Search results for: safety behaviour

Authors: Heba Elbibas, Esra Gnijeewa, Zedan Hatush

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This paper presents research on occupational safety in construction projects, where the importance of safety management in projects was studied, including the preparation of a safety plan and program for each project and the identification of the responsibilities of each party to the contract. The research consists of two parts: 1-Field visits: which were field visits to three construction projects, including building projects, road projects, and tower installation. The safety level of these projects was evaluated through a checklist that includes the most important safety elements in terms of the application of these items in the projects. 2-Preparation of a questionnaire: which included supervisors and engineers and aimed to determine the level of awareness and commitment of different project categories to safety standards. The results showed the following: i) There is a moderate occupational safety policy. ii) The preparation and storage of maintenance reports are not fully complied with. iii) There is a moderate level of training on occupational safety for project workers. iv) The company does not impose penalties on safety violators permanently. v) There is a moderate policy for equipment and machinery safety. vi) Self-injuries occur due to (fatigue, lack of attention, deliberate error, and emotional factors), with a rate of 82.4%.

Keywords: management, safety, occupational safety, classification

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Authors: Ojo Adeshina Akinwumi

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This study investigated leadership style and organizational culture as predictors of unethical work behaviour among employees in corporate organizations. This study adopted an expo facto research design. Two Hundred and Seventy-Four (274) employees (149 males, 125 females) sampled from the organization participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 19 to 65, with a mean of 36.36 years and a standard deviation of 10.43. Unethical Work Behaviour was measured using Unethical Work Behaviour Scale (UWBC), Organizational Culture was measured using Organizational Culture Scale, (and OCS and Leadership Styles were measured using Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (LSMLQ). Two hypotheses were formulated and tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regressions Analysis. Results indicated that leadership styles had no significant relationship with unethical work behaviour (r(274)=.09;>0.05). However, organizational culture had a significant relationship with unethical work behaviour (r(274)=.15;p,0.05). Lastly, leadership style and organizational culture jointly predicted unethical work behaviour among employees. [F (2, 273) =3.65, p<0.05). Findings from this study were discussed in line with existing literature. It was also recommended that leadership styles and organizational culture should be improved upon in order to reduce unethical work behaviour by employees.

Keywords: leadership style, organizational culture, unethical work behavior, employees in corporate organisations in Nigeria

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Authors: Jane E. Mullen, Kevin Kelloway, Ann Rhéaume-Brüning

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The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of perceived leader word-action alignment on subordinate extra-role safety behavior. Using survey data gathered from a sample of nurses employed in health care facilities located in Eastern Canada (n = 192), the effects of perceived word-action alignment (measured as the cross product of leaders speaking positively about safety and acting safely) on nurse safety participation was examined. Moderated regression analysis resulted in the significant (p < .01) prediction of nurse safety participation by the interaction term. Analysis of the simple slopes comprising the interaction term suggests that positively speaking about safety only predicted safety participation when leaders were also perceived by subordinates as acting safely. The results provide empirical support for the importance of the perceived alignment between leaders’ words, or espoused safety values and priorities, and their actions. Practical implications for safety leadership training are discussed.

Keywords: leadership, safety participation, safety performance, safety training

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Authors: Aliffaizi Arsat, Nur Ida Fatihah, Che Shalifullizam

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Malaysia is well known as a Muslim country and is quickly becoming a Global Halal-hub of Halal business in promoting Halal food products in both Muslim countries and non-Muslim countries. The objective of this study is to analyse the Muslim consumer purchased behaviour on doubtful Halal packed food by using theory of planned behaviour, to examine the mediating effects between certification, and Muslim consumer purchased behaviour on doubtful Halal packed food. The relevant questionnaires have been distributed in Kuala Selangor. Among the 300 Muslim participants from Kuala Selangor, Selangor, Malaysia, only 107 of them have returned the questionnaire with complete answers. The respondent’s rate was discovered to be at 35.67%. The data have been analysed by using SPSS version 22 and Structural equation modelling Partial Least Square SEM-PLS. There are three dimensions needed to identify Muslim consumer purchased behaviour on doubtful Halal packed food. They are attitude towards behaviour, subjective norm and perceived behavioural. All the results from this study show that the hypothesis has been supported. However, subjective norm had shown that there is a negative relationship towards Muslim consumer purchased behaviour on doubtful Halal packed food.

