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15 pages, 2058 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Does Selective Reporting Distort Understanding of Workplace Injuries?

by Kevin Geddert, Sidney Dekker and Andrew Rae

Safety 2021, 7(3), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety7030058 - 8 Aug 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 6315

Abstract

This study introduces and applies a new method for studying under-reporting of injuries. This method, “one-to-one injury matching”, involves locating and comparing individual incidents within company and insurer recording systems. Using this method gives a detailed measure of the difference in injuries recognised [...] Read more.

This study introduces and applies a new method for studying under-reporting of injuries. This method, “one-to-one injury matching”, involves locating and comparing individual incidents within company and insurer recording systems. Using this method gives a detailed measure of the difference in injuries recognised as “work-related” by the insurer, and injuries classified as “recordable” by the company. This includes differences in the volume of injuries, as well as in the nature of the injuries. Applying this method to an energy company shows that only 19% of injuries recognised by the insurer were recognised by the company as recordable incidents. The method also demonstrates where claiming behaviour and claims management have created systematic biases in the disposition of incidents. Such biases result in an inaccurate picture of the severity and nature of incidents, over-estimating strike injuries such as to the hand, and underestimating chronic and exertion injuries such as to the back. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Methods and Instruments for Evaluating and Measuring Safety)

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21 pages, 1633 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Italian Validation of OSCI: The Organizational and Safety Climate Inventory

by Silvia Platania, Anna Paolillo and Silvia A. Silva

Safety 2021, 7(1), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety7010022 - 16 Mar 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6189

Abstract

Although safety climate has been the object of multiple studies in the last thirty years, the relationship between safety climate and organizational climate has been scarcely investigated. The Organizational and Safety Climate Inventory (OSCI) was the first and only validated instrument to allow [...] Read more.

Although safety climate has been the object of multiple studies in the last thirty years, the relationship between safety climate and organizational climate has been scarcely investigated. The Organizational and Safety Climate Inventory (OSCI) was the first and only validated instrument to allow the assessment of organizational and safety climates simultaneously and by using the same theoretical framework. The present work investigated the psychometric properties of OSCI in an Italian sample at the group level; study 1 (N = 745) examined the factor structure of the scale by using confirmatory factor analyses. Study 2 (N = 471) advanced the original Portuguese validation by testing its measurement equivalence across gender and company sector through multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses. Results confirmed one higher-order factor structure with four first-order factors for both Organizational Climate and Safety Climate, with Organizational Climate predicting Safety Climate. Moreover, the scale was found to be invariant between men and women and between different types of company. Reliability, discriminant, and criterion validities of the scale showed very good values. Overall, the findings strengthened the original claim of the OSCI to be a valid and innovative instrument, which allows the identification of specific dimensions of safety climate, starting from a more general model of organizational climate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Methods and Instruments for Evaluating and Measuring Safety)

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20 pages, 287 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Results from Event Investigations in Industrial and Patient Safety Contexts

by Lars Harms-Ringdahl

Safety 2021, 7(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety7010019 - 5 Mar 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 5032

Abstract

Accident investigations are probably the most common approach to evaluate the safety of systems. The aim of this study is to analyse event investigations and especially their recommendations for safety reforms. Investigation reports were studied with a methodology based on the characterisation of [...] Read more.

Accident investigations are probably the most common approach to evaluate the safety of systems. The aim of this study is to analyse event investigations and especially their recommendations for safety reforms. Investigation reports were studied with a methodology based on the characterisation of organisational levels and types of recommendations. Three sets of event investigations from industrial companies and hospitals were analysed. Two sets employed an in-depth approach, while the third was based on the root-cause concept. The in-depth approach functioned in a similar way for both industrial organisations and hospitals. The number of suggested reforms varied between 56 and 143 and was clearly greater for the industry. Two sets were from health care, but with different methodologies. The number of suggestions was eight times higher with the in-depth approach, which also addressed higher levels in the organisational hierarchy and more often safety management issues. The root-cause investigations had a clear emphasis on reforms at the local level and improvement of production. The results indicate a clear need for improvements of event investigations in the health care sector, for which some suggestions are presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Methods and Instruments for Evaluating and Measuring Safety)

