Search results for: safety work behaviors

Authors: Tadewos Awugchew Wudineh

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Health and safety issues have always been a major problem and concern in the building construction industry. The health and safety regulations are stated to eliminate the potential hazards and to reduce the consequential risks. However, the importance of the regulations seems to be overlooked in building construction sites of Hawassa City. Accordingly, many companies don’t follow the regulations as construction workers are more likely to be injured and killed by construction accident than any other type of employment. This paper aimed to identify factors that affect the implementation of construction health and safety regulations, their effects and mitigation measures in building construction project sites of Hawassa City. To reach this objective, a review of literature as well as the Ethiopian construction health and safety regulations have been undertaken. Mainly a five-point Likert scale questionnaire was distributed, and statistical analysis was used to summarize, interpret the data, and to find the significances of the responses. In addition, interviews were carried out. Accordingly, the findings indicate that the top factors which affect the implementation of CHS regulations are, availability and development of a clear health and safety policy, health and safety inspections by top management, conducting health and safety training and orientation, provision of healthy and safe working environment and employment of trained safety officers. The study revealed that implementation or non-implementation of CHS regulations have effects on the worker’s productivity, job satisfaction, rate of accidents, and cost greatly. Thus, the suggestion to minimize the impact on worker’s job performance are, developing of a clear health and safety policy, management commitment towards implementation of health and safety regulations, health and safety education and training and conducting regular health and safety inspections. It was concluded from the study that good implementation of health and safety regulations are the results from administrative and management commitment which calls for more attention to be paid to improve the implementation of CHS regulations in building construction sites of Hawassa City.

Keywords: construction health and safety regulations, effects, factors, mitigation

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Authors: Surendra B. Chand, P. P. Chaurasia, M. P. Adhikari, R. N. Yadav

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Objective: The objective of this work was to evaluate all the safety procedures toward the radiation protection for workers in the radiation oncology department. Materials and Methods: The annual thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) reports for five years of the staffs were evaluated, radiation surveys were done in the control consoles, radiotherapy machines room and waiting areas of all machines using Aloka survey meter. Results: The five years TLD reports shows that the whole body dose of the individual staffs is found within the annual dose limit except the accidental exposures. Radiation exposures in the working areas are also safe limits. Conclusion: The radiation safety practices for radiation protection are satisfactory and the radiation workers of the departments are found working within the safe limit.

Keywords: radiation protection, safety, ICRP, dose limits, TLD, radiation devices

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Authors: Madre Paarlber, Alwiena Blignaut

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Background: Medication administration errors remains a global patient safety problem targeted by the WHO (World Health Organization), yet research on this matter is sparce within the South African context. Objective: The aim was to explore and describe nurses’ (medication administrators) perceptions regarding medication administration safety-related culture, incidence, causes, and reporting in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, and to determine any relationships between perceived variables concerned with medication safety (safety culture, incidences, causes, reporting of incidences, and reasons for non-reporting). Method: A quantitative research design was used through which self-administered online surveys were sent to 768 nurses (medication administrators) (n=217). The response rate was 28.26%. The survey instrument was synthesised from the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture, the Registered Nurse Forecasting (RN4CAST) survey, a survey list prepared from a systematic review aimed at generating a comprehensive list of medication administration error causes and the Medication Administration Error Reporting Survey from Wakefield. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the validity and reliability of the survey. Descriptive and inferential statistical data analysis were used to analyse quantitative data. Relationships and correlations were identified between items, subscales and biographic data by using Spearmans’ Rank correlations, T-Tests and ANOVAs (Analysis of Variance). Nurses reported on their perceptions of medication administration safety-related culture, incidence, causes, and reporting in the Gauteng Province. Results: Units’ teamwork deemed satisfactory, punitive responses to errors accentuated. “Crisis mode” working, concerns regarding mistake recording and long working hours disclosed as impacting patient safety. Overall medication safety graded mostly positively. Work overload, high patient-nurse ratios, and inadequate staffing implicated as error-inducing. Medication administration errors were reported regularly. Fear and administrative response to errors effected non-report. Non-report of errors’ reasons was affected by non-punitive safety culture. Conclusions: Medication administration safety improvement is contingent on fostering a non-punitive safety culture within units. Anonymous medication error reporting systems and auditing nurses’ workload are recommended in the quest of improved medication safety within Gauteng Province private hospitals.

