hassanzadeh-Rangi, Narmin; Bastani, Hamid; Khavanin, Ali; Mortazavi, Seyed Bagher

2014-01-01

There can be little doubt that the construction is the most hazardous industry in the worldwide. This study was designed to modeling the factors affecting unsafe behavior from the perspective of safety supervisors. The qualitative research was conducted to extract a conceptual model. A structural model was then developed based on a questionnaire survey (n=266) by two stage Structural Equation Model (SEM) approach. An excellent confirmed 12-factors structure explained about 62% of variances unsafe behavior in the construction industry. A good fit structural model indicated that safety climate factors were positively correlated with safety individual factors (P<0.001) and workplace safety condition (P<0.001). The workplace safety condition was found to play a strong mediating role in linking the safety climate and construction workers' engagement in safe or unsafe behavior. In order to improve construction safety performance, more focus on the workplace condition is required.

Creation of the Naturalistic Engagement in Secondary Tasks (NEST) distracted driving dataset.

PubMed

Owens, Justin M; Angell, Linda; Hankey, Jonathan M; Foley, James; Ebe, Kazutoshi

2015-09-01

Distracted driving has become a topic of critical importance to driving safety research over the past several decades. Naturalistic driving data offer a unique opportunity to study how drivers engage with secondary tasks in real-world driving; however, the complexities involved with identifying and coding relevant epochs of naturalistic data have limited its accessibility to the general research community. This project was developed to help address this problem by creating an accessible dataset of driver behavior and situational factors observed during distraction-related safety-critical events and baseline driving epochs, using the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) naturalistic dataset. The new NEST (Naturalistic Engagement in Secondary Tasks) dataset was created using crashes and near-crashes from the SHRP2 dataset that were identified as including secondary task engagement as a potential contributing factor. Data coding included frame-by-frame video analysis of secondary task and hands-on-wheel activity, as well as summary event information. In addition, information about each secondary task engagement within the trip prior to the crash/near-crash was coded at a higher level. Data were also coded for four baseline epochs and trips per safety-critical event. 1,180 events and baseline epochs were coded, and a dataset was constructed. The project team is currently working to determine the most useful way to allow broad public access to the dataset. We anticipate that the NEST dataset will be extraordinarily useful in allowing qualified researchers access to timely, real-world data concerning how drivers interact with secondary tasks during safety-critical events and baseline driving. The coded dataset developed for this project will allow future researchers to have access to detailed data on driver secondary task engagement in the real world. It will be useful for standalone research, as well as for integration with additional SHRP2 data to enable the conduct of more complex research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

Ethical concerns and career satisfaction in obstetrics and gynecology: a review of recent findings from the Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network.

PubMed

Farrow, Victoria A; Leddy, Meaghan A; Lawrence, Hal; Schulkin, Jay

2011-09-01

Obstetricians-gynecologists (ob-gyns) are frequently confronted with situations that have ethical implications (e.g., whether to accept gifts or samples from drug companies or disclosing medical errors to patients). Additionally, various factors, including specific job-related tasks, costs, and benefits, may impact ob-gyns' career satisfaction. Ethical concerns and career satisfaction can play a role in the quality of women's health care. This article summarizes the studies published between 2005 and 2009 by the Research Department of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which encompass ethical concerns regarding interactions with pharmaceutical representatives and patient safety/medical error reporting, as well as ob-gyn career satisfaction. Additionally, a brief discussion regarding ethical concerns in the ob-gyn field, in general, highlights key topics for the last 30 years. Ethical dilemmas continue to be of concern for ob-gyns. Familiarity with guidelines on appropriate interactions with industry is associated with lower percentages of potentially problematic relationships with pharmaceutical industries. Physicians report that the expense of patient safety initiatives is one of the top barriers for improving patient safety, followed by fear of liability. Overall, respondents reported being satisfied with their careers. However, half of the respondents reported that they were extremely concerned about the impact of professional liability costs on the duration of their careers. Increased familiarity with guidelines may lead to a decreased ob-gyn reliance on pharmaceutical representatives and free samples, whereas specific and practical tools may help them implement patient safety techniques. The easing of malpractice insurance and threat of litigation may enhance career satisfaction among ob-gyns. This article will discuss related findings in recent years. Obstetricians & Gynecologists and Family Physicians. After the completing the CME activity, physicians should be better able to analyze how interactions with pharmaceutical industry may pose ethical dilemmas, examine current barriers to implementing patient safety initiatives, and evaluate the factors that influence career satisfaction among obstetrician-gynecologists.

Interrelation Between Safety Factors and Reliability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elishakoff, Isaac; Chamis, Christos C. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

An evaluation was performed to establish relationships between safety factors and reliability relationships. Results obtained show that the use of the safety factor is not contradictory to the employment of the probabilistic methods. In many cases the safety factors can be directly expressed by the required reliability levels. However, there is a major difference that must be emphasized: whereas the safety factors are allocated in an ad hoc manner, the probabilistic approach offers a unified mathematical framework. The establishment of the interrelation between the concepts opens an avenue to specify safety factors based on reliability. In cases where there are several forms of failure, then the allocation of safety factors should he based on having the same reliability associated with each failure mode. This immediately suggests that by the probabilistic methods the existing over-design or under-design can be eliminated. The report includes three parts: Part 1-Random Actual Stress and Deterministic Yield Stress; Part 2-Deterministic Actual Stress and Random Yield Stress; Part 3-Both Actual Stress and Yield Stress Are Random.

Safety sans Frontières: An International Safety Culture Model.

PubMed

Reader, Tom W; Noort, Mark C; Shorrock, Steven; Kirwan, Barry

2015-05-01

The management of safety culture in international and culturally diverse organizations is a concern for many high-risk industries. Yet, research has primarily developed models of safety culture within Western countries, and there is a need to extend investigations of safety culture to global environments. We examined (i) whether safety culture can be reliably measured within a single industry operating across different cultural environments, and (ii) if there is an association between safety culture and national culture. The psychometric properties of a safety culture model developed for the air traffic management (ATM) industry were examined in 17 European countries from four culturally distinct regions of Europe (North, East, South, West). Participants were ATM operational staff (n = 5,176) and management staff (n = 1,230). Through employing multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, good psychometric properties of the model were established. This demonstrates, for the first time, that when safety culture models are tailored to a specific industry, they can operate consistently across national boundaries and occupational groups. Additionally, safety culture scores at both regional and national levels were associated with country-level data on Hofstede's five national culture dimensions (collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and long-term orientation). MANOVAs indicated safety culture to be most positive in Northern Europe, less so in Western and Eastern Europe, and least positive in Southern Europe. This indicates that national cultural traits may influence the development of organizational safety culture, with significant implications for safety culture theory and practice. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Quantitative evolutionary design

PubMed Central

Diamond, Jared

2002-01-01

The field of quantitative evolutionary design uses evolutionary reasoning (in terms of natural selection and ultimate causation) to understand the magnitudes of biological reserve capacities, i.e. excesses of capacities over natural loads. Ratios of capacities to loads, defined as safety factors, fall in the range 1.2-10 for most engineered and biological components, even though engineered safety factors are specified intentionally by humans while biological safety factors arise through natural selection. Familiar examples of engineered safety factors include those of buildings, bridges and elevators (lifts), while biological examples include factors of bones and other structural elements, of enzymes and transporters, and of organ metabolic performances. Safety factors serve to minimize the overlap zone (resulting in performance failure) between the low tail of capacity distributions and the high tail of load distributions. Safety factors increase with coefficients of variation of load and capacity, with capacity deterioration with time, and with cost of failure, and decrease with costs of initial construction, maintenance, operation, and opportunity. Adaptive regulation of many biological systems involves capacity increases with increasing load; several quantitative examples suggest sublinear increases, such that safety factors decrease towards 1.0. Unsolved questions include safety factors of series systems, parallel or branched pathways, elements with multiple functions, enzyme reaction chains, and equilibrium enzymes. The modest sizes of safety factors imply the existence of costs that penalize excess capacities. Those costs are likely to involve wasted energy or space for large or expensive components, but opportunity costs of wasted space at the molecular level for minor components. PMID:12122135

A Medication Safety Model: A Case Study in Thai Hospital

PubMed Central

Rattanarojsakul, Phichai; Thawesaengskulthai, Natcha

2013-01-01

Reaching zero defects is vital in medication service. Medication error can be reduced if the causes are recognized. The purpose of this study is to search for a conceptual framework of the causes of medication error in Thailand and to examine relationship between these factors and its importance. The study was carried out upon an in-depth case study and survey of hospital personals who were involved in the drug use process. The structured survey was based on Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) (2008) questionnaires focusing on the important factors that affect the medication safety. Additional questionnaires included content to the context of Thailand's private hospital, validated by five-hospital qualified experts. By correlation Pearson analysis, the result revealed 14 important factors showing a linear relationship with drug administration error except the medication reconciliation. By independent sample t-test, the administration error in the hospital was significantly related to external impact. The multiple regression analysis of the detail of medication administration also indicated the patient identification before administration of medication, detection of the risk of medication adverse effects and assurance of medication administration at the right time, dosage and route were statistically significant at 0.05 level. The major implication of the study is to propose a medication safety model in a Thai private hospital. PMID:23985110

A medication safety model: a case study in Thai hospital.

PubMed

Rattanarojsakul, Phichai; Thawesaengskulthai, Natcha

2013-06-12

Reaching zero defects is vital in medication service. Medication error can be reduced if the causes are recognized. The purpose of this study is to search for a conceptual framework of the causes of medication error in Thailand and to examine relationship between these factors and its importance. The study was carried out upon an in-depth case study and survey of hospital personals who were involved in the drug use process. The structured survey was based on Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) (2008) questionnaires focusing on the important factors that affect the medication safety. Additional questionnaires included content to the context of Thailand's private hospital, validated by five-hospital qualified experts. By correlation Pearson analysis, the result revealed 14 important factors showing a linear relationship with drug administration error except the medication reconciliation. By independent sample t-test, the administration error in the hospital was significantly related to external impact. The multiple regression analysis of the detail of medication administration also indicated the patient identification before administration of medication, detection of the risk of medication adverse effects and assurance of medication administration at the right time, dosage and route were statistically significant at 0.05 level. The major implication of the study is to propose a medication safety model in a Thai private hospital.

Use of cultural consensus analysis to evaluate expert feedback of median safety.

PubMed

Kim, Tae-Gyu; Donnell, Eric T; Lee, Dongmin

2008-07-01

Cultural consensus analysis is a statistical method that can be used to assess participant responses to survey questions. The technique concurrently estimates the knowledge of each survey participant and estimates the culturally correct answer to each question asked, based on the existence of consensus among survey participants. The main objectives of this paper are to present the cultural consensus methodology and apply it to a set of median design and safety survey data that were collected using the Delphi method. A total of 21 Delphi survey participants were asked to answer research questions related to cross-median crashes. It was found that the Delphi panel had agreeable opinions with respect to the association of average daily traffic (ADT) and heavy vehicle percentage combination on the risk of cross-median crashes; relative importance of additional factors, other than ADT, median width, and crash history that may contribute to cross-median crashes; and, the relative importance of geometric factors that may be associated with the likelihood of cross-median crashes. Therefore, the findings from the cultural consensus analysis indicate that the expert panel selected to participate in the Delphi survey shared a common knowledge pool relative to the association between median design and safety. There were, however, diverse opinions regarding median barrier type and its preferred placement location. The panel showed a higher level of knowledge on the relative importance regarding the association of geometric factors on cross-median crashes likelihood than on other issues considered. The results of the cultural consensus analysis of the present median design and safety survey data could be used to design a focused field study of median safety.

Latency features of SafetyNet ground systems architecture for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duda, James L.; Mulligan, Joseph; Valenti, James; Wenkel, Michael

2005-01-01

A key feature of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is the Northrop Grumman Space Technology patent-pending innovative data routing and retrieval architecture called SafetyNetTM. The SafetyNetTM ground system architecture for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), combined with the Interface Data Processing Segment (IDPS), will together provide low data latency and high data availability to its customers. The NPOESS will cut the time between observation and delivery by a factor of four when compared with today's space-based weather systems, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and NOAA's Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES). SafetyNetTM will be a key element of the NPOESS architecture, delivering near real-time data over commercial telecommunications networks. Scattered around the globe, the 15 unmanned ground receptors are linked by fiber-optic systems to four central data processing centers in the U. S. known as Weather Centrals. The National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service; Air Force Weather Agency; Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, and the Naval Oceanographic Office operate the Centrals. In addition, this ground system architecture will have unused capacity attendant with an infrastructure that can accommodate additional users.

Subjective Risk Assessment and Perception in the Greek and English Bakery Industries

PubMed Central

Alexopoulos, Evangelos C.; Kavadi, Zafira; Bakoyannis, Giorgos; Papantonopoulos, Sotiris

2009-01-01

Several factors influencing risk perception in the area of occupational health and safety are known, but there is still lack of a full understanding of the ways in which people characterize risk. This study aimed to provide an insight of employee risk assessment and perception in the bakery industry. 87 British and 64 Greek employees in two comparable bakery companies were asked to estimate and evaluate hazards at their workplace. The participants' judgments of 12 hazards—according to 7 risk aspects—were collected and analyzed. Subjective assessment on important occupational hazards included handling heavy loads, repetitiveness, high temperatures, high rate of work, stressful deadlines, and noise. Although limited in the population involved, our findings revealed strong cross-national differences in employee risk perception of specific groups of hazards in the bakery industry. Additional interviews revealed evidence that Greek employees' risk perception depends mostly on work experience while British employees were aware of risks due to company health and safety policy, recognizing that safety is the responsibility of both the management and the worker. Cross-national (cultural) factors that influence workforce risk perception and attitudes towards safety have to be taken into account by technical experts and policy makers in the designing of prevention strategies and risk communication. PMID:20041018

Advances on the Failure Analysis of the Dam-Foundation Interface of Concrete Dams.

PubMed

Altarejos-García, Luis; Escuder-Bueno, Ignacio; Morales-Torres, Adrián

2015-12-02

Failure analysis of the dam-foundation interface in concrete dams is characterized by complexity, uncertainties on models and parameters, and a strong non-linear softening behavior. In practice, these uncertainties are dealt with a well-structured mixture of experience, best practices and prudent, conservative design approaches based on the safety factor concept. Yet, a sound, deep knowledge of some aspects of this failure mode remain unveiled, as they have been offset in practical applications by the use of this conservative approach. In this paper we show a strategy to analyse this failure mode under a reliability-based approach. The proposed methodology of analysis integrates epistemic uncertainty on spatial variability of strength parameters and data from dam monitoring. The purpose is to produce meaningful and useful information regarding the probability of occurrence of this failure mode that can be incorporated in risk-informed dam safety reviews. In addition, relationships between probability of failure and factors of safety are obtained. This research is supported by a more than a decade of intensive professional practice on real world cases and its final purpose is to bring some clarity, guidance and to contribute to the improvement of current knowledge and best practices on such an important dam safety concern.

Advances on the Failure Analysis of the Dam—Foundation Interface of Concrete Dams

PubMed Central

Altarejos-García, Luis; Escuder-Bueno, Ignacio; Morales-Torres, Adrián

2015-01-01

Failure analysis of the dam-foundation interface in concrete dams is characterized by complexity, uncertainties on models and parameters, and a strong non-linear softening behavior. In practice, these uncertainties are dealt with a well-structured mixture of experience, best practices and prudent, conservative design approaches based on the safety factor concept. Yet, a sound, deep knowledge of some aspects of this failure mode remain unveiled, as they have been offset in practical applications by the use of this conservative approach. In this paper we show a strategy to analyse this failure mode under a reliability-based approach. The proposed methodology of analysis integrates epistemic uncertainty on spatial variability of strength parameters and data from dam monitoring. The purpose is to produce meaningful and useful information regarding the probability of occurrence of this failure mode that can be incorporated in risk-informed dam safety reviews. In addition, relationships between probability of failure and factors of safety are obtained. This research is supported by a more than a decade of intensive professional practice on real world cases and its final purpose is to bring some clarity, guidance and to contribute to the improvement of current knowledge and best practices on such an important dam safety concern. PMID:28793709

Aviation Weather Information Requirements Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keel, Byron M.; Stancil, Charles E.; Eckert, Clifford A.; Brown, Susan M.; Gimmestad, Gary G.; Richards, Mark A.; Schaffner, Philip R. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) has as its goal an improvement in aviation safety by a factor of 5 over the next 10 years and a factor of 10 over the next 20 years. Since weather has a big impact on aviation safety and is associated with 30% of all aviation accidents, Weather Accident Prevention (WxAP) is a major element under this program. The Aviation Weather Information (AWIN) Distribution and Presentation project is one of three projects under this element. This report contains the findings of a study conducted by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) under the Enhanced Weather Products effort, which is a task under AWIN. The study examines current aviation weather products and there application. The study goes on to identify deficiencies in the current system and to define requirements for aviation weather products that would lead to an increase in safety. The study also provides an overview the current set of sensors applied to the collection of aviation weather information. New, modified, or fused sensor systems are identified which could be applied in improving the current set of weather products and in addressing the deficiencies defined in the report. In addition, the study addresses and recommends possible sensors for inclusion in an electronic pilot reporting (EPIREP) system.

Measuring safety climate in elderly homes.

PubMed

Yeung, Koon-Chuen; Chan, Charles C

2012-02-01

Provision of a valid and reliable safety climate dimension brings enormous benefits to the elderly home sector. The aim of the present study was to make use of the safety climate instrument developed by OSHC to measure the safety perceptions of employees in elderly homes such that the factor structure of the safety climate dimensions of elderly homes could be explored. In 2010, surveys by mustering on site method were administered in 27 elderly homes that had participated in the "Hong Kong Safe and Healthy Residential Care Home Accreditation Scheme" organized by the Occupational Safety and Health Council. Six hundred and fifty-one surveys were returned with a response rate of 54.3%. To examine the factor structure of safety climate dimensions in our study, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using principal components analysis method was conducted to identify the underlying factors. The results of the modified seven-factor's safety climate structure extracted from 35 items better reflected the safety climate dimensions of elderly homes. The Cronbach alpha range for this study (0.655 to 0.851) indicated good internal consistency among the seven-factor structure. Responses from managerial level, supervisory and professional level, and front-line staff were analyzed to come up with the suggestion on effective ways of improving the safety culture of elderly homes. The overall results showed that managers generally gave positive responses in the factors evaluated, such as "management commitment and concern to safety," "perception of work risks and some contributory influences," "safety communication and awareness," and "safe working attitude and participation." Supervisors / professionals, and frontline level staff on the other hand, have less positive responses. The result of the lowest score in the factors - "perception of safety rules and procedures" underlined the importance of the relevance and practicability of safety rules and procedures. The modified OSHC safety climate tool provided better evidence of structural validity and reliability for use by elderly homes' decision makers as an indicator of employee perception of safety in their institution. The findings and suggestions in the study provide useful information for the management, supervisors/professionals and frontline level staff to cultivate the safety culture in the elderly home sector. Most important, elderly homes can use the modified safety climate scale to identify problem areas in their safety culture and safety management practices and then target these for intervention. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dimensions of Safety Climate among Iranian Nurses.

PubMed

Konjin, Z Naghavi; Shokoohi, Y; Zarei, F; Rahimzadeh, M; Sarsangi, V

2015-10-01

Workplace safety has been a concern of workers and managers for decades. Measuring safety climate is crucial in improving safety performance. It is also a method of benchmarking safety perception. To develop and validate a psychometrics scale for measuring nurses' safety climate. Literature review, subject matter experts and nurse's judgment were used in items developing. Content validity and reliability for new tool were tested by content validity index (CVI) and test-retest analysis, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with varimax rotation was used to improve the interpretation of latent factors. A 40-item scale in 6 factors was developed, which could explain 55% of the observed variance. The 6 factors included employees' involvement in safety and management support, compliance with safety rules, safety training and accessibility to personal protective equipment, hindrance to safe work, safety communication and job pressure, and individual risk perception. The proposed scale can be used in identifying the needed areas to implement interventions in safety climate of nurses.

Safety leadership in the teaching laboratories of electrical and electronic engineering departments at Taiwanese Universities.

PubMed

Wu, Tsung-Chih

2008-01-01

Safety has always been one of the principal goals in teaching laboratories. Laboratories cannot serve their educational purpose when accidents occur. The leadership of department heads has a major impact on laboratory safety, so this study discusses the factors affecting safety leadership in teaching laboratories. This study uses a mail survey to explore the perceived safety leadership in electrical and electronic engineering departments at Taiwanese universities. An exploratory factor analysis shows that there are three main components of safety leadership, as measured on a safety leadership scale: safety controlling, safety coaching, and safety caring. The descriptive statistics also reveals that among faculty, the perception of department heads' safety leadership is in general positive. A two-way MANOVA shows that there are interaction effects on safety leadership between university size and instructor age; there are also interaction effects between presence of a safety committee and faculty gender and faculty age. It is therefore necessary to assess organizational factors when determining whether individual factors are the cause of differing perceptions among faculty members. The author also presents advice on improving safety leadership for department heads at small universities and at universities without safety committees.

21 CFR 170.20 - General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... food additives. 170.20 Section 170.20 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD ADDITIVES Food Additive Safety § 170.20 General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives. (a) In reaching a decision on any petition filed under section 409...

21 CFR 170.20 - General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... food additives. 170.20 Section 170.20 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION (CONTINUED) FOOD ADDITIVES Food Additive Safety § 170.20 General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives. (a) In reaching a...

21 CFR 570.20 - General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... food additives. 570.20 Section 570.20 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS FOOD ADDITIVES Food Additive Safety § 570.20 General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives. (a) In reaching a...

21 CFR 170.20 - General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... food additives. 170.20 Section 170.20 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION (CONTINUED) FOOD ADDITIVES Food Additive Safety § 170.20 General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives. (a) In reaching a...

21 CFR 170.20 - General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... food additives. 170.20 Section 170.20 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION (CONTINUED) FOOD ADDITIVES Food Additive Safety § 170.20 General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives. (a) In reaching a...

21 CFR 570.20 - General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... food additives. 570.20 Section 570.20 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS FOOD ADDITIVES Food Additive Safety § 570.20 General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives. (a) In reaching a...

21 CFR 170.20 - General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... food additives. 170.20 Section 170.20 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION (CONTINUED) FOOD ADDITIVES Food Additive Safety § 170.20 General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives. (a) In reaching a...

21 CFR 570.20 - General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... food additives. 570.20 Section 570.20 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS FOOD ADDITIVES Food Additive Safety § 570.20 General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives. (a) In reaching a...

Identifying crash contributory factors at urban roundabouts and using association rules to explore their relationships to different crash types.

PubMed

Montella, Alfonso

2011-07-01

The use of roundabouts improves intersection safety by eliminating or altering conflict types, reducing crash severity, and causing drivers to reduce speeds. However, roundabout performances can degrade if precautions are not taken during either the design or the operation phase. Therefore, additional information on the safety of the roundabouts is extremely helpful for planners and designers in identifying existing deficiencies and in refining the design criteria currently being used. The aim of the paper was to investigate the crash contributory factors in 15 urban roundabouts located in Italy and to study the interdependences between these factors. The crash data refer to the period 2003-2008. The identification of the crash contributory factors was based on site inspections and rigorous analyses performed by a team of specialists with a relevant road safety engineering background. Each roundabout was inspected once every year from 2004 to 2009, both in daytime and in nighttime. Overall, 62 different contributory factors and 2156 total contributory factors were identified. In 51 crashes, a single contributory factor was found, whereas in the other 223 crashes, a combination of contributory factors was identified. Given the large amount of data, the interdependences between the contributory factors and between the contributory factors and the different crash types were explored by an association discovery. Association discovery is the identification of sets of items (i.e., crash contributory factors and crash types in our study) that occur together in a given event (i.e., a crash in our study). The rules were filtered by support, confidence, and lift. As a result, 112 association rules were discovered. Overall, numerous contributory factors related to the road and environment deficiencies but not related to the road user or to the vehicle were identified. The most important factors related to geometric design were the radius of deflection and the deviation angle. In existing roundabouts, the improvement of these factors might be quite expensive, but the crucial role of a moderate radius of deflection and a large deviation angle in the design of new roundabouts was stressed. Many of the contributory factors were related to markings and signs, and these factors could be easily removed with low-cost safety measures. Furthermore, because of the association between the markings, signs, and geometric design contributory factors, the study results suggest that the improvement in markings and signs might also have a significant effect in the sites where geometric design deficiencies were identified as contributory factors. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

76 FR 35130 - Pipeline Safety: Control Room Management/Human Factors

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-16

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Parts...: Control Room Management/Human Factors AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration... safety standards, risk assessments, and safety policies for natural gas pipelines and for hazardous...

What is the relationship between mental workload factors and cognitive load types?

PubMed

Galy, Edith; Cariou, Magali; Mélan, Claudine

2012-03-01

The present study tested the hypothesis of an additive interaction between intrinsic, extraneous and germane cognitive load, by manipulating factors of mental workload assumed to have a specific effect on either type of cognitive load. The study of cognitive load factors and their interaction is essential if we are to improve workers' wellbeing and safety at work. High cognitive load requires the individual to allocate extra resources to entering information. It is thought that this demand for extra resources may reduce processing efficiency and performance. The present study tested the effects of three factors thought to act on either cognitive load type, i.e. task difficulty, time pressure and alertness in a working memory task. Results revealed additive effects of task difficulty and time pressure, and a modulation by alertness on behavioral, subjective and psychophysiological workload measures. Mental overload can be the result of a combination of task-related components, but its occurrence may also depend on subject-related characteristics, including alertness. Solutions designed to reduce incidents and accidents at work should consider work organization in addition to task constraints in so far that both these factors may interfere with mental workload. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Safety in home care: A research protocol for studying medication management

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Patient safety is an ongoing global priority, with medication safety considered a prevalent, high-risk area of concern. Yet, we have little understanding of the supports and barriers to safe medication management in the Canadian home care environment. There is a clear need to engage the providers and recipients of care in studying and improving medication safety with collaborative approaches to exploring the nature and safety of medication management in home care. Methods A socio-ecological perspective on health and health systems drives our iterative qualitative study on medication safety with elderly home care clients, family members and other informal caregivers, and home care providers. As we purposively sample across four Canadian provinces: Alberta (AB), Ontario (ON), Quebec (QC) and Nova Scotia (NS), we will collect textual and visual data through home-based interviews, participant-led photo walkabouts of the home, and photo elicitation sessions at clients' kitchen tables. Using successive rounds of interpretive description and human factors engineering analyses, we will generate robust descriptions of managing medication at home within each provincial sample and across the four-province group. We will validate our initial interpretations through photo elicitation focus groups with home care providers in each province to develop a refined description of the phenomenon that can inform future decision-making, quality improvement efforts, and research. Discussion The application of interpretive and human factors lenses to the visual and textual data is expected to yield findings that advance our understanding of the issues, challenges, and risk-mitigating strategies related to medication safety in home care. The images are powerful knowledge translation tools for sharing what we learn with participants, decision makers, other healthcare audiences, and the public. In addition, participants engage in knowledge exchange throughout the study with the use of participatory data collection methods. PMID:20525363

[Shuttle Challenger disaster: what lessons can be learned for management of patients in the operating room?].

PubMed

Suva, Domizio; Poizat, Germain

2015-02-04

For many years hospitals have been implementing crew resource management (CRM) programs, inspired by the aviation industry, in order to improve patient safety. However, while contributing to improved patient care, CRM programs are controversial because of their limited impact, a decrease in effectiveness over time, and the underinvestment by some caregivers. By analyzing the space shuttle Challenger accident, the objective of this article is to show the potential impact of the professional culture in decision-making processes. In addition, to present an approach by cultural factors which are an essential complement to current CRM programs in order to enhance the safety of care.

Determination of Slope Safety Factor with Analytical Solution and Searching Critical Slip Surface with Genetic-Traversal Random Method

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

In the current practice, to determine the safety factor of a slope with two-dimensional circular potential failure surface, one of the searching methods for the critical slip surface is Genetic Algorithm (GA), while the method to calculate the slope safety factor is Fellenius' slices method. However GA needs to be validated with more numeric tests, while Fellenius' slices method is just an approximate method like finite element method. This paper proposed a new method to determine the minimum slope safety factor which is the determination of slope safety factor with analytical solution and searching critical slip surface with Genetic-Traversal Random Method. The analytical solution is more accurate than Fellenius' slices method. The Genetic-Traversal Random Method uses random pick to utilize mutation. A computer automatic search program is developed for the Genetic-Traversal Random Method. After comparison with other methods like slope/w software, results indicate that the Genetic-Traversal Random Search Method can give very low safety factor which is about half of the other methods. However the obtained minimum safety factor with Genetic-Traversal Random Search Method is very close to the lower bound solutions of slope safety factor given by the Ansys software. PMID:24782679

Children and Pesticides: New Approach to Considering Risk Is Partly in Place. Report to Congressional Requesters.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heinrich, Janet

The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) requires that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which regulates the use of pesticides at the federal level, reevaluate the amounts of pesticide residues allowed on or in food. The EPA immediately began efforts to consider the additional safety factor for children, using available methods and…

Feminist theoretical perspectives on ethics in radiology.

PubMed

Condren, Mary

2009-07-01

The substantive safety of radiological and other medical procedures can be radically reduced by unconscious factors governing scientific thought. In addition, the historical exclusion of women from these disciplines has possibly skewed their development in directions that now need to be addressed. This paper focuses on three such factors: gendered libidos that privilege risk taking over prevention, fragmented forms of knowledge that encourage displaced forms of responsibility and group dynamics that discourage critique of accepted practices and limit the definition of one's group. The substantive safety of the practice and scientific contribution of radiologists might be considerably enhanced were the focus to switch from radiology to diagnosis. Such enlargement might redefine the brief of radiologists towards preventing as well as curing; evaluating some non-invasive and low-tech options, adopting some inclusive paradigms of clinical ecology and enlarging group identities to include those currently excluded through geography or social class from participating in the benefits of science.

Data and methods for studying commercial motor vehicle driver fatigue, highway safety and long-term driver health.

PubMed

Stern, Hal S; Blower, Daniel; Cohen, Michael L; Czeisler, Charles A; Dinges, David F; Greenhouse, Joel B; Guo, Feng; Hanowski, Richard J; Hartenbaum, Natalie P; Krueger, Gerald P; Mallis, Melissa M; Pain, Richard F; Rizzo, Matthew; Sinha, Esha; Small, Dylan S; Stuart, Elizabeth A; Wegman, David H

2018-03-09

This article summarizes the recommendations on data and methodology issues for studying commercial motor vehicle driver fatigue of a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study. A framework is provided that identifies the various factors affecting driver fatigue and relating driver fatigue to crash risk and long-term driver health. The relevant factors include characteristics of the driver, vehicle, carrier and environment. Limitations of existing data are considered and potential sources of additional data described. Statistical methods that can be used to improve understanding of the relevant relationships from observational data are also described. The recommendations for enhanced data collection and the use of modern statistical methods for causal inference have the potential to enhance our understanding of the relationship of fatigue to highway safety and to long-term driver health. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The Ultimate Factor of Safety for Aircraft and Spacecraft Its History, Applications and Misconceptions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zipay, John J.; Modlin, C. Thomas, Jr.; Larsen, Curtis E.

2016-01-01

The ultimate factor of safety (FOSULT) concept used in aircraft and spacecraft has evolved over many decades. Currently an FOSULT 1.5 is the FAR-mandated value for aircraft while an FOSULT of 1.4 has been used in various spacecraft. This paper was motivated by the desire to concisely explain the origins, proper interpretation and application of the ultimate factor of safety concept, since the authors have seen throughout their careers many misconceptions and incorrect applications of this concept. The history of the ultimate factor of safety concept is briefly summarized, the proper application of the factor of safety in aircraft design, structural analysis and operations is covered in detail, examples of limit load exceedance in aircraft and spacecraft are discussed, the evolution of the 1.4 FOSULT for spacecraft is described and some misconceptions regarding the ultimate factor of safety concept are addressed. It is hoped that this paper can be a summary resource for engineers to understand the origin, purpose and proper application of the ultimate factor of safety.

Predicting safety culture: the roles of employer, operations manager and safety professional.

PubMed

Wu, Tsung-Chih; Lin, Chia-Hung; Shiau, Sen-Yu

2010-10-01

This study explores predictive factors in safety culture. In 2008, a sample 939 employees was drawn from 22 departments of a telecoms firm in five regions in central Taiwan. The sample completed a questionnaire containing four scales: the employer safety leadership scale, the operations manager safety leadership scale, the safety professional safety leadership scale, and the safety culture scale. The sample was then randomly split into two subsamples. One subsample was used for measures development, one for the empirical study. A stepwise regression analysis found four factors with a significant impact on safety culture (R²=0.337): safety informing by operations managers; safety caring by employers; and safety coordination and safety regulation by safety professionals. Safety informing by operations managers (ß=0.213) was by far the most significant predictive factor. The findings of this study provide a framework for promoting a positive safety culture at the group level. Crown Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and initial validation of an Aviation Safety Climate Scale.

PubMed

Evans, Bronwyn; Glendon, A Ian; Creed, Peter A

2007-01-01

A need was identified for a consistent set of safety climate factors to provide a basis for aviation industry benchmarking. Six broad safety climate themes were identified from the literature and consultations with industry safety experts. Items representing each of the themes were prepared and administered to 940 Australian commercial pilots. Data from half of the sample (N=468) were used in an exploratory factor analysis that produced a 3-factor model of Management commitment and communication, Safety training and equipment, and Maintenance. A confirmatory factor analysis on the remaining half of the sample showed the 3-factor model to be an adequate fit to the data. The results of this study have produced a scale of safety climate for aviation that is both reliable and valid. This study developed a tool to assess the level of perceived safety climate, specifically of pilots, but may also, with minor modifications, be used to assess other groups' perceptions of safety climate.

Safety assessment in the urban park environment in Alborz Province, Iran.

PubMed

Oostakhan, Morteza; Babaei, Aliakbar

2013-01-01

Urban parks, as one of the recreational and sports sectors, could cause serious injuries among different ages if the safety issues in their design are not considered. These injuries can result from the equipment in the park, including play and sports equipment, or even from environmental factors, too. Lack of safety benchmark in parks will impact on the development of future proposals. In this article, attempts are made to survey the important safety factors in the urban parks including playgrounds, fitness equipment, pedestrian surface and environmental factors into a risk assessment. Hence, a checklist of safety factors was used. A Yes or No descriptor was allocated to any factor for determining safety level. The study also suggests recommendations for future planning concerning existing failures for designers. It was found that the safety level of the regional and local parks differ from each other.

Thromboembolic Events After Vitamin K Antagonist Reversal With 4-Factor Prothrombin Complex Concentrate: Exploratory Analyses of Two Randomized, Plasma-Controlled Studies.

PubMed

Milling, Truman J; Refaai, Majed A; Goldstein, Joshua N; Schneider, Astrid; Omert, Laurel; Harman, Amy; Lee, Martin L; Sarode, Ravi

2016-01-01

We evaluated thromboembolic events after vitamin K antagonist reversal in post hoc analyses of pooled data from 2 randomized trials comparing 4-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (4F-PCC) (Beriplex/Kcentra) with plasma. Unblinded investigators identified thromboembolic events, using standardized terms (such as "myocardial infarction," "deep vein thrombosis," "pulmonary embolism," and "ischemic stroke"). A blinded safety adjudication board reviewed serious thromboembolic events, as well as those referred by an independent unblinded data and safety monitoring board. We descriptively compared thromboembolic event and patient characteristics between treatment groups and included detailed patient-level outcome descriptions. We did not power the trials to assess safety. We enrolled 388 patients (4F-PCC: n=191; plasma: n=197) in the trials. Thromboembolic events occurred in 14 of 191 patients (7.3%) in the 4F-PCC group and 14 of 197 (7.1%) in the plasma group (risk difference 0.2%; 95% confidence interval -5.5% to 6.0%). Investigators reported serious thromboembolic events in 16 patients (4F-PCC: n=8; plasma: n=8); the data and safety monitoring board referred 2 additional myocardial ischemia events (plasma group) to the safety adjudication board for review. The safety adjudication board judged serious thromboembolic events in 10 patients (4F-PCC: n=4; plasma: n=6) as possibly treatment related. There were 8 vascular thromboembolic events in the 4F-PCC group versus 4 in the plasma group, and 1 versus 6 cardiac events, respectively. Among patients with thromboembolic events, 3 deaths occurred in each treatment group. All-cause mortality for the pooled population was 13 per group. We observed no relationship between thromboembolic event occurrence and factor levels transiently above the upper limit of normal; there were no notable differences in median factor or proteins C and S levels up to 24 hours postinfusion start in patients with and without thromboembolic events. The incidence of thromboembolic events after vitamin K antagonist reversal with 4F-PCC or plasma was similar and independent of coagulation factor levels; small differences in the number of thromboembolic event subtypes were observed between treatment groups. Copyright © 2015 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

School and Community Factors Involved in Chilean Students' Perception of School Safety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

López, Verónica; Torres-Vallejos, Javier; Villalobos-Parada, Boris; Gilreath, Tamika D.; Ascorra, Paula; Bilbao, Marian; Morales, Macarena; Carrasco, Claudia

2017-01-01

Identifying and understanding predictors of school safety perceptions is important due to its consequences for students. However, it is not clear what school-related factors most contribute to explaining students' perception of school safety, and how they relate to community-related factors such as neighborhood safety. The purpose of this study…

Using ADOPT Algorithm and Operational Data to Discover Precursors to Aviation Adverse Events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Janakiraman, Vijay; Matthews, Bryan; Oza, Nikunj

2018-01-01

The US National Airspace System (NAS) is making its transition to the NextGen system and assuring safety is one of the top priorities in NextGen. At present, safety is managed reactively (correct after occurrence of an unsafe event). While this strategy works for current operations, it may soon become ineffective for future airspace designs and high density operations. There is a need for proactive management of safety risks by identifying hidden and "unknown" risks and evaluating the impacts on future operations. To this end, NASA Ames has developed data mining algorithms that finds anomalies and precursors (high-risk states) to safety issues in the NAS. In this paper, we describe a recently developed algorithm called ADOPT that analyzes large volumes of data and automatically identifies precursors from real world data. Precursors help in detecting safety risks early so that the operator can mitigate the risk in time. In addition, precursors also help identify causal factors and help predict the safety incident. The ADOPT algorithm scales well to large data sets and to multidimensional time series, reduce analyst time significantly, quantify multiple safety risks giving a holistic view of safety among other benefits. This paper details the algorithm and includes several case studies to demonstrate its application to discover the "known" and "unknown" safety precursors in aviation operation.

Use of a safety climate questionnaire in UK health care: factor structure, reliability and usability.

PubMed

Hutchinson, A; Cooper, K L; Dean, J E; McIntosh, A; Patterson, M; Stride, C B; Laurence, B E; Smith, C M

2006-10-01

To explore the factor structure, reliability, and potential usefulness of a patient safety climate questionnaire in UK health care. Four acute hospital trusts and nine primary care trusts in England. The questionnaire used was the 27 item Teamwork and Safety Climate Survey. Thirty three healthcare staff commented on the wording and relevance. The questionnaire was then sent to 3650 staff within the 13 NHS trusts, seeking to achieve at least 600 responses as the basis for the factor analysis. 1307 questionnaires were returned (36% response). Factor analyses and reliability analyses were carried out on 897 responses from staff involved in direct patient care, to explore how consistently the questions measured the underlying constructs of safety climate and teamwork. Some questionnaire items related to multiple factors or did not relate strongly to any factor. Five items were discarded. Two teamwork factors were derived from the remaining 11 teamwork items and three safety climate factors were derived from the remaining 11 safety items. Internal consistency reliabilities were satisfactory to good (Cronbach's alpha > or =0.69 for all five factors). This is one of the few studies to undertake a detailed evaluation of a patient safety climate questionnaire in UK health care and possibly the first to do so in primary as well as secondary care. The results indicate that a 22 item version of this safety climate questionnaire is useable as a research instrument in both settings, but also demonstrates a more general need for thorough validation of safety climate questionnaires before widespread usage.

Profiling contextual factors which influence safety in heavy vehicle industries.

PubMed

Edwards, Jason R D; Davey, Jeremy; Armstrong, Kerry A

2014-12-01

A significant proportion of worker fatalities within Australia result from truck-related incidents. Truck drivers face a number of health and safety concerns. Safety culture, viewed here as the beliefs, attitudes and values shared by an organisation's workers, which interact with their surrounding context to influence behaviour, may provide a valuable lens for exploring safety-related behaviours in heavy vehicle operations. To date no major research has examined safety culture within heavy vehicle industries. As safety culture provides a means to interpret experiences and generate behaviour, safety culture research should be conducted with an awareness of the context surrounding safety. The current research sought to examine previous health and safety research regarding heavy vehicle operations to profile contextual factors which influence health and safety. A review of 104 peer-reviewed papers was conducted. Findings of these papers were then thematically analysed. A number of behaviours and scenarios linked with crashes and non-crash injuries were identified, along with a selection of health outcomes. Contextual factors which were found to influence these outcomes were explored. These factors were found to originate from government departments, transport organisations, customers and the road and work environment. The identified factors may provide points of interaction, whereby culture may influence health and safety outcomes. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Quality and Safety in Health Care, Part XXXII: Additional Outcome Predictors for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

PubMed

Harolds, Jay A

2018-02-01

Mortality 12 months after a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is partly due to a number of reasons in addition to the usual preprocedural medical patient risk factors. In patients who need a permanent pacemaker placed after the procedure, the mortality risk goes up. The death rate following a TAVR varies considerably at different institutions, and the past death rate of TAVR patients at an institution is predictive of the mortality rate of new patients having this procedure. In addition, the quality of life of the individual before the procedure is predictive of the 12-month mortality outcome after the TAVR is done.

