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Using data from a Spanish register on work-related accidents, this paper analyses the effect of contract types on two consequences of accidents: the probability of suffering a serious/fatal accident and the number of working days lost after an accident has happened. The focus is on the difference among temporary workers hired through temporary help agencies, direct temporary workers and open-ended workers. We find that workers hired through temporary help agencies are less likely to suffer serious/fatal accidents and the durations of their absences are shorter when they do, compared with workers holding either open-ended contracts or direct temporary contracts once personal, job and accident characteristics are controlled for. Keywords Work accidents * Temporary help agencies * Temporary employment JEL Classification J28 * J41 DOI 10.1007/s12122-010-9085-2

A model describing the impact of client variability and safety climate on the occupational well-being of nurses. A stronger safety climate moderated positive associations between client variability, occupational strain, and injury.

In several studies it is widely accepted that human error is the main reason for up to 80% of all incidents and accidents in complex high-risk systems that exist in the aviation, petrochemical, healthcare, construction, mining, and nuclear power industries. The construction industry, greatly impacted by accidents, is accountable for more than 1,000 fatalities in each of the past 14 years. The human factors analysis classification system (HFACS) is a general human error framework originally developed and tested as a tool for investigating and analyzing the human causes of accidents with applications to rail, air, and offshore environments. This paper introduces the concept of HFACS along with the framework of human error awareness training (HEAT) and their potential contribution to the construction industry. Based on the HEAT approach, this paper proposes a new error analysis educational and classification tool for safety within the construction industry. The primary difference between HFACS and HEAT is found in the structure, content, and presentation of the information allowing for higher effectiveness in incident investigation and safety education and training in construction. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000034 CE Database subject headings: Accidents; Human factors; Risk; Safety; Training; Construction industry.

Objective: To examine by hour of day and day of week the 750,000 compensation claims that were lodged by male workers in Queensland, Australia, during the 20-year period from 1968 to 1988, including an investigation into some possible reasons for the increased number of claims on Mondays and the reduced number of claims on Fridays. Method: The study was based on the collection entitled Industrial Accident Statistics (Bulletin 79), published annually by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Queensland office. This was the only State collection to include data on compensated injuries categorised by hour of day and day of week. There was no Australia-wide dataset of compensated occupational injuries. Results: Compensation claims were not evenly distributed through the working week. There were more injuries on Mondays (23.6% of the total) than on Tuesdays (21.8%), than on Wednesdays (20.3%), than on Thursdays (18%), than on Fridays (16.3%). There were more injuries in the mornings than in the afternoons for every day of the working week. Conclusions and Implications: This study confirms the existence of a steady reduction in workers' compensation injury claims on successive days of the working week. One possible explanation for this finding is offered as a basis for further research into the reasons for this trend. Hopefully, the results of these and later studies may suggest remedial measures that will help reduce the number of occupational injuries.

The authors measured perceptions of safety climate, motivation, and behavior at 2 time points and linked them to prior and subsequent levels of accidents over a 5-year period. A series of analyses examined the effects of top-down and bottom-up processes operating simultaneously over time. In terms of top-down effects, average levels of safety climate within groups at 1 point in time predicted subsequent changes in individual safety motivation. Individual safety motivation, in turn, was associated with subsequent changes in self-reported safety behavior. In terms of bottom-up effects, improvements in the average level of safety behavior within groups were associated with a subsequent reduction in accidents at the group level. The results contribute to an understanding of the factors influencing workplace safety and the levels and lags at which these effects operate. Keywords: organizational climate, occupational safety, accidents, injuries, organizational behavior

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2004.12.002 Byline: R.A. Haslam (a), S.A. Hide (a), A.G.F. Gibb (b), D.E. Gyi (a), T. Pavitt (b), S. Atkinson (a), A.R. Duff (c) Abstract: This overview paper draws together findings from previous focus group research and studies of 100 individual construction accidents. Pursuing issues raised by the focus groups, the accident studies collected qualitative information on the circumstances of each incident and the causal influences involved. Site based data collection entailed interviews with accident-involved personnel and their supervisor or manager, inspection of the accident location, and review of appropriate documentation. Relevant issues from the site investigations were then followed up with off-site stakeholders, including designers, manufacturers and suppliers. Levels of involvement of key factors in the accidents were: problems arising from workers or the work team (70% of accidents), workplace issues (49%), shortcomings with equipment (including PPE) (56%), problems with suitability and condition of materials (27%), and deficiencies with risk management (84%). Employing an ergonomics systems approach, a model is proposed, indicating the manner in which originating managerial, design and cultural factors shape the circumstances found in the work place, giving rise to the acts and conditions which, in turn, lead to accidents. It is argued that attention to the originating influences will be necessary for sustained improvement in construction safety to be achieved. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Human Sciences, Health and Safety Ergonomics Unit, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK (b) Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK (c) Manchester Centre for Civil and Construction Engineering, UMIST, P.O. Box 88 Manchester M60 1QD, UK