Keywords: incidence, medication administration errors, medication safety, reporting, safety culture

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Authors: Yi Xiong, Tao Kong

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Traditional safety, risk and reliability analysis approaches are problem-oriented, which make it great workload when analyzing complicated and huge system, besides, too much repetitive work would to do if the analyzed system composed by many similar components. It is pressing need an object and function oriented approach to maintain high consistency with problem domain. A new approach is proposed to overcome these shortcomings of traditional approaches, the concepts: class, abstract, inheritance, polymorphism and encapsulation are introduced into FTA and establish the professional class library that the abstractions of physical objects in real word, four areas relevant information also be proposed as the establish help guide. The interaction between classes is completed by the inside or external methods that mapping the attributes to base events through fully search the knowledge base, which forms good encapsulation. The object oriented fault tree analysis system that analyze and evaluate the system safety and reliability according to the original appearance of the problem is set up, where could mapped directly from the class and object to the problem domain of the fault tree analysis. All the system failure situations can be analyzed through this bottom-up fault tree construction approach. Under this approach architecture, FTA approach is developed, which avoids the human influence of the analyst on analysis results. It reveals the inherent safety problems of analyzed system itself and provides a new way of thinking and development for safety analysis. So that object oriented technology in the field of safety applications and development, safety theory is conducive to innovation.

Keywords: FTA, knowledge base, object-oriented technology, reliability analysis

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Authors: Soheir Weheida, Amal E. Shehata, Samira E. Aboalizm

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The aim of this study was to examine the effect of surgical safety checklist on surgical team’s knowledge and performance in operating room. Subjects: A convenience sample 151 (48 head nurse, 45 nurse, 37 surgeon and 21 anesthesiologist) which available in operating room at two different hospitals was included in the study. Setting: The study was carried out at operating room in Menoufia University and Shebin Elkom Teaching Hospitals, Egypt. Tools: I: Surgical safety: Surgical team knowledge assessment structure interview schedule. II: WHO surgical safety observational Checklist. III: Post Surgery Culture Survey scale. Results: There was statistical significant improvement of knowledge mean score and performance about surgical safety especially in post and follow up than pre intervention, before patients entering the operating, before induction of anesthesia, skin incision and post skin closure and before patient leaves operating room, P values (P < 0.001). Improvement of communication post intervention than pre intervention between surgical team’s (4.74 ± 0.540). About two thirds (73.5 %) of studied sample strongly agreed on surgical safety in operating room. Conclusions: Implementation of surgical safety checklist has a positive effect on improving knowledge, performance and communication between surgical teams and these seems to have a positive effect on improve patient safety in the operating room.

Keywords: knowledge, operating room, performance, surgical safety checklist

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Authors: Jiajia Peng

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Tinnitus is one of the common symptoms of ear diseases and is characterized by an abnormal perception of sound without external stimulation. Tinnitus is agony and seriously affects the life of the general population by approximately 1%. Sleep disturbance is a common problem in patients with tinnitus. Lack of sleep will lead to the accumulation of metabolites in the brain and cannot be cleared in time. These substances enhance sympathetic nerve reactivity in the auditory system, resulting in tinnitus occurrence or aggravation. Then, tinnitus may aggravate sleep disturbance, thus forming a vicious circle. Through a systematic review of the relevant literature, we summarize the research on tinnitus and sleep. Although the results suggest that tinnitus is often accompanied by sleep disturbance, the impact of unfavorable sleep habits on tinnitus is not clear. In particular, the relationships between sleep behaviors and other chronic diseases have been revealed. To reduce the incidence rate of tinnitus, clinicians should pay attention to the relevance between different sleep behaviors and tinnitus.

Keywords: tinnitus, sleep, sleep factor, sleep behavior

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Authors: Xizhen Zhou, Yanjie Ji

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In advancing the management of integrated electric vehicle (EV) parking-charging behaviors, this study uses Changshu City in Suzhou as a case study to establish a data association mechanism for parking-charging platforms and to develop a database for EV parking-charging behaviors. Key indicators, such as charging start time, initial state of charge, final state of charge, and parking-charging time difference, are considered. Utilizing the K-S test method, the paper examines the heterogeneity of parking-charging behavior preferences among pure EV and non-pure EV users. The K-means clustering method is employed to analyze the characteristics of parking-charging behaviors for both user groups, thereby enhancing the overall understanding of these behaviors. The findings of this study reveal that using a classification model, the parking-charging behaviors of pure EVs can be classified into five distinct groups, while those of non-pure EVs can be separated into four groups. Among them, both types of EV users exhibit groups with low range anxiety for complete charging with special journeys, complete charging at destination, and partial charging. Additionally, both types have a group with high range anxiety, characterized by pure EV users displaying a preference for complete charging with specific journeys, while non-pure EV users exhibit a preference for complete charging. Notably, pure EV users also display a significant group engaging in nocturnal complete charging. The findings of this study can provide technical support for the scientific and rational layout and management of integrated parking and charging facilities for EVs.