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of HIV-1 integration targeting.

PubMed

Engelman, Alan N; Singh, Parmit K

2018-07-01

Integration is central to HIV-1 replication and helps mold the reservoir of cells that persists in AIDS patients. HIV-1 interacts with specific cellular factors to target integration to interior regions of transcriptionally active genes within gene-dense regions of chromatin. The viral capsid interacts with several proteins that are additionally implicated in virus nuclear import, including cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor 6, to suppress integration into heterochromatin. The viral integrase protein interacts with transcriptional co-activator lens epithelium-derived growth factor p75 to principally position integration within gene bodies. The integrase additionally senses target DNA distortion and nucleotide sequence to help fine-tune the specific phosphodiester bonds that are cleaved at integration sites. Research into virus-host interactions that underlie HIV-1 integration targeting has aided the development of a novel class of integrase inhibitors and may help to improve the safety of viral-based gene therapy vectors.

Maintaining ocular safety with light exposure, focusing on devices for optogenetic stimulation

PubMed Central

Yan, Boyuan; Vakulenko, Maksim; Min, Seok-Hong; Hauswirth, William W.; Nirenberg, Sheila

2016-01-01

Optogenetics methods are rapidly being developed as therapeutic tools for treating neurological diseases, in particular, retinal degenerative diseases. A critical component of the development is testing the safety of the light stimulation used to activate the optogenetic proteins. While the stimulation needs to be sufficient to produce neural responses in the targeted retinal cell class, it also needs to be below photochemical and photothermal limits known to cause ocular damage. The maximal permissible exposure is determined by a variety of factors, including wavelength, exposure duration, visual angle, pupil size, pulse width, pulse pattern, and repetition frequency. In this paper, we develop utilities to systematically and efficiently assess the contributions of these parameters in relation to the limits, following directly from the 2014 American National Standards Institute (ANSI). We also provide an array of stimulus protocols that fall within the bounds of both safety and effectiveness. Additional verification of safety is provided with a case study in rats using one of these protocols. PMID:26882975

Why is patient safety so hard in low-income countries? A qualitative study of healthcare workers' views in two African hospitals.

PubMed

Aveling, Emma-Louise; Kayonga, Yvette; Nega, Ansha; Dixon-Woods, Mary

2015-02-25

The views of practitioners at the sharp end of health care provision are now recognised as a valuable source of intelligence that can inform efforts to improve patient safety in high-income countries. Yet despite growing policy emphasis on patient safety in low-income countries, little research examines the views of practitioners in these settings. We aimed to give voice to how healthcare workers in two East African hospitals identify and explain the major obstacles to ensuring the safety of patients in their care. We conducted in-depth, face to face interviews with healthcare workers in two East African hospitals. Our sample included a total of 57 hospital staff, including nurses, physicians, technicians, clinical services staff, administrative staff and hospital managers. Hospital staff in low-income settings offered broadly encompassing and aspirational definitions of patient safety. They identified obstacles to patient safety across three major themes: material context, staffing issues and inter-professional working relationships. Participants distinguished between the proximal influences on patient safety that posed an immediate threat to patient care, and the distal influences that generated the contexts for such hazards. These included contexts of severe material deprivation, but also the impact of relational factors such as teamwork and professional hierarchies. Structures of authority, governance and control that were not optimally aligned with achieving patient safety were widely reported. As in high-income countries, the accounts of healthcare workers in low-income countries provide sophisticated and valuable insights into the challenges of patient safety. Though the impact of resource constraints and weak governance structures are particularly marked in low-income countries, the congruence between accounts of health workers in diverse settings suggest that the origins and solutions to patient safety problems are likely to be similar everywhere and are rooted in human factors, resources, culture and behaviour. While additional resources are essential to patient safety improvement in low-income settings, such resources on their own will not be sufficient to secure the changes needed.

2009 Human Factors and Roadway Safety Workshop : Overviews of Safety Initiatives in Iowa [SD .WMV (720x480/29fps/80.2 MB)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-11-05

Iowa Department of Transportation Research and Technology Bureau video presentation from the 2009 human factors and roadway safety workshop session titled: Overview of Safety Initiatives in Iowa : Tom Welch, Iowa DOT Highway Division Safety Engineer,...

Development of the just culture assessment tool: measuring the perceptions of health-care professionals in hospitals.

PubMed

Petschonek, Sarah; Burlison, Jonathan; Cross, Carl; Martin, Kathy; Laver, Joseph; Landis, Ronald S; Hoffman, James M

2013-12-01

Given the growing support for establishing a just patient safety culture in health-care settings, a valid tool is needed to assess and improve just patient safety culture. The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of individual perceptions of just culture for a hospital setting. The 27-item survey was administered to 998 members of a health-care staff in a pediatric research hospital as part of the hospital's ongoing patient safety culture assessment process. Subscales included balancing a blame-free approach with accountability, feedback and communication, openness of communication, quality of the event reporting process, continuous improvement, and trust. The final sample of 404 participants (40% response rate) included nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and other hospital staff members involved in patient care. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the internal structure of the measure and reliability analyses were conducted on the subscales. Moderate support for the factor structure was established with confirmatory factor analysis. After modifications were made to improve statistical fit, the final version of the measure included 6 subscales loading onto one higher-order dimension. Additionally, Cronbach α reliability scores for the subscales were positive, with each dimension being above 0.7 with the exception of one. The instrument designed and tested in this study demonstrated adequate structure and reliability. Given the uniqueness of the current sample, further verification of the JCAT is needed from hospitals that serve broader populations. A validated tool could also be used to evaluate the relation between just culture and patient safety outcomes.

Development of the Just Culture Assessment Tool (JCAT): Measuring the Perceptions of HealthCare Professionals in Hospitals

PubMed Central

Petschonek, Sarah; Burlison, Jonathan; Cross, Carl; Martin, Kathy; Laver, Joseph; Landis, Ronald S.; Hoffman, James M.

2014-01-01

Objectives Given the growing support for establishing a just patient safety culture in healthcare settings, a valid tool is needed to assess and improve just patient safety culture. The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of individual perceptions of just culture for a hospital setting. Methods The 27 item survey was administered to 998 members of a healthcare staff in a pediatric research hospital as part of the hospital's ongoing patient safety culture assessment process. Subscales included balancing a blame-free approach with accountability, feedback and communication, openness of communication, quality of the event reporting process, continuous improvement, and trust. The final sample of 404 participants (40% response rate) included nurses, physicians, pharmacists and other hospital staff members involved in patient care. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the internal structure of the measure and reliability analyses were conducted on the subscales. Results Moderate support for the factor structure was established with confirmatory factor analysis. After modifications were made to improve statistical fit, the final version of the measure included six subscales loading onto one higher-order dimension. Additionally, Cronbach's alpha reliability scores for the subscales were positive, with each dimension being above 0.7 with the exception of one. Conclusions The instrument designed and tested in this study demonstrated adequate structure and reliability. Given the uniqueness of the current sample, further verification of the JCAT is needed from hospitals that serve broader populations. A validated tool could also be used to evaluate the relation between just culture and patient safety outcomes. PMID:24263549

Factors Influencing Implementation of OHSAS 18001 in Indian Construction Organizations: Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach

PubMed Central

Rajaprasad, Sunku Venkata Siva; Chalapathi, Pasupulati Venkata

2015-01-01

Background Construction activity has made considerable breakthroughs in the past two decades on the back of increases in development activities, government policies, and public demand. At the same time, occupational health and safety issues have become a major concern to construction organizations. The unsatisfactory safety performance of the construction industry has always been highlighted since the safety management system is neglected area and not implemented systematically in Indian construction organizations. Due to a lack of enforcement of the applicable legislation, most of the construction organizations are forced to opt for the implementation of Occupational Health Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 to improve safety performance. Methods In order to better understand factors influencing the implementation of OHSAS 18001, an interpretive structural modeling approach has been applied and the factors have been classified using matrice d'impacts croises-multiplication appliqué a un classement (MICMAC) analysis. The study proposes the underlying theoretical framework to identify factors and to help management of Indian construction organizations to understand the interaction among factors influencing in implementation of OHSAS 18001. Results Safety culture, continual improvement, morale of employees, and safety training have been identified as dependent variables. Safety performance, sustainable construction, and conducive working environment have been identified as linkage variables. Management commitment and safety policy have been identified as the driver variables. Conclusion Management commitment has the maximum driving power and the most influential factor is safety policy, which states clearly the commitment of top management towards occupational safety and health. PMID:26929828

Predictors of Hospital Nurses' Safety Practices: Work Environment, Workload, Job Satisfaction, and Error Reporting.

PubMed

Chiang, Hui-Ying; Hsiao, Ya-Chu; Lee, Huan-Fang

Nurses' safety practices of medication administration, prevention of falls and unplanned extubations, and handover are essentials to patient safety. This study explored the prediction between such safety practices and work environment factors, workload, job satisfaction, and error-reporting culture of 1429 Taiwanese nurses. Nurses' job satisfaction, error-reporting culture, and one environmental factor of nursing quality were found to be major predictors of safety practices. The other environment factors related to professional development and participation in hospital affairs and nurses' workload had limited predictive effects on the safety practices. Increasing nurses' attention to patient safety by improving these predictors is recommended.

Enhanced Component Performance Study. Emergency Diesel Generators 1998–2013

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schroeder, John Alton

2014-11-01

This report presents an enhanced performance evaluation of emergency diesel generators (EDGs) at U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. This report evaluates component performance over time using Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Consolidated Events Database (ICES) data from 1998 through 2013 and maintenance unavailability (UA) performance data using Mitigating Systems Performance Index (MSPI) Basis Document data from 2002 through 2013. The objective is to present an analysis of factors that could influence the system and component trends in addition to annual performance trends of failure rates and probabilities. The factors analyzed for the EDG component are the differences in failuresmore » between all demands and actual unplanned engineered safety feature (ESF) demands, differences among manufacturers, and differences among EDG ratings. Statistical analyses of these differences are performed and results showing whether pooling is acceptable across these factors. In addition, engineering analyses were performed with respect to time period and failure mode. The factors analyzed are: sub-component, failure cause, detection method, recovery, manufacturer, and EDG rating.« less

Validation of the group nuclear safety climate questionnaire.

PubMed

Navarro, M Felisa Latorre; Gracia Lerín, Francisco J; Tomás, Inés; Peiró Silla, José María

2013-09-01

Group safety climate is a leading indicator of safety performance in high reliability organizations. Zohar and Luria (2005) developed a Group Safety Climate scale (ZGSC) and found it to have a single factor. The ZGSC scale was used as a basis in this study with the researchers rewording almost half of the items on this scale, changing the referents from the leader to the group, and trying to validate a two-factor scale. The sample was composed of 566 employees in 50 groups from a Spanish nuclear power plant. Item analysis, reliability, correlations, aggregation indexes and CFA were performed. Results revealed that the construct was shared by each unit, and our reworded Group Safety Climate (GSC) scale showed a one-factor structure and correlated to organizational safety climate, formalized procedures, safety behavior, and time pressure. This validation of the one-factor structure of the Zohar and Luria (2005) scale could strengthen and spread this scale and measure group safety climate more effectively. Copyright © 2013 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Calibration of highway safety manual work zone crash modification factors.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-06-01

The Highway Safety Manual is the national safety manual that provides quantitative methods for analyzing highway safety. The : HSM presents crash modification factors related to work zone characteristics such as work zone duration and length. These c...

Relationship between organizational justice and organizational safety climate: do fairness perceptions influence employee safety behaviour?

PubMed

Gyekye, Seth Ayim; Haybatollahi, Mohammad

2014-01-01

This study investigated the relationships between organizational justice, organizational safety climate, job satisfaction, safety compliance and accident frequency. Ghanaian industrial workers participated in the study (N = 320). Safety climate and justice perceptions were assessed with Hayes, Parender, Smecko, et al.'s (1998) and Blader and Tyler's (2003) scales respectively. A median split was performed to dichotomize participants into 2 categories: workers with positive and workers with negative justice perceptions. Confirmatory factors analysis confirmed the 5-factor structure of the safety scale. Regression analyses and t tests indicated that workers with positive fairness perceptions had constructive perspectives regarding workplace safety, expressed greater job satisfaction, were more compliant with safety policies and registered lower accident rates. These findings provide evidence that the perceived level of fairness in an organization is closely associated with workplace safety perception and other organizational factors which are important for safety. The implications for safety research are discussed.

Aviation occupant survival factors: an empirical study of the SQ006 accident.

PubMed

Chang, Yu-Hern; Yang, Hui-Hua

2010-03-01

We present an empirical study of Singapore Airline (SIA) flight SQ006 to illustrate the critical factors that influence airplane occupant survivability. The Fuzzy Delphi Method was used to identify and rank the survival factors that may reduce injury and fatality in potentially survivable accidents. This is the first attempt by a group from both the public and private sectors in Taiwan to focus on cabin-safety issues related to survival factors. We designed a comprehensive survey based on our discussions with aviation safety experts. We next designed an array of important cabin-safety dimensions and then investigated and selected the critical survival factors for each dimension. Our findings reveal important cabin safety and survivability information that should provide a valuable reference for developing and evaluating aviation safety programs. We also believe that the results will be practical for designing cabin-safety education material for air travelers. Finally, the major contribution of this research is that it has identified 47 critical factors that influence accident survivability; therefore, it may encourage improvements that will promote more successful cabin-safety management. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigating ethnic minorities' perceptions of safety climate in the construction industry.

PubMed

Chan, Albert P C; Wong, Francis K W; Hon, Carol K H; Lyu, Sainan; Javed, Arshad Ali

2017-12-01

An increasing number of ethnic minorities (EMs) have been employed in the construction industry to alleviate severe labor shortages in many countries. Unfortunately, statistics show that EMs have higher fatal and non-fatal occupational injury rates than their local counterparts. However, EMs are often underrepresented in safety climate (SC) research as they are difficult to reach and gauge their perception. A positive relationship has been widely found between SC and safety performance. Understanding the safety perceptions of EMs helps to reduce injuries and improve their safety performance. Based on a sample of 320 EMs from 20 companies in the construction industry, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to identify the SC factors of EMs, and validate the extracted factors, respectively. Multivariate analysis of variance was undertaken to examine mean differences in perceptions of SC by personal characteristics. Three SC factors for EMs encapsulating 16 variables were identified through EFA. The hypothesized CFA model for a three-factor structure derived from EFA showed a satisfactory goodness-of-fit, composite reliability, and construct validity. Three SC factors were identified, namely: (a) safety management commitment, safety resources, and safety communication; (b) employee's involvement and workmate's influence; and (c) perception of safety rules, procedures and risks. The perceptions of SC differed significantly by nationality, marital status, the number of family members supported, and drinking habit. This study reveals the perception of EMs toward SC. The findings highlight the areas for safety improvement and provide leading indicators for safety performance of EMs. The findings are also enlightening for countries with a number of EMs, such as the United Sates, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and the Middle East. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Systems Engineering of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurtz, D. W.; Levin, R. R.

1986-01-01

Technical paper notes systems engineering principles applied to development of electric and hybrid vehicles such that system performance requirements support overall program goal of reduced petroleum consumption. Paper discusses iterative design approach dictated by systems analyses. In addition to obvious peformance parameters of range, acceleration rate, and energy consumption, systems engineering also considers such major factors as cost, safety, reliability, comfort, necessary supporting infrastructure, and availability of materials.

16 CFR 1105.2 - Factors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Factors. 1105.2 Section 1105.2 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS CONTRIBUTIONS TO COSTS OF PARTICIPANTS IN DEVELOPMENT OF CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARDS § 1105.2 Factors. The Commission...

Evaluating the impact of grade crossing safety factors through signal detection theory

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-10-22

The purpose of this effort was to apply signal detection theory to descriptively model the impact : of five grade crossing safety factors to understand their effect on driver decision making. The : safety factors consisted of: improving commercial mo...

Factors associated with occupational injuries in seasonal young workers.

PubMed

Parish, M; Rohlman, D S; Elliot, D L; Lasarev, M

2016-03-01

Younger workers are more likely to be injured on the job than older workers. Investigation tends to focus on work-related explanatory factors but often neglects non-work-related causes. To identify both work- and non-work-related factors that contribute to younger workers' injuries in seasonal work. Two surveys of a set of seasonal parks and recreation workers were conducted measuring health and safety behaviours and self-reported injuries. Seventy per cent reported an injury at work over the summer. Among young workers, each additional year of age was associated with an almost 50% increase in injury rate (P < 0.05). Odds of injury in women were three times those for men (P < 0.05). We observed a linear relationship between average hours worked per week and injuries (P < 0.001). Alcohol abuse (P < 0.05) was also associated with injuries. Higher injury rates among younger workers in this sample is multifactorial and encompasses both work and non-work factors and suggest that more global approaches are required to address young worker safety. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Exploring nursing staffs communication in stressful and non-stressful situations.

PubMed

André, Beate; Frigstad, Sigrun A; Nøst, Torunn H; Sjøvold, Endre

2016-03-01

To explore the factors that characterise the work environment, focusing on communication among nurses in stressful and non-stressful situations. Nursing is often described as a stressful occupation. Implementation of change may be an additional stress factor. Nurses and assistant nurses completed a questionnaire from two different perspectives, 'communication in non-stressful situations' and 'communication under stress'. The Systematising Person-Group Relations method was used to gather and analyse the data. When the two perspectives, 'communication in non-stressful situations' and 'communication under stress', were compared, there were significant differences in 8 of the 12 factors. The stressful situations were characterised by low values in task orientation, caring, criticism, loyalty, acceptance, engagement and empathy; only the factor creativity had higher scores. The stressful situations were characterised by creative and spontaneous behaviour, not by task orientation and engagement, indicating a potential patient safety risk. There is a need to help health-care workers develop more mature analytical and task-oriented behaviours related to both independent work and collaboration in stressful situations. Nursing leadership and organisation must focus on healthy work environments to promote engaged communication in stressful situations, ultimately increasing patient safety. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Nursing Management Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

21 CFR 70.42 - Criteria for evaluating the safety of color additives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... additives. 70.42 Section 70.42 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL COLOR ADDITIVES Safety Evaluation § 70.42 Criteria for evaluating the safety of color additives. (a) In deciding whether a petition is complete and suitable for filing and in reaching a decision...

Development of Critical Profilometers to Meet Current and Future NASA Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel (COPV) Inspection Needs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saulsberry, Regor; Nichols, Charles

2012-01-01

This project is part of a multi-center effort to develop and validate critical NDE techniques which can be implemented into current and future NASA spacecraft COPV manufacturing processes. After decades of COPV development, manufacturing variance is still high and has necessitated higher safety factors and additional mass to be flown on spacecraft (reducing overall performance). Additionally, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) indicated that nondestructive evaluation (NDE) was not adequately implemented during Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) COPV manufacturing and provisions were not made for on-going structural integrity and health checks during the various spacecraft programs. This project helps to provide additional data needed to help address these issues. This project seeks to develop and install internal and external laser profilometers at COPV manufacturing facilities to provide data needed to improve COPV quality and consistency. This project also investigates other scanning techniques that will enhance the system to more completely meet manufacturing needs, thus transforming the profilometer into what has been termed the "Universal Manufacturing COPV Scanner".

Factors influencing patient safety in Sweden: perceptions of patient safety officers in the county councils

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background National, regional and local activities to improve patient safety in Sweden have increased over the last decade. There are high ambitions for improved patient safety in Sweden. This study surveyed health care professionals who held key positions in their county council’s patient safety work to investigate their perceptions of the conditions for this work, factors they believe have been most important in reaching the current level of patient safety and factors they believe would be most important for achieving improved patient safety in the future. Methods The study population consisted of 218 health care professionals holding strategic positions in patient safety work in Swedish county councils. Using a questionnaire, the following topics were analysed in this study: profession/occupation; number of years involved in a designated task on patient safety issues; knowledge/overview of the county council’s patient safety work; ability to influence this work; conditions for this work; and the importance of various factors for current and future levels of patient safety. Results The response rate to the questionnaire was 79%. The conditions that had the highest number of responses in complete agreement were “patients’ involvement is important for patient safety” and “patient safety work has good support from the county council’s management”. Factors that were considered most important for achieving the current level of patient safety were root cause and risk analyses, incident reporting and the Swedish Patient Safety Law. An organizational culture that encourages reporting and avoids blame was considered most important for improved patient safety in the future, closely followed by improved communication between health care practitioners and patients. Conclusion Health care professionals with important positions in the Swedish county councils’ patient safety work believe that conditions for this work are somewhat constrained. They attribute the current levels of patient safety to a broad range of factors and believe that many different solutions can contribute to enhanced patient safety in the future, suggesting that this work must be multifactorial. PMID:23391301

Using Risk Assessment Methodologies to Meet Management Objectives

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeMott, D. L.

2015-01-01

Current decision making involves numerous possible combinations of technology elements, safety and health issues, operational aspects and process considerations to satisfy program goals. Identifying potential risk considerations as part of the management decision making process provides additional tools to make more informed management decision. Adapting and using risk assessment methodologies can generate new perspectives on various risk and safety concerns that are not immediately apparent. Safety and operational risks can be identified and final decisions can balance these considerations with cost and schedule risks. Additional assessments can also show likelihood of event occurrence and event consequence to provide a more informed basis for decision making, as well as cost effective mitigation strategies. Methodologies available to perform Risk Assessments range from qualitative identification of risk potential, to detailed assessments where quantitative probabilities are calculated. Methodology used should be based on factors that include: 1) type of industry and industry standards, 2) tasks, tools, and environment 3) type and availability of data and 4) industry views and requirements regarding risk & reliability. Risk Assessments are a tool for decision makers to understand potential consequences and be in a position to reduce, mitigate or eliminate costly mistakes or catastrophic failures.

There is more to risk and safety planning than dramatic risks: Mental health nurses' risk assessment and safety-management practice.

PubMed

Higgins, Agnes; Doyle, Louise; Downes, Carmel; Morrissey, Jean; Costello, Paul; Brennan, Michael; Nash, Michael

2016-04-01

Risk assessment and safety planning are considered a cornerstone of mental health practice, yet limited research exists into how mental health nurses conceptualize 'risk' and how they engage with risk assessment and safety planning. The aim of the present study was to explore mental health nurses' practices and confidence in risk assessment and safety planning. A self-completed survey was administered to 381 mental health nurses in Ireland. The findings indicate that nurses focus on risk to self and risk to others, with the risk of suicide, self-harm, substance abuse, and violence being most frequently assessed. Risk from others and 'iatrogenic' risk were less frequently considered. Overall, there was limited evidence of recovery-oriented practice in relation to risk. The results demonstrate a lack of meaningful engagement with respect to collaborative safety planning, the identification and inclusion of protective factors, and the inclusion of positive risk-taking opportunities. In addition, respondents report a lack of confidence working with positive risk taking and involving family/carers in the risk-assessment and safety-planning process. Gaps in knowledge about risk-assessment and safety-planning practice, which could be addressed through education, are identified, as are the implications of the findings for practice and research. © 2015 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

2009 Human Factors and Roadway Safety Workshop : Opening Session [SD .WMV (720x480/29fps/546.0 MB)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-11-05

Iowa Department of Transportation Research and Technology Bureau video presentation from the 2009 human factors and roadway safety workshop session titled: 2009 Human Factors and Roadway Safety Workshop Opening Session : Sandra Larson, director, Iowa...

14 CFR 27.303 - Factor of safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Factor of safety. 27.303 Section 27.303 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS: NORMAL CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Strength Requirements General § 27.303 Factor of safety. Unless...

Risk-adjusted morbidity in teaching hospitals correlates with reported levels of communication and collaboration on surgical teams but not with scale measures of teamwork climate, safety climate, or working conditions.

PubMed

Davenport, Daniel L; Henderson, William G; Mosca, Cecilia L; Khuri, Shukri F; Mentzer, Robert M

2007-12-01

Since the Institute of Medicine patient safety reports, a number of survey-based measures of organizational climate safety factors (OCSFs) have been developed. The goal of this study was to measure the impact of OCSFs on risk-adjusted surgical morbidity and mortality. Surveys were administered to staff on general/vascular surgery services during a year. Surveys included multiitem scales measuring OCSFs. Additionally, perceived levels of communication and collaboration with coworkers were assessed. The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was used to assess risk-adjusted morbidity and mortality. Correlations between outcomes and OCSFs were calculated and between outcomes and communication/collaboration with attending and resident doctors, nurses, and other providers. Fifty-two sites participated in the survey: 44 Veterans Affairs and 8 academic medical centers. A total of 6,083 surveys were returned, for a response rate of 52%. The OCSF measures of teamwork climate, safety climate, working conditions, recognition of stress effects, job satisfaction, and burnout demonstrated internal validity but did not correlate with risk-adjusted outcomes. Reported levels of communication/collaboration with attending and resident doctors correlated with risk-adjusted morbidity. Survey-based teamwork, safety climate, and working conditions scales are not confirmed to measure organizational factors that influence risk-adjusted surgical outcomes. Reported communication/collaboration with attending and resident doctors on surgical services influenced patient morbidity. This suggests the importance of doctors' coordination and decision-making roles on surgical teams in providing high-quality and safe care. We propose risk-adjusted morbidity as an effective measure of surgical patient safety.

Safety climate and attitude as evaluation measures of organizational safety.

PubMed

Isla Díaz, R; Díaz Cabrera, D

1997-09-01

The main aim of this research is to develop a set of evaluation measures for safety attitudes and safety climate. Specifically it is intended: (a) to test the instruments; (b) to identify the essential dimensions of the safety climate in the airport ground handling companies; (c) to assess the quality of the differences in the safety climate for each company and its relation to the accident rate; (d) to analyse the relationship between attitudes and safety climate; and (e) to evaluate the influences of situational and personal factors on both safety climate and attitude. The study sample consisted of 166 subjects from three airport companies. Specifically, this research was centered on ground handling departments. The factor analysis of the safety climate instrument resulted in six factors which explained 69.8% of the total variance. We found significant differences in safety attitudes and climate in relation to type of enterprise.

Impact of individual resilience and safety climate on safety performance and psychological stress of construction workers: A case study of the Ontario construction industry.

PubMed

Chen, Yuting; McCabe, Brenda; Hyatt, Douglas

2017-06-01

The construction industry has hit a plateau in terms of safety performance. Safety climate is regarded as a leading indicator of safety performance; however, relatively little safety climate research has been done in the Canadian construction industry. Safety climate may be geographically sensitive, thus it is necessary to examine how the construct of safety climate is defined and used to improve safety performance in different regions. On the other hand, more and more attention has been paid to job related stress in the construction industry. Previous research proposed that individual resilience may be associated with a better safety performance and may help employees manage stress. Unfortunately, few empirical research studies have examined this hypothesis. This paper aims to examine the role of safety climate and individual resilience in safety performance and job stress in the Canadian construction industry. The research was based on 837 surveys collected in Ontario between June 2015 and June 2016. Structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to explore the impact of individual resilience and safety climate on physical safety outcomes and on psychological stress among construction workers. The results show that safety climate not only affected construction workers' safety performance but also indirectly affected their psychological stress. In addition, it was found that individual resilience had a direct negative impact on psychological stress but had no impact on physical safety outcomes. These findings highlight the roles of both organizational and individual factors in individual safety performance and in psychological well-being. Construction organizations need to not only monitor employees' safety performance, but also to assess their employees' psychological well-being. Promoting a positive safety climate together with developing training programs focusing on improving employees' psychological health - especially post-trauma psychological health - can improve the safety performance of an organization. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

49 CFR 192.171 - Compressor stations: Additional safety equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Compressor stations: Additional safety equipment... Pipeline Components § 192.171 Compressor stations: Additional safety equipment. (a) Each compressor station must have adequate fire protection facilities. If fire pumps are a part of these facilities, their...

NUCLEAR REACTOR

DOEpatents

Miller, H.I.; Smith, R.C.

1958-01-21

This patent relates to nuclear reactors of the type which use a liquid fuel, such as a solution of uranyl sulfate in ordinary water which acts as the moderator. The reactor is comprised of a spherical vessel having a diameter of about 12 inches substantially surrounded by a reflector of beryllium oxide. Conventionnl control rods and safety rods are operated in slots in the reflector outside the vessel to control the operation of the reactor. An additional means for increasing the safety factor of the reactor by raising the ratio of delayed neutrons to prompt neutrons, is provided and consists of a soluble sulfate salt of beryllium dissolved in the liquid fuel in the proper proportion to obtain the result desired.

Critical factors and paths influencing construction workers' safety risk tolerances.

PubMed

Wang, Jiayuan; Zou, Patrick X W; Li, Penny P

2016-08-01

While workers' safety risk tolerances have been regarded as a main reason for their unsafe behaviors, little is known about why different people have different risk tolerances even when confronting the same situation. The aim of this research is to identify the critical factors and paths that influence workers' safety risk tolerance and to explore how they contribute to accident causal model from a system thinking perceptive. A number of methods were carried out to analyze the data collected through interviews and questionnaire surveys. In the first and second steps of the research, factor identification, factor ranking and factor analysis were carried out, and the results show that workers' safety risk tolerance can be influenced by four groups of factors, namely: (1) personal subjective perception; (2) work knowledge and experiences; (3) work characteristics; and (4) safety management. In the third step of the research, hypothetical influencing path model was developed and tested by using structural equation modeling (SEM). It is found that the effects of external factors (safety management and work characteristics) on risk tolerance are larger than that of internal factors (personal subjective perception and work knowledge & experiences). Specifically, safety management contributes the most to workers' safety risk tolerance through its direct effect and indirect effect; while personal subjective perception comes the second and can act as an intermedia for work characteristics. This research provides an in-depth insight of workers' unsafe behaviors by depicting the contributing factors as shown in the accident causal model developed in this research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teaching patient safety and human factors in undergraduate nursing curricula in England: a pilot survey.

PubMed

Robson, Wayne; Clark, Debbie; Pinnock, David; White, Nick; Baxendale, Bryn

Patient safety is a key priority for all healthcare systems, and there is growing recognition for the need to educate tomorrow's nurses about the role of human factors in reducing avoidable harm to patients. A pilot survey was sent to 20 schools of nursing in England to explore the teaching of patient safety and human factors. All 13 schools that responded (65% response rate) stated that patient safety was covered in their curricula and was allocated more than 4 hours; all the classes included human factors. Only two respondents indicated their teaching to be multi-professional. Awareness of the World Health Organization's multiprofessional patient safety curriculum guide was poor. Faculties also seemed unaware that the Institute for Healthcare Improvement provides free online patient safety modules for students and that there is a global network of student patient safety chapters.

Some aspects of strategies and solutions in accident prevention.

PubMed

Häkkinen, K

1983-04-01

Accident prevention measures are traditionally classified into technical, organizational and behavioral solutions. A review of some commonly used strategies for accident prevention illustrates some discrepancies between different approaches and the need to develop more comprehensive strategies. Several factors, including protective efficiency and disadvantages at work, must be taken into account when the solutions are evaluated. Some solutions to prevent load disengagement from cranes were evaluated. Measurements of the pressing force showed that the efficiency of the safety latch of a clamp for plate lifting is inadequate to provide protection under all exceptional lifting conditions and in all situations for which the safety latch is intended. The delay caused by the attachment of a lifting hook equipped with a safety latch was measured. The handling of some of the most reliable and technically safe latches requires additional operations and thereby limits their practical application.

Individual, Cultural and Structural Predictors of Vaccine Safety Confidence and Influenza Vaccination Among Hispanic Female Subgroups.

PubMed

Moran, Meghan Bridgid; Chatterjee, Joyee S; Frank, Lauren B; Murphy, Sheila T; Zhao, Nan; Chen, Nancy; Ball-Rokeach, Sandra

2017-08-01

Rates of influenza vaccination among US Hispanics are lower than for non-Hispanic whites, yet little is known about factors affecting vaccination in this population. Additionally, although Hispanics are a diverse population with culturally distinct subgroups, they are often treated as a homogenous population. This study (1) examines how confidence in vaccine safety and influenza vaccine use vary by Hispanic subgroup and (2) identifies individual, cultural and structural correlates of these outcomes. This study analyzed survey data from 1565 Hispanic women who were recruited at clinic- and community-based sites in Los Angeles. Education, healthcare coverage, acculturation, fatalism, and religiosity were predictors of influenza vaccination behavior and predictors varied by subgroup. These findings provide guidance for how influenza vaccine promotion efforts can be developed for Hispanic subgroups. Confidence in the safety of a vaccine is a major predictor of flu vaccination and an important modifiable target for intervention.

Quasi-Static Probabilistic Structural Analyses Process and Criteria

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldberg, B.; Verderaime, V.

1999-01-01

Current deterministic structural methods are easily applied to substructures and components, and analysts have built great design insights and confidence in them over the years. However, deterministic methods cannot support systems risk analyses, and it was recently reported that deterministic treatment of statistical data is inconsistent with error propagation laws that can result in unevenly conservative structural predictions. Assuming non-nal distributions and using statistical data formats throughout prevailing stress deterministic processes lead to a safety factor in statistical format, which integrated into the safety index, provides a safety factor and first order reliability relationship. The embedded safety factor in the safety index expression allows a historically based risk to be determined and verified over a variety of quasi-static metallic substructures consistent with the traditional safety factor methods and NASA Std. 5001 criteria.

Analysis on Dangerous Source of Large Safety Accident in Storage Tank Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Tong; Li, Ying; Xie, Tiansheng; Liu, Yu; Zhu, Xueyuan

2018-01-01

The difference between a large safety accident and a general accident is that the consequences of a large safety accident are particularly serious. To study the tank area which factors directly or indirectly lead to the occurrence of large-sized safety accidents. According to the three kinds of hazard source theory and the consequence cause analysis of the super safety accident, this paper analyzes the dangerous source of the super safety accident in the tank area from four aspects, such as energy source, large-sized safety accident reason, management missing, environmental impact Based on the analysis of three kinds of hazard sources and environmental analysis to derive the main risk factors and the AHP evaluation model is established, and after rigorous and scientific calculation, the weights of the related factors in four kinds of risk factors and each type of risk factors are obtained. The result of analytic hierarchy process shows that management reasons is the most important one, and then the environmental factors and the direct cause and Energy source. It should be noted that although the direct cause is relatively low overall importance, the direct cause of Failure of emergency measures and Failure of prevention and control facilities in greater weight.

2009 Human Factors and Roadway Safety Workshop : National Perspectives on Safety [SD .WMV (720x480/29fps/227.0 MB)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-11-05

Iowa Department of Transportation Research and Technology Bureau video presentation from the 2009 human factors and roadway safety workshop session titled: National Perspectives on Safety : Essie Wagner, program analyst, National Highway Traffic Safe...

Safety climate in university and college laboratories: impact of organizational and individual factors.

PubMed

Wu, Tsung-Chih; Liu, Chi-Wei; Lu, Mu-Chen

2007-01-01

Universities and colleges serve to be institutions of education excellence; however, problems in the areas of occupational safety may undermine such goals. Occupational safety must be the concern of every employee in the organization, regardless of job position. Safety climate surveys have been suggested as important tools for measuring the effectiveness and improvement direction of safety programs. Thus, this study aims to investigate the influence of organizational and individual factors on safety climate in university and college laboratories. Employees at 100 universities and colleges in Taiwan were mailed a self-administered questionnaire survey; the response rate was 78%. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that organizational category of ownership, the presence of a safety manager and safety committee, gender, age, title, accident experience, and safety training significantly affected the climate. Among them, accident experience and safety training affected the climate with practical significance. The authors recommend that managers should address important factors affecting safety issues and then create a positive climate by enforcing continuous improvements.

Development of an evidence-based framework of factors contributing to patient safety incidents in hospital settings: a systematic review

PubMed Central

McEachan, Rosemary R C; Giles, Sally J; Sirriyeh, Reema; Watt, Ian S; Wright, John

2012-01-01

Objective The aim of this systematic review was to develop a ‘contributory factors framework’ from a synthesis of empirical work which summarises factors contributing to patient safety incidents in hospital settings. Design A mixed-methods systematic review of the literature was conducted. Data sources Electronic databases (Medline, PsycInfo, ISI Web of knowledge, CINAHL and EMBASE), article reference lists, patient safety websites, registered study databases and author contacts. Eligibility criteria Studies were included that reported data from primary research in secondary care aiming to identify the contributory factors to error or threats to patient safety. Results 1502 potential articles were identified. 95 papers (representing 83 studies) which met the inclusion criteria were included, and 1676 contributory factors extracted. Initial coding of contributory factors by two independent reviewers resulted in 20 domains (eg, team factors, supervision and leadership). Each contributory factor was then coded by two reviewers to one of these 20 domains. The majority of studies identified active failures (errors and violations) as factors contributing to patient safety incidents. Individual factors, communication, and equipment and supplies were the other most frequently reported factors within the existing evidence base. Conclusions This review has culminated in an empirically based framework of the factors contributing to patient safety incidents. This framework has the potential to be applied across hospital settings to improve the identification and prevention of factors that cause harm to patients. PMID:22421911

[Weighing use and safety of therapeutic agents and feed additives (author's transl)].

PubMed

van der Wal, P

1982-02-01

(1) The pros and cons of using feed additives and therapeutic agents may be successfully weighed in the light of carefully considered consumer requirements. (2) The socio-economic interests of the producer and the welfare of the animal will also determine the response of the production apparatus to consumer requirements. (3) Consumption of the current amounts of products of animal origin and maintenance of price and quality will only be feasible in the event of rational large-scale production in which constituents used in nutrition, prophylaxis and therapeutics are highly important factors. (4) Using these ingredients should be preceded by accurate evaluation of their use and safety. Testing facilities, conduct of studies and reporting should be such as to make the results nationally and internationally acceptable to all those concerned. (5) In deciding whether feed constituents are acceptable in view of the established use and safety, compliance will have to be sought with those standards which are accepted in other fields of society. Measures which result in raising the price of food without actually helping to reduce the risks to the safety of man, animals and environment, are likely to be rejected by any well-informed consumer who is aware of the facts. (6) For accurate weighing of use and safety at a national level, possibilities are hardly adequate in Europe. Decisions reached within the framework of the European Community, also tuned to U.S.A.- conditions are rightly encouraged. A centrally managed professionally staffed and equipped test system in the European Community would appear to be indispensable.

School safe driving climate: Theoretical and practical considerations for promoting teen driver safety in school settings.

PubMed

Mirman, Jessica H; Roche, Brianne; Higgins-D'Alessandro, Ann

2018-06-21

The aims of this study were to extend the current literature on school climate that is focused on understanding how teacher, administrator, and student perceptions about driving-focused aspects of the social, educational, and institutional climate of schools can affect students' achievement, behavior, and adjustment towards the development of the concept of school safe driving climate (SSDC) and initiate the development of tools and processes for assessing SSDC. A mixed-methods approach was used to develop an initial version of a survey-based measure of SSDC that involved self-report surveys (students) and in-depth interviews (teachers). Exploratory factor analytic procedures identified SSDC constructs and a regression framework was used to examine associations among SSDC constructs and self-reported driver behaviors. Qualitative data were subjected to inductive analysis, with a goal of elucidating teachers' perspectives on SSDC and an SSDC intervention. The study sample consisted of 947 adolescents (48% male) from one large high school and 44 teacher advisors. Participants were recruited from a school participating in a state-wide effort to promote transportation safety through peer-led programming. Two SSDC factors were identified: Administrative Contributions to School Safety and Value of School Safety, which were associated with adolescents' perceptions of their driving behaviors. Adolescents' perceived that the intervention affected administrative safety. Teacher interviews contextualized these results and provided guidance on program revisions. Safe driving climate may be an important, modifiable, and measurable aspect of school climate. Additional research is needed to refine the assessment tool and to use it in longitudinal and experimental studies.

Safety compliance and safety climate: A repeated cross-sectional study in the oil and gas industry.

PubMed

Kvalheim, Sverre A; Dahl, Øyvind

2016-12-01

Violations of safety rules and procedures are commonly identified as a causal factor in accidents in the oil and gas industry. Extensive knowledge on effective management practices related to improved compliance with safety procedures is therefore needed. Previous studies of the causal relationship between safety climate and safety compliance demonstrate that the propensity to act in accordance with prevailing rules and procedures is influenced to a large degree by workers' safety climate. Commonly, the climate measures employed differ from one study to another and identical measures of safety climate are seldom tested repeatedly over extended periods of time. This research gap is addressed in the present study. The study is based on a survey conducted four times among sharp-end workers of the Norwegian oil and gas industry (N=31,350). This is done by performing multiple tests (regression analysis) over a period of 7years of the causal relationship between safety climate and safety compliance. The safety climate measure employed is identical across the 7-year period. Taking all periods together, the employed safety climate model explained roughly 27% of the variance in safety compliance. The causal relationship was found to be stable across the period, thereby increasing the reliability and the predictive validity of the factor structure. The safety climate factor that had the most powerful effect on safety compliance was work pressure. The factor structure employed shows high predictive validity and should therefore be relevant to organizations seeking to improve safety in the petroleum sector. The findings should also be relevant to other high-hazard industries where safety rules and procedures constitute a central part of the approach to managing safety. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

Scientific evaluation of the safety factor for the acceptable daily intake (ADI). Case study: butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA).

PubMed

Würtzen, G

1993-01-01

The principles of 'data-derived safety factors' are applied to toxicological and biochemical information on butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). The calculated safety factor for an ADI is, by this method, comparable to the existing internationally recognized safety evaluations. Relevance for humans of forestomach tumours in rodents is discussed. The method provides a basis for organizing data in a way that permits an explicit assessment of its relevance.

Identification of subjects for social responsibility education at universities and the present activity at the university of Tokyo.

