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Background: The Greater Lawndale Healthy Work project is a sequential mixed methods community based participatory research project that examines work as a structural determinant of health and builds community capacity for healthy work in a predominantly Black and Latinx community in Chicago known as Greater Lawndale (GL). Objectives: We interviewed community leaders in GL as key informants to understand the barriers to healthy work and inform intervention development. Methods: We conducted a directed content analysis of transcripts from 20 key informants and coded the social ecology and type of intervention. Results: Every key informant mentioned at least one asset in GL, showing an opportunity to employ a capacity-oriented approach to intervention development. Key informants suggested a variety of interventions to address precarious work across levels of the social ecology, with individual and community level interventions being the most salient. Conclusion: Through this approach, we were able to navigate tensions and challenges in conducting research for community-wide change. Key informant stakeholder interviews can be leveraged to meaningfully inform intervention development and support the development of multi-level, sustainable, and culturally acceptable interventions that advance health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burnout is a state of emotional and physical depletion. Its occurrence among critical care nurses (CCNs) is a concept that has gained traction yet remains an issue with global consequences. Nurses are especially vulnerable to burnout due to the persistent stressors they are exposed to, which include the general work environment, biological factors, and emerging changes caused by COVID-19. This study aims to assess the severity of burnout among CCNs during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors. A descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire was used in this study to measure the estimated burnout rate among CCNs in Palestine and establish associations with potential factors. Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire was used for the task. The results showed out of the 173 participants, more than 35% reported severe overall burnout. Per burnout domains, it was found that around 70% of participants suffered from low personal accomplishment, while 59.5% had severe levels of depersonalization, and finally, more than 65% of critical nurses had severe emotional exhaustion. Out of the various variables tested, gender, age, type of hospital, PPE, and fear of transmission were found to be associated with overall burnout. CCNs in Palestine were found to be severely burned out and should be dealt with before getting out of hand. The research found variables related to burnout contributed to burnout. Recommendations for further studies and prioritization should be made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of engineered systems has grown leaps and bounds over the last forty years. One of the main challenges in modern engineering is managing this complexity, particularly as the pace of technological change continues to accelerate across industries. While most systems professionals agree, a viable early design concept is crucial to meeting stakeholders' needs and successfully scoping a development program, traditional early concept generation approaches focus on a design‐first approach, often glossing over an analysis of system intent and a synthesis of system goals and objectives. This tendency leads to an early focus on low‐level, highly‐granular design activities that focus on advanced technologies as design components instead of on the high‐level policy or desired emergence that the new system is being designed to achieve. To combat these shortcomings, this paper introduces a new framework for conceptualizing an early design for novel, complex systems in aerospace and defense that are employed as part of a portfolio‐of‐systems in an attempt to achieve a high‐level policy or portfolio‐level capability. It outlines an intent model for framing a new system's contribution to a portfolio‐level capability, and it posits a framework for delivering a new model for early design concepts while providing a foundation to extend system‐theoretic hazard and security analysis techniques to systematically analyze safety and security engineering challenges for the designs in the earliest possible phase of their lifecycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste scavenging is an important activity in developing countries aiding resource recovery and poverty reduction. Despite knowing the dangers posed by the activity, the waste scavengers’ occupational safety is to some extent compromised due to poor utilization of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). This study investigated the disparity between knowledge and practice of waste scavengers regarding occupational risks and safety measures in Yola urban area, through surveys and interviews with 405 participants across 55 dealers' depots. The study findings discovered 375 waste scavengers recognized the potential hazard associated with scavenging job, out of which only 41 were actually using PPEs regularly. While 30 claimed ignorant of the potential risks of the activity. This therefore categorized waste scavengers into three distinct groups in Yola urban area viz: Safe Scavengers" who possess the knowledge of dangers of scavenging and use one or more PPE regularly 41 (10.12%); “Knowledgeable non-PPEs users" who have the knowledge but do not use PPE 334 (82.47%); and "Unaware non-PPEs users" lacking both knowledge and PPE usage 30 (7.41%) mostly children. Null hypotheses were formulated where significant difference observed between Knowledgeable non-users and safety practice (p=0.016). On the other hand, no significant difference found between Safe Scavengers and safety practice (p=0.053); as well as Unaware non-users and safety practice (p=0.060). Pie chart clearly shows the knowledge/practice gap and three distinct group of the scavengers. Recommendation proposed involvement of scavengers’ middlemen and waste management authorities in developing comprehensive strategies that promote a culture of safety, provide training on safety practices, and ensure the availability of appropriate protective gear to narrow down the gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although extensive research has been conducted to explain the high accident rates in the Indian construction industry, studies focusing on the contributions of the prevailing safety climate as an enabler of such incidences remain sparse. Safety climate plays a crucial role in shaping workers' safety behaviors. Therefore, eliciting the perspectives of construction workers concerning safety climate dimensions that are critical for engendering improved safety behavior will provide valuable insights into the dimensions required to