Background: Work-ability is often assessed as part of the vocational rehabilitation process for injured workers. However, research highlights a concern among therapists who carry out vocational assessments that there is a lack of consistency with regard to quality and comprehensiveness using current methods of assessment. One of the reasons for this is that there are no standardized measures of work-ability available that are designed to be used for the purpose of facilitating rehabilitation. The Participation And Work-ability Support Scale (PAWSS) is a new measure, conceptualized and initially developed by Professors Lynne Turner-Stokes and Kathryn McPherson, that was designed to address this gap. Design and Methods: This research was designed to develop the PAWSS measure to the point where it had face validity, and was complete enough to be formally psychometrically tested. The design of the research involved three parts. Firstly, a comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken. This was done to identify all the aspects of work functioning that are considered to contribute to work-ability, and then consider currently available work-ability measures in relation to their suitability for assessing vocational support needs. Secondly, in phase one of the research, qualitative focus groups and interviews with stakeholders in the return-to-work process were undertaken. The purpose of this phase was to check the content of the measure against stakeholder experiences, and determine the most appropriate administration context and procedures. Interviews and focus groups were analysed using descriptive analysis, and findings were used to inform revisions to the measure. Finally, phase two of the research involved pilot testing the measure. This was carried out by contracting experienced occupational therapists to test the new measure with consenting workplace assessment clients. Feedback from assessors and injured workers, assessor testing notes and scoring were analysed to examine feasibility and acceptability of the PAWSS, and revisions to the measure were made in accordance with findings.Results: The qualitative interviews and focus groups (phase one) provided feedback and comments that informed adaptations to the measure to bring it more in line with stakeholders’ experiences of work-ability. Furthermore, this phase provided information about the context in which the measure should be administered, and this was adopted for the pilot testing. Pilot testing of the measure (phase two) showed that the measure was acceptable to both the assessors and the injured workers, and that it was feasible to administer as part of a workplace assessment. Revisions to the measure and training procedures at this stage were primarily made to enhance clarity of item descriptions and scoring decisions. Conclusions and implications for practice: Findings from the research confirmed the need for a standardized measure of work-ability that can be used to plan vocational supports and interventions. Furthermore, the PAWSS was shown to be feasible and acceptable as a comprehensive tool for assessment of the work-ability of injured workers. Further research is needed to test the reliability and validity of the PAWSS before it can be used in practice.

Background: Work-ability is often assessed as part of the vocational rehabilitation process for injured workers. However, research highlights a concern among therapists who carry out vocational assessments that there is a lack of consistency with regard to quality and comprehensiveness using current methods of assessment. One of the reasons for this is that there are no standardized measures of work-ability available that are designed to be used for the purpose of facilitating rehabilitation. The Participation And Work-ability Support Scale (PAWSS) is a new measure, conceptualized and initially developed by Professors Lynne Turner-Stokes and Kathryn McPherson, that was designed to address this gap. Design and Methods: This research was designed to develop the PAWSS measure to the point where it had face validity, and was complete enough to be formally psychometrically tested. The design of the research involved three parts. Firstly, a comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken. This was done to identify all the aspects of work functioning that are considered to contribute to work-ability, and then consider currently available work-ability measures in relation to their suitability for assessing vocational support needs. Secondly, in phase one of the research, qualitative focus groups and interviews with stakeholders in the return-to-work process were undertaken. The purpose of this phase was to check the content of the measure against stakeholder experiences, and determine the most appropriate administration context and procedures. Interviews and focus groups were analysed using descriptive analysis, and findings were used to inform revisions to the measure. Finally, phase two of the research involved pilot testing the measure. This was carried out by contracting experienced occupational therapists to test the new measure with consenting workplace assessment clients. Feedback from assessors and injured workers, assessor testing notes and scoring were analysed to examine feasibility and acceptability of the PAWSS, and revisions to the measure were made in accordance with findings.Results: The qualitative interviews and focus groups (phase one) provided feedback and comments that informed adaptations to the measure to bring it more in line with stakeholders’ experiences of work-ability. Furthermore, this phase provided information about the context in which the measure should be administered, and this was adopted for the pilot testing. Pilot testing of the measure (phase two) showed that the measure was acceptable to both the assessors and the injured workers, and that it was feasible to administer as part of a workplace assessment. Revisions to the measure and training procedures at this stage were primarily made to enhance clarity of item descriptions and scoring decisions. Conclusions and implications for practice: Findings from the research confirmed the need for a standardized measure of work-ability that can be used to plan vocational supports and interventions. Furthermore, the PAWSS was shown to be feasible and acceptable as a comprehensive tool for assessment of the work-ability of injured workers. Further research is needed to test the reliability and validity of the PAWSS before it can be used in practice.

