Motivators and barriers to incorporating climate change-related health risks in environmental health impact assessment

Climate change presents risks to health that must be addressed by both decision-makers and public health researchers. Within the application of Environmental Health Impact Assessment (EHIA), there have been few attempts to incorporate climate change-related health risks as an input to the framework. This study used a focus group design to examine the perceptions of government, industry and academic specialists about the suitability of assessing the health consequences of climate change within an EHIA framework. Practitioners expressed concern over a number of factors relating to the current EHIA methodology and the inclusion of climate change-related health risks. These concerns related to the broad scope of issues that would need to be considered, problems with identifying appropriate health indicators, the lack of relevant qualitative information that is currently incorporated in assessment and persistent issues surrounding stakeholder participation. It was suggested that improvements are needed in data collection processes, particularly in terms of adequate communication between environmental and health practitioners. Concerns were raised surrounding data privacy and usage, and how these could impact on the assessment process. These findings may provide guidance for government and industry bodies to improve the assessment of climate change-related health risks.

Transport injury risks in Queensland adolescents of Pacific Islander descent

Ethnicity is rarely considered in the development of injury prevention programs, despite its known impact on participation in risk behaviour. This study sought to understand engagement in transport related risk behaviours, patterns of injury and perceptions of risk among early adolescents who self-identify as being from a Pacific Islander background. In total 5 high schools throughout Queensland, Australia were recruited, of which 498 Year 9 students (13-14 years) completed questionnaires relating to their perceptions of risk and recent injury experience (specifically those transport behaviours that were medically treated and those that were not medically treated). The transport related risk behaviours captured in the survey were bicycle use, motorcycle use and passenger safety (riding with a drink driver and riding with a dangerous driver). The results are explored in terms of the prevalence of engagement in risky transport related behaviour among adolescents’ of Pacific Islander background compared to others of the same age. The results of this study provide an initial insight into the target participants’ perspective of risk in a road safety context as well as their experience of such behaviour and related injuries. This information may benefit future intervention programs specific to adolescents’ of Pacific Islander background.

Risks of Carbon Fraud

Carbon credit markets are in the early stages of development and media headlines such as these illustrate emerging levels of concern and foreboding over the potential for fraudulent crime within these markets. Australian companies are continuing to venture into the largely unregulated voluntary carbon credit market to offset their emissions and / or give their customers the opportunity to be ‘carbon neutral’. Accordingly, the voluntary market has seen a proliferation of carbon brokers that offer tailored offset carbon products according to need and taste. With the instigation of the Australian compliance market and with pressure increasing for political responses to combat climate change, we would expect Australian companies to experience greater exposure to carbon products in both compliance and voluntary markets. This paper examines the risks of carbon fraud in these markets by reviewing cases of actual fraud and analysing and identifying contexts where risks of carbon fraud are most likely.

Core competencies required for managing occupational road risks

To provide valuable industry information with human resource applications, this study aimed to identify the minimum level of competency required within organisations to manage occupational road risk. Senior managers from four Australian organisations participated in individual semi-structured interviews. These senior managers were responsible for a combined workforce of approximately 46,000 and a combined fleet of approximately 20,000. The managers assessed a list of 39 safety management tasks that had previously been identified as critical to the management of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) performance within the construction industry. From this list the managers perceived that organisational personnel required competency in at least 14 of the safety tasks to meet a minimum standard of road risk management. Managers perceived that a full understanding of at least six of these tasks was critical. These six tasks comprised: hazard identification and control; providing OHS information and instruction; incident investigations; inspections of workplace and work tasks; researching and reporting on OHS issues and strategies; and applying legislative OHS requirements. It is hoped that the core competencies identified in this study may assist in the development of an internationally accepted competency framework for managing occupational road risks. This proposed competency framework could have many applications including guiding the design of job descriptions, training curriculums, and employee performance assessments. To build upon this study, the authors recommend future research be conducted to identify the key competencies required to manage occupational road safety across a broad range of organisational contexts.

