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Highlights: [•] We compute differentiated mileage exposure metrics from 1600 vehicles. [•] Metrics are used in multivariate logistic regression to predict accident involvement. [•] After various transformations, a Nagelkerke R 2 goodness-of-fit of 0.646 is achieved. [•] Multivariate mileage–risk relationship modeling offers novel insights. [•] PAYD-insurance data are an important opportunity for transportation research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of this study is to find the numbers of deaths by drowning incidents by using online search engines and online newspaper reports for all age groups covering five years (2007–2011) in Turkey, in order to conduct a population-based study for the first time in Turkey and to identify the risk factors associated with deaths from drowning. This is a web-based, descriptive, retrospective study on the deaths caused by unintentional drowning incidents. In the period of the study, 3216 persons died from drowning in Turkey; 84.0% (2703 persons) were males, and 16.0% (513 persons) were females. Death rates from drowning in overall years were 0.89; 1.44 for males, and 0.28 for females per 100,000. For persons aged between 10–19 years, the death rate was the highest with 1.76 deaths per 100,000 people. The drowning rate in provinces and districts (1.01 per 100,000) was almost twice than that in towns and villages (0.53 per 100,000) and 75.7% of all deaths were in natural water environments such as fresh/still water, and the sea. As the first population-based study on drowning, this study presents vital information to build preventative strategies and policies against drowning incidents, which threaten public health in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the analysis of large mining machinery related accidents in Indian opencast coal mines. The trends of coal production, share of mining methods in production, machinery deployment in open cast mines, size and population of machinery, accidents due to machinery, types and causes of accidents have been analysed from the year 1995 to 2008. The scrutiny of accidents during this period reveals that most of the responsible factors are machine reversal, haul road design, human fault, operator's fault, machine fault, visibility and dump design. Considering the types of machines, namely, dumpers, excavators, dozers and loaders together the maximum number of fatal accidents has been caused by operator's faults and human faults jointly during the period from 1995 to 2008. The novel finding of this analysis is that large machines with state-of-the-art safety system did not reduce the fatal accidents in Indian opencast coal mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Accidents are the leading cause of death in adults prior to middle age. The care of severely injured patients is an interdisciplinary challenge. Limited evidence is available concerning pre-hospital trauma care training programs and the advantage of such programs for trauma patients. The effect on trauma care procedures or on the safety of emergency crews on the scene is limited; however, there is a high level of experience and expert opinion. Methods I - Video-recorded case studies are the basis of an assessment tool and checklist being developed to verify the results of programs to train participants in the care of seriously injured patients, also known as "objective structured clinical examination" (OSCE). The timing, completeness and quality of the individual measures are assessed using appropriate scales. The evaluation of team communication and interaction will be analyzed with qualitative methods and quantified and verified by existing instruments (e.g. the Clinical Team Scale). The developed assessment tool is validated by several experts in the fields of trauma care, trauma research and medical education. II a) In a German emergency medical service, the subjective assessment of paramedics of their pre-hospital care of trauma patients is evaluated at three time points, namely before, immediately after and one year after training. b) The effect of a standardized course concept on the quality of documentation in actual field operations is determined based on three items relevant to patient safety before and after the course. c) The assessment tool will be usedto assess the effect of a standardized course concept on procedures and team communication in pre-hospital trauma care using scenariobased case studies. Discussion This study explores the effect of training on paramedics. After successful study completion, further multicenter studies are conceivable, which would evaluate emergency-physician staffed teams. The influence on the patients and prehospital measures should be assessed based on a retrospective analysis of the emergency room data. Trials registration German Clinical Trials Register, ID DRKS00004713 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Accidental deaths are heavily influenced by both socioeconomic and marital status. [•] Marital status is most relevant for more preventable accidental deaths. [•] SES is most relevant for more preventable accidental deaths. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Introduction: Car accidents are currently a social issue globally because they result in the deaths of many people. The aim of this study was to examine traffic accidents in suburban Tehran and forecast the number of future accidents using a time-series model. Methods: The sample population of this cross-sectional study was all traffic accidents that caused death and physical injuries in suburban Tehran in 2010 and 2011, as registered by the Tehran Emergency Section. In the present study, Minitab 15 software was used to provide a description of traffic accidents in suburban Tehran for the specified time period as well as those that occurred during April 2012. Results: The results indicated that the average number of traffic accidents in suburban Tehran per day in 2010 was 7.91 with a standard deviation of 7.70. This figure for 2011 was 6 daily traffic accidents with a standard deviation of 5.30. A one-way analysis of variance indicated that the average of traffic accidents in suburban Tehran was different for different months of the year (P = 0.000). The study results showed that different seasons in 2010 and 2011 had significantly different numbers of traffic accidents (P < 0.05). Through an auto-regressive moving average (ARMA), it was predicted that there would be 166 traffic accidents in April 2012 with a mean of 5.53 and maximum of 6 traffic accidents/day. Conclusion: There has been a decreasing trend in the average number of traffic accidents per day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Patients of motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) suffering burns are challenging for the rescue team and the admitting hospital. These patients often face worse outcomes than crash patients with trauma only. Our analysis of the German In-depth Accident Study (GIDAS) database researches the detailed crash mechanisms to identify potential prevention measures. Methods: We analyzed the 2011 GIDAS database comprising 14,072 MVC patients and compared individuals with (Burns) and without (NoBurns) burns. Only complete data sets were included. Patients with burns obviously resulting of air bag deployment only were not included in the Burns group. Data acquisition by an on call team of medical and technical researchers starts at the crash scene immediately after the crash and comprises technical data as well as medical information until discharge from the hospital. Statistical analysis was done by Mann–Whitney-U-test. Level of significance was p <0.05. Results: 14,072 MVC patients with complete data sets were included in the analysis. 99 individuals suffered burns (0.7%; group “Burns”). Demographic data and injury severity showed no statistical significant difference between the two groups of Burns and NoBurns. Injury severity was measured using the Injury Severity Score (ISS). Direct frontal impact (Burns: 48.5% vs. NoBurns: 33%; p <0.05) and high-energy impacts as represented by delta-v (m/s) (Burns: 33.5±21.4 vs. NoBurns: 25.2±15.9; p <0.05) were significantly different between groups as was mortality (Burns: 12.5% vs. NoBurns: 2.1%; p <0.05). Type of patients’ motor vehicles and type of crash opponent showed no differences. Conclusions: Our results show, that frontal and high-energy impacts are associated with a frequency of burns. This may serve automobile construction companies to improve the burn safety to prevent flames spreading from the motor compartment to the passenger compartment. Communities may impose speed limits in local crash hot spots. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

It is well known that the domino effect can have a major impact on accidents in storage facilities, as it can increase the consequences of an initial event considerably. However, quantitative risk assessments (QRAs) do not usually take the domino effect into account in a detailed, systematic way, mostly because of its complexity and the difficulties involved in its incorporation. We have developed a simple method to include the domino effect in QRAs of storage facilities, by estimating the frequency with which new accidents will occur due to this phenomenon. The method has been programmed and implemented in two case studies. The results show that it can indeed be used to include the possibility of domino effect occurrence in a QRA. Furthermore, depending on the design of a facility, the domino effect can have a significant effect on the associated risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Bicycle helmets effectively reduce head injury severity in common accidents. [•] Helmets reduced the risk of an AIS>3 injury by an average of 40%. [•] Helmets will eliminate the risk of injury for many accidents. [•] There was no evidence that helmet wearing increased the risk of neck injury. [•] Helmets reduced AIS>3 head injuries taking risk compensation into consideration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The main objective of this study is to carry out a preliminary approach to the examination of the relationship between drug use and the health problems in Colombia. It was used a questionnaire with 11 categories of diseases or syndromes (respiratory, skin, neurological, psychiatric, liver, self-inmune, cardiac, traumas and accidents, sexually transmitted genital-urinary and others), which was applied at 101 drug users between 15 and 64 years of age and 50 non-consumers between 20 and 84 years old. Four groups of disorders (psychiatric, neurologic, cardiac, and respiratory difficulties) were significant among drug users. Psychiatric disorders included panic attacks, excessive euphoria, general anxiety, discouragement, depression and hallucinations; neurological problems, increase or decrease of sensitivity, memory loss and motor difficulties. Only a heart problem (arrhythmias) and one respiratory (chronic cough) were significantly present. This study lays the groundwork for the future calculafions of health-drugs attributable fractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Highlights: [•] The research–practice gap in systemic accident analysis was examined. [•] Numerous factors can hinder the awareness, adoption and usage of systemic methods. [•] Efforts to close the gap should focus on meeting practitioner