Response : letter to the editor by Al-Azri and Al-Maniri

Firstly, the authors would like to thank the editor for the opportunity to respond to Dr Al-Azri’s and Dr Al-Maniri’s letter. Secondly, while the current authors also accept that deterrence-based approaches should act as only one corner-stone of a suite of interventions and public policy initiatives designed to improve road safety, deterrence-based approaches have nonetheless consistently proven to be a valuable resource to improve road safety. Dr Al-Azri and Dr Al-Maniri reinforce their assertion about the limited utility of deterrence by citing drink driving research, and the issue of drink driving is particularly relevant within the current context given that the problem of driving after drinking has historically been addressed through deterrence-based approaches. While the effectiveness of deterrence-based approaches to reduce drink driving will always be dependent upon a range of situational and contextual factors (including police enforcement practices, cultural norms, etc), the utilisation of this approach has proven particularly effective within Queensland, Australia. For example, a relatively recent comprehensive review of Random Breath Testing in Queensland demonstrated that this initiative not only had a deterrent impact upon self-reported intentions to drink and drive, but was also found to have significantly reduced alcohol-related fatalities in the state. However, the authors agree that deterrence-based approaches can be particularly transient and thus require constant “topping up” not least through sustained public reinforcement, which was clearly articulated in the seminal work by Homel.

Safety leaders' perceptions of safety culture in a large Australian construction organisation

Safety culture in the construction industry is a growing research area. The unique nature of construction industry works – being project-based, varying in size and focus, and relying on a highly transient subcontractor workforce – means that safety culture initiatives cannot be easily translated from other industries. This paper reports on the first study in a three year collaborative industry and university research project focusing on safety culture practices and development in one of Australia’s largest global construction organisations. The first round of a modified Delphi method is reported, and describes the insights gained from 41 safety leaders’ perceptions and understandings of safety culture within the organisation. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and will be followed by a quantitative perception survey with the same sample. Participants included Senior Executives, Corporate Managers, Project Managers, Safety Managers and Site Supervisors. Leaders’ definitions and descriptions of safety culture were primarily action-oriented and some confusion was evident due to the sometimes implicit nature of culture in organisations. Leadership was identified as a key factor for positive safety culture in the organisation, and there was an emphasis on leaders demonstrating commitment to safety, and being visible to the project-based workforce. Barriers to safety culture improvement were also identified, with managers raising diverse issues such as the transient subcontractor workforce and the challenge of maintaining safety as a priority in the absence of safety incidents, under high production pressures. This research is unique in that it derived safety culture descriptions from key stakeholders within the organisation, as opposed to imposing traditional conceptualisations of safety culture that are not customised for the organisation or the construction industry more broadly. This study forms the foundation for integrating safety culture theory and practice in the construction industry, and will be extended upon in future studies within the research program.

Exploring the theoretical underpinnings of driving whilst influenced by illicit substances

An increasing number of studies are highlighting the alarming proportion of motorists that drive after having consumed illicit drugs. However presently, little attention has focused on the factors that may facilitate drug driving from a criminogenic paradigm. This study evaluated the contribution of deterrence, defiance, and deviance theories on intentions to drug drive to determine factors that might facilitate or reduce this behaviour. A total of 922 individuals completed a questionnaire that assessed frequency of drug use and a variety of perceptions on deterrence, defiance, and deviance constructs. The analysis showed that the defiance constructs (i.e., experiencing feelings of shame and believing in the legitimacy of sanctioning authority) and the deviance constructs (i.e., moral attachment to the norm and having a criminal conviction) were predictive of drug driving intentions. The facets of deterrence theory were not found to be significant predictors. Ultimately, this study illustrates that a range of behavioural and perceptual factors have the capacity to influence decisions to drug drive. As a result, there appears the need to extend the focus of research endeavours beyond legal sanctions to examine other factors that may be utilised to both understand the aetiology of drug driving as well as increase the possibility of compliance with the corresponding legislation.

Oxygen transport in soil and the vertical distribution of roots

An analytical solution for steady-state oxygen transport in soils including 2 sink terms, viz roots and microbes with the corresponding vertical distribution scaling lengths forming a ratio p, showed p governed the critical air-filled porosity, θ_c, needed by most plants. For low temperature and p, θ_c was <0.1 but at higher temperatures and p = 1, θ_c was >0.15 m³/m³. When root length density at the surface was 10⁴ m/m³ and p > 3, θ_c was 0.25 m³/m³, more than half the pore space. Few combinations of soil and climate regularly meet this condition. However, for sandy soils and seasonally warm, arid regions, the theory is consistent with observation, in that plants may have some deep roots. Critical θ_c values are used to formulate theoretical solutions in a forward mode, so different levels of oxygen uptake by roots may be compared to microbial activity. The proportion of respiration by plant roots increases rapidly with p up to p ≈2.