Keywords: traffic engineering, potential preferences, cluster analysis, EV, parking-charging behavior

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Authors: Ivy Chumo, Sheillah Simiyu, Hellen Gitau, Isaac Kisiangani, Caroline Kabaria Kanyiva Muindi, Blessing Mberu

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The global sanitation workforce bridges the gap between sanitation infrastructure and the provision of sanitation services through essential public service work. Manual pit emptiers often perform the work at the cost of their dignity, safety, and health as their work requires repeated heavy physical activities such as lifting, carrying, pulling, and pushing. This exposes them to occupational and environmental health hazards and risking illness, injury, and death. The study will extend the studies by presenting occupational health risks and suggestions for improvement in informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya. This is a qualitative study conducted among sanitation stakeholders in Korogocho, Mukuru and Kibera informal settlements in Nairobi. Data were captured using digital voice recorders, transcribed and thematically analysed. The discussion notes were further supported by observational notes made during the interviews. These formed the basis for a robust picture of occupational health of manual pit emptiers; a lack or inappropriate use of protective clothing, and prolonged duration of working hours were described to contribute to the occupational health hazard. To continue working, manual pit emptiers had devised coping strategies which include working in groups, improvised protective clothing, sharing the available protective clothing, working at night and consuming alcohol drinks while at work. Many of these strategies are detrimental to their health. Occupational health hazards among pit emptiers are key for effective working and is as a result of a lack of collaboration amongst stakeholders linked to health, safety and lack of PPE of pit emptiers. Collaborations amongst sanitation stakeholders is paramount for health, safety, and in ensuring the provision and use of personal protective devices.

Keywords: sanitation, occupational health, manual emptiers, informal settlements

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Authors: Wan Noorul Hafilah Binti Wan Ariffin

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Dam safety management is the crucial infrastructure as dam failure has a catastrophic effect on the community. Dam safety management is the effective framework of key actions and activities for the dam owner to manage the safety of the dam for its entire life cycle. However, maintaining dam safety is a challenging task as there are changes in current dam states. These changes introduce new risks to the dam's safety, which had not been considered when the dam was designed. A new framework has to be developed to adapt to the changes in the dam risk and make the dams resilient. This study proposes a risk-based decision-making adaptation framework for dam safety management. The research focuses on climate change's impact on hydrological situations as it causes floods and damages the dam structure. The risk analysis framework is adopted to improve the dam management strategies. The proposed study encompasses four phases. To start with, measuring the effect by assessing the impact of climate change on embankment dam, the second phase is to analyze the potential embankment dam failures. The third is analyzing the different components of risks related to the dam and, finally, developing a robust decision-making framework.

Keywords: climate change, embankment dam, failure, risk-informed decision making

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Authors: Noorulaine Maqsood, Saeed Khan

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Background: Concern regarding incident reporting and bio-safety training in clinical laboratories in Pakistan has increased remarkably in the last few years due to rapid increase in diagnosis and research on infectious organisms. In order to ensure the safety of employees, this issue needs to be addressed immediately. Bio-safety training sessions and lectures are necessary for the protection of laboratory workers in order to ensure safe practices and minimize the count of incident reporting in the lab. Objective: To carry out an inter-departmental survey in lab regarding the awareness of bio-safety practices among lab employees before and after conducting bio-safety training sessions. Methodology: We conducted a 30 questions survey of laboratory workers in June 2013 (before training session) to gather information related to bio-safety awareness. Afterwards, we conducted another survey after training sessions and workshops related to bio-safety. Result: The survey regarding bio-safety level showed that before the training session 32% of the participants were aware of bio-safety level being used in their lab whereas after the session this percentage increased to 72%. 48% of the participants had information about the proper usage of PPE which increased to 76%. Awareness regarding proper management of hazardous waste increased from 32% to 64%. The incident reporting practice, sample handling and hand hygiene awareness was previously reported to be 40%, 65%, and 52% that increased to 80%, 85% and 88% respectively after the training session was completed. Conclusion: The first survey results showed lack of awareness that suggest nearly all senior scientists, faculty, medical technologist, lab attendant and housekeeping staff working in laboratories are required to have bio-safety training, and required inspection at least twice a year by a bio-safety officer and also required to renew their bio-safety training. After the training session, significant changes in awareness level and attitude of the participants regarding biosafety practices were observed. Therefore, such bio-safety sessions should be carried out regularly in clinical laboratories.