PubMed

Karima, Risuke; Oshima, Yoshito; Yamamoto, Kazuo

2006-01-01

The management of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has recently become a critical concern for companies in advanced countries. For universities, there is a requirement to contribute to the promotion of CSR, resulting in graduates who have sufficient cognition of and a good attitude towards CSR. In addition, universities have social responsibilities, which can be called "University Social Responsibility (USR)." On the basis of the concepts of the guidelines for CSR in the "Green Paper," which was presented by the European Committee (EC) in 2001, we provide a perspective here on what factors dictate the establishment of education programs for social responsibilities at universities. These factors include an outline of the concepts and the significance of CSR, social ethics and the morals of higher education and research, compliances, human resource management, human rights, safety and health in academic settings, and various concerns regarding environmental safety and preservation. Additionally, through the concept postulated here for social responsible education, in this paper, we introduce the present activity at the University of Tokyo (UT) in terms of the education program for CSR and USR, proposing that the future establishment of university-wide education programs based on the concept of CSR and the value of sustainability is required at UT.

Psychological predictors of mobile phone use while crossing the street among college students: An application of the theory of planned behavior.

PubMed

Jiang, Kang; Ling, Feiyang; Feng, Zhongxiang; Wang, Kun; Guo, Lei

2017-02-17

As the prevalence of mobile phone use has increased globally, experts have verified the effects of mobile phone distraction on traffic safety. However, the psychological factors underlying pedestrians' decisions to use their mobile phones while crossing the street have received little attention. The present study employed the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to investigate the psychological factors that influence pedestrians' intentions to use a mobile phone while crossing the street. The additional predictors of descriptive norms, moral norms, risk perception, mobile phone involvement, and perceived ability to compensate are included. Approximately 40% of participants reported having used a mobile phone while crossing during the previous week and 5.4% had been involved in crossing accidents due to mobile phone distractions. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed overall support for the predictive utility of the TPB. The standard TPB variables accounted for 13.3% of variance in intentions after demographic variables were controlled, and the extended predictors contributed an additional 7.6% beyond the standard constructs. The current study revealed that attitude, perceived behavior control, descriptive norms, mobile phone involvement, and perceived ability to compensate all emerged as significant predictors of intentions. The findings could support the design of more effective safety campaigns and interventions to reduce pedestrians' distracted crossing behaviors.

Lean production design using value stream mapping and ergonomics approach for waste elimination on buffing panel upright process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suryoputro, M. R.; Sari, A. D.; Burhanudin, R.; Sugarindra, M.

2017-12-01

This study discussed the implementation of ergonomics and value stream mapping issues to reduce the existing waste in the process of buffing upright panel in the XYZ music manufacturing company. Aimed to identify the 9 waste based on the identification in terms of production processes and ergonomic factors, namely environmental health and safety, defects, overproduction, waiting, not utilizing employee knowledge skill and ability, transportation, inventory, motion, and excess process. In addition, ergonomics factors were identified, for example posture using REBA, job safety analysis, and physical workload. This study results indicated that the process is having 21.4% of the potential dangers that could not be accepted and thus potentially lead to lost time. Continued with the physical workload, the score of % cardiovascular load value is still below 30%, which means that the physical workload is normal and allows the addition of work. Meanwhile, in the calculation of posture investigation, the REBA resulted that there was a motion waste identified on the edge buff machine and ryoto with the score of 10 and 8. In conclusion, the results shown that there were 20 overall waste produced, then thus waste were reduced based on the identification and discussion of proposed improvements.

Factors associated with major bleeding events: insights from the ROCKET AF trial (rivaroxaban once-daily oral direct factor Xa inhibition compared with vitamin K antagonism for prevention of stroke and embolism trial in atrial fibrillation).

PubMed

Goodman, Shaun G; Wojdyla, Daniel M; Piccini, Jonathan P; White, Harvey D; Paolini, John F; Nessel, Christopher C; Berkowitz, Scott D; Mahaffey, Kenneth W; Patel, Manesh R; Sherwood, Matthew W; Becker, Richard C; Halperin, Jonathan L; Hacke, Werner; Singer, Daniel E; Hankey, Graeme J; Breithardt, Gunter; Fox, Keith A A; Califf, Robert M

2014-03-11

This study sought to report additional safety results from the ROCKET AF (Rivaroxaban Once-daily oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation). The ROCKET AF trial demonstrated similar risks of stroke/systemic embolism and major/nonmajor clinically relevant bleeding (principal safety endpoint) with rivaroxaban and warfarin. The risk of the principal safety and component bleeding endpoints with rivaroxaban versus warfarin were compared, and factors associated with major bleeding were examined in a multivariable model. The principal safety endpoint was similar in the rivaroxaban and warfarin groups (14.9 vs. 14.5 events/100 patient-years; hazard ratio: 1.03; 95% confidence interval: 0.96 to 1.11). Major bleeding risk increased with age, but there were no differences between treatments in each age category (<65, 65 to 74, ≥75 years; pinteraction = 0.59). Compared with those without (n = 13,455), patients with a major bleed (n = 781) were more likely to be older, current/prior smokers, have prior gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, mild anemia, and a lower calculated creatinine clearance and less likely to be female or have a prior stroke/transient ischemic attack. Increasing age, baseline diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥90 mm Hg, history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or GI bleeding, prior acetylsalicylic acid use, and anemia were independently associated with major bleeding risk; female sex and DBP <90 mm Hg were associated with a decreased risk. Rivaroxaban and warfarin had similar risk for major/nonmajor clinically relevant bleeding. Age, sex, DBP, prior GI bleeding, prior acetylsalicylic acid use, and anemia were associated with the risk of major bleeding. (An Efficacy and Safety Study of Rivaroxaban With Warfarin for the Prevention of Stroke and Non-Central Nervous System Systemic Embolism in Patients With Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation: NCT00403767). Copyright © 2014 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

75 FR 34360 - Listing of Color Additives Exempt From Certification; Bismuth Citrate; Confirmation of Effective...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-17

... Drugs, and redelegated to the Director, Office of Food Additive Safety, notice is given that no.... Cheeseman, Acting Director, Office of Food Additive Safety, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Part 73 [Docket No...

Impact of irradiation on the safety and quality of poultry and meat products: a review.

PubMed

O'Bryan, Corliss A; Crandall, Philip G; Ricke, Steven C; Olson, Dennis G

2008-05-01

For more than 100 years research on food irradiation has demonstrated that radiation will make food safer and improve the shelf life of irradiated foods. Using the current food safety technology, we may have reached the point of diminishing returns even though recent figures from the CDC show a significant drop in the number of foodborne illnesses. However, too many people continue to get sick and die from eating contaminated food. New and under utilized technologies such as food irradiation need to be re-examined to achieve new levels of safety for the food supply. Effects of irradiation on the safety and quality of meat and poultry are discussed. Irradiation control of the principle microbial pathogens including viruses, the differences among at-risk sub-populations, factors affecting the diminished rate of improvement in food safety and published D values for irradiating raw meat and poultry are presented. Currently permitted levels of irradiation are probably not sufficient to control pathogenic viruses. Typical gram-negative spoilage organisms are very sensitive to irradiation. Their destruction leads to a significant increase in the acceptable shelf life. In addition, the destruction of these normal spoilage organisms did not provide a competitive growth advantage for irradiation injured food pathogens. Another of the main focuses of this review is a detailed compilation of the effects of most of the food additives that have been proposed to minimize the negative quality effect of irradiation. Most of the antimicrobials and antioxidants used singly or in combination produced an increased lethality of irradiation and a decrease in oxidation by-products. Combinations of dosage, temperature, dietary and direct additives, storage temperature and packaging atmosphere can produce meats that the average consumer will find indistinguishable from non-irradiated meats. A discussion of the production of unique radiological by-products is also included.

Driving behaviours, traffic risk and road safety: comparative study between Malaysia and Singapore.

PubMed

Khan, Saif ur Rehman; Khalifah, Zainab Binti; Munir, Yasin; Islam, Talat; Nazir, Tahira; Khan, Hashim

2015-01-01

The present study aims to investigate differences in road safety attitude, driver behaviour and traffic risk perception between Malaysia and Singapore. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among a sample of Singaporean (n = 187) and Malaysian (n = 313) road users. The data was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling applied to measure comparative fit indices of Malaysian and Singaporean respondents. The results show that the perceived traffic risk of Malaysian respondents is higher than Singaporean counterparts. Moreover, the structural equation modelling has confirmed perceived traffic risk performing the role of full mediation between perceived driving skills and perceived road safety for both the countries, while perceived traffic skills was found to perform the role of partial mediation between aggression and anxiety, on one hand, and road safety, on the other hand, in Malaysia and Singapore. In addition, in both countries, a weak correlation between perceived driving skills, aggression and anxiety with perceived road safety was found, while a strong correlation exists with traffic risk perception. The findings of this study have been discussed in terms of theoretical, practical and conceptual implications for both scholars and policy-makers to better understand the young drivers' attitude and behaviour relationship towards road safety measures with a view to future research.

Gating the holes in the Swiss cheese (part I): Expanding professor Reason's model for patient safety.

PubMed

Seshia, Shashi S; Bryan Young, G; Makhinson, Michael; Smith, Preston A; Stobart, Kent; Croskerry, Pat

2018-02-01

Although patient safety has improved steadily, harm remains a substantial global challenge. Additionally, safety needs to be ensured not only in hospitals but also across the continuum of care. Better understanding of the complex cognitive factors influencing health care-related decisions and organizational cultures could lead to more rational approaches, and thereby to further improvement. A model integrating the concepts underlying Reason's Swiss cheese theory and the cognitive-affective biases plus cascade could advance the understanding of cognitive-affective processes that underlie decisions and organizational cultures across the continuum of care. Thematic analysis, qualitative information from several sources being used to support argumentation. Complex covert cognitive phenomena underlie decisions influencing health care. In the integrated model, the Swiss cheese slices represent dynamic cognitive-affective (mental) gates: Reason's successive layers of defence. Like firewalls and antivirus programs, cognitive-affective gates normally allow the passage of rational decisions but block or counter unsounds ones. Gates can be breached (ie, holes created) at one or more levels of organizations, teams, and individuals, by (1) any element of cognitive-affective biases plus (conflicts of interest and cognitive biases being the best studied) and (2) other potential error-provoking factors. Conversely, flawed decisions can be blocked and consequences minimized; for example, by addressing cognitive biases plus and error-provoking factors, and being constantly mindful. Informed shared decision making is a neglected but critical layer of defence (cognitive-affective gate). The integrated model can be custom tailored to specific situations, and the underlying principles applied to all methods for improving safety. The model may also provide a framework for developing and evaluating strategies to optimize organizational cultures and decisions. The concept is abstract, the model is virtual, and the best supportive evidence is qualitative and indirect. The proposed model may help enhance rational decision making across the continuum of care, thereby improving patient safety globally. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Gating the holes in the Swiss cheese (part I): Expanding professor Reason's model for patient safety

PubMed Central

Bryan Young, G.; Makhinson, Michael; Smith, Preston A.; Stobart, Kent; Croskerry, Pat

2017-01-01

Abstract Introduction Although patient safety has improved steadily, harm remains a substantial global challenge. Additionally, safety needs to be ensured not only in hospitals but also across the continuum of care. Better understanding of the complex cognitive factors influencing health care–related decisions and organizational cultures could lead to more rational approaches, and thereby to further improvement. Hypothesis A model integrating the concepts underlying Reason's Swiss cheese theory and the cognitive‐affective biases plus cascade could advance the understanding of cognitive‐affective processes that underlie decisions and organizational cultures across the continuum of care. Methods Thematic analysis, qualitative information from several sources being used to support argumentation. Discussion Complex covert cognitive phenomena underlie decisions influencing health care. In the integrated model, the Swiss cheese slices represent dynamic cognitive‐affective (mental) gates: Reason's successive layers of defence. Like firewalls and antivirus programs, cognitive‐affective gates normally allow the passage of rational decisions but block or counter unsounds ones. Gates can be breached (ie, holes created) at one or more levels of organizations, teams, and individuals, by (1) any element of cognitive‐affective biases plus (conflicts of interest and cognitive biases being the best studied) and (2) other potential error‐provoking factors. Conversely, flawed decisions can be blocked and consequences minimized; for example, by addressing cognitive biases plus and error‐provoking factors, and being constantly mindful. Informed shared decision making is a neglected but critical layer of defence (cognitive‐affective gate). The integrated model can be custom tailored to specific situations, and the underlying principles applied to all methods for improving safety. The model may also provide a framework for developing and evaluating strategies to optimize organizational cultures and decisions. Limitations The concept is abstract, the model is virtual, and the best supportive evidence is qualitative and indirect. Conclusions The proposed model may help enhance rational decision making across the continuum of care, thereby improving patient safety globally. PMID:29168290

Factors Associated With Major Bleeding Events

PubMed Central

Goodman, Shaun G.; Wojdyla, Daniel M.; Piccini, Jonathan P.; White, Harvey D.; Paolini, John F.; Nessel, Christopher C.; Berkowitz, Scott D.; Mahaffey, Kenneth W.; Patel, Manesh R.; Sherwood, Matthew W.; Becker, Richard C.; Halperin, Jonathan L.; Hacke, Werner; Singer, Daniel E.; Hankey, Graeme J.; Breithardt, Gunter; Fox, Keith A. A.; Califf, Robert M.

2014-01-01

Objectives This study sought to report additional safety results from the ROCKET AF (Rivaroxaban Once-daily oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation). Background The ROCKET AF trial demonstrated similar risks of stroke/systemic embolism and major/nonmajor clinically relevant bleeding (principal safety endpoint) with rivaroxaban and warfarin. Methods The risk of the principal safety and component bleeding endpoints with rivaroxaban versus warfarin were compared, and factors associated with major bleeding were examined in a multivariable model. Results The principal safety endpoint was similar in the rivaroxaban and warfarin groups (14.9 vs. 14.5 events/100 patient-years; hazard ratio: 1.03; 95% confidence interval: 0.96 to 1.11). Major bleeding risk increased with age, but there were no differences between treatments in each age category (<65, 65 to 74, ≥75 years; pinteraction = 0.59). Compared with those without (n = 13,455), patients with a major bleed (n = 781) were more likely to be older, current/prior smokers, have prior gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, mild anemia, and a lower calculated creatinine clearance and less likely to be female or have a prior stroke/transient ischemic attack. Increasing age, baseline diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥90 mm Hg, history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or GI bleeding, prior acetylsalicylic acid use, and anemia were independently associated with major bleeding risk; female sex and DBP <90 mm Hg were associated with a decreased risk. Conclusions Rivaroxaban and warfarin had similar risk for major/nonmajor clinically relevant bleeding. Age, sex, DBP, prior GI bleeding, prior acetylsalicylic acid use, and anemia were associated with the risk of major bleeding. (An Efficacy and Safety Study of Rivaroxaban With Warfarin for the Prevention of Stroke and Non-Central Nervous System Systemic Embolism in Patients With Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation: NCT00403767) PMID:24315894

To what extent can theory account for the findings of road safety evaluation studies?

PubMed

Elvik, Rune

2004-09-01

This paper proposes a conceptual framework that can be used to assess to what extent the findings of road safety evaluation research make sense from a theoretical point of view. The effects of road safety measures are modelled as passing through two causal chains. One of these, termed the engineering effect, refers to the intended effects of a road safety measure on a set of risk factors related to accident occurrence or injury severity. The engineering effect of road safety measures is modelled in terms of nine basic risk factors, one or more of which any road safety measure needs to influence in order to have the intended effect on accidents or injuries. The other causal chain producing the effects of road safety measures is termed the behavioural effect, and refers to road user behavioural adaptations to road safety measures. The behavioural effect is related to the engineering effect, in the sense that certain properties of the engineering effect of a road safety measure influence the likelihood that behavioural adaptation will occur. The behavioural effect of a road safety measure is modelled in terms of six factors that influence the likelihood that behavioural adaptation will occur. The nine basic risk factors representing the engineering effect of a road safety measure, and the six factors influencing the likelihood of behavioural adaptation can be used as checklists in assessing whether or not the findings of road safety evaluation studies make sense from a theoretical point of view. At the current state of knowledge, a more stringent evaluation of the extent to which theory can explain the findings of road safety evaluation studies is, in most cases, not possible. Copyright 2003 Elsevier Ltd.

Factors associated with pilot fatalities in work-related aircraft crashes--Alaska, 1990-1999.

PubMed

2002-04-26

Despite its large geographic area, Alaska has only 12,200 miles of public roads, and 90% of the state's communities are not connected to a highway system. Commuter and air-taxi flights are essential for transportation of passengers and delivery of goods, services, and mail to outlying communities (Figure 1). Because of the substantial progress in decreasing fatalities in the fishing and logging industries, aviation crashes are the leading cause of occupational death in Alaska. During 1990-1999, aircraft crashes in Alaska caused 107 deaths among workers classified as civilian pilots. This is equivalent to 410 fatalities per 100,000 pilots each year, approximately five times the death rate for all U.S. pilots and approximately 100 times the death rate for all U.S. workers. As part of a collaborative aviation safety initiative that CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is implementing with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and the National Weather Service, CDC analyzed data from NTSB crash reports to determine factors associated with pilot fatalities in work-related aviation crashes in Alaska. This report summarizes the result of this analysis, which found that the following factors were associated with pilot fatalities: crashes involving a post-crash fire, flights in darkness or weather conditions requiring instrument use, crashes occurring away from an airport, and crashes in which the pilot was not using a shoulder restraint. Additional pilot training, improved fuel systems that are less likely to ignite in crashes, and company policies that discourage flying in poor weather conditions might help decrease pilot fatalities. More detailed analyses of crash data, collaborations with aircraft operators to improve safety, and evaluation of new technologies are needed.

Automobile-dependency as a barrier to vision zero, evidence from the states in the USA.

PubMed

Ahangari, Hamed; Atkinson-Palombo, Carol; Garrick, Norman W

2017-10-01

With a traffic fatality rate of 10.6 per 100,000 as of 2013-more than triple that in the UK, the Netherlands, and Sweden-the United States has the worst traffic safety performance of all developed countries. Statewide variations are even more pronounced. North Dakota registers more than twice the national average and five times the rate of Massachusetts. We used panel models and annual data from 1997 to 2013 to capture the effect of seven separate sets of factors that influence traffic safety: exposure, travel behavior, socioeconomics, macroeconomics, safety policies, and mitigating factors such as health care. The results of our panel models and supplementary analysis of state effects show that two variables - Vehicle Miles Traveled and Vehicles per Capita-have the strongest impact on traffic fatality rates. This is closely followed by Infant Mortality Rates, the proxy that we used to represent the quality of health care. Policy levers such as Graduated Driver's Licenses (GDL) have improved safety, but to a limited extent. We also found that states with higher urban density and more walking are associated with lower traffic fatality rates. Taken as a whole, our findings suggest that if additional progress is to be made in reducing traffic fatalities, emphasis needs to move beyond simply focusing on policies such as GDL and seat belt laws, which have already been adopted by almost all jurisdictions across the United States. We need to also consider factors that focus on the type of urban form that we are creating to ensure that we are fostering environments that encourage multi-modal transportation such as walking to reduce the VMT and Vehicles per Capita, the two strongest predictors of traffic fatalities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a Food Safety and Nutrition Education Program for Adolescents by Applying Social Cognitive Theory.

PubMed

Lee, Jounghee; Jeong, Soyeon; Ko, Gyeongah; Park, Hyunshin; Ko, Youngsook

2016-08-01

The purpose of this study was to develop an educational model regarding food safety and nutrition. In particular, we aimed to develop educational materials, such as middle- and high-school textbooks, a teacher's guidebook, and school posters, by applying social cognitive theory. To develop a food safety and nutrition education program, we took into account diverse factors influencing an individual's behavior, such as personal, behavioral, and environmental factors, based on social cognitive theory. We also conducted a pilot study of the educational materials targeting middle-school students (n = 26), high-school students (n = 24), and dietitians (n = 13) regarding comprehension level, content, design, and quality by employing the 5-point Likert scale in May 2016. The food safety and nutrition education program covered six themes: (1) caffeine; (2) food additives; (3) foodborne illness; (4) nutrition and meal planning; (5) obesity and eating disorders; and (6) nutrition labeling. Each class activity was created to improve self-efficacy by setting one's own goal and to increase self-control by monitoring one's dietary intake. We also considered environmental factors by creating school posters and leaflets to educate teachers and parents. The overall evaluation score for the textbook was 4.0 points among middle- and high-school students, and 4.5 points among dietitians. This study provides a useful program model that could serve as a guide to develop educational materials for nutrition-related subjects in the curriculum. This program model was created to increase awareness of nutrition problems and self-efficacy. This program also helped to improve nutrition management skills and to promote a healthy eating environment in middle- and high-school students.

Job characteristics and work safety climate among North Carolina farmworkers with H-2A visas.

PubMed

Arcury, Thomas A; Summers, Phillip; Talton, Jennifer W; Nguyen, Ha T; Chen, Haiying; Quandt, Sara A

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Migrant farmworkers are a vulnerable population. Migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas are the only agricultural workers with temporary work permits. Little research has directly focused on the job characteristics and work safety of workers with H-2A visas. This analysis (1) describes their personal and job characteristics, job hazards, and stressors; (2) describes their perceived work safety climate; and (3) examines associations of perceived work safety climate with job characteristics, job hazards, and stressors. Data are from a cross-sectional component of a larger study of farmworker pesticide exposure; in 2012 interviews were conducted with 163 migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas in North Carolina. The sample was limited to men aged 30 to 70 years. Migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas experience the same hazards as do other farmworkers. Their mean score on the Perceived Work Safety Climate Scale 25.5 (SD = 3.7) is similar to that of other farmworkers and other immigrant workers. Perceived work safety climate is associated with hours worked per week (P = .02), precarious employment (P < .001), planting and cultivating (P = .002), topping tobacco (P = .0012), and stress (P = .02). Perceived work safety climate is particularly important for migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas because their labor contracts limit their options to change employers. Additional research on the status of work safety climate among agricultural workers is needed, as well as on the factors that affect work safety climate and on the safety characteristics that are affected by work safety climate. Policy changes that lead to improved work safety climate should be considered.

Job Characteristics and Work Safety Climate among North Carolina Farmworkers with H-2A Visas

PubMed Central

Arcury, Thomas A.; Summers, Phillip; Talton, Jennifer W.; Nguyen, Ha T.; Chen, Haiying; Quandt, Sara A.

2016-01-01

Migrant farmworkers are a vulnerable population. Migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas are the only agricultural workers with temporary work permits. Little research has directly focused on the job characteristics and work safety of workers with H-2A visas. This analysis (1) describes their personal and job characteristics, job hazards, and stressors; (2) describes their perceived work safety climate; and (3) examines associations of perceived work safety climate with job characteristics, job hazards, and stressors. Data are from a cross-sectional component of a larger study of farmworker pesticide exposure; in 2012 interviews were conducted with 163 migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas in North Carolina. The sample was limited to men aged 30 to 70 years. Migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas experience the same hazards as do other farmworkers. Their mean score on the perceived work safety climate scale 25.5 (SD=3.7) is similar to that of other farmworkers and other immigrant workers. Perceived work safety climate is associated with hours worked per week (p=0.02), precarious employment (p<0.001), planting and cultivating (p=0.002); topping tobacco (p=0.0012), and stress (p=0.02). Perceived work safety climate is particularly important for migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas because their labor contracts limit their options to change employers. Additional research on the status of work safety climate among agricultural workers is needed, as well as on the factors that affect work safety climate and on the safety characteristics that are affected by work safety climate. Policy changes that lead to improved work safety climate should be considered. PMID:25635744

Patient safety culture in out-of-hours primary care services in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Smits, Marleen; Keizer, Ellen; Giesen, Paul; Deilkås, Ellen Catharina Tveter; Hofoss, Dag; Bondevik, Gunnar Tschudi

2018-03-01

To examine patient safety culture in Dutch out-of-hours primary care using the safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ) which includes five factors: teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, perceptions of management and communication openness. Cross-sectional observational study using an anonymous web-survey. Setting Sixteen out-of-hours general practitioner (GP) cooperatives and two call centers in the Netherlands. Subjects Primary healthcare providers in out-of-hours services. Main outcome measures Mean scores on patient safety culture factors; association between patient safety culture and profession, gender, age, and working experience. Overall response rate was 43%. A total of 784 respondents were included; mainly GPs (N = 470) and triage nurses (N = 189). The healthcare providers were most positive about teamwork climate and job satisfaction, and less about communication openness and safety climate. The largest variation between clinics was found on safety climate; the lowest on teamwork climate. Triage nurses scored significantly higher than GPs on each of the five patient safety factors. Older healthcare providers scored significantly higher than younger on safety climate and perceptions of management. More working experience was positively related to higher teamwork climate and communication openness. Gender was not associated with any of the patient safety factors. Our study showed that healthcare providers perceive patient safety culture in Dutch GP cooperatives positively, but there are differences related to the respondents' profession, age and working experience. Recommendations for future studies are to examine reasons for these differences, to examine the effects of interventions to improve safety culture and to make international comparisons of safety culture. Key Points Creating a positive patient safety culture is assumed to be a prerequisite for quality and safety. We found that: • healthcare providers in Dutch GP cooperatives perceive patient safety culture positively; • triage nurses scored higher than GPs, and older and more experienced healthcare professionals scored higher than younger and less experienced professionals - on several patient safety culture factors; and • within the GP cooperatives, safety climate and openness of communication had the largest potential for improvement.

Patient safety culture in out-of-hours primary care services in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional survey

PubMed Central

Smits, Marleen; Keizer, Ellen; Giesen, Paul; Deilkås, Ellen Catharina Tveter; Hofoss, Dag; Bondevik, Gunnar Tschudi

2018-01-01

Objective To examine patient safety culture in Dutch out-of-hours primary care using the safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ) which includes five factors: teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, perceptions of management and communication openness. Design Cross-sectional observational study using an anonymous web-survey. Setting Sixteen out-of-hours general practitioner (GP) cooperatives and two call centers in the Netherlands. Subjects Primary healthcare providers in out-of-hours services. Main outcome measures Mean scores on patient safety culture factors; association between patient safety culture and profession, gender, age, and working experience. Results Overall response rate was 43%. A total of 784 respondents were included; mainly GPs (N = 470) and triage nurses (N = 189). The healthcare providers were most positive about teamwork climate and job satisfaction, and less about communication openness and safety climate. The largest variation between clinics was found on safety climate; the lowest on teamwork climate. Triage nurses scored significantly higher than GPs on each of the five patient safety factors. Older healthcare providers scored significantly higher than younger on safety climate and perceptions of management. More working experience was positively related to higher teamwork climate and communication openness. Gender was not associated with any of the patient safety factors. Conclusions Our study showed that healthcare providers perceive patient safety culture in Dutch GP cooperatives positively, but there are differences related to the respondents’ profession, age and working experience. Recommendations for future studies are to examine reasons for these differences, to examine the effects of interventions to improve safety culture and to make international comparisons of safety culture. Key Points Creating a positive patient safety culture is assumed to be a prerequisite for quality and safety. We found that: • healthcare providers in Dutch GP cooperatives perceive patient safety culture positively; • triage nurses scored higher than GPs, and older and more experienced healthcare professionals scored higher than younger and less experienced professionals – on several patient safety culture factors; and • within the GP cooperatives, safety climate and openness of communication had the largest potential for improvement. PMID:29334826

Achieving the Proper Balance Between Crew and Public Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gowan, John; Silvestri, Ray; Stahl, Ben; Rosati, Paul; Wilde, Paul

2011-01-01

A paramount objective of all human-rated launch and reentry vehicle developers is to ensure that the risks to both the crew onboard and the public are minimized within reasonable cost, schedule, and technical constraints. Past experience has shown that proper attention to range safety requirements necessary to ensure public safety must be given early in the design phase to avoid additional operational complexities or threats to the safety of people onboard, and the design engineers must give these requirements the same consideration as crew safety requirements. For human spaceflight, the primary purpose and operational concept for any flight safety system is to protect the public while maximizing the likelihood of crew survival. This paper will outline the policy considerations, technical issues, and operational impacts regarding launch and reentry vehicle failure scenarios where crew and public safety are intertwined and thus addressed optimally in an integrated manner. An overview of existing range and crew safety policy requirements will be presented. Application of these requirements and lessons learned from both the Space Shuttle and Constellation Programs will also be discussed. Using these past programs as examples, the paper will detail operational, design, and analysis approaches to mitigate and balance the risks to people onboard and in the public. Manned vehicle perspectives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Air Force organizations that oversee public safety will be summarized as well. Finally, the paper will emphasize the need to factor policy, operational, and analysis considerations into the early design trades of new vehicles to help ensure that both crew and public safety are maximized to the greatest extent possible.

Achieving the Proper Balance between Crew & Public Safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilde, P.; Gowan, J.; Silvestri, R.; Stahl, B.; Rosati, P.

2012-01-01

A paramount objective of all human-rated launch and reentry vehicle developers is to ensure that the risks to both the crew onboard and the public are minimized within reasonable cost, schedule, and technical constraints. Past experience has shown that proper attention to range safety requirements necessary to ensure public safety must be given early in the design phase to avoid additional operational complexities or threats to the safety of people onboard, and the design engineers must give these requirements the same consideration as crew safety requirements. For human spaceflight, the primary purpose and operational concept for any flight safety system is to protect the public while maximizing the likelihood of crew survival. This paper will outline the policy considerations, technical issues, and operational impacts regarding launch and reentry vehicle failure scenarios where crew and public safety are intertwined and thus addressed optimally in an integrated manner. An overview of existing range and crew safety policy requirements will be presented. Application of these requirements and lessons learned from both the Space Shuttle and Constellation Programs will also be discussed. Using these past programs as examples, the paper will detail operational, design, and analysis approaches to mitigate and balance the risks to people onboard and in the public. Crewed vehicle perspectives from the Federal Aviation Administration and Air Force organizations that oversee public safety will be summarized as well. Finally, the paper will emphasize the need to factor policy, operational, and analysis considerations into the early design trades of new vehicles to help ensure that both crew and public safety are maximized to the greatest extent possible.

Modeling level-of-safety for bus stops in China.

PubMed

Ye, Zhirui; Wang, Chao; Yu, Yongbo; Shi, Xiaomeng; Wang, Wei

2016-08-17

Safety performance at bus stops is generally evaluated by using historical traffic crash data or traffic conflict data. However, in China, it is quite difficult to obtain such data mainly due to the lack of traffic data management and organizational issues. In light of this, the primary objective of this study is to develop a quantitative approach to evaluate bus stop safety performance. The concept of level-of-safety for bus stops is introduced and corresponding models are proposed to quantify safety levels, which consider conflict points, traffic factors, geometric characteristics, traffic signs and markings, pavement conditions, and lighting conditions. Principal component analysis and k-means clustering methods were used to model and quantify safety levels for bus stops. A case study was conducted to show the applicability of the proposed model with data collected from 46 samples for the 7 most common types of bus stops in China, using 32 of the samples for modeling and 14 samples for illustration. Based on the case study, 6 levels of safety for bus stops were defined. Finally, a linear regression analysis between safety levels and the number of traffic conflicts showed that they had a strong relationship (R(2) value of 0.908). The results indicated that the method was well validated and could be practically used for the analysis and evaluation of bus stop safety in China. The proposed model was relatively easy to implement without the requirement of traffic crash data and/or traffic conflict data. In addition, with the proposed method, it was feasible to evaluate countermeasures to improve bus stop safety (e.g., exclusive bus lanes).

Space station crew safety alternatives study. Volume 3: Safety impact of human factors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rockoff, L. A.; Raasch, R. F.; Peercy, R. L., Jr.

1985-01-01

The first 15 years of accumulated space station concepts for Initial Operational Capability (IOC) during the early 1990's was considered. Twenty-five threats to the space station are identified and selected threats addressed as impacting safety criteria, escape and rescue, and human factors safety concerns. Of the 25 threats identified, eight are discussed including strategy options for threat control: fire, biological or toxic contamination, injury/illness, explosion, loss of pressurization, radiation, meteoroid penetration and debris. Of particular interest here is volume three (of five volumes) pertaining to the safety impact of human factors.

Perceived risk and other predictors and correlates of teenagers' safety belt use during the first year of licensure.

PubMed

Ouimet, Marie Claude; Morton, Bruce G Simons; Noelcke, Elizabeth A; Williams, Allan F; Leaf, William A; Preusser, David F; Hartos, Jessica L

2008-03-01

Teenagers have the lowest rate of safety belt use and the highest crash rate compared to other age groups. Past studies on teenagers' belt use have mostly been cross-sectional. The first goals of this study were to examine, at licensure, teenagers' and parents' perceptions of risk of crash/injury for newly licensed teenagers when driving unbelted and teenagers' perceived and parents' intended consequences for safety belt rule violations. In addition, the comparability of these variables to other risky driving behaviors was explored. The second goal was to evaluate the importance of these variables in the prediction of teenagers' belt use during the first year of licensure, relative to other factors related to belt use, including demographics and substance use. More than 2,000 parent-teenager dyads were interviewed by telephone, parents at permit and licensure and teenagers at permit, licensure, and 3, 6, and 12 months after licensure. Approximately a third of the teenagers reported at least once at 3, 6, or 12 months post-licensure not always using their safety belt in the past week. At licensure, participants' perceived risk of safety belt non-use was high and ranked among the behaviors most related to crash/injury for newly licensed teenagers, behind driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Parent-imposed consequences for safety belt rule violations were not as highly rated as parent-imposed consequences for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Sequential logistic regression modeled the relationship between safety belt use and perceived risk and consequences of non-use, as well as other prospective predictors assessed at permit and licensure, and driving correlates measured after licensure. Teenagers' extreme perceived risk and parents' intended sure consequences for non-use were significant prospective predictors of regular use during the first year of licensure. Other significant predictors and correlates were race (White), high school grade average of "A," not smoking cigarettes, driving a passenger vehicle, and never receiving a traffic citation or engaging in risky driving behaviors, including driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and running a red light. While the effect size was small for perceived risk of non-use, it is a modifiable factor and focused intervention contrived to enhance perceived risk could increase teenagers' belt use. Perceived risk is discussed as a target for intervention in relation to the Protection Motivation Theory. This theory appears helpful in guiding future research into the modifiable factors studied here as well as other factors, including perceived rewards and costs associated with non-use.

Evaluation of pedestrian safety at intersections: A theoretical framework based on pedestrian-vehicle interaction patterns.

PubMed

Ni, Ying; Wang, Menglong; Sun, Jian; Li, Keping

2016-11-01

Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users, and pedestrian safety has become a major research focus in recent years. Regarding the quality and quantity issues with collision data, conflict analysis using surrogate safety measures has become a useful method to study pedestrian safety. However, given the inequality between pedestrians and vehicles in encounters and the multiple interactions between pedestrians and vehicles, it is insufficient to simply use the same indicator(s) or the same way to aggregate indicators for all conditions. In addition, behavioral factors cannot be neglected. To better use information extracted from trajectories for safety evaluation and pay more attention on effects of behavioral factors, this paper develops a more sophisticated framework for pedestrian conflict analysis that takes pedestrian-vehicle interactions into consideration. A concept of three interaction patterns has been proposed for the first time, namely "hard interaction," "no interaction," and "soft-interaction." Interactions have been categorized under one of these patterns by analyzing profiles of speed and conflict indicators during the whole interactive processes. In this paper, a support vector machine (SVM) approach has been adopted to classify severity levels for a dataset including 1144 events extracted from three intersections in Shanghai, China, followed by an analysis of variable importance. The results revealed that different conflict indicators have different contributions to indicating the severity level under various interaction patterns. Therefore, it is recommended either to use specific conflict indicators or to use weighted indicator aggregation for each interaction pattern when evaluating pedestrian safety. The implementation has been carried out at the fourth crosswalk, and the results indicate that the proposed method can achieve a higher accuracy and better robustness than conventional methods. Furthermore, the method is helpful for better understanding underlying levels of safety from the behavioral perspective, which can also provide evidence for targeted traffic education on proper behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Critical safety assurance factors for manned spacecraft - A fire safety perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodney, George A.

1990-01-01

Safety assurance factors for manned spacecraft are discussed with a focus on the Space Station Freedom. A hazard scenario is provided to demonstrate a process commonly used by safety engineers and other analysts to identify onboard safety risks. Fire strategies are described, including a review of fire extinguishing agents being considered for the Space Station. Lessons learned about fire safety technology in other areas are also noted. NASA and industry research on fire safety applications is discussed. NASA's approach to ensuring safety for manned spacecraft is addressed in the context of its multidiscipline program.

Exploring the risk factors associated with the size and severity of roadway crashes in Riyadh.

PubMed

Hassan, Hany M; Al-Faleh, Hesham

2013-12-01

Recently, growing concern has been shifting toward the necessity of improving traffic safety in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). KSA has a unique traffic safety problem in that: (a) it can be classified as a developed country in terms of the magnitude and quality of the roadway networks available and its compatibility with international standards; however, (b) it can also be considered a developing country as the rate of increase in the number of road crashes is substantial compared with relevant figures of other developing countries and other countries of the Gulf region. Hence, more research efforts are still needed. This paper examines the nature and causes of fatal and serious traffic crashes in KSA so that solutions and/or future studies can be suggested. Data from 11,545 reported fatal and injury traffic crashes that occurred in Riyadh (the capital of KSA) during the period 2004-2011 were analyzed by alternative and complementary methods. A logistic regression model was estimated and the results revealed that crash reason (speeding), damages in public property, day of the week, crash location (non-intersection location), and point of collision (head-on) were the significant variables affecting the binary target variable (fatal and non-fatal crashes). Additionally, the structural equation modeling approach was developed to identify and quantify the impacts of significant variables influencing crash size (e.g., no. of injuries, no. of vehicles involved in the crash). Crash size is one of the important indices that measure the level of safety of transportation facilities. The results showed that road factor was the most significant factor affecting the size of the crash followed by the driver and environment factors. Considering the results of this study, practical suggestions on how to improve traffic safety in KSA are also presented and discussed. © 2013.

Factors related to increasing safety belt use in states with safety belt use laws : second annual report to Congress

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1989-01-01

This report is the second in a series of four annual reports to the Congress on provisions of state safety belt use laws and other programmatic factors related to increasing safety belt use levels. The first Congressional Report reviewed what was kno...

Factors related to increasing safety belt use in states with safety belt use laws : second annual report to Congress, 1988.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1989-01-01

This report. is the second in a series of four annual reports to the : Congress on provisions of state safety belt use laws and other : programmatic factors related to increasing safety belt use levels. : The first Congressional Report reviewed what ...

[Systemic safety following intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF].

PubMed

Baillif, S; Levy, B; Girmens, J-F; Dumas, S; Tadayoni, R

2018-03-01

The goal of this manuscript is to assess data suggesting that intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factors (anti-VEGFs) could result in systemic adverse events (AEs). The class-specific systemic AEs should be similar to those encountered in cancer trials. The most frequent AE observed in oncology, hypertension and proteinuria, should thus be the most common expected in ophthalmology, but their severity should be lower because of the much lower doses of anti-VEGFs administered intravitreally. Such AEs have not been frequently reported in ophthalmology trials. In addition, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data describing systemic diffusion of anti-VEGFs should be interpreted with caution because of significant inconsistencies reported. Thus, safety data reported in ophthalmology trials and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data provide robust evidence that systemic events after intravitreal injection are very unlikely. Additional studies are needed to explore this issue further, as much remains to be understood about local and systemic side effects of anti-VEGFs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

European consumer response to packaging technologies for improved beef safety.

PubMed

Van Wezemael, Lynn; Ueland, Øydis; Verbeke, Wim

2011-09-01

Beef packaging can influence consumer perceptions of beef. Although consumer perceptions and acceptance are considered to be among the most limiting factors in the application of new technologies, there is a lack of knowledge about the acceptability to consumers of beef packaging systems aimed at improved safety. This paper explores European consumers' acceptance levels of different beef packaging technologies. An online consumer survey was conducted in five European countries (n=2520). Acceptance levels among the sample ranged between 23% for packaging releasing preservative additives up to 73% for vacuum packaging. Factor analysis revealed that familiar packaging technologies were clearly preferred over non-familiar technologies. Four consumer segments were identified: the negative (31% of the sample), cautious (30%), conservative (17%) and enthusiast (22%) consumers, which were profiled based on their attitudes and beef consumption behaviour. Differences between consumer acceptance levels should be taken into account while optimising beef packaging and communicating its benefits. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire: psychometric properties, benchmarking data, and emerging research.

PubMed

Sexton, John B; Helmreich, Robert L; Neilands, Torsten B; Rowan, Kathy; Vella, Keryn; Boyden, James; Roberts, Peter R; Thomas, Eric J

2006-04-03

There is widespread interest in measuring healthcare provider attitudes about issues relevant to patient safety (often called safety climate or safety culture). Here we report the psychometric properties, establish benchmarking data, and discuss emerging areas of research with the University of Texas Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Six cross-sectional surveys of health care providers (n = 10,843) in 203 clinical areas (including critical care units, operating rooms, inpatient settings, and ambulatory clinics) in three countries (USA, UK, New Zealand). Multilevel factor analyses yielded results at the clinical area level and the respondent nested within clinical area level. We report scale reliability, floor/ceiling effects, item factor loadings, inter-factor correlations, and percentage of respondents who agree with each item and scale. A six factor model of provider attitudes fit to the data at both the clinical area and respondent nested within clinical area levels. The factors were: Teamwork Climate, Safety Climate, Perceptions of Management, Job Satisfaction, Working Conditions, and Stress Recognition. Scale reliability was 0.9. Provider attitudes varied greatly both within and among organizations. Results are presented to allow benchmarking among organizations and emerging research is discussed. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire demonstrated good psychometric properties. Healthcare organizations can use the survey to measure caregiver attitudes about six patient safety-related domains, to compare themselves with other organizations, to prompt interventions to improve safety attitudes and to measure the effectiveness of these interventions.