Physical activity amongst older adults with musculoskeletal disorders : a descriptive study

"The World Health Organisation has identified physical inactivity as the fourth leading effective cause of death globally. The burden of physical inactivity will increase as the population ages. In addition to increased risk or mortality, prior research has indicated older adults with chronic musculoskeletal conditions are likely to face increased morbidity and poorer prognoses if they are physically inactive. There is currently a scarcity of empirical research describing the physical activity profile of older adults with chronic musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of this investigation was to describe the self-reported physical activity profile and body mass index (BMI) profile of a sample of older adults with chronic musculoskeletal disorders accessing outpatient hospital services."--publisher website

A lawyer's duty of care : beware the failure to advise of contingencies and foreseeable risks

It is trite law that a lawyer owes their client a duty of care requiring the lawyer to take reasonable steps to avoid their client suffering foreseeable economiic loss: Hawkins v Clayton. In the context of a property transaction this will include a duty to warn the client of anything that is unusual or anything which may affect the client obtaining the full benefit of the contract entered into: Macindoe v Parbery.

Modification of advanced programmatic risk analysis and management model for the whole project life cycle’s risks

The advanced programmatic risk analysis and management model (APRAM) is one of the recently developed methods that can be used for risk analysis and management purposes considering schedule, cost, and quality risks simultaneously. However, this model considers those failure risks that occur only over the design and construction phases of a project’s life cycle. While it can be sufficient for some projects for which the required cost during the operating life is much less than the budget required over the construction period, it should be modified in relation to infrastructure projects because the associated costs during the operating life cycle are significant. In this paper, a modified APRAM is proposed, which can consider potential risks that might occur over the entire life cycle of the project, including technical and managerial failure risks. Therefore, the modified model can be used as an efficient decision-support tool for construction managers in the housing industry in which various alternatives might be technically available. The modified method is demonstrated by using a real building project, and this demonstration shows that it can be employed efficiently by construction managers. The Delphi method was applied in order to figure out the failure events and their associated probabilities. The results show that although the initial cost of a cold-formed steel structural system is higher than a conventional construction system, the former’s failure cost is much lower than the latter’s

Facebook, Twitter, SMS and YouTube : the ramifications and risks for surgeons

Social media revolution has impacted on how people interact with one another. This has been a worldwide phenomenon. Whilst social media had its genesis in the personal and private realm its use has expanded exponentially to professional and business contexts, as well as being adopted by governments, politicians, journalists – everyone in just about every walk of life. Although at first the uptake was slow, surgeons and other health professionals are now using social media in their professional as well as personal capacity. This comes with significant advantages and opportunities for improving surgical practice and for facilitating attending communication, but it also comes with certain risks, including legal liability. This paper outlines the ways in which social media including, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and SMS, is increasingly being employed in surgical practice and explains the legal and ethical consequences that may inadvertently arise in its official, as well as, unofficial use.

Fatal flaws : the risks for beneficiaries who assist a suicide

The recent criminal conviction of Queensland teacher Merin Nielsen for aiding the suicide of an elderly acquaintance, Frank Ward, raises some timely issues, particularly for succession lawyers.

The big data upgrade : new dimensions in data analysis - risks and opportunities [das big data upgrade : neue dimensionen der datennutzung – chancen und risiken]

Summary: More than ever before contemporary societies are characterised by the huge amounts of data being transferred. Authorities, companies, academia and other stakeholders refer to Big Data when discussing the importance of large and complex datasets and developing possible solutions for their use. Big Data promises to be the next frontier of innovation for institutions and individuals, yet it also offers possibilities to predict and influence human behaviour with ever-greater precision

Familial recurrence risks for multiple sclerosis in Australia

BACKGROUND: Genetic susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS) has been recognised for many years. Considerable data exist from the northern hemisphere regarding the familial recurrence risks for MS, but there are few data for the southern hemisphere and regions at lower latitude such as Australia. To investigate the interaction between environmental and genetic causative factors in MS, the authors undertook a familial recurrence risk study in three latitudinally distinct regions of Australia. METHODS: Immediate and extended family pedigrees have been collected for three cohorts of people with MS in Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania spanning 15° of latitude. Age of onset data from Queensland were utilised to estimate age-adjusted recurrence rates. RESULTS: Recurrence risks in Australia were significantly lower than in studies from northern hemisphere populations. The age-adjusted risk for siblings across Australia was 2.13% compared with 3.5% for the northern hemisphere. A similar pattern was seen for other relatives. The risks to relatives were proportional to the population risks for each site, and hence the sibling recurrence-risk ratio (λ(s)) was similar across all sites. DISCUSSION: The familial recurrence risk of MS in Australia is lower than in previously reported studies. This is directly related to the lower population prevalence of MS. The overall genetic susceptibility in Australia as measured by the λ(s) is similar to the northern hemisphere, suggesting that the difference in population risk is explained largely by environmental factors rather than by genetic admixture.