16 pages, 2496 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fall-Protection Harness Training: Donning Skill Improves with Up to Four Repetitions

by Zachary Bunney, Roger C. Jensen and Daniel Autenrieth

Safety 2021, 7(1), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety7010016 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 6386

Abstract

Injuries and fatalities from falling remain a major occupational safety concern. Among the multiple tactics for preventing fatal falls is the use of personal fall protection involving wearing a harness connected to a secure anchor point. This requires training to ensure trainees understand [...] Read more.

Injuries and fatalities from falling remain a major occupational safety concern. Among the multiple tactics for preventing fatal falls is the use of personal fall protection involving wearing a harness connected to a secure anchor point. This requires training to ensure trainees understand the importance of fall protection and have the skill to implement it correctly. One important skill is donning a fall protection harness and adjusting the straps. Those who conduct training on fall protection need to coach trainees through the steps involved in donning a harness. This study was undertaken to learn the benefits of practicing with the guidance of a coach. The experiment had university student volunteers watch a training video twice and then don a harness four times while being coached. Times for each of the five steps involved in donning and adjusting a harness were obtained for the 22 subjects who completed all steps. Time was used as the measure of skill level. The step of adjusting the leg straps accounted for the most time in all of the four repetitions. Total time to don fall protection was reduced with practice. The reduction followed a learning curve function based on a power model. According to this model, each doubling of the number of repetitions results in a 22.1% reduction in total time to don the harness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Methods and Instruments for Evaluating and Measuring Safety)

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15 pages, 1696 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Comparative Analyses of Parameters Influencing Children Pedestrian Behavior in Conflict Zones of Urban Intersections

by Aleksandra Deluka-Tibljaš, Irena Ištoka Otković, Tiziana Campisi and Sanja Šurdonja

Safety 2021, 7(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety7010005 - 18 Jan 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6845

Abstract

Children pedestrians make up 30% of the total number of children injured in road traffic in the EU. Research shows that children are injured more often in the urban areas, in residential areas near schools and parks, often at intersections and pedestrian crossings. [...] Read more.

Children pedestrians make up 30% of the total number of children injured in road traffic in the EU. Research shows that children are injured more often in the urban areas, in residential areas near schools and parks, often at intersections and pedestrian crossings. In this study, children’s traffic behavior was analyzed by observation of signalized pedestrian crosswalks. According to the same methodology, the research was conducted in three cities in two countries (Enna, Italy, Osijek and Rijeka, Croatia) with different urban and traffic characteristics. A total of 900 measurements were analyzed, 300 in each of the cities at 18 pedestrian crosswalks located in an urban setting in the vicinity of primary schools. A detailed statistical analysis of the influence parameters shows that, as general influence parameters, pedestrian crosswalk length, movement in a group and the age of children can be distinguished. Factors that have proven to have a significant influence on the movement of children in two of the three cities observed are gender, supervision by adults, running and cellphone use. The result can serve as a valuable input for interventions in traffic education as well as a basis for the improvement of traffic conditions at intersections where children are regularly present. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Methods and Instruments for Evaluating and Measuring Safety)

17 pages, 1800 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Measuring Resilience Potentials: A Pilot Program Using the Resilience Assessment Grid

by Karen Klockner and Peter Meredith

Safety 2020, 6(4), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety6040051 - 13 Nov 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 7844

Abstract

Researchers in the resilience engineering space have proposed the notion that organisations operating in complex socio-technical systems cannot ‘be’ resilient but can have the ‘potential for resilient performance’. This theoretical stance also suggests that organisations wanting to enhance their potential for resilience begin [...] Read more.

