Dental practice requires unique working conditions such as prolonged working hours, strained body postures and laborious, high finesse dental techniques. However, it can be more efficiently performed by the application of ergonomics, rather than physically forcing the worker's body to fit the job. Posture is highly influenced by factors such as inadequate working level, incorrect patient positioning, and poor visual comfort. In order to eliminate musculoskeletal disorders it is necessary to control these and other factors, and design the human work environment to be more ergonomic. The aim of this study was to assess ergonomics within Indian dental practice and elucidate factors that prevented application of ergonomics. An observational study was conducted among 58 Indian dentists, both from a private dental hospital and clinics. A questionnaire that consisted of 37 open-ended and closed-ended questions was used as a research tool for the study. Information on background characteristics, work environment, equipment, work administration, and ergonomic awareness was collected using the questionnaire. Sampling consisted of observing 37 male and 21 female dentists. A total of 58 individuals, 62 % ( 36), worked for a private dental hospital, and 38% (22) for dental clinics. A majority, 84.5% (49), of the dentists reported that they did not receive ergonomic training from their work administration. Most dentists, 96% (56), reported that there was no system of recordkeeping for workplace accidents. Lack of proper ergonomic training and no system of recordkeeping for workplace accidents were found to be the primary factors for not applying ergonomics by Indian dentists. Ergonomic training programs are needed in India to help educate dentists on workplace safety and health, and thus aid in reducing musculoskeletal pain. Finally, a system is needed in Indian dental practice to promote workplace safety and health by identifying workplace hazards that result in injuries.

Thesis (LLM. (Development and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2012 / Occupational health, safety and wellbeing of employees is an important factor in the socioeconomic development of a country hence the need for South Africa as a developmental state, to give priority to the health and safety of employees in the country as employees are key to socio-economic development. The right to an environment that is not detrimental to the health and wellbeing of employees is also entrenched in the Constitution of the Republic making it a fundamental right which should be enjoyed by all. Laws related to occupational health and safety have been enacted in South Africa with a view to, on the one hand, prevent occupational injuries, diseases or deaths and on the other hand to provide compensation where such occurs. This study seeks to determine which of the laws are applicable, whether they are reasonable when compared to the constitutional requirements and South Africa’s obligations as a member of the international community. Comparisons are also made with other countries and recommendations made for the South African government to adequately ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of employees in the country.

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) departments in many organizations are faced with two interrelated problems which limit their ability to make accurate decisions based on quality data. First, many EHS departments follow a reactive business management model and need to work towards a proactive continuous improvement model to better manage EHS. The second is a lack of data integration and interoperability between the numerous different EHS data sources and systems. EHS departments are challenged with managing large quantities of data generated through tracking and monitoring programs to continuously improve EHS performance. EHS data can be in many forms paper, digital files, spreadsheets, images, relational databases and proprietary software applications. EHS data have strong spatial relationships, which makes the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) a very cost effective and feasible solution for integrating and managing EHS data. This thesis will outline how GIS brings to EHS the advantages of traditional IT methods with the added benefit of spatial analytical operations such as map overlay, relationships and querying, and informative visual presentation through maps, floor plans, and imagery through the implementation of a GIS database for EHS called GeoSpatial Environmental Health and Safety (GEO-EHS).

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) departments in many organizations are faced with two interrelated problems which limit their ability to make accurate decisions based on quality data. First, many EHS departments follow a reactive business management model and need to work towards a proactive continuous improvement model to better manage EHS. The second is a lack of data integration and interoperability between the numerous different EHS data sources and systems. EHS departments are challenged with managing large quantities of data generated through tracking and monitoring programs to continuously improve EHS performance. EHS data can be in many forms paper, digital files, spreadsheets, images, relational databases and proprietary software applications. EHS data have strong spatial relationships, which makes the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) a very cost effective and feasible solution for integrating and managing EHS data. This thesis will outline how GIS brings to EHS the advantages of traditional IT methods with the added benefit of spatial analytical operations such as map overlay, relationships and querying, and informative visual presentation through maps, floor plans, and imagery through the implementation of a GIS database for EHS called GeoSpatial Environmental Health and Safety (GEO-EHS).

