Safety climate and injury occurrence of repair, maintenance, minor alteration and addition works : a comparison of workers, supervisors and managers

Purpose The repair, maintenance, minor alteration and addition (RMAA) sector has been expanding in many developed cities. Safety problems of the RMAA sector have attracted the attention of many governments. This study has the objectives of comparing the level of safety climate of workers, supervisors and managers in the RMAA sector; and explaining/ predicting the impact of safety climate on injury occurrence of workers, supervisors and managers. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was administered to RMAA contracting companies in Hong Kong. Findings When comparing the safety climate perception of workers, supervisors and managers in the RMAA sector, the supervisors group had the lowest mean safety climate score. Results showed that a positive workforce safety attitude and acceptance of safety rules and regulations reduced the workers’ likelihood of having injuries. A reasonable production schedule led to a lower probability of supervisors being injured. Management commitment and effective safety management reduced the probability of managers being injured. Originality/value This study revealed variations of safety climate at the different levels in the organizational hierarchy and their varying influence on safety performance of the RMAA sector. Safety of RMAA works could be improved by promulgating specific safety measures at the different hierarchy levels.

Fatalities of repair, maintenance, minor alteration, and addition works in Hong Kong

This study examines fatalities of repair, maintenance, minor alteration, and addition (RMAA) works which occurred in Hong Kong between January 2000 and October 2011. A total of 119 RMAA fatalities were recorded. Particular emphasis was placed on fall from height accidents as they accounted for the vast majority of RMAA fatal accidents for the period. A cluster analysis was conducted on fall from height fatal cases. The cluster analysis clearly identified three groups of fall from height fatalities: (1) bamboo scaffolders aged between 25 and 34 who fell from external wall/facade in the beginning of weekdays; (2) miscellaneous workers aged between 45 and 54 who fell from other/unknown places in the end of weekdays; and (3) manual labour aged between 35 and 44 who fell at floor level/from floor openings in weekends. Unsafe process and improper procedures were the main unsafe condition leading to fatalities whereas safety belt not properly used was the main unsafe action leading to fatalities. Specific safety interventions were recommended for each of these groups to help avoid these fatalities.

Relationships between safety climate and safety performance of building repair, maintenance, minor alteration, and addition (RMAA) works

The importance of repair, maintenance, minor alteration, and addition (RMAA) works is increasing in many built societies. When the volume of RMAA works increases, the occurrence of RMAA accidents also increases. Safety of RMAA works deserves more attention; however, research in this important topic remains limited. Safety climate is considered a key factor that influences safety performance. The present study aims to determine the relationships between safety climate and safety performance of RMAA works, thereby offering recommendations on improving RMAA safety. Questionnaires were dispatched to private property management companies, maintenance sections of quasi-government developers and their subcontractors, RMAA sections of general contractors, small RMAA contractors, building services contractors and trade unions in Hong Kong. In total, data from 396 questionnaires were collected from RMAA workers. The sample was divided into two equal-sized sub-samples. On the first sub-sample SEM was used to test the model, which was validated on the second sub-sample. The model revealed a significant negative relationship between RMAA safety climate and incidence of self-reported near misses and injuries, and significant positive relationships between RMAA safety climate and safety participation and safety compliance respectively. Higher RMAA safety climate was positively associated with a lower incidence of self-reported near misses and injuries and higher levels of safety participation and safety compliance.

Strategies for improving safety performance of repair, maintenance, minor alteration and addition (RMAA) works

Purpose Managing and maintaining infrastructure assets are one of the indispensible tasks for many government agencies to preserve the nations' economic viability and social welfare. To reduce the expenditures over the life-cycle of an infrastructure asset and extend the period for which the asset performs effectively, proper repair and maintenance are essential. While repair, maintenance, minor alteration and addition (RMAA) sector is expanding in many developed cities, occurrences of fatalities and injuries in this sector are also soaring. The purposes of this paper are to identify and then evaluate the various strategies for improving the safety performance of RMAA works. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews and two rounds of Delphi survey were conducted for data collection. Findings Raising safety awareness of RMAA workers and selecting contractors with a good record of safety performance are the two most important strategies to improve the safety performance in this sector. Technology innovations and a pay-for-safety scheme are regarded as the two least important strategies. Originality/value The paper highlights possible ways to enhance safety of the rather under-explored RMAA sector in the construction industry.

