"Back injuries have consistently been the most common types of injuries suffered by people at work. They have been a significant worker injury problem in most, if not all, industrialised countries for many years and manual handling has long been established as a significant task related back injury causal factor.[...] This research project established that the manufacturers of the jet airlines used by the airlines in this study had not previously been acquainted with the issue of baggage handler back injuries.[...] This study also canvassed the opinion of airline safety professionals and airline baggage handlers concerning baggage handling tasks and working environment related causal factors. [...] A major focus of this research project was also to measure the effect of ACE and Sliding Carpet, two commercially available retro-fit baggage systems, on the risk of back injuries to baggage handlers stacking baggage within Boeing B737 narrow-body aircraft." / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: B, page: 0915. Adviser: Benjamin C. Amick, III. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Radiography)-Dept. of Radiography, Durban University of Technology, 2006 xi, 86 leaves, Annexures A-Q / The study will determine the sulphur dioxide (SO2) levels in the x-ray department and evaluate it’s effects on the health of the radiology workers. The aim of the study is to mainly create awareness of occupational hazards posed by processing chemistry to radiology workers.

Ce travail de recherche s'intéresse aux pratiques de maîtrise des risques d'acteurs engagés dans des situations critiques, distribuées et instables, à savoir de vastes projets de modernisation des installations ferroviaires. Il interroge la façon dont la division technique et « morale » du travail, la complexité socio-technique, la distribution du travail et des pressions de production peuvent affecter ces pratiques, en développant une perspective interactionniste. Il montre le rôle joué par les dynamiques intra et inter-groupes professionnels dans la maîtrise des risques, et questionne tout particulièrement le lien entre travail d'articulation et sécurité. Il s'appuie sur une méthodologie dite de « retour d'expérience élargie » de plusieurs incidents, ainsi que sur des entretiens et des observations de situations de travail. Il s'inscrit dans le cadre d'un programme de recherche lancé en 2006 par la FonCSI intitulé ‘Facteurs socio-culturels du retour d'expérience'. / This work is about the risk control practices of workers engaged in critical, distributed and unstable work situations, i.e. large modernization projects of railway operation system. It questions the way the technical and “moral” division of work, socio-technical complexity, distribution of work and production pressures can affect these practices, by adopting an interactionnist approach. It shows the role played by intra and inter-groups dynamics in risk control practices and questions especially the link between articulation work and safety. It uses a “broad learning from experience” methodology based on the comparative analysis of several near-misses and “normal” work situations. This work falls within the framework of a research program supported by the FonCSI called ‘Socio-cultural factors of learning from experience'.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-08-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:30:46Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 queiroz_frc_me_bauru.pdf: 907123 bytes, checksum: 0089cd5002e3325a1111218cf4f9b9c7 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O setor da cana-de-açúcar sempre foi muito bem visto no Brasil; nos séculos XVI e XVII com a grande aceitação do açúcar no mercado europeu e alto valor financeiro agregado ao produto, houve uma grande expansão do setor no nordeste brasileiro devido à adaptação da plantação ao clima e à grande presença do trabalho escravo africano no cultivo. Na década de 70 do século XX houve um salto do setor sucroenergético com a produção do etanol como fonte alternativa de energia e à fabricação do carro a álcool em um período de altas do petróleo no mercado mundial. Junto com a rápida evolução do setor sucroenergético, vieram também os problemas ecológicos e sociais. Grandes corporações subsidiadas pelo Governo Federal no Projeto Próacool, recebiam as verbas e benefícios para uma produção mais eficiente e limpa. Com todos esses problemas, no final da década de 80 do século XX, o setor entrou em desaceleração. No início do século XXI o setor vive uma oportunidade histórica, pois com o fim anunciado das reservas de petróleo e as catástrofes devido às mudanças climáticas causadas pelo homem, hoje o etanol brasileiro é visto pelo mundo como uma fonte alternativa e sustentável; sem contar com o alto valor do açúcar pelo mercado europeu como nos séculos XVI e XVII. Mas o setor não é só alegria, pois luta contra os problemas de vivência dos tratos dos trabalhadores do setor, que se assemelha muito ao trabalho escravo sofrido pelos africanos no período áureo do açúcar. Apesar de o governo fiscalizar e criar novas leis, como a NR 31 (Norma Regulamentadora - Segurança e Saúde no trabalho na agricultura, pecuária silvicultura, exploração florestal e aquicultura); os trabalhadores do setor sucroenergético tem tido pouca atenção dos profissionais que desenvolvem produtos para este setor. Tudo que se é exigido... / The sector of cane sugas has always been well regarded in Brazil, in the sixteenth and seventheenth centuries with great acceptance in the European market for sugar and high value added to the product, there was a great expansion of the sector in northeastern Brazil due to adaptation plantation climate and large presence of African slave labor in cultivation. In the 70s of the twentieth century there was a jump of the sugarcane industry with the production of ethanol as an alternative energy source and manufacture the car with alcohol in period of high oil on the world market. Along with the rapid development of the sugarcane industry, came also the ecological and social problems. Large corporations subsidized by the Federal Government in Proálcool Project, received the money and benefits for a cleaner and more efficient production. With all these problems in the late 80s of the twentieth century, the industry went into deceleration. At the beginning of the XXI century industry is experiencing a historic opportunity, because with the announced end of oil reserves and disasters due to climate change caused by humans, today Brazilian ethanol is seen by the world as an alternative and sustainable source, not counting the high amount of sugar in the European market as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. But the industry is not only joy, for combating the problems of living the treatment of workers in the sector, which closely resembles slave labor suffered by Africans in the heyday of sugar. Althrough the government oversee and create new laws, as the NR 31 (Norm - Safety and Health at Work in agriculture, forestry livestock, forestry and aquaculture); workers in the sugarcane industry has had little attention from professionals who develope products for this sector. All that is required is adapted from another industry... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

