scholarly journals Sustaining Management Commitment to Workplace Health Programs:

2009 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane M. Dixon ◽  
Nancy Theberge ◽  
Donald C. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Change Agents ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Health Programs ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Managerial Support ◽  
Management Personnel ◽  
Management Commitment ◽  
Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Change Teams

This article investigates management commitment to workplace health and safety through an analysis of the implementation of participatory ergonomic (PE) interventions in three worksites. The PE programs were established to address the burden of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Drawing upon interview and observational data, the analysis examines the evolution of managerial support for PE programs over time and in the context of pressures internal and external to the worksites. Ergonomic Change Teams in all three sites experienced problems establishing authority to act as change agents and in accessing employee time to carry out their activities. Resolution of these problems was heavily contingent on the commitment of senior management, and the efforts of individual management personnel to intervene in support of the PE program. Our findings highlight that “management” is not a monolithic entity and managerial structures are often marked by divisions in priorities, including health and safety.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Management Practices and Safety

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Siew Lee Cheng ◽  
Florianna Lendai Michael ◽  
Hana Hamidi ◽  
Siti Mariam Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Employee Involvement ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Occupational Accidents ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Safety Practice ◽  
Management Commitment ◽  
The Relationship

Work-related accidents is a controversial topic in Malaysia as evidenced by the increased number of occupational accidents throughout the years. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between management practices and safety performance in an or-ganization. The four management practices investigated are (a) training, (b) management commitment, (c) communication and feedback, and (d) employee involvement. The most effective safety practice is also identified. The data was collected at a manufacturing com-pany located in Shah Alam, Malaysia using closed-ended questionnaire. 95 respondents from the production line were involved in this study. The result found that training had a very weak relationship to the safety performance while the management commitment, as well as the communication and feedback, revealed to have a weak impact on safety perfor-mance. On the other hand, the analysis showed that employee involvement is the most ef-fective safety practice to the safety performance, as it had a moderate impact on safety per-formance. Keywords: Workplace health and safety; accidents; injuries; safety performance

scholarly journals Considerations on Ergonomic Issues in Physiotherapy Activity

2021 ◽  
Vol 343 ◽  
pp. 10004
Author(s):  
Vlad Andrei Darabont ◽  
Doru Costin Darabont
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Mental Load ◽  
Repetitive Movement ◽  
Motor Disabilities ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
High Level ◽  
Technical Measures

Nowadays, the ergonomic issues become more and more important in all economic activity domains. Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) represent the main problem generated by the poor ergonomic design of the workplaces. The healthcare domain involves high level ergonomic risks related to physical and mental load of the work which could lead to MSDs. The paper presents an analysis of these ergonomic risks for physiotherapy activity and identifies potential measures to improve the health and safety in this domain. The physical load of the physiotherapist’s work is generated by the risk factors such as awkward postures, repetitive movement or working with patients with motor disabilities. The mental load of the physiotherapist’s work depends on risk factors such as working with patients with cognitive impairment and daily or weekly patient flows. The proposed preventive measures are organisational and technical. The organisational measures are based on the requirements of the occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation and on the good practice examples. The technical measures are based on the analysing the documentation of physiotherapy modern equipment. The results of the study can be used to improve the ergonomics and the health and safety of any workplace in physiotherapy activity.

Better musculoskeletal health for anaesthetists

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.M. Yentis ◽  
◽  
K. Asanati ◽  
C.R. Bailey ◽  
R. Hampton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The Body ◽  
Musculoskeletal Health ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Many Sources ◽  
Psychological Risk