analysis needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Crash modification factors (CMFs) are used to measure the safety impacts of changes in specific geometric characteristics. Their development has gained much interest following the adoption of CMFs by the recently released Highway Safety Manual (HSM) and SafetyAnalyst tool in the United States. This paper describes a study to develop CMFs for interchange influence areas on urban freeways in the state of Florida. Despite the very different traffic and geometric conditions that exist in interchange influence areas, most previous studies have not separated them from the rest of the freeway system in their analyses. In this study, a promising data mining method known as multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) was applied to develop CMFs for median width and inside and outside shoulder widths for “total” and “fatal and injury” (FI) crashes. In addition, CMFs were also developed for the two most frequent crash types, i.e., rear-end and sideswipe. MARS is characterized by its ability to accommodate the nonlinearity in crash predictors and to allow the impact of more than one geometric variable to be simultaneously considered. The methodology further implements crash predictions from the model to identify changes in geometric design features. Four years of crashes from 2007 to 2010 were used in the analysis and the results showed that MARS's prediction capability and goodness-of-fit statistics outperformed those of the negative binomial model. The influential variables identified included the outside and inside shoulder widths, median width, lane width, traffic volume, and shoulder type. It was deduced that a 2-ft increase in the outside and inside shoulders (from 10ft to 12ft) reduces FI crashes by 10% and 33%, respectively. Further, a 42-ft reduction in the median width (from 64ft to 22ft) increases the rear-end, total, and FI crashes by 473%, 263%, and 223%, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Limited literature documents injury-proneness of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in western population. However, only a few studies prospectively investigated the prediction of ADHD to injuries without considering other psychiatric and physical conditions and there is lack of such data in Asian population. To prospectively examine the prediction of ADHD to the risk of injury in a national sample of Taiwan, we conducted this study with samples including 1965 6–18-year-old youths with newly diagnosis of ADHD from 1999 to 2003, and 7860 sex-, age- and index day-matched non-ADHD controls from Taiwan''s National Health Insurance Research Database (1997–2008). Relevant psychiatric and physical disorders, demographics, and medications were also included in the Cox proportional hazard models with injury as the outcome. Our results showed that ADHD cases had a roughly 2-fold and 5-fold higher risk of each injury, and overall injury than controls after considering all confounding factors, respectively. In addition to ADHD, use of anxiolytics, antidepressants, and antipsychotics, and comorbid physical illnesses also predicted the injury prospectively. Our findings strongly support that ADHD predicted injury risks and imply that physicians should take the risk of injury into consideration while prescribing medications other than stimulants to patients with ADHD, especially anxiolytics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although a 'system approach' to accidents in sociotechnical systems has been frequently advocated, formal system theoretic concepts remain absent in the literature on accident analysis and system safety. To address this gap, we introduce the notions of coordinability and consistency from the hierarchical and multilevel systems theory literature. We then investigate the applicability and the importance of these concepts to accident causation and safety. Using illustrative examples, including the worst disaster in aviation history, and recent incidents in the United States of aircraft clipping each other on the tarmac, we propose that the lack of coordinability is a fundamental failure mechanism causing or contributing to accidents in multilevel systems. We make a similar case for the lack of consistency. Coordinability and consistency become ingredients for accident prevention, and their absence fundamental failure mechanisms that can lead to system accidents. Finally, using the concepts introduced in this work, we identify several venues for further research, including the development of a theory of coordination in multilevel systems, the investigation of potential synergies between coordinability, consistency, and the high reliability organizations paradigm, and the possibility of reframing the view that 'sloppy management is the root cause of many industrial accidents' as one of lack of coordinability and/or consistency between management and operations. By introducing and expanding on the concepts of coordinability and consistency, we hope to contribute to the thinking about, and the to language of, accident causation, and prevention and to add to the intellectual toolkit of safety professionals and academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article covers a study on whether children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience higher occurrances of risk-taking behavior, accidents, and illnesses as adults. Particular attention is given to the correlation between ADHD and risks taken while driving and sexual behavior, as well as to the role of conduct disorder (CD) and antisocial personality (APD. According to the authors, the study indicated children who develop CD/APD demonstrate more risky adult behavior.