Keywords: biosafety practices, clinical laboratory, Pakistan, survey

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Authors: Şakir Bingöl, Bayram İslamoğlu, Ebubekir Furkan Tepeli, Fatih Mehmet Karakule, Fatih Küçük, Merve Sena Arpacık, Mustafa Taha Kabar, Muhammet Metin Molak, Osman Emre Turan, Ömer Faruk Yesir, Sıla İnanır

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This study introduces an IoT-based real-time safety system for mining, addressing global safety challenges. The wearable device, seamlessly integrated into miners' jackets, employs LoRa technology for communication and offers real-time monitoring of vital health and environmental data. Unique features include an LCD panel for immediate information display and sound-based location tracking for emergency response. The methodology involves sensor integration, data transmission, and ethical testing. Validation confirms the system's effectiveness in diverse mining scenarios. The study calls for ongoing research to adapt the system to different mining contexts, emphasizing its potential to significantly enhance safety standards in the industry.

Keywords: mining safety, internet of things, wearable technology, LoRa, RFID tracking, real-time safety system, safety alerts, safety measures

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Authors: Justin M. Swanson, Anna Nelson, Daniel Handysides, Patti Herring, Christopher Hill

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Not only may social media use have a psychological impact, but increased use may be tied to decreases in physical activity and influencing sedentary behaviors. Social media can be used to share physically active lifestyles and possibly influence others to participate. In contrast, social media use may have adverse effects by decreasing participation in exercise. This study used a qualitative design to examine the relationship between social media use and exercise patterns. Participants were asked questions about their social media habits and how it might impact their physical activity behaviors. Self-reported exercise seemed to increase after viewing others engage in relatable activities or viewing someone that has overcame challenges. To increase the likelihood of engaging in exercise, exercise related posts should be low in difficulty, require few materials, or displayed progress from the individual posting.

Keywords: social media, exercise, physical activity, adults

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Authors: Ikumapayi Catherine Mayowa

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The well-being of humans on a construction site is critical; abundant manpower had been lost through accidents which kill or make workers physically unfit to carry out construction activities, these, in turn, have multiple effects on the whole economy. Thus, it is necessary to put all safety items and regulations in place before construction activities can commence. This study was carried out in the Ondo state of Nigeria to investigate and analyze the state of health and safety of construction workers in the state. The study was done using first-hand observations, 50 construction project sites were visited in ten major towns of Ondo state, questionnaires were distributed, and the results were analyzed. The result shows that construction workers are being exposed to many construction site hazards due to lack of inadequate safety programs and lack of appropriate safety equipment for workers on site. From the data gotten from each site visited and the statistical analysis, it can be concluded that occurrences of an accident on construction sites depend significantly on the available safety facilities on the sites. The result of the regression statistics shows that the dependence of the frequency of occurrence of an accident on the availability of safety items on the site is 0.0362 which is less than 0.05 maximum significant level allowed. Therefore, a vital way of sustaining our building strategy is given a detail attention to the provision of adequate health and safety items on construction sites which will reduce the occurrence of accident, loss of manpower and death of skilled workers.

Keywords: construction sites, health, safety, welfare

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Authors: Rawan A. Abdelrazeq, Ahmed M. Khalafallah, Nabil A. Kartam

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Selection of competent contractors for construction projects is usually accomplished through competitive bidding or negotiated contracting in which the contract bid price is the basic criterion for selection. The evaluation of contractor’s safety performance is still not a typical criterion in the selection process, despite the existence of various safety prequalification procedures. There is a critical need for practical and automated systems that enable owners and decision makers to evaluate contractor safety performance, among other important contractor selection criteria. These systems should ultimately favor safety-conscious contractors to be selected by the virtue of their past good safety records and current safety programs. This paper presents an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach to develop a framework for an automated decision support system that evaluates contractor safety performance based on a multitude of indicators and metrics that have been identified through a comprehensive review of construction safety research, and a survey distributed to domain experts. The framework is developed in three phases: (1) determining the indicators that depict contractor current and past safety performance; (2) soliciting input from construction safety experts regarding the identified indicators, their metrics, and relative significance; and (3) designing a decision support system using relational database models to integrate the identified indicators and metrics into a system that assesses and rates the safety performance of contractors. The proposed automated system is expected to hold several advantages including: (1) reducing the likelihood of selecting contractors with poor safety records; (2) enhancing the odds of completing the project safely; and (3) encouraging contractors to exert more efforts to improve their safety performance and practices in order to increase their bid winning opportunities which can lead to significant safety improvements in the construction industry. This should prove useful to decision makers and researchers, alike, and should help improve the safety record of the construction industry.