Keywords: Muslim consumer purchase behaviour, theory planned behaviour, doubtful Halal, certification

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Authors: Wen-Chen Hwang, Yu-Hsi Yuan

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According to the estimation made by researchers of safety and hygiene, 80% to 90% of workplace accidents in enterprises could be attributed to human factors. Nevertheless, human factors are not the only cause for accidents; instead, happening of accidents is also closely associated with the safety culture of the organization. Therefore, the most effective way of reducing accident rate would be to improve the social and the organizational factors that influence organization’s safety performance. Overview the present study is to understand the current level of safety culture in manufacturing enterprises. A tool for evaluating safety culture matching the needs and characteristics of manufacturing enterprises was developed by reviewing literature of safety culture, and taking the special backgrounds of the case enterprises into consideration. Expert validity was also implied for developing the questionnaire. Moreover, safety culture assessment was conducted through the practical investigation of the case enterprises. Total 505 samples were involved, 53 were executives and 452 were operators. The result of this study in comparison of the safety culture level between the executives and the operators was reached the significant level in 8 dimensions: Safety Commitment, Safety System, Safety Training, Safety Involvement, Reward and Motivation, Communication and Reporting, Leadership and Supervision, Learning and Changing. In general, the overall safety culture were executive level higher than operators level (M: 74.98 > 69.08; t=2.87; p < 0.01).

Keywords: questionnaire survey, safety culture, t-test, media studies

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Authors: Fahad Ibrahim, Raphaël Akamavi

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Bangladesh has encountered several industrial disasters (e.g. fire and building collapse tragedies) leading to the loss of valuable human lives. Irrespective of various institutions’ making effort to improve the safety situation, industry compliance and safety behaviour have not yet been improved. Hence, one question remains, to what extent does the institutional elements efficient enough to make any difference in improving safety behaviours? Thus, this study explores the relationship between institutional perspective and safety performance. Structural equation modelling results, using survey data from 256 RMG workers’ of 128 garments manufacturing factories in Bangladesh, show that institutional facets strongly influence management safety commitment to induce workers participation in safety activities and reduce workplace accident rates. The study also found that by upholding industrial standards and inspecting the safety situations, institutions facets significantly and directly affect workers involvement in safety participations and rate of workplace accidents. Additionally, workers involvement to safety practices significantly predicts the safety environment of the workplace. Subsequently, our findings demonstrate that institutional culture, norms, and regulations enact play an important role in altering management commitment to set-up a safer workplace environment. As a result, when workers’ perceive their management having high level of commitment to safety, they are inspired to be involved more in the safety practices, which significantly alter the workplace safety situation and lessen injury experiences. Due to the fact that institutions have strong influence on management commitment, legislative members should endorse, regulate, and strictly monitor workplace safety laws to be exercised by the factory owners. Further, management should take initiatives for adopting OHS features and conceive strategic directions (i.e., set up safety committees, risk assessments, innovative training) for promoting a positive safety climate to provide a safe workplace environment. Arguably, an inclusive public-private partnership is recommended for ensuring better and safer workplace for RMG workers. However, as our data were under a cross-sectional design; the respondents’ perceptions might get changed over a period of time and hence, a longitudinal study is recommended. Finally, further research is needed to determine the impact of improvement mechanisms on workplace safety performance, such as how workplace design, safety training programs, and institutional enforcement policies protect the well-being of workers.

Keywords: institutional perspective, management commitment, safety participation, work injury, safety performance, occupational health and safety

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Authors: Ritu Shitak

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Humans are social mammals, of the primate order. Our biology, behaviour, and pathologies are unique to us. In our desire to understand, reduce solitary confinement one source of information is the many reports of social isolation of other social mammals, especially primates. A behavioural study was conducted in the department of pharmacology at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla in Himachal Pradesh province in India using white albino mice. Different behavioural parameters were observed by using open field, tail suspension, tests for aggressive behaviour and social interactions and the effect of isolation was studied. The results were evaluated and the standard statistics were applied. The said study was done to establish facts that isolation itself impairs social behaviour and can lead to alcohol dependence as well as related drug dependence.