Rollover collisions are among the most serious collisions that usually result in severe injuries or fatalities. In 2009, there were 8,732 fatal rollover collisions in the United States of America that resulted in the death of9,833 persons. Those numbers represent approximately 28% and 29% of the total numbers of fatal collisions and fatalities, respectively. The main objective of this paper is to examine the impact of different risk factors that may contribute to this type of serious collisions to help develop countermeasures that limit them. To avoid the bias that may be caused by interactions among different drivers, this analysis focuses on rollover related to single-vehicle collisions so that the behavior of the driver of the collided vehicle can be analyzed more effectively. Logistic regression technique is utilized to analyze single-vehicle rollover collisions that occurred on state and interstate highways in the states of Ohio and Washington in 2009. The results obtained from this analysis have the potential to help decision makers identify different strategies to limit the severity of this type of collisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of accident records provides a useful means for identifying patterns in the incidence of accidents in professional populations. Despite all precautions, underground coal mining is one of the dangerous industries leading to fatal occupational accidents. Accidents are complicated events to which many factors effect on their causation and preventing them is only possible by analyses of the events occurred in past and by proper interpretation of the statistical results. This paper synthesizes the analysis of accidents occurred in Valea Jiului collieries from 1972 to 2010. It is found that methane remains the main concern for the future, despite a favourable evolution trend in overall fatality rate. At last, it brought forward some conclusions and prospects for the improvement of safety levels in the collieries in Valea Jiului. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which investigated the early clinical predictors of acute respiratory distress syndrome following major traumatic injury. The study, which included 224 patients, found that age, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II Score, injury severity score and the blunt traumatic injury predict acute respiratory distress syndrome. It concluded that patients are at risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome following severe traumatic injury.

Abstract: This paper elaborates on the debate whether safety investigations are obsolete and should be replaced by more modern safety assessment approaches. Despite their past performance, in particular in aviation, accident investigations are criticized for their reactive nature and the lack of learning potential they provide. Although safety management systems are considered a modern method with a more prospective potential, they too are hard to judge by their quantitative performance. Instead of measuring both concepts along the lines of their output, this contribution explores the origin, context and notions behind both approaches. Both approaches prove to be adaptive to new developments and have the ability to shift their focus towards learning and cognition. In assessing their potential, accident investigations prove to cover a specific domain of application in the risk domain of low probability and major consequences, fulfilling a mission as public safety assessor. In order to make optimal use of their analytic and diagnostic potential, investigations should mobilize more complex and sophisticated scientific theories and notions, in particular of a non-linear nature. Consequently, they are neither reactive, nor proactive, but provide a specific approach to safety issues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes concerns about the documentation, dissemination and use of lessons learned from mishap investigations, impediments posed by current practices, and opportunities for improvement. Lessons are presently developed, documented and stored primarily in narrative form and relational databases, and disseminated in many forms and media, including the Internet. Current practices pose many impediments to maximized development, dissemination and use. Investigation process research and new data concepts behind the Semantic Web, exploited elsewhere, offer potential opportunities to overcome these impediments. To exploit these opportunities, formation of a working group to develop an improved Semantic Web-friendly mishap investigation lessons learning system is proposed. An example illustrating an alternative approach is described to support a reasonable expectation that an alternative lessons learning system could be developed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent events in the nuclear industry have blamed a declining safety culture both on the utility and regulatory side as the major responsible. Confidence in the nuclear industry can be dramatically affected by such events. In this context, the present paper analyses a recent crisis event that involved a research reactor. It shows the time history of the event and how its escalation brought to a temporary shut down of the reactor. In-depth analysis of the event pointed out safety culture deficiencies within the organization. The paper presents the key elements in the ensuing organizational change process and describes the different phases (short and long term approaches), players and measures involved in the process that the organisation set up to address deficiencies and improve safety culture. The case represents an interesting example from which important lessons can be learnt. In particular, staff motivation in terms of involvement in improvement activities is considered central in managing safety. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In their regulations, the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) states that the companies responsible for oil and gas exploration and production activities in Norway shall record and investigate accidents and serious incidents. This paper introduces a general model for the accident investigation process in the Norwegian petroleum industry, and presents some results derived from a comparative study of causal factors identified in offshore accident investigation reports from 2002 to 2006. The paper also offers a discussion of the improvement potential in the use of investigation methods. Finally, a discussion of future challenges in accident investigations is provided. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Current operating feedback systems in industry show some limits since, in numerous industrial companies, the numbers of events do not decrease anymore and similar events seem to recur. Our assumption is that weaknesses come mainly from analysis methodology used. After a description of analysis methodology history, we focus on interest of applying an organisational analysis of events, familiar to scholars but not yet applied in industry, and we describe its main characteristics after defining what we mean by “organisation”. Then we highlight roles of analysts who are not neutral in using event analysis method, assuming that these roles could be a block to progress of event analyses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, a comprehensive review of the concepts of occupational injury and accident causation and prevention is presented. Starting with hazard identification, the issues on risk assessment, accident causation, and intervention strategies are discussed progressively. The distinctiveness and overlaps in accident and injury research are highlighted. Both empirical research in terms of hypotheses tested and theoretical research such as accident causation models are compared and contrasted. Finally, based on the critical appraisal of the comprehensive review, future research directions on occupational