Sammanfattning   Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva kommunala chefers uppfattningar om vilka faktorer som främjar systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete (SAM). SAM är lagstadgat i Arbetsmiljölagen och är ett viktigt redskap för att skapa en god arbetsmiljö, ökad effektivitet och minskade kostnader. Stödet till chefer och organisationer i deras arbete med SAM är en viktig uppgift för företagssköterskor i företagshälsovården. Antonovskys (1987/1991) teori, känsla av sammanhang (KASAM) och i huvudsak det salutogena, hälsofrämjande synsättet ligger till grund för studien. Studien har en kvalitativt beskrivande design. Datainsamlingen har skett genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex enhetschefer från två svenska kommuner. Dessa har analyserats med innehållsanalys som metod. Cheferna företräder olika delar av den kommunala verksamheten. Alla har erfarenhet av systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete och har personalansvar för fler än 15 anställda. Cheferna beskriver chefskapet, medarbetarskapet, god organisation, resurser och erfarenheter från tidigare arbetsmiljöarbete som främjande faktorer. Chefskapets ansvar är att skapa struktur i form av mål, rutiner och systematiska arbetssätt som årsplaneringar och handlingsplaner. Det ska även skapa systematiska sätt att inventera den fysiska och psykosociala arbetsmiljön genom skyddsronder och forum där medarbetarskap och chefskap kan mötas. Arbetsplatsträffar, medarbetarsamtal och fokusgrupper är exempel på detta. Organisationen kan verka främjande men är också den faktor som cheferna anger som en icke påverkbar faktor för SAM. De nämner ekonomiska och personalramar, organisationsstrukturer, omorganisationer och konkurrensutsättning. Ett identifierat och uppbyggt nätverk av stödjande resurser som företagshälsovård (FHV), human resources (HR) och kollegor är en främjande faktor. Alla faktorer är viktiga var för sig men enligt cheferna är det absolut viktigaste en dynamisk samverkan mellan chefskapet, medarbetarskapet, organisationens krav och övriga stödjande resurser samt begränsande faktorer. Detta blev temat för studien. / Abstract   This study aims to describe the municipal managers´ perceptions of the factors that promote systematic occupational health and safety management (SOHSM). SOHSM is part of the Work Environment Act and is an important tool to create a good working environment, to increased efficiency and reduced costs. The occupational health nurse has an important task to support managers and organizations in their work. Antonovsky's (1987/1991) theory, sense of coherence (SOC) and essentially the salutogenic, health promotional approach has been the basis of this study. The study seeks to ascertain the factors that unit managers within the municipality consider promote SOHSM. The study has a qualitative descriptive design. Data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with six managers from two Swedish municipalities. These interviews were analyzed using content analysis method. The managers represent different parts of the municipal operations. All have experience in SOHSM, and are responsible for more than 15 employees. The promoting factors described by the managers are leadership, employees’ engagement, supportive organization, resources and experience from previous SOHSM.  Leadership responsibility is to create a structure of goals, procedures, and a systematic approach to annual planning and action plans. It should also create a systematic way to survey the physical and psychosocial work environment through safety checks and forums where employees and managers can meet. Workplace meetings, performance reviews and focus groups are examples of this. The organization may act promotional but can also be a non-responsive factor for SOHSM, according to the managers. They mention financial and human resources frameworks, organizational structures, reorganisations and competition. An identified and structured network of supportive resources such as occupational health, human resources (HR) and colleagues is a promoting factor. All factors are important themselves according to the managers, but most important is a dynamic interaction between the leadership, the employees’ engagement, organization requirements and other supportive resources and limiting factors. This became the theme of the study.

The aim of this thesis is to determine the state of occupational health and safety of the construction industry among other industries in Turkey. For this purpose, data such as the number of occupational diseases, the number of occupational injuries, the number of cases of permanent incapacity to work and the number of fatal occupational injuries in each industry are derived from official sources. The comparison of the construction industry with other industries in terms of occupational health and safety is made with the comparative measures calculated with these data. In addition, it is intended to determine some characteristics of the occupational injuries and victims in the construction industry. Therefore, the distribution of more than 22,700 data concerning occupational injuries according to some selected variables is taken into account.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the hazard identification, risk assessment and related determining controls aspects of occupational health and safety topic, within the framework of a safety management system, for the construction industry. To achieve this purpose, a literature survey is carried out with specific emphasis on the standards, guidelines, codes of practices and other documents published by authorized institutions and national legislation related with the subject. The Marmaray Project, which is considered as one of the major transportation infrastructure projects in Turkey, is chosen as the case study area. In the Marmaray Project, the case study is carried out at &Uuml / sk&uuml / dar Underground Station Construction Site as an example for the cut and coverunderground station construction and at Yedikule Tunnel Construction Site for the tunnel construction and achieved results are assessed within the context of this thesis.

The well-being of tourists or visitors within a destination has, until recently, received little attention. Issues relating to the personal safety and health of the travelling public have been highlighted by a number of high profile incidents of terrorist attacks, large scale natural disasters and life threatening epidemics. While such events are devastating in nature and of great concern, for the majority of travellers, health and personal safety are more likely to be impacted on by illness, being involved in an accident or becoming the victim of crime. This thesis contributes to our existing understanding of how tourism can be affected by incidents by selecting a definable geographical area and investigating the available data from official sources to examine the dimensions, scale and nature of visitor-related incidents of crime, road traffic accidents and emergency health care. This audit was undertaken through collaborative research with the Central Scotland Police Force, the Central Scotland Road Accident Investigation Unit and the National Health Service Forth Valley. Primary research was then undertaken with visitors to the area. This in-depth approach looks beyond existing statistics to probe factors contributing to visitor-related incidents, in relation to existing tourism literature. The results indicate that, visitors experience incidents that differ in nature and type from those experienced by local residents, and the times and places they were most at risk also varied. With visitors accounting for less than 10% of the total population, these differences are not apparent in the overall patterns and, therefore, the particular needs of visitors are unlikely to be met through existing measures. This research has the ability to form the basis of improved measures to benefit visitor health and personal safety even though the nature of the visiting population presents challenges in relation to when, where and how such preventative measures are introduced. Visitors are not homogenous and distinct groupings based on perceptions, attitudes and behaviours were found. Therefore, there is a requirement to examine how incidents impact on visitors by distinguishing them from the overall incident figures, but measures to protect visitors also have to be tailored to take cognisance of typologies of visitors.