3Association of Anaesthetists | Better musculoskeletal health for anaesthetistsSummaryWork-related musculoskeletal disorders are very common amongst healthcare workers, and there is evidence that anaesthetists are at greater risk of upper limb disorders than other groups. This guidance aims to bring together advice and recommendations from a variety of sources in order to inform and support anaesthetists at work, in an attempt to reduce the prevalence and severity of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and the exacerbation of pre-existing disorders. Mechanical and psychosocial risk factors for work-associated musculoskeletal disorders are summarised, along with general principles for achieving better musculoskeletal health and practices specific to areas of the body most at risk. These include recommended exercises and stretches during sedentary work.RecommendationsAttention must be paid by both employers and anaesthetists to the physical and psychological risk factors that may lead to development and/or exacerbation of musculoskeletal disorders. This requires ongoing risk assessments and adherence to published standards of health and safety at work, including training. Such a programme is best achieved as part of a multidisciplinary approach.What other guidelines are available on this topic? There are many sources of guidance on health and safety in the workplace, across many sectors, much of which is of relevance to anaesthetists. There is no readily accessible guidance specifically aimed at the anaesthetic workplace.Why was this guideline developed?This guidance was developed as part of a wider piece of work by the Association of Anaesthetists based around ergonomics of the anaesthetic workplace, as a result of the increased reported incidence of musculoskeletal disorders amongst anaesthetists. It aims to draw on existing guidance and present a summary of advice relevant to anaesthetists and their practice.How and why does this publication differ from existing guidelines?This guidance summarises other advice and recommendations, and focuses on factors relevant to the anaesthetic workplace

scholarly journals Child labor in the US

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1029-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wegmann
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Young People ◽  
Problem Behaviors ◽  
Child Labor ◽  
Safety Information ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Work Hours ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Work Related ◽  
School Year

This paper presents a report on child labor in the U.S. that reviewed the positive and negative aspects of work for youth. Working was found to provide young people with valuable lessons about responsibility, punctuality, interacting with people and learning about money management, increasing self-esteem and helping them become independent and skilled. Research findings suggested that working during high school may contribute to increased rates of employment and better wages up to a decade after high school completion. Research concerning the hazards associated with work indicated that, each year, tens of thousands of young people are seen in hospital emergency departments for work-related injuries, hundreds require hospitalization, and more than 70 die of work-related injuries. Long work hours during the school year were associated with problem behaviors. The report points out some important questions: updating regulations on allowable work hours, eliminating less stringent regulation of agricultural work, revising outdated rules against hazardous work, developing and implementing a comprehensive plan for monitoring the injuries, illnesses, and hazards, building workplace health and safety information into school-based programs, and developing criteria for designating "commendable workplaces for youth."

The Costs of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Automotive Manufacturing

2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Punnett
Keyword(s):  
Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Labor Turnover ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Workers Compensation ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Automotive Manufacturing ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Compensation Claims

Inadequate application of ergonomic principles to the design of workplaces and individual jobs has adverse consequences for worker health and safety, especially in terms of strains, sprains, and other musculoskeletal disorders. In addition to the human pain and suffering, other losses are externalized to workers, with adverse financial and psychosocial impacts. There are also costs to employers through workers' compensation claims, scrap, and decreased production quality, medical insurance premiums, labor turnover, and adverse impacts on labor relations, although many of these are not linked by traditional accounting methods to ergonomic problems per se. Data collected in five plants of two major U.S. automotive manufacturing companies in the last decade have been used to estimate some of the costs associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), only some of which resulted in workers' compensation claims. In one plant in 1984–85, the payroll cost of all back and shoulder disorders was at least $320 per year per worker, not including workers' compensation premiums or claims paid. A large proportion of these costs were accrued by “unreported” cases, that is, cases that either had never been reported to the plant clinic or had been reported in the past and were considered administratively to have recovered. In the other four plants, annual costs associated with in-plant medical visits for MSDs in 1989–93 were almost as high as those resulting from compensation claims. At least one-half of these disorders were estimated to be attributable to physical ergonomic exposures in the workplace and thus preventable. These data are consistent with estimates by others that the real costs to employers are at least two to three times the amount paid in workers' compensation cases, and that at least 50 percent of all work-related musculoskeletal disorders among the working population could be prevented by appropriate ergonomic job design. Furthermore, recent experience with ergonomics programs in various manufacturing and service settings shows that they are cost-effective in reducing morbidity, work absenteeism, and workers' compensation claims; payback periods for workplace modifications can be as short as a few months. Further investigations should explore the reasons that monetary costs and other impacts on profitability do not always motivate employers to improve working conditions.