sustain the desired safety performance levels on construction sites. This study adopted a sequential mixed-methods research design. Purposively selected respondents and interviewees were surveyed and interviewed at various intervals. The study established that safety climate dimensions, such as effective leadership, effective communication, consultation, training, resources, incentives, and recognition, are critical in improving safety behavior among construction workers. The results of this study have significant implications for practice and knowledge, as they provide an approach for assessing the impact of different safety climate dimensions on the safety behavior of construction workers in India. Understanding these dimensions will lead to a framework for managing these challenges and improving construction safety performance. The study reported in this paper remains one of the few studies seeking to explore the impact of safety-climate dimensions on worker safety behavior in the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the developing economy of Bangladesh, local factory owners in the garment industry have felt great pressure to improve factory safety, but the costs for those improvements are not shared by the global apparel firms that wield immense influence over them. Consequently, we examine whether multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs), as vehicles of corporate social responsibility (CSR), offer platforms for democratic oversight or merely serve as new arenas to exercise corporate power. Given their role in connecting global and local contexts and their history of safety incidents, local factory owners possess a unique perspective on the impact and contested nature of CSR in global supply chains. This article presents a qualitative study of MSIs in the Bangladesh garment industry, particularly after the Rana Plaza collapse. Through interviews with local factory owners and executive managers, we explore the reasons behind their opposition to CSR as exercised by global apparel firms, and the contestation of those practices by their local business association. Our findings lead us to conclude that garment industry MSIs are unlikely to be effective without labor procurement practices that harmonize global and local interests to mitigate the competitive pressures on local factory owners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sought to delineate how English media frame Kazakhstan. We employed co-occurrence network and sentiment analysis across 130 newspaper pieces published in 2022 and 2023. The results showed that the news in the UK and Qatar often associated Kazakhstan with Russia and China, and also referred to it as a Muslim country, which until the events of January 2022 was considered a peaceful and quiet country. Among the prevailing terms, there were "Kazakhstan," "country," "Tokayev," "Russia," and "protest". Kazakhstan was represented as a country ruled by an influential leader (Tokayev), maintaining diplomatic relations with countries in Europe and Asia. Kazakhstan's image suffered due to the violent crackdown on protests during the January events and accusations of supporting Russia to circumvent sanctions, which the government denies. However, the January events awakened a wave of foreign media interest in Kazakhstan, which gradually subsided over time. The sentiment analysis unearthed that the peak of positive sentiment coincided with events such as scientific achievements, cultural successes and progressive changes, while the decline was characterized by coverage of problems within the country facing serious challenges, including worker safety issues, political suppression, economic instability and questions about the legitimacy of elections. Resultantly, a rather ambivalent portrayal emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of waste management on passenger ships is often observed due to the continuous disposal of rubbish on the deck and into the sea irrespective of the bin provided on each side of the railings. This leads to the collection and sorting of various waste by the ship crew, including plastic, paper, food, cans, and coating materials, which impacts safety management, as well as environmental pollution. Passengers are also not required to commonly have competency and proficiency in ship waste management. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the effects of passenger attitudes on ship waste management, using a Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) and 160 participants in Tanjung Perak Port, Indonesia. The results showed that environmental concerns, as well as passenger perceptions and attitudes strongly influenced solid waste management on ships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annually, work‐related mortality is responsible for 5–7% of all global deaths, and at least 1‐in‐9 workers experience nonfatal occupational accidents (ILO (2019a,b)). Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) committees are considered the key worker voice institution through which to improve workplace safety and health (ILO (1981)). I present evidence of OSH committees' causal effects on workers and on factories. To do so, I collaborated with 29 multinational apparel buyers that committed to enforce a local mandate for OSH committees on their suppliers in Bangladesh. With the buyers, I implemented a nearly year‐long field experiment with 84 supplier factories, randomly enforcing the mandate on half. The buyers' intervention increased compliance with the OSH committee law. Exploiting the experimental variation in OSH committees' strength, I find that stronger OSH committees had small, positive effects on objective measures of safety. These improvements did not come at a cost to workers in terms of wages or employment or to factories in terms of labor productivity. The effects on compliance, safety, and voice were largest for factories with better managerial practices. Factories with worse practices did not improve, and workers in these factories reported lower job satisfaction; this finding suggests complementarity between external enforcement and internal capacity in determining the efficacy of regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction projects are a field of work with a high risk of work accidents. CV XYZ, a construction service company, often experiences work accidents on highway projects. These work accidents are caused by human negligence, substandard materials, and inadequate occupational safety and health (OSH) implementation methods. Based on these problems, this study aims to design work accident risk control at CV XYZ to reduce and prevent work accidents on road construction projects. The design of occupational safety and health (OSH) control is carried out by conducting risk analysis on road construction project activities through the HIRADC (Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, and Determining Control) approach and designing improvements