Background: Work-ability is often assessed as part of the vocational rehabilitation process for injured workers. However, research highlights a concern among therapists who carry out vocational assessments that there is a lack of consistency with regard to quality and comprehensiveness using current methods of assessment. One of the reasons for this is that there are no standardized measures of work-ability available that are designed to be used for the purpose of facilitating rehabilitation. The Participation And Work-ability Support Scale (PAWSS) is a new measure, conceptualized and initially developed by Professors Lynne Turner-Stokes and Kathryn McPherson, that was designed to address this gap. Design and Methods: This research was designed to develop the PAWSS measure to the point where it had face validity, and was complete enough to be formally psychometrically tested. The design of the research involved three parts. Firstly, a comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken. This was done to identify all the aspects of work functioning that are considered to contribute to work-ability, and then consider currently available work-ability measures in relation to their suitability for assessing vocational support needs. Secondly, in phase one of the research, qualitative focus groups and interviews with stakeholders in the return-to-work process were undertaken. The purpose of this phase was to check the content of the measure against stakeholder experiences, and determine the most appropriate administration context and procedures. Interviews and focus groups were analysed using descriptive analysis, and findings were used to inform revisions to the measure. Finally, phase two of the research involved pilot testing the measure. This was carried out by contracting experienced occupational therapists to test the new measure with consenting workplace assessment clients. Feedback from assessors and injured workers, assessor testing notes and scoring were analysed to examine feasibility and acceptability of the PAWSS, and revisions to the measure were made in accordance with findings.Results: The qualitative interviews and focus groups (phase one) provided feedback and comments that informed adaptations to the measure to bring it more in line with stakeholders’ experiences of work-ability. Furthermore, this phase provided information about the context in which the measure should be administered, and this was adopted for the pilot testing. Pilot testing of the measure (phase two) showed that the measure was acceptable to both the assessors and the injured workers, and that it was feasible to administer as part of a workplace assessment. Revisions to the measure and training procedures at this stage were primarily made to enhance clarity of item descriptions and scoring decisions. Conclusions and implications for practice: Findings from the research confirmed the need for a standardized measure of work-ability that can be used to plan vocational supports and interventions. Furthermore, the PAWSS was shown to be feasible and acceptable as a comprehensive tool for assessment of the work-ability of injured workers. Further research is needed to test the reliability and validity of the PAWSS before it can be used in practice.

p. 1-68 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-04-11T17:35:11Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Diss Adriana p2.pdf: 1275178 bytes, checksum: dc4da90f2e1643d753facf89c14f1bb4 (MD5) Diss Adriana p1.pdf: 86804 bytes, checksum: 9a1b67dc758b0c65111e67693ff13ae3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Creuza Silva(mariakreuza@yahoo.com.br) on 2013-04-11T19:09:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Diss Adriana p2.pdf: 1275178 bytes, checksum: dc4da90f2e1643d753facf89c14f1bb4 (MD5) Diss Adriana p1.pdf: 86804 bytes, checksum: 9a1b67dc758b0c65111e67693ff13ae3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-04-11T19:09:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Diss Adriana p2.pdf: 1275178 bytes, checksum: dc4da90f2e1643d753facf89c14f1bb4 (MD5) Diss Adriana p1.pdf: 86804 bytes, checksum: 9a1b67dc758b0c65111e67693ff13ae3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Introdução: No âmbito do SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde), a Saúde do Trabalhador é desenvolvida por meio dos CEREST (Centro de Referência em Saúde do Trabalhador) e das demais unidades de atenção básica, média e alta complexidade que compõem a RENAST (Rede Nacional de Atenção Integral à Saúde do Trabalhador). Estas unidades são responsáveis pelas informações e notificações dos acidentes de trabalho (AT). A alta sub-notificação de AT no país, traduz-se no conhecimento ainda incipiente, o que dificulta a priorização deste importante problema de saúde coletiva, nas agendas das políticas de saúde. Objetivos: Este estudo analisa a atuação dos CEREST para o aumento das notificações AT. Descreve o nível de implantação dos CEREST em três dimensões: 1) Gestão e organização do serviço; 2) Ações desenvolvidas pelos CEREST; 3) Produção de dados para a vigilância dos AT. Verifica os fatores associados ao aumento de notificação AT 2007-2009. Métodos: Estudo transversal realizado com dados do SINAN (Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação) e do FormSUS (Sistema do DATASUS - Departamento de Informática do SUS), onde foram coletados dados de questionários respondidos pelas equipes dos CEREST. O desfecho foi o aumento no número de notificações, medida pela variação proporcional (%) do número de AT notificado (VP) durante os anos de referência do estudo. Padronização foi usada para corrigir a dispersão dos dados. Com regressão linear múltipla, os fatores associados à VP foram identificados, utilizando-se alfa = 0,10. Resultados: Até janeiro de 2010, os dados de 125 CEREST estavam disponíveis para análise, 22 são estaduais e 103 são regionais/municipais. Grande parte dos CEREST, estaduais (77,3%) e regionais/municipais (87,4%), foram considerados como implantados para as três dimensões estudadas. Os CEREST estaduais apresentaram VP maior do que os regionais/municipais. As sub-dimensões que se associaram positivamente com o aumento no número de notificações foram: tempo de funcionamento; presença da equipe mínima; desenvolvimento de ações de vigilância; funcionamento do Conselho Gestor e da CIST - Comissão Intersetorial de Saúde do Trabalhador; capacitação dos profissionais da rede sentinela; estruturação da rede sentinela; e implantação das atividades previstas para as notificações. Discussão: As ações intersetoriais e as ações de vigilância mostram-se importantes para o aumento das notificações de acidentes de trabalho, provavelmente pela disponibilidade da identificação e acompanhamento dos casos de AT. Aliado a isto, o funcionamento das instâncias de controle social reforçam as ações de estruturação da rede de unidades notificantes. O maior tempo de funcionamento favorece a consolidação das ações e, consequentemente, melhores respostas do serviço. / Salvador