injury research are delineated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Three accident causation models, each with their own associated approach to accident analysis, currently dominate the human factors literature. Although the models are in general agreement that accidents represent a complex, systems phenomenon, the subsequent analysis methods prescribed are very different. This paper presents a case study-based comparison of the three methods: Accimap, HFACS and STAMP. Each was used independently by separate analysts to analyse the recent Mangatepopo gorge tragedy in which six students and their teacher drowned while participating in a led gorge walking activity. The outputs were then compared and contrasted, revealing significant differences across the three methods. These differences are discussed in detail, and the implications for accident analysis are articulated. In conclusion, a modified version of the Accimap method, incorporating domain specific taxonomies of failure modes, is recommended for future accident analysis efforts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With the rapid development of industry in China, the number of establishments that are proposed or under construction is increasing year by year, and many are industries that handle flammable, explosive, toxic, harmful, and dangerous substances. Accidents such as fire, explosion, and toxic diffusion inevitably happen. Accidents resulting from these major hazards in cities cause a large number of casualties and property losses. It is increasingly important to analyze the risk of major hazards in cities realistically and to suitably plan and utilize the surrounding land based on the risk analysis results, thereby reducing the hazards. A theoretical system for risk assessment of major hazards in cities is proposed in this article, and the major hazard risk for the entire city is analyzed quantitatively. Risks of various major accidents are considered together, superposition effect is analyzed, individual risk contours of the entire city are drawn out, and the level of risk in the city is assessed using 'as low as reasonably practicable' guidelines. After the entire city's individual risk distribution is obtained, risk zones are divided according to corresponding individual risk value of HSE, and land-use planning suggestions are proposed. Finally, a city in China is used as an example to illustrate the risk assessment process of the city's major hazard and its application in urban land-use planning. The proposed method has a certain theoretical and practical significance in establishing and improving risk analysis of major hazard and urban land-use planning. On the one hand, major urban public risk is avoided; further, the land is utilized in the best possible way in order to obtain the maximum benefit from its use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this study were to identify the demographic characteristics of injury victims and the types of injury cases seen and admitted for treatment in Khorixas District Hospital, Namibia. A descriptive retrospective survey of all injuries attended to and admitted in the hospital from January 2001 to December 2004 was done using document review of patients' medical records. A total of 331 injury cases (6.8% of all admissions) were admitted. The age group 20-29 years was the most commonly affected, with 18% injured. Injury was common among the males (76%). The unemployed constituted 36% of all the injuries, followed by children/infants (19%). Over two-thirds (68%) of the injuries were unintentional. Cuts and stabs were the most common (24%) type of injury among the injury cases admitted. Motor vehicle accidents accounted for 21% of all injuries admitted. Over a third (36%) of all the injuries were alcohol related. Farmers (11%) constitute the most affected group among the employed. Type of injury and occupation were significantly associated (χ2=107.879, p<0.001). Mass propagation of anti-violence education is needed to reduce the high rate of intentional injuries among the injuries such as cuts/stabs, assaults, human bite and gunshot injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To assess the availability and quality of global death registration data used for estimating injury mortality. Methods The completeness and coverage of recent national death registration data from the World Health Organization mortality database were assessed. The quality of data on a specific cause of injury death was judged high if fewer than 20% of deaths were attributed to any of several partially specified causes of injury, such as "unspecified unintentional injury". Findings Recent death registration data were available for 83 countries, comprising 28% of the global population. They included most high-income countries, most countries in Latin America and several in central Asia and the Caribbean. Categories commonly used for partially specified external causes of injury resulting in death included "undetermined intent," "unspecified mechanism of unintentional injury," "unspecified road injury" and "unspecified mechanism of homicide". Only 20 countries had high-quality data. Nevertheless, because the partially specified categories do contain some information about injury mechanisms, reliable estimates of deaths due to specific external causes of injury, such as road injury, suicide and homicide, could be derived for many more countries. Conclusion Only 20 countries had high-quality death registration data that could be used for estimating injury mortality because injury deaths were frequently classified using imprecise partially specified categories. Analytical methods that can derive national estimates of injury mortality from alternative data sources are needed for countries without reliable death registration systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper expands on air travel accident research by examining the relationship between air travel accidents and airline traffic or volume in the period from 1927–2006. The theoretical model is based on a representative airline company that aims to maximise its profits, and it utilises a fractional integration approach in order to determine whether there is a persistent pattern over time with respect to air accidents and air traffic. Furthermore, the paper analyses how airline accidents are related to traffic using a fractional cointegration approach. It finds that airline accidents are persistent and that a (non-stationary) fractional cointegration relationship exists between total airline accidents and airline passengers, airline miles and airline revenues, with shocks that affect the long-run equilibrium disappearing in the very long term. Moreover, this relation is negative, which might be due to the fact that air travel is becoming safer and there is greater competition in the airline industry. Policy implications are derived for countering accident events, based on competition and regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Adverse events are increasingly recognized as a source of harm to patients. When such harm occurs, problems arise in communicating the situation to patients and their families. We reviewed the literature on disclosure across individual and international boundaries, including patients’, healthcare professionals’ and other stakeholders’ perspectives in order to ascertain how the needs of all groups could be better reconciled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which assesses the risk factors for injuries and fatalities associated with use of occupational light vehicles (OLV) by workers in New South Wales. It states that the study considered different safety determinants such as the worker, vehicle type and the road. Findings reveal that OLV accident risk factors include negligence on the use of seatbelts and tiredness of the OLV user. It concludes that risks can be mitigated through fatigue management and safer vehicles.