Keywords: social isolation, albino mice, drug dependence, isolation on social behaviour

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Authors: Saif Hussein Abdallah Alghazo, Norshima Humaidi

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Adopting cybersecurity protective behaviour among the employees is seriously considered in the organization, especially when the Internet of Things (IoT) is widely used in Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) era. Cybersecurity issues arise due to weaknesses of employees’ behaviour such as carelessness and failure to adopt good practices of information security behaviour. Therefore, this study aims to explore the dimensions that might influence employees’ behaviour to adopt good cybersecurity practices and to develop a new holistic model related to this concept. The study proposed this by reviewing the existing works of literature related to this field extensively, especially by focusing on the existing theory such as Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Moreover, this study has also explored the role of cybersecurity competency among the security manager in the organization since this construct is essential to enhance the protective behaviour towards cybersecurity among the employees in the organization. The proposed research model is important to be quantitatively tested in the future as the findings will serve as the input to the act that will enhance employee’s cybersecurity protective behaviour in the IR 4.0 environment.

Keywords: cybersecurity protective behaviour, protection motivation theory, IR 4.0, cybersecurity competency

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Authors: Famurewa Olumide Joseph, Akinsulore Adesanmi

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The current study investigated aggressive behaviour and its association with substance use disorder among senior secondary school students in Ilesha, Nigeria. Participants were three hundred and seventy-five (375) comprising (212) females and (163) males of senior secondary school students in Ilesa East and Ilesa West; who were randomly selected among the population of students from the schools. The mean age of the respondents was 14.61 years (S.D = 1.16), with 311 (82.9%) between 14 – 16 years. Female respondents were 212 (56.5%), while male respondents were 163 (43.5%). A cross sectional design was adopted. Three instruments were used for data collection. Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire, Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) and Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST). It was hypothesized that aggressive behaviour will be associated with substance use disorder among senior secondary school students in Ilesa East and Ilesa West. The result indicated that the overall prevalence of substance use disorder was 16.0%. Chi-Square test exploring the association between aggressive behaviour and substance use disorder shows that there is a significant association between aggressive behaviour and substance use disorder (χ2 =8.55, p =0.014). Results also showed that emotional problem (χ2 (2) =13.0; p = 0.001) was statistically significant while current medications intake (χ2 (2) =2.03; p =0.362) and overall wellbeing (χ2 (4) =2.49; p =0.646) were not statistically significant. There is an inverse association between prosocial behaviour and aggressive behaviour (r= -0.037, p>0.05). This indicates that as the level of prosocial behaviour increases, the level of aggressive behaviour among respondents decreases. However, alcohol use had no correlation with aggressive behaviour (r=0.070, p>0.05). Among the implications stated is that factors such as emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problem and drug use contributed to the prevalence of aggressive behaviour among students. Suggestions for further studies were equally made.

Keywords: aggressive behaviour, alcohol, prevalence, students, substance use disorder (SUD)

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Authors: Charita Jashi

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The aim of the paper is to explore the role of social marketing in changing the behavior of consumers on road safety, identify critical aspects and priority needs which impede the implementation of road safety program in Georgia. Given the goals of the study, a quantitative method was used to carry out interviews for primary data collection. This research identified the awareness level of road safety, legislation base, and marketing interventions to change behavior of drivers and pedestrians. During several years the non-governmental sector together with the local authorities and media have been very intensively working on the road safety issue in Georgia, but only seat-belts campaign should be considered rather successful. Despite achievements in this field, efficiency of road safety programs far from fulfillment and needs strong empowering.

Keywords: road safety, social marketing interventions, behavior change, well-being

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Authors: Hsiu-Hua Cheng, Chi-Wei Chen

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Lurking behaviour is common in information-seeking oriented communities. Transferring users with lurking behaviour to be contributors can assist virtual communities to obtain competitive advantages. Based on the ecological cognition framework, this study proposes a model to examine the antecedents of lurking behaviour in information-seeking oriented virtual communities. This study argues desire for emotional support, desire for information support, desire for performance-approach, desire for performance -avoidance, desire for mastery-approach, desire for mastery-avoidance, desire for ability trust, desire for benevolence trust, and desire for integrity trust effect on lurking behaviour. This study offers an approach to understanding the determinants of lurking behaviour in online contexts.

Keywords: lurking behaviour, the ecological cognition framework, Information-seeking oriented virtual communities, desire

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Authors: K. A. Razhiyah

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Disruptive behavior is a problem that is usually associated with those with autism. There is a need to overcome this behavioral problem because the negative impact of this problem does not only effect the social relation of the students but also can cause uneasiness to those around them. This condition will be worse if the techniques used failed to motivate students to change the behaviour. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the circus games technique on the disruptive behavior amongst students with autism. The positive results of the intervention that was carried out for three months show the reduction in disruptive behaviour, and also improvement in the turn-taking and focusing ability aspect. Positive changes shown by the students had an encouraging effect and in a way are helping them in the teaching and learning process.

