Safer construction : the development of a voluntary code of practice to improve safety performance in the Australian construction industry

In Australia, between 1994 and 2000, 50 construction workers were killed each year as a result of their work, the industry fatality rate, at 10.4 per 100,000 persons, is similar to the national road toll fatality rate and the rate of serious injury is 50% higher than the all industries average. This poor performance represents a significant threat to the industry’s social sustainability. Despite the best efforts of regulators and policy makers at both State and Federal levels, the incidence of death, injury and illness in the Australian construction industry has remained intransigently high, prompting an industry-led initiative to improve the occupational health and safety (OHS) performance of the Australian construction industry. The ‘Safer Construction’ project involves the development of an evidence-based Voluntary Code of Practice for OHS in the industry.

Improvements in sustainable energy and water practice in the food processing industry : an in depth analysis of the manufacture of Ghee at the Butter Producers' Cooperative Federation Limited, Brisbane

This thesis is a documented energy audit and long term study of energy and water reduction in a ghee factory. Global production of ghee exceeds 4 million tonnes annually. The factory in this study refines dairy products by non-traditional centrifugal separation and produces 99.9% pure, canned, crystallised Anhydrous Milk Fat (Ghee). Ghee is traditionally made by batch processing methods. The traditional method is less efficient, than centrifugal separation. An in depth systematic investigation was conducted of each item of major equipment including; ammonia refrigeration, a steam boiler, canning equipment, pumps, heat exchangers and compressed air were all fine-tuned. Continuous monitoring of electrical usage showed that not every initiative worked, others had pay back periods of less than a year. In 1994-95 energy consumption was 6,582GJ and in 2003-04 it was 5,552GJ down 16% for a similar output. A significant reduction in water usage was achieved by reducing the airflow in the refrigeration evaporative condensers to match the refrigeration load. Water usage has fallen 68% from18ML in 1994-95 to 5.78ML in 2003-04. The methods reported in this thesis could be applied to other industries, which have similar equipment, and other ghee manufacturers.

The NOURISH randomised control trial : positive feeding practices and food preferences in early childhood - a primary prevention program for childhood obesity

Background Primary prevention of childhood overweight is an international priority. In Australia 20-25% of 2-8 year olds are already overweight. These children are at substantially increased the risk of becoming overweight adults, with attendant increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Early feeding practices determine infant exposure to food (type, amount, frequency) and include responses (eg coercion) to infant feeding behaviour (eg. food refusal). There is correlational evidence linking parenting style and early feeding practices to child eating behaviour and weight status. A focus on early feeding is consistent with the national focus on early childhood as the foundation for life-long health and well being. The NOURISH trial aims to implement and evaluate a community-based intervention to promote early feeding practices that will foster healthy food preferences and intake and preserve the innate capacity to self-regulate food intake in young children. Methods/Design This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to recruit 820 first-time mothers and their healthy term infants. A consecutive sample of eligible mothers will be approached postnatally at major maternity hospitals in Brisbane and Adelaide. Initial consent will be for re-contact for full enrolment when the infants are 4-7 months old. Individual mother- infant dyads will be randomised to usual care or the intervention. The intervention will provide anticipatory guidance via two modules of six fortnightly parent education and peer support group sessions, each followed by six months of regular maintenance contact. The modules will commence when the infants are aged 4-7 and 13-16 months to coincide with establishment of solid feeding, and autonomy and independence, respectively. Outcome measures will be assessed at baseline, with follow up at nine and 18 months. These will include infant intake (type and amount of foods), food preferences, feeding behaviour and growth and self-reported maternal feeding practices and parenting practices and efficacy. Covariates will include sociodemographics, infant feeding mode and temperament, maternal weight status and weight concern and child care exposure. Discussion Despite the strong rationale to focus on parents’ early feeding practices as a key determinant of child food preferences, intake and self-regulatory capacity, prospective longitudinal and intervention studies are rare. This trial will be amongst to provide Level II evidence regarding the impact of an intervention (commencing prior to age 12 months) on children’s eating patterns and behaviours. Trial Registration: ACTRN12608000056392

Construction safety in the repair and maintenance sector

Statistics indicate that the percentage of fatal industrial accidents arising from repair, maintenance, minor alteration and addition (RMAA) works in Hong Kong was disturbingly high and was over 56% in 2006. This paper provides an initial report of a research project funded by the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the HKSAR to address this safety issue. The aim of this study is to scrutinize the causal relationship between safety climate and safety performance in the RMAA sector. It aims to evaluate the safety climate in the RMAA sector; examine its impacts on safety performance, and recommend measures to improve safety performance in the RMAA sector. This paper firstly reports on the statistics of construction accidents arising from RMAA works. Qualitative and quantitative research methods applied in conducting the research are dis-cussed. The study will critically review these related problems and provide recommendations for improving safety performance in the RMAA sector.