to the occupational safety and health (OSH) control business process. The design of OSH risk control created in this study aims to implement risk control and reduce the risk of work accidents in the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present the essence of ergonomics in the position of an assembler in a manufacturing company. Ergonomics is often marginalized in enterprises and its great impact on employee productivity and task satisfaction is overlooked. The purpose of the study was to analyze working conditions and propose ergonomic solutions. Physical strain, mental strain, environmental working conditions and the monotony found at the workplace were analyzed in detail. Design/methodology/approach: All ten employees of the assembly department were surveyed. It should be emphasized that before any changes were implemented, the assemblers' material work environment, working conditions and task loads during the work shift were examined. The following research methods were used: Participatory observation, OWAS method, Chronometry, Lehmann chronometric-tabulation method. Findings: According to production records, before the introduction of ergonomic recommendations, an average of 748 pieces were made at the surveyed workstations during one shift. One month after the introduction of ergonomic solutions, the daily norms were re-examined and on average the number of products made, during one work shift, increased by 3%, or about 22 pieces. Ergonomics also positively affects the company's bottom line. Research limitations/implications: The implementation of ergonomic research is very time consuming. Observation of employees, making chronometry, analysis of the material environment. All this makes the execution of such a research project take a very long time. Practical implications: All the economic benefits that any company can see through the implementation of ergonomic solutions, undoubtedly the strengths of these measures are the improvement of employee safety, the reduction of workplace accidents, the minimization of health ailments associated with improper working conditions, increased job satisfaction, less work fatigue, and the reduction of the uniformity of the work process. Social implications: It is extremely necessary in order to make appropriate modifications to workstations based on the data obtained. After all, this will ensure that employees work safely, efficiently and with the least possible biological cost. Originality/value: A new element for sure is to look at the essence of ergonomics in manufacturing companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the long-term operation of a deep geological repository, hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide, etc. could be generated and accumulated in bentonite around canisters, threatening integrity and safety of the engineering barrier systems. In this work, self-designed test apparatuses were developed. Gas diffusion tests were conducted on GMZ bentonite specimens under both rigid and flexible boundary conditions with consideration of initial saturations and gas pressures. After experienced the gas diffusion tests, the specimens were cut and submitted for the mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests. Results revealed that under same initial saturation and gas pressure conditions, diffusion coefficient of the specimen tested under rigid boundary conditions was higher than that tested under flexible boundary conditions. This is because that compared to that of rigid boundary conditions, the effective pore volume for gas diffusion was more easily to be compressed under flexible boundary conditions, resulting in a relatively poor pore connectivity and low gas diffusion coefficient. Regardless of constraint conditions, diffusion coefficient of the specimens with same initial saturations decreased with increases of the initial gas pressure, and the decreasing rate slowed down with increasing initial gas pressure. Explanations could be that increases of gas pressure reduced the mean free path of gas molecules, affecting the diffusion efficiency. Meanwhile, the diffusion coefficient decreased with increasing initial saturations and same initial gas pressures for the flexible boundary specimens, while an opposite trend was recorded for the rigid boundary ones. Explanations to this observation could be that under the rigid boundary conditions, specimens with higher initial saturations have larger diameter macro-pores, facilitating the gas diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South Korean government has implemented an acceptance system to promote the high-quality recycling of waste. Industrial waste generators must provide "hazardous characteristics data" to recycling operators. Nonetheless, ~80% of industrial safety accidents in South Korea occur during recycling, most involving fire or explosions. Moreover, a gap in safety management exists during 'Circular Resource' acceptance if the target substance is not regarded as waste. In this study collected data on hazardous waste characteristics. From 62 waste generators, 72 waste samples were collected, accounting for most of the resources accepted for recycling, including waste synthetic polymers, slag, dust, waste sand, and waste foundry sand. Then, the hazardous characteristics, as stated in the Ministry of Environment notifications, were assessed. Leaching toxicity was detected in one slag sample and six dust samples. The Cd, Cu, As, Pb, Zn, Ni, Hg, F, and CN levels dissatisfied the Soil Contamination Warning Standard in 31 samples. Explosivity was not detected in any sample, whereas flammability was detected in one waste synthetic polymer sample. The results revealed 15 cases of potential flammability. Flammability is legally defined as below the criteria if the combustion speed criterion is not met. However, in the case of flame ignition, which could cause large fires and safety accidents, the relevant notification should be revised. In this study, we aimed to improve the gap between the hazardous waste management systems and industrial fields through actual measurements of hazardous characteristics. By doing so, we seek to contribute to the prevention of environmental and safety accidents. By continuously accumulating data and utilizing actual measurements, we aim to revise and enhance relevant regulations, ultimately improving the hazardous characteristics of waste management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Veterans experience high rates of fatal and non-fatal firearm injuries. This risk may be compounded among Veterans who are rural-residing, aging, and/or experiencing cognitive decline or dementia. Firearm safety discussions are not broadly implemented across Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare settings due, in part, to concerns of causing Veterans to disengage from care. This study examines perceptions about firearm safety discussions to inform healthcare-based harm-reduction