Keywords: autism, desruptive behaviour, circus, effect

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Authors: Hyeondal Jeong, Yoonjung Baek

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This study examines the relationship between ethical leadership and individual creativity and focused on mediating effects of psychological safety. In order to clarify the mechanism of ethical leadership, psychological safety of the members was set as a mediator. Using data gathered from a sample of 150 employees. For data analysis, exploratory factor analysis, correlation analysis, hierarchical regression analysis and Sobel-Test were performed. The results showed that ethical leadership had a positive effect on psychological safety and individual creativity, and psychological safety had a positive mediating effect. Since the mediating effect of psychological safety has been confirmed, we need to find ways to improve the psychological safety of the members in terms of organizational management. Psychological safety has a positive effect on individual creativity, which can have a positive impact on innovation throughout the organization.

Keywords: ethical leadership, creativity, psychological safety, ethics management, innovative behaviors

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Authors: Ivana R. Moser, Joao C. Souza

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Building fires are random phenomena that can be extremely violent, and safe evacuation of people is the most guaranteed tactic in saving lives. The correct evacuation of buildings, and other spaces occupied by people, means leaving the place in a short time and by the appropriate way. It depends on the perception of spaces by the individual, the architectural layout and the presence of appropriate routing systems. As historical buildings were constructed in other times, when, as in general, the current security requirements were not available yet, it is necessary to adapt these spaces to make them safe. Computer models of evacuation simulation are widely used tools for assessing the safety of people in a building or agglomeration sites and these are associated with the analysis of human behaviour, makes the results of emergency evacuation more correct and conclusive. The objective of this research is the performance evaluation of historical interest buildings, regarding the safe evacuation of people, through computer simulation, using PTV Viswalk software. The buildings objects of study are the Colégio Catarinense, centennial building, located in the city of Florianópolis, Santa Catarina / Brazil. The software used uses the variables of human behaviour, such as: avoid collision with other pedestrians and avoid obstacles. Scenarios were run on the three-dimensional models and the contribution to safety in risk situations was verified as an alternative measure, especially in the impossibility of applying those measures foreseen by the current fire safety codes in Brazil. The simulations verified the evacuation time in situations of normality and emergency situations, as well as indicate the bottlenecks and critical points of the studied buildings, to seek solutions to prevent and correct these undesirable events. It is understood that adopting an advanced computational performance-based approach promotes greater knowledge of the building and how people behave in these specific environments, in emergency situations.

Keywords: computer simulation, escape routes, fire safety, historic buildings, human behavior

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Authors: Ngozi N. Sydney-Agbor, Chioma N. Ihegboro

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Stress and personality as factors influencing nurses’ aggressive behaviour were investigated. The participants comprised of one hundred and fifty nurses selected through convenience sampling technique from four (4) private hospitals in Imo State, Nigeria; namely: Eastern Summit Specialist Clinics and Maternity, St. David Hospital, New Cross Hospital, and Christian Teaching Hospital. The nurses were all females with ages between 20–35 and a mean age of 25.10 years and a standard deviation of 4.15. The participants were administered with Job Related Tension Scale, Type A Behaviour Scale and Buss- Perry Aggressive Behaviour Scale. Two hypotheses were postulated and tested. Cross- sectional survey and Regression Analysis were adopted as design and statistics respectively. Results showed that as stress increased, nurses aggression also increased. Personality also predicted nurses aggressive behaviour with Type As’ exhibiting higher aggression than Type Bs’.The study recommended that hospital management board should improve the welfare of the nurses and their morale should be boosted by involving them in policy-making concerning their welfare and care of their patients, this will help minimise situations capable of increasing aggressive behaviour. There should also be sensitization on the negative impact of aggressive behaviour to patients especially amongst the personality Type A’s who are more susceptible to aggression.

Keywords: aggressive behaviour, nurses, personality, stress

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Authors: Duygu Çelgin

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Until the new Occupational Health and Safety Law of Turkey, most of the workers were excluded from the mandatory occupational health and safety services. This new law, made the OHS services mandatory for all workers from all sectors including both public and private. However, in the application some problems and disadvantageous cases are occurred and the government also considered these cases. In this study, the new OHS law of Turkey and the regulations prepared according to the law are studied with the literature search.