Keywords: construction safety, contractor selection, decision support system, relational database

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Authors: Deepak Raj Bhat, Akihiko Wakai, Shigeru Ogita, Yorihiro Tanaka, Kazushige Hayashi, Shinro Abe

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In this study, the newly developed finite element methods are used for numerical analysis ofa landslide triggered by the fluctuations of ground-water levels in different cases I-IV. In case I, the ground-water level is fixed in such a way that the overall factor of safety (Fs) would be greater or equal to 1 (i.e., stable condition). Then, the ground-water level is gradually increased up to 1.0 m for, making the overall factor of safety (Fs) less than one (i.e., stable or moving condition). Then, the newly developed finite element model is applied for numerical simulation of the slope for each case. Based on the numerical analysis results of each Cases I-IV, the details of the deformation pattern and shear strain pattern are compared to each other. Moreover, the change in mobilized shear strength and local factor of safety along the slip surface of the landslide for each case are discussed to understand the triggering behaviors of a landslide due to the increased in ground water level. It is expected that this study will help to better understand the role of groundwater fluctuation for triggering of a landslide or slope failure disasters, and it would be also helpful for the judgment of the countermeasure works for the prevention and mitigation of landslide and slope failure disasters in near future.

Keywords: finite element method, ground water fluctuations, constitutive model, landslides, long-term disaster management system

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Authors: Hassan Noun, Christian Urban-Seelmann, Mohamed Abdelfattah, Guillaume Zeller, Rajesh G., Iryna Mozgova, Roland Lachmayer

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Several modules in automotive are usually modified and adapted for various project-specific applications. Due to a standardized safety concept, high reusability is accessible. A safety element out of context (SEooC) according to ISO 26262 can be a suitable approach. Based on the same safety concept and analysis, common modules can reach high usability. For developing according to a module out of context, an appropriate and detailed development approach is required. This paper shows how to derive these development processes for platform modules. Therefore, the detailed approach to the safety element out of context is derived. The aim is to create a detailed workflow for all phases of the development and integration of any kind of system modules. As an application example, an automotive project for an actuator control module is considered.

Keywords: functional safety, engineering processes, system engineering, electronic engineering

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Authors: Alfredo Soeiro

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Rehabilitation in construction or built environment is a particular type of operations when concerning prevention of accidents. In fact, it is also a different type of task in construction itself. Therefore, due to the complex characteristics of construction rehabilitation tasks and due to the intrinsic difficulty of preventing accidents in construction, a major challenge faces the responsibility for implementing adequate safety levels in this type of safety management. This paper addresses a set of proposed generic measures to face the unknown characteristics of built environment in terms of stability, materials and actual performance of buildings or other constructions. It is also addressed the necessary adaptation of preventive guidelines to this type of delicate refurbishing and renovating of existing facilities. Training, observation and reflective approaches are necessary to perform this safety management in the rehabilitation of built environment.

Keywords: built environment, rehabilitation, construction safety, accident prevention, safety plan

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Authors: Deonie Botha

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Digital transformation and the digitization of occupational health and safety training have grown exponentially due to a variety of contributing factors. The literature suggests that digitalization has numerous benefits but also has associated challenges. The aim of the paper is to develop an understanding of both the perceived benefits and challenges of digitalization in an occupational health and safety context in an effort to design and develop e-learning interventions that will optimize the benefits of digitalization and address the associated challenges. The paper proposes, deliberate and tests the design principles of an e-learning intervention to ensure alignment with the requirements of a digitally transformed environment. The results of the research are based on a literature review regarding the requirements and effect of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on learning and e-learning in particular. The findings of the literature review are enhanced with empirical research in the form of a case study conducted in an organization that designs and develops e-learning content in the occupational health and safety industry. The primary findings of the research indicated that: (i) The requirements of learners and organizations in respect of e-learning are different than previously (i.e., a pre-Fourth Industrial Revolution related work setting). (ii) The design principles of an e-learning intervention need to be aligned with the entire value chain of the organization. (iii) Digital twins support and enhance the design and development of e-learning. (iv)Learning should incorporate a multitude of sensory experiences and should not only be based on visual stimulation. (v) Data that are generated as a result of e-learning interventions should be incorporated into big data streams to be analyzed and to become actionable. It is therefore concluded that there is general consensus on the requirements that e-learning interventions need to adhere to in a digitally transformed occupational health and safety work environment. The challenge remains for organizations to incorporate data generated as a result of e-learning interventions into the digital ecosystem of the organization.