The role of psychological factors in workplace safety.

PubMed

Kotzé, Martina; Steyn, Leon

2013-01-01

Workplace safety researchers and practitioners generally agree that it is necessary to understand the psychological factors that influence people's workplace safety behaviour. Yet, the search for reliable individual differences regarding psychological factors associated with workplace safety has lead to sparse results and inconclusive findings. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there are differences between the psychological factors, cognitive ability, personality and work-wellness of employees involved in workplace incidents and accidents and/or driver vehicle accidents and those who are not. The study population (N = 279) consisted of employees employed at an electricity supply organisation in South Africa. Mann-Whitney U-test and one-way ANOVA were conducted to determine the differences in the respective psychological factors between the groups. These results showed that cognitive ability did not seem to play a role in workplace incident/accident involvement, including driver vehicle accidents, while the wellness factors burnout and sense of coherence, as well as certain personality traits, namely conscientiousness, pragmatic and gregariousness play a statistically significant role in individuals' involvement in workplace incidents/accidents/driver vehicle accidents. Safety practitioners, managers and human resource specialists should take cognisance of the role of specifically work-wellness in workplace safety behaviour, as management can influence these negative states that are often caused by continuously stressful situations, and subsequently enhance work place safety.

Analysis of general aviation single-pilot IFR incident data obtained from the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bergeron, H. P.

1983-01-01

An analysis of incident data obtained from the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) has been made to determine the problem areas in general aviation single-pilot IFR (SPIFR) operations. The Aviation Safety Reporting System data base is a compilation of voluntary reports of incidents from any person who has observed or been involved in an occurrence which was believed to have posed a threat to flight safety. This paper examines only those reported incidents specifically related to general aviation single-pilot IFR operations. The frequency of occurrence of factors related to the incidents was the criterion used to define significant problem areas and, hence, to suggest where research is needed. The data was cataloged into one of five major problem areas: (1) controller judgment and response problems, (2) pilot judgment and response problems, (3) air traffic control (ATC) intrafacility and interfacility conflicts, (4) ATC and pilot communication problems, and (5) IFR-VFR conflicts. In addition, several points common to all or most of the problems were observed and reported. These included human error, communications, procedures and rules, and work load.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention to Improve the Patient Safety Attitudes of Intern Pharmacists

PubMed Central

Fois, Romano A.; McLachlan, Andrew J.; Chen, Timothy F.

2017-01-01

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of a face-to-face educational intervention in improving the patient safety attitudes of intern pharmacists. Methods. A patient safety education program was delivered to intern pharmacists undertaking The University of Sydney Intern Training Program in 2014. Their patient safety attitudes were evaluated immediately prior to, immediately after, and three-months post-intervention. Underlying attitudinal factors were identified using exploratory factor analysis. Changes in factor scores were examined using analysis of variance. Results. Of the 120 interns enrolled, 95 (78.7%) completed all three surveys. Four underlying attitudinal factors were identified: attitudes towards addressing errors, questioning behaviors, blaming individuals, and reporting errors. Improvements in all attitudinal factors were evident immediately after the intervention. However, only improvements in attitudes towards blaming individuals involved in errors were sustained at three months post-intervention. Conclusion. The educational intervention was associated with short-term improvements in pharmacist interns’ patient safety attitudes. However, other factors likely influenced their attitudes in the longer term. PMID:28289295

Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention to Improve the Patient Safety Attitudes of Intern Pharmacists.

PubMed

Walpola, Ramesh L; Fois, Romano A; McLachlan, Andrew J; Chen, Timothy F

2017-02-25

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of a face-to-face educational intervention in improving the patient safety attitudes of intern pharmacists. Methods. A patient safety education program was delivered to intern pharmacists undertaking The University of Sydney Intern Training Program in 2014. Their patient safety attitudes were evaluated immediately prior to, immediately after, and three-months post-intervention. Underlying attitudinal factors were identified using exploratory factor analysis. Changes in factor scores were examined using analysis of variance. Results. Of the 120 interns enrolled, 95 (78.7%) completed all three surveys. Four underlying attitudinal factors were identified: attitudes towards addressing errors, questioning behaviors, blaming individuals, and reporting errors. Improvements in all attitudinal factors were evident immediately after the intervention. However, only improvements in attitudes towards blaming individuals involved in errors were sustained at three months post-intervention. Conclusion. The educational intervention was associated with short-term improvements in pharmacist interns' patient safety attitudes. However, other factors likely influenced their attitudes in the longer term.

Positive organizational behavior and safety in the offshore oil industry: Exploring the determinants of positive safety climate.

PubMed

Hystad, Sigurd W; Bartone, Paul T; Eid, Jarle

2014-01-01

Much research has now documented the substantial influence of safety climate on a range of important outcomes in safety critical organizations, but there has been scant attention to the question of what factors might be responsible for positive or negative safety climate. The present paper draws from positive organizational behavior theory to test workplace and individual factors that may affect safety climate. Specifically, we explore the potential influence of authentic leadership style and psychological capital on safety climate and risk outcomes. Across two samples of offshore oil-workers and seafarers working on oil platform supply ships, structural equation modeling yielded results that support a model in which authentic leadership exerts a direct effect on safety climate, as well as an indirect effect via psychological capital. This study shows the importance of leadership qualities as well as psychological factors in shaping a positive work safety climate and lowering the risk of accidents.

Positive organizational behavior and safety in the offshore oil industry: Exploring the determinants of positive safety climate

PubMed Central

Hystad, Sigurd W.; Bartone, Paul T.; Eid, Jarle

2013-01-01

Much research has now documented the substantial influence of safety climate on a range of important outcomes in safety critical organizations, but there has been scant attention to the question of what factors might be responsible for positive or negative safety climate. The present paper draws from positive organizational behavior theory to test workplace and individual factors that may affect safety climate. Specifically, we explore the potential influence of authentic leadership style and psychological capital on safety climate and risk outcomes. Across two samples of offshore oil-workers and seafarers working on oil platform supply ships, structural equation modeling yielded results that support a model in which authentic leadership exerts a direct effect on safety climate, as well as an indirect effect via psychological capital. This study shows the importance of leadership qualities as well as psychological factors in shaping a positive work safety climate and lowering the risk of accidents. PMID:24454524

Factors associated with the enactment of safety belt and motorcycle helmet laws.

PubMed

Law, Teik Hua; Noland, Robert B; Evans, Andrew W

2013-07-01

It has been shown that road safety laws, such as motorcycle helmet and safety belt laws, have a significant effect in reducing road fatalities. Although an expanding body of literature has documented the effects of these laws on road safety, it remains unclear which factors influence the likelihood that these laws are enacted. This study attempts to identify the factors that influence the decision to enact safety belt and motorcycle helmet laws. Using panel data from 31 countries between 1963 and 2002, our results reveal that increased democracy, education level, per capita income, political stability, and more equitable income distribution within a country are associated with the enactment of road safety laws. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

Organizational pressures and mitigating strategies in small commercial aviation: findings from Alaska.

PubMed

Bearman, Chris; Paletz, Susannah B F; Orasanu, Judith; Brooks, Benjamin P

2009-12-01

Recent attention has focused on the way in which organizational factors can erode safety in aviation, particularly in regions that have a high accident rate, such as Alaska. The present study builds on this work by examining the direct and indirect pressures that can be exerted on pilots by Alaskan operators. In addition, the paper examines ways in which organizations and individuals manage the effects of pressure. Using the critical incident method to uncover situations where the pilot's skills had been challenged, 28 pilots who flew in Alaska were interviewed. A bottom-up qualitative analysis revealed a range of organizational pressures and mitigating strategies. Pilots in Alaska encountered both implicit and explicit norms and expectations to fly in marginal conditions. Pressure also arose from pilots' awareness of the need for their company to make money and from perceived job competition. Some Alaskan operators were able to mitigate the effects of pressure on their pilots and some pilots reported mitigating pressure to fly by managing their employer's expectations and re-emphasizing safety. Organizational factors were found to be an important source of pressure for pilots and are likely to contribute to the high accident rate in Alaska. Balancing the competing demands of safety and productivity may be extremely difficult for many small operators, which places a heavy reliance on the decision making of individuals. Both the subtle pressures on individual pilots and strategies for mitigating those pressures are, therefore, extremely important to safety and productivity in small-scale commercial aviation.

China’s Rare Earth Policies: Economic Statecraft or Interdependence?

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-01

statecraft. As evident towards the beginning of the 21st century, China’s policies associated with the rare earths market (e.g., resource quotas...controls approximately 97% of the world’s REE market . These rare earths, which are not widely known because they are so low on the production chain...rare earths as well as access to the developing Chinese market . Additionally, safety and environmental factors will likely raise the cost of

Human factors systems approach to healthcare quality and patient safety

PubMed Central

Carayon, Pascale; Wetterneck, Tosha B.; Rivera-Rodriguez, A. Joy; Hundt, Ann Schoofs; Hoonakker, Peter; Holden, Richard; Gurses, Ayse P.

2013-01-01

Human factors systems approaches are critical for improving healthcare quality and patient safety. The SEIPS (Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety) model of work system and patient safety is a human factors systems approach that has been successfully applied in healthcare research and practice. Several research and practical applications of the SEIPS model are described. Important implications of the SEIPS model for healthcare system and process redesign are highlighted. Principles for redesigning healthcare systems using the SEIPS model are described. Balancing the work system and encouraging the active and adaptive role of workers are key principles for improving healthcare quality and patient safety. PMID:23845724

Food additives: an ethical evaluation.

PubMed

Mepham, Ben

2011-01-01

Food additives are an integral part of the modern food system, but opinion polls showing most Europeans have worries about them imply an urgent need for ethical analysis of their use. The existing literature on food ethics, safety assessment and animal testing. Food additives provide certain advantages in terms of many people's lifestyles. There are disagreements about the appropriate application of the precautionary principle and of the value and ethical validity of animal tests in assessing human safety. Most consumers have a poor understanding of the relative benefits and risks of additives, but concerns over food safety and animal testing remain high. Examining the impacts of food additives on consumer sovereignty, consumer health and on animals used in safety testing should allow a more informed debate about their appropriate uses.

Human factors and ergonomics as a patient safety practice

PubMed Central

Carayon, Pascale; Xie, Anping; Kianfar, Sarah

2014-01-01

Background Human factors and ergonomics (HFE) approaches to patient safety have addressed five different domains: usability of technology; human error and its role in patient safety; the role of healthcare worker performance in patient safety; system resilience; and HFE systems approaches to patient safety. Methods A review of various HFE approaches to patient safety and studies on HFE interventions was conducted. Results This paper describes specific examples of HFE-based interventions for patient safety. Studies show that HFE can be used in a variety of domains. Conclusions HFE is a core element of patient safety improvement. Therefore, every effort should be made to support HFE applications in patient safety. PMID:23813211

21 CFR 172.809 - Curdlan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD ADDITIVES... Additive Safety (HFS-200), Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, 5100... Safety and Applied Nutrition's Library, Food and Drug Administration, 5100 Paint Branch Pkwy., College...

Factors influencing the transferability of occupational safety and health economic incentive schemes between different countries.

PubMed

Elsler, Dietmar; Eeckelaert, Lieven

2010-06-01

This article looks at the factors that influence the transferability of different types of occupational safety and health (OSH) economic incentives from one country to another. To review the legal, political, and cultural framework conditions for economic incentive schemes in the European Union (EU), the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) surveyed EU member states about the state of such schemes in their countries. In addition to the survey responses, relevant information on existing schemes and their national context within the 27 EU member states was gathered through reports, articles, and databases. Following this, countries were clustered according to cross-cultural differences. Despite the apparent variations in Europe's social security systems, there is a high degree of similarity between the countries regarding the basic criteria of design of the system. In addition, different kinds of incentives are used in different member states regardless of the social insurance system. When it comes to insurance incentive schemes, the fundamental difference between countries is whether the workers' compensation scheme is based on a competitive market between private insurance companies or a kind of monopoly structure, where the employers do not have the choice between several insurance companies. A clear majority of 19 of the 27 EU member states have a monopoly system. Subsidy systems, tax incentives, and insurance-based "experience rating" are theoretically -possible in all EU countries. In competitive insurance markets, effort-based incentives are more difficult to achieve. A possible solution could be the introduction of long-term contracts or the creation of a common prevention fund, financed equally by all insurers.

ESCMID Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH) Consensus Document on the safety of targeted and biological therapies: an infectious diseases perspective (Intracellular signaling pathways: tyrosine kinase and mTOR inhibitors).

PubMed

Reinwald, M; Silva, J T; Mueller, N J; Fortún, J; Garzoni, C; de Fijter, J W; Fernández-Ruiz, M; Grossi, P; Aguado, J M

2018-06-01

The present review is part of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH) Consensus Document on the safety of targeted and biologic therapies. To review, from an infectious diseases perspective, the safety profile of therapies targeting different intracellular signaling pathways and to suggest preventive recommendations. Computer-based Medline searches with MeSH terms pertaining to each agent or therapeutic family. Although BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors modestly increase the overall risk of infection, dasatinib has been associated with cytomegalovirus and hepatitis B virus reactivation. BRAF/MEK kinase inhibitors do not significantly affect infection susceptibility. The effect of Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors (ibrutinib) among patients with B-cell malignancies is difficult to distinguish from that of previous immunosuppression. However, cases of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP), invasive fungal infection and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy have been occasionally reported. Because phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase inhibitors (idelalisib) may predispose to opportunistic infections, anti-Pneumocystis prophylaxis and prevention strategies for cytomegalovirus are recommended. No increased rates of infection have been observed with venetoclax (antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 inhibitor). Therapy with Janus kinase inhibitors markedly increases the incidence of infection. Pretreatment screening for chronic hepatitis B virus and latent tuberculosis infection must be performed, and anti-Pneumocystis prophylaxis should be considered for patients with additional risk factors. Cancer patients receiving mTOR inhibitors face an increased incidence of overall infection, especially those with additional risk factors (prior therapies or delayed wound healing). Specific preventive approaches are warranted in view of the increased risk of infection associated with some of the reviewed agents. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Case-control study on the prevention of occupational eye injuries.

PubMed

Ho, Chi-Kung; Yen, Ya-Lin; Chang, Cheng-Hsien; Chiang, Hung-Che; Shen, Ying-Ying; Chang, Po-Ya

2008-01-01

The risk factors for occupational eye injuries have never been published in Taiwan. We conducted a case-control study to analyze the differences among workers on their knowledge, attitude to and practice (KAP) of occupational accident prevention. In the study, a statistical model was also set up for predicting the occupational problem. Subjects, including 31 cases of work-related eye injuries and 62 controls, completed a structured questionnaire on KAP, which revealed that 80.6% and 62.7% of workers in the case and control groups, respectively, did not wear eye protection during work. Furthermore, we found that temporary employment (OR, 10.7; 95% CI, 3.03-36.16) and fewer than 10 years of education (OR, 4.44; 95% CI, 1.73-11.44) were the major risk factors for occupational eye injuries. In addition, we developed a logistic regression model with four predictors (temporary employment, education years less than 10, poor management of industrial health and safety in the workplace, and poor attitude towards accident prevention) for the occurrence of occupational eye injuries. In conclusion, in Taiwan, compulsory regulation of wearing eye protection during work, good education, management of work safety and hygiene and employee (especially temporary worker) commitment to safety and health are strongly recommended prevention strategies.

Time to death analysis of road traffic accidents in relation to delta V, drunk driving, and restraint systems.

PubMed

Ju, Yonghan; Sohn, So Young

2014-01-01

The main goal of this research is to identify variables related to the expected time to death due to road traffic accidents (RTAs). Such research is expected to be useful in improving safety laws and regulations and developing new safety systems. The resulting information is crucial not only for reducing accident fatalities but for assessing related insurance policies. In this article, we analyze factors that are potentially associated with variation in the expected survival time after a road traffic accident using Weibull regression. In particular, we consider the association with alcohol involvement, delta V, and restraint systems. Our empirical results, obtained based on the NASS-CDS, indicate that the expected survival time for non-alcohol-impaired drivers is 3.23 times longer at a delta V of 50 km/h than that for alcohol-impaired drivers under the same conditions. In addition, it was observed that, even when occupants were alcohol-impaired, if they were protected by both air bags and seat belts, their expected survival time after an RTA increased 2.59-fold compared to alcohol-impaired drivers who used only seat belts. Our findings may be useful in improving road traffic safety and insurance policies by offering insights into the factors that reduce fatalities.

Surgical specimen handover from the operating theatre to laboratory-Can we improve patient safety by learning from aviation and other high-risk organisations?

PubMed

Brennan, Peter A; Brands, Marieke T; Caldwell, Lucy; Fonseca, Felipe Paiva; Turley, Nic; Foley, Susie; Rahimi, Siavash

2018-02-01

Essential communication between healthcare staff is considered one of the key requirements for both safety and quality care when patients are handed over from one clinical area to other. This is particularly important in environments such as the operating theatre and intensive care where mistakes can be devastating. Health care has learned from other high-risk organisations (HRO) such as aviation where the use of checklists and human factors awareness has virtually eliminated human error and mistakes. To our knowledge, little has been published around ways to improve pathology specimen handover following surgery, with pathology request forms often conveying the bare minimum of information to assist the laboratory staff. Furthermore, the request form might not warn staff about potential hazards. In this article, we provide a brief summary of the factors involved in human error and introduce a novel checklist that can be readily completed at the same time as the routine pathology request form. This additional measure enhances safety, can help to reduce processing and mislabelling errors and provides essential information in a structured way assisting both laboratory staff and pathologists when handling head and neck surgical specimens. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

75 FR 5536 - Pipeline Safety: Control Room Management/Human Factors, Correction

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-03

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Parts...: Control Room Management/Human Factors, Correction AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety... following correcting amendments: PART 192--TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE: MINIMUM...

14 CFR 25.619 - Special factors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Special factors. 25.619 Section 25.619... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Design and Construction General § 25.619 Special factors. The factor of safety prescribed in § 25.303 must be multiplied by the highest pertinent special factor of safety...

The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire: psychometric properties, benchmarking data, and emerging research

PubMed Central

Sexton, John B; Helmreich, Robert L; Neilands, Torsten B; Rowan, Kathy; Vella, Keryn; Boyden, James; Roberts, Peter R; Thomas, Eric J

2006-01-01

Background There is widespread interest in measuring healthcare provider attitudes about issues relevant to patient safety (often called safety climate or safety culture). Here we report the psychometric properties, establish benchmarking data, and discuss emerging areas of research with the University of Texas Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Methods Six cross-sectional surveys of health care providers (n = 10,843) in 203 clinical areas (including critical care units, operating rooms, inpatient settings, and ambulatory clinics) in three countries (USA, UK, New Zealand). Multilevel factor analyses yielded results at the clinical area level and the respondent nested within clinical area level. We report scale reliability, floor/ceiling effects, item factor loadings, inter-factor correlations, and percentage of respondents who agree with each item and scale. Results A six factor model of provider attitudes fit to the data at both the clinical area and respondent nested within clinical area levels. The factors were: Teamwork Climate, Safety Climate, Perceptions of Management, Job Satisfaction, Working Conditions, and Stress Recognition. Scale reliability was 0.9. Provider attitudes varied greatly both within and among organizations. Results are presented to allow benchmarking among organizations and emerging research is discussed. Conclusion The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire demonstrated good psychometric properties. Healthcare organizations can use the survey to measure caregiver attitudes about six patient safety-related domains, to compare themselves with other organizations, to prompt interventions to improve safety attitudes and to measure the effectiveness of these interventions. PMID:16584553

42 CFR 86.20 - Additional conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES GRANTS FOR EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH Occupational Safety and Health Training Grants § 86.20 Additional conditions. The Secretary may with respect to...

42 CFR 86.20 - Additional conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES GRANTS FOR EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH Occupational Safety and Health Training Grants § 86.20 Additional conditions. The Secretary may with respect to...

Figures of Merit for Aeronautics Programs and Addition to NASA LARC Fire Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harper, Belinda M.

1995-01-01

This report accounts details of two research projects for the Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars (LARSS) program. The first project, with the Office of Mission Assurance, involved subjectively predicting the probable success of two aeronautics programs by means of a tool called a Figure of Merit. The figure of merit bases program success on the quality and reliability of the following factors: parts, complexity of research, quality programs, hazards elimination, and single point failures elimination. The second project, for the Office of Safety and Facilities Assurance, required planning, layouts, and source seeking for an addition to the fire house. Forecasted changes in facility layout necessitate this addition which will serve as housing for the fire fighters.

Human factors and systems engineering approach to patient safety for radiotherapy.

PubMed

Rivera, A Joy; Karsh, Ben-Tzion

2008-01-01

The traditional approach to solving patient safety problems in healthcare is to blame the last person to touch the patient. But since the publication of To Err is Human, the call has been instead to use human factors and systems engineering methods and principles to solve patient safety problems. However, an understanding of the human factors and systems engineering is lacking, and confusion remains about what it means to apply their principles. This paper provides a primer on them and their applications to patient safety.

Patient safety - the role of human factors and systems engineering.

PubMed

Carayon, Pascale; Wood, Kenneth E

2010-01-01

Patient safety is a global challenge that requires knowledge and skills in multiple areas, including human factors and systems engineering. In this chapter, numerous conceptual approaches and methods for analyzing, preventing and mitigating medical errors are described. Given the complexity of healthcare work systems and processes, we emphasize the need for increasing partnerships between the health sciences and human factors and systems engineering to improve patient safety. Those partnerships will be able to develop and implement the system redesigns that are necessary to improve healthcare work systems and processes for patient safety.

21 CFR 601.32 - General factors relevant to safety and effectiveness.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... SERVICES (CONTINUED) BIOLOGICS LICENSING Diagnostic Radiopharmaceuticals § 601.32 General factors relevant to safety and effectiveness. FDA's determination of the safety and effectiveness of a diagnostic radiopharmaceutical includes consideration of the following: (a) The proposed use of the diagnostic...

Safety voice for ergonomics (SAVE) project: protocol for a workplace cluster-randomized controlled trial to reduce musculoskeletal disorders in masonry apprentices.

PubMed

Kincl, Laurel D; Anton, Dan; Hess, Jennifer A; Weeks, Douglas L

2016-04-27

Masons have the highest rate of overexertion injuries among all construction trades and rank second for occupational back injuries in the United States. Identified ergonomic solutions are the primary method of reducing exposure to risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders. However, many construction workers lack knowledge about these solutions, as well as basic ergonomic principles. Construction apprentices, as they embark on their careers, are greatly in need of ergonomics training to minimize the cumulative exposure that leads to musculoskeletal disorders. Apprentices receive safety training; however, ergonomics training is often limited or non-existent. In addition, apprenticeship programs often lack "soft skills" training on how to appropriately respond to work environments and practices that are unsafe. The SAVE program - SAfety Voice for Ergonomics - strives to integrate evidence-based health and safety training strategies into masonry apprenticeship skills training to teach ergonomics, problem solving, and speaking up to communicate solutions that reduce musculoskeletal injury risk. The central hypothesis is that the combination of ergonomics training and safety voice promotion will be more effective than no training or either ergonomics training alone or safety voice training alone. Following the development and pilot testing of the SAVE intervention, SAVE will be evaluated in a cluster-randomized controlled trial at 12 masonry training centers across the U.S. Clusters of apprentices within centers will be assigned at random to one of four intervention groups (n = 24 per group): (1) ergonomics training only, (2) safety voice training only, (3) combined ergonomics and safety voice training, or (4) control group with no additional training intervention. Outcomes assessed at baseline, at the conclusion of training, and then at six and 12 months post training will include: musculoskeletal symptoms, general health perceptions, knowledge of ergonomic and safety voice principles, and perception and attitudes about ergonomic and safety voice issues. Masons continue to have a high rate of musculoskeletal disorders. The trade has an expected increase of 40 % in the number of workers by 2020. Therefore, a vetted intervention for apprentices entering the trade, such as SAVE, could reduce the burden of musculoskeletal disorders currently plaguing the trade. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02676635 , 2 February 2016.

Patient safety in psychiatric inpatient care: a literature review.

PubMed

Kanerva, A; Lammintakanen, J; Kivinen, T

2013-08-01

Patient safety is widely discussed, but little has been written from the perspective of psychiatric inpatient care, nor on which factors create its patient safety. This paper seeks to understand the concept of patient safety and its intension in psychiatric inpatient care, and to identify factors in organization management, staff and patients' roles which constitute patient safety in such units. A literature search was conducted, and the articles selected were analysed by identifying factors defined to be connected to patient safety and classifying them according to their connection to organization management, staff and patient roles. According to the literature, organization safety culture is present in all aspects of patient safety. Organization management has the main role in patient safety within the organization culture, for example, through leadership, safety practices and creating good working conditions and environment for the staff. Staff's role is influenced by management, but has more individual input in different areas, while the patient's role is more that of an informant so that care can be planned according to the patient's preferences. When developing patient safety it is important to remember the diversity of the concept so that all areas are considered in the developmental work. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cross-validation of an employee safety climate model in Malaysia.

PubMed

Bahari, Siti Fatimah; Clarke, Sharon

2013-06-01

Whilst substantial research has investigated the nature of safety climate, and its importance as a leading indicator of organisational safety, much of this research has been conducted with Western industrial samples. The current study focuses on the cross-validation of a safety climate model in the non-Western industrial context of Malaysian manufacturing. The first-order factorial validity of Cheyne et al.'s (1998) [Cheyne, A., Cox, S., Oliver, A., Tomas, J.M., 1998. Modelling safety climate in the prediction of levels of safety activity. Work and Stress, 12(3), 255-271] model was tested, using confirmatory factor analysis, in a Malaysian sample. Results showed that the model fit indices were below accepted levels, indicating that the original Cheyne et al. (1998) safety climate model was not supported. An alternative three-factor model was developed using exploratory factor analysis. Although these findings are not consistent with previously reported cross-validation studies, we argue that previous studies have focused on validation across Western samples, and that the current study demonstrates the need to take account of cultural factors in the development of safety climate models intended for use in non-Western contexts. The results have important implications for the transferability of existing safety climate models across cultures (for example, in global organisations) and highlight the need for future research to examine cross-cultural issues in relation to safety climate. Copyright © 2013 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

49 CFR 192.935 - What additional preventive and mitigative measures must an operator take?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Transportation (Continued) PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) PIPELINE SAFETY TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE: MINIMUM FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Gas Transmission Pipeline Integrity Management § 192.935 What additional preventive and mitigative...

Does the concept of safety culture help or hinder systems thinking in safety?

PubMed

Reiman, Teemu; Rollenhagen, Carl

2014-07-01

The concept of safety culture has become established in safety management applications in all major safety-critical domains. The idea that safety culture somehow represents a "systemic view" on safety is seldom explicitly spoken out, but nevertheless seem to linger behind many safety culture discourses. However, in this paper we argue that the "new" contribution to safety management from safety culture never really became integrated with classical engineering principles and concepts. This integration would have been necessary for the development of a more genuine systems-oriented view on safety; e.g. a conception of safety in which human, technological, organisational and cultural factors are understood as mutually interacting elements. Without of this integration, researchers and the users of the various tools and methods associated with safety culture have sometimes fostered a belief that "safety culture" in fact represents such a systemic view about safety. This belief is, however, not backed up by theoretical or empirical evidence. It is true that safety culture, at least in some sense, represents a holistic term-a totality of factors that include human, organisational and technological aspects. However, the departure for such safety culture models is still human and organisational factors rather than technology (or safety) itself. The aim of this paper is to critically review the various uses of the concept of safety culture as representing a systemic view on safety. The article will take a look at the concepts of culture and safety culture based on previous studies, and outlines in more detail the theoretical challenges in safety culture as a systems concept. The paper also presents recommendations on how to make safety culture more systemic. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Monte-Carlo simulation analysis for evaluating the severity distribution functions (SDFs) calibration methodology and determining the minimum sample-size requirements.

PubMed

Shirazi, Mohammadali; Reddy Geedipally, Srinivas; Lord, Dominique

2017-01-01

Severity distribution functions (SDFs) are used in highway safety to estimate the severity of crashes and conduct different types of safety evaluations and analyses. Developing a new SDF is a difficult task and demands significant time and resources. To simplify the process, the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) has started to document SDF models for different types of facilities. As such, SDF models have recently been introduced for freeway and ramps in HSM addendum. However, since these functions or models are fitted and validated using data from a few selected number of states, they are required to be calibrated to the local conditions when applied to a new jurisdiction. The HSM provides a methodology to calibrate the models through a scalar calibration factor. However, the proposed methodology to calibrate SDFs was never validated through research. Furthermore, there are no concrete guidelines to select a reliable sample size. Using extensive simulation, this paper documents an analysis that examined the bias between the 'true' and 'estimated' calibration factors. It was indicated that as the value of the true calibration factor deviates further away from '1', more bias is observed between the 'true' and 'estimated' calibration factors. In addition, simulation studies were performed to determine the calibration sample size for various conditions. It was found that, as the average of the coefficient of variation (CV) of the 'KAB' and 'C' crashes increases, the analyst needs to collect a larger sample size to calibrate SDF models. Taking this observation into account, sample-size guidelines are proposed based on the average CV of crash severities that are used for the calibration process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determinants of safety outcomes and performance: A systematic literature review of research in four high-risk industries.

PubMed

Cornelissen, Pieter A; Van Hoof, Joris J; De Jong, Menno D T

2017-09-01

In spite of increasing governmental and organizational efforts, organizations still struggle to improve the safety of their employees as evidenced by the yearly 2.3 million work-related deaths worldwide. Occupational safety research is scattered and inaccessible, especially for practitioners. Through systematically reviewing the safety literature, this study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of behavioral and circumstantial factors that endanger or support employee safety. A broad search on occupational safety literature using four online bibliographical databases yielded 27.527 articles. Through a systematic reviewing process 176 online articles were identified that met the inclusion criteria (e.g., original peer-reviewed research; conducted in selected high-risk industries; published between 1980-2016). Variables and the nature of their interrelationships (i.e., positive, negative, or nonsignificant) were extracted, and then grouped and classified through a process of bottom-up coding. The results indicate that safety outcomes and performance prevail as dependent research areas, dependent on variables related to management & colleagues, work(place) characteristics & circumstances, employee demographics, climate & culture, and external factors. Consensus was found for five variables related to safety outcomes and seven variables related to performance, while there is debate about 31 other relationships. Last, 21 variables related to safety outcomes and performance appear understudied. The majority of safety research has focused on addressing negative safety outcomes and performance through variables related to others within the organization, the work(place) itself, employee demographics, and-to a lesser extent-climate & culture and external factors. This systematic literature review provides both scientists and safety practitioners an overview of the (under)studied behavioral and circumstantial factors related to occupational safety behavior. Scientists could use this overview to study gaps, and validate or falsify relationships. Safety practitioners could use the insights to evaluate organizational safety policies, and to further development of safety interventions. Copyright © 2017 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Safety and the Human Factor.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Ann

1982-01-01

Discusses four elements of safety programs: (1) safety training; (2) safety inspections; (3) accident investigations; and (4) protective safety equipment. Also discusses safety considerations in water/wastewater treatment facilities focusing on falls, drowning hazards, trickling filters, confined space entry, collection/distribution system safety,…

Establishing a culture for patient safety - the role of education.

PubMed

Milligan, Frank J

2007-02-01

This paper argues that the process of making significant moves towards a patient safety culture requires changes in healthcare education. Improvements in patient safety are a shared international priority as too many errors and other forms of unnecessary harm are currently occurring in the process of caring for and treating patients. A description of the patient safety agenda is given followed by a brief analysis of human factors theory and its use in other safety critical industries, most notably aviation. The all too common problem of drug administration errors is used to illustrate the relevance of human factors theory to healthcare education with specific mention made of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS).

Operator performance-enhancing technologies to improve safety. A US DOT safety initiative for meeting the human-centered systems challenge.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-11-01

The program implements DOT Human Factors Coordinating Committee (HFCC) recommendations for a coordinated Departmental Human Factors Research Program to advance the human-centered systems approach for enhancing transportation safety. Human error is a ...

75 FR 56972 - Pipeline Safety: Control Room Management/Human Factors

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-17

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Parts... Factors AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA); DOT. ACTION: Notice of...: Background There are roughly 170,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines, 295,000 miles of gas transmission...

Technical note: Design flood under hydrological uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Botto, Anna; Ganora, Daniele; Claps, Pierluigi; Laio, Francesco

2017-07-01

Planning and verification of hydraulic infrastructures require a design estimate of hydrologic variables, usually provided by frequency analysis, and neglecting hydrologic uncertainty. However, when hydrologic uncertainty is accounted for, the design flood value for a specific return period is no longer a unique value, but is represented by a distribution of values. As a consequence, the design flood is no longer univocally defined, making the design process undetermined. The Uncertainty Compliant Design Flood Estimation (UNCODE) procedure is a novel approach that, starting from a range of possible design flood estimates obtained in uncertain conditions, converges to a single design value. This is obtained through a cost-benefit criterion with additional constraints that is numerically solved in a simulation framework. This paper contributes to promoting a practical use of the UNCODE procedure without resorting to numerical computation. A modified procedure is proposed by using a correction coefficient that modifies the standard (i.e., uncertainty-free) design value on the basis of sample length and return period only. The procedure is robust and parsimonious, as it does not require additional parameters with respect to the traditional uncertainty-free analysis. Simple equations to compute the correction term are provided for a number of probability distributions commonly used to represent the flood frequency curve. The UNCODE procedure, when coupled with this simple correction factor, provides a robust way to manage the hydrologic uncertainty and to go beyond the use of traditional safety factors. With all the other parameters being equal, an increase in the sample length reduces the correction factor, and thus the construction costs, while still keeping the same safety level.

Safety culture assessment in petrochemical industry: a comparative study of two algerian plants.

PubMed

Boughaba, Assia; Hassane, Chabane; Roukia, Ouddai

2014-06-01

To elucidate the relationship between safety culture maturity and safety performance of a particular company. To identify the factors that contribute to a safety culture, a survey questionnaire was created based mainly on the studies of Fernández-Muñiz et al. The survey was randomly distributed to 1000 employees of two oil companies and realized a rate of valid answer of 51%. Minitab 16 software was used and diverse tests, including the descriptive statistical analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, mean analysis, and correlation, were used for the analysis of data. Ten factors were extracted using the analysis of factor to represent safety culture and safety performance. The results of this study showed that the managers' commitment, training, incentives, communication, and employee involvement are the priority domains on which it is necessary to stress the effort of improvement, where they had all the descriptive average values lower than 3.0 at the level of Company B. Furthermore, the results also showed that the safety culture influences the safety performance of the company. Therefore, Company A with a good safety culture (the descriptive average values more than 4.0), is more successful than Company B in terms of accident rates. The comparison between the two petrochemical plants of the group Sonatrach confirms these results in which Company A, the managers of which are English and Norwegian, distinguishes itself by the maturity of their safety culture has significantly higher evaluations than the company B, who is constituted of Algerian staff, in terms of safety management practices and safety performance.

Safety Culture Assessment in Petrochemical Industry: A Comparative Study of Two Algerian Plants

PubMed Central

Boughaba, Assia; Hassane, Chabane; Roukia, Ouddai

2014-01-01

Background To elucidate the relationship between safety culture maturity and safety performance of a particular company. Methods To identify the factors that contribute to a safety culture, a survey questionnaire was created based mainly on the studies of Fernández-Muñiz et al. The survey was randomly distributed to 1000 employees of two oil companies and realized a rate of valid answer of 51%. Minitab 16 software was used and diverse tests, including the descriptive statistical analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, mean analysis, and correlation, were used for the analysis of data. Ten factors were extracted using the analysis of factor to represent safety culture and safety performance. Results The results of this study showed that the managers' commitment, training, incentives, communication, and employee involvement are the priority domains on which it is necessary to stress the effort of improvement, where they had all the descriptive average values lower than 3.0 at the level of Company B. Furthermore, the results also showed that the safety culture influences the safety performance of the company. Therefore, Company A with a good safety culture (the descriptive average values more than 4.0), is more successful than Company B in terms of accident rates. Conclusion The comparison between the two petrochemical plants of the group Sonatrach confirms these results in which Company A, the managers of which are English and Norwegian, distinguishes itself by the maturity of their safety culture has significantly higher evaluations than the company B, who is constituted of Algerian staff, in terms of safety management practices and safety performance. PMID:25180135

Effect of current federal regulations on handgun safety features.

PubMed

Milne, John S; Hargarten, Stephen W; Kellermann, Arthur L; Wintemute, Garen J

2003-01-01

In the late 1960s, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms implemented the "factoring criteria," a set of minimum size and safety standards required for any handgun imported into the United States. These standards, however, were not applied to guns manufactured domestically. We determine whether extending the factoring criteria to all handguns sold in the United States, as has been proposed in Congress, would increase the likelihood that safety devices would be included in new handgun designs. Imported and domestic handgun models produced in 1996 were examined to determine the prevalence of 4 passively acting safety devices on pistols and 1 passive safety device on revolvers. Domestic models were also scored against the factoring criteria. Compared with domestic pistol models, imported pistols were more likely to include a firing pin block (odds ratio [OR] 2.43; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.54 to 3.85) and a loaded chamber indicator (OR 1.59; 95% CI 0.98 to 2.56). Domestic pistol models that already met the factoring criteria were more likely to include a loaded chamber indicator (OR 12.05; 95% CI 2.74 to 53.02), a grip safety (OR 24.12; 95% CI 7.8 to 74.33), and a firing pin block (OR 4.92; 95% CI 2.35 to 10.29) than domestic models that did not meet the criteria. Although pistol models that meet the factoring criteria are more likely to contain safety devices than those that do not, the net effect is modest. Thus, the factoring criteria alone are insufficient to ensure consistent incorporation of safety features into new handgun designs.

14 CFR 23.619 - Special factors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Special factors. 23.619 Section 23.619... Special factors. The factor of safety prescribed in § 23.303 must be multiplied by the highest pertinent special factors of safety prescribed in §§ 23.621 through 23.625 for each part of the structure whose...

[Healthcare-Associated Infection Control with Awareness of Patient Safety].

PubMed

Murakami, Nobuo

2016-03-01

In order to provide safe and secure medical care for patients, health care-associated infections (HAI) must not occur. HAI should be considered as incidents, and countermeasures should be viewed as a patient safety management itself. Healthcare-associated infection control (HAIC) is practiced by the infection control team (ICT), which is based on multidisciplinary cooperation. Team members have to recognize that it is the most important to make use of the expertise of each discipline. In addition, all members must try to respond quickly, to help the clinic staff. Visualized rapid information provision and sharing, environmental improvement, outbreak factor analysis, hand hygiene compliance rate improvement, proper antibiotic use (Antimicrobial Stewardship Program: ASP), and regional cooperation & leadership comprise the role of the ICT in the flagship hospital. Regarding this role, we present our hospital's efforts and the outcomes. In conclusion, for medical practice quality improvement, healthcare-associated infection control should be conducted thoroughly along with an awareness of patient safety.

Development, fabrication and test of a high purity silica heat shield

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rusert, E. L.; Drennan, D. N.; Biggs, M. S.

1978-01-01

A highly reflective hyperpure ( 25 ppm ion impurities) slip cast fused silica heat shield material developed for planetary entry probes was successfully scaled up. Process development activities for slip casting large parts included green strength improvements, casting slip preparation, aggregate casting, strength, reflectance, and subscale fabrication. Successful fabrication of a one-half scale Saturn probe (shape and size) heat shield was accomplished while maintaining the silica high purity and reflectance through the scale-up process. However, stress analysis of this original aggregate slip cast material indicated a small margin of safety (MS. = +4%) using a factor of safety of 1.25. An alternate hyperpure material formulation to increase the strength and toughness for a greater safety margin was evaluated. The alternate material incorporates short hyperpure silica fibers into the casting slip. The best formulation evaluated has a 50% by weight fiber addition resulting in an 80% increase in flexural strength and a 170% increase in toughness over the original aggregate slip cast materials with comparable reflectance.

Feedback facilitates transfer of training with US Hispanic workers in a healthcare laundry linen facility.

PubMed

Lebbon, Angela R; Lee, Sin Chien; Johnson, Douglas A

2015-12-01

This study aimed to increase safety knowledge and behaviour of US Hispanic custodial workers in healthcare through a culturally appropriate training and monitoring process. A single-group, repeated-measures, pre-test and post-test design was used to examine training effectiveness across four sets of behaviours with 23 Spanish-speaking workers. Small group, lecture-style training in Spanish with pictures and video resulted in significant improvements in knowledge and behaviour. However, additional analyses show that behavioural feedback was the critical component in improving safety behaviour during transfer of training. Findings from reaction, knowledge, behaviour and results measures suggest that group training and graphic feedback is culturally appropriate and effective with Hispanic workers. Further investigation is needed to understand cultural factors that facilitate effective development and delivery of safety training and feedback to US Hispanic workers. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

[Level of implementation of the Program for Safety and Health at Work in Antioquia, Colombia].

PubMed

Vega-Monsalve, Ninfa Del Carmen

2017-07-13

This study describes the level of implementation of the Program for Safety and Health at Work in companies located in the Department of Antioquia, Colombia, and associated factors. A cross-sectional survey included 73 companies with more than 50 workers each and implementation of the program. A total of 65 interviews were held, in addition to 73 checklists and process reviews. The companies showed suboptimal compliance with the management model for workplace safety and health proposed by the International Labor Organization (ILO). The component with the best development was Organization (87%), and the worst was Policy (67%). Company executives contended that the causes of suboptimal implementation were the limited commitment by area directors and scarce budget resources. Risk management mostly aimed to comply with the legal requirements in order to avoid penalties, plus documenting cases. There was little implementation of effective checks and controls to reduce the sources of work accidents. The study concludes that workers' health management lacks effective strategies.