This descriptive retrospective cohort study utilized a large workers comp insurer database. All MRI's performed on peripheral joints during calendar year 2017 that were (a) 2 weeks after the initial clinic visit, or (b) greater than 6 weeks after injury, but (c) not more than 3 months after the date of injury were evaluated in this study. Individual diagnoses rendered on MRI reports for these cases were categorized as to whether ultrasound alone or ultrasound + xray could adequately provide the same diagnoses. Results showed that, ultrasound + xray would be able to provide all of the same diagnoses compared to MRI in 54% of cases vs 33% of cases using ultrasound alone, highlighting the utility of using ultrasound and xray together. The proportion of cases where ultrasound + xray could reasonably be substituted for MRI increases to 70% overall when less severe diagnoses, considered not likely to change management, were excluded from analysis. If point of care ultrasound was performed for all 1482 cases with subsequent MRIs pursued in only 30% of cases, a cost savings between $456,186 and $331,698 would be realized, translating to $308 to $224 per patient. Additionally, if ultrasound + xray was performed at the point of care during the first clinic visit for an injury, the definitive diagnoses could be reached on average 33.3 days earlier. In total, these results suggest a significant proportion of musculoskeletal workers comp injuries could be accurately and completely evaluated at the point of care using ultrasound and xray together. This could yield greater provider and patient confidence in the diagnosis and treatment plan as well as more expeditious accurate diagnoses leading to reductions in both direct and indirect costs.

No description available.

Home care nurses (HCNs) have reported a high rate of exposure to work-related injuries (WRIs). Nurses are challenged by the multidimensional problems associated with home care safety. These contextual risk factors increase the physical and social health problems of health care workers and of community suffering as a whole. This quantitative, cross-sectional study was designed to examine the relationship between the organization-related factors (ORFs) and the environment-related factors (ERFs) and their influences on safety behaviors (SBs) and the WRIs of HCNs. The PRECEDE framework was used to guide the study. Self-reported data were obtained from 74 home health care (HHC) nurses using the Safety Home Care Nursing questionnaire. A linear regression model was applied to determine the nature of the association between the independent variables and dependents variables. Findings showed the ORFs demonstrate a stronger effect on the SBs than the impact of the ERFs. The management commitment and the home-based care significantly affected the SBs. The supervisory support and safety access to a client's home were decreasing the WRIs. Therefore, the integration of efforts: The management and leadership of the health organization, the health care providers, and the clients' family would improve safety of HHC. This study is expected to help develop safety strategies for home care and thus attempt to minimize WRIs among HCNs. Nurses free of injuries are able to provide a quality of care and improve patients' health outcomes that in turn have an effect on reducing community suffering and financial costs.