scholarly journals Determinants of Work-Related Risks among Veterinary Clinical Students in South West Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Oluwawemimo O. Adebowale ◽  
Monsurat O. Afolabi ◽  
Hezekiah K. Adesokan ◽  
Olubunmi G. Fasanmi ◽  
Olanike K. Adeyemo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health And Safety ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Work Related ◽  
South West ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Animal Contact

Veterinary practices or activities expose professionals, including students, to hazards associated with animal contact. To describe workplace health and safety status and risk factors associated with hazards among veterinary clinical students in South West Nigeria, a cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semistructured questionnaire. Data on demographics, health and safety (HS) status, work-related hazards, healthcare facilities, and immunisation history were obtained. Of 167 students recruited, 100 (60.2%) were males, and >77.1% fell within the age group of 21–25 years. Many participants (77.0%) reported the lack of active HS committee. Exposures to various physical hazards (PHs) such as needlestick injuries (NSIs, 41.5%), animal scratches (42.0%), animal kicks (33.0%), falls/slips (25.0%), and, less frequently, animal bites (13.8%) were reported. Allergies (35.9%) and acute gastrointestinal infection (25.6%) mainly after contact with dogs presented with parvoviral enteritis were reported. For chemical hazards, 27.8% and 29.0% of participants indicated having had eye burn and choke on exposure to formalin. No adequate immunisation against either tetanus, rabies, or both was provided (<18%). An association between accommodation type and students’ level of health and safety training was observed (OR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.241–0.897, p=0.02), and frequencies of student contact with various animal types were strongly associated with exposures to different physical and biological risks (p<0.05). This study revealed poor health and safety training, practices, and increased exposure of students to a wide range of hazards. Therefore, the development of mitigation programmes in veterinary schools becomes critical to safeguard students’ wellbeing.

Recommendations for implementation of the topic musculoskeletal disorders in the occupational health and safety postgraduate programmes at European Universities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Bellosta-López ◽  
Priscila de Brito Silva ◽  
Palle S. Jensen ◽  
Morten S. Hoegh ◽  
Thorvaldur S. Palsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Regulatory Compliance ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
The Impact

Historically, the role of professionals specialized in occupational health and safety (OHS) has emerged from the need to protect employers working in major risk industries such as nuclear plants and large-scale chemical industries in Europe. More recently, a few studies highlighted that the range of activities linked to safety management responsibilities includes monitor and prepare reports, inspection and auditing, regulatory compliance, emergency response, incident investigation, hazard and risk assessment, and training. Additionally, there are some supplementary non-safety related duties, such as including environmental responsibility. Considering that work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMD) are a major burden worldwide, adding up to 1.3 billion cases, more than 100 million years loss of disability-adjusted life years and that such disorders are common causes of disability and sick leave, this topic is highly relevant to OHS professionals. In EU Member States for which data are available, a large majority of all workers report complaints related to musculoskeletal disorders as their most serious work-related health problems. The percentage of workers reporting such complaints as their most serious health problem ranges from 40 % in Luxembourg to 70 % in Czech Republic and Finland. Furthermore, more than half of workers with musculoskeletal disorders reported taking time off work in a 12-month period. In the EU, 26 % of workers with musculoskeletal long-lasting disorders, that is lasting over 3 months, combined with other health problems report more than 8 days of absence per year. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) have a key role in disseminating and increasing accessibility to the most up-to-date evidence available regarding the impact and management of musculoskeletal disorders, to facilitate translation of knowledge to implementation in practice. This way, the Knowledge Alliance Prevent4Work for Preventing Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders has elaborated this document with the most recent and relevant knowledge within the topic. HEI that offer courses within OHS as well as graduation and post-graduation courses for health professionals that work within the area, may benefit from the recommendations presented here.

