Can Analysis of Policy Decisions Spur Participation?

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Potential Synergy ◽  
Unique Method ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Analytical Requirements

Agencies are frequently required to analyze the impact of their decisions, particularly in the context of regulatory policy. Advocates of analysis have championed the transparency benefit of these requirements. But there has been very little attention paid to the effectiveness of analysis in spurring useful participation in practice. This article examines how analysis can hinder and motivate public participation. Interviews were conducted with 48 analysts (including economists, risk assessors, and environmental impact assessors). In addition I conducted a case study on a unique method for using analysis in partnership with participation, the use of panels of small business owners to evaluate a regulatory proposal by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). I find that participation in agency decisions as a result of traditional analytical requirements has been very uneven. Examples of success exist but so do cases where participation may be deterred by the density and complexity of analysis as well as cases of massive letter-writing campaigns ignored by decision-makers. I recommend a move toward simpler and earlier analysis, and the use of panels (such as described in the case study) to better take advantage of the potential synergy between analysis and participation.

scholarly journals COVID-19: US federal accountability for entry, spread, and inequities—lessons for the future

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (11) ◽  
pp. 995-1006 ◽  
Author(s):  
William P. Hanage ◽  
Christian Testa ◽  
Jarvis T. Chen ◽  
Letitia Davis ◽  
Elise Pechter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Worldwide Population ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
The Us ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe United States (US) has been among those nations most severely affected by the first—and subsequent—phases of the pandemic of COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. With only 4% of the worldwide population, the US has seen about 22% of COVID-19 deaths. Despite formidable advantages in resources and expertise, presently the per capita mortality rate is over 585/million, respectively 2.4 and 5 times higher compared to Canada and Germany. As we enter Fall 2020, the US is enduring ongoing outbreaks across large regions of the country. Moreover, within the US, an early and persistent feature of the pandemic has been the disproportionate impact on populations already made vulnerable by racism and dangerous jobs, inadequate wages, and unaffordable housing, and this is true for both the headline public health threat and the additional disastrous economic impacts. In this article we assess the impact of missteps by the Federal Government in three specific areas: the introduction of the virus to the US and the establishment of community transmission; the lack of national COVID-19 workplace standards and enforcement, and lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for workplaces as represented by complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which we find are correlated with deaths 16 days later (ρ = 0.83); and the total excess deaths in 2020 to date already total more than 230,000, while COVID-19 mortality rates exhibit severe—and rising—inequities in race/ethnicity, including among working age adults.

Human Factors Implications of Osha's Impact on Small Manufacturers

1982 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 493-497
Author(s):  
James W. Knight ◽  
Douglas J. Harju
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Health Performance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Small Manufacturers

Small manufacturers often lack the necessary expertise to solve their occupational safety and health problems. A recent study examined the impact of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration upon small manufacturers. The findings of that study are reported here regarding their human factors implications. Recommendations to improve occupational safety and health performance are made.

scholarly journals Analysis of COVID-19 Concerns Raised by the Construction Workforce and Development of Mitigation Practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makram Bou Hatoum ◽  
Ali Faisal ◽  
Hala Nassereddine ◽  
Hadi Sarvari
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Health Trends ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
The Impact

The coronavirus outbreak has created a global health crisis that has disrupted all industries, including the construction industry. Following the onset of the pandemic, construction workers faced and continue to face unprecedented safety and health challenges. Therefore, construction employers established new safety precautions to protect the health and safety of the workforce and minimize the spread of the virus. The new precautions followed the advice and guidelines offered by different health and safety agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). With construction projects resuming operations, it becomes important to analyze the coronavirus-related health and safety concerns of construction workforce and understand how the new safety procedures can assist on jobsites. Existing studies mostly focused on interviews and surveys with construction companies to understand the impact on project performance and supply chains. However, no study has yet to analyze the United States construction workforce. This paper fills the gap by providing a qualitative descriptive analysis of the COVID-19 complaints data gathered by OSHA from construction jobsites. Information gathered by OSHA includes the jobsite location, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) of the construction company, the type of the complaint (i.e., formal or non-formal), and a thorough description of the complaint. N-grams were employed to analyze the complaints, detect trends, and compile a list of the most frequent concerns reported by the workforce. The analysis of the complaints data identifies safety practices that were most violated, highlights major safety and health concerns for construction workers, and pinpoints geographical areas that have seen a surge in complaints. The study also synthesized the existing research corpus and compiled a list of 100 best practices that construction employers can adopt to mitigate the concerns of the workforce. The findings of this study provide insights into the safety and health trends on construction sites, lay the foundation for future work of academicians and practitioners to address the concerns faced by construction workers, and serve as lessons learned for the industry in the case of any future pandemic.