This thesis deals with psychological prevention of work injuries. About two milion of people die worldwide as a result of work injuries and illnesses originating in work. If I think about this statistic data, I have to ask myself basic questions: what is the cause of such a high mortality in today´s over-technical time, what are the main causes of injuries and how can we anticipate them? These questions are also the main issues of this work. The first chapter deals with work injuries, particularly with the way we should proceed when it comes to such an injury - what the employer´s and employee´s duties are. Rhe next sub-chapter focuses on the responsibility for the harm of work injuries, work injuries compensation such as the earning loss substitution, smart money, specific costs connected with treatment and compensation for damage to property. The second chapter is aimed to the labour protection. Firstly, it deals with the labour protection on a general level, then with the BOZP training and related basic documents, OHSAS 18001 Certifikace systému managementu BOZP - contributions of the certification and "Safe enterprise". The last sub-chapter goes in the work inspection authorities - keeping duties given by legal formulas, activities of the work inspection authorities, the scope of their activities and the authorization of the work inspector. The third chapter is about the work injuries prevention. The first sub-chapter focuses on the employer´s duties, the next one is about mental burden and its display, also the safe demands on machines and appliances, examples of causes of work injuries and more particular principles of labour protection in the food industry. The fourth part has been created in a quantitative way. I have asked nine meat manufactories to complete a questionnaire I had made myself in a way to draw conclusions and fulfill the goals of the thesis and answer the questions set at the beginning. The company, which came out the smallest accident, I did an interview, which makes, I obtained information regarding their approach to the issue. The labour and health protection are neccessary conditions in all work branches. Every employer has a lot of duties to their employees and the goal is to provide the workplace safe and with a minimal risk of work injuries. The most important issue is to pay attention to prevention from the very beginning.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:28:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciana de Souza Garbin.pdf: 776468 bytes, checksum: 048c0a0cfed1ad81590192accbde311f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-08 / The present study aims to understand the social representations of injured and non-injured workers over the accident at work and return to his/her professional activities. To this end, it has been considered considered the historical processes of work organization used since the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century, recently modified due to the productive restructuring, as contributing factors to the occurrence of accidents at work nowadays. It also assumes the importance and need for the professionals of the rehabilitation area consider the professional representations of injured workers when they return to work. This study has used as research methodology the qualitative approach with the implementation of semi-structured interviews with seven injured workers who were in the process of rehabilitation and two workers who had never suffered a work accident. The data obtained went through a content analysis, which was focused on two main categories: the social representations of the accident at work and the return to normal activities after recovery. It was found that the construction of the social representation of the accident by the injured workers follows a dynamic path, going from a concept of guilt up to the identification of gaps in the work processes. Unlike, the non-injured workers represent the occupational accident statically, as an event caused by human error and by possible errors in the work processes. The return to work by injured workers was represented as a possibility of being cut off from their professional activities by the company, although acknowledging their labor rights, while the non-injured workers represent the return of his/her colleagues as a tough time to be faced, thus, they need care from those who receive them in the company. It was understood that the results of this study enable the improvement of occupational health policies, especially in the process of rehabilitation of those injured at work, in order to mitigate the psychosocial effects of the accident. / O presente estudo buscou compreender as representa??es sociais de trabalhadores acidentados e n?o acidentados sobre o acidente de trabalho e o retorno ?s atividades profissionais. Para tal, examinou o processo hist?rico da organiza??o do trabalho desde o segundo momento da Revolu??o Industrial, no s?culo XIX, at? as modifica??es mais recentes em raz?o da reestrutura??o produtiva, constatando fatores contributivos para a ocorr?ncia de acidentes de trabalho na atualidade. Como pressuposto de an?lise destacou a import?ncia e a necessidade de os profissionais da ?rea de reabilita??o considerarem as representa??es dos trabalhadores acidentados no momento do retorno ao trabalho. O presente estudo empregou como metodologia de pesquisa a abordagem qualitativa com a realiza??o de entrevistas semiestruturadas com sete trabalhadores acidentados que estavam em processo de reabilita??o e dois trabalhadores que nunca sofreram acidente de trabalho. Os dados obtidos foram submetidos a uma an?lise de conte?do, que focalizou duas categorias principais de representa??es sociais: do acidente de trabalho e do retorno ?s atividades ap?s a recupera??o. Identificou-se que a constru??o da representa??o social sobre o acidente pelos trabalhadores acidentados percorre um caminho din?mico, indo de uma concep??o de culpa ? identifica??o de falhas nos processos de trabalho. Diferentemente, os trabalhadores n?o acidentados representam o acidente de trabalho de modo est?tico, como um evento decorrente de falha humana e de poss?veis erros nos processos de trabalho. O retorno ao trabalho foi representado pelos trabalhadores acidentados como uma possibilidade de serem desligados de suas atividades profissionais pela empresa, embora reconhe?am seus direitos trabalhistas, enquanto os trabalhadores n?o acidentados representam o retorno de seus colegas de trabalho como um momento dif?cil a ser enfrentado e, assim, estes necessitam de acolhimento por aqueles que os recebem na empresa. Os resultados deste estudo possibilitam o aprimoramento das pol?ticas de sa?de do trabalhador, especialmente, dos processos de reabilita??o de acidentados no trabalho. de modo a amenizar os efeitos psicossociais do acidente.

This thesis analyzes the current settings of occupational health and safety process regarding officers of the Municipal Police of Prague (MPP). The theoretical part provides situational analysis of conditions in which MPP operates. There are also defined key risks for personal safety of municipal policemen, identified methodology for risk management and quality control. The practical part describes and analyzes the process of occupational health and safety at MPP. The result of this work is evaluation of the current process effectiveness and proposal of possible scenarios of further improvement.