efforts. We conducted interviews with 34 Veterans (median age 70) and 22 clinicians from four VA facilities that treat high rates of rural patients with firearm-related injuries. Most Veterans accepted the idea of universal firearm safety discussions at the VA. Some reported they might not be forthright in such discussions, but raising the topic would not stop them from engaging with VA care. Veterans and clinicians unanimously endorsed firearm safety discussions for older patients experiencing cognitive decline or dementia. VA patients and clinicians are amenable to firearm safety discussions during healthcare visits and especially endorse the need for such discussions among high-risk populations. Universal firearm safety discussions could be incorporated into standard VA practice, particularly for Veterans experiencing cognitive decline or dementia, without risking Veteran disengagement from care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To combat increasing levels of violence in the emergency department (ED), hospitals have implemented several safety measures, including behavioral flags. These electronic health record (EHR)‐based notifications alert future clinicians of past incidents of potentially threatening patient behavior, but observed racial disparities in their placement may unintentionally introduce bias in patient care. Little is known about how patients perceive these flags and the disparities that have been found in their placement. Objective: This study aims to investigate patient perceptions and perceived benefits and harms associated with the use of behavioral flags. Methods: Twenty‐five semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of patients in the ED of a large, urban, academic medical center who did not have a behavioral flag in their EHR. Interviews lasted 10–20 min and were recorded then transcribed. Thematic analysis of deidentified transcripts took place in NVivo 20 software (QSR International) using a general inductive approach. Results: Participant perceptions of behavioral flags varied, with both positive and negative opinions being shared. Five key themes, each with subthemes, were identified: (1) benefits of behavioral flags, (2) concerns and potential harms of flags, (3) transparency with patients, (4) equity, and (5) ideas for improvement. Conclusions: Patient perspectives on the use of behavioral flags in the ED vary. While many saw flags as a helpful tool to mitigate violence, concerns around negative impacts on care, transparency, and equity were also shared. Insights from this stakeholder perspective may allow for health systems to make flags more effective without compromising equity or patient ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard precautions are essential to prevent cross-infections among emergency nurses, particularly during a pandemic of infectious diseases. However, poor adherence to such standard precautions is an ongoing global health system problem. This may be due to nurses' lack of adequate understanding regarding the influencing mechanisms of various factors that cause cross-infection in practice. In this cross-sectional study, we rigorously utilized the Theory of Planned Behaviors as a guiding framework to develop and test a causal model of factors influencing adherence to standard precautions practices among Chinese emergency nurses. From July 2022 to February 2023, purposive sampling was used to recruit 310 emergency nurses from eight tertiary hospitals in four cities in Sichuan Province, China, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research instruments included a Demographic Data Form, the Standard Precautions Questionnaire, the Leading Culture of Quality in Infection Prevention Scale, and the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Analysis of Moment Structure program to test the influencing factors. The final model of factors influencing adherence to standard precautions practices among Chinese emergency nurses explained 36% of the variance. This model provides a practical tool for understanding and improving adherence to standard precautions. Infection prevention climate and intention can affect adherence practices directly. In addition, nurses' attitudes to standard precautions, social norms of standard precautions, perceived behavioral control of standard precautions, and infection prevention climate indirectly affected adherence practices through intention as the mediator. Among these factors, infection prevention climate had the most substantial effect on adherence practices. These findings underscore the pivotal role of nursing administrators in highlighting the remarkable benefits of standard precautions, shaping emergency nurses' positive attitudes and confidence toward standard precautions, and creating a supportive climate for infection control. By implementing these strategies, nursing administrators can significantly improve adherence to standard precautions, ensuring a safer healthcare environment for workers, patients, and the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased industrialization and aging infrastructure have resulted in leaks of hazardous chemicals, such as CO. Leak modeling is crucial to developing emergency response strategies. Therefore, we simulated the time to criticality (TTC), which is the time to reach the threshold limit for occupational exposure, of a CO leak. The basis of the study is a fire dynamics simulator, a computational fluid dynamics model that was used to investigate the movement of CO in various scenarios, including using different building layouts and areas, temperatures, and leak diameters. Multiple regression analysis was performed to obtain regression equations for the TTC as a function of the independent variables. Ultimately, we found that the type of dispersion varies with respect to the temperature-dependent density of CO, and, among the independent variables, the leak diameter had the strongest effect on the TTC. The regression equations with logarithmic conversion were validated and found to have higher accuracy than those without logarithmic conversion. The findings provide useful information for developing emergency response plans regarding leak size in the case of hazardous chemical leakage. However, empirical studies of different gas types and leakage scenarios are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliably assessing the quality and mechanical properties of rock masses is crucial in underground engineering. However, existing methods have significant limitations in terms of applicability and accuracy. Therefore, a field measurement method that meets the real-time monitoring and safety requirements for the quality of engineering rock masses is needed. Firstly, the research findings of domestic and international scholars on the application of drilling process monitoring technology are comprehensively analyzed. Rotary cutting penetration tests are conducted on tuff rock masses containing fractures