Reducing workplace safety incidents : bridging the gap between safety culture theory and practice

This thesis explored safety culture in a large Australasian construction and mining organisation, with a view to understanding how theory and practice can be integrated to improve safety culture and related outcomes within the industry. The research comprised three studies that investigated the relationship between safety culture, safety motivation, leadership and safety behaviour, and examined differences in perceptions of safety culture across the organisation. Research methodologies and samples included a modified Delphi method with safety leaders (n=41), a quantitative survey with a cross-section of the organisation (n=2,957), and group interviews with frontline supervisors and workers (n=29).

The safety of bicycles being overtaken by cars : what do we know and what do we need to know?

Many cyclist deaths and serious injuries result from rear-end or sideswipe collisions involving a car or heavy vehicle. As a consequence, minimum passing distance laws (often referred to as ‘one metre rules’) have been introduced in a number of U.S. states along with European countries such as France, Belgium and Spain. A two-year trial of a minimum passing distance rule is underway in Queensland. The international studies show that while the average passing distance is more than one metre, significant proportions of passes occur at less than this distance. Average passing distances are greater with wider lanes, when bicycle lanes are present, for cars rather than vans or trucks, and (possibly) at higher speed limits. Perceived characteristics of the cyclist (other than gender) appear to have little effect on passing distances. The research questions the ability to judge lateral distance and whether nominated distances predict on-road behaviour. Cyclists have strong concerns about drivers passing too close but the extent to which this behaviour reflects deliberate intimidation versus an inability to judge what is a safe passing distance is not clear. There has been no systematic evaluation of the road safety benefits of minimum passing distance laws. These laws have received little police enforcement but it is unclear whether enforcement is necessary for them to be effective.

Investigating pedestrian injury crashes on modern roundabouts in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Pedestrian crashes are one of the major road safety problems in developing countries representing about 40% of total fatal crashes in low income countries. Despite the fact that many pedestrian crashes in these countries occur at unsignalized intersections such as roundabouts, studies focussing on this issue are limited—thus representing a critical research gap. The objective of this study is to develop safety performance functions for pedestrian crashes at modern roundabouts to identify significant roadway geometric, traffic and land use characteristics related to pedestrian safety. To establish the relationship between pedestrian crashes and various causal factors, detailed data including various forms of exposure, geometric and traffic characteristics, and spatial factors such as proximity to schools and proximity to drinking establishments were collected from a sample of 22 modern roundabouts in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, representing about 56% of such roundabouts in Addis Ababa. To account for spatial correlation resulting from multiple observations at a roundabout, both the random effect Poisson (REP) and random effect Negative Binomial (RENB) regression models were estimated and compared. Model goodness of fit statistics reveal a marginally superior fit of the REP model compared to the RENB model of pedestrian crashes at roundabouts. Pedestrian crossing volume and the product of traffic volumes along major and minor road had significant and positive associations with pedestrian crashes at roundabouts. The presence of a public transport (bus/taxi) terminal beside a roundabout is associated with increased pedestrian crashes. While the maximum gradient of an approach road is negatively associated with pedestrian safety, the provision of a raised median along an approach appears to increase pedestrian safety at roundabouts. Remedial measures are identified for combating pedestrian safety problems at roundabouts in the context of a developing country.

Marginal costs of hospital-acquired conditions : information for priority-setting for patient safety programmes and research

Objective: To estimate the relative inpatient costs of hospital-acquired conditions. Methods: Patient level costs were estimated using computerized costing systems that log individual utilization of inpatient services and apply sophisticated cost estimates from the hospital's general ledger. Occurrence of hospital-acquired conditions was identified using an Australian ‘condition-onset' flag for diagnoses not present on admission. These were grouped to yield a comprehensive set of 144 categories of hospital-acquired conditions to summarize data coded with ICD-10. Standard linear regression techniques were used to identify the independent contribution of hospital-acquired conditions to costs, taking into account the case-mix of a sample of acute inpatients (n = 1,699,997) treated in Australian public hospitals in Victoria (2005/06) and Queensland (2006/07). Results: The most costly types of complications were post-procedure endocrine/metabolic disorders, adding AU$21,827 to the cost of an episode, followed by MRSA (AU$19,881) and enterocolitis due to Clostridium difficile (AU$19,743). Aggregate costs to the system, however, were highest for septicaemia (AU$41.4 million), complications of cardiac and vascular implants other than septicaemia (AU$28.7 million), acute lower respiratory infections, including influenza and pneumonia (AU$27.8 million) and UTI (AU$24.7 million). Hospital-acquired complications are estimated to add 17.3% to treatment costs in this sample. Conclusions: Patient safety efforts frequently focus on dramatic but rare complications with very serious patient harm. Previous studies of the costs of adverse events have provided information on ‘indicators’ of safety problems rather than the full range of hospital-acquired conditions. Adding a cost dimension to priority-setting could result in changes to the focus of patient safety programmes and research. Financial information should be combined with information on patient outcomes to allow for cost-utility evaluation of future interventions.