Associations between individual and workplace risk factors for self-reported neck pain and disability among female office workers

A cross-sectional survey of female office workers (n=333) was undertaken to determine the level of neck pain and disability (Neck Disability Index—NDI) and to explore the relationship between individual and workplace risk factors with the NDI score and the presence of pain. Workers reported nil (32%), mild (53%), moderate (14%) and severe (1%) neck pain. There were more risk factors associated with the NDI score than the presence of neck pain. The presence of neck pain was associated with a history of neck trauma (OR: 4.8), using a graduated lens (OR: 4.6), and negative affectivity (OR: 2.7) in the multiple regression model. Factors associated with higher NDI score were using the computer mouse for more than 6 h per day, higher negative affectivity, older age and an uncomfortable workstation. These results suggest that measuring the level of neck pain and disability rather than just the presence of neck pain provides more specific directives for the prevention and management of this disorder.

Contribution of individual, workplace, psychosocial and physiological factors to neck pain in female office workers

This study investigated the relative contribution of individual, workplace, psychosocial and physiological features associated with neck pain in female office workers towards developing appropriate intervention programs. Workers without disability (Neck Disability Index (NDI) score≤8, n=33); workers with neck pain and disability (NDI≥9/100, n=52) and 22 controls (women who did not work and without neck pain) participated in this study. Two logistic regression models were constructed to test the association between various measures in (1) workers with and without disability, and (2) workers without disability and controls. Measures included those found to be significantly associated with higher NDI in our previous studies: psychosocial domains; individual factors; task demands; quantitative sensory measures and measures of motor function. In the final model, higher score on negative affectivity scale (OR=4.47), greater activity in the neck flexors during cranio-cervical flexion (OR=1.44), cold hyperalgesia (OR=1.27) and longer duration of symptoms (OR=1.19) remained significantly associated with neck pain in workers. Workers without disability and controls could only be differentiated by greater muscle activity in the cervical flexors and extensors during a typing task. No psychosocial domains remained in either regression model. These results suggest that impairments in the sensory and motor system should be considered in any assessment of the office worker with neck pain and may have stronger influences on the presenting symptoms than workplace and psychosocial features.

Methodology for developing real-time motorway traffic risk identification models using individual-vehicle data

Most of existing motorway traffic safety studies using disaggregate traffic flow data aim at developing models for identifying real-time traffic risks by comparing pre-crash and non-crash conditions. One of serious shortcomings in those studies is that non-crash conditions are arbitrarily selected and hence, not representative, i.e. selected non-crash data might not be the right data comparable with pre-crash data; the non-crash/pre-crash ratio is arbitrarily decided and neglects the abundance of non-crash over pre-crash conditions; etc. Here, we present a methodology for developing a real-time MotorwaY Traffic Risk Identification Model (MyTRIM) using individual vehicle data, meteorological data, and crash data. Non-crash data are clustered into groups called traffic regimes. Thereafter, pre-crash data are classified into regimes to match with relevant non-crash data. Among totally eight traffic regimes obtained, four highly risky regimes were identified; three regime-based Risk Identification Models (RIM) with sufficient pre-crash data were developed. MyTRIM memorizes the latest risk evolution identified by RIM to predict near future risks. Traffic practitioners can decide MyTRIM’s memory size based on the trade-off between detection and false alarm rates. Decreasing the memory size from 5 to 1 precipitates the increase of detection rate from 65.0% to 100.0% and of false alarm rate from 0.21% to 3.68%. Moreover, critical factors in differentiating pre-crash and non-crash conditions are recognized and usable for developing preventive measures. MyTRIM can be used by practitioners in real-time as an independent tool to make online decision or integrated with existing traffic management systems.