and joints. Various rock mass classification and evaluation standards are integrated with rotary penetration tests. Rotary cutting penetration tests are used to determine the residual strength of rock, based on this review. The rationality of the calculated mi parameter values is validated. The peak strength, residual strength, and errors of the rock are obtained based on the penetration method. The rock quality index rock quality designation from drilling (RQDd) is redefined, based on the drilling process monitoring apparatus (DPMA). Rock mass classification is conducted, based on the correlation between the standard deviation of rotary drilling energy and the rock quality designation (RQD). Additionally, a new relational formula is introduced to determine the RQD from variations in drilling energy, based on discontinuity frequency. This field measurement method undoubtedly provides a crucial scientific basis for rock design and construction, ensuring long-term safety in engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of smart construction technologies is becoming a crucial approach to improving safety performance in the construction industry. Existing research often focuses on the qualitative analysis of specific technologies, neglecting a comprehensive empirical examination of the characteristics of smart construction technologies and their impact on project safety performance. This study identifies five principal characteristics of smart construction technology: integration, automation, initiative, shareability, and sustainability. By integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the task–technology fit (TTF) model, we propose a theoretical path of "technology characteristics–perceived behavior–behavioral intention–safety performance" and develop a structural equation model to assess the effect of these characteristics on safety performance. The results indicate that these characteristics have a significant direct impact on safety performance, with the estimated direct effect reaching as high as 0.61. Additionally, these characteristics positively influence safety performance indirectly through mediating variables such as perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, usage intention, and usage behavior. This study empirically verifies the pathways through which smart construction technology characteristics affect safety performance, providing theoretical support for the widespread application of these technologies in construction engineering and enhancing safety management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: This study explores the integration of an occupational passive back-support exoskeleton in manufacturing, demonstrating its potential to reduce physical discomfort and physical exertion and enhance ergonomic practices. It highlights the role of the exoskeleton as a proactive tool for improving occupational health and safety in industrial settings. Manual material handling (MMH) significantly impacts worker health and productivity, often leading to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) primarily in the lower back. As a novel assistive technology, exoskeletons may serve as ergonomic tools to mitigate these work-related MSDs. It is essential to examine exoskeletons from the users' perspectives before their widespread implementation in occupational settings. This study investigates the effectiveness of a passive back-support exoskeleton (BExo) in reducing perceived physical exertion and improving ergonomic safety in a manufacturing context. Twenty-two college students were recruited to perform MMH tasks in a controlled lab environment, both with and without the BExo, followed by completing a survey questionnaire on various aspects of the BExo. Using ANOVA, the study analyzed biomechanical exertion across various body parts and tasks. The findings indicate that the BExo substantially alleviated discomfort and physical exertion in the low back, shoulders and knees, thereby enhancing an ergonomic posture and reducing fatigue. These results underscore the potential of passive exoskeletons to boost workers' safety and efficiency, providing valuable insights for future ergonomic strategies in industrial settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emphasizing the importance of acoustic attenuation in maintaining compliance with stringent noise regulations and enhancing workplace safety, this analysis covers theoretical and practical aspects of prediction methods used for the development of sound attenuators for gas-turbine testing stands. This paper presents a preliminary analysis and evaluation of the improvement of the Embleton method for projecting a noise attenuator for industrial applications, especially for gas-turbine test stands. While primarily focusing on the static acoustic behavior of the attenuator, certain considerations were also made regarding flow conditions, Mach number-dependent attenuation, pressure drop, and self-generated noise aspects to provide a comprehensive perspective on applying a suitable evaluation method. The study investigates different calculation methods for the assessment of noise reduction for linear and staggered baffles applied on a scaled reduced model of an attenuator. Thus, the critical parameters and development requirements necessary for effective noise reduction in high-performance gas-turbine testing environments will be evaluated in a downscaled model. Key factors examined include the selection of design parameters and configurations from various topological options (single, double, and triple parallel baffles vs. double and triple staggered baffles). Advanced computational methods, like analytic and finite-element analysis (FEM), are used to predict acoustic performance and evaluate the prediction method. Experimental validation is performed to corroborate the simulation results, ensuring the reliability and efficiency of the attenuator. The results indicate that an improved prediction method led to a better design for a sound-attenuator module, which can significantly reduce noise levels without compromising the operational performance of the gas turbine inside a test cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Climate change and global warming are emerging as new challenges worldwide. The World Meteorological Organization has reported that the temperature is expected to rise by an average of 1.2°C between 2021–2025. This increase in temperature will expose more and more workers to extreme heat. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the possibility of using thermoelectric coolers for cooling the water circulation circuit of a cooling belt, which can be used for extended periods in high-temperature environments. METHODS: A cooling belt was designed using thermoelectric coolers (TEC) and two blowers. The TECs were equipped with heat sinks and heat exchange block made of aluminum at hot and cold sides to exchange heat effectively. RESULTS: The experiment was conducted under actual environmental temperature conditions during three different time periods, with mean temperatures of 31, 48, and 41°C. The mean temperature of the belt section was recorded as 20.73, 24.52, and 21.38°C, respectively. The maximum average difference between the inlet air temperature and the inside cooling belt temperature was 40.45°C. CONCLUSION: The experiment revealed that the cooling performance of the designed prototype remained within an acceptable range (18°C) despite the increase in ambient temperature. Moreover, the cooling system can be utilized in high-heat environments to reduce thermal stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a significant increase in the use of latex gloves among nurses. However, concerns about the rise in latex allergies and related complaints due to this increase remain uncertain. OBJECTİVE: This study aims to assess the rates of latex glove usage and allergy-related complaints among nurses working in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Between May 15 and June 15, 2021, ethical approvals were obtained for a cross-sectional study involving 448 volunteer nurses. Descriptive statistics were used to represent categorical values as counts (n) and percentages (%), while continuous values were represented as mean±standard deviation. The normal distribution of the data was assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests. Comparative analyses were conducted using paired sample t-test, Pearson's chi-squared (x2) test, McNemar's chi-squared (x2) test, and Spearman correlation analysis. RESULTS: Before the pandemic, the average number of invasive procedures was 45.13±26.48, whereas during the pandemic, this rate increased to 50.23±29.14. The average glove usage duration went from 7.69±3.13 hours to 14.73±3.68 hours during the pandemic. Among nurses, the rate of allergic symptoms, which was previously at 31.5%, rose to 33.3% during the pandemic. CONCLUSİON: This study revealed a significant increase in daily invasive procedures and the use of latex gloves among nurses during the pandemic period. Simultaneously, the frequency of allergic symptoms also rose. These findings underscore the importance of awareness and preventive measures, particularly regarding latex allergies, in the healthcare field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Situational awareness is the acquisition of information from elements present in the work environment, the perception of the meaning of this information, and the prediction of future working conditions. Sleepiness and fatigue can influence an individual's ability to reach situation awareness, decision-making, and performance on a task. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review examines methods used to assess situational awareness, fatigue, sleepiness, and their interrelationships. METHODS: A systematic search of online databases was conducted to identify experimental, peer-reviewed articles published in English between 2017 and 2022. A total of 29 publications were selected for analysis. RESULTS: The selected studies originated from various countries, primarily in the northern hemisphere. Health and automotive engineering were the academic categories with the highest publications. The studies employed objective and subjective methods to assess situational awareness, fatigue, and sleepiness. CONCLUSIONS: Most studies reported a decline in situational awareness during fatigue and sleepiness conditions, although one study did not find this association. Future research should focus on employing objective methods to analyze cognitive factors, increasing sample sizes, and conducting testing in real-world situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Digital technologies (DTs) have gained recognition for educating and training individuals, covering multiple areas in construction sector to enhance safety performance. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) focusing on DTs utilized for safety education and training in the construction sector since 2000 and explore their various application areas. METHODS: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed to conduct SLR and fifty-nine articles were identified. This study describes the research trends through bibliometric analysis, encompassing aspects such as annual publication counts, document sources, influential authors and documents, countries of origin, and prevalent research areas. RESULTS: The results revealed that immersive virtual reality (VR) technology has seen extensive utilization in educating and training individuals. In the context of application areas, most DTs concentrated on augmenting individuals' proficiency in recognizing hazards. CONCLUSION: The findings summarized the primary research domains, deliberated upon prevailing research gaps, and proposed forthcoming directions for applying DTs in safety training. The suggested future directions can potentially enhance safety training effectiveness within the construction firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a critical activity in occupational risk management, the occupational health and safety risk assessment (OHSRA) aims at assessing occupational hazards in the workplace and prioritizing them to ensure employees' safety and reduce occupational risk to an acceptable level. In this paper, we develop a new integrated OHSRA model for the risk evaluation and prioritization of occupational hazards based on probabilistic linguistic information and social network consensus analysis. The probabilistic linguistic term sets are applied to handle the hesitant risk evaluations of occupational hazards provided by experts. A combinative distance-based assessment technique is introduced for determining the risk priority of the identified occupational hazards. Additionally, the social network consensus analysis with minimum adjustment distance is used to help individual experts reach consensus. Finally, a healthcare case study is implemented for illustrating the developed OHSRA model and its effectiveness is validated with a sensitivity analysis and a comparative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas sensing is crucial for detecting hazardous gasses in industrial environments, ensuring safety and preventing accidents. Additionally, it plays a vital role in environmental monitoring and control, helping to mitigate pollution and protect public health. Integrated photonic gas sensors are important due to their high sensitivity, rapid response time, and compact size, enabling precise recognition of gas concentrations in real-time. These sensors leverage photonic technologies, such as waveguides and resonators, to enhance performance over traditional gas sensors. Advancements in materials and fabrication techniques could further improve their efficiency, making them invaluable for environmental monitoring, industrial safety, and healthcare diagnostics. In this review, we delved into photonic gas