Are we there yet? Australian road safety targets and road traffic crash fatalities

Background Road safety targets are widely used and provide a basis for evaluating progress in road safety outcomes against a quantified goal. In Australia, a reduction in fatalities from road traffic crashes (RTCs) is a public policy objective: a national target of no more than 5.6 fatalities per 100,000 population by 2010 was set in 2001. The purpose of this paper is to examine the progress Australia and its states and territories have made in reducing RTC fatalities, and to estimate when the 2010 target may be reached by the jurisdictions. Methods Following a descriptive analysis, univariate time-series models estimate past trends in fatality rates over recent decades. Data for differing time periods are analysed and different trend specifications estimated. Preferred models were selected on the basis of statistical criteria and the period covered by the data. The results of preferred regressions are used to determine out-of-sample forecasts of when the national target may be attained by the jurisdictions. Though there are limitations with the time series approach used, inadequate data precluded the estimation of a full causal/structural model. Results Statistically significant reductions in fatality rates since 1971 were found for all jurisdictions with the national rate decreasing on average, 3% per year since 1992. However the gains have varied across time and space, with percent changes in fatality rates ranging from an 8% increase in New South Wales 1972-1981 to a 46% decrease in Queensland 1982-1991. Based on an estimate of past trends, it is possible that the target set for 2010 may not be reached nationally, until 2016. Unsurprisingly, the analysis indicated a range of outcomes for the respective state/territory jurisdictions though these results should be interpreted with caution due to different assumptions and length of data. Conclusions Results indicate that while Australia has been successful over recent decades in reducing RTC mortality, an important gap between aspirations and achievements remains. Moreover, unless there are fairly radical ("trend-breaking") changes in the factors that affect the incidence of RTC fatalities, deaths from RTCs are likely to remain above the national target in some areas of Australia, for years to come.

Young drivers' perceptions of road safety messages and a high performance vehicle advertisement : a qualitative exploration

While road safety messages that focus on physical threats have shown some effectiveness, messages that include social threats and gains/rewards may be an alternative approach to encourage safer driving behaviours. In addition to message frame and type, motor vehicle advertising exposure may also influence the persuasiveness of road safety messages. Using qualitative methods this preliminary study explored young drivers’ (N = 17, 11 males) perceptions of the persuasiveness of four anti-speeding messages and a fictional high performance vehicle advertisement. The majority of males perceived the social loss/gain-framed messages to be more persuasive (sense of responsibility and personal relevance themes), whereas females tended to perceive the physical loss/ gain-frame messages (social esteem theme) to be more persuasive. Males appeared to be, while females appeared not to be, persuaded by the vehicle advertisement. The findings suggest that a range of road safety messages may be required to reach and influence young drivers.

Cultural safety, diversity and the servicer user and carer movement in mental health research

This study will be of interest to anyone concerned with a critical appraisal of mental health service users’ and carers’ participation in research collaboration and with the potential of the postcolonial paradigm of cultural safety to contribute to the service user research (SUR) movement. The history and nature of the mental health field and its relationship to colonial processes provokes a consideration of whether cultural safety could focus attention on diversity, power imbalance, cultural dominance and structural inequality, identified as barriers and tensions in SUR. We consider these issues in the context of state-driven approaches towards SUR in planning and evaluation and the concurrent rise of the SUR movement in the UK and Australia, societies with an intimate involvement in processes of colonisation. We consider the principles and motivations underlying cultural safety and SUR in the context of the policy agenda informing SUR. We conclude that while both cultural safety and SUR are underpinned by social constructionism constituting similarities in principles and intent, cultural safety has additional dimensions. Hence, we call on researchers to use the explicitly political and self-reflective process of cultural safety to think about and address issues of diversity, power and social justice in research collaboration.

The performance advantages for SMEs of product innovation and marketing resource–capability complementarity in emerging economies

This study argues that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must possess both resources and capabilities at a superior level, and those resources and capabilities must be complementary with one another to achieve superior financial performance. The resources and capabilities of interest are product innovation and marketing. Using data from manufacturing SMEs, the results suggest that product innovation resource–capability complementarity, marketing resource–capability complementarity, and their interaction are positively related to financial performance through product innovation and customer performance. The findings suggest that some SMEs may outperform others not only because they possess a specific individual resource–capability complementarity but also because they create synergy and asset interconnectedness.