Researchers in the resilience engineering space have proposed the notion that organisations operating in complex socio-technical systems cannot ‘be’ resilient but can have the ‘potential for resilient performance’. This theoretical stance also suggests that organisations wanting to enhance their potential for resilience begin by measuring their operational safety performance against four key potentials, these being: the Potential to Anticipate; the Potential to Respond; the Potential to Learn; and the Potential to Monitor. Furthermore, to measure these four key resilience constructs, organisations have been recommended to use a Resilience Assessment Grid (RAG) developed as part of this theory. However, scarce research appears to have been conducted that bridges the theory and practice divide on just how organisations can pragmatically measure their current performance against these four resilience potentials using the RAG. Therefore, this research was interested in undertaking a pilot study using RAG theory in order to examine an organisation’s four resilience potentials, and was conducted within a large road transport organisation in Australia. Results indicated that measuring both the four individual potentials and a combination of the four potentials was possible using a RAG and proved effective in providing a snapshot of operational safety system resilience concepts. Recommendations on how to increase organisational resilience potentials were provided to ensure future safety endeavours would enhance the organisation’s potential to be resilience in the face of system variability and operational demands. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Methods and Instruments for Evaluating and Measuring Safety)

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Review

Jump to: Research

14 pages, 782 KiB

Open AccessReview

Hazard Perception–Response: A Theoretical Framework to Explain Drivers’ Interactions with Roadway Hazards

by Daniela Barragan, Matthew S. Peterson and Yi-Ching Lee

Safety 2021, 7(2), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety7020029 - 15 Apr 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 9575

Abstract

Research suggests that novice drivers are most susceptible to errors when detecting and responding to hazards. If this were true, then hazard training should be effective in improving novice drivers’ performance. However, there is limited evidence to support this effectiveness. Much of this [...] Read more.

Research suggests that novice drivers are most susceptible to errors when detecting and responding to hazards. If this were true, then hazard training should be effective in improving novice drivers’ performance. However, there is limited evidence to support this effectiveness. Much of this research has overlooked a fundamental aspect of psychological research: theory. Although four theoretical frameworks were developed to explain this process, none have been validated. We proposed a theoretical framework to more accurately explain drivers’ behavior when interacting with hazardous situations. This framework is novel in that it leverages support from visual attention and driving behavior research. Hazard-related constructs are defined and suitable metrics to evaluate the stages in hazard processing are suggested. Additionally, individual differences which affect hazard-related skills are also discussed. This new theoretical framework may explain why the conflicts in current hazard-related research fail to provide evidence that training such behaviors reduces crash risk. Future research is necessary to empirically test this framework. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Methods and Instruments for Evaluating and Measuring Safety)

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27 pages, 1246 KiB

Open AccessReview

Measuring Resilience Engineering: An Integrative Review and Framework for Bench-Marking Organisational Safety

by Manikam Pillay and Gaël Morel

Safety 2020, 6(3), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety6030037 - 14 Aug 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 7727

Abstract

Interest in resilience engineering for improving organisational safety continues to grow among safety scholars and practitioners, but little attention has focused on a unifying definition, characteristics, and instruments for quantitative measurements. This is a significant gap which can impede efforts at benchmarking and [...] Read more.

Interest in resilience engineering for improving organisational safety continues to grow among safety scholars and practitioners, but little attention has focused on a unifying definition, characteristics, and instruments for quantitative measurements. This is a significant gap which can impede efforts at benchmarking and evaluating resilience engineering for organisational safety. This integrative review was undertaken to address this research-practice gap in order to inform a theoretical framework. A five steep integrative literature review process was used to retrieve and critically evaluate peer-reviewed quantitative research articles published or in press from 2003 to November 2019. From the 3884 studies identified, screened, and selected, 17 met the final inclusion criteria. In total, 15 specific instruments were identified, but only four were grounded on a theoretical framework or model—the most common instrument used for included structured surveys. A minimum of three and a maximum of 13 characteristics were measured; however, it is not clear what type of variables they represented. The six most common characteristics included top management commitment, just culture, learning culture, awareness, preparedness, and flexibility. An integrative model of how these can inform a Resilience Climate Questionnaire (RCQ) survey is presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Methods and Instruments for Evaluating and Measuring Safety)

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