Assessment of safety culture among job positions in high-rise construction: a hybrid fuzzy multi criteria decision-making (FMCDM) approach.

PubMed

Ardeshir, A; Mohajeri, M

2018-06-01

The construction industry is known as one of the most dangerous industries, which not only requires sound operation of executive laws and regulations, but also necessitates the safety culture of all workers at workshops. Therefore, the aim of this research is to identify the factors of safety culture and ranking occupations in jobsites based on those factors in order to proactively improve the safety culture of construction projects and subsequently promote safety conditions and worksites. In this study, safety culture criteria are weighted by a combination of Fuzzy Decision Trail and Evaluation Laboratory and Fuzzy ANP methods. Next, different job positions in high-rise projects are ranked using the Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method. Findings demonstrated that the project manager, site superintendent and supervisor occupations had the highest and labourers had the lowest level of safety culture in the high-rise construction industry. Furthermore, factors such as safety supervision and training must be considered more seriously in order to create a positive safety culture among workers.

Finite element simulation and experimental verification of ultrasonic non-destructive inspection of defects in additively manufactured materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taheri, H.; Koester, L.; Bigelow, T.; Bond, L. J.

2018-04-01

Industrial applications of additively manufactured components are increasing quickly. Adequate quality control of the parts is necessary in ensuring safety when using these materials. Base material properties, surface conditions, as well as location and size of defects are some of the main targets for nondestructive evaluation of additively manufactured parts, and the problem of adequate characterization is compounded given the challenges of complex part geometry. Numerical modeling can allow the interplay of the various factors to be studied, which can lead to improved measurement design. This paper presents a finite element simulation verified by experimental results of ultrasonic waves scattering from flat bottom holes (FBH) in additive manufacturing materials. A focused beam immersion ultrasound transducer was used for both the modeling and simulations in the additive manufactured samples. The samples were SS17 4 PH steel samples made by laser sintering in a powder bed.

Factors which Limit the Value of Additional Redundancy in Human Rated Launch Vehicle Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, Joel M.; Stott, James E.; Ring, Robert W.; Hatfield, Spencer; Kaltz, Gregory M.

2008-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has embarked on an ambitious program to return humans to the moon and beyond. As NASA moves forward in the development and design of new launch vehicles for future space exploration, it must fully consider the implications that rule-based requirements of redundancy or fault tolerance have on system reliability/risk. These considerations include common cause failure, increased system complexity, combined serial and parallel configurations, and the impact of design features implemented to control premature activation. These factors and others must be considered in trade studies to support design decisions that balance safety, reliability, performance and system complexity to achieve a relatively simple, operable system that provides the safest and most reliable system within the specified performance requirements. This paper describes conditions under which additional functional redundancy can impede improved system reliability. Examples from current NASA programs including the Ares I Upper Stage will be shown.

Aspartame-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells.

PubMed

Horio, Yukari; Sun, Yongkun; Liu, Chuang; Saito, Takeshi; Kurasaki, Masaaki

2014-01-01

Aspartame is an artificial sweetner added to many low-calorie foods. The safety of aspartame remains controversial even though there are many studies on its risks. In this study, to understand the physiological effects of trace amounts of artificial sweetners on cells, the effects of aspartame on apoptosis were investigated using a PC12 cell system. In addition, the mechanism of apoptosis induced by aspartame in PC12 cells and effects on apoptotic factors such as cytochrome c, apoptosis-inducing factor, and caspase family proteins were studied by Western blotting and RT-PCR. Aspartame-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, aspartame exposure increased the expressions of caspases 8 and 9, and cytochrome c. These results indicate that aspartame induces apoptosis mainly via mitochondrial pathway involved in apoptosis due to oxigen toxicity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

To Communicate or Not to Communicate: Factors Predicting Passengers' Intentions to Ask a Driver to Stop Text Messaging While Driving.

PubMed

Wang, Xiao

2016-01-01

Interpersonal communication is important in health campaigns. This research examined factors that are associated with passengers' intentions to communicate no texting with a texting driver in a scenario where the driver is their friend. Based on survey data collected from 546 college students, results showed that students' attitudes toward communication about no texting while driving were predicted by their utilitarian (i.e., safety), value-expressive, and ego-defensive motivations, in addition to being predicted by self-efficacy and norms. Additional results revealed that empathic concern was correlated with the value-expressive motivation and anticipated guilt. Anticipated guilt, together with attitudes, norms, and efficacy, predicted communication intentions. Results revealed that including attitude functions (motivations) in the reasoned action model could help propose and test theory-based predictions in interpersonal communication and health behaviors.

Take a Seat.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grant, Deborah R.

1999-01-01

Examines the factors involved in purchasing school furnishings that will help ensure its long-time use, safety, and ability to resist abuse. Cost and safety factors discussed include resisting trendy colors to reduce cost in furniture matching, managing computer and office wiring for safety, considering ergonomics in the purchasing decision, and…

Ferulic acid photoprotective properties in association with UV filters: multifunctional sunscreen with improved SPF and UVA-PF.

PubMed

Peres, Daniela D'Almeida; Sarruf, Fernanda Daud; de Oliveira, Camila Areias; Velasco, Maria Valéria Robles; Baby, André Rolim

2018-05-26

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation stimulates several injurious biological effects on cutaneous tissue, causing, for instance, photocarcinogenesis. Sunscreens are topical products designed to protect the skin against these harmful effects and their use must be encouraged. The addition of antioxidants, as ferulic acid (FA), a phenolic compound from the class of the hydroxycinnamic acids, in sunscreens could improve their sun protection factor (SPF) and prevent inflammatory reactions. Here, the clinical safety and efficacy of an association of ethylhexyl triazone and bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine (UV filters) with ferulic acid were assessed. Samples had good skin biocompatibility and presented satisfactory safety profile, even in a sun-exposed condition. A synergic effect between the natural polyphenol and the UV filters was evidenced, as well as, FA increased in vivo SPF in 37% and the UVA protection factor (UVA-PF) in 26%. The in vivo data indicated that FA reinforced the broad-spectrum characteristic of the photoprotective formulations. Additionally, according to the results from the ex vivo antioxidant test, it is plausible to recommend adjustments on the ex vivo protocol to explicitly determine the positive effects of topical antioxidant ingredients applied over the skin. These results provided a new perspective for the development of multifunctional bioactive sunscreens using FA as a new platform. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Listening to food workers: Factors that impact proper health and hygiene practice in food service.

PubMed

Clayton, Megan L; Clegg Smith, Katherine; Neff, Roni A; Pollack, Keshia M; Ensminger, Margaret

2015-01-01

Foodborne disease is a significant problem worldwide. Research exploring sources of outbreaks indicates a pronounced role for food workers' improper health and hygiene practice. To investigate food workers' perceptions of factors that impact proper food safety practice. Interviews with food service workers in Baltimore, MD, USA discussing food safety practices and factors that impact implementation in the workplace. A social ecological model organizes multiple levels of influence on health and hygiene behavior. Issues raised by interviewees include factors across the five levels of the social ecological model, and confirm findings from previous work. Interviews also reveal many factors not highlighted in prior work, including issues with food service policies and procedures, working conditions (e.g., pay and benefits), community resources, and state and federal policies. Food safety interventions should adopt an ecological orientation that accounts for factors at multiple levels, including workers' social and structural context, that impact food safety practice.

Computing factors of safety against wind-induced tree stem damage.

PubMed

Niklas, K J

2000-04-01

The drag forces, bending moments and stresses acting on stems differing in size and location within the mechanical infrastructure of a large wild cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) tree are estimated and used to calculate the factor of safety against wind-induced mechanical failure based on the mean breaking stress of intact stems and samples of wood drawn from this tree. The drag forces acting on stems are calculated based on stem projected areas and field measurements of wind speed taken within the canopy and along the length of the trunk. The bending moments and stresses resulting from these forces are shown to increase basipetally in a nearly log-log linear fashion toward the base of the tree. The factor of safety, however, varies in a sinusoidal manner such that the most distal stems have the highest factors of safety, whereas stems of intermediate location and portions of the trunk near ground level have equivalent and much lower factors of safety. This pattern of variation is interpreted to indicate that, as a course of normal growth and development, trees similar to the one examined in this study maintain a cadre of stems prone to wind-induced mechanical damage that can reduce the probability of catastrophic tree failure by reducing the drag forces acting on older portions of the tree. Comparisons among real and hypothetical stems with different taper experiencing different vertical wind speed profiles show that geometrically self-similar stems have larger factors of safety than stems tapering according to elastic or stress self-similarity, and that safety factors are less significantly influenced by the 'geometry' of the wind-profile.

A multi-agent safety response model in the construction industry.

PubMed

Meliá, José L

2015-01-01

The construction industry is one of the sectors with the highest accident rates and the most serious accidents. A multi-agent safety response approach allows a useful diagnostic tool in order to understand factors affecting risk and accidents. The special features of the construction sector can influence the relationships among safety responses along the model of safety influences. The purpose of this paper is to test a model explaining risk and work-related accidents in the construction industry as a result of the safety responses of the organization, the supervisors, the co-workers and the worker. 374 construction employees belonging to 64 small Spanish construction companies working for two main companies participated in the study. Safety responses were measured using a 45-item Likert-type questionnaire. The structure of the measure was analyzed using factor analysis and the model of effects was tested using a structural equation model. Factor analysis clearly identifies the multi-agent safety dimensions hypothesized. The proposed safety response model of work-related accidents, involving construction specific results, showed a good fit. The multi-agent safety response approach to safety climate is a useful framework for the assessment of organizational and behavioral risks in construction.

Safety climate and safety behaviors in the construction industry: The importance of co-workers commitment to safety.

PubMed

Schwatka, Natalie V; Rosecrance, John C

2016-06-16

There is growing empirical evidence that as safety climate improves work site safety practice improve. Safety climate is often measured by asking workers about their perceptions of management commitment to safety. However, it is less common to include perceptions of their co-workers commitment to safety. While the involvement of management in safety is essential, working with co-workers who value and prioritize safety may be just as important. To evaluate a concept of safety climate that focuses on top management, supervisors and co-workers commitment to safety, which is relatively new and untested in the United States construction industry. Survey data was collected from a cohort of 300 unionized construction workers in the United States. The significance of direct and indirect (mediation) effects among safety climate and safety behavior factors were evaluated via structural equation modeling. Results indicated that safety climate was associated with safety behaviors on the job. More specifically, perceptions of co-workers commitment to safety was a mediator between both management commitment to safety climate factors and safety behaviors. These results support workplace health and safety interventions that build and sustain safety climate and a commitment to safety amongst work teams.

Patient Safety: The Role of Human Factors and Systems Engineering

PubMed Central

Carayon, Pascale; Wood, Kenneth E.

2011-01-01

Patient safety is a global challenge that requires knowledge and skills in multiple areas, including human factors and systems engineering. In this chapter, numerous conceptual approaches and methods for analyzing, preventing and mitigating medical errors are described. Given the complexity of healthcare work systems and processes, we emphasize the need for increasing partnerships between the health sciences and human factors and systems engineering to improve patient safety. Those partnerships will be able to develop and implement the system redesigns that are necessary to improve healthcare work systems and processes for patient safety. PMID:20543237

Research on the Ocular Effects of Laser Radiation. Executive Summary

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-09-01

safety standards and identify- ing the need for additional safety criteria. 7he Execulive Summ~ary is przsanted in seven parts dealing with the effects...laser safety standards and in identifying the need for additional safety criteria. The Executive Summary is divided into seven parts, dealing with...to coherent and noncoherent light flashes at flashblinding intensities, only limited studies have been made of the functional effects of lesion

Sociotechnical attributes of safe and unsafe work systems.

PubMed

Kleiner, Brian M; Hettinger, Lawrence J; DeJoy, David M; Huang, Yuang-Hsiang; Love, Peter E D

2015-01-01

Theoretical and practical approaches to safety based on sociotechnical systems principles place heavy emphasis on the intersections between social-organisational and technical-work process factors. Within this perspective, work system design emphasises factors such as the joint optimisation of social and technical processes, a focus on reliable human-system performance and safety metrics as design and analysis criteria, the maintenance of a realistic and consistent set of safety objectives and policies, and regular access to the expertise and input of workers. We discuss three current approaches to the analysis and design of complex sociotechnical systems: human-systems integration, macroergonomics and safety climate. Each approach emphasises key sociotechnical systems themes, and each prescribes a more holistic perspective on work systems than do traditional theories and methods. We contrast these perspectives with historical precedents such as system safety and traditional human factors and ergonomics, and describe potential future directions for their application in research and practice. The identification of factors that can reliably distinguish between safe and unsafe work systems is an important concern for ergonomists and other safety professionals. This paper presents a variety of sociotechnical systems perspectives on intersections between social--organisational and technology--work process factors as they impact work system analysis, design and operation.

Emotional Safety in Adventure Therapy Programs: Can It Be Defined?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vincent, Suzanne M.

1995-01-01

Ninety-eight adventure therapy professionals analyzed a proposed definition of emotional safety and rated 26 factors hypothesized to affect an individual's level of emotional safety during adventure activities. Factors were related to specific techniques used by instructors, instructor skills and abilities, the physical environment, and group…

Mission Safety Evaluation Report for STS-43, Postflight Edition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hill, William C.; Finkel, Seymour I.

1991-01-01

Some of the topics covered include: (1) an STS-43 mission summary; (2) safety risks factors/issues; (3) resolved STS-43 safety risk factors; (4) STS-40 inflight anomalies; (5) STS-37 inflight anomalies; and (6) STS-43 inflight anomalies. Background information and a list of acronyms are also presented.

Mission Safety Evaluation Report for STS-32, Postflight Edition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hill, William C.; Finkel, Seymour I.

1990-01-01

The topics covered include: (1) an STS-32 mission summary; (2) safety risk factors/issues; (3) resolved STS-32 safety risk factors; (4) STS-32 inflight anomalies; (5) STS-28 inflight anomalies; and (6) STS-32 inflight anomalies. Background information and a list of acronyms are also presented.

16 CFR 1119.4 - Factors considered in determining civil penalties.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... penalties. 1119.4 Section 1119.4 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS CIVIL PENALTY FACTORS § 1119.4 Factors considered in determining civil penalties...) of the FFA, specify factors considered by the Commission in determining the amount of a civil penalty...

16 CFR 1119.4 - Factors considered in determining civil penalties.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... penalties. 1119.4 Section 1119.4 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS CIVIL PENALTY FACTORS § 1119.4 Factors considered in determining civil penalties...) of the FFA, specify factors considered by the Commission in determining the amount of a civil penalty...

16 CFR 1119.4 - Factors considered in determining civil penalties.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... penalties. 1119.4 Section 1119.4 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS CIVIL PENALTY FACTORS § 1119.4 Factors considered in determining civil penalties...) of the FFA, specify factors considered by the Commission in determining the amount of a civil penalty...

Concussions in American Football.

PubMed

Womble, Melissa N; Collins, Michael W

Major advancements in sport-related concussion (SRC) management have been made across time to improve the safety of contact sports, including football. Nevertheless, these advances are often overlooked due to concerns regarding the potential long-term effects of SRC. Although further research is needed, it is critical that current efforts are focused on better understanding SRC in order to recognize and change ongoing factors leading to prolonged recoveries, increased risk for injury, and potentially long-term effects. To reduce risk for these outcomes, future focus must be placed on increased education efforts, immediate reporting of injury, prevention techniques, targeted treatment, and the development of multidisciplinary treatment teams nationwide. Finally, with the progress in understanding concussion, it is important to remain vigilant of additional advances that will help to further improve the safety of contact sports, including football.

Understanding situation awareness and its importance in patient safety.

PubMed

Gluyas, Heather; Harris, Sarah-Jane

2016-04-20

Situation awareness describes an individual's perception, comprehension and subsequent projection of what is going on in the environment around them. The concept of situation awareness sits within the group of non-technical skills that include teamwork, communication and managing hierarchical lines of communication. The importance of non-technical skills has been recognised in safety-critical industries such as aviation, the military, nuclear, and oil and gas. However, health care has been slow to embrace the role of non-technical skills such as situation awareness in improving outcomes and minimising the risk of error. This article explores the concept of situation awareness and the cognitive processes involved in maintaining it. In addition, factors that lead to a loss of situation awareness and strategies to improve situation awareness are discussed.

Expanding the Envelope of UAS Certification: What it Takes to Type Certify a UAS for Precision Agricultural Spraying

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maddalon, J. M.; Hayhurst, K. J.; Neogi, N. A.; Verstynen, H. A.; Clothier, R. A.

2016-01-01

One of the key challenges to the development of a commercial Unmanned Air-craft System (UAS) market is the lack of explicit consideration of UAS in the current regulatory framework. Despite recent progress, additional steps are needed to enable broad UAS types and operational models. This paper discusses recent research that examines how a risk-based approach for safety might change the process and substance of airworthiness requirements for UAS. The project proposed risk-centric airworthiness requirements for a midsize un-manned rotorcraft used for agricultural spraying and also identified factors that may contribute to distinguishing safety risk among different UAS types and operational concepts. Lessons learned regarding how a risk-based approach can expand the envelope of UAS certification are discussed.

Conditions of transfer and quality of food.

PubMed

Southern, K J; Rasekh, J G; Hemphill, F E; Thaler, A M

2006-08-01

Many factors contribute to the production of safe foods of animal origin. Initiatives for an integrated approach to food safety recognise the importance of optimising transportation conditions to ensure on-farm interventions are preserved. Physical, microbial, and environmental hazards during the transportation process may adversely affect the safety and quality of meat, poultry, and egg products. Additionally, the stress level in animals can be raised by transportation conditions, potentially causing increased pathogen shedding in carrier animals which exposes other animals to possible contamination. The physiological effects of stress on animals can reduce the quality of meat, poultry, and egg products produced by the animals, thus decreasing the economic value of the animal. Increased globalisation of markets provides an incentive for transportation standards of food animals within a country as well as transportation standards between countries.

Leveraging Social Science-Healthcare Collaborations to Improve Teamwork and Patient Safety.

PubMed

Fernandez, Rosemarie; Grand, James A

2015-12-01

Effective teamwork is critical to the provision of safe, effective healthcare. High functioning teams adapt to rapidly changing patient and environmental factors, preventing diagnostic and treatment errors. While the emphasis on teamwork and patient safety is relatively new, significant team-related foundational and implementation research exists in disciplines outside of healthcare. Social scientists, including, organizational psychologists, have expertise in the study of teams, multi-team units, and organizations. This article highlights guiding team science principles from the organizational psychology literature that can be applied to the study of teams in healthcare. The authors' goal is to provide some common language and understanding around teams and teamwork. Additionally, they hope to impart an appreciation for the potential synergy present within clinician-social scientist collaborations. Copyright © 2015 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

The relationship between employees' perceptions of safety and organizational culture.

PubMed

O'Toole, Michael

2002-01-01

With limited resources to help reduce occupational injuries, companies struggle with how to best focus these resources to achieve the greatest reduction in injuries for the optimal cost. Safety culture has been identified as a critical factor that sets the tone for importance of safety within an organization. An employee safety perception survey was conducted, and injury data were collected over a 45-month period from a large ready-mix concrete producer located in the southwest region of the United States. The results of this preliminary study suggest that the reductions in injuries experienced at the company locations was strongly impacted by the positive employee perceptions on several key factors. Management's commitment to safety was the factor with the greatest positive perception by employees taking the survey. This study was set up as a pilot project and did not unitize an experimental design. That weakness reduces the strength of these findings but adds to the importance of expanding the pilot project with an appropriate experimental design. Management leadership has been identified, along with several other factors, to influence employee perceptions of the safety management system. Those perceptions, in turn, appear to influence employee decisions that relate to at-risk behaviors and decisions on the job. The results suggest that employee perceptions of the safety system are related to management's commitment to safety, which, in turn, appear to be related to injury rates. Management should focus on how to best leverage these key factors to more positively impact injury rates within their companies.

Cultural factors influencing safety need to be addressed in design and operation of technology.

PubMed

Meshkati, N

1996-10-01

Cultural factors which influence aviation safety in aircraft design, air traffic control, and human factors training are examined. Analysis of the Avianca Flight 052 crash in New York in January, 1990, demonstrates the catastrosphic effects cultural factors can play. Cultural factors include attitude toward work and technology, organizational hierarchy, religion, and population stereotyping.

Missing focus on Human Factors – organizational and cognitive ergonomics – in the safety management for the petroleum industry

PubMed Central

Johnsen, Stig O; Kilskar, Stine Skaufel; Fossum, Knut Robert

2017-01-01

More attention has recently been given to Human Factors in petroleum accident investigations. The Human Factors areas examined in this article are organizational, cognitive and physical ergonomics. A key question to be explored is as follows: To what degree are the petroleum industry and safety authorities in Norway focusing on these Human Factors areas from the design phase? To investigate this, we conducted an innovative exploratory study of the development of four control centres in Norwegian oil and gas industry in collaboration between users, management and Human Factors experts. We also performed a literature survey and discussion with the professional Human Factors network in Norway. We investigated the Human Factors focus, reasons for not considering Human Factors and consequences of missing Human Factors in safety management. The results revealed an immature focus and organization of Human Factors. Expertise on organizational ergonomics and cognitive ergonomics are missing from companies and safety authorities and are poorly prioritized during the development. The easy observable part of Human Factors (i.e. physical ergonomics) is often in focus. Poor focus on Human Factors in the design process creates demanding conditions for human operators and impact safety and resilience. There is lack of non-technical skills such as communication and decision-making. New technical equipment such as Closed Circuit Television is implemented without appropriate use of Human Factors standards. Human Factors expertise should be involved as early as possible in the responsible organizations. Verification and validation of Human Factors should be improved and performed from the start, by certified Human Factors experts in collaboration with the workforce. The authorities should check-back that the regulatory framework of Human Factors is communicated, understood and followed. PMID:29278242

An assessment of predominant causal factors of pilot deviations that contribute to runway incursions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, Denado M.

The aim of this study was to identify predominant causal factors of pilot deviations in runway incursions over a two-year period. Runway incursion reports were obtained from NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), and a qualitative method was used by classifying and coding each report to a specific causal factor(s). The causal factors that were used were substantiated by research from the Aircraft Owner's and Pilot's Association that found that these causal factors were the most common in runway incursion incidents and accidents. An additional causal factor was also utilized to determine the significance of pilot training in relation to runway incursions. From the reports examined, it was found that miscommunication and situational awareness have the greatest impact on pilots and are most often the major causes of runway incursions. This data can be used to assist airports, airlines, and the FAA to understand trends in pilot deviations, and to find solutions for specific problem areas in runway incursion incidents.

A Risk Analysis Methodology to Address Human and Organizational Factors in Offshore Drilling Safety: With an Emphasis on Negative Pressure Test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tabibzadeh, Maryam

According to the final Presidential National Commission report on the BP Deepwater Horizon (DWH) blowout, there is need to "integrate more sophisticated risk assessment and risk management practices" in the oil industry. Reviewing the literature of the offshore drilling industry indicates that most of the developed risk analysis methodologies do not fully and more importantly, systematically address the contribution of Human and Organizational Factors (HOFs) in accident causation. This is while results of a comprehensive study, from 1988 to 2005, of more than 600 well-documented major failures in offshore structures show that approximately 80% of those failures were due to HOFs. In addition, lack of safety culture, as an issue related to HOFs, have been identified as a common contributing cause of many accidents in this industry. This dissertation introduces an integrated risk analysis methodology to systematically assess the critical role of human and organizational factors in offshore drilling safety. The proposed methodology in this research focuses on a specific procedure called Negative Pressure Test (NPT), as the primary method to ascertain well integrity during offshore drilling, and analyzes the contributing causes of misinterpreting such a critical test. In addition, the case study of the BP Deepwater Horizon accident and their conducted NPT is discussed. The risk analysis methodology in this dissertation consists of three different approaches and their integration constitutes the big picture of my whole methodology. The first approach is the comparative analysis of a "standard" NPT, which is proposed by the author, with the test conducted by the DWH crew. This analysis contributes to identifying the involved discrepancies between the two test procedures. The second approach is a conceptual risk assessment framework to analyze the causal factors of the identified mismatches in the previous step, as the main contributors of negative pressure test misinterpretation. Finally, a rational decision making model is introduced to quantify a section of the developed conceptual framework in the previous step and analyze the impact of different decision making biases on negative pressure test results. Along with the corroborating findings of previous studies, the analysis of the developed conceptual framework in this paper indicates that organizational factors are root causes of accumulated errors and questionable decisions made by personnel or management. Further analysis of this framework identifies procedural issues, economic pressure, and personnel management issues as the organizational factors with the highest influence on misinterpreting a negative pressure test. It is noteworthy that the captured organizational factors in the introduced conceptual framework are not only specific to the scope of the NPT. Most of these organizational factors have been identified as not only the common contributing causes of other offshore drilling accidents but also accidents in other oil and gas related operations as well as high-risk operations in other industries. In addition, the proposed rational decision making model in this research introduces a quantitative structure for analysis of the results of a conducted NPT. This model provides a structure and some parametric derived formulas to determine a cut-off point value, which assists personnel in accepting or rejecting an implemented negative pressure test. Moreover, it enables analysts to assess different decision making biases involved in the process of interpreting a conducted negative pressure test as well as the root organizational factors of those biases. In general, although the proposed integrated research methodology in this dissertation is developed for the risk assessment of human and organizational factors contributions in negative pressure test misinterpretation, it can be generalized and be potentially useful for other well control situations, both offshore and onshore; e.g. fracking. In addition, this methodology can be applied for the analysis of any high-risk operations, in not only the oil and gas industry but also in other industries such as nuclear power plants, aviation industry, and transportation sector.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder medication use: factors involved in prescribing, safety aspects and outcomes.

PubMed

Martinez-Raga, Jose; Ferreros, Amparo; Knecht, Carlos; de Alvaro, Raquel; Carabal, Eloisa

2017-03-01

While treatment of patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is based on a multimodal approach that combines medication with specific psychological interventions, pharmacotherapy alone is generally considered an essential and cost-effective element. This paper aims to comprehensively and critically review factors involved in prescribing and medication use in individuals diagnosed with ADHD, focusing on the difficulties facing patients with ADHD seeking treatment, as well as the safety and tolerability aspects of ADHD pharmacotherapies, with particular attention on the cardiovascular adverse events and the potential risk of misuse or diversion of ADHD medications. A comprehensive and systematic literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE database was conducted to identify studies published in peer-reviewed journals until 1 August 2016. Children, adolescents and adults often encounter significant difficulties in the process of accessing specialist assessment and treatment for ADHD as a consequence of disparities in service organization and available treatment provision. Despite the well-established efficacy and overall safety profile, ADHD medications are not exempt from adverse events. The cardiovascular safety of pharmacotherapies used for treating individuals with ADHD has raised particular concerns; however there is little evidence of serious cardiovascular adverse events, including no serious corrected QT (QTc) abnormalities associated with stimulants, atomoxetine or α2-adrenergic receptor agonists. Although the abuse of prescription stimulant drugs, particularly, short-acting stimulants is a prevalent and growing problem, nonmedical use of prescription stimulants within the clinical context is very limited. In addition, nonstimulant ADHD medications lack any reinforcing effects and consequently any abuse potential.

Analyzing crash frequency in freeway tunnels: A correlated random parameters approach.

PubMed

Hou, Qinzhong; Tarko, Andrew P; Meng, Xianghai

2018-02-01

The majority of past road safety studies focused on open road segments while only a few focused on tunnels. Moreover, the past tunnel studies produced some inconsistent results about the safety effects of the traffic patterns, the tunnel design, and the pavement conditions. The effects of these conditions therefore remain unknown, especially for freeway tunnels in China. The study presented in this paper investigated the safety effects of these various factors utilizing a four-year period (2009-2012) of data as well as three models: 1) a random effects negative binomial model (RENB), 2) an uncorrelated random parameters negative binomial model (URPNB), and 3) a correlated random parameters negative binomial model (CRPNB). Of these three, the results showed that the CRPNB model provided better goodness-of-fit and offered more insights into the factors that contribute to tunnel safety. The CRPNB was not only able to allocate the part of the otherwise unobserved heterogeneity to the individual model parameters but also was able to estimate the cross-correlations between these parameters. Furthermore, the study results showed that traffic volume, tunnel length, proportion of heavy trucks, curvature, and pavement rutting were associated with higher frequencies of traffic crashes, while the distance to the tunnel wall, distance to the adjacent tunnel, distress ratio, International Roughness Index (IRI), and friction coefficient were associated with lower crash frequencies. In addition, the effects of the heterogeneity of the proportion of heavy trucks, the curvature, the rutting depth, and the friction coefficient were identified and their inter-correlations were analyzed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low-factor consumption for major surgery in haemophilia B with long-acting recombinant glycoPEGylated factor IX.

PubMed

Escobar, M A; Tehranchi, R; Karim, F A; Caliskan, U; Chowdary, P; Colberg, T; Giangrande, P; Giermasz, A; Mancuso, M E; Serban, M; Tsay, W; Mahlangu, J N

2017-01-01

Surgery in patients with haemophilia B carries a high risk of excessive bleeding and requires adequate haemostatic control until wound healing. Nonacog beta pegol, a long-acting recombinant glycoPEGylated factor IX (FIX), was used in the perioperative management of patients undergoing major surgery. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of nonacog beta pegol in patients with haemophilia B who undergo major surgery. This was an open-label, multicentre, non-controlled surgery trial aimed at assessing peri- and postoperative efficacy and safety of nonacog beta pegol in 13 previously treated patients with haemophilia B. All patients received a preoperative nonacog beta pegol bolus injection of 80 IU kg -1 . Postoperatively, the patients received fixed nonacog beta pegol doses of 40 IU kg -1 , repeated at the investigator's discretion. Safety assessments included monitoring of immunogenicity and adverse events. Intraoperative haemostatic effect was rated 'excellent' or 'good' in all 13 cases. Apart from the preoperative injection, none of the patients needed additional doses of nonacog beta pegol on the day of surgery. The median number of postoperative doses of nonacog beta pegol was 2.0 from days 1 to 6 and 1.5 from days 7 to 13. No unexpected intra- or postoperative complications were observed including deaths or thromboembolic events. No patients developed inhibitors. These results indicated that nonacog beta pegol was safe and effective in the perioperative setting, allowing major surgical interventions in patients with haemophilia B with minimal peri- and postoperative concentrate consumption and infrequent injections as reported with standard FIX products. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

RhIG for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia: consensus and controversy

PubMed Central

Despotovic, Jenny M.; Lambert, Michele P.; Herman, Jay H.; Gernsheimer, Terry B.; McCrae, Keith R.; Tarantino, Michael D.; Bussel, James B.

2012-01-01

Anti-D immune globulin (RhIG) is a front-line option in North America for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) in children and adults. Recently, addition of a Food and Drug Administration-mandated black box warning highlighted the risks of intravascular hemolysis, renal failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulation after anti-D infusion, prompting concern within the medical community regarding its use. A working group convened in response to this warning to prepare a consensus document regarding the safety of RhIG because there has been no increased incidence of adverse events since the initial discovery of these reactions many years ago. The efficacy of anti-D is well documented and only briefly reviewed. The estimated incidence and proposed mechanisms for the rare, major treatment-related complications are discussed, and signal detection data associated with heightened risk of acute hemolytic reactions are presented. The importance of considering host factors, given the rarity of severe reactions, is emphasized. Safety profiles of parallel treatment options are reviewed. The working group consensus is that RhIG has comparable safety and efficacy to other front-line agents for the treatment of children and adults with ITP. Safety may be further improved by careful patient selection. PMID:21981825

Safety Assessment of Electronic Cigarettes and Their Relationship with Cardiovascular Disease

PubMed Central

Zhang, Guangwei; Zhang, Kai; Hou, Rui; Xing, Chunli; Yu, Qi; Liu, Enqi

2018-01-01

Smoking leads to the occurrence and development of a variety of diseases. Most importantly, it is an independent risk factor of cardiovascular atherosclerosis. In recent years, electronic cigarettes have become a popular alternative to traditional cigarettes, since modern micro-electronic techniques provide the possibility of simulating the process of traditional smoking. Additionally, it is convenient and fashionable. Nevertheless, comments about the safety of electronic cigarettes remain controversial. Although the research about electronic cigarettes increased exponentially, there has been no systematic study of its safety. The aim of the current study is to review the literature reports about the safety of electronic cigarettes, and to understand their hazards and disadvantages. It was found that most of the current research about electronic cigarettes comprises short-term and in vitro studies. There are few reports of in vivo and long-term studies. Notably, the level of harmful components such as volatile organic compounds, tobacco-specific nitrosamines and heavy metals in electronic cigarettes are even higher than in traditional cigarettes. Therefore, the harm of electronic cigarettes should not be underestimated. In conclusion, the question of whether electronic cigarettes are a safe and sufficient substitute for traditional smoking needs further investigation. PMID:29304018

An Overview of the NASA Aviation Safety Program Propulsion Health Monitoring Element

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Donald L.

2000-01-01

The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) has been initiated with aggressive goals to reduce the civil aviation accident rate, To meet these goals, several technology investment areas have been identified including a sub-element in propulsion health monitoring (PHM). Specific AvSP PHM objectives are to develop and validate propulsion system health monitoring technologies designed to prevent engine malfunctions from occurring in flight, and to mitigate detrimental effects in the event an in-flight malfunction does occur. A review of available propulsion system safety information was conducted to help prioritize PHM areas to focus on under the AvSP. It is noted that when a propulsion malfunction is involved in an aviation accident or incident, it is often a contributing factor rather than the sole cause for the event. Challenging aspects of the development and implementation of PHM technology such as cost, weight, robustness, and reliability are discussed. Specific technology plans are overviewed including vibration diagnostics, model-based controls and diagnostics, advanced instrumentation, and general aviation propulsion system health monitoring technology. Propulsion system health monitoring, in addition to engine design, inspection, maintenance, and pilot training and awareness, is intrinsic to enhancing aviation propulsion system safety.

Food Crises and Food Safety Incidents in European Union, United States, and Maghreb Area: Current Risk Communication Strategies and New Approaches.

PubMed

Chammem, Nadia; Issaoui, Manel; De Almeida, Ana Isabel Dâmaso; Delgado, Amélia Martins

2018-03-22

Globalization has created a dynamic market, which has dramatically intensified interchanges of goods and information as well as the flow of people among nations. This international phenomenon offers the consumer a choice between a wide variety of foods from diverse locations. However, there are challenges to improving food security and safety on a global scale; the major question is how food safety can be guaranteed while increasing the complexity of food supply chains. A food produced in a certain location usually contains ingredients, additives, and preservatives from different and distant origins. Although countries take several food control measures, their institutional and regulatory frameworks diverge widely, as do the definitions of food crisis, food incidents, and risk management approaches. The present review discusses some past food safety issues and lessons learned. Convergences and differences in the regulatory framework of food control agencies in different regions of the world are herein revealed. Emerging risks are also discussed, particularly the spread of antibiotic resistance in the food chain and the environment, as well as the rise of new antibiotic-resistant pathogenic strains with broader tolerance to environmental factors.

Traffic safety in the U.S.: re-examining major opportunities.

PubMed

Sivak, Michael; Luoma, Juha; Flannagan, Michael J; Bingham, C Raymond; Eby, David W; Shope, Jean T

2007-01-01

This article examines five major road-safety risk factors: exceeding posted speed limits, not using safety belts, driving while intoxicated, nighttime driving, and young drivers. The importance of each of these factors is documented, known effective countermeasures (both policy and technology based) are discussed, and impediments to the implementation of these countermeasures in the United States are examined. Based on current understanding of the five major risk factors, and of the available countermeasures, there appear to be a variety of opportunities to make substantial gains in road safety using existing knowledge. The limited implementation of a variety of known countermeasures therefore appears to be inconsistent with high-level, strategic goals to improve road safety. Consequently, a recommendation is made to comprehensively re-examine the balance between the countermeasures discussed in this article and economic, mobility, and privacy concerns. IMPACT ON PUBLIC SAFETY: Such a re-examination is likely to result in broad support for these countermeasures, with a consequent major improvement in road safety.

Assessing characteristics related to the use of seatbelts and cell phones by drivers: application of a bivariate probit model.

PubMed

Russo, Brendan J; Kay, Jonathan J; Savolainen, Peter T; Gates, Timothy J

2014-06-01

The effects of cell phone use and safety belt use have been an important focus of research related to driver safety. Cell phone use has been shown to be a significant source of driver distraction contributing to substantial degradations in driver performance, while safety belts have been demonstrated to play a vital role in mitigating injuries to crash-involved occupants. This study examines the prevalence of cell phone use and safety belt non-use among the driving population through direct observation surveys. A bivariate probit model is developed to simultaneously examine the factors that affect cell phone and safety belt use among motor vehicle drivers. The results show that several factors may influence drivers' decision to use cell phones and safety belts, and that these decisions are correlated. Understanding the factors that affect both cell phone use and safety belt non-use is essential to targeting policy and programs that reduce such behavior. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient safety in primary care: a survey of general practitioners in The Netherlands.

PubMed

Gaal, Sander; Verstappen, Wim; Wensing, Michel

2010-01-21

Primary care encompasses many different clinical domains and patient groups, which means that patient safety in primary care may be equally broad. Previous research on safety in primary care has focused on medication safety and incident reporting. In this study, the views of general practitioners (GPs) on patient safety were examined. A web-based survey of a sample of GPs was undertaken. The items were derived from aspects of patient safety issues identified in a prior interview study. The questionnaire used 10 clinical cases and 15 potential risk factors to explore GPs' views on patient safety. A total of 68 GPs responded (51.5% response rate). None of the clinical cases was uniformly judged as particularly safe or unsafe by the GPs. Cases judged to be unsafe by a majority of the GPs concerned either the maintenance of medical records or prescription and monitoring of medication. Cases which only a few GPs judged as unsafe concerned hygiene, the diagnostic process, prevention and communication. The risk factors most frequently judged to constitute a threat to patient safety were a poor doctor-patient relationship, insufficient continuing education on the part of the GP and a patient age over 75 years. Language barriers and polypharmacy also scored high. Deviation from evidence-based guidelines and patient privacy in the reception/waiting room were not perceived as risk factors by most of the GPs. The views of GPs on safety and risk in primary care did not completely match those presented in published papers and policy documents. The GPs in the present study judged a broader range of factors than in previously published research on patient safety in primary care, including a poor doctor-patient relationship, to pose a potential threat to patient safety. Other risk factors such as infection prevention, deviation from guidelines and incident reporting were judged to be less relevant than by policy makers.

5 CFR 5201.105 - Additional rules for Mine Safety and Health Administration employees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Health Administration employees. 5201.105 Section 5201.105 Administrative Personnel DEPARTMENT OF LABOR... for Mine Safety and Health Administration employees. The rules in this section apply to employees of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and are in addition to §§ 5201.101, 5201.102, and...

21 CFR 570.20 - General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false General principles for evaluating the safety of food additives. 570.20 Section 570.20 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS FOOD ADDITIVES Food Additive...

21 CFR 170.30 - Eligibility for classification as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD ADDITIVES Food Additive Safety § 170.30 Eligibility for... quantity and quality of scientific evidence as is required to obtain approval of a food additive regulation... approval of a food additive regulation. General recognition of safety through experience based on common...

Mapping the nomological network of employee self-determined safety motivation: A preliminary measure in China.

PubMed

Jiang, Li; Tetrick, Lois E

2016-09-01

The present study introduced a preliminary measure of employee safety motivation based on the definition of self-determination theory from Fleming (2012) research and validated the structure of self-determined safety motivation (SDSM) by surveying 375 employees in a Chinese high-risk organization. First, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the factor structure of SDSM, and indices of five-factor model CFA met the requirements. Second, a nomological network was examined to provide evidence of the construct validity of SDSM. Beyond construct validity, the analysis also produced some interesting results concerning the relationship between leadership antecedents and safety motivation, and between safety motivation and safety behavior. Autonomous motivation was positively related to transformational leadership, negatively related to abusive supervision, and positively related to safety behavior. Controlled motivation with the exception of introjected regulation was negatively related to transformational leadership, positively related to abusive supervision, and negatively related to safety behavior. The unique role of introjected regulation and future research based on self-determination theory were discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

European regulations on nutraceuticals, dietary supplements and functional foods: a framework based on safety.

PubMed

Coppens, Patrick; da Silva, Miguel Fernandes; Pettman, Simon

2006-04-03

This article describes the legislation that is relevant in the marketing of functional foods in the European Union (EU), how this legislation was developed as well as some practical consequences for manufacturers, marketers and consumers. It also addresses some concrete examples of how the EU's safety requirements for food products have impacted a range of product categories. In the late nineties, research into functional ingredients was showing promising prospects for the use of such ingredients in foodstuffs. Due mainly to safety concerns, these new scientific developments were accompanied by an urgent call for legislation. The European Commission 2000 White Paper on Food Safety announced some 80 proposals for new and improved legislation in this field. Among others, it foresaw the establishment of a General Food Law Regulation, laying down the principles of food law and the creation of an independent Food Authority endowed with the task of giving scientific advice on issues based upon scientific risk assessment with clearly separated responsibilities for risk assessment, risk management and risk communication. Since then, more than 90% of the White Paper proposals have been implemented. However, there is not, as such, a regulatory framework for 'functional foods' or 'nutraceuticals' in EU Food Law. The rules to be applied are numerous and depend on the nature of the foodstuff. The rules of the general food law Regulation are applicable to all foods. In addition, legislation on dietetic foods, on food supplements or on novel foods may also be applicable to functional foods depending on the nature of the product and on their use. Finally, the two proposals on nutrition and health claims and on the addition of vitamins and minerals and other substances to foods, which are currently in the legislative process, will also be an important factor in the future marketing of 'nutraceuticals' in Europe. The cornerstone of EU legislation on food products, including functional foods and nutraceuticals is 'safety'. Decisions on the safety-basis of legislation are based on risk analysis, in which scientific risk assessment is performed by the European Food Safety Authority and risk management is performed by the European Commission, the Member States, and in case of legislation, together with the European Parliament. In the risk management phase, both the precautionary principle and other legitimate factors may be considered in choosing the best way of dealing with an issue. Due to the numerous pieces of legislation applying and to the different procedures to be followed, the process of having 'functional foods' ready for the market is certainly a costly and time-consuming task. However, it may also be clearly worth it in terms of market success and improved consumer health.