Aims: Observed changes in subcategories of injury death were used to test the hypothesis that a sizeable proportion of "injury deaths of undetermined intent" (Y10-Y34 in ICD 10) in the Baltic and Slavic countries after the USSR dissolved in 1991 were hidden suicides. Methods: Using male age-adjusted suicide rates for two distinctly different periods, 1981-90 and 1992-2005, changes, ratios and correlations were calculated. The data were compared with the EU average. Results: After the USSR broke up, the obligation to make a definitive diagnosis became less strict. A massive increase in "injury deaths of undetermined intent" resulted. The mean rate for the second period reached 52.8 per 100,000 males in Russia (the highest rate) and 12.9 in Lithuania (the lowest), against 3.2 in EU-15. The rise from the first to the second period was highest in Belarus (56%) and Russia (44%). The number of injury deaths of undetermined intent was almost equal to that of suicides in Russia in 2005 (ratio 1.0) and Ukraine in 2002 (1.1). In all the countries, especially the Slavic ones, prevalence trends of injury-death subcategories were uniform, i.e. strongly correlated over time. No direct substitution of one diagnosis for another was evident. Conclusions: There is no evidence that the category of "injury deaths of undetermined intent" in the Baltic and Slavic countries hides suicides alone. Aggregate level analysis indicates that accidents and homicides could sometimes be diagnosed as undetermined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a systematic review on the study which analyzes the relationships between work associated injuries and shift work among health care workers in Australia. Methods used in the review includes selection criteria, data extraction and performance quality assessment. Results showed that shift work is related with a higher incidence or risk of sustaining work associated injuries.

In his brief commentary, Perrow raises four issues. First, he alludes to how the misuse of bureaucratic power could explain some accidents. Second, he reiterates that normal accidents occur owing to the characteristics inherent in a system, and such accidents, irrespective of whether high reliability practices are followed or not, are inevitable. Third, Perrow asserts that complexity and coupling are independent of time of operation. The time dimension's irrelevance, he claims, ought to be apparent from his analysis of normal accidents in systems such as the air transport and chemical industry (see Perrow, 1984). Fourth, Perrow implies that High Reliability Theory (HRT) cannot explain the sub-class of accidents that Normal Accident Theory (NAT) concerns itself with. He thus makes a case for retaining NAT alongside other theories and finds little value in our reconciliation. In fact, he finds the reconciliation inappropriate because we supposedly err in implicating time. We respond to the four issues in turn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of dose-load is used widely in risk assessment literature. This concept is based on animal experiments in which the animals were exposed to constant concentration during a set period of time. However, in most accident scenarios, people are exposed to time varying concentration of the toxic materials. The extension of the dose-load concept to such conditions is not straightforward. The assumption that the dose-load is additive leads to a paradox. We suggest a different approach for extending the experimental results for time-varying concentration. We introduce the concept of the effective dose, which considers physiological recovery processes. It is found that in many cases, especially those which include intermittent time series of the concentration, the number of casualties is reduced when considering the recovery process. It is also shown that by using the effective dose concept we can resolve the apparent paradox in the dose-load concept for intermittent concentration time series. We demonstrate the importance of buildings as shelter against toxic gases especially for an instantaneous release, a fact that should be considered in hazard evaluation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article further elaborates the findings by Reniers et al. in 2007 and 2008. A discrete-time approximation is presented to determine the severity of a major accident threat triggering immediate evacuation and its expected resulting costs. By implementing the proposed mathematical model, precautionary evacuation decision problems can be tackled in a realistic way, i.e., allowing for major accident threats with limited duration. Furthermore, the model is moulded into a working procedure which was used to develop software to solve the suggested algorithms. A case-study is provided and the results obtained by application of the methodology are discussed. Using a (realistic) discrete-time approximation computer simulation, we found that ignoring option characteristics may produce suboptimal intervention decisions in shutdown settings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a study on the recurrence of accidents involving all terrain vehicles (ATV). It states that the accidents have caused high death and injury rates that affect younger riders disproportionately. It mentions that from March 1-30, 2007, 300 ATV accidents were identified. Results revealed that a 78% increase in ATV injury admission is evident from the 2007 injury rate. It concludes that ATV accidents involving older riders tend to consume important hospital resources.