Keywords: occupational health and safety in Turkey, OHS servicing in Turkey, safety experts, OHS support

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Authors: Nuray Gökçek Karaca

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This study aims to examine the application of occupational health and safety supervision in Turkey and EU countries in terms of legal regulations. The results of research reveal that occupational health and safety supervision in EU countries, whatever the understanding of welfare state, is effectively carried out and almost all legal regulations on this subject are consistent with the EU directives. On the other hand, there are serious problems in applications, not legal regulations, of occupational health and safety supervision in Turkey by the side of EU countries. Indeed, Turkey has modern regulations on occupational health and safety supervision whereas there are several problems such as ignoring prevention policy on occupational health and safety supervision, understanding of monotype inspector, problems resulting from this understanding and dispersed structure of occupational health and safety organizations in workplaces. As a result, Turkey needs to carry out effective supervision mechanisms.

Keywords: legal rules, occupational health and safety, inspection, supervision, legislation

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Authors: Lintang Putra Sadewa, Ilham Prasetya Budhi

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Slope monitoring program has now become a mandatory campaign for any open pit mines around the world to operate safely. Utilizing various slope monitoring instruments and strategies, miners are now able to deliver precise decisions in mitigating the risk of slope failures which can be catastrophic. Currently, the most sophisticated slope monitoring technology available is the Slope Stability Radar (SSR), whichcan measure wall deformation in submillimeter accuracy. One of its eminent features is that SSRcan provide a timely warning by automatically raise an alarm when a predetermined rate-of-movement threshold is reached. However, establishing proper alarm thresholds is arguably one of the onerous challenges faced in any slope monitoring program. The difficulty mainly lies in the number of considerations that must be taken when generating a threshold becausean alarm must be effectivethat it should limit the occurrences of false alarms while alsobeing able to capture any real wall deformations. In this sense, experience shows that a site-specific alarm thresholdtendsto produce more reliable results because it considers site distinctive variables. This study will attempt to determinealarming thresholds for safety-critical monitoring based on an empirical model of slope deformation behaviour that is defined statistically fromdeformation data captured by the Slope Stability Radar (SSR). The study area comprises of upright-dipping highwall setting in a coal mining area with intense mining activities, andthe deformation data used for the study were recorded by the SSR throughout the year 2022. The model is site-specific in nature thus, valuable information extracted from the model (e.g., time-to-failure, onset-of-acceleration, and velocity) will be applicable in setting up site-specific alarm thresholds and will give a clear understanding of how deformation trends evolve over the area.

Keywords: safety-critical monitoring, alarming strategy, slope deformation behaviour model, coal mining

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Authors: Valerie Isaak

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This study examines the effectiveness of an intervention program aimed at enhancing a unit-level safety climate as a way to minimize the risk of employees being injured by patient violence. The intervention program conducted in maximum security units in one of the psychiatric hospitals in Israel included a three day workshop. Safety climate was examined before and after the implementation of the intervention. We also collected data regarding incidents involving patient violence. Six months after the intervention a significant improvement in employees’ perceptions regarding management’s commitment to safety were found as well as a marginally significant improvement in communication concerning safety issues. Our research shows that an intervention program aimed at enhancing a safety climate is associated with a decrease in the number of aggressive incidents. We conclude that such an intervention program is likely to return the sense of safety and reduce the scope of violence.

Keywords: violence, intervention, safety climate, performance, public sector

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Authors: Karlijn Van Den Broek, Ian Walker, Christian Klöckner

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Campaigns aiming to induce energy-saving behaviour among householders use a wide range of approaches that address many different drivers thought to underpin this behaviour. However, little research has compared the relative importance of the different factors that influence energy behaviour, meaning campaigns are not informed about where best to focus resources. Therefore, this study applies the Comprehensive Action Determination Model (CADM) to compare the role of normative, intentional, habitual, and situational processes on energy-saving behaviour. An online survey on a sample of households (N = 247) measured the CADM variables and the data was analysed using structural equation modelling. Results showed that situational and habitual processes were best able to account for energy saving behaviour while normative and intentional processes had little predictive power. These findings suggest that policymakers should move away from motivating householders to save energy and should instead focus their efforts on changing energy habits and creating environments that facilitate energy saving behaviour. These findings add to the wider development in social and environmental psychology that emphasizes the importance of extra-personal variables such as the physical environment in shaping behaviour.