Women, drinking and aggression on a night out: Do girls just wanna have fun?

Alcohol misuse and violence is a major public safety concern. Although the extent and nature of alcohol-related violence has been examined there is a paucity of research surrounding the ongoing construction and re-construction of gender identity and its relationship to aggression and alcohol consumption. A social constructionist perspective was used to explore women’s perceptions and experiences of drinking alcohol and incidents of public violence and aggression. Two methods were used. Firstly, an exploratory study consisting of three in-depth interviews and three focus groups to examine the ideas women constructed in relation to their experiences; and further, an online survey to explore self-reported drinking patterns among men and women. The main themes emerging from the qualitative material were ‘planned drinking to excess’ (incorporating the rituals of a ‘pre-drink’ routine), and perceptions of appropriate feminine behaviour (particularly in relation to excessive drinking and alcohol related aggression in and around licensed venues). The survey data indicated that men continue to consume more alcohol and at higher levels than women, while women’s involvement in aggressive incidents on a night out being similar to that of men. Both genders considered that women’s involvement in aggressive incidents in and around licensed venues as ‘unfeminine’. Understanding drinking as a socially constructed activity adds to our understanding of the meaning of drinking for women, and in particular, young women. This perspective may allow more focussed initiatives to address the social and health related harms associated with drinking in and around licensed venues.

Learning by design workshop

The Learning by Design Workshop Program 2010, a part of the Queensland Government Unlimited: Designing for the Asia Pacific Event Program, was a one-day professional development design thinking workshop run on October 9, 2011 at The Edge, State Library of Queensland for self-selected public and private secondary school teachers from the subject areas of Visual Art, Graphics and Industrial Technology and Design. Participants were drawn from a database of Brisbane and regional Queensland schools from the goDesign and Living City Workshop Programs. It aimed to generate leadership within schools for design-led education and creative thinking and give teachers a rare opportunity to work with professional designers to generate future strategies for design-based learning. Teachers were introduced to the concept of design thinking in education by international keynote speakers CJ Lim (Studio 8 Architects) and Jeb Brugmann (The Next Practice), national speaker Oliver Freeman (NevilleFreeman Agency) and three Queensland speakers, Alexander Loterztain, David Williams and Keith Holledge. Inspired by the Unlimited showcase exhibition Make Change: Design Thinking in Action and ‘Idea Starters’/teaching resources provided, teachers worked with a professional designer (from a discipline of architecture, interior design, industrial design, urban design, graphic design or landscape architecture) in ten random teams, to generate optimistic ideas for the Ideal City of tomorrow, each considering a theme – Food, Water, Transport, Ageing, Growth, Employment, Shelter, Health, Education and Energy. They then discussed how this process could be best activated and expanded on to build interest and knowledge in design thinking in the classroom. Assisted by illustrators, the teams prepared a visual presentation of their ideas and process from art materials provided. The workshop culminated in a video-taped interactive design charette to the larger group, which is intended to be utilised as a toolkit and praxis for teachers as part of the State Library of Queensland Design Minds Website Project.

Driving for work : a series of organisational audit results

Previous research has indicated that road crashes are the most common form of work related fatalities (Haworth et al., 2000). Historically, industry has often taken a “silver bullet” approach developing and implementing a single countermeasure to address all their work related road safety issues, despite legislative requirements to discharge obligations through minimising risk and enhancing safety. This paper describes the results and implications from a series of work related road safety audits that were undertaken across five organisations to determine deficiencies in each organisation‟s safe driving management and practice. Researchers conducted a series of structured interviews, reviewed documentation relating to work related driving, and analysed vehicle related crash and incident records to determine each organisation‟s current situation in the management of work related road safety and driver behaviour. A number of consistent themes and issues across each organisation were identified relating to managing driver behaviour, organisational policies, incident recording and reporting, communication and education, and formalisation of key work related road safety strategies. Although organisations are required to undertake risk reduction strategies for all work related driving, the results of the research suggest that many organisations fail to systematically manage driver behaviour and mitigate work related road safety risk. Future improvements in work related road safety will require organisations to firstly acknowledge the high risk associated with drivers driving for work and secondly adopt comprehensive risk mitigation strategies in a similar manner to managing other workplace hazards.