The impact of airport characteristics on airport surface accidents and incidents.

PubMed

Wilke, Sabine; Majumdar, Arnab; Ochieng, Washington Y

2015-06-01

Airport surface safety and in particular runway and taxiway safety is acknowledged globally as one of aviation's greatest challenges. To improve this key area of aviation safety, it is necessary to identify and understand the causal and contributing factors on safety occurrences. While the contribution of human factors, operations, and procedures has been researched extensively, the impact of the airport and its associated characteristics itself has received little or no attention. This paper introduces a novel methodology for risk and hazard assessment of airport surface operations, and models the relationships between airport characteristics, and (a) the rate of occurrences, (b) the severity of occurrences, and (c) the causal factors underlying occurrences. The results show for the first time how the characteristics of airports, and in particular its infrastructure and operations, influence the safety of surface operations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. and National Safety Council. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

49 CFR Appendix A to Part 385 - Explanation of Safety Audit Evaluation Criteria

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... safety management controls in place, is included in Appendix B, VII. List of Acute and Critical... having similar characteristics are combined together into six regulatory areas called “factors.” The regulatory factors, evaluated on the basis of the adequacy of the carrier's safety management controls, are...

Insights in Public Health

PubMed Central

Oshiro, Peter

2015-01-01

Reducing the occurrence of and influencing the rapid correction of food illness risk factors is a common goal for all governmental food regulatory programs nationwide. Foodborne illness in the United States is a major cause of personal distress, preventable illness, and death. To improve public health outcomes, additional workforce was required due to long standing staffing shortages and was obtained partially through consolidation of the Hawai‘i Department of Health's (HDOH) two food safety programs, the Sanitation Branch, and the Food & Drug Branch in July 2012, and through legislation that amended existing statutes governing the use of food establishment permit fees. Additionally, a more transparent food establishment grading system was developed after extensive work with industry partners based on three possible placards issued after routine inspections: green, yellow, and red. From late July 2014 to May 2015, there were 6,559 food establishments inspected statewide using the placard system with 79% receiving a green, 21% receiving a yellow, and no red placards issued. Sufficient workforce to allow timely inspections, continued governmental transparency, and use of new technologies are important to improve food safety for the public. PMID:26279966

Surgical Safety Training of World Health Organization Initiatives.

PubMed

Davis, Christopher R; Bates, Anthony S; Toll, Edward C; Cole, Matthew; Smith, Frank C T; Stark, Michael

2014-01-01

Undergraduate training in surgical safety is essential to maximize patient safety. This national review quantified undergraduate surgical safety training. Training of 2 international safety initiatives was quantified: (1) World Health Organization (WHO) "Guidelines for Safe Surgery" and (2) Department of Health (DoH) "Principles of the Productive Operating Theatre." Also, 13 additional safety skills were quantified. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U tests. In all, 23 universities entered the study (71.9% response). Safety skills from WHO and DoH documents were formally taught in 4 UK medical schools (17.4%). Individual components of the documents were taught more frequently (47.6%). Half (50.9%) of the additional safety skills identified were taught. Surgical societies supplemented safety training, although the total amount of training provided was less than that in university curricula (P < .0001). Surgical safety training is inadequate in UK medical schools. To protect patients and maximize safety, a national undergraduate safety curriculum is recommended. © 2013 by the American College of Medical Quality.

The potential carcinogenic risk of tanning beds: clinical guidelines and patient safety advice.

PubMed

Mogensen, Mette; Jemec, Gregor Be

2010-10-28

In 2009, the WHO listed ultraviolet (UV) radiation as a group 1 carcinogen. In spite of this, each year, millions of people tan indoor in Western countries. The aim of this review is to summarize evidence of tanning bed carcinogenesis and to present guidelines for use of tanning beds and patient safety advice. A narrative review of the literature was conducted based on both PubMed and Medline searches and on literature review of the retrieved papers. Use of indoor tanning beds represents a significant and avoidable risk factor for the development of both melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. Frequent tanners are more often adolescent females. Tanning beds have additional potential adverse effects such as burns, solar skin damage, infection, and possibly also addictive behavior. The effort in preventing UV light-induced carcinogenesis should currently be aimed at developing new strategies for public health information. Tanning beds are one preventable source of UV radiation. In the majority of people solar UV radiation continues to be the major factor and therefore anti-tanning campaigns must always include sunbathers.

The potential carcinogenic risk of tanning beds: clinical guidelines and patient safety advice

PubMed Central

Mogensen, Mette; Jemec, Gregor BE

2010-01-01

Introduction: In 2009, the WHO listed ultraviolet (UV) radiation as a group 1 carcinogen. In spite of this, each year, millions of people tan indoor in Western countries. The aim of this review is to summarize evidence of tanning bed carcinogenesis and to present guidelines for use of tanning beds and patient safety advice. Methods: A narrative review of the literature was conducted based on both PubMed and Medline searches and on literature review of the retrieved papers. Results: Use of indoor tanning beds represents a significant and avoidable risk factor for the development of both melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. Frequent tanners are more often adolescent females. Tanning beds have additional potential adverse effects such as burns, solar skin damage, infection, and possibly also addictive behavior. Discussion: The effort in preventing UV light-induced carcinogenesis should currently be aimed at developing new strategies for public health information. Tanning beds are one preventable source of UV radiation. In the majority of people solar UV radiation continues to be the major factor and therefore anti-tanning campaigns must always include sunbathers. PMID:21188119

Identification methods of key contributing factors in crashes with high numbers of fatalities and injuries in China.

PubMed

Chen, Yikai; Li, Yiming; King, Mark; Shi, Qin; Wang, Changjun; Li, Pingfan

2016-11-16

In China, serious road traffic crashes (SRTCs) are those in which there are 10-30 fatalities, 50-100 serious injuries, or a total cost of 50-100 million RMB (U.S.$8-16 M), and particularly serious road traffic crashes (PSRTCs) are those that are more severe or costly. Due to the large number of fatalities and injuries as well as the negative public reaction they elicit, SRTCs and PSRTCs have become of great concern to China during recent years. The aim of this study is to identify the main factors contributing to these road traffic crashes and to propose preventive measures to reduce their number. 49 contributing factors of the SRTCs and PSRTCs that occurred from 2007 to 2013 were collected from the database "In-depth investigation and analysis system for major road traffic crashes" (IIASMRTC) and were analyzed through the integrated use of principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering to determine the primary and secondary groups of contributing factors. Speeding and overloading of passengers were the primary contributing factors, featuring in up to 66.3 and 32.6% of accidents, respectively. Two secondary contributing factors were road related: lack of or nonstandard roadside safety infrastructure and slippery roads due to rain, snow, or ice. The current approach to SRTCs and PSRTCs is focused on the attribution of responsibility and the enforcement of regulations considered relevant to particular SRTCs and PSRTCs. It would be more effective to investigate contributing factors and characteristics of SRTCs and PSRTCs as a whole to provide adequate information for safety interventions in regions where SRTCs and PSRTCs are more common. In addition to mandating a driver training program and publicization of the hazards associated with traffic violations, implementation of speed cameras, speed signs, markings, and vehicle-mounted Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are suggested to reduce speeding of passenger vehicles, while increasing regular checks by traffic police and passenger station staff and improving transportation management to increase income of contractors and drivers are feasible measures to prevent overloading of people. Other promising measures include regular inspection of roadside safety infrastructure and improving skid resistance on dangerous road sections in mountainous areas.

A methodology to quantitatively evaluate the safety of a glazing robot.

PubMed

Lee, Seungyeol; Yu, Seungnam; Choi, Junho; Han, Changsoo

2011-03-01

A new construction method using robots is spreading widely among construction sites in order to overcome labour shortages and frequent construction accidents. Along with economical efficiency, safety is a very important factor for evaluating the use of construction robots in construction sites. However, the quantitative evaluation of safety is difficult compared with that of economical efficiency. In this study, we suggested a safety evaluation methodology by defining the 'worker' and 'work conditions' as two risk factors, defining the 'worker' factor as posture load and the 'work conditions' factor as the work environment and the risk exposure time. The posture load evaluation reflects the risk of musculoskeletal disorders which can be caused by work posture and the risk of accidents which can be caused by reduced concentration. We evaluated the risk factors that may cause various accidents such as falling, colliding, capsizing, and squeezing in work environments, and evaluated the operational risk by considering worker exposure time to risky work environments. With the results of the evaluations for each factor, we calculated the general operational risk and deduced the improvement ratio in operational safety by introducing a construction robot. To verify these results, we compared the safety of the existing human manual labour and the proposed robotic labour construction methods for manipulating large glass panels. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Surgeons' Perceptions of the Causes of Preventable Harm in Arterial Surgery: A Mixed-Methods Study.

PubMed

Lear, Rachael; Godfrey, Anthony D; Riga, Celia; Norton, Christine; Vincent, Charles; Bicknell, Colin D

2017-12-01

System factors contributing to preventable harm in vascular patients have not been previously reported in detail. The aim of this exploratory mixed-methods study was to describe vascular surgeons' perceptions of factors contributing to adverse events (AEs) in arterial surgery. A secondary aim was to report recommendations to improve patient safety. Vascular consultants/registrars working in the British National Health Service were questioned about the causes of preventable AEs through survey and semi-structured interview (response rates 77% and 83%, respectively). Survey respondents considered a recent AE, indicating on a 5 point Likert scale the extent to which various factors from a validated framework contributed toward the incident. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain detailed accounts of contributory factors, and to elicit recommendations to improve safety. Seventy-seven surgeons completed the survey on 77 separate AEs occurring during open surgery (n = 41) and in endovascular procedures (n = 36). Ten interviewees described 15 AEs. The causes of AEs were multifactorial (median number of factors/AE = 5, IQR 3-9, range 0-25). Factors frequently reported by survey respondents were communication failures (36.4%; n = 28/77); inadequate staffing levels/skill mix (32.5%; n = 25/77); lack of knowledge/skill (37.3%; n = 28/75). Themes emerging from interviews were team factors (communication failure, lack of team continuity, lack of clarity over roles/responsibilities); work environment factors (poor staffing levels, equipment problems, distractions); inadequate training/supervision. Knowledge/skill (p = .034) and competence (p = .018) appeared to be more prominent in causing AEs in open procedures compared with endovascular procedures; organisational structure was more frequently implicated in AEs occurring in endovascular procedures (p = .017). To improve safety, interviewees proposed team training programmes (5/10 interviewees); additional protocols/checklists (4/10); improved escalation procedures (3/10). Vascular surgeons believe that AEs in arterial operations are caused by multiple, modifiable system factors. Larger studies are needed to establish the relative importance of these factors and to determine strategies that can effectively address system failures. Copyright © 2017 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Military Operations in Built-Up Areas: Essays on Some Past, Present, and Future Aspects

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-06-01

food, and left in the snow . In all, about a million people perished in Leningrad during the siege. There was a far-reaching breakdown of public safety...being replaced by Leopard II tankia in the Field Army. In place of the 200 to 300 security companies at fixed locations, the proposal puts twelve mobile...C. Two Additional Contextual Factors The Creation of Vulnerable Targets for Oneself. One element in the gene .-ally successful effort in Vietnam to

Derivation of Effective Resuspension Factors in Scenarios for Inhalation Exposure Involving Resuspension of Previously Deposited Fallout by Nuclear Detonations at Nevada Test Site

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-11-30

generate exposure-rate contours at the fixed time is not an additional source of uncertainty when relative activities of radionuclides on the ground are...deposition or transit and other target organs or tissues, and calculations of radiation transport between a source and target. These uncertainties are...Beck, H., and de Planque, G., 1968. The Radiation Field in Air Due to Distributed Gamma-Ray Sources in the Ground, HASL-195, Health and Safety

A simple graphical method for measuring inherent safety.

PubMed

Gupta, J P; Edwards, David W

2003-11-14

Inherently safer design (ISD) concepts have been with us for over two decades since their elaboration by Kletz [Chem. Ind. 9 (1978) 124]. Interest has really taken off globally since the early nineties after several major mishaps occurred during the eighties (Bhopal, Mexico city, Piper-alfa, Philips Petroleum, to name a few). Academic and industrial research personnel have been actively involved into devising inherently safer ways of production. The regulatory bodies have also shown deep interest since ISD makes the production safer and hence their tasks easier. Research funding has also been forthcoming for new developments as well as for demonstration projects.A natural question that arises is as to how to measure ISD characteristics of a process? Several researchers have worked on this [Trans. IChemE, Process Safety Environ. Protect. B 71 (4) (1993) 252; Inherent safety in process plant design, Ph.D. Thesis, VTT Publication Number 384, Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland, 1999; Proceedings of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center Symposium, 2001, p. 509]. Many of the proposed methods are very elegant, yet too involved for easy adoption by the industry which is scared of yet another safety analysis regime. In a recent survey [Trans. IChemE, Process Safety Environ. Prog. B 80 (2002) 115], companies desired a rather simple method to measure ISD. Simplification is also an important characteristic of ISD. It is therefore desirable to have a simple ISD measurement procedure. The ISD measurement procedure proposed in this paper can be used to differentiate between two or more processes for the same end product. The salient steps are: Consider each of the important parameters affecting the safety (e.g., temperature, pressure, toxicity, flammability, etc.) and the range of possible values these parameters can have for all the process routes under consideration for an end product. Plot these values for each step in each process route and compare. No addition of values for disparate hazards (temperature, pressure, inventory, toxicity, flammability, etc.) is being suggested to derive an overall ISD index value since that conceals the effects of different parameters. Further, addition of numbers with different units ( degrees C for temperature, atm/bar for pressure, t for inventory, etc.) is inappropriate in scientific sense. The proposed approach has a major advantage of expanding consideration in future to incorporate economic, regulatory, pollution control and worker health aspects, as well as factors such as the experience one has or 'the comfort level' one feels with each of the processes under consideration. Additionally, it would also guide the designers and decision makers into affecting specific changes in the processes to reduce the unsafe features. We demonstrate our simple approach by using the example of six routes to make methyl methacrylate as documented by Edwards and Lawrence [Trans. IChemE, Process Safety Environ. Protect. B 71 (4) (1993) 252; Quantifying inherent safety of chemical process routes, Ph.D. Thesis, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK, 1996] and show that the decision could well have been different if addition of disparate hazards had not been done.

Research on station management in subway operation safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yiman

2017-10-01

The management of subway station is an important part of the safe operation of urban subway. In order to ensure the safety of subway operation, it is necessary to study the relevant factors that affect station management. In the protection of subway safety operations on the basis of improving the quality of service, to promote the sustained and healthy development of subway stations. This paper discusses the influencing factors of subway operation accident and station management, and analyzes the specific contents of station management security for subway operation, and develops effective suppression measures. It is desirable to improve the operational quality and safety factor for subway operations.

A Spanish-language patient safety questionnaire to measure medical and nursing students' attitudes and knowledge.

PubMed

Mira, José J; Navarro, Isabel M; Guilabert, Mercedes; Poblete, Rodrigo; Franco, Astolfo L; Jiménez, Pilar; Aquino, Margarita; Fernández-Trujillo, Francisco J; Lorenzo, Susana; Vitaller, Julián; de Valle, Yohana Díaz; Aibar, Carlos; Aranaz, Jesús M; De Pedro, José A

2015-08-01

To design and validate a questionnaire for assessing attitudes and knowledge about patient safety using a sample of medical and nursing students undergoing clinical training in Spain and four countries in Latin America. In this cross-sectional study, a literature review was carried out and total of 786 medical and nursing students were surveyed at eight universities from five countries (Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Spain) to develop and refine a Spanish-language questionnaire on knowledge and attitudes about patient safety. The scope of the questionnaire was based on five dimensions (factors) presented in studies related to patient safety culture found in PubMed and Scopus. Based on the five factors, 25 reactive items were developed. Composite reliability indexes and Cronbach's alpha statistics were estimated for each factor, and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess validity. After a pilot test, the questionnaire was refined using confirmatory models, maximum-likelihood estimation, and the variance-covariance matrix (as input). Multiple linear regression models were used to confirm external validity, considering variables related to patient safety culture as dependent variables and the five factors as independent variables. The final instrument was a structured five-point Likert self-administered survey (the "Latino Student Patient Safety Questionnaire") consisting of 21 items grouped into five factors. Compound reliability indexes (Cronbach's alpha statistic) calculated for the five factors were about 0.7 or higher. The results of the multiple linear regression analyses indicated good model fit (goodness-of-fit index: 0.9). Item-total correlations were higher than 0.3 in all cases. The convergent-discriminant validity was adequate. The questionnaire designed and validated in this study assesses nursing and medical students' attitudes and knowledge about patient safety. This instrument could be used to indirectly evaluate whether or not students in health disciplines are acquiring and thus likely to put into practice the professional skills currently considered most appropriate for patient safety.

Non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients with none or one additional risk factor of the CHA2DS2-VASc score. A comprehensive net clinical benefit analysis for warfarin, aspirin, or no therapy.

PubMed

Lip, Gregory Y H; Skjøth, Flemming; Nielsen, Peter B; Larsen, Torben Bjerregaard

2015-10-01

Oral anticoagulation (OAC) to prevent stroke has to be balanced against the potential harm of serious bleeding, especially intracranial haemorrhage (ICH). We determined the net clinical benefit (NCB) balancing effectiveness and safety of no antithrombotic therapy, aspirin and warfarin in AF patients with none or one stroke risk factor. Using Danish registries, we determined NCB using various definitions intrinsic to our cohort (Danish weights at 1 and 5 year follow-up), with risk weights which were derived from the hazard ratio (HR) of death following an event, relative to HR of death after ischaemic stroke. When aspirin was compared to no treatment, NCB was neutral or negative for both risk strata. For warfarin vs no treatment, NCB using Danish weights was neutral where no risk factors were present and using five years follow-up. For one stroke risk factor, NCB was positive for warfarin vs no treatment, for one year and five year follow-up. For warfarin vs aspirin use in patients with no risk factors, NCB was positive with one year follow-up, but neutral with five year follow-up. With one risk factor, NCB was generally positive for warfarin vs aspirin. In conclusion, we show a positive overall advantage (i.e. positive NCB) of effective stroke prevention with OAC, compared to no therapy or aspirin with one additional stroke risk factor, using Danish weights. 'Low risk' AF patients with no additional stroke risk factors (i.e.CHA2DS2-VASc 0 in males, 1 in females) do not derive any advantage (neutral or negative NCB) with aspirin, nor with warfarin therapy in the long run.

The study on length and diameter ratio of nail as preliminary design for slope stabilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gunawan, Indra; Silmi Surjandari, Niken; Muslih Purwana, Yusep

2017-11-01

Soil nailing technology has been widely applied in practice for reinforced slope. The number of studies for the effective design of nail-reinforced slopes has also increased. However, most of the previous study was focused on a safety factor of the slope; the ratio of length and diameter itself has likely never been studied before. The aim of this study is to relate the length and diameter ratio of the nail with the safety factor of the 20 m height of sand slope in the various angle of friction and steepness of the slope. Simplified Bishop method was utilized to analyze the safety factor of the slope. This study is using data simulation to calculate the safety factor of the slope with soil nailing reinforcement. The results indicate that safety factor of slope stability increases with the increase of length and diameter ratio of the nail. At any angle of friction and steepness of the slope, certain effective length and diameter ratio was obtain. These results may be considered as a preliminary design for slope stabilization.

Variable dynamic testbed vehicle : safety plan

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-02-01

This safety document covers the entire safety process from inception to delivery of the Variable Dynamic Testbed Vehicle. In addition to addressing the process of safety on the vehicle , it should provide a basis on which to build future safety proce...

Safety performance factor.

PubMed

Venkataraman, Naray

2008-01-01

Workplace safety performance is computed using frequency rate (FR) and severity rate (SR). Only work time lost due to occupational incidents that need to be reported is counted. FR and SR are the 2 most important safety performance indicators that are applied universally; however, calculations differ from country to country. All injuries and time lost should be considered while calculating safety performance. The extent of severity does not matter as every incident is counted. So, a new factor has to be defined; it should be based on the hours or days lost due to each occupational incident, irrespective of its severity. The new safety performance factor is defined as the average human-hour unit lost due to occupational accidents/incidents, including fatalities, first-aid incidents, bruises and cuts. The formula is simple and easy to apply.

The impact of safety organizing, trusted leadership, and care pathways on reported medication errors in hospital nursing units.

PubMed

Vogus, Timothy J; Sutcliffe, Kathleen M

2011-01-01

Prior research has found that safety organizing behaviors of registered nurses (RNs) positively impact patient safety. However, little research exists on the joint benefits of safety organizing and other contextual factors that help foster safety. Although we know that organizational practices often have more powerful effects when combined with other mutually reinforcing practices, little research exists on the joint benefits of safety organizing and other contextual factors believed to foster safety. Specifically, we examined the benefits of bundling safety organizing with leadership (trust in manager) and design (use of care pathways) factors on reported medication errors. A total of 1033 RNs and 78 nurse managers in 78 emergency, internal medicine, intensive care, and surgery nursing units in 10 acute-care hospitals in Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio who completed questionnaires between December 2003 and June 2004. Cross-sectional analysis of medication errors reported to the hospital incident reporting system for the 6 months after the administration of the survey linked to survey data on safety organizing, trust in manager, use of care pathways, and RN characteristics and staffing. Multilevel Poisson regression analyses indicated that the benefits of safety organizing on reported medication errors were amplified when paired with high levels of trust in manager or the use of care pathways. Safety organizing plays a key role in improving patient safety on hospital nursing units especially when bundled with other organizational components of a safety supportive system.

The Biotechnology of Ugba, a Nigerian Traditional Fermented Food Condiment

PubMed Central

Olasupo, Nurudeen A.; Okorie, Chimezie P.; Oguntoyinbo, Folarin A.

2016-01-01

Legumes and oil bean seeds used for the production of condiments in Africa are inedible in their natural state; they contain some anti-nutritional factors especially undigestible oligosaccharides and phytate. Fermentation impact desirable changes by reducing anti-nutritional factors and increasing digestibility. Ugba is an alkaline fermented African oil bean cotyledon (Pentaclethra macrophylla) produced by the Ibos and other ethnic groups in southern Nigeria. Seen as a family business in many homes, its preparation is in accordance with handed-down tradition from previous generations and serves as a cheap source of plant protein. Its consumption as a native salad is made possible by fermentation of the cotyledon for 2–5 days, but could also serve as a soup flavoring agent when fermentation last for 6–10 days. The fermentation process involved is usually natural with an attendant issue of product safety, quality and inconsistency. The production of this condiment is on a small scale and the equipment used are very rudimentary, devoid of good manufacturing procedures that call to question the issue of microbial safety. This paper therefore reviews the production process and the spectrum of microbial composition involved during fermentation. In addition, potential spoilage agents, nutritional and biochemical changes during production are examined. Furthermore, information that can support development of starter cultures for controlled fermentation process in order to guarantee microbiological safety, quality and improved shelf life are also discussed. PMID:27540371

Rough surface reconstruction for ultrasonic NDE simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Choi, Wonjae; Shi, Fan; Lowe, Michael J. S.

2014-02-18

The reflection of ultrasound from rough surfaces is an important topic for the NDE of safety-critical components, such as pressure-containing components in power stations. The specular reflection from a rough surface of a defect is normally lower than it would be from a flat surface, so it is typical to apply a safety factor in order that justification cases for inspection planning are conservative. The study of the statistics of the rough surfaces that might be expected in candidate defects according to materials and loading, and the reflections from them, can be useful to develop arguments for realistic safety factors.more » This paper presents a study of real rough crack surfaces that are representative of the potential defects in pressure-containing power plant. Two-dimensional (area) values of the height of the roughness have been measured and their statistics analysed. Then a means to reconstruct model cases with similar statistics, so as to enable the creation of multiple realistic realizations of the surfaces, has been investigated, using random field theory. Rough surfaces are reconstructed, based on a real surface, and results for these two-dimensional descriptions of the original surface have been compared with those from the conventional model based on a one-dimensional correlation coefficient function. In addition, ultrasonic reflections from them are simulated using a finite element method.« less

Efficacy and Safety of Complete RAAS Blockade with ALISKIREN in Patients with Refractory Proteinuria Who were already on Combined ACE Inhibitor, ARB, and Aldosterone Antagonist.

PubMed

Panattil, Prabitha; Sreelatha, M

2016-09-01

Proteinuria is always associated with intrinsic kidney disese and is a strong predictor of later development of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). As Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System (RAAS) has a role in mediating proteinuria, inhibitors of this system are renoprotective and patients with refractory proteinuria are put on a combination of these agents. The routinely employed triple blockade of RAAS with Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, ARB and Aldosterone antagonist has many limitations. Addition of Aliskiren to this combination suppresses the RAAS at the earliest stage and can offset many of these limitations. This study was conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of complete RAAS blockade by the addition of Aliskiren in those patients with refractory proteinuria who were already on triple blockade with ACE inhibitor, ARB and Aldosterone antagonist. This study was conducted in Nephrology Department, Calicut Medical College. A total of 36 patients with refractory proteinuria who were already on ACE inhibitor, ARB and Aldosterone antagonist were divided in to two groups A and B. Group A received Aliskiren in addition to the above combination whereas group B continued the same treatment for 12 weeks. Efficacy of the treatment was assessed by recording 24hr urine protein and safety by S.Creatinine, S.Potassium every 2 weeks of the treatment period. Statistical analysis of the lab values was done using SPSS software. Unpaired t-test, Paired t-test and Chi-square test were done for data analysis. Statistical analysis revealed that addition of Aliskiren to the combination therapy with ACE inhibitor+ ARB+ Aldosterone antagonist offers no advantage. But mean reduction in proteinuria was more with Group A than Group B. There is no statistically significant change in S.Creatinine and S.Potassium at the end of treatment. As proteinuria is a strong risk factor for progression to ESRD, even a mild decrease in proteinuria by treatment is renoprotective. Hence treatment with group A may be considered clinically superior to group B with no alteration in safety and tolerability. But further multicentre studies with larger sample size and dose escalation are required for confirmation.

Implementation of safety management systems in Hong Kong construction industry - A safety practitioner's perspective.

PubMed

Yiu, Nicole S N; Sze, N N; Chan, Daniel W M

2018-02-01

In the 1980s, the safety management system (SMS) was introduced in the construction industry to mitigate against workplaces hazards, reduce the risk of injuries, and minimize property damage. Also, the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation was introduced on 24 November 1999 in Hong Kong to empower the mandatory implementation of a SMS in certain industries including building construction. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the SMS in improving construction safety and identify the factors that influence its implementation in Hong Kong. A review of the current state-of-the-practice helped to establish the critical success factors (CSFs), benefits, and difficulties of implementing the SMS in the construction industry, while structured interviews were used to establish the key factors of the SMS implementation. Results of the state-of-the-practice review and structured interviews indicated that visible senior commitment, in terms of manpower and cost allocation, and competency of safety manager as key drivers for the SMS implementation. More so, reduced accident rates and accident costs, improved organization framework, and increased safety audit ratings were identified as core benefits of implementing the SMS. Meanwhile, factors such as insufficient resources, tight working schedule, and high labor turnover rate were the key challenges to the effective SMS implementation in Hong Kong. The findings of the study were consistent and indicative of the future development of safety management practice and the sustainable safety improvement of Hong Kong construction industry in the long run. Copyright © 2018 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing medical students' perceptions of patient safety: the medical student safety attitudes and professionalism survey.

PubMed

Liao, Joshua M; Etchegaray, Jason M; Williams, S Tyler; Berger, David H; Bell, Sigall K; Thomas, Eric J

2014-02-01

To develop and test the psychometric properties of a survey to measure students' perceptions about patient safety as observed on clinical rotations. In 2012, the authors surveyed 367 graduating fourth-year medical students at three U.S. MD-granting medical schools. They assessed the survey's reliability and construct and concurrent validity. They examined correlations between students' perceptions of organizational cultural factors, organizational patient safety measures, and students' intended safety behaviors. They also calculated percent positive scores for cultural factors. Two hundred twenty-eight students (62%) responded. Analyses identified five cultural factors (teamwork culture, safety culture, error disclosure culture, experiences with professionalism, and comfort expressing professional concerns) that had construct validity, concurrent validity, and good reliability (Cronbach alphas > 0.70). Across schools, percent positive scores for safety culture ranged from 28% (95% confidence interval [CI], 13%-43%) to 64% (30%-98%), while those for teamwork culture ranged from 47% (32%-62%) to 74% (66%-81%). They were low for error disclosure culture (range: 10% [0%-20%] to 27% [20%-35%]), experiences with professionalism (range: 7% [0%-15%] to 23% [16%-30%]), and comfort expressing professional concerns (range: 17% [5%-29%] to 38% [8%-69%]). Each cultural factor correlated positively with perceptions of overall patient safety as observed in clinical rotations (r = 0.37-0.69, P < .05) and at least one safety behavioral intent item. This study provided initial evidence for the survey's reliability and validity and illustrated its applicability for determining whether students' clinical experiences exemplify positive patient safety environments.

Factors Influencing Injury Severity of Bicyclists Involved in Crashes with Motor Vehicles: Bike Lanes, Alcohol, Lighting, Speed, and Helmet Use.

PubMed

Helak, Kelsey; Jehle, Dietrich; McNabb, Daniel; Battisti, Amanda; Sanford, Steward; Lark, Mary Claire

2017-07-01

In 2014, 726 bicyclists were killed and an additional 50,000 were injured in crashes with motor vehicles. The number of cyclists in the United States is increasing, and as a result there has been a call for more bike lanes. We examined the difference in the severity of injury of bicyclists involved in motor vehicle crashes when riding in the traffic lane compared with riding in a bike lane or on a paved shoulder. We also controlled for other safety factors, including alcohol use, travel speed, posted speed, helmet usage, and lighting conditions to determine their impact on bicyclist safety. Single-year National Automotive Sampling System-General Estimates System files were used to analyze data regarding the bike lanes, and multiyear data were used to analyze the additional factors. Univariate and multiple regression analyses controlling for confounders were performed on the data. When adjusting for speed limit, alcohol use by driver, weather conditions, time of day, and helmet use, the cyclist's position had no significant effect on the severity of injury ( P = 0.57). The severity of injury was significantly greater when the driver or bicyclist had been drinking alcohol ( P < 0.0001 and P < 0.003, respectively). Bicyclists were more severely injured when vehicles moved at greater speeds and the posted speed limit was higher ( P < 0.0001 for both). Also, injury severity was found to be significantly higher when lighting conditions were "dark" ( P < 0.0001). Our findings suggest that simply having a dedicated space for bicyclists, such as a bike lane or a paved shoulder, does not reduce the severity of injuries sustained when a crash with a motor vehicle takes place. Cyclist safety could be improved by implementing changes that affect vehicle speed, alcohol use by drivers, and lighting conditions. Moreover, emergency physicians should be aware that when they receive a report of a cyclist being struck by a car in a bike lane, they should prepare to treat injuries of severity similar to those received by a bicyclist hit by a vehicle in traffic.

Ontogenetic changes in size, allometry, and mechanical design of tropical rain forest trees.

PubMed

Sterck, F; Bongers, F

1998-02-01

Size, allometry, and mechanical design were measured for trees of three canopy species in a tropical rain forest in French Guiana. Mechanical design was expressed as the safety factor, using the elastic-stability model, and the wind resistance factor, using the constant-stress model. Changes with ontogeny were described as regressions using stem diameter as the independent variable, and they were compared between species. Height, crown size, and the wind resistance factor increased with ontogeny. The safety factor decreased to a minimum and then increased continuously in thicker trees. The crown width/height ratio did not change with ontogeny. Interspecific differences in allometry and mechanical design were related to the adult stature of the species, and not to shade tolerance. The short stature species (Vouacapoua americana) was less slender (height:DBH [stem diameter at 1.3 m] ratio) and had a higher crown width/height ratio than the tall stature species (Goupia glabra and Dicorynia guianensis). Vouacapoua had a higher safety factor, but a similar wind resistance factor. The safety factors of our study species were lower than those of two temperate tree species because of a higher slenderness. Differences in safety factors between tropical and temperate trees may result from unrealistic assumptions of the elastic-stability model, and may also be related to lower light levels and-or wind rates in the tropics.

Listening to food workers: Factors that impact proper health and hygiene practice in food service

PubMed Central

Clegg Smith, Katherine; Neff, Roni A.; Pollack, Keshia M.; Ensminger, Margaret

2015-01-01

Background Foodborne disease is a significant problem worldwide. Research exploring sources of outbreaks indicates a pronounced role for food workers' improper health and hygiene practice. Objective To investigate food workers' perceptions of factors that impact proper food safety practice. Method Interviews with food service workers in Baltimore, MD, USA discussing food safety practices and factors that impact implementation in the workplace. A social ecological model organizes multiple levels of influence on health and hygiene behavior. Results Issues raised by interviewees include factors across the five levels of the social ecological model, and confirm findings from previous work. Interviews also reveal many factors not highlighted in prior work, including issues with food service policies and procedures, working conditions (e.g., pay and benefits), community resources, and state and federal policies. Conclusion Food safety interventions should adopt an ecological orientation that accounts for factors at multiple levels, including workers' social and structural context, that impact food safety practice. PMID:26243248

Sociotechnical attributes of safe and unsafe work systems

PubMed Central

Kleiner, Brian M.; Hettinger, Lawrence J.; DeJoy, David M.; Huang, Yuang-Hsiang; Love, Peter E.D.

2015-01-01

Theoretical and practical approaches to safety based on sociotechnical systems principles place heavy emphasis on the intersections between social–organisational and technical–work process factors. Within this perspective, work system design emphasises factors such as the joint optimisation of social and technical processes, a focus on reliable human–system performance and safety metrics as design and analysis criteria, the maintenance of a realistic and consistent set of safety objectives and policies, and regular access to the expertise and input of workers. We discuss three current approaches to the analysis and design of complex sociotechnical systems: human–systems integration, macroergonomics and safety climate. Each approach emphasises key sociotechnical systems themes, and each prescribes a more holistic perspective on work systems than do traditional theories and methods. We contrast these perspectives with historical precedents such as system safety and traditional human factors and ergonomics, and describe potential future directions for their application in research and practice. Practitioner Summary: The identification of factors that can reliably distinguish between safe and unsafe work systems is an important concern for ergonomists and other safety professionals. This paper presents a variety of sociotechnical systems perspectives on intersections between social–organisational and technology–work process factors as they impact work system analysis, design and operation. PMID:25909756

Safety update on the use of recombinant activated factor VII in approved indications.

PubMed

Neufeld, Ellis J; Négrier, Claude; Arkhammar, Per; Benchikh el Fegoun, Soraya; Simonsen, Mette Duelund; Rosholm, Anders; Seremetis, Stephanie

2015-06-01

This updated safety review summarises the large body of safety data available on the use of recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) in approved indications: haemophilia with inhibitors, congenital factor VII (FVII) deficiency, acquired haemophilia and Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. Accumulated data up to 31 December 2013 from clinical trials as well as post-marketing data (registries, literature reports and spontaneous reports) were included. Overall, rFVIIa has shown a consistently favourable safety profile, with no unexpected safety concerns, in all approved indications. No confirmed cases of neutralising antibodies against rFVIIa have been reported in patients with congenital haemophilia, acquired haemophilia or Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. The favourable safety profile of rFVIIa can be attributed to the recombinant nature of rFVIIa and its localised mechanism of action at the site of vascular injury. Recombinant FVIIa activates factor X directly on the surface of activated platelets, which are present only at the site of injury, meaning that systemic activation of coagulation is avoided and the risk of thrombotic events (TEs) thus reduced. Nonetheless, close monitoring for signs and symptoms of TE is warranted in all patients treated with any pro-haemostatic agent, including rFVIIa, especially the elderly and any other patients with concomitant conditions and/or predisposing risk factors to thrombosis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Did Child Restraint Laws Globally Converge? Examining 40 Years of Policy Diffusion.

PubMed

Nazif-Muñoz, José Ignacio

2015-01-01

The objective of the current study is to determine what factors have been associated with the global adoption of mandatory child restraint laws (ChRLs) since 1975. In order to determine what factors explained the global adoption of mandatory ChRLs, Weibull models were analyzed. To carry out this analysis, 170 countries were considered and the time risk corresponded to 5,146 observations for the period 1957-2013. The dependent variable was first time to adopt a ChRL. Independent variables representing global factors were the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank's (WB) road safety global campaign; the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic; and the United Nation's (UN) 1958 Vehicle Agreement. Independent variables representing regional factors were the creation of the European Transport Safety Council and being a Commonwealth country. Independent variables representing national factors were population; gross domestic product (GDP) per capita; political violence; existence of road safety nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and existence of road safety agencies. Urbanization served as a control variable. To examine regional dynamics, Weibull models for Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Commonwealth were also carried out. Empirical estimates from full Weibull models suggest that 2 global factors and 2 national factors are significantly associated with the adoption of this measure. The global factors explaining adoption are the WHO and WB's road safety global campaign implemented after 2004 (P <.01), and the UN's 1958 Vehicle Agreement (P <.001). National factors were GDP (P <.01) and existence of road safety agencies (P <.05). The time parameter ρ for the full Weibull model was 1.425 (P <.001), suggesting that the likelihood of ChRL adoption increased over the observed period of time, confirming that the diffusion of this policy was global. Regional analysis showed that the UN's Convention on Road Traffic was significant in Asia, the creation of the European Transport Safety Council was significant in Europe and North America, and the global campaign was in Africa. In Commonwealth and European and North American countries, the existence of road safety agencies was also positively associated with ChRL adoption. Results of the world models suggest that the WHO and WB's global road safety campaign was effective in disseminating ChRLs after 2004. Furthermore, regions such as Asia and Europe and North America were early adopters since specific regional and national characteristics anticipated the introduction of this policy before 2004. In this particular case, the creation of the European Transport Safety Council was fundamental in promoting ChRLs. Thus, in order to introduce conditions to more rapidly diffuse road safety measures across lagging regions, the maintenance of global efforts and the creation of road safety regional organizations should be encouraged. Lastly, the case of ChRL convergence illustrates how mechanisms of global and regional diffusion need to be analytically differentiated in order better to assess the process of policy diffusion.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Richer, Jeff; Frimeth, Jeff; Nesbitt, James

Purpose: In Ontario, shielding for all X-ray machines, including CT scanners, must be evaluated according to Safety Code 20A (Health Canada, 1983) which is based on NCRP-49 (NCRP, 1976). NCRP-147 (NCRP, 2004) is the international standard for shielding calculations of CT scanners and is also referenced in Safety Code 35 (Health Canada, 2008) which, was published to supersede SC20A. The goal of this work is to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of NCRP-147 for CT scanner shielding. Methods: CT scanner shielding calculations are performed using SC20A and NCRP-147: A room located on the third floor with the nearest building 75m awaymore » A room with high occupancy uncontrolled adjacent spaces Two side by side rooms on the main floor Results: 1. SC20A: The exterior windows required 0.1mm of Pb to protect the public who may occupy the building at 75m. 1. NCRP-147: No additional shielding required. 2. SC20A: Two walls adjacent to high occupancy uncontrolled space required an additional 1.58mm Pb. 2. NCRP-147: No additional shielding required. 3. SC20A: The entire floor and ceiling slabs in both rooms required an additional 0.79mm Pb. In addition, 0.79mm Pb was added to the walls from the ceiling to overlap the existing Pb shielding in the walls. 3. NCRP-147: No additional shielding required. Conclusion: The application of NCRP Report No. 147 affords the required protection to staff and the public, in the true spirit of the ALARA principle, taking into account relevant social and economic factors.« less

The Design of Transportation Equipment in Terms of Human Capabilities. The Role of Engineering Psychology in Transport Safety.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McFarland, Ross A.

Human factors engineering is considered with regard to the design of safety factors for aviation and highway transportation equipment. Current trends and problem areas are identified for jet air transportation and for highway transportation. Suggested solutions to transportation safety problems are developed by applying the techniques of human…

16 CFR § 1119.4 - Factors considered in determining civil penalties.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... penalties. § 1119.4 Section § 1119.4 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS CIVIL PENALTY FACTORS § 1119.4 Factors considered in determining civil penalties. (a) Statutory Factors. (1) Section 20(b) of the CPSA, section 5(c)(3) of the FHSA, and section 5...

Calculation Method of Lateral Strengths and Ductility Factors of Constructions with Shear Walls of Different Ductility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yamaguchi, Nobuyoshi; Nakao, Masato; Murakami, Masahide

2008-07-08

For seismic design, ductility-related force modification factors are named R factor in Uniform Building Code of U.S, q factor in Euro Code 8 and Ds (inverse of R) factor in Japanese Building Code. These ductility-related force modification factors for each type of shear elements are appeared in those codes. Some constructions use various types of shear walls that have different ductility, especially for their retrofit or re-strengthening. In these cases, engineers puzzle the decision of force modification factors of the constructions. Solving this problem, new method to calculate lateral strengths of stories for simple shear wall systems is proposed andmore » named 'Stiffness--Potential Energy Addition Method' in this paper. This method uses two design lateral strengths for each type of shear walls in damage limit state and safety limit state. Two lateral strengths of stories in both limit states are calculated from these two design lateral strengths for each type of shear walls in both limit states. Calculated strengths have the same quality as values obtained by strength addition method using many steps of load-deformation data of shear walls. The new method to calculate ductility factors is also proposed in this paper. This method is based on the new method to calculate lateral strengths of stories. This method can solve the problem to obtain ductility factors of stories with shear walls of different ductility.« less

Persistence of unsafe practice in everyday work: an exploration of organizational and psychological factors constraining safety in the operating room.