Keywords: energy consumption, behavioural modelling, environmental psychology theory, habits, values

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Authors: Hermann Dornhackl, Konstantin Kadletz, Robert Luh, Paul Tavolato

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In this paper we describe the use of formal methods to model malware behaviour. The modelling of harmful behaviour rests upon syntactic structures that represent malicious procedures inside malware. The malicious activities are modelled by a formal grammar, where API calls’ components are the terminals and the set of API calls used in combination to achieve a goal are designated non-terminals. The combination of different non-terminals in various ways and tiers make up the attack vectors that are used by harmful software. Based on these syntactic structures a parser can be generated which takes execution traces as input for pattern recognition.

Keywords: malware behaviour, modelling, parsing, search, pattern matching

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Authors: Douglas J. Kube

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At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Red Cross deployed workers into long-term care homes across Canada to support our most vulnerable citizens. It began by recruiting and training small teams of workers to provide non-clinical services for facilities in outbreak. Deployed workers were trained on an approach based on successful Red Cross deployments used with Ebola in which zones were established, levels of protection used, and strict protocols followed to prevent exposure. This paper addresses aspects of human performance through a safety culture lens. The Red Cross deployments highlight valuable insights and are an excellent case study in the principles of human performance and organizational culture. This paper looks at human performance principles, including human fallibility, predictability of error-likely situations, avoiding events by understanding reasons mistakes occur, and the influence on behaviour by organizational factors. This study demonstrates how the Red Cross’s organizational culture and work design positively influenced performance to protect workers and residents/clients. Lastly, this paper shares lessons that can be applied in many workplaces to improve worker health and safety and safety culture. This critical examination is based on the author’s experience as a Senior Occupational Health and Safety Advisor with the Red Cross during the pandemic as part of the team responsible for developing and implementing biological safety practices in long-term care deployments.

Keywords: COVID, human performance, organizational culture, work design

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Authors: Ankit Kumar Yadav, Nagendra R. Velaga

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Driving under the influence of alcohol impairs the driving performance and increases the crash risks worldwide. The present study investigated the effect of different Blood Alcohol Concentrations (BAC) on the accelerating and braking behaviour of drivers with the help of driving simulator experiments. Eighty-two licensed Indian drivers drove on the rural road environment designed in the driving simulator at BAC levels of 0.00%, 0.03%, 0.05%, and 0.08% respectively. Driving performance was analysed with the help of vehicle control performance indicators such as mean acceleration and mean brake pedal force of the participants. Preliminary analysis reported an increase in mean acceleration and mean brake pedal force with increasing BAC levels. Generalized linear mixed models were developed to quantify the effect of different alcohol levels and explanatory variables such as driver’s age, gender and other driver characteristic variables on the driving performance indicators. Alcohol use was reported as a significant factor affecting the accelerating and braking performance of the drivers. The acceleration model results indicated that mean acceleration of the drivers increased by 0.013 m/s², 0.026 m/s² and 0.027 m/s² for the BAC levels of 0.03%, 0.05% and 0.08% respectively. Results of the brake pedal force model reported that mean brake pedal force of the drivers increased by 1.09 N, 1.32 N and 1.44 N for the BAC levels of 0.03%, 0.05% and 0.08% respectively. Age was a significant factor in both the models where one year increase in drivers’ age resulted in 0.2% reduction in mean acceleration and 19% reduction in mean brake pedal force of the drivers. It shows that driving experience could compensate for the negative effects of alcohol to some extent while driving. Female drivers were found to accelerate slower and brake harder as compared to the male drivers which confirmed that female drivers are more conscious about their safety while driving. It was observed that drivers who were regular exercisers had better control on their accelerator pedal as compared to the non-regular exercisers during drunken driving. The findings of the present study revealed that drivers tend to be more aggressive and impulsive under the influence of alcohol which deteriorates their driving performance. Drunk driving state can be differentiated from sober driving state by observing the accelerating and braking behaviour of the drivers. The conclusions may provide reference in making countermeasures against drinking and driving and contribute to traffic safety.