A Case Study in Applied Social Marketing: Developing an Occupational Safety and Health Product

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas F. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Social Marketing ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Mine Safety ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Hazardous Chemicals ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Business Customers

This case study provides an example of how social marketing was applied to meet the needs of business customers. Federal regulations require that all companies develop a written program to track hazardous chemicals at their sites. The HazComWriter, created by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), is a software tool designed to help companies prepare their required Hazard Communications (HazCom) written plan and list all hazardous chemicals at the company's worksite. The social marketing goal was to provide a product for small- to medium-sized companies to use for federal HazCom rule compliance. The HazComWriter is a direct NIOSH response to customer and stakeholder needs (including the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the mining community, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration-regulated companies).

scholarly journals Impact on the fitness of N95 masks with extended use/limited reuse and dry heat decontamination

2021 ◽  
pp. jim-2021-001908
Author(s):  
Mengyi Zha ◽  
Jude Alsarraj ◽  
Brandon Bunch ◽  
David Venzon
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Human Subject ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Safety Data ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Human Subject Research ◽  
Dry Heat ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
The Impact

Substandard use of N95 masks, sometimes combined with dry heat decontamination, lacks safety data. We evaluated the impact of these practices on the fitness of N95 masks. This is a non-human subject research conducted from July to October 2020. 155 masks were used by 12 healthcare workers during 10-hour shifts. Masks were collected at the end of the shift and if the number of donnings/doffings was less than five (‘modified extended use’, ME) or whenever this number reached five (‘limited reuse’, LR), per the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Masks that passed an Occupational Safety and Health Administration qualitative fit test underwent a cycle (30 min, 75°C) of dry heat decontamination. After use, 84% (95% CI 77% to 90%) of the masks fit the users, 85% (95% CI 73% to 93%) in ME and 83% (95% CI 73% to 90%) in LR. After dry heat, 86% of the fitted masks (95% CI 78% to 91%) still fit, 93% (95% CI 80% to 98%) in ME and 82% (95% CI 70% to 89%) in LR. If a fit test was not done before decontamination, 72% (95% CI 64% to 79%) of the masks would fit, 79% (95% CI 66% to 88%) in ME and 68% (95% CI 57% to 77%) in LR. Common substandard use preserves fitness of N95 masks up to 85%. One cycle of dry heat decontamination preserves fitness of N95 masks up to 93% when donned/doffed less than five times and fitness is ensured before decontamination. If a fit test is not performed beforehand, dry heat decontamination cannot preserve the fitness of used N95 masks above 80%.

scholarly journals The Impact of Occupational Health and Safety on Organizational Commitment at Sugar Companies Factories in Sudan: أثر السلامة والصحة المهنية على الالتزام التنظيمي في مصانع شركات السكر/ السودان

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (16) ◽  
pp. 110-133
Author(s):  
Farah Yasin Farah Abdelkhair, Hamid Altaib Mohammed, Mamoun Farah Yasin Farah Abdelkhair, Hamid Altaib Mohammed, Mamoun
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Emotional Commitment ◽  
White Nile ◽  
The Impact

The study presented a problem related to knowing the impact of occupational safety and health on organizational commitment in sugar companies’ factories in Sudan, as it aimed to verify the impact of occupational safety and health on organizational commitment. The study followed the descriptive and analytical approach, in which a questionnaire was designed and distributed to a random sample of (256) employees in (3) factories of sugar companies in Sudan (Sinnar, White Nile, and Kenana). The most important findings of the study were: that the practices of occupational safety and health and organizational commitment were characterized by an increase with arithmetic averages of 3,883 and 4,041, respectively; the results of the study also showed a statistically significant impact of occupational safety and health on organizational commitment (continuity commitment, emotional commitment, and normative commitment). Finally, the study presented a set of recommendations to support decision-makers in the sugar industry and in sugar companies' factories in Sudan to build and enhance occupational safety and health as a catalyst for organizational commitment of employees.

scholarly journals Using the Contribution Analysis Approach to Evaluate Science Impact: A Case Study of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amia Downes ◽  
Emily Novicki ◽  
John Howard
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Research Programs ◽  
Contribution Analysis ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Impact

Interest from Congress, executive branch leadership, and various other stakeholders for greater accountability in government continues to gain momentum today with government-wide efforts. However, measuring the impact of research programs has proven particularly difficult. Cause and effect linkages between research findings and changes to morbidity and mortality are difficult to prove. To address this challenge, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health program evaluators used a modified version of contribution analysis (CA) to evaluate two research programs. CA proved to be a useful framework for assessing research impact, and both programs received valuable, actionable feedback. Although there is room to further refine our approach, this was a promising step toward moving beyond bibiliometrics to more robust assessment of research impact.

Field Evaluation of the Ultrasonic Personal Aerosol Sampler (UPAS) for Respirable Dust Exposure in a Taconite Mine

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nima Afshar-Mohajer ◽  
Rebecca Foos ◽  
Gurumurthy Ramachandran ◽  
John Volckens
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Method ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Personal Exposure ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Respirable Dust ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Dust Exposure ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Exposure to respirable dust (RD; the mass fraction of inhaled particles that penetrate to the unciliated airways) is a major health concern in a variety of workplaces. While the estimation of personal exposure is an essential step in protecting worker health from aerosol hazards, the traditional method for assessing personal exposure to RD, suggested by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH method 0600), requires equipment that is heavy, bulky, noisy, and has the need of frequent calibration. The ultrasonic personal aerosol sampler (UPAS) is a new personal sampling technology designed to address some of these drawbacks associated with traditional sampling methods. In this study, we field tested and evaluated the performance of the UPAS for assessing worker exposure to RD in a taconite mine. Mineworkers (n = 39) from various job categories were recruited to wear both UPAS and NIOSH 0600 samplers on a work vest to estimate time-weighted exposure to RD. A strong linear relationship was observed (NIOSH method 0600 = 1.06 (UPAS) −9.22 µg m–3, r2 of 0.72, and Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.854). None of the workers were exposed to a RD concentration above the Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit (5 mg m–3). A Bland–Altman analysis revealed that 72% of the valid UPAS samples agreed within ±25% of the traditional method mean. The impact of job category on the correlation of the methods was not statistically significant. This work suggests that the UPAS may present a viable alternative for assessing personal exposure to RD in the workplace.

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