PubMed

Espin, S; Lingard, L; Baker, G R; Regehr, G

2006-06-01

This paper explores the factors that influence the persistence of unsafe practice in an interprofessional team setting in health care, towards the development of a descriptive theoretical model for analyzing problematic practice routines. Using data collected during a mixed method interview study of 28 members of an operating room team, participants' approaches to unsafe practice were analyzed using the following three theoretical models from organizational and cognitive psychology: Reason's theory of "vulnerable system syndrome", Tucker and Edmondson's concept of first and second order problem solving, and Amalberti's model of practice migration. These three theoretical approaches provide a critical insight into key trends in the interview data, including team members' definition of error as the breaching of standards of practice, nurses' sense of scope of practice as a constraint on their reporting behaviours, and participants' reports of the forces influencing tacit agreements to work around safety regulations. However, the relational factors underlying unsafe practice routines are poorly accounted for in these theoretical approaches. Incorporating an additional theoretical construct such as "relational coordination" to account for the emotional human features of team practice would provide a more comprehensive theoretical approach for use in exploring unsafe practice routines and the forces that sustain them in healthcare team settings.

Poison or cure: meanings of medication in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Rosenfield, Paul J

2007-01-01

Antipsychotic medications provide tremendous relief to many individuals with schizophrenia, but can have significant costs, including adverse metabolic, neurological, and psychological effects. Prescribers and consumers of these medications often have different perceptions of the safety and utility of medications, ranging from "poison" to "cure." While much of the literature on the meaning of medication in schizophrenia discusses patients' negative perceptions of medication, poor insight, and other risk factors for nonadherence, a variety of additional factors should be considered, including both doctors' and patients' perspectives. Historical, cultural, and scientific, as well as individual factors, influence both the prescribing and taking of antipsychotic medications. The relationship between doctors and patients, as informed by these factors, plays a central role in the creation of the meanings of medications. An understanding of this relationship can help to establish more collaborative treatment relationships, beyond the dichotomy of poison or cure.

Analysis and comparison of safety models using average daily, average hourly, and microscopic traffic.

PubMed

Wang, Ling; Abdel-Aty, Mohamed; Wang, Xuesong; Yu, Rongjie

2018-02-01

There have been plenty of traffic safety studies based on average daily traffic (ADT), average hourly traffic (AHT), or microscopic traffic at 5 min intervals. Nevertheless, not enough research has compared the performance of these three types of safety studies, and seldom of previous studies have intended to find whether the results of one type of study is transferable to the other two studies. First, this study built three models: a Bayesian Poisson-lognormal model to estimate the daily crash frequency using ADT, a Bayesian Poisson-lognormal model to estimate the hourly crash frequency using AHT, and a Bayesian logistic regression model for the real-time safety analysis using microscopic traffic. The model results showed that the crash contributing factors found by different models were comparable but not the same. Four variables, i.e., the logarithm of volume, the standard deviation of speed, the logarithm of segment length, and the existence of diverge segment, were positively significant in the three models. Additionally, weaving segments experienced higher daily and hourly crash frequencies than merge and basic segments. Then, each of the ADT-based, AHT-based, and real-time models was used to estimate safety conditions at different levels: daily and hourly, meanwhile, the real-time model was also used in 5 min intervals. The results uncovered that the ADT- and AHT-based safety models performed similar in predicting daily and hourly crash frequencies, and the real-time safety model was able to provide hourly crash frequency. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sun safety knowledge and practice in UK postal delivery workers.

PubMed

Houdmont, J; Davis, S; Griffiths, A

2016-06-01

Postal delivery workers spend a large proportion of their work time outdoors, placing them at increased risk of skin cancer. To date, no studies have examined occupational sun safety knowledge and practice within this group in the UK. To describe the occupational sun safety knowledge and practice of UK postal delivery workers and to investigate the association of demographic, personal and occupational factors with knowledge and practice in order to identify potential strategies for improving sun safety in this occupational group. Postal delivery workers completed a questionnaire that collected data on occupational sun safety knowledge and practice in addition to demographic, personal and workplace characteristics. One-way analysis of variances were applied to assess differences in knowledge and practice by these characteristics. A total of 1153 postal delivery workers completed the questionnaire, a 60% response rate. Thirty-three per cent reported receiving sun safety training within the previous 12 months. The majority of respondents reported correct knowledge on three of the six domains and good practice on four of the six behavioural domains. However, only one-fifth of respondents reported wearing sunglasses and ensuring a plentiful intake of water. Knowledge and practice differed significantly according to demographic, personal and workplace characteristics. There is a need to raise the profile of occupational skin cancer in this occupational group and to increase the priority given to occupational sun safety policies alongside targeted and tailored interventions, the effect of which can be evaluated. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine.

The H-PEPSS: an instrument to measure health professionals' perceptions of patient safety competence at entry into practice.

PubMed

Ginsburg, Liane; Castel, Evan; Tregunno, Deborah; Norton, Peter G

2012-08-01

Enhancing competency in patient safety at entry to practice requires introduction and integration of patient safety into health professional education. As efforts to include patient safety in health professional education increase, it is important to capture new health professionals' perspectives of their own patient safety competence at entry to practice. Existing instruments to measure patient safety knowledge, skills and attitudes have been developed largely to examine the impact of specific patient safety curricular initiatives and the psychometric analyses of the instruments used thus far have been exploratory in nature. Confirmatory factor analytic approaches are used to extensively test the Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey (H-PEPSS), a newly designed survey rooted in a patient safety competency framework and designed to measure health professionals' self-reported patient safety competence around the time of entry to practice. The H-PEPSS focuses primarily on the socio-cultural aspects of patient safety including culture, teamwork, communication, managing risk and understanding human factors. Results support a parsimonious six-factor measurement model of health professionals' perceptions of patient safety competency. These results support the validity of a reduced version of the H-PEPSS and suggest it can be appropriately used at or near training completion with a variety of health professional groups. Given increased demands for patient safety competency among health professionals at entry to practice and slow, but emerging changes in health professional education, ongoing research to understand the extent of patient safety competency among health professionals around the time of entry to practice will be important.

The H-PEPSS: an instrument to measure health professionals' perceptions of patient safety competence at entry into practice

PubMed Central

Castel, Evan; Tregunno, Deborah; Norton, Peter G

2012-01-01

Background Enhancing competency in patient safety at entry to practice requires introduction and integration of patient safety into health professional education. As efforts to include patient safety in health professional education increase, it is important to capture new health professionals' perspectives of their own patient safety competence at entry to practice. Existing instruments to measure patient safety knowledge, skills and attitudes have been developed largely to examine the impact of specific patient safety curricular initiatives and the psychometric analyses of the instruments used thus far have been exploratory in nature. Methods Confirmatory factor analytic approaches are used to extensively test the Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey (H-PEPSS), a newly designed survey rooted in a patient safety competency framework and designed to measure health professionals' self-reported patient safety competence around the time of entry to practice. The H-PEPSS focuses primarily on the socio-cultural aspects of patient safety including culture, teamwork, communication, managing risk and understanding human factors. Results Results support a parsimonious six-factor measurement model of health professionals' perceptions of patient safety competency. These results support the validity of a reduced version of the H-PEPSS and suggest it can be appropriately used at or near training completion with a variety of health professional groups. Conclusions Given increased demands for patient safety competency among health professionals at entry to practice and slow, but emerging changes in health professional education, ongoing research to understand the extent of patient safety competency among health professionals around the time of entry to practice will be important. PMID:22562876

Confidence in the efficacy and safety of dietary supplements among United States active duty army personnel.

PubMed

Carvey, Christina E; Farina, Emily K; Lieberman, Harris R

2012-10-10

United States Army Soldiers regularly use dietary supplements (DS) to promote general health, enhance muscle strength, and increase energy, but limited scientific evidence supports the use of many DS for these benefits. This study investigated factors associated with Soldiers' confidence in the efficacy and safety of DS, and assessed Soldiers' knowledge of federal DS regulatory requirements. Between 2006 and 2007, 990 Soldiers were surveyed at 11 Army bases world-wide to assess their confidence in the effectiveness and safety of DS, knowledge of federal DS regulations, demographic characteristics, lifestyle-behaviors and DS use. A majority of Soldiers were at least somewhat confident that DS work as advertised (67%) and thought they are safe to consume (71%). Confidence in both attributes was higher among regular DS users than non-users. Among users, confidence in both attributes was positively associated with rank, self-rated diet quality and fitness level, education, and having never experienced an apparent DS-related adverse event. Fewer than half of Soldiers knew the government does not require manufacturers to demonstrate efficacy, and almost a third incorrectly believed there are effective pre-market federal safety requirements for DS. Despite limited scientific evidence supporting the purported benefits and safety of many popular DS, most Soldiers were confident that DS are effective and safe. The positive associations between confidence and DS use should be considered when developing DS-related interventions or policies. Additionally, education to clarify Soldiers' misperceptions about federal DS safety and efficacy regulations is warranted.

Safety climate and mindful safety practices in the oil and gas industry.

PubMed

Dahl, Øyvind; Kongsvik, Trond

2018-02-01

The existence of a positive association between safety climate and the safety behavior of sharp-end workers in high-risk organizations is supported by a considerable body of research. Previous research has primarily analyzed two components of safety behavior, namely safety compliance and safety participation. The present study extends previous research by looking into the relationship between safety climate and another component of safety behavior, namely mindful safety practices. Mindful safety practices are defined as the ability to be aware of critical factors in the environment and to act appropriately when dangers arise. Regression analysis was used to examine whether mindful safety practices are, like compliance and participation, promoted by a positive safety climate, in a questionnaire-based study of 5712 sharp-end workers in the oil and gas industry. The analysis revealed that a positive safety climate promotes mindful safety practices. The regression model accounted for roughly 31% of the variance in mindful safety practices. The most important safety climate factor was safety leadership. The findings clearly demonstrate that mindful safety practices are highly context-dependent, hence, manageable and susceptible to change. In order to improve safety climate in a direction which is favorable for mindful safety practices, the results demonstrate that it is important to give the fundamental features of safety climate high priority and in particular that of safety leadership. Copyright © 2017 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrated Crowdsourcing Platform to Investigate Non-Motorized Behavior and Risk Factors on Walking, Running, and Cycling Routes

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-08-31

There are several factors on the roads that impact bicyclists safety. This research aims to find the most important risk factors on roads, mainly in infrastructure facilities, to improve the safety for walkers, runners, and bicyclists. Most mobile...

Evidence Report: Risk of Inadequate Human-Computer Interaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holden, Kritina; Ezer, Neta; Vos, Gordon

2013-01-01

Human-computer interaction (HCI) encompasses all the methods by which humans and computer-based systems communicate, share information, and accomplish tasks. When HCI is poorly designed, crews have difficulty entering, navigating, accessing, and understanding information. HCI has rarely been studied in an operational spaceflight context, and detailed performance data that would support evaluation of HCI have not been collected; thus, we draw much of our evidence from post-spaceflight crew comments, and from other safety-critical domains like ground-based power plants, and aviation. Additionally, there is a concern that any potential or real issues to date may have been masked by the fact that crews have near constant access to ground controllers, who monitor for errors, correct mistakes, and provide additional information needed to complete tasks. We do not know what types of HCI issues might arise without this "safety net". Exploration missions will test this concern, as crews may be operating autonomously due to communication delays and blackouts. Crew survival will be heavily dependent on available electronic information for just-in-time training, procedure execution, and vehicle or system maintenance; hence, the criticality of the Risk of Inadequate HCI. Future work must focus on identifying the most important contributing risk factors, evaluating their contribution to the overall risk, and developing appropriate mitigations. The Risk of Inadequate HCI includes eight core contributing factors based on the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS): (1) Requirements, policies, and design processes, (2) Information resources and support, (3) Allocation of attention, (4) Cognitive overload, (5) Environmentally induced perceptual changes, (6) Misperception and misinterpretation of displayed information, (7) Spatial disorientation, and (8) Displays and controls.

Influence Map Methodology for Evaluating Systemic Safety Issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2008-01-01

"Raising the bar" in safety performance is a critical challenge for many organizations, including Kennedy Space Center. Contributing-factor taxonomies organize information about the reasons accidents occur and therefore are essential elements of accident investigations and safety reporting systems. Organizations must balance efforts to identify causes of specific accidents with efforts to evaluate systemic safety issues in order to become more proactive about improving safety. This project successfully addressed the following two problems: (1) methods and metrics to support the design of effective taxonomies are limited and (2) influence relationships among contributing factors are not explicitly modeled within a taxonomy.

Other Safety Concerns and Self-Neglect

MedlinePlus

... Program Application Frequently Asked Questions DONATE Other Safety Concerns and Self-Neglect Other safety concerns focus on ... for additional information. When To Report Other Safety Concerns and Self-Neglect? If you witness a life- ...

Slope Stability Analysis for Shallow Landslides using TRIGRS: A Case Study for Sta. Cruz, Zambales, Philippines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendoza, J. P. A.

2016-12-01

The Philippines, being located in the circum-Pacific, bounded by multiple subduction zones, open seas and ocean, is one of the most hazard-prone countries in the world (Benson, 1997). This widespread recurrence of natural hazards in the country requires much attention for disaster management (Aurelio, 2006). On the average, 21 typhoons enter the Philippine area of responsibility annually with 6-9 making a landfall. Several rainfall-induced landslide events are reported annually particularly during and after the inundation of major typhoons which imposes hazards to communities and causes destruction of properties due to the moving mass and possible flash floods it may induce. Shallow landslides are the most commonly observed failure involving soil-mantled slopes and are considered major geohazards, often causing property damage and other economic loss. Hence numerous studies on landslide susceptibility including numerical models based on infinite slope equation are used in order to identify slopes prone to occurrences of shallow landslides. The study aims to determine the relationships between the slope and elevation to the factor of safety for laterite-mantled topography by incorporating precipitation values in the determination of landslide susceptibility. Using a DEM, flow direction map and slope map of the Sta Cruz (Zambales, Philippines), the FORTRAN based program TRIGRS, was used to generate the values for the factors of safety in the study area. Overlays with a generated slope map and elevation map were used to determine relationships of the mentioned factors and the factors of safety. A slope in a topography mantled with lateritic soil will fail at a slope angle higher than 20 degrees. Generally, the factor of safety decreases as the slope angle increases; this increases the probability and risk of slope failure. Elevation has no bearing on the computation for the factor of safety. The factor of safety is heavily dependent on the slope angle. The value of generated factor of safety coincides with the published geohazard map from Mines and Geosciences Bureau(MGB).

Safety of ranibizumab in routine clinical practice: 1-year retrospective pooled analysis of four European neovascular AMD registries within the LUMINOUS programme.

PubMed

Holz, Frank G; Bandello, Francesco; Gillies, Mark; Mitchell, Paul; Osborne, Aaron; Sheidow, Tom; Souied, Eric; Figueroa, Marta S

2013-09-01

Evaluation of 1-year safety profile of intravitreal ranibizumab 0.5 mg in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NV-AMD) within routine clinical practice. The LUMINOUS programme comprises a prospective observational study assessing ranibizumab 'real-world' safety and clinical effectiveness across licensed indications worldwide and an annual retrospective pooled safety analysis from completed NV-AMD ranibizumab registries. 1-year data from four European registries are available. This retrospective pooled safety analysis assessed 1-year incidence rates for safety events of particular interest (key ocular or systemic events possibly related to the injection procedure or vascular endothelial growth factor inhibition) together with treatment exposure. Patients were treated according to local protocols within the ranibizumab licence. Data of 4444 patients from registries in Germany (n=3470), the Netherlands (n=243), Belgium (n=260) and Sweden (n=471) were retrospectively pooled. Between 70.4% and 84.4% of enrolled patients completed 1 year of follow-up. Most frequent overall ocular events of particular interest were retinal pigment epithelial tears (27 patients; <1%) and intraocular pressure-related events (12 patients; <0.3%). Most frequent non-ocular event of particular interest was stroke (19 patients; 0.4%); annual incidence of stroke was low across all registries (0.0-0.5%). Ranibizumab demonstrated favourable 1-year safety profile for NV-AMD in this routine clinical practice sample, consistent with previous reported trial data. Additional data from a larger patient population are needed to better describe the long-term safety profile of ranibizumab in routine clinical practice and further evaluate risk for infrequent but serious events in 'real-life' settings. The 5-year LUMINOUS prospective observational study will address this need.

Safety of ranibizumab in routine clinical practice: 1-year retrospective pooled analysis of four European neovascular AMD registries within the LUMINOUS programme

PubMed Central

Holz, Frank G; Bandello, Francesco; Gillies, Mark; Mitchell, Paul; Osborne, Aaron; Sheidow, Tom; Souied, Eric; Figueroa, Marta S

2013-01-01

Purpose Evaluation of 1-year safety profile of intravitreal ranibizumab 0.5 mg in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NV-AMD) within routine clinical practice. Methods The LUMINOUS programme comprises a prospective observational study assessing ranibizumab ‘real-world’ safety and clinical effectiveness across licensed indications worldwide and an annual retrospective pooled safety analysis from completed NV-AMD ranibizumab registries. 1-year data from four European registries are available. This retrospective pooled safety analysis assessed 1-year incidence rates for safety events of particular interest (key ocular or systemic events possibly related to the injection procedure or vascular endothelial growth factor inhibition) together with treatment exposure. Patients were treated according to local protocols within the ranibizumab licence. Results Data of 4444 patients from registries in Germany (n=3470), the Netherlands (n=243), Belgium (n=260) and Sweden (n=471) were retrospectively pooled. Between 70.4% and 84.4% of enrolled patients completed 1 year of follow-up. Most frequent overall ocular events of particular interest were retinal pigment epithelial tears (27 patients; <1%) and intraocular pressure-related events (12 patients; <0.3%). Most frequent non-ocular event of particular interest was stroke (19 patients; 0.4%); annual incidence of stroke was low across all registries (0.0–0.5%). Conclusions Ranibizumab demonstrated favourable 1-year safety profile for NV-AMD in this routine clinical practice sample, consistent with previous reported trial data. Additional data from a larger patient population are needed to better describe the long-term safety profile of ranibizumab in routine clinical practice and further evaluate risk for infrequent but serious events in ‘real-life’ settings. The 5-year LUMINOUS prospective observational study will address this need. PMID:23850682

Psychosocial influences on safety climate: evidence from community pharmacies.

PubMed

Phipps, Denham L; Ashcroft, Darren M

2011-12-01

To examine the relationship between psychosocial job characteristics and safety climate. Cross-sectional survey. Community pharmacies in Great Britain. Participants A random sample of community pharmacists registered in Great Britain (n = 860). Survey instruments Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) indicator and Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). Main outcome measures Pharmacy Safety Climate Questionnaire (PSCQ). The profile of scores from the ERI indicated a relatively high risk of adverse psychological effects. The profile of scores from the JCQ indicated both high demand on pharmacists and a high level of psychological and social resources to meet these demands. Path analysis confirmed a model in which the ERI and JCQ measures, as well as the type of pharmacy and pharmacist role, predicted responses to the PSCQ (χ(2)(36) = 111.38, p < 0.001; Tucker-Lewis index = 0.96; comparative fit index = 0.98; root mean square error of approximation=0.05). Two general factors (effort vs reward and control vs demand) accounted for the effect of job characteristics on safety climate ratings; each had differential effects on the PSCQ scales. The safety climate in community pharmacies is influenced by perceptions of job characteristics, such as the level of job demands and the resources available to meet these demands. Hence, any efforts to improve safety should take into consideration the effect of the psychosocial work environment on safety climate. In addition, there is a need to address the presence of work-related stressors, which have the potential to cause direct or indirect harm to staff and service users. The findings of the current study provide a basis for future research to improve the safety climate and well-being, both in the pharmacy profession and in other healthcare settings.

14 CFR 31.25 - Factor of safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... STANDARDS: MANNED FREE BALLOONS Strength Requirements § 31.25 Factor of safety. (a) Except as specified in... of temperature, and other operating characteristics, or both, that may affect strength of the balloon...

78 FR 20661 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-05

... Category: For a food additive petition without complex chemistry, manufacturing, efficacy, or safety issues...) Complex Category: For a food additive petition with complex chemistry, manufacturing, efficacy, and/or... additive file without complex chemistry, manufacturing, efficacy, or safety issues, the estimated time...

9 CFR 392.9 - Availability of additional guidance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Availability of additional guidance. 392.9 Section 392.9 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS PETITIONS FOR RULEMAKING § 392.9 Availability of additional guidance....

9 CFR 392.9 - Availability of additional guidance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Availability of additional guidance. 392.9 Section 392.9 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS PETITIONS FOR RULEMAKING § 392.9 Availability of additional guidance....

9 CFR 392.9 - Availability of additional guidance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Availability of additional guidance. 392.9 Section 392.9 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS PETITIONS FOR RULEMAKING § 392.9 Availability of additional guidance....

9 CFR 392.9 - Availability of additional guidance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Availability of additional guidance. 392.9 Section 392.9 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS PETITIONS FOR RULEMAKING § 392.9 Availability of additional guidance....

75 FR 10808 - CIBA Vision Corp.; Withdrawal of Color Additive Petitions

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-09

...) CIBA Vision Corp.; Withdrawal of Color Additive Petitions AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS... Director, Office of Food Additive Safety, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. [FR Doc. 2010-4972... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket Nos. FDA-2005-C-0245...

21 CFR 570.30 - Eligibility for classification as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS FOOD ADDITIVES Food... obtain approval of a food additive regulation for the ingredient. General recognition of safety through... scientific procedures required for approval of a food additive regulation. General recognition of safety...

21 CFR 570.30 - Eligibility for classification as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS FOOD ADDITIVES Food... obtain approval of a food additive regulation for the ingredient. General recognition of safety through... scientific procedures required for approval of a food additive regulation. General recognition of safety...

21 CFR 570.30 - Eligibility for classification as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS FOOD ADDITIVES Food... obtain approval of a food additive regulation for the ingredient. General recognition of safety through... scientific procedures required for approval of a food additive regulation. General recognition of safety...

21 CFR 570.30 - Eligibility for classification as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS FOOD ADDITIVES Food... obtain approval of a food additive regulation for the ingredient. General recognition of safety through... scientific procedures required for approval of a food additive regulation. General recognition of safety...

21 CFR 570.30 - Eligibility for classification as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS FOOD ADDITIVES Food... obtain approval of a food additive regulation for the ingredient. General recognition of safety through... scientific procedures required for approval of a food additive regulation. General recognition of safety...

78 FR 43093 - Sensient Technologies Corporation; Withdrawal of Color Additive Petition

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-19

... Additive Petition AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice of withdrawal. SUMMARY: The..., Director, Office of Food Additive Safety, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. [FR Doc. 2013-17382... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Part 74 [Docket No...

Current Perspectives on Viable but Non-culturable State in Foodborne Pathogens

PubMed Central

Zhao, Xihong; Zhong, Junliang; Wei, Caijiao; Lin, Chii-Wann; Ding, Tian

2017-01-01

The viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state, a unique state in which a number of bacteria respond to adverse circumstances, was first discovered in 1982. Unfortunately, it has been reported that many foodborne pathogens can be induced to enter the VBNC state by the limiting environmental conditions during food processing and preservation, such as extreme temperatures, drying, irradiation, pulsed electric field, and high pressure stress, as well as the addition of preservatives and disinfectants. After entering the VBNC state, foodborne pathogens will introduce a serious crisis to food safety and public health because they cannot be detected using conventional plate counting techniques. This review provides an overview of the various features of the VBNC state, including the biological characteristics, induction and resuscitation factors, formation and resuscitation mechanisms, detection methods, and relationship to food safety. PMID:28421064

Dose-response studies and 'no-effect-levels' of N-nitroso compounds: some general aspects.

PubMed

Preussmann, R

1980-01-01

One major problem in the evaluation of potential carcinogenic food additives and contaminants is that of thresholds or, better, of 'no-adverse-effect-levels'. Arguments in favor of the postulated 'irreversibility' of carcinogenic effects are based on dose-response studies, single dose and multigeneration experiments as well as on the concept of somatic mutation as the first step in carcinogenesis with subsequent transmittance of induced defects during cell replication. The problem of extrapolation of results of animal experiments using high doses to low exposure and low incidences in man is not yet solved satisfactorily. Possible practical consequences include zero tolerance, acceptable thresholds at low risk and safety factors. Acceptable intakes should never be considered constants but should be changeable as soon as new facts in regard to the safety evaluation are available.

Education of staff--a key factor for a safe environment in day care.

PubMed

Sellström, E; Bremberg, S

2000-05-01

In order to create a safe environment in day-care settings, an understanding of factors within the organization of day care, factors which influence safety, is essential. Day-care directors in 83 daycare centres completed a mail-in survey that contained questions about professional experience, the day-care centre's organization of child safety measures and a battery of questions designed to evaluate the directors' perceptions and beliefs about child safety. The day-care directors also carried out a safety inspection at their centre. The results were analysed using the multivariate logistic regression technique. The existence of a continuing plan for continued staff education in child safety was shown to be the strongest predictor of few safety hazards in day-care centres. The day-care directors' perceptions and beliefs about injury prevention were of less importance. This study indicates that in order to promote safety in day-care settings, an on-going plan for continued staff education in child safety should be a matter of routine. The introduction of such a plan should be the concern of the individual day-care directors, policy-makers and managers at the local and national level, and health professionals working in this field.

Quality and patient safety in the diagnosis of breast cancer.

PubMed

Raab, Stephen S; Swain, Justin; Smith, Natasha; Grzybicki, Dana M

2013-09-01

The media, medical legal, and safety science perspectives of a laboratory medical error differ and assign variable levels of responsibility on individuals and systems. We examine how the media identifies, communicates, and interprets information related to anatomic pathology breast diagnostic errors compared to groups using a safety science Lean-based quality improvement perspective. The media approach focuses on the outcome of error from the patient perspective and some errors have catastrophic consequences. The medical safety science perspective does not ignore the importance of patient outcome, but focuses on causes including the active events and latent factors that contribute to the error. Lean improvement methods deconstruct work into individual steps consisting of tasks, communications, and flow in order to understand the affect of system design on current state levels of quality. In the Lean model, system redesign to reduce errors depends on front-line staff knowledge and engagement to change the components of active work to develop best practices. In addition, Lean improvement methods require organizational and environmental alignment with the front-line change in order to improve the latent conditions affecting components such as regulation, education, and safety culture. Although we examine instances of laboratory error for a specific test in surgical pathology, the same model of change applies to all areas of the laboratory. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A rough set-based measurement model study on high-speed railway safety operation.

PubMed

Hu, Qizhou; Tan, Minjia; Lu, Huapu; Zhu, Yun

2018-01-01

Aiming to solve the safety problems of high-speed railway operation and management, one new method is urgently needed to construct on the basis of the rough set theory and the uncertainty measurement theory. The method should carefully consider every factor of high-speed railway operation that realizes the measurement indexes of its safety operation. After analyzing the factors that influence high-speed railway safety operation in detail, a rough measurement model is finally constructed to describe the operation process. Based on the above considerations, this paper redistricts the safety influence factors of high-speed railway operation as 16 measurement indexes which include staff index, vehicle index, equipment index and environment. And the paper also provides another reasonable and effective theoretical method to solve the safety problems of multiple attribute measurement in high-speed railway operation. As while as analyzing the operation data of 10 pivotal railway lines in China, this paper respectively uses the rough set-based measurement model and value function model (one model for calculating the safety value) for calculating the operation safety value. The calculation result shows that the curve of safety value with the proposed method has smaller error and greater stability than the value function method's, which verifies the feasibility and effectiveness.

Safety behavior: Job demands, job resources, and perceived management commitment to safety.

PubMed

Hansez, Isabelle; Chmiel, Nik

2010-07-01

The job demands-resources model posits that job demands and resources influence outcomes through job strain and work engagement processes. We test whether the model can be extended to effort-related "routine" safety violations and "situational" safety violations provoked by the organization. In addition we test more directly the involvement of job strain than previous studies which have used burnout measures. Structural equation modeling provided, for the first time, evidence of predicted relationships between job strain and "routine" violations and work engagement with "routine" and "situational" violations, thereby supporting the extension of the job demands-resources model to safety behaviors. In addition our results showed that a key safety-specific construct 'perceived management commitment to safety' added to the explanatory power of the job demands-resources model. A predicted path from job resources to perceived management commitment to safety was highly significant, supporting the view that job resources can influence safety behavior through both general motivational involvement in work (work engagement) and through safety-specific processes.

Factors Influencing Young Children's Risk of Unintentional Injury: Parenting Style and Strategies for Teaching about Home Safety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrongiello, Barbara A.; Corbett, Michael; Lasenby, Jennifer; Johnston, Natalie; McCourt, Meghan

2006-01-01

This study examined mothers' teaching about home-safety issues to 24-30 month and 36-42 month old children, explored the relationship of teaching strategies to parenting styles, and assessed how these factors are related to children's risk of unintentional injury. A structured interview assessed home-safety issues relevant to falls, burns, cuts,…

Understanding safety and production risks in rail engineering planning and protection.

PubMed

Wilson, John R; Ryan, Brendan; Schock, Alex; Ferreira, Pedro; Smith, Stuart; Pitsopoulos, Julia

2009-07-01

Much of the published human factors work on risk is to do with safety and within this is concerned with prediction and analysis of human error and with human reliability assessment. Less has been published on human factors contributions to understanding and managing project, business, engineering and other forms of risk and still less jointly assessing risk to do with broad issues of 'safety' and broad issues of 'production' or 'performance'. This paper contains a general commentary on human factors and assessment of risk of various kinds, in the context of the aims of ergonomics and concerns about being too risk averse. The paper then describes a specific project, in rail engineering, where the notion of a human factors case has been employed to analyse engineering functions and related human factors issues. A human factors issues register for potential system disturbances has been developed, prior to a human factors risk assessment, which jointly covers safety and production (engineering delivery) concerns. The paper concludes with a commentary on the potential relevance of a resilience engineering perspective to understanding rail engineering systems risk. Design, planning and management of complex systems will increasingly have to address the issue of making trade-offs between safety and production, and ergonomics should be central to this. The paper addresses the relevant issues and does so in an under-published domain - rail systems engineering work.

Occupational Violence and Aggression Experienced by Nursing and Caring Professionals.

PubMed

Shea, Tracey; Sheehan, Cathy; Donohue, Ross; Cooper, Brian; De Cieri, Helen

2017-03-01

To examine the extent and source of occupational violence and aggression (OVA) experienced by nursing and caring professionals. This study also examines the relative contributions of demographic characteristics and workplace and individual safety factors in predicting OVA. A cross-sectional study design with data collected using an online survey of employees in the nursing and caring professions in Victoria, Australia. Survey data collected from 4,891 members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victorian branch) were analyzed using logistic regression. Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported experiencing OVA in the preceding 12 months, with nearly 20% experiencing OVA on a weekly or daily basis. The dominant sources of OVA were patients (79%) or relatives of patients (48%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that respondents working in public hospitals and aged care facilities were more likely to experience OVA, compared to those working in other workplaces. While higher levels of safety compliance reduced the likelihood of experiencing OVA, role overload and workplace safety factors such as prioritization of employee safety and leading indicators of occupational health and safety were stronger predictors. The likelihood of healthcare workers experiencing OVA varies across demographic and workplace characteristics. While some demographic characteristics and individual safety factors were significant predictors, our results suggest that a greater reduction in OVA could be achieved by improving workplace safety. The study's outcomes identify workforce segments that are most vulnerable to OVA. The study also highlights workplace safety factors such as the prioritization of employee safety that might assist in the reduction of OVA. © 2016 Sigma Theta Tau International.

The use of GIS tools for road infrastructure safety management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budzyński, Marcin; Kustra, Wojciech; Okraszewska, Romanika; Jamroz, Kazimierz; Pyrchla, Jerzy

2018-01-01

There are many factors that influence accidents and their severity. They can be grouped within the system of man, vehicle and environment. The article focuses on how GIS tools can be used to manage road infrastructure safety. To ensure a better understanding and identification of road factors, GIS tools help with the acquisition of road parameter data. Their other role is helping with a clear and effective presentation of risk ranking. GIS is key to identifying high-risk sections and supports the effective communication of safety levels. This makes it a vital element of safety management. The article describes the use of GIS for the collection and visualisation of road parameter data which are not available in any of the existing databases, i.e. horizontal curve parameters. As we know from research and statistics, they are important factors that determine the safety of road infrastructure. Finally, new research is proposed as well as the possibilities for applying GIS tools for the purposes of road safety inspection.

Exploring the possibility of a common structural model measuring associations between safety climate factors and safety behaviour in health care and the petroleum sectors.

PubMed

Olsen, Espen

2010-09-01

The aim of the present study was to explore the possibility of identifying general safety climate concepts in health care and petroleum sectors, as well as develop and test the possibility of a common cross-industrial structural model. Self-completion questionnaire surveys were administered in two organisations and sectors: (1) a large regional hospital in Norway that offers a wide range of hospital services, and (2) a large petroleum company that produces oil and gas worldwide. In total, 1919 and 1806 questionnaires were returned from the hospital and petroleum organisation, with response rates of 55 percent and 52 percent, respectively. Using a split sample procedure principal factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis revealed six identical cross-industrial measurement concepts in independent samples-five measures of safety climate and one of safety behaviour. The factors' psychometric properties were explored with satisfactory internal consistency and concept validity. Thus, a common cross-industrial structural model was developed and tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). SEM revealed that a cross-industrial structural model could be identified among health care workers and offshore workers in the North Sea. The most significant contributing variables in the model testing stemmed from organisational management support for safety and supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting safety. These variables indirectly enhanced safety behaviour (stop working in dangerous situations) through transitions and teamwork across units, and teamwork within units as well as learning, feedback, and improvement. Two new safety climate instruments were validated as part of the study: (1) Short Safety Climate Survey (SSCS) and (2) Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture-short (HSOPSC-short). Based on development of measurements and structural model assessment, this study supports the possibility of a common safety climate structural model across health care and the offshore petroleum industry. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Qualitative Study on Organizational Factors Affecting Occupational Accidents.

PubMed

Eskandari, Davood; Jafari, Mohammad Javad; Mehrabi, Yadollah; Kian, Mostafa Pouya; Charkhand, Hossein; Mirghotbi, Mostafa

2017-03-01

Technical, human, operational and organizational factors have been influencing the sequence of occupational accidents. Among them, organizational factors play a major role in causing occupational accidents. The aim of this research was to understand the Iranian safety experts' experiences and perception of organizational factors. This qualitative study was conducted in 2015 by using the content analysis technique. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 17 safety experts working in Iranian universities and industries and analyzed with a conventional qualitative content analysis method using the MAXQDA software. Eleven organizational factors' sub-themes were identified: management commitment, management participation, employee involvement, communication, blame culture, education and training, job satisfaction, interpersonal relationship, supervision, continuous improvement, and reward system. The participants considered these factors as effective on occupational accidents. The mentioned 11 organizational factors are probably involved in occupational accidents in Iran. Naturally, improving organizational factors can increase the safety performance and reduce occupational accidents.

[Soft tissue sarcoma of the upper extremities. Analysis of factors relevant for prognosis in 160 patients].

PubMed

Lehnhardt, M; Hirche, C; Daigeler, A; Goertz, O; Ring, A; Hirsch, T; Drücke, D; Hauser, J; Steinau, H U

2012-02-01

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a rare entity with reduced prognosis due to their aggressive biology. For an optimal treatment of STS identification of independent prognostic factors is crucial in order to reduce tumor-related mortality and recurrence rates. The surgical oncological concept includes wide excisions with resection safety margins >1 cm which enables acceptable functional results and reduced rates of amputation of the lower extremities. In contrast, individual anatomy of the upper extremities, in particular of the hand, leads to an intentional reduction of resection margins in order to preserve the extremity and its function with the main intention of tumor-free resection margins. In this study, the oncological safety and outcome as well as functional results were validated by a retrospective analysis of survival rate, recurrence rate and potential prognostic factors. A total of 160 patients who had been treated for STS of the upper extremities were retrospectively included. Independent prognostic factors were analyzed (primary versus recurrent tumor, tumor size, resection status, grade of malignancy, additional therapy, localization in the upper extremity). Kaplan-Meier analyses for survival rate and local control were calculated. Further outcome measures were functional results validated by the DASH score and rate of amputation. In 130 patients (81%) wide tumor excision (R0) was performed and in 19 patients (12%) an amputation was necessary. The 5-year overall survival rate was 70% and the 5-year survival rate in primary tumors was 81% whereas in recurrences 55% relapsed locally. The 10-year overall survival rate was 45% and the 5-year recurrence rate was 18% for primary STS and 43% for recurrent STS. Variance analysis revealed primary versus recurrent tumor, tumor size, resection status and grade of malignancy as independent prognostic factors. Analysis of functional results showed a median DASH score of 37 (0-100; 0=contralateral extremity). The 5-year survival and local recurrence rates are comparable to STS wide resections with safety margins >1 cm for the lower extremities and the trunk. Analysis of prognostic factors revealed resection status and the tumor-free resection margins to be the main goals in STS resection of upper extremity.

76 FR 51058 - Petitions for Modification of Application of Existing Mandatory Safety Standards

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-17

... CFR part 48 training plan to the Metal/ Nonmetal Safety and Health District Manager. In addition to... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Mine Safety and Health Administration Petitions for Modification of Application of Existing Mandatory Safety Standards AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor...

Patient safety culture in Norwegian nursing homes.

PubMed

Bondevik, Gunnar Tschudi; Hofoss, Dag; Husebø, Bettina Sandgathe; Deilkås, Ellen Catharina Tveter

2017-06-20

Patient safety culture concerns leader and staff interaction, attitudes, routines, awareness and practices that impinge on the risk of patient-adverse events. Due to their complex multiple diseases, nursing home patients are at particularly high risk of adverse events. Studies have found an association between patient safety culture and the risk of adverse events. This study aimed to investigate safety attitudes among healthcare providers in Norwegian nursing homes, using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire - Ambulatory Version (SAQ-AV). We studied whether variations in safety attitudes were related to professional background, age, work experience and mother tongue. In February 2016, 463 healthcare providers working in five nursing homes in Tønsberg, Norway, were invited to answer the SAQ-AV, translated and adapted to the Norwegian nursing home setting. Previous validation of the Norwegian SAQ-AV for nursing homes identified five patient safety factors: teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, working conditions and stress recognition. SPSS v.22 was used for statistical analysis, which included estimations of mean values, standard deviations and multiple linear regressions. P-values <0.05 were considered to be significant. Out of the 463 employees invited, 288 (62.2%) answered the questionnaire. Response rates varied between 56.9% and 72.2% across the five nursing homes. In multiple linear regression analysis, we found that increasing age and job position among the healthcare providers were associated with significantly increased mean scores for the patient safety factors teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction and working conditions. Not being a Norwegian native speaker was associated with a significantly higher mean score for job satisfaction and a significantly lower mean score for stress recognition. Neither professional background nor work experience were significantly associated with mean scores for any patient safety factor. Patient safety factor scores in nursing homes were poorer than previously found in Norwegian general practices, but similar to findings in out-of-hours primary care clinics. Patient safety culture assessment may help nursing home leaders to initiate targeted quality improvement interventions. Further research should investigate associations between patient safety culture and the occurrence of adverse events in nursing homes.

Review of Safety Reports Involving Electronic Flight Bags.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-04-01

Safety events in which Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) were a factor are reviewed. Relevant reports were obtained from the public Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) database and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident report datab...

Development of a safety decision-making scenario to measure worker safety in agriculture.

PubMed

Mosher, G A; Keren, N; Freeman, S A; Hurburgh, C R

2014-04-01

Human factors play an important role in the management of occupational safety, especially in high-hazard workplaces such as commercial grain-handling facilities. Employee decision-making patterns represent an essential component of the safety system within a work environment. This research describes the process used to create a safety decision-making scenario to measure the process that grain-handling employees used to make choices in a safety-related work task. A sample of 160 employees completed safety decision-making simulations based on a hypothetical but realistic scenario in a grain-handling environment. Their choices and the information they used to make their choices were recorded. Although the employees emphasized safety information in their decision-making process, not all of their choices were safe choices. Factors influencing their choices are discussed, and implications for industry, management, and workers are shared.

Advancing a sociotechnical systems approach to workplace safety – developing the conceptual framework

PubMed Central

Carayon, Pascale; Hancock, Peter; Leveson, Nancy; Noy, Ian; Sznelwar, Laerte; van Hootegem, Geert

2015-01-01

Traditional efforts to deal with the enormous problem of workplace safety have proved insufficient, as they have tended to neglect the broader sociotechnical environment that surrounds workers. Here, we advocate a sociotechnical systems approach that describes the complex multi-level system factors that contribute to workplace safety. From the literature on sociotechnical systems, complex systems and safety, we develop a sociotechnical model of workplace safety with concentric layers of the work system, socio-organisational context and the external environment. The future challenges that are identified through the model are highlighted. Practitioner Summary: Understanding the environmental, organisational and work system factors that contribute to workplace safety will help to develop more effective and integrated solutions to deal with persistent workplace safety problems. Solutions to improve workplace safety need to recognise the broad sociotechnical system and the respective interactions between the system elements and levels. PMID:25831959

Investigation and identification of factors affecting migrating peasant workers' usage of safety footwear in the Chinese construction industry.