sensors that operate based on the principles of evanescent field absorption (EFA) and wavelength interrogation methods. These advanced sensing mechanisms allow for highly sensitive and selective gas detection, leveraging the interplay of light with gas molecules to produce precise measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupational immunization is an integral part of institutional occupational safety and health (OSH) programs. Laboratory animal workers (LAWs) are personnel working with various small and large vertebrate animals. LAWs are at the risk of contracting a myriad of zoonotic infections as they are occupationally exposed to animals and their biological products. Immunizing employees against such zoonotic pathogens is the best way to prevent disease transmission. This review provides information on various zoonotic diseases, vaccines available to protect against such infections, and vaccination schedules. Certain sections of institutional occupational immunization programs such as risk evaluation, immunizing special categories of personnel and exemption from immunization among others are also described. Additionally, the authors have discussed various probable modes of impact through which occupational immunization of laboratory animal workers fulfills different United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performing paid work is the way most people earn income to support themselves. Any paid work entails rights and obligations for both the employee and the employer. In terms of health and safety at work, the employer has full discretion, but this does not exempt the employee from any obligation. In the case of the death of a person during the exercise of the activity, several questions arise: who will answer if the person is not legally employed, whether or not there are special legal rules or the general ones will be applied, what are the conditions under which the act will be considered criminal offence. In the article below, by presenting two related cases, a civil case and a criminal case, we tried to answer the most important questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reusable elastomeric half-mask respirators (EHMR) are an alternative to address shortages of disposable respirators. While respirator discomfort has been noted as a barrier to adherence to wearing an N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) among health care personnel (HCP), few have examined EHMR comfort while providing patient care, which was the purpose of this study. Method: Among a cohort of 183 HCP, we prospectively examined how HCP rated EHMR tolerability using the Respirator Comfort, Wearing Experience, and Function Instrument (R-COMFI) questionnaire at Study Week 2 and Week 10. At the completion of the study (Week-12), HCP compared EHMR comfort with their prior N95 FFR use. Overall R-COMFI scores and three subscales (comfort, wear experience, and function) were examined as well as individual item scores. Findings: The HCP reported an improved overall R-COMFI score (lower score more favorable, 30.0 vs. 28.7/47, respectively) from Week 2 to Week 10. Many individual item scores improved or remained low over this period, except difficulty communicating with patients and coworkers. The overall R-COMFI scores for the EHMR were more favorable than for the N95 FFR (33.7 vs. 37.4, respectively), with a large proportion of workers indicating their perception that EHMR fit better, provided better protection, and they preferred to wear it in pandemic conditions compared with the N95 FFR. Conclusion/Application to Practice: Findings suggest that the EHMR is a feasible respiratory protection device with respect to tolerance. EHMRs can be considered as a possible alternative to the N95 FFR in the health care setting. Future work is needed in the EHMR design to improve communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Firefighters are at increased risk of developing cancer due to occupational exposures, but they may also face increased risk due to their lifestyle, such as the quality of their diet and physical activity. Cancer beliefs and screening behavior could also influence their cancer risk. The current study aimed to identify individual differences associated with lifestyle behaviors, cancer screening, and cancer beliefs among firefighters; to describe the strategies firefighters use to adapt to their work schedule; and to describe topics firefighters believe are the most important to address in their workplace. Methods: Career firefighters (N = 171) in a medium-sized U.S. city completed an online survey. Findings: Logistic regression analyses identified age, education, racial identity, years of fire service, perceived stress, and rank as predictors of responses to items addressing cancer screening, lifestyle behaviors, and cancer beliefs. Although results varied, age, education, and racial identity were associated with most of the outcomes. Strategies related to sleep such as getting the right amount and napping, exercise, and getting family/roommate support were selected as the top adaptive strategies for work. Sleep, mental health/well-being, and work-life balance were selected most often as the most important topics to address in the fire service, with topics related to reducing occupational exposures receiving less attention. Conclusions/Application to Practice: The findings suggest individual differences, such as age, education, and racial identity, should be considered when developing occupational health interventions for firefighters. Interventions related to mental health, work-life balance, and sleep may be desired most by those in the fire service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Workplace violence and harassment are commonplace for healthcare workers and most incidents are unreported. Normalization of these experiences, lack of confidence in reporting systems, and fear of the consequences of reporting contribute to the invisibility of these experiences. Challenges are exacerbated in homecare settings and for precarious workforces including Personal Support Workers (PSWs). We created, piloted, and evaluated an intervention to enhance safety culture and encourage reporting of workplace violence and harassment. Methods: A multi-stakeholder steering committee designed an intervention combining policy changes, a pre-visit screening tool, education, and brief end-of-visit reporting. This was piloted with a PSW care team which provided >55,000 client visits during the 32-week intervention. Operational metrics characterized screening, education, and reporting uptake. Pre- and post-intervention surveys characterized PSWs' experiences with workplace violence and harassment, reporting experiences, training history and intervention feedback. Findings: PSWs reported increased comfort discussing workplace violence and harassment, and increased confidence managing client-to-worker incidents. The screening went smoothly with most clients in