M.Cur. / Occupational health nurses are qualified registered nurses with a post-graduate qualification in occupational health nursing as a specialised discipline, and provide the basic healthcare aspect of the occupational health programme. Their most important activity is to identify and assess the health hazard risks in the workplace. Health risk assessments are conducted by occupational health nurses to determine all the stresses, e.g. hazardous chemicals, vibration, insufficient lighting, noise exposure and thermal exposure, which may affect employees‟ health and working efficiency. The researcher conducted audits and, over a period of time, observed that 85% (n=23) of occupational health nurses in different settings conduct health risk assessments only to a certain extent. The following questions were raised: To what extent do occupational health nurses conduct health risk assessments? What are the possible reasons for them conducting the health risk assessments only to a certain extent, or not at all? What can be done to improve this? The purpose of this study was thus to explore and describe the extent to which occupational health nurses conduct health risk assessments; and the possible reasons for not conducting them or conducting them only to a certain extent. Guidelines were developed to assist occupational health nurses in conducting health risk assessments. A quantitative, descriptive design was used in this study. A sampling frame was developed from a list of all the members of the South African Society of Occupational Health Nursing Practitioners (SASOHN) in Gauteng. From the target population of occupational health nurses in Gauteng, a systematic cluster sampling method was used. A developed questionnaire was distributed by mail and e-mails, and reminders were sent by the researcher to the respondents (Burns & Grove, 2006). The researcher ensured validity and reliability throughout the study by means of theoretical review, content securing and statistical assistance (Burns & Grove, 2006). Ethical standards of the right to self-determination, right to privacy, right to confidentiality and autonomy, right to fair treatment and right to protection from discomfort and harm were adhered to. The findings revealed that the occupational health nurse is a mature, predominately female experienced practitioner who operates on behalf of a disproportionably large number of employees. Four factors influencing these nurses in conducting a health risk assessment to a certain extent were identified: competence, ignorance about the role of the occupational health nurse, workload and attitude. The researcher formulated guidelines to assist practising occupational health nurses to conduct health risk assessments.

Occupational injuries and illnesses remain to be a heavy burden on workers and employees in industrial developing and industrially developed societies, and health and safety in workplaces continues to be an important issue for ergonomists. Steps are being taken to stimulate health and safety agendas and to discover ways in which health and safety in industries can be improved. The main responsibility of employers is to provide employees with information, instructions and training that they required to carry out their work tasks in a healthy, practical and safe manner. The role of education as a countermeasure to occupational injury and illness is being re-examined by health and safety practitioners and safety training is being considered as a vital part of accident prevention strategies. Effective training programmes should guarantee that workers possess the skills they require to complete their tasks in a safe and healthy manner. Very little is known about the type and quality of training workers undergo and how that training affects the safety outcomes of companies. There has been an attempt over the past 20 years to increase the research on safety communications and a great deal of this research has been focused on safety warnings; with the greatest attention been placed on the components of safety signs, such as colours, size, shapes and icons. The effects of these components on comprehension with relation to age and education have not received the same amount of attention. The impact of familiarity on safety warnings with respect to age and education has also received very little attention; despite the knowledge that familiarity has been shown to increase the noticing of warnings and the comprehension of safety information. Despite the increase in the research on safety communication, the literature and research in South Africa is scarce. Studies present in South Africa do not encompass the comprehension of safety signs or the ability of individuals with different age and education levels to learn the information included in the signs. Due to the multi-linguistic nature of South Africa and the fact that South Africa is an Industrially Developing Country (IDC) with high levels of illiteracy, issues such as the comprehension of safety information must be addressed. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of safety sign attributes on learning and familiarity, in subjects that differed in age and education levels. These effects were investigated through measuring the reaction and response times of the different subject groups, as well as the number of components in the safety signs that were recalled correctly. The combined results of these responses were used as a measure for familiarity. A set of signs was designed for the study by the researcher using three different colours, three different shapes, three different icons and text. Certain variables were omitted from some signs to create the test pool and the eight conditions that were tested in a laboratory setting. Each condition contained different components of the designed signs and 60 subjects were used to test these conditions. The subjects were placed in groups according to their age and level of education. Subjects were required to learn a set of 64 signs, either “With Occlusion” or “Without Occlusion”, and asked to recall the meanings of the components in the signs. Reaction time, response time and error rate were measured from the responses. The results showed that the conditions resulted in different reaction times, response times and error rates for all subjects. The signs containing a combination of shapes and text resulted in the best performance. Age and education were found to have a significant effect on various performance criteria as did the method in which the signs were displayed (Occlusion and No Occlusion). The increased repetitions and sessions elicited lower reaction times, response times and error rates. The conclusions drawn from this study suggest that different attributes be considered carefully when subjects are expected to learn and recall information in safety signs. The results also highlighted the need to increase the exposure of individuals to safety signs in order to increase familiarity and ultimately improve the recall and comprehension of the attributes.