PubMed

Suo, Qinghui; Zhang, Daming

2017-09-01

A sample of 300 migrating peasant workers from 15 Chinese building construction sites completed a demographic questionnaire to investigate the usage of safety footwear. The survey form was constructed based on the theory of planned behaviour, and a total of 12 questions focusing on the workers' past experience, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control were included in the survey. It was found that 92% of the participants did not wear safety footwear while working on construction sites, although more than 91% of them believed that safety footwear would protect the foot from injury; none of the participants had been provided free safety footwear by their employer. Regression analysis shows that employers' attitude is the most important factor affecting their usage of safety footwear, 'providing free safety footwear' and 'comfortability of the safety footwear' ranking second and third respectively.

Advancing a sociotechnical systems approach to workplace safety--developing the conceptual framework.

PubMed

Carayon, Pascale; Hancock, Peter; Leveson, Nancy; Noy, Ian; Sznelwar, Laerte; van Hootegem, Geert

2015-01-01

Traditional efforts to deal with the enormous problem of workplace safety have proved insufficient, as they have tended to neglect the broader sociotechnical environment that surrounds workers. Here, we advocate a sociotechnical systems approach that describes the complex multi-level system factors that contribute to workplace safety. From the literature on sociotechnical systems, complex systems and safety, we develop a sociotechnical model of workplace safety with concentric layers of the work system, socio-organisational context and the external environment. The future challenges that are identified through the model are highlighted. Understanding the environmental, organisational and work system factors that contribute to workplace safety will help to develop more effective and integrated solutions to deal with persistent workplace safety problems. Solutions to improve workplace safety need to recognise the broad sociotechnical system and the respective interactions between the system elements and levels.

Studies of vehicle lane-changing dynamics and its effect on traffic efficiency, safety and environmental impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiang; Sun, Jian-Qiao

2017-02-01

Drivers often change lanes on the road to maintain desired speed and to avoid slow vehicles, pedestrians, obstacles and lane closure. Understanding the effect of lane-changing on the traffic is an important topic in designing optimal traffic control systems. This paper presents a comprehensive study of this topic. We review the theory of microscopic dynamic car-following models and the lane-changing models, propose additional lane-changing rules to deal with moving bottleneck and lane reduction, and investigate the effects of lane-changing on the traffic efficiency, traffic safety and fuel consumption as a function of different variables including the distance of the emergency sign ahead of the lane closure, speed limit, traffic density, etc. Extensive simulations of the traffic system have been carried out in different scenarios. A number of important findings of the effect of various factors on the traffic are reported. These findings provide guidance on the traffic management and are important to the designers and engineers of modern highway or inner city roads to achieve high traffic efficiency and safety with minimum environmental impact.

Medication Safety Principles and Practice in CKD.

PubMed

Whittaker, Chanel F; Miklich, Margaret A; Patel, Roshni S; Fink, Jeffrey C

2018-06-18

Ensuring patient safety is a priority of medical care because iatrogenic injury has been a primary concern. Medications are an important source of medical errors, and kidney disease is a thoroughfare of factors threatening safe administration of medicines. Principal among these is reduced kidney function because almost half of all medications used are eliminated via the kidney. Additionally, kidney patients often suffer from multimorbidity, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure, with a range of prescribers who often do not coordinate treatments. Patients with kidney disease are also susceptible to further kidney injury and metabolic derangements from medications, which can worsen the disease. In this review, we will present the key issues and threats to safe medication use in kidney disease, with a focus on predialysis CKD, as the scope of medication safety in ESKD and transplantation are unique and deserve their own consideration. We discuss drugs that need to be avoided or dose modified, and review the complications of a range of medications routinely administered in CKD, as these also call for cautious use. Copyright © 2018 by the American Society of Nephrology.

77 FR 65150 - Cryovac North America; Withdrawal of Color Additive Petition

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-25

... Additive Petition AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice of withdrawal. SUMMARY: The... Additive Safety, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. [FR Doc. 2012-26242 Filed 10-24-12; 8:45 am... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Part 73 [Docket No...

77 FR 16784 - E. & J. Gallo Winery; Filing of Color Additive Petition

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-22

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Part 73 [Docket No. FDA-2012-C-0224] E. & J. Gallo Winery; Filing of Color Additive Petition AGENCY: Food and Drug..., Acting Director, Office of Food Additive Safety, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. [FR Doc...

Human factors in safety and business management.

PubMed

Vogt, Joachim; Leonhardt, Jorg; Koper, Birgit; Pennig, Stefan

2010-02-01

Human factors in safety is concerned with all those factors that influence people and their behaviour in safety-critical situations. In aviation these are, for example, environmental factors in the cockpit, organisational factors such as shift work, human characteristics such as ability and motivation of staff. Careful consideration of human factors is necessary to improve health and safety at work by optimising the interaction of humans with their technical and social (team, supervisor) work environment. This provides considerable benefits for business by increasing efficiency and by preventing incidents/accidents. The aim of this paper is to suggest management tools for this purpose. Management tools such as balanced scorecards (BSC) are widespread instruments and also well known in aviation organisations. Only a few aviation organisations utilise management tools for human factors although they are the most important conditions in the safety management systems of aviation organisations. One reason for this is that human factors are difficult to measure and therefore also difficult to manage. Studies in other domains, such as workplace health promotion, indicate that BSC-based tools are useful for human factor management. Their mission is to develop a set of indicators that are sensitive to organisational performance and help identify driving forces as well as bottlenecks. Another tool presented in this paper is the Human Resources Performance Model (HPM). HPM facilitates the integrative assessment of human factors programmes on the basis of a systematic performance analysis of the whole system. Cause-effect relationships between system elements are defined in process models in a first step and validated empirically in a second step. Thus, a specific representation of the performance processes is developed, which ranges from individual behaviour to system performance. HPM is more analytic than BSC-based tools because HPM also asks why a certain factor is facilitating or obstructing success. A significant need for research and development is seen here because human factors are of increasing importance for organisational success. This paper suggests integrating human factors in safety management of aviation businesses - a top-ranking partner of technology and finance - and managing it with professional tools. The tools HPM and BSC were identified as potentially useful for this purpose. They were successfully applied in case studies briefly presented in this paper. In terms of specific safety-steering tools in the aviation industry, further elaboration and empirical study is crucial. Statement of Relevance: The importance of human factors is recognised by operators at the sharp end of aviation, where flights are conducted or coordinated. At the blunt end, measurement tools are needed to manage operational resources.

Why trash don't pass? pharmaceutical licensing and safety performance of drugs.

PubMed

Banerjee, Tannista; Nayak, Arnab

2017-01-01

This paper examines how asymmetric information in pharmaceutical licensing affects the safety standards of licensed drugs. Pharmaceutical companies often license potential drug molecules at different stages of drug development from other pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies and complete the remaining of research stages before submitting the new drug application(NDA) to the food and drug administration. The asymmetric information associated with the quality of licensed molecules might result in the molecules which are less likely to succeed to be licensed out, while those with greater potential of success being held internally for development. We identify the NDAs submitted between 1993 and 2004 where new molecular entities were acquired through licensing. Controlling for other drug area specific and applicant firm specific factors, we investigate whether drugs developed with licensed molecules face higher probability of safety based recall and ultimate withdrawal from the market than drugs developed internally. Results suggest the opposite of Akerlof's (Q J Econ 84:488-500, 1970) lemons problem. Licensed molecules rather have less probability of facing safety based recalls and ultimate withdrawal from the market comparing to internally developed drug molecules. This suggests that biotechnology and small pharmaceutical firms specializing in pharmaceutical research are more efficient in developing good potential molecules because of their concentrated research. Biotechnology firms license out good potential molecules because it increases their market value and reputation. In addition, results suggest that both the number of previous approved drugs in the disease area, and also the applicant firms' total number of previous approvals in all disease areas reduce the probability that an additional approved drug in the same drug area will potentially be harmful.

Impact of Lead Time and Safety Factor in Mixed Inventory Models with Backorder Discounts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lo, Ming-Cheng; Chao-Hsien Pan, Jason; Lin, Kai-Cing; Hsu, Jia-Wei

This study investigates the impact of safety factor on the continuous review inventory model involving controllable lead time with mixture of backorder discount and partial lost sales. The objective is to minimize the expected total annual cost with respect to order quantity, backorder price discount, safety factor and lead time. A model with normal demand is also discussed. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the procedures of the algorithms and the effects of parameters on the result of the proposed models are analyzed.

Current codex guidelines for assessment of potential protein allergenicity.

PubMed

Ladics, G S

2008-10-01

A rigorous safety assessment process exists for GM crops. It includes evaluation of the introduced protein as well as the crop containing such protein with the goal of demonstrating the GM crop is "as-safe-as" non-transgenic crops in the food supply. One of the major issues for GM crops is the assessment of the expressed protein for allergenic potential. Currently, no single factor is recognized as an identifier for protein allergenicity. Therefore, a weight-of-evidence approach, which takes into account a variety of factors and approaches for an overall assessment of allergenic potential, is conducted [Codex Alimentarious Commission, 2003. Alinorm 03/34: Joint FAO/WHO Food Standard Programme, Codex Alimentarious Commission, Twenty-Fifth Session, Rome, Italy, 30 June-5 July, 2003. Appendix III, Guideline for the conduct of food safety assessment of foods derived from recombinant-DNA plants, and Appendix IV, Annex on the assessment of possible allergenicity, pp. 47-60]. This assessment is based on what is known about allergens, including the history of exposure and safety of the gene(s) source; protein structure (e.g., amino acid sequence identity to human allergens); stability to pepsin digestion in vitro [Thomas, K. et al., 2004. A multi-laboratory evaluation of a common in vitro pepsin digestion assay protocol used in assessing the safety of novel proteins. Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 39, 87-98]; an estimate of exposure of the novel protein(s) to the gastrointestinal tract where absorption occurs (e.g., protein abundance in the crop, processing effects); and when appropriate, specific IgE binding studies or skin prick testing. Additional approaches may be considered (e.g., animal models; targeted sera screening) as the science evolves; however, such approaches have not been thoroughly evaluated or validated for predicting protein allergenicity.

Safety risks associated with physical interactions between patients and caregivers during treatment and care delivery in Home Care settings: A systematic review.

PubMed

Hignett, Sue; Edmunds Otter, Mary; Keen, Christine

2016-07-01

To explore the safety risks associated with physical interactions between patients and caregivers during treatment and care delivery in Home Care settings. Seven-stage framework from the PRISMA statement for research question, eligibility (definition), search, identification of relevant papers from title and abstract, selection and retrieval of papers, appraisal and synthesis. British Nursing Index (BNI), Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), Cinahl, Cochrane Library, Embase, Ergonomics Abstracts, Health Business Elite, Health Management Information Consortium (HMIC), Medline, PsycInfo, Scopus, Social Care online, Social Science Citation Index. The included references (n=42) were critically appraised using a modified version of Downs and Black checklist and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The risk factors are reported using the modified model of human factors of health care in the home to represent the roles of both patients and caregivers in the system. The results are grouped as environment (health policy, physical and social), artefacts (equipment and technology), tasks (procedures and work schedules) and care recipient/provider. These include permanent and temporary building design and access, communication and lone working, provision of equipment and consumables, and clinical tasks. The topics with strong evidence from at least 2 papers relate to risks associated with awkward working positions, social environment issues (additional tasks and distractions), abuse and violence, inadequate team (peer) support, problems with workload planning, needle stick injuries and physical workload (moving and handling patients). As home care increases, there is a need to ensure the safety of both patients and caregivers with an understanding of the physical interactions and tasks to manage safety risks and plan safer care delivery systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A holistic approach to food safety risks: Food fraud as an example.

PubMed

Marvin, Hans J P; Bouzembrak, Yamine; Janssen, Esmée M; van der Fels-Klerx, H J; van Asselt, Esther D; Kleter, Gijs A

2016-11-01

Production of sufficient, safe and nutritious food is a global challenge faced by the actors operating in the food production chain. The performance of food-producing systems from farm to fork is directly and indirectly influenced by major changes in, for example, climate, demographics, and the economy. Many of these major trends will also drive the development of food safety risks and thus will have an effect on human health, local societies and economies. It is advocated that a holistic or system approach taking into account the influence of multiple "drivers" on food safety is followed to predict the increased likelihood of occurrence of safety incidents so as to be better prepared to prevent, mitigate and manage associated risks. The value of using a Bayesian Network (BN) modelling approach for this purpose is demonstrated in this paper using food fraud as an example. Possible links between food fraud cases retrieved from the RASFF (EU) and EMA (USA) databases and features of these cases provided by both the records themselves and additional data obtained from other sources are demonstrated. The BN model was developed from 1393 food fraud cases and 15 different data sources. With this model applied to these collected data on food fraud cases, the product categories that thus showed the highest probabilities of being fraudulent were "fish and seafood" (20.6%), "meat" (13.4%) and "fruits and vegetables" (10.4%). Features of the country of origin appeared to be important factors in identifying the possible hazards associated with a product. The model had a predictive accuracy of 91.5% for the fraud type and demonstrates how expert knowledge and data can be combined within a model to assist risk managers to better understand the factors and their interrelationships. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The advancement of a new human factors report--'The Unique Report'--facilitating flight crew auditing of performance/operations as part of an airline's safety management system.

PubMed

Leva, M C; Cahill, J; Kay, A M; Losa, G; McDonald, N

2010-02-01

This paper presents the findings of research relating to the specification of a new human factors report, conducted as part of the work requirements for the Human Integration into the Lifecycle of Aviation Systems project, sponsored by the European Commission. Specifically, it describes the proposed concept for a unique report, which will form the basis for all operational and safety reports completed by flight crew. This includes all mandatory and optional reports. Critically, this form is central to the advancement of improved processes and technology tools, supporting airline performance management, safety management, organisational learning and knowledge integration/information-sharing activities. Specifically, this paper describes the background to the development of this reporting form, the logic and contents of this form and how reporting data will be made use of by airline personnel. This includes a description of the proposed intelligent planning process and the associated intelligent flight plan concept, which makes use of airline operational and safety analyses information. Primarily, this new reporting form has been developed in collaboration with a major Spanish airline. In addition, it has involved research with five other airlines. Overall, this has involved extensive field research, collaborative prototyping and evaluation of new reports/flight plan concepts and a number of evaluation activities. Participants have included both operational and management personnel, across different airline flight operations processes. Statement of Relevance: This paper presents the development of a reporting concept outlined through field research and collaborative prototyping within an airline. The resulting reporting function, embedded in the journey log compiled at the end of each flight, aims at enabling employees to audit the operations of the company they work for.

Safety Psychology Applicating on Coal Mine Safety Management Based on Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Baoyue; Chen, Fei

In recent years, with the increase of intensity of coal mining, a great number of major accidents happen frequently, the reason mostly due to human factors, but human's unsafely behavior are affected by insecurity mental control. In order to reduce accidents, and to improve safety management, with the help of application security psychology, we analyse the cause of insecurity psychological factors from human perception, from personality development, from motivation incentive, from reward and punishment mechanism, and from security aspects of mental training , and put forward countermeasures to promote coal mine safety production,and to provide information for coal mining to improve the level of safety management.

Best practices: an electronic drug alert program to improve safety in an accountable care environment.

PubMed

Griesbach, Sara; Lustig, Adam; Malsin, Luanne; Carley, Blake; Westrich, Kimberly D; Dubois, Robert W

2015-04-01

The accountable care organization (ACO), one of the most promising and talked about new models of care, focuses on improving communication and care transitions by tying potential shared savings to specific clinical and financial benchmarks. An important factor in meeting these benchmarks is an ACO's ability to manage medications in an environment where medical and pharmacy care has been integrated. The program described in this article highlights the critical components of Marshfield Clinic's Drug Safety Alert Program (DSAP), which focuses on prioritizing and communicating safety issues related to medications with the goal of reducing potential adverse drug events. Once the medication safety concern is identified, it is reviewed to evaluate whether an alert warrants sending prescribers a communication that identifies individual patients or a general communication to all physicians describing the safety concern. Instead of basing its decisions regarding clinician notification about drug alerts on subjective criteria, the Marshfield Clinic's DSAP uses an internally developed scoring system. The scoring system includes criteria developed from previous drug alerts, such as level of evidence, size of population affected, severity of adverse event identified or targeted, litigation risk, available alternatives, and potential for duration of medication use. Each of the 6 criteria is assigned a weight and is scored based upon the content and severity of the alert received.  In its first 12 months, the program targeted 6 medication safety concerns involving the following medications: topiramate, glyburide, simvastatin, citalopram, pioglitazone, and lovastatin. Baseline and follow-up prescribing data were gathered on the targeted medications. Follow-up review of prescribing data demonstrated that the DSAP provided quality up-to-date safety information that led to changes in drug therapy and to decreases in potential adverse drug events. In aggregate, nearly 10,000 total potential adverse drug events were identified with baseline data from the DSAP initiatives, and nearly 8,000 were resolved by changes in prescribing.  Implications and additional thoughts from The Working Group on Optimizing Medication Therapy in Value-Based Healthcare were provided for the following categories: leveraging electronic health records, importance of data collection and reassessment, preventing alert fatigue utilizing various techniques, relevance to ACO quality measurement, and limitations of a retrospective system. While health information technologies have been recognized as a cornerstone for an ACO's success, additional research is needed on comparing these types of technological innovations. Future research should focus on reviewing comparable scoring criteria and alert systems utilized in a variety of ACOs. In addition, an examination of different data mining procedures used within different electronic health record platforms would prove useful to ACOs looking to improve the care of not only the subpopulations with specific metrics associated with them, but their patient population as a whole. The authors also highlight the need for additional research on health information exchanges, including the cost and resource requirements needed to successfully participate in these types of networks.

Analysis of occupational accidents: prevention through the use of additional technical safety measures for machinery.

PubMed

Dźwiarek, Marek; Latała, Agata

2016-01-01

This article presents an analysis of results of 1035 serious and 341 minor accidents recorded by Poland's National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) in 2005-2011, in view of their prevention by means of additional safety measures applied by machinery users. Since the analysis aimed at formulating principles for the application of technical safety measures, the analysed accidents should bear additional attributes: the type of machine operation, technical safety measures and the type of events causing injuries. The analysis proved that the executed tasks and injury-causing events were closely connected and there was a relation between casualty events and technical safety measures. In the case of tasks consisting of manual feeding and collecting materials, the injuries usually occur because of the rotating motion of tools or crushing due to a closing motion. Numerous accidents also happened in the course of supporting actions, like removing pollutants, correcting material position, cleaning, etc.

Analysis of occupational accidents: prevention through the use of additional technical safety measures for machinery

PubMed Central

Dźwiarek, Marek; Latała, Agata

2016-01-01

This article presents an analysis of results of 1035 serious and 341 minor accidents recorded by Poland's National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) in 2005–2011, in view of their prevention by means of additional safety measures applied by machinery users. Since the analysis aimed at formulating principles for the application of technical safety measures, the analysed accidents should bear additional attributes: the type of machine operation, technical safety measures and the type of events causing injuries. The analysis proved that the executed tasks and injury-causing events were closely connected and there was a relation between casualty events and technical safety measures. In the case of tasks consisting of manual feeding and collecting materials, the injuries usually occur because of the rotating motion of tools or crushing due to a closing motion. Numerous accidents also happened in the course of supporting actions, like removing pollutants, correcting material position, cleaning, etc. PMID:26652689

Patient- and lesion-tailored algorithm of endovascular treatment for arterial occlusive disease of extracranial arteries supplying the brain: safety of the treatment at 30-day follow-up

PubMed Central

Simka, Marian; Brzegowy, Paweł; Janas, Piotr; Kazibudzki, Marek; Pieniążek, Piotr; Ochała, Andrzej; Popiela, Tadeusz; Mrowiecki, Tomasz

2017-01-01

Introduction Although surgical endarterectomy remains the treatment of choice for carotid artery stenosis, stenting plays an important role as an alternative treatment modality, especially in high-risk patients. The actual safety profile associated with stenting procedures is probably better than that reported by randomized controlled trials. Aim To assess the safety of stent implantations in extracranial arteries supplying the brain, and also to identify risk factors associated with this procedure. Material and methods This was a post hoc analysis, with 30-day follow-up. We analyzed the results of treatment of 372 patients who underwent 408 procedures, 197 such procedures in asymptomatic, and 211 in symptomatic individuals. Stenting procedures were performed using a technique and armamentarium which were tailored to the type and anatomy of lesions. Results There were 6 (1.5%) strokes, including 2 (0.5%) major strokes, 1 ipsi- and 1 contralateral, and 4 (1.0%) minor strokes. In asymptomatic patients there was 1 (0.3%) minor stroke. Transient ischemic attacks occurred in 5 (1.2%) patients. There were 2 (0.5%) non-STEMI myocardial infarctions and 2 (0.5%) non-stroke related fatalities. Risk factors of these adverse events were diabetes mellitus, lesions localized in a tortuous segment of the artery, embolic material in the filter and bilateral stenoses of carotid arteries. Additional risk factors in asymptomatic patients were renal impairment and advanced coronary artery disease; and in symptomatic patients, grade 3 arterial hypertension, dislipidemia, cigarette smoking and lesions requiring predilatation. Conclusions Stenting procedures of extracranial arteries supplying the brain, which are tailored to the type and anatomy of lesions, seem to be relatively safe. PMID:28344618

Patient- and lesion-tailored algorithm of endovascular treatment for arterial occlusive disease of extracranial arteries supplying the brain: safety of the treatment at 30-day follow-up.

PubMed

Latacz, Paweł; Simka, Marian; Brzegowy, Paweł; Janas, Piotr; Kazibudzki, Marek; Pieniążek, Piotr; Ochała, Andrzej; Popiela, Tadeusz; Mrowiecki, Tomasz

2017-01-01

Although surgical endarterectomy remains the treatment of choice for carotid artery stenosis, stenting plays an important role as an alternative treatment modality, especially in high-risk patients. The actual safety profile associated with stenting procedures is probably better than that reported by randomized controlled trials. To assess the safety of stent implantations in extracranial arteries supplying the brain, and also to identify risk factors associated with this procedure. This was a post hoc analysis, with 30-day follow-up. We analyzed the results of treatment of 372 patients who underwent 408 procedures, 197 such procedures in asymptomatic, and 211 in symptomatic individuals. Stenting procedures were performed using a technique and armamentarium which were tailored to the type and anatomy of lesions. There were 6 (1.5%) strokes, including 2 (0.5%) major strokes, 1 ipsi- and 1 contralateral, and 4 (1.0%) minor strokes. In asymptomatic patients there was 1 (0.3%) minor stroke. Transient ischemic attacks occurred in 5 (1.2%) patients. There were 2 (0.5%) non-STEMI myocardial infarctions and 2 (0.5%) non-stroke related fatalities. Risk factors of these adverse events were diabetes mellitus, lesions localized in a tortuous segment of the artery, embolic material in the filter and bilateral stenoses of carotid arteries. Additional risk factors in asymptomatic patients were renal impairment and advanced coronary artery disease; and in symptomatic patients, grade 3 arterial hypertension, dislipidemia, cigarette smoking and lesions requiring predilatation. Stenting procedures of extracranial arteries supplying the brain, which are tailored to the type and anatomy of lesions, seem to be relatively safe.

Exploring inattention and distraction in the SafetyNet Accident Causation Database.

PubMed

Talbot, Rachel; Fagerlind, Helen; Morris, Andrew

2013-11-01

Distraction and inattention are considered to be very important and prevalent factors in the causation of road accidents. There have been many recent research studies which have attempted to understand the circumstances under which a driver becomes distracted or inattentive and how distraction/inattention can be prevented. Both factors are thought to have become more important in recent times partly due to the evolution of in-vehicle information and communication technology. This study describes a methodology that was developed to understand when factors such as distraction and inattention may have been contributors to crashes and also describes some of the consequences of distraction and inattention in terms of subsequent driver actions. The study uses data relating to distraction and inattention from the SafetyNet Accident Causation Database. This database was formulated as part of the SafetyNet project to address the lack of representative in-depth accident causation data within the European Union. Data were collected in 6 European countries using 'on-scene' and 'nearly on-scene' crash investigation methodologies. 32% of crashes recorded in the database, involved at least one driver, rider or pedestrian, who was determined to be 'Inattentive' or 'Distracted'. 212 of the drivers were assigned 'Distraction' and 140 drivers were given the code 'Inattention'. It was found that both distraction and inattention often lead to missed observations within the driving task and consequently 'Timing' or 'Direction' become critical events in the aetiology of crashes. In addition, the crash types and outcomes may differ according to the type and nature of the distraction and inattention as determined by the in-depth investigations. The development of accident coding methodology is described in this study as is its evolution into the Driver Reliability and Error Analysis Model (DREAM) version 3.0. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comparison of contributing factors between alcohol related single vehicle motorcycle and car crashes.

PubMed

Maistros, Alexander; Schneider, William H; Savolainen, Peter T

2014-06-01

Alcohol related crashes have accounted for approximately 35% of fatal crashes per year since 1994 nationwide, with approximately 30% involving impairment over the legal blood alcohol content limit of 0.08%. Educational campaigns and law enforcement efforts are two components of multi-faceted programs aimed toward reducing impaired driving. It is crucial that further research be conducted to guide the implementation of enforcement and educational programs. This research attempts to provide such guidance by examining differences in alcohol-involved crashes involving motorcycles and passenger cars. Prior safety research has shown that motorcyclists follow a significantly different culture than the average passenger car operator. These cultural differences may be reflected by differences in the contributing factors affecting crashes and the severity of the resulting injuries sustained by the driver or motorcyclist. This research is focused on single-vehicle crashes only, in order to isolate modal effects from the contribution of additional vehicles. The crash data provided for this study are from the Ohio Department of Public Safety from 2009 through 2012. The injury severity data are analysed through the development of two mixed logit models, one for motorcyclists and one for passenger car drivers. The models quantify the effects of various factors, including horizontal curves, speeds, seatbelt use, and helmet use, which indicate that the required motor skills and balance needed for proper motorcycle operation compounded with a lack of mechanical protection make motorcyclists more prone to severe injuries, particularly on curves and in collisions with roadside objects. The findings of this study have been incorporated into combined motorcycle and sober driving educational safety campaigns. The results have shown to be favorable in supporting national campaign messages with local justification and backing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental factors influencing older adults' walking for transportation: a study using walk-along interviews.

PubMed

Van Cauwenberg, Jelle; Van Holle, Veerle; Simons, Dorien; Deridder, Riet; Clarys, Peter; Goubert, Liesbet; Nasar, Jack; Salmon, Jo; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Deforche, Benedicte

2012-07-10

Current knowledge on the relationship between the physical environment and walking for transportation among older adults (≥ 65 years) is limited. Qualitative research can provide valuable information and inform further research. However, qualitative studies are scarce and fail to include neighborhood outings necessary to study participants' experiences and perceptions while interacting with and interpreting the local social and physical environment. The current study sought to uncover the perceived environmental influences on Flemish older adults' walking for transportation. To get detailed and context-sensitive environmental information, it used walk-along interviews. Purposeful convenience sampling was used to recruit 57 older adults residing in urban or semi-urban areas. Walk-along interviews to and from a destination (e.g. a shop) located within a 15 minutes' walk from the participants' home were conducted. Content analysis was performed using NVivo 9 software (QSR International). An inductive approach was used to derive categories and subcategories from the data. Data were categorized in the following categories and subcategories: access to facilities (shops & services, public transit, connectivity), walking facilities (sidewalk quality, crossings, legibility, benches), traffic safety (busy traffic, behavior of other road users), familiarity, safety from crime (physical factors, other persons), social contacts, aesthetics (buildings, natural elements, noise & smell, openness, decay) and weather. The findings indicate that to promote walking for transportation a neighborhood should provide good access to shops and services, well-maintained walking facilities, aesthetically appealing places, streets with little traffic and places for social interaction. In addition, the neighborhood environment should evoke feelings of familiarity and safety from crime. Future quantitative studies should investigate if (changes in) these environmental factors relate to (changes in) older adults' walking for transportation.

Cardiovascular benefits and safety of non-insulin medications used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed

Yandrapalli, Srikanth; Jolly, George; Horblitt, Adam; Sanaani, Abdallah; Aronow, Wilbert S

2017-11-01

Diabetes mellitus is a growing in exponential proportions. If the current growth trend continues, it may result in every third adult in the United States having diabetes mellitus by 2050, and every 10 th adult worldwide. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) confers a 2- to 3-fold increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) events compared with non-diabetic patients, and CV mortality is responsible for around 80% mortality in this population. Patients with T2DM can have other features of insulin resistance-metabolic syndrome like hypertension, lipid abnormalities, and obesity which are all associated with increased CV disease and stroke risk even in the absence of T2DM. The management of a T2DM calls for employing a holistic risk factor control approach. Metformin is the first line therapy for T2DM and has been shown to have cardiovascular beneficial effects. Intense debate regarding the risk of myocardial infarction with rosiglitazone led to regulatory agencies necessitating cardiovascular outcome trials with upcoming anti-diabetic medications. Glucagon like peptide-1 agonists and sodium glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors have shown promising CV safety and additional CV benefit in recent clinical trials. These drugs have favorable effects on traditional CV risk factors. The findings from these studies further support that fact that CV risk factor control plays an important role in reducing morbidity and mortality in T2DM patients. This review article will discuss briefly the cardiovascular safety and benefits of the oral medications which are currently being used for T2DM and will then discuss in detail about the newer medications being investigated for the treatment of T2DM.

Environmental factors influencing older adults’ walking for transportation: a study using walk-along interviews

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Current knowledge on the relationship between the physical environment and walking for transportation among older adults (≥ 65 years) is limited. Qualitative research can provide valuable information and inform further research. However, qualitative studies are scarce and fail to include neighborhood outings necessary to study participants’ experiences and perceptions while interacting with and interpreting the local social and physical environment. The current study sought to uncover the perceived environmental influences on Flemish older adults’ walking for transportation. To get detailed and context-sensitive environmental information, it used walk-along interviews. Methods Purposeful convenience sampling was used to recruit 57 older adults residing in urban or semi-urban areas. Walk-along interviews to and from a destination (e.g. a shop) located within a 15 minutes’ walk from the participants’ home were conducted. Content analysis was performed using NVivo 9 software (QSR International). An inductive approach was used to derive categories and subcategories from the data. Results Data were categorized in the following categories and subcategories: access to facilities (shops & services, public transit, connectivity), walking facilities (sidewalk quality, crossings, legibility, benches), traffic safety (busy traffic, behavior of other road users), familiarity, safety from crime (physical factors, other persons), social contacts, aesthetics (buildings, natural elements, noise & smell, openness, decay) and weather. Conclusions The findings indicate that to promote walking for transportation a neighborhood should provide good access to shops and services, well-maintained walking facilities, aesthetically appealing places, streets with little traffic and places for social interaction. In addition, the neighborhood environment should evoke feelings of familiarity and safety from crime. Future quantitative studies should investigate if (changes in) these environmental factors relate to (changes in) older adults’ walking for transportation. PMID:22780948

Culture related to road traffic safety: a comparison of eight countries using two conceptualizations of culture.

PubMed

Nordfjærn, Trond; Şimşekoğlu, Özlem; Rundmo, Torbjorn

2014-01-01

The majority of previous cross-country studies of human factors relevant to traffic safety have not operationalized and measured culture. Also studies in this vein have mostly been carried out in Europe and the United States. The aim of the study was to examine country cluster differences, based on the Culture's Consequences framework, in road traffic risk perception, attitudes towards traffic safety and driver behaviour in samples from Norway, Russia, India, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Turkey and Iran. An additional aim was to examine cluster differences in road traffic culture as symbol use and to investigate whether this theoretical cultural framework predicts risk perception, attitudes towards traffic safety and driver behaviour in the country clusters. The sample consisted of a total of 2418 individuals who were obtained by convenience sampling in the different countries. The countries segmented into four Culture's Consequences clusters; Norway, Russia and India, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Near East countries. The findings showed that Norwegians reported overall safer attitudes towards traffic safety and driver behaviour than the remaining country clusters. Individuals in Africa reported the highest risk perception. The countries also differed substantially in road traffic culture as symbol use. Contrary to established cultural theory, prediction models revealed that cultural factors were stronger predictors of driver behaviour than of risk perception. Also, the social cognitive risk constructs (i.e. risk perception and attitudes) solely explained variance in driver behaviour in the Norwegian and Russia/India clusters. Previous empirical efforts, which aimed to demonstrate that culture is important for the risk perception criterion, may have focused on a criterion variable that is not strongly related to driver behaviour. Furthermore, countermeasures aimed to influence social cognition may have stronger applicability in countries with a more individualistic western cultural orientation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

29 CFR 1918.62 - Miscellaneous auxiliary gear.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... appendix II to this part. A design safety factor of at least five shall be maintained for the common sizes... cranes, designed to be used with lesser wire rope safety factors; (ii) According to design factors in... pre-slung drafts. (3) Eye splices shall consist of at least three full tucks. Short splices shall...

29 CFR 1918.62 - Miscellaneous auxiliary gear.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... appendix II to this part. A design safety factor of at least five shall be maintained for the common sizes... cranes, designed to be used with lesser wire rope safety factors; (ii) According to design factors in... pre-slung drafts. (3) Eye splices shall consist of at least three full tucks. Short splices shall...

9. BUILDING 65 ADDITION. LASER SAFETY TEAM. FLOOR PLAN, ELEVATIONS, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

9. BUILDING 65 ADDITION. LASER SAFETY TEAM. FLOOR PLAN, ELEVATIONS, ETC. March 21, 1973 - Frankford Arsenal, Building No. 65, South of Tacony Street between Bridge Street & tracks of former Pennsylvania Railroad, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA

Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology | Transportation Research | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Outlines Safety Considerations for Hydrogen Technologies While safety requirements for industrial uses of vehicles have created the need for additional safety requirements. The new Hydrogen Technologies Safety hydrogen safety in context. For example, code officials reviewing permit applications for hydrogen projects

Aviation safety data accessibility study index: a report on the issues related to public interest in aviation safety data

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-01-20

This paper reviews aviation safety data and measurement issues relevant to the determination of the best means of providing safety information to the public while ensuring the integrity of the aviation safety system. In addition , the paper examines ...

ESCMID Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH) Consensus Document on the safety of targeted and biological therapies: an infectious diseases perspective (Soluble immune effector molecules [I]: anti-tumor necrosis factor-α agents).

PubMed

Baddley, J W; Cantini, F; Goletti, D; Gómez-Reino, J J; Mylonakis, E; San-Juan, R; Fernández-Ruiz, M; Torre-Cisneros, J

2018-06-01

The present review is part of the ESCMID Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH) Consensus Document on the safety of targeted and biological therapies. To review, from an Infectious Diseases perspective, the safety profile of agents targeting tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and to suggest preventive recommendations. Computer-based MEDLINE searches with MeSH terms pertaining to each agent or therapeutic family. Preclinical and clinical evidence indicate that anti-TNF-α therapy (infliximab, adalimumab, golimumab, certolizumab pegol and etanercept) is associated with a two-to four-fold increase in the risk of active tuberculosis and other granulomatous conditions (mostly resulting from the reactivation of a latent infection). In addition, it may lead to the occurrence of other serious infections (bacterial, fungal, opportunistic and certain viral infections). These associated risks seem to be lower for etanercept than other agents. Screening for latent tuberculosis infection should be performed before starting anti-TNF-α therapy, followed by anti-tuberculosis therapy if appropriate. Screening for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is also recommended, and antiviral prophylaxis may be warranted for hepatitis B surface antigen-positive individuals. No benefit is expected from the use of antibacterial, anti-Pneumocystis or antifungal prophylaxis. Pneumococcal and age-appropriate antiviral vaccinations (i.e. influenza) should be administered. Live-virus vaccines (i.e. varicella-zoster virus or measles-mumps-rubella) may be contraindicated in people receiving anti-TNF-α therapy, although additional data are needed before definitive recommendations can be made. Prevention measures should be implemented to reduce the risk of latent tuberculosis or HBV reactivation among individuals receiving anti-TNF-α therapy. Copyright © 2018 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigation of the safety effects of knee bolster air bag deployment in similar real-world crash comparisons.

PubMed

Weaver, Ashley A; Loftis, Kathryn L; Stitzel, Joel D

2013-01-01

The lower extremity is the most frequently injured body region and knee-thigh-hip (KTH) injuries account for half of these injuries. Knee bolster air bags (KBABs) have been incorporated in some vehicles to serve as an additional restraint for the occupant's knees and reduce KTH injuries. To investigate the safety benefits of KBABs, similar frontal crashes with opposing KBAB deployment were selected from the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) database. An 8-point similarity scoring algorithm was used to quantify crash and occupant similarity and select case comparisons. A total of 183 cases without a KBAB were scored for similarity to 9 KBAB cases. These similarity scores were used to select 31 final case comparisons. The effect of KBAB deployment on occupant injury patterns was investigated with a particular focus on KTH injuries. Over half of the occupants exposed to a KBAB sustained no KTH injuries and a reduction in femur fractures was observed in KBAB occupants (P = .036). However, increases in proximal tibia/fibula and foot/ankle fractures were observed in KBAB occupants (P = .022 and .002, respectively). Mildly significant decreases in pelvic fractures and Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 2+ head injuries were observed in the KBAB occupants, supporting the notion that KBABs reduce forward occupant excursion (P = .094 and .055, respectively). Investigation of each case comparison yielded further insight into the reasons for injury pattern differences between cases with opposing KBAB deployment. In addition to KBAB deployment status, differences in occupant factors (age, height, and weight) and crash factors (delta V and belt use) between the cases for a particular comparison could explain variation in injury patterns. The current study presents a preliminary in-depth qualitative and quantitative assessment of KBAB safety benefits. However, further investigation is recommended to provide conclusive evidence of KBAB effectiveness.

BAY 81-8973, a full-length recombinant factor VIII: Human heat shock protein 70 improves the manufacturing process without affecting clinical safety.

PubMed

Maas Enriquez, Monika; Thrift, John; Garger, Stephen; Katterle, Yvonne

2016-11-01

BAY 81-8973 is a full-length, unmodified recombinant human factor VIII (FVIII) approved for the treatment of hemophilia A. BAY 81-8973 has the same amino acid sequence as the currently marketed sucrose-formulated recombinant FVIII (rFVIII-FS) product and is produced using additional advanced manufacturing technologies. One of the key manufacturing advances for BAY 81-8973 is introduction of the gene for human heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) into the rFVIII-FS cell line. HSP70 facilitates proper folding of proteins, enhances cell survival by inhibiting apoptosis, and potentially impacts rFVIII glycosylation. HSP70 expression in the BAY 81-8973 cell line along with other manufacturing advances resulted in a higher-producing cell line and improvements in the pharmacokinetics of the final product as determined in clinical studies. HSP70 protein is not detected in the harvest or in the final BAY 81-8973 product. However, because this is a new process, clinical trial safety assessments included monitoring for anti-HSP70 antibodies. Most patients, across all age groups, had low levels of anti-HSP70 antibodies before exposure to the investigational product. During BAY 81-8973 treatment, 5% of patients had sporadic increases in anti-HSP70 antibody levels above a predefined threshold (cutoff value, 239 ng/mL). No clinical symptoms related to anti-HSP70 antibody development occurred. In conclusion, addition of HSP70 to the BAY 81-8973 cell line is an innovative technology for manufacturing rFVIII aimed at improving protein folding and expression. Improved pharmacokinetics and no effect on safety of BAY 81-8973 were observed in clinical trials in patients with hemophilia A. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Connecticut Department of Transportation safety techniques enhancement plan.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-03-15

The Highway Safety Manual (HSM) defines a six-step cycle of safety management processes. This report evaluates the : Conncituct Department on how well conform to the six safety management steps. The methods recommended in the HSM : require additional...

Results of a community-based survey of construction safety climate for Hispanic workers.

PubMed

Marin, Luz S; Cifuentes, Manuel; Roelofs, Cora

2015-01-01

Hispanic construction workers experience high rates of occupational injury, likely influenced by individual, organizational, and social factors. To characterize the safety climate of Hispanic construction workers using worker, contractor, and supervisor perceptions of the workplace. We developed a 40-item interviewer-assisted survey with six safety climate dimensions and administered it in Spanish and English to construction workers, contractors, and supervisors. A safety climate model, comparing responses and assessing contributing factors was created based on survey responses. While contractors and construction supervisors' (n = 128) scores were higher, all respondents shared a negative perception of safety climate. Construction workers had statistically significantly lower safety climate scores compared to supervisors and contractors (30·6 vs 46·5%, P<0·05). Safety climate scores were not associated with English language ability or years lived in the United States. We found that Hispanic construction workers in this study experienced a poor safety climate. The Hispanic construction safety climate model we propose can serve as a framework to guide organizational safety interventions and evaluate safety climate improvements.

Results of a community-based survey of construction safety climate for Hispanic workers

PubMed Central

Marin, Luz S; Cifuentes, Manuel; Roelofs, Cora

2015-01-01

Background: Hispanic construction workers experience high rates of occupational injury, likely influenced by individual, organizational, and social factors. Objectives: To characterize the safety climate of Hispanic construction workers using worker, contractor, and supervisor perceptions of the workplace. Methods: We developed a 40-item interviewer-assisted survey with six safety climate dimensions and administered it in Spanish and English to construction workers, contractors, and supervisors. A safety climate model, comparing responses and assessing contributing factors was created based on survey responses. Results: While contractors and construction supervisors’ (n = 128) scores were higher, all respondents shared a negative perception of safety climate. Construction workers had statistically significantly lower safety climate scores compared to supervisors and contractors (30.6 vs 46.5%, P<0.05). Safety climate scores were not associated with English language ability or years lived in the United States. Conclusions: We found that Hispanic construction workers in this study experienced a poor safety climate. The Hispanic construction safety climate model we propose can serve as a framework to guide organizational safety interventions and evaluate safety climate improvements. PMID:26145454