Keywords: digitalization, training, fourth industrial revolution, big data

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Authors: A. Ridall, J. Ingels

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Microplastics (MPs; < 5 mm) have been cited as exceptionally detrimental to marine organisms and ocean health. They can carry other pollutants and abundant microbes that can serve as food for other organisms. Their small particle size and high abundance means that non-discriminatory feeders may ingest MPs involuntarily and microbial colonization of the particles (a niche coined ‘Plastisphere’) could facilitate particle ingestion. To assess how marine nematodes, the most abundant member of the meiofauna (32-500 um), are affected by microbe-MP associations, an experiment was conducted with three MP concentrations (low, medium, and expected high values of MPs in a local bay system), and two levels of microbe-MP associations (absence or presence). MPs were introduced into sediment microcosms and treatments were removed at three distinct time points (0, 3, and 7 days) to measure mean MP consumption/individual nematode. The quantitative results from this work should inform on microbial facilitation of MP ingestion and MP effects on seafloor ecology. As most MP feeding experiments use straight-from-package or sterile MPs, this work represents an important step in realizing the effects of MPs and their plastispheres in coastal sediments where they likely accumulate microbial biofilms prior to their ingestion by marine metazoans. Furthermore, the results here convey realistic effects of MPs on faunal behaviors, as the MP concentrations used are based on field measurements rather than artificially high levels.

Keywords: ecosystem function, microbeads, plastisphere, pollution, polyethylene

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Authors: Rukhsana Kausar, Khadija Rasheed

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This research explored general concerns, attitudes and perceptions of Pakistani mothers about their children’s vulnerability for sexual abuse and it also examined the effect of education and work status of mothers on their concerns and attitudes about the safety of their children. The sample consisted of 166 mothers comprising of 4 groups i.e. educated-working mothers, uneducated working mothers, educated non-working mothers and uneducated non-working mothers. This research comprised of two studies. Study 1 was carried out to construct two separate scales namely Maternal Concerns and Attitudes Scale for safety of Daughters (MCA-SD) and Maternal Concerns and Attitudes Scale for safety of Sons (MCA-SS) for assessing maternal concerns and attitudes about safety and protection of daughters and sons. These scales were used in study 2 with the objective to explore mothers’ general concerns, attitudes and perceptions of about child vulnerability for sexual abuse. Data were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance and independent-samples t-test. Educated mothers had more sense of responsibility, ensured more safety and provide more information about self-protection to their children as compared to uneducated mothers. Similarly non-working mothers showed more sense of responsibility and provided more information on self-protection to their children as compared to working mothers. Moreover, mothers living in nuclear family system trusted more on their relatives and other people for the protection of their children and ensured more safety of children than those living in joint family system. Findings have very important implications for protecting children from likely sexual abuse.

Keywords: mothers’ concerns, attitudes, perceptions, child vulnerability, child sexual abuse

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Authors: Charawee Butbumrung

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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the monetary worthiness of investment and the usefulness of risk estimation as a tool employed by a production section of an electronic factory. This study employed the case study of accidents occurring in production areas. Data is collected from interviews with six production of safety coordinators and collect the information from the relevant section. The study will present the ratio of benefits compared with the operation costs for investment. The result showed that it is worthwhile for investment with the safety measures. In addition, the organizations must be able to analyze the causes of accidents about the benefits of investing in protective working process. They also need to quickly provide the manual for the staff to learn how to protect themselves from accidents and how to use all of the safety equipment.

Keywords: cost and benefit, enterprises in Thailand, investment in safety and health, risk estimation

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Authors: Jae Moon Lee

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Generally the predator will continuously aim to attack the prey, while the prey will maintain a safe distance from the predator in order to avoid it . If the predator has enough energy to chase a certain amount of distance, it will begin to attack the prey. The prey needs to approach the predator for various reasons such as getting food. However, it will also try to keep a safe distance because of the threat of predators. The safe distance is dependent on the amount of the energy of predator, and the behaviors of prey is changed according to the size of the safe distance. This paper is to simulate the behaviors of preys to avoid the pursuit of predator based on the safe distance. The simulations will be executed experimentally under single predator and multiple preys. The results of the simulations show that the amount of energy of predator gives a great influence on the behavior of the prey.

Keywords: predator, prey, energy, safe distance, simulation

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Authors: Chanada Aonsri, Wichai Eungpinichpong

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Stereotypical behavior is one of the learning and social skills development problems that affect children with autism. Previous studies found that traditional Thai massage (TTM) could reduce stereotypical behaviors in autistic children. However, the effects of TTM delivered by the parents of autistic children have not been explored. This pilot study investigated the effects of TTM by parents on stereotypical behaviors in children with autism. A one-group pretest-posttest design was applied for 15 children, aged 4-16 years, with their parents' permissions. They participated in the study at the Special Education program of the Special Education Center of Khon Kaen University, Thailand. After being trained in a specialized TTM for children, the parents delivered 50-minute TTM to children once a day, twice a week for eight weeks. The severity of autism and autistic behaviors were measured using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), respectively. The functions of autonomic nervous systems were measured using Heart Rate Variability (HRV) to indicated physical and mental disorders such as stress. The data at baseline and the 8th week were analyzed using either an independent t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The study found that 16 sessions of TTM significantly improved measured data for autism in all children including the CARS (p<0.001), ATEC, speech/language/communication (p<0.001), sociability (p<0.001), sensory/cognitive awareness (p<0.001), health/physical/behavior (p < 0.001), and HRV (p<0.001). The results indicated that TTM performed by parents could be useful as an adjunct therapy for autistic children as it can reduce stereotypical behaviors and stress.