The role of HPC facilies in development of a novel road safety barrier

Water-filled portable road safety barriers are a common fixture in road works, however their use of water can be problematic, both in terms of the quantity of water used and the transportation of the water to the installation site. This project aims to develop a new design of portable road safety barrier, which will make novel use of composite and foam materials in order to reduce the barrier’s reliance on water in order to control errant vehicles. The project makes use of finite element (FE) techniques in order to simulate and evaluate design concepts. FE methods and models that have previously been tested and validated will be used in combination in order to provide the most accurate numerical simulations available to drive the project forward. LS-DYNA code is as highly dynamic, non-linear numerical solver which is commonly used in the automotive and road safety industries. Several complex materials and physical interactions are to be simulated throughout the course of the project including aluminium foams, composite laminates and water within the barrier during standardised impact tests. Techniques to be used include FE, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and weighted multi-parameter optimisation techniques. A detailed optimisation of several design parameters with specific design goals will be performed with LS-DYNA and LS-OPT, which will require a large number of high accuracy simulations and advanced visualisation techniques. Supercomputing will play a central role in the project, enabling the numerous medium element count simulations necessary in order to determine the optimal design parameters of the barrier to be performed. Supercomputing will also allow the development of useful methods of visualisation results and the production of highly detailed simulations for end-product validation purposes. Efforts thus far have been towards integrating various numerical methods (including FEM, SPH and advanced materials models) together in an efficient and accurate manner. Various designs of joining mechanisms have been developed and are currently being developed into FE models and simulations.

How to progress forward in improving safety outcomes in the work-related driving field : a review of work-related driving research and development of an intervention framework [Extended abstract]

Road crashes are now the most common cause of work-related injury, death and absence in a number of countries. Given the impact of workrelated driving crashes on social and economic aspects of business and the community, workrelated road safety and risk management has received increasing attention in recent years. However, limited academic research has progressed on improving safety within the work-related driving sector. The aim of this paper is to present a review of work-related driving safety research to date, and provide an intervention framework for the future development and implementation of workrelated driving safety intervention strategies.

Safety effectiveness indicators project workbook

The Safety Effectiveness Indicators (SEI) Project has used extensive research to determine what safety effectiveness measures can be developed by industry, for industry use to improve its safety performance. These indicators can measure how effectively the 13 safety management tasks1 (SMTs) selected for this workbook are undertaken. Currently, positive performance indicators (PPIs) are only able to measure the number of activities undertaken. They do not provide information on whether each activity is being undertaken effectively, and therefore do not provide data which can be used by industry to target areas of focus and improvement. The initial workbook contained six SMTs, and was piloted on various construction sites during August 2008. The workbook was refined through feedback from the pilot, and 13 SMTs were used in a field trial during the months of October, November and December 2008. The project team also carried out 12 focus groups in Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne during April, May and June 2008, and developed an initial format of this workbook through these groups and team workshops. Simplification of the language was a recurring theme, and we have attempted to do this throughout the project. The challenge has been to ensure we keep the descriptions short, to the point and relevant to all companies, without making them too specific. The majority of the construction industry participants also requested an alteration to the scale used, so a ‘Yes’/‘No’/’Not applicable’ format is used in this workbook. This workbook, based on industry feedback, is for use on site by various construction companies and contains 13 SMTs. However, you are invited to personalise the SEI tools to better suit your individual company and workplaces.