A Practical Method for the Assessment of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Risks - Quick Exposure Check (QEC)

1998 ◽  
Vol 42 (19) ◽  
pp. 1351-1355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangyan Li ◽  
Peter Buckle
Keyword(s):  
Health And Safety ◽  
Practical Method ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Art Research ◽  
High Level ◽  
Practice Assessment

A newer exposure tool has been developed for health and safety practitioners to assess the exposure to risks for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The tool is based on the practitioners' needs for such a tool and “state of the art” research findings. QEC has been tested, modified and validated based upon various simulated and practical tasks, with the help of up to 150 practitioners. The studies have shown that the tool has a high level of sensitivity and usability, and exhibits largely acceptable inter/intra-observer reliability. Field studies also indicate that the tool is, in practice, reliable and applicable for a wide range of tasks. With a short training period and some practice, assessment can normally be completed within 10 minutes for each task.

A Qualitative Study to Identify Characteristics of a Desirable Training Program for Prevention of Occupational Skin Disease

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethany Zack ◽  
Victoria H Arrandale ◽  
D Linn Holness
Keyword(s):  
Contact Dermatitis ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Barriers And Facilitators ◽  
Workplace Training ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
First Aid Training

Abstract Background Training and education may be effective strategies for the prevention of work-related contact dermatitis. While there is some information in the literature related to skin-specific training experiences, there is very little information available on workers’ preferences related to content and format and to barriers and facilitators to training. Objectives To understand workers’ experiences and preferences for workplace training and barriers and facilitators to training. Methods Following ethics approval, 24 patients with work-related contact dermatitis participated in semi-structured interviews obtaining information on training experiences, perceived training effectiveness, desired training characteristics, and barriers and facilitators to training. An inductive thematic analysis was used to identify themes. Results Though many workers had received general workplace health and safety training, none reported training about skin exposure and disease prevention. Examples of what the workers perceived as good training included first aid training, while Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System training was felt to be ineffective. Desired content of training for preventing skin exposures included information on the hazards, short- and long-term health impacts, and potential symptoms and personal protective equipment. They desired multi-modal presentation (e.g. in-person and online supplement), hands-on training with visual content and suggested the use of personal stories and negative messaging. Training that could be applied outside the workplace was also valued. Barriers and facilitators to implementation included factors related to the training program itself, the organization, and the regulatory landscape. Conclusions These findings can help to shape more effective workplace training programs for skin protection.

scholarly journals Interventions commonly used to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders among healthcare workers

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 371-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanpatchaya Sirisawasd ◽  
Sasitorn Taptagaporn ◽  
Chaweewon Boonshuyar ◽  
Poramet Earde
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the prevalence and risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among healthcare workers (HCWs) in order to ascertain the occupation with the highest susceptibility to WMSD in the health sector. This paper will also review the effective interventions which have been used to prevent WMSDs among HCWs. Design/methodology/approach This study is a literature review of 11 papers related to the prevalence and risk factors of WMSDs and 12 papers about the interventions being used to prevent WMSDs among HCWs. The papers were retrieved from respectable databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar and E-Thesis. Findings Nurses belong to the major group of HCWs who had the highest prevalence of WMSDs compared with other health professionals and other hospital workers. Although there are several interventions being commonly used to prevent WMSD risk factors, some interventions were unsuccessful in the prevention of WMSDs in healthcare tasks. Therefore, it is necessary that future research focuses on the tasks of HCWs that are WMSD risk factors and tries to innovate or redesign ergonomic workstations to prevent those risk factors. Originality/value The expected benefit of this study is to motivate ergonomists to provide appropriate and innovative interventions to ensure health and safety for nurses and other HCWs.

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