Examining the new product innovation – performance relationship: Optimizing the role of individual-level creativity and attention-to-detail

New product innovation has been identified as the key to firms' marketplace success, profit and survival. Yet, the failure rate for new products is high. Because of the high costs associated with new product development, there is considerable theoretical and managerial interest in how to minimize the high failure rates of new products and what separates new product winners from losers. This study focuses on individual level ambidexterity – namely head of the R&D departments' capacity to engage in creativity and attention-to-detail simultaneously, a skill involving different centers of attention, and relying on somewhat incompatible behaviors and processes. The ability to engage in these behaviors simultaneously is seen as being ambidextrous. Drawing from the data of 150 advanced manufacturing firms in India (gathered from one CEO and one head of the R&D department for each firm), the results show that when an individual head of R&D engages heavily only in creativity, too many new, risky ideas may come and when he/she engages heavily only in attention-to-detail, he/she may suffer through a lack of novel ideas. Both approaches limit individual's contribution to enhancing product innovation – financial performance relationship. The results also show that an individual head of R&D needs to engage in high levels creativity and attention-to-detail in the pursuit of enhancing product innovation to achieve superior financial performance.

Towards making informed decisions on selecting promising work zone safety treatments

Lack of detailed and accurate safety records on incidents in Australian work zones prevents a thorough understanding of the relevant risks and hazards. Consequently it is difficult to select appropriate treatments for improving the safety of roadworkers and motorists alike. This paper outlines development of a conceptual framework for making informed decisions about safety treatments by: 1) identifying safety issues and hazards in work zones; 2) understanding the attitudes and perceptions of both roadworkers and motorists; 3) reviewing the effectiveness of work zone safety treatments according to existing research, and; 4) incorporating local expert opinion on the feasibility and usefulness of the safety treatments. Using data collected through semi-structured interviews with roadwork personnel and online surveys of Queensland drivers, critical safety issues were identified. The effectiveness of treatments for addressing the issues was understood through rigorous literature review and consultations with local road authorities. Promising work zone safety treatments include enforcement, portable rumble strips, perceptual measures to imply reduced lane width, automated or remotely-operated traffic lights, end of queue measures, and more visible and meaningful signage.

Heavy vehicle safety in Oman: Police interviews and heavy vehicle driver survey and focus groups. Third Report of the Heavy Vehicle Safety Research in Oman Project for The Research Council of Oman.

Over the past six months the project has undertaken three key, separate, data collection rounds. Each of these rounds focused on essentially different issues within the broader common construct of heavy vehicle road safety. This document will initially report on a series of two key qualitative data collections rounds. Firstly it will detail findings and report on discussions held in focus groups with 43 heavy vehicle drivers. The second qualitative study involved a series of interviews undertaken with 19 police officers from various levels of command and operations within the Royal Oman Police. The final data collection round reported on in this document is a roadside survey questionnaire undertaken with 400 heavy vehicle drivers.

Focus group discussions exploring major social influences on young driver safety in Oman. Report to the Research Council of Oman, Muscat.

This report documents the findings of in-depth focus groups conducted with 17 young drivers. The main aim of these focus groups was to explore key themes related to the risky behaviour of young drivers (17-25 years) in Oman. Specifically the interviews explored the influence of parents and peers, who may serve as a source of imitation, reward and punishment. Additionally, the interviews explored the influence of policing and licensing on young driver behaviour.

Preliminary analysis of self-report questionnaire with young drivers in Oman. Fourth report of the novice driver safety research in Oman project for the Research Council of Oman

This report document the recent progress (current as of December 2014) of the research project investigating novice driver safety in Oman. Included in this report is a summary of progress with publications to date, as well as description of the preliminary results of the first phase of the quantitative survey with young drivers. With regards to the publications which have resulted from this research, two journal articles have been published in print, one is under review, and a fourth is in the late stages of development for submission...

A review and comparative analysis of international drug driving policies. Report to the New South Wales (NSW) Centre for Road Safety

The New South Wales (NSW) Centre for Road Safety (CRS) called for research services to conduct a review of international policy and practice to address drug-driving. The project sought to provide Transport for NSW (TfNSW) with a comprehensive review of current and emerging international practices in this area1. This report is submitted by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q)...

Safety envelope for security

We present an approach for detecting sensor spoofing attacks on a cyber-physical system. Our approach consists of two steps. In the first step, we construct a safety envelope of the system. Under nominal conditions (that is, when there are no attacks), the system always stays inside its safety envelope. In the second step, we build an attack detector: a monitor that executes synchronously with the system and raises an alarm whenever the system state falls outside the safety envelope. We synthesize safety envelopes using a modified machine learning procedure applied on data collected from the system when it is not under attack. We present experimental results that show effectiveness of our approach, and also validate the several novel features that we introduced in our learning procedure.