The hand is one of the most complex of all of the anatomical structures in the human body. It has been found that hand injuries are among the most frequent injuries that occur to the body, predominantly during industrial activities. It has therefore been concluded that more research is needed into protective factors, such as glove use. The design features of a glove emphasise either protection or performance. There is often a trade-off between increased safety and performance capability when donning gloves. It has been determined that gloves which are fitted and comfortable for the worker may provide the best compromise between protective functions and decreased performance. This investigation aimed to assess the influence of glove fit on the performance attributes of industrial tasks, as well as on the responses of the human operator. Glove fit was analysed as 35 male participants donned three different glove sizes during each test, including a best-fitting glove, a glove one size smaller than best-fitting, and a glove one size larger than best-fitting. For each glove size, gloves of two differing materials were tested, namely nitrile and neoprene. A barehanded condition was also tested, totalling seven gloved/barehanded conditions for each test. The seven conditions were assessed in a laboratory setting in a battery of tests. This consisted of components of task performance, including maximum pulling and pushing force, maximum torque, precision of force, tactility, speed and accuracy and dexterity. The performance responses were recorded, as well as participants’ perceptual responses using the Rating of Perceived Exertion scale, and muscle activity. Six muscles were selected: Flexor Digitorum Superficialis, Flexor Pollicus Longus, Extensor Carpi Ulnaris, Extensor Carpi Radialis, Flexor Carpi Ulnaris and Flexor Carpi Radialis. The results revealed that glove fit does affect certain spects of performance, and influences human operator responses for selected task components. Furthermore, discrepancies were distinguished between orking barehanded and working with an optimally fitted glove. There was also a glove material effect established. Overall, it was found that muscle activity when exerting maximum force in a pushing and pulling direction was optimal with the nitrile glove material. Maximum torque performance was enhanced with the use of a best-fitting glove, as compared with an ill-fitting glove or barehanded work. Force precision was preferable when barehanded, as opposed to the tactility task which rendered optimal results with a best-fitting glove. The same was found for speed and accuracy results, as glove fit appeared to have no effect on performance, but performance was improved when participants were barehanded. Dexterity performance was the most conclusively influenced by the conditions, resulting in barehanded performance being optimal. However, should a glove be necessary for a given task, an optimally-fitted glove which is of a thinner material would be recommended. It is necessary to distinguish the performance components of a task within industry and select the most appropriate glove for optimal performance and the least risk of overexertion.

As chronic illnesses continue to be a burden in today’s organisations, it remains a very crucial call for management to find ways to eradicate the associated organisational problems. While people of all ages are affected by chronic illnesses, there is a higher risk of the elderly developing chronic diseases. However, as much as chronic illnesses are inevitable among employees, there should be ways at least to curb negative social and goal achievement impact which they bring in organisations. In this regard, a survey of 80 employees was conducted to examine the relationship between employees' knowledge about, contact with, and attitudes towards their co-employees with chronic illnesses (CI). Results indicated that employees' knowledge about and contact with individuals diagnosed with chronic illnesses were significantly related to better attitudes toward this population. The findings also revealed that knowledge was related to positive attitudes among employees who had more personal contact with individuals with Chronic illnesses (CI) and such findings indicate the importance of exposing employees to information about chronic illnesses and direct practice experience with individuals who have these illnesses. To be noted also is that 39% of the respondents preferred to be exposed to health bulletins and magazines; 18% of the respondents preferred the help of health workers and about a third (30%) favoured brochures, posters and printed materials such as flyers. Managerial implications for employees with chronic illness are discussed

Past research has shown a correlation between first-aid training and the reduction of injuries. This connection has been noted in off-the-job situations in addition to industrial studies. This project is an extension of those past findings with three notable differences: total population training was studied, as the intervention instead of just saturation treatment; attention was given to the effect that the half-life of training had upon injury reduction; and three randomly chosen small groups we're studied to determine short range effects. The theoretical bases from which the study hypothesis was developed originated in the Behavioral Science and Psychology literature. Discussions are developed around the mental structuring of accidental potential situations in the case of a person trained in first-aid principles. Behavior Modification was one of the principles of change that offered a.safer environment through first-aid training. Group contagion provided the setting for development of a safer place to work because of socialization to a "safe attitude." The intervention, American National Red Cross Standard Multimedia First-Aid Course, provided some of the mental developments toward modification of behavior. These were the modeling and rehearsal features of the course. A connection between group deviance and accident "proneness" led to a proposal that avoidance behavior was the resultant of the training.