Keywords: traditional Thai massage, stereotypical behaviors, Autistic children, parent

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Authors: Veronika Sharok

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Research relevance on psychological determinants of risky behaviors is caused by high prevalence of such behaviors, particularly among youth. Risky sexual behavior, including unprotected and casual sex, frequent change of sexual partners, drug and alcohol use lead to negative social consequences and contribute to the spread of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. Data were obtained from 302 respondents aged 15-35 which were divided into 3 empirical groups: persons prone to risky sexual behavior, drug users and alcohol users; and 3 control groups: the individuals who are not prone to risky sexual behavior, persons who do not use drugs and the respondents who do not use alcohol. For processing, we used the following methods: Qualitative method for nominative data (Chi-squared test) and quantitative methods for metric data (student's t-test, Fisher's F-test, Pearson's r correlation test). Statistical processing was performed using Statistica 6.0 software. The study identifies two groups of factors that prevent risky behaviors. Internal factors, which include the moral and value attitudes; significance of existential values: love, life, self-actualization and search for the meaning of life; understanding independence as a responsibility for the freedom and ability to get attached to someone or something up to a point when this relationship starts restricting the freedom and becomes vital; awareness of risky behaviors as dangerous for the person and for others; self-acknowledgement. External factors (prevent risky behaviors in case of absence of the internal ones): absence of risky behaviors among friends and relatives; socio-demographic characteristics (middle class, marital status); awareness about the negative consequences of risky behaviors; inaccessibility to psychoactive substances. These factors are common for proneness to each type of risky behavior, because it usually caused by the same reasons. It should be noted that if prevention of risky behavior is based only on elimination of external factors, it is not as effective as it may be if we pay more attention to internal factors. The results obtained in the study can be used to develop training programs and activities for prevention of risky behaviors, for using values preventing such behaviors and promoting healthy lifestyle.

Keywords: existential values, prevention, psychological features, risky behavior

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Authors: Noor Azlina Mohamed Yunus, Noorlaila Yunus, Kadulliah Ghazali

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In this an era of intense competition, Malaysia aspires to be a fully developed country by 2020 and desires its citizens to perform and execute excellent work behaviors. For that reason, organizations are focusing on employees’ positive and constructive behaviors such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). They expect employees to not only complete their required duties by providing excellent performance but also keenly go beyond their roles that are not specifying in their formal job descriptions to ensure organizational success. The role and duty to acquire employees to engage and connect in OCB is the responsibility of a leader. Thus, leaders can utilize their sources of power to enable subordinates to accomplish organizational objective including OCB. Therefore, this paper formulates a framework postulating leader’s sources of power as an antecedent of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The discussion on implications for future theory development is discussed.

Keywords: organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), leader’s sources of power, call centre industry, conceptual paper

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Authors: Sadeeqa Khan, Muhammad Usman

Abstract:

Employees’ knowledge hiding behaviors can be detrimental to employees’ interpersonal relationships and individual and organizational learning and creativity. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the literature on the contingencies, antecedents and outcomes of employees’ knowledge hiding behaviors is still in its infancy. On the other hand, not everyone who hides knowledge hides it the same way, as individuals are different, so do their behaviors. This study explores the links between employees’ personality traits and their knowledge hiding behaviors. By using a single case study as a research methodology and collecting data through 28 semi-structured interviews from employees working in Alpha Electronics (the pseudo name of the company to ascertain anonymity) operating in Pakistan, we foreground the patterns of relationships between employees’ personality traits and knowledge hiding behaviors – rationalized hiding, evasive hiding and playing dumb. Our findings suggest that employees high on extraversion involve in evasive knowledge hiding; while employees low on extraversion (introverts) demonstrate rationalized hiding. Moreover, both extrovert and introvert employees involve in playing dumb in situations that involve risk for their jobs and careers. For instance, when knowledge is requested from their managers, both extrovert and introvert employees tend to play dumb, as in such cases, evasive and rationalized hiding can be harmful to their job and career-related interests and motives. Other than theoretical contributions, the study offers important implications for organizations faced with the challenges of shortage of skills and knowledge.