Objectives. This study focused on driver suicides in Finland. The first aim was to find out what the prevalence of these suicides was during the years 1974-2006. The second aim was to find out whether there were differences between northern and southern Finland in regards to the number of cases and the backgrounds of the drivers who committed suicide this way. Study design. All case reports of fatal motor vehicle accidents from the years 2005-2006 were investigated (n=528). Results were compared to the years previously investigated: 1974-1975, 1984-1985, 1987-1988, 1991-1992, 1993-1994 and 1997-1998 (n=3482). Methods. As driver suicides were classified, only those crashes in which the driver's intention had notably influenced the progress of the crash and the driver's background information clearly supported suicide. Driver suicides in northern and southern Finland were compared. Driver suicides were related to both the number of fatal motor vehicle accidents and the number of inhabitants. Results. Driver suicides increased during the period under study. However, both the number and the proportion of driver suicides have been quite constant since the beginning of the 1990s, averaging 20 per year, which is 8% of all fatal motor vehicle accidents in Finland. There were no differences in northern and southern Finland regarding driver suicides. Conclusions. Driver suicides represent a small proportion (2%) of all suicides committed in Finland every year. However, the proportion of driver suicides of all fatal motor vehicle accidents is greater, around 8%-9%. As a majority of driver suicides are collisions, they affect an even larger group of people. Possible preventive measures are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tower cranes are the centerpiece of production on today’s typical building construction sites. Tower cranes hoist and transport a variety of loads near and above people, working under crowded conditions, occasionally with overlapping work zones, and often under time, budget, and labor constraints. This work regime further increases the safety risk on sites that are inherently hazardous workplaces. This paper presents the results of a study that identified the major factors affecting safety in tower-crane environments and evaluated the degree to which each factor influences ongoing safety on site. Use of statistical data on accidents was ruled out as a source of information due to the countless number of incidents that go unreported, the common inability of statistics to provide root causes, and the questionability of statistics as a predictor of accidents. The research methodology was therefore based on comprehensive questioning of an expert team that included the safety managers and equipment managers of leading construction companies. With the limited resources available for safety improvement and accident prevention, greater attention must be paid by all parties involved to those factors evaluated as highly affecting site safety due to tower-crane work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 90's some backwards were observed in the trend of juvenile mortality, but during the first half of this decade this trend has seen a huge upswing, due mainly to the increase in deaths from violent causes. This article aims to examine the trends in mortality for the population between 15 and 29 years and to analyze the importance that the deaths caused by acts of violence. The sources of information used in this study are the statistics of deaths reported in the yearbooks of mortality of the Ministry of Health and the population projections compiled by the national institute of statistics based on the 2001 Census. This paper begins considering aspects such as the evolution of the number of deaths in this age, their weight on total deaths and gender gaps. next, we observe the evolution of mortality from external causes during the period 1990-2006, for the purposes of assessing changes in the participation of youth mortality from accidents, homicides and suicides, which have a different meaning depending on the age and sex. in the third section, we present the results of the estimation of Years of Potential life-lost (YPll), which provide an illustrative reference to the significant contribution to the total YPll by the young people who die prematurely, particularly due to violent causes. The paper ends summarizing some figures that reflect the dimension of this phenomenon and some thoughts on a subject of mandatory placement on the public agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the study which examines the application of the life change unit model for the prevention of accident proneness among small to medium sized industries in Korea. The study describes the development of a Korean Life Change Unit (KLCU) model for workers and managers in fatal accident areas and an evaluation of its application. The findings suggest that death of parents is the highest stress-giving factor for employees of both small and medium sized industries.