This cross-sectional study examined the association between self-reported nonfatal occupational injuries among high school students in South Texas and their self-reported general use of substances. Data were collected using a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire (n=3365). The independent variables included alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, inhalant, and steroid use. The dependent variable was occupational injury. Adjusting for grade, sex, ethnicity, and work intensity, odds ratios were calculated using logistic regression. Supporting an association with each substance, odds ratios consistently strengthened as use increased. Additional research is merited given the scant number of previous studies. The associations for inhalant (OR, 5.61) and steroid (OR, 7.63) use argue for their inclusion in future research. Keywords: Adolescents, occupational injury, substance use, INTRODUCTION A substantial number of adolescents are working currently in the United States (1). The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that on average each month during the school year [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2004.10.009 Byline: Tim A. Bentley (a), Richard J. Parker (b), Liz Ashby (b) Keywords: Tree felling; Job safety analysis; Injury data analysis Abstract: Highest injury rates within the New Zealand forest sector are reported for the logging operation, with up to 30% of logging injuries occurring during the felling task. This paper reports findings from a detailed task and job safety analysis of the motor-manual (chainsaw) felling task, and an analysis of New Zealand Accident Reporting Scheme data for logging injuries for the five-year period, 1996-2000. Key safety factors, including physical hazards and potential errors and violations associated with the felling task, were determined from the task and job safety analysis, along with possible adverse consequences and potential solutions for reducing injury risk. The potential for injury among inexperienced fellers was noted, as felling safety was dependent upon appropriate assessment of hazards and good judgement in respect of decisions regarding the felling of trees. The analysis of some 351 reported felling injury cases allowed identification of high-risk task elements, common injury initiating events and temporal and logger population injury patterns. Findings from the two methods of analysis were triangulated where possible to produce a better understanding of key risk areas. The potential risk associated with inexperienced employees, who incurred a high proportion of felling injuries, and the need for good judgement and decision making for different aspects of the felling task were particularly noted. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Management and International Business, Massey University-Albany, Private Bag 102 904 NSMC, Auckland, New Zealand (b) Centre for Human Factors and Ergonomics, Forest Research, Rotorua, Private Bag 3020, New Zealand Article History: Received 12 August 2002; Accepted 27 October 2004

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2004.10.002 Byline: Kathryn Woodcock (a), Colin G. Drury (b), Alison Smiley (c), Jiao Ma (d) Keywords: Industrial accident investigation; Simulation; Causal reasoning Abstract: Regardless of the actual causes of particular accidents, it is the causes identified by the analyst that determine what responses are made, and how safety is managed in industry. Past authors have suggested that investigation might be biased, but studies were limited by the lack of similarity to real-world investigation tasks in which investigators must decide what information to acquire as well as analyse and interpret it. A technique was developed to use simulated investigations rather than attribution judgements about causation. Three studies are described, using simulated investigation to compare elicited knowledge and hypotheses among safety specialists, to compare investigations using job aids with unaided investigations, and to teach students about investigation bias and comprehensiveness. The method was well accepted by participants and shows flexibility for a range of uses, although it may have limitations. Author Affiliation: (a) School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto Ont., Canada M5B 2K3 (b) Department of Industrial Engineering, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Amherst, NY 14260 USA (c) Human Factors North Inc., Toronto, Canada (d) University at Buffalo, State University of New York, USA Article History: Received 19 April 2001; Accepted 27 October 2004

This study confirms the self-defensive attribution hypothesis on causal attributions of accidents in Ghana's work environment. In this investigation, Ghanaian industrial workers and their supervisors assigned causality to industrial accidents, and their responses were compared. The results showed that the victims attributed their accidents to external causes to a greater extent than did the supervisors, and to internal causes to a lesser extent than did the supervisors. This finding reflects the tendency toward self-protective bias, whereby people tend to project blame for their failures onto external circumstances.

Objectives. We investigated fatal occupational injury rates in the United States by race and Hispanic ethnicity during the period 1990-1996. Methods. Fatalities were identified by means of the national traumatic occupational fatalities surveillance system. Fatal occupational injury rates were calculated by race/ethnicity and region using US-census-based workforce estimates. Results. Non-Hispanic Black men in the South had the highest fatal occupational injury rate (8.5 per 100000 worker-years), followed by Hispanic men in the South (7.9 per 100 000 worker-years). Fatal injury rates for Hispanic men increased over the study period, exceeding rates for non-Hispanic Black men in the latter years of observation. Conclusions. These data suggest a change in the demographics of fatal occupational injuries in the United States. Hispanic men in the South appear to be emerging as the group with the nation's highest unintentional fatal occupational injury rate.

Byline: J. Craig Wallace (1), Stephen J. Vodanovich (2) Keywords: cognitive failure; accidents; safety; performance Abstract: The ability of the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) to predict accidents and job performance ratings was investigated. A participant pool of 240 electrical workers anonymously completed the CFQ and an information sheet. Results indicated that CFQ scores and the Blunder factor could predict automobile accidents and work accidents, while the Blunders and Distractibility subscales could predict overall performance ratings. Additionally, to increase the generalizability of the study both self-reports and objective reports of safety behavior were collected. Results demonstrated that both types of reports overlapped substantially. Implications and limitations of the present study are discussed, as well as future research. Author Affiliation: (1) School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 274 5th Street, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0170 (2) University of West Florida, USA Article History: Registration Date: 12/10/2004

Drug use among employees continues to be a serious concern for American employers. Over 80% of the large employers in the United States use some form of testing to detect drug use, but this practice is controversial and the cost-effectiveness of drug testing remains largely unknown. This study begins an empirical investigation of the consequences of drug testing by estimating its impact on medical care expenditures and injury rates at a large manufacturing firm in 1996-1999. Multiple regression analyses of a pooled cross-sectional time-series data set were used to separate the impact of drug testing from other factors and to help find the optimal level of testing that was associated with minimum medical expenditures. Results indicated that medical expenditures would be minimized when 42% of the employees in a calendar quarter were drug tested. This implies that, on average, employees should be tested 1.68 times a year. The results also indicated that doubling the testing rate would reduce the odds of incurring any injuries on the job by over half, but the injury rate was already so low that this impact was very small. Hopefully the results of this study will inform the policy debate over drug testing by focusing on real data, as opposed to supposition or political considerations that seem to dominate many discussions. Key Words: Drug testing; Economics; Evaluation., INTRODUCTION Drug use and its impact on the workplace continue to be a serious concern in corporate America (1-6). Catastrophic events such as the Exxon Valdez incident and the tragic [...]