Keywords: knowledge hiding, personality, rationalized hiding, playing dumb, evasive hiding

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Authors: Zainal Abidin Akasah, Maizam Alias, Azuin Ramli

Abstract:

The safety and health performances aspects of a building are the most challenging aspect of facility management. It requires a deep understanding by the building managers on the factors that contribute to health and safety performances. This study attempted to develop an explanatory architectural safety performance model for stratified low-cost housing in Malaysia. The proposed Building Safety and Health Performance (BSHP) model was tested empirically through a survey on 308 construction practitioners using Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) tool. Statistical analysis results supports the conclusion that architecture, building services, external environment, management approaches and maintenance management have positive influence on safety and health performance of stratified low-cost housing in Malaysia. The findings provide valuable insights for construction industry to introduce BSHP model in the future where the model could be used as a guideline for training purposes of managers and better planning and implementation of building management.

Keywords: building management, stratified low-cost housing, safety, health model

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Authors: Gyongyver Csapo, Andrea Czibor

Abstract:

Machiavellianism is a personality trait based on the exploitation and deception of others. Machiavellian individuals are motivated to gain and to maintain power with the help of their strategic thinking, manipulation tactics, and interpersonal skills. Consequently, Machiavellianism is treated as a personality trait that can affect an individual’s career and work-related behavior. The aim of our research is to provide a narrative psychological approach to Machiavellianism in order to get a more comprehensive picture about the attitudes, values, and work-related behaviors of Machiavellian individuals. In this study, semi-structured interviews were made with employees (N=275) about their work-related experiences. Additionally, participants completed questionnaires about their turnover intention and perceived stress. The interviews were examined with narrative psychological content analysis and thematic analyzes. Based on the thematic analysis, mentioning of two topics (recognition at work and control) were associated with Machiavellianism. Scientific narrative psychological content analysis showed a negative association between Machiavellianism and positive emotions. Turnover intention and the magnitude of perceived work-related stress showed a significant positive correlation with Machiavellianism. In this study, qualitative and quantitative methodologies were combined in order to get a deeper insight of Machiavellianism from an organizational psychological perspective. Our research can contribute to a better understanding of this personality trait and provides an excellent basis for further investigations.

Keywords: machiavellianism, narrative psychology, turnover intention, work-related stress

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Authors: Karol Konaszewski

Abstract:

Background: The article is an analysis of the results of the studies conducted among juveniles (boys and girls) in the case of whom the family court applied the educational means of placing them in the youth educational centers. The aim of the study was to find out the correlations between antisocial behaviors, personality traits and the environmental determinants (support factors and risk factors) among juveniles (boys and girls). Methods: The total of 481 juveniles staying in youth educational centers participated in the study. Applied research tools: The Antisocial Behaviors Scale by L. Pytka, NEO-FFI by P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae was used to diagnose personality traits included in a popular five-factor model (it has been adapted into Polish by B. Zawadzki, J. Strelau, P. Szczepaniak, and M. Śliwińska) and a questionnaire concerning support factors and risk factors was constructed to measure environmental determinants. The data was analysed in a regression model. Findings: The analysis model showed that the significant predictors of antisocial behaviors were neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness and negative relations at school. In girls group, the significant predictors of antisocial behaviors were neuroticism, conscientiousness, family support and negative relations at school, while in boys group the significant predictors of antisocial behaviors were neuroticism, extraversion and negative relations at family. Discussion: The results of this study have important implications. They allow for a better understanding of the factors that contribute to antisocial behaviors among juveniles. Future interventions could be based on the creation of personality traits, strengthening of support factors and correction of risk factors.

Keywords: antisocial behaviours, juveniles, personality, youth

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Authors: A. E. Kurtoglu, A. Cevik, M. Bilgehan

Abstract:

In this parametric study, effect of soil and material characteristics on safety of structures is investigated. The soil parameters such as shear strength, unit weight; geometrical parameters of the structure such as foundation depth and height of building; and material properties such as weight of concrete were selected as input parameters. A real accelerogram of 1989 El-Centro earthquake recorded by the USGS in Imperial Valley is used for this study. It is contained in the standard Strong Motion CD-ROM (SMC) format, which can be recognized and interpreted by FEM software used. The soil-structure interaction model subjected to above-mentioned earthquake was analyzed for 729 cases. Effect of input parameters on safety factor of the soil-structure system was then investigated and the interaction between the input and output parameters is presented in graphical form. Findings showed that all input parameters have significant effects on factor of safety results.

Keywords: factor of safety, finite element method, safety of structures, soil structure interaction

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