Measuring safety effectiveness : literature review

Cohen (1977) reviewed the then current research on occupational safety and stated that both strong company commitment to safety, and communication between all levels of a company are the most influential factors to improving safety. Other relevant factors included careful selection of staff, and early and continuous training throughout the lifetime with the company. These continue to be important factors in OHS today. There has been a continued decrease in the injury rates since Cohen’s review within the Australian construction industry, however, the construction industry has far more injuries and ill-health than the Australian average, with one fatality occurring on average per week in the Australian Construction Industry. The Fatality rate in the building and construction industry remains three times higher than the national average, and 15% of all industry fatalities are in the building and construction industry. In addition the construction industry pays one of the highest workers’ compensation premium rates – in 2001 alone approximately 0.5% ($267 million) of revenue would have to be allocated to the direct cost of 1998/99 compensations (Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner, 2006). Based on these statistics there is a need to measure and improve safety performance within the construction industry.

Exercise and secondary lymphedema : safety, potential benefits, and research issues

Participating in regular physical activity is encouraged following breast cancer (BC) treatment, except for those who have subsequently developed lymphoedema. We designed a randomised controlled trial to investigate the effect of participating in a supervised, mixed-type, moderate-intensity exercise program among women with lymphoedema following breast cancer. Women <76 years who had completed BC treatment at least six months prior and subsequently developed unilateral, upper-limb lymphoedema were randomly allocated to an intervention (n=16) or control (n=16) group. The intervention group (IG) participated in 20 supervised group exercise sessions over 12 weeks, while the control group (CG) was instructed to continue habitual activities. Lymphoedema status was assessed by bioimpedance spectroscopy (impedance ratio between limbs) and perometry (volume difference between limbs). Mean baseline measures were similar for the IG (1.13+0.15 and 337+307ml, respectively) and CG (1.13+0.15 and 377+416ml, respectively) and no changes were observed over time. However, 2 women in the IG no longer had evidence of lymphoedema by study end. Average attendance was over 70% of supervised sessions, and there were no withdrawals. The results indicate that, at worst, exercise does not exacerbate secondary lymphoedema. Women with secondary lymphoedema should be encouraged to be physically active, optimising their physical and psychosocial recovery.

All-terrain vehicle crashes and associated injuries in North Queensland : findings from the Rural and Remote Road Safety Study

Objective: To define characteristics of all-terrain vehicle (ATV) crashes occurring in north Queensland from March 2004 till June 2007 with the exploration of associated risk factors. Design: Descriptive analysis of ATV crash data collected by the Rural and Remote Road Safety Study. Setting: Rural and remote north Queensland. Participants: Forty-two ATV drivers and passengers aged 16 years or over hospitalised at Atherton, Cairns, Mount Isa or Townsville for at least 24 hours as a result of a vehicle crash. Main outcome measures: Demographics of participants, reason for travel, nature of crash, injuries sustained and risk factors associated with ATV crash. Results: The majority of casualties were men aged 16–64. Forty-one per cent of accidents occurred while performing agricultural tasks. Furthermore, 39% of casualties had less than one year’s experience riding ATVs. Over half the casualties were not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. Common injuries were head and neck and upper limb injuries. Rollovers tended to occur while performing agricultural tasks and most commonly resulted in multiple injuries. Conclusions: Considerable trauma results from ATV crashes in rural and remote north Queensland. These crashes are not included in most general vehicle crash data sets, as they are usually limited to events occurring on public roads. Minimal legislation and regulation currently applies to ATV use in agricultural, recreational and commercial settings. Legislation on safer design of ATVs and mandatory courses for riders is an essential part of addressing the burden of ATV crashes on rural and remote communities.

What do we really know about designing and evaluating road safety advertising? : current knowledge and future challenges

This paper provides much needed consolidation of the available evidence in relation to the design and evaluation of road safety advertising messages. Drawing upon current knowledge, the paper identifies some key challenges for improving both the persuasiveness of messages and the methods utilised to assess their effectiveness. The paper identifies some key message-related and individual difference factors, such as response efficacy, emotion, gender and involvement, which theoretical and empirical evidence has shown to be key determinants of message persuasiveness. In relation to message evaluation, the paper focuses upon research relating to the direct, persuasive role of advertising as opposed to evaluations of the combined effects of advertising and enforcement. The paper reviews methodological limitations of previous studies and gaps in existing knowledge that together limit the ability to draw accurate and comprehensive conclusions regarding message effectiveness. Overall, this paper provides a significant and timely review of what is currently known about road safety advertising design and evaluation.