Developing targets and strategies for school-based injury prevention programs to reduce alcohol associated transport risks

Background There is considerable and ongoing debate about the role and effectiveness of school-based injury prevention programs in reducing students’ later involvement in alcohol associated transport injuries. Most relevant literature is concerned with pre-driving and licensing programs for middle age range adolescents (15-17 years). This research team is concerned with prevention at an earlier stage by targeting interventions to young adolescents (13-14 years). There is strong evidence that young adolescents who engage in unsafe and illegal alcohol associated transport risks are significantly likely to incur serious related injuries in longitudinal follow up. For example, a state-wide representative sample of male adolescents (mean age 14.5 years) who reported being passengers of drink drivers were significantly more likely to have incurred a hospitalised injury related to traffic events at a 20 year follow up. Aim This paper reports on first aid training integrated with peer protection and school connectedness within the Skills for Preventing Injury in Youth (SPIY) program. A component of the intervention is concerned with providing strategies to reduce the likelihood of being a passenger of a drink driver and effectiveness is followed up at six months post-intervention. Method In early 2012 the study was undertaken in 35 high schools throughout Queensland that were randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions. A total of 2,521 Year 9 students (mean age 13.5years, 43% male) completed surveys prior to the intervention. Results Of these students 316 (13.7%) reported having ridden in a car with someone who has been drinking. This is a traffic safety behaviour that is particularly relevant to a peer protection intervention and the findings of the six month follow up will be reported. Discussion and conclusions This research will provide evidence as to whether this approach to the introduction of first aid skills within a school-based health education curriculum has traffic safety implications.

The increased risks of death and extra lengths of hospital and ICU stay from hospital-acquired bloodstream infections : a case-control study

Objectives Hospital-acquired bloodstream infections are known to increase the risk of death and prolong hospital stay, but precise estimates of these two important outcomes from well-designed studies are rare, particularly for non-intensive care unit (ICU) patients. We aimed to calculate accurate estimates, which are vital for estimating the economic costs of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections.

Traffic safety risks trends and patterns analysis on motorways

Crashes that occur on motorways contribute to a significant proportion (40-50%) of non-recurrent motorway congestion. Hence, reducing the frequency of crashes assist in addressing congestion issues (Meyer, 2008). Analysing traffic conditions and discovering risky traffic trends and patterns are essential basics in crash likelihood estimations studies and still require more attention and investigation. In this paper we will show, through data mining techniques, that there is a relationship between pre-crash traffic flow patterns and crash occurrence on motorways, compare them with normal traffic trends, and that this knowledge has the potentiality to improve the accuracy of existing crash likelihood estimation models, and opens the path for new development approaches. The data for the analysis was extracted from records collected between 2007 and 2009 on the Shibuya and Shinjuku lines of the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway in Japan. The dataset includes a total of 824 rear-end and sideswipe crashes that have been matched with crashes corresponding traffic flow data using an incident detection algorithm. Traffic trends (traffic speed time series) revealed that crashes can be clustered with regards to the dominant traffic patterns prior to the crash occurrence. K-Means clustering algorithm applied to determine dominant pre-crash traffic patterns. In the first phase of this research, traffic regimes identified by analysing crashes and normal traffic situations using half an hour speed in upstream locations of crashes. Then, the second phase investigated the different combination of speed risk indicators to distinguish crashes from normal traffic situations more precisely. Five major trends have been found in the first phase of this paper for both high risk and normal conditions. The study discovered traffic regimes had differences in the speed trends. Moreover, the second phase explains that spatiotemporal difference of speed is a better risk indicator among different combinations of speed related risk indicators. Based on these findings, crash likelihood estimation models can be fine-tuned to increase accuracy of estimations and minimize false alarms.