Keywords: alcohol, acceleration, braking behaviour, driving simulator

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Authors: Klaudia Krogulec

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The concept and the meaning of safety is largely undermined in International and EU refugee law. While the Geneva Convention 1951 concentrates mainly on the principle of non-refoulment (no-return) and the idea of physical safety of refugees, countries continue to implement harmful readmission agreements that presume ‘safe countries’ for the hosting and return of the refugees. This research intends to use discourse analysis of the legal provisions and interviews with Syrian refugees, NGO workers, and refugee lawyers in Tukey to understand what ‘safety’ actually means and how law shapes the experiences of Syrians in Turkey (the country that hosts the largest population of Syrians and is a key partner of the EU-Turkey Agreement 2016). The preliminary findings reveal the competing meanings of safety (rights-based vs state interests approach). As the refugee policies continue to prioritize state interests/safety over human safety and human rights, it is extremely important to provide recommendations on how ‘safety’ should be defined in the refugee law in the future.

Keywords: human rights law, refugee law, human safety, EU-turkey agreement

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Authors: Tobias Schramm, Günther Prokop

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In Germany, the number of road fatalities has been falling since 2010 at a more moderate rate than before. At the same time, the average age of all registered passenger cars in Germany is rising continuously. Studies show that there is a correlation between the age and mileage of passenger cars and the degradation of their chassis components. Various studies show that degraded shock absorbers increase the braking distance of passenger cars and have a negative impact on driving stability. The exact effect of degraded vehicle shock absorbers on road safety is still the subject of research. A shock absorber examination as part of the periodic technical inspection is only mandatory in very few countries. In Germany, there is as yet no requirement for such a shock absorber examination. More comprehensive findings on the effect of degraded shock absorbers on the safety-critical driving dynamics of passenger cars can provide further arguments for the introduction of mandatory shock absorber testing as part of the periodic technical inspection. The specific effect chains of untripped rollover accidents are also still the subject of research. However, current research results show that the high proportion of sport utility vehicles in the vehicle field significantly increases the probability of untripped rollover accidents. The aim of this work is to estimate the effect of degraded twin-tube shock absorbers on the safety-critical tipping and rolling behaviour of passenger cars, which can lead to untripped rollover accidents. A characteristic curve-based five-mass full vehicle model and a semi-physical phenomenological shock absorber model were set up, parameterized and validated. The shock absorber model is able to reproduce the damping characteristics of vehicle twin-tube shock absorbers with oil and gas loss for various excitations. The full vehicle model was validated with steering wheel angle sinus sweep driving maneuvers. The model was then used to simulate steering wheel angle sine and fishhook maneuvers, which investigate the safety-critical tipping and rolling behavior of passenger cars. The simulations were carried out in a realistic parameter space in order to demonstrate the effect of various vehicle characteristics on the effect of degraded shock absorbers. As a result, it was shown that degraded shock absorbers have a negative effect on the tipping and rolling behavior of all passenger cars. Shock absorber degradation leads to a significant increase in the observed roll angles, particularly in the range of the roll natural frequency. This superelevation has a negative effect on the wheel load distribution during the driving maneuvers investigated. In particular, the height of the vehicle's center of gravity and the stabilizer stiffness of the vehicles has a major influence on the effect of degraded shock absorbers on the overturning and rolling behaviour of passenger cars.

Keywords: numerical simulation, safety-critical driving dynamics, suspension degradation, tipping and rolling behavior of passenger cars, vehicle shock absorber

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Authors: Ayoub Daoudi, Javad Eslami, Anne-Lise Beaucour, Martin Vigroux, Albert Noumowé

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As a fact, many cultural heritage masonry buildings have undergone violent fires during their history. In order to investigate the high temperature behaviour of stone masonry, six French limestones were heated to 600 °C at a rate of 9 °C/min. The main focus is the comparison between the high temperature behaviour of stones at the material and at the structural scale. In order to evaluate the risk of spalling, the tests have been carried out on the stone blocks (12x30x30 cm) instrumented with thermocouples and subjected to an unidirectional heating on one face. Thereafter, visual assessments and non-destructive measurements (dynamic elastic modulus) performed on blocks demonstrate a different behaviour from what was observed at the material scale. Finally, a series of thermo-mechanical computations, using finite element method, allowed us to highlight the difference between the behaviour of stones at material and block scales.