With recent advances obtained with numerical simulation of human body behaviour, it becomes possible to investigate the detailed behaviour of structure involved in trauma situations. Hence, does established injury criterion remain relevant with FE (finite element) modelling? In order to define standard rules for numerical simulation analysis, which methodologies could be proposed to investigate injury assumptions with an existing numerical model? A new general methodology based on a multi-level model analysis from potential tissue failure to structure kinematics was postulated and applied to a lower limb model. Standard impact situations were simulated and these demonstrate the methodology capabilities to predict the existing injury criteria threshold. Additionally, models' capabilities to provide new injury criteria (related to pedestrian impact situation) based on the general methodology were evaluated and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research on organizational accidents shows that both safety culture and complex technology make members of high-risk organizations blind to hazards and signals of danger. I discuss how these forms of ignorance can be reduced by means of cultural redundancy, which I understand as the organizational promotion of several co-existing frames of reference of equal standing. This approach is contrary to the main stream research on safety culture, which promotes the ideal of a ‘unitary safety culture’. Previous research shows that organizational learning occur trough comparison of perspectives and reflection upon practice. I argue that cultural redundancy is a precondition for processes of learning and culture change that may reduce ignorance to hazards and signals of danger in high-risk organizations. Such processes are, however, contingent on a climate of trust and openness in which co-existing safety cultures can meet and set forth processes of organizational learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a comparative assessment of severe accident risks in the energy sector, based on the historical experience of fossil (coal, oil, natural gas, and LPG [Liquefied Petroleum Gas]) and hydro chains contained in the comprehensive Energy-related Severe Accident Database (ENSAD), as well as Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) for the nuclear chain. Full energy chains were considered because accidents can take place at every stage of the chain. Comparative analyses for the years 1969-2000 included a total of 1870 severe (≥ 5 fatalities) accidents, amounting to 81,258 fatalities. Although 79.1% of all accidents and 88.9% of associated fatalities occurred in less developed, non-OECD countries, industrialized OECD countries dominated insured losses (78.0%), reflecting their substantially higher insurance density and stricter safety regulations. Aggregated indicators and frequency-consequence (F-N) curves showed that energy-related accident risks in non-OECD countries are distinctly higher than in OECD countries. Hydropower in non-OECD countries and upstream stages within fossil energy chains are most accident-prone. Expected fatality rates are lowest for Western hydropower and nuclear power plants; however, the maximum credible consequences can be very large. Total economic damages due to severe accidents are substantial, but small when compared with natural disasters. Similarly, external costs associated with severe accidents are generally much smaller than monetized damages caused by air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many motorcycle accidents, the motorcycle falls to the ground and slides to rest following impact or loss of control. The determination of the motorcycle speed just prior to ‘fall-over’ is important for biomechanics research and for litigation. This paper presents a new model of motorcycle fall-over and slide, which accounts for the loss of horizontal momentum resulting from the initial motorcycle-to-ground impact and the subsequent slide to rest. The model includes cases involving motorcycle fall-over owing to loss of control as well as impact. The models represent both the mean and variation present in the available experimental data for dry roads very well and are used to develop confidence limits for accident reconstruction purposes, in cases where only the motorcycle slide distance along the ground is known. Previously proposed confidence limit criteria are applied to predicting motorcycle speed ranges from slide distance, and it is shown that the level of prediction uncertainty can be substantially reduced in cases where additional information specific to the vehicle and road configurations is available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper updates an earlier report by the authors that studied electrical injuries from 1992 to 1998. The previous information is expanded and supplemented with fatal and nonfatal injury rates and trends through 2002. Injury numbers and rates were used to compare and trend electrical injury experience for various groups and categories. This information allowed identification of at-risk groups that could most benefit from effective electrical safety interventions. The data presented in this paper are derived from the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics' Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Survey of Occupational Illnesses and Injuries, and Current Population Survey. Between 1992 and 2002, 3378 workers died from on-the-job electrical injuries. Electricity remained the sixth leading cause of injury-related occupational death. From 1999 to 2002, 4.7% of all occupational deaths were caused by electricity, down from 5.2% in the 1992-1998 time period. The cause of death was listed as electrocution in 99.1% of fatal cases. Contact with overhead power lines was involved in 42% of all on-the-job electrical deaths. The construction industry accounted for 47% of all electrical deaths between 1992 and 2002 but showed overall improvement from 1995 to 2002 by reducing its electrical fatality rate from 2.2 to 1.5 per 100 000 workers. In addition, 46 598 workers were nonfatally injured by electricity. Contact with electric current of machine, tool, appliance, or light fixture and contact with wiring, transformers, or other electrical components accounted for 36% and 34% of nonfatal electrical injuries, respectively. Contact with underground buried power lines was involved with 1% of fatal injuries and 2% of nonfatal injuries. The research of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health aimed at evaluating commercially available overhead power line proximity warning alarms is described. This paper is expected to be the initial step for eventual development of a performance standard for such systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]