When non-significance maybe significant: lessons learned from a study into the development, implementation and evaluation of a risk assessment tool for fleet settings

Introduction This study reports on the development of a self report assessment tool to increase the efficacy of crash prediction within Australian Fleet settings Over last 20 years an array of measures have been produced (Driver anger scale, Driving Skill Inventory, Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, Driver Attitude Questionnaire, Driver Stress Inventory, Safety Climate Questionnaire) While these tools are useful, research has demonstrated limited ability to accurately identify individuals most likely to be involved in a crash. Reasons cited include; - Crashes are relatively rare - Other competing factors may influence crash event - Ongoing questions regarding the validity of self report measures (common method variance etc) - Lack of contemporary issues relating to fleet driving performance

QIPC low speed run-overs of young children research project final report

This final report outlines the research conducted by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) for the research project (title above). This report provides an outline of the project methodology, literature review, three stages of research results (including the focus group discussions, review of organisational records, documentation and initiatives, and analysis of previous CARRS-Q occupational road safety self-report surveys), and recommendations for intervention strategy and initiatives development and implementation.

Exploring the contested role of mandatory reporting laws in the identification of severe child abuse and neglect

Significant numbers of children are severely abused and neglected by parents and caregivers. Infants and very young children are the most vulnerable and are unable to seek help. To identify these situations and enable child protection and the provision of appropriate assistance, many jurisdictions have enacted ‘mandatory reporting laws’ requiring designated professionals such as doctors, nurses, police and teachers to report suspected cases of severe child abuse and neglect. Other jurisdictions have not adopted this legislative approach, at least partly motivated by a concern that the laws produce dramatic increases in unwarranted reports, which, it is argued, lead to investigations which infringe on people’s privacy, cause trauma to innocent parents and families, and divert scarce government resources from deserving cases. The primary purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which opposition to mandatory reporting laws is valid based on the claim that the laws produce ‘overreporting’. The first part of this paper revisits the original mandatory reporting laws, discusses their development into various current forms, explains their relationship with policy and common law reporting obligations, and situates them in the context of their place in modern child protection systems. This part of the paper shows that in general, contemporary reporting laws have expanded far beyond their original conceptualisation, but that there is also now a deeper understanding of the nature, incidence, timing and effects of different types of severe maltreatment, an awareness that the real incidence of maltreatment is far higher than that officially recorded, and that there is strong evidence showing the majority of identified cases of severe maltreatment are the result of reports by mandated reporters. The second part of this paper discusses the apparent effect of mandatory reporting laws on ‘overreporting’ by referring to Australian government data about reporting patterns and outcomes, with a particular focus on New South Wales. It will be seen that raw descriptive data about report numbers and outcomes appear to show that reporting laws produce both desirable consequences (identification of severe cases) and problematic consequences (increased numbers of unsubstantiated reports). Yet, to explore the extent to which the data supports the overreporting claim, and because numbers of unsubstantiated reports alone cannot demonstrate overreporting, this part of the paper asks further questions of the data. Who makes reports, about which maltreatment types, and what are the outcomes of those reports? What is the nature of these reports; for example, to what extent are multiple numbers of reports made about the same child? What meaning can be attached to an ‘unsubstantiated’ report, and can such reports be used to show flaws in reporting effectiveness and problems in reporting laws? It will be suggested that available evidence from Australia is not sufficiently detailed or strong to demonstrate the overreporting claim. However, it is also apparent that, whether adopting an approach based on public health and or other principles, much better evidence about reporting needs to be collected and analyzed. As well, more nuanced research needs to be conducted to identify what can reasonably be said to constitute ‘overreports’, and efforts must be made to minimize unsatisfactory reporting practice, informed by the relevant jurisdiction’s context and aims. It is also concluded that, depending on the jurisdiction, the available data may provide useful indicators of positive, negative and unanticipated effects of specific components of the laws, and of the strengths, weaknesses and needs of the child protection system.

Commentaries and Responses to "The Driver Behaviour Questionnaire as a predictor of accidents: A meta-analysis" [Commentaries lead by Anders af Wahlberg; Responses lead by J.C.F. de Winter]

The following discussion is in response to a 2010 article published in the Journal of Safety Research by J.C.F. de Winter and D. Dodou entitled “The Driver Behaviour Questionnaire as a predictor of accidents: A meta-analysis” (Volume 41, Number 6, pp. 463-470, available on sciencedirect.com). The editors are pleased to provide a forum for this exchange and welcome further comments.