An examination of tax deductible donations made by individual Australian taxpayers in 2011–12

This study uses information based on published ATO material and represents the extent of tax-deductible donations made and claimed by Australian individual taxpayers (i.e. not including corporate entities or trusts) to DGRs, at Item D9 Gifts or Donations, in their income tax returns for the 2011-12 income year. The total amount claimed as tax-deductible donations in 2011-12 was $2.24 billion (compared to $2.21 billion in 2010-11), representing 6.85% of all personal taxpayer deductions. Since 1978-79, the actual total tax-deductible donations claimed by Australian individual taxpayers has outpaced inflation-adjusted total tax-deductible donations, measured against the Consumer Price Index. The average tax-deductible donation claimed in 2011-12 increased to $494.25, but the absolute number and percentage of taxpayers claiming donations dropped (to 4.54 million or 35.62%). Analysis is given of individual taxpayers' donation claiming by Gender, State of Residence, Postcode, Income Band, Industry of employment, and Occupation.

Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 s45 - whether obligation to co-operate may authorise order requiring commencement of proceedings by minor prior to expiration of limitation period

In Australian Associated Motor Insurers Ltd v McPaul; Council of the City of Gold Coast v McPaul [2005] QSC 278 the applicant insurer sought an order requiring a claimant who had been injured in a motor vehicle accident some years earlier when he was five years old to commence a proceeding to determine the question of the applicant's liability to him. The applicant's interest in seeking the order was to avoid the prejudice which could follow from further delay, particularly delay until the respondent became obliged to commence proceedings to avoid a limitations bar.

The IHR (2005), disease surveillance, and the individual in global health politics

Since the revisions to the International Health Regulations (IHR) in 2005, much attention has turned to two concerns relating to infectious disease control. The first is how to assist states to strengthen their capacity to identify and verify public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC). The second is the question of how the World Health Organization (WHO) will operate its expanded mandate under the revised IHR. Very little attention has been paid to the potential individual power that has been afforded under the IHR revisions – primarily through the first inclusion of human rights principles into the instrument and the allowance for the WHO to receive non-state surveillance intelligence and informal reports of health emergencies. These inclusions mark the individual as a powerful actor, but also recognise the vulnerability of the individual to the whim of the state in outbreak response and containment. In this paper we examine why these changes to the IHR occurred and explore the consequence of expanding the sovereignty-as-responsibility concept to disease outbreak response. To this end our paper considers both the strengths and weaknesses of incorporating reports from non-official sources and including human rights principles in the IHR framework.

Sequential versus simultaneous viewing of an environment : effects of focal attention to individual object locations on visual spatial learning

We investigated memories of room-sized spatial layouts learned by sequentially or simultaneously viewing objects from a stationary position. In three experiments, sequential viewing (one or two objects at a time) yielded subsequent memory performance that was equivalent or superior to simultaneous viewing of all objects, even though sequential viewing lacked direct access to the entire layout. This finding was replicated by replacing sequential viewing with directed viewing in which all objects were presented simultaneously and participants’ attention was externally focused on each object sequentially, indicating that the advantage of sequential viewing over simultaneous viewing may have originated from focal attention to individual object locations. These results suggest that memory representation of object-to-object relations can be constructed efficiently by encoding each object location separately, when those locations are defined within a single spatial reference system. These findings highlight the importance of considering object presentation procedures when studying spatial learning mechanisms.

The importance of individual difference : examining anthropomorphic tendency and consumer responses to spokes-characters

This thesis comprised a series of online experiments to examine the influence of an individual's level of anthropomorphic tendency on responses to spokes-characters. It finds that an individual's level of anthropomorphic tendency does influence their responses to some types of spokes-characters. Further, those with high anthropomorphic tendency tend towards being younger and more creative in their thinking. This research contributes to anthropomorphic tendency theory; specifically it addresses how this tendency operates in a marketing context and thereby aids practitioners seeking to utilise such characters in achieving positive business outcomes.

Individual innovative use of ERP systems

Although many studies have discussed Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) use at the organizational level, no study according to our knowledge, has identified the factors influencing innovative use of ERP by the end users (Sudzina, 2010). This research-in-progress paper describes the preliminary findings of a survey, which is designed to recognize the factors which can influence the end user innovative use of ERP systems. Moreover, this study argues that the innovative use on individual levels could impact the productivity of organizations.