private homes. Most PSWs (75%) engaged at least once with end-of-visit reporting and nearly half submitted reports regularly. During the pilot, 21% of PSWs reported incidents and 52% of reports shared client-specific strategies for managing these situations. Application to Practice: Changes in comfort and behavior with reporting indicated a shift toward a more open culture surrounding workplace violence and harassment. Tools created for this intervention and lessons for implementation are shared for consideration by occupational health practitioners throughout the homecare sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of traditional analysis methods in improving complex socio-technical system safety has reached a ceiling, and thus systems theory has been utilised to support the investigations and countermeasures for road traffic accidents. As two widely applied systems accident analysis models, STAMP (systems theoretic accident model and process) and HFACS (human factors analysis and classification system) have their own advantages in accident analysis and safety improvement. Therefore, this study develops a new hybrid systems method integrating STAMP and HFACS for road traffic accident (SH-RTA), which can adopt HFACS to enhance the identification and analysis ability of STAMP for human factors and employ control concepts and elements of STAMP to cement the characteristic of HFACS. To illustrate the applicability of the hybrid method, a case study of '9·22' major road traffic accident in China is thoroughly analysed. Finally, preventive countermeasures and suggestions are presented. Practitioner Summary: This paper proposes a new hybrid systems method integrating STAMP and HFACS for road traffic accident. The new method reveals dysfunctional interactions within the parallel level and across levels, and identifies additional human and organisational factors. The recommendations for preventing road traffic accident are provided from higher levels of system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Few studies have investigated how high-risk domestic and family violence perpetrators threaten staff, how organizations support staff, and whether communities of practice improve service coordination and the safety of workers and the families they serve. The purpose of this article is to explore worker safety among practitioners involved in high-risk domestic and family violence and child protection cases. Methods: Participatory action research methodology was used to investigate and develop cross-sectoral workforce capacity at the intersection of domestic and family violence and child protection practice. This study, based in Queensland, Australia, drew on a subset of data from a larger study of communities of practice. Participants were 15 senior practitioners and team leaders from child protection, women's and men's domestic violence services, family support, and justice services. Data were collected in 2018. Data sources included ethnographic notes and transcripts from communities of practice and focus groups. Data were qualitatively analyzed. Results: Five key themes emerged in the findings: risks to workers associated with the physical environment; advances in perpetrators' use of technology; failings in police responses and the judicial system; a parallel process between workers' and women's responses to threats to their physical and psychological safety; and strategies for improving safety when working with high risk perpetrators of domestic and family violence. Conclusions: Improving the physical and psychological safety of workers in high-risk domestic and family violence and child protection cases requires moving beyond intra-organizational policies and practices and addressing the inter-sectoral and systemic factors that increase risk and reduce safety for child and adult victim/survivors and workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of tension wire construction of transmission lines, the key state quantities such as tension, inclination and spatial position of the traction walking plate directly affect the construction safety. At present, the construction personnel use visual observation to obtain the state quantity of traction walking plate in the process of tension wire construction. This monitoring method is not only inefficient, and there are personal subjective factors of judgment errors. For this reason, this paper develops a kind of intelligent traction walking plate for tension wire construction, based on the principle of resistance strain type and gyroscope to obtain the tension and inclination of the traction walking plate, respectively, using two front cameras and two rear cameras to obtain the spatial position of the traction walking plate, and finally completing the real‐time transmission of the monitoring data through the Lora technology. The developed intelligent traction walking plate was applied in Shandong Heze Yongfeng 220 kV transmission line project on 11 October 2020, which improved the construction efficiency by 15.71% while ensuring the construction safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Process monitoring and fault diagnosis systems are essential for ensuring the quality and safety of industrial processes. Real industrial process data always has dynamic features, autocorrelation features, and non‐Gaussian distributions, making many multivariate statistical process monitoring (MSPM) methods, such as principal component analysis (PCA), not work well. To solve the problem, a new process monitoring method (named DPCA‐ICA‐moving window Kolmogorov–Smirnov test [MWKS]) is proposed in the paper, which is a combination of DPCA and independent component analysis (ICA) with adaptive weight parameters and introduces a moving window technique and two‐sample K‐S test to obtain the K‐S distance of the commonly used Hotelling's T2 and square predictive error as new monitoring parameters. Experimental results on the Tennessee Eastman chemical process demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method, which shows it has better performance than existing commonly used methods. The average fault detection rate (FDR) is 93.131%, while the average false alarm rate (FAR) of the proposed method is only 0.1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study highlights the positive impact of a stock market listing on workplace safety. We find that workplace injuries in publicly listed firms are lower than those in comparable private firms, and this effect relates to heightened monitoring by the media and regulators. The media pays more attention to public firms' safety issues than to those of private firms, and the reduced media scrutiny due to local newspaper closures leads to greater increases in injuries in public firms. Regulators also monitor public firms more strictly, evidenced by a higher likelihood of nonroutine inspections and larger penalties for detected violations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]