Keywords: limestones, hight temperature behaviour, damage, thermo-mechanical modeling, material and blocks scales, color change

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Authors: Jane Mullen, Ann Rheaume, Kevin Kelloway

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Research on the effects of inconsistent safety leadership is limited, particularly regarding employee safety behavior in organizations. Inconsistent safety leadership occurs when organizational leaders display both effective and ineffective styles of safety leadership (i.e., transformational vs laissez-faire). In this study, we examine the effect of inconsistent safety leadership style on employee safety participation. Defined as the interaction of S.A.F.E.R (Speak, Act, Focus, Engage and Recognize) leadership style and passive leadership style, inconsistent safety leadership was found to be a significant predictor of safety participation in a sample of 307 nurses in Eastern Canada. Results of the moderated regression analysis also showed a significant main effect for S.A.F.E.R leadership, but not for passive leadership. To further explore the significant interaction, the simple slopes for S.A.F.E.R leadership at high and low levels (1 SD above and below the mean) of passive leadership were plotted. As predicted, the positive effects of S.A.F.E.R leadership behavior were attenuated when leaders were perceived by employees as also displaying high levels of passive leadership (i.e., inconsistent leadership styles). The research makes important theoretical and practical contributions to the occupational health and safety literature. The results demonstrate that leadership behavior, which is characteristic of the S.A.F.E.R model, is positively associated with employee safety participation. This finding is particularly important as researchers continue to explore what leaders can do to engage employees in work-related safety activities. The results also demonstrate how passive leadership may undermine the positive outcomes associated with safety leadership behavior in organizations. The data suggest that employee safety behavior is highest when leaders engage in safety effective leadership behavior on a consistent basis, rather than periodically.

Keywords: employee safety behavior, leadership, participation, safety training

Procedia PDF Downloads 364

Authors: Josephine Mutwale-Ziko, Nonde Lushinga, Inonge Akakandelwa

Abstract:

The study discusses the effectiveness of health and safety induction practices on construction sites against the background of the Zambian construction industry experience. The research design included the literature review of relevant literature. Questionnaires and interviews were administered to regulatory bodies, health, and safety personnel. Observation was also employed on construction sites to assess the health and safety practices being used. Health and safety in the construction industry are not something to be ignored or overlooked. The construction industry needs to take heed of the serious consequences of inadequate health and safety induction practices. The implications of inadequate health and safety induction procedures included among others threats to profitability, corporate social responsibility and increased turnover of the workforce leading to poor productivity. Adequate health and safety practices can improve the health and wellbeing of employees, reduce financial implications on firms and encourage productivity on construction sites. Despite this, accidents are still prevalent on construction sites in Zambia. The overall result of this research denotes that the implementation of health and safety induction practices is inadequate, as indicated by the negligent and non-adherent attitude to health and safety induction aspects on the sites by most stakeholders on construction sites. Therefore, health and safety induction practices are ineffective as preventive measures for reduction of accidents on construction sites in Zambia.

Keywords: accidents, health and safety, inadequate, induction

Procedia PDF Downloads 449

Authors: Ssekamanya, Mastura Badzis, Khamsiah Ismail, Dayang Shuzaidah Bt Abduludin

Abstract:

With rising incidents of school violence worldwide, educators and researchers are trying to understand and find ways to enhance the safety of children at school. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which the demographic variables of gender, age, length of service, position, academic qualification, and school location predicted teachers’ awareness about school safety practices in Malaysian primary schools. A stratified random sample of 380 teachers was selected in the central Malaysian states of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Multiple regression analysis revealed that none of the factors was a good predictor of awareness about school safety training, delivery methods of school safety information, and available school safety programs. Awareness about school safety activities was significantly predicted by school location (whether the school was located in a rural or urban area). While these results may reflect a general lack of awareness about school safety among primary school teachers in the selected locations, a national study needs to be conducted for the whole country.

Keywords: school safety awareness, predictors of school safety, multiple regression analysis, malaysian primary schools

Procedia PDF Downloads 468

Authors: Vladimir A. Grachev

Abstract:

Today, in the context of rapidly developing technosphere and hourly emerging new technologies, the industrial and environmental safety issue is ever more pressing. The article is devoted to the relationship of social, environmental, and industrial policies with industrial safety, occupational health and safety, environmental safety, and environmental protection. The author assesses the up-to-day situation through system analysis and on the basis of the existing practices. A complex system of the policies implementation without "gaps" and missing links ensures preservation of human lives, health and a favorable living environment. The author demonstrates that absence of an "environmental safety" high-priority link can lead to a significant loss of human lives and health and the global changes in the environment. The role of implementing the environmental policy of enterprises and organizations, and of economic sectors in the implementation of national environmental policy is shown. It was established that the system for implementing environmental policy should be based on a system analysis.

Keywords: environmental protection, environmental safety, industrial safety, occupational health and safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 215