Hazard Perception Research Articles

Consumers’ risk perception of vegetables in Southeast Asia: Evidence from Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam

Vegetable safety is a public concern in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam—developing countries in Southeast Asia. Eliminating this concern requires insight into factors shaping it. Food risk perception might differ among countries due to the dissimilarities in culture, social, and economic conditions. However, an understanding on this difference is lacking in Southeast Asia. This paper is the first attempt to compare factors influencing risk perception of vegetables in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Principle component analysis and ordered logit regression were employed on a sample of 1,199 consumers from the three countries. We found trust and perception of hazards influenced risk perception across countries. Gender shaped risk perception in Laos and Vietnam. The importance of vegetables and risk information determined risk perception in Vietnam only, while hazard knowledge and homegrown vegetables were predictors of risk perception solely in Cambodia. Since Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam are inhomogeneous in risk perception, policy measures to address food risk perception should be tailored to each country.

Approaching Bike Hazards via Crowdsourcing of Volunteered Geographic Information

Information on individual hazard perception while cycling and the associated feeling of safety are key aspects to foster sustainable urban cycling mobility. Although cyclist’s perceptions must also be critically reviewed, such crowdsourced Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) provides wide-ranging insights on diverse hazard categories in cycling. In this case study in the city of Freiburg, Germany, hazard perceptions, information about lane types, and the underlying routes were crowdsourced via an open source smartphone application by a small group with the aim of providing cyclists with effective solutions. By dealing with levels of reliability, we show that even a small group of laypersons can generate an extensive and valuable set of VGI consisting of comprehensive hazard categories. We demonstrate that (1) certain hazards are interlinked to specific lane types, and (2) the individual hazard perceptions and objective parameters, i.e., accident data, are often congruent spatially; consequently, (3) dangerous hot spots can be derived. By considering cyclists’ needs, this approach outlines how a people-based perspective can supplement regional planning on the local scale.

Krʊəh: astrology, risk perception, and vulnerability to mishap and disaster in Cambodia

There are strong cross-cultural differences in the subjective judgment of risk perception of hazards or disasters. This article aims to examine the cultural construction of risk perception and who is at risk of succumbing to a disaster, using the 2010 human stampede at the Diamond Island bridge in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, as a case study. It focuses on the role of astrology in indicating who is at risk and why. An ethnographic study was conducted in Phnom Penh and nine provinces, involving five survivors and eight of their family members, 34 bereaved relatives of nine people who had been killed, 31 villagers, and 48 key informants including monks, female Buddhist devotees, lay officiants, mediums, and traditional healers. People consulted astrological practitioners, monks, and healers for diagnosis using methods that drew on stories in the Dhammapada and the Jātaka stories. Risk and vulnerability to mishap were believed to arise from the intersection between /krʊəh cɑŋray/ (គ្រោះចង្រៃ), or astrological misfortune, and /riesəy/ (រាសី), the person’s zodiac house at a given time. Krʊəh was calculated by diviners using from five systems: ‘the exact year’ /kʊət cnam/ (គត់ឆ្នាំ); ‘zodiac year treads in the current year,’ /coan cnam/ (ជាន់ឆ្នាំ); ‘incompatibility of the current and birth years,’ /cʰoŋ cnam/ (ឆុងឆ្នាំ); ‘fatal astrological angle day of week,’ /tŋay ʔɑŋsaa/ (ថ្ងៃអង្សា); and ‘tail end of the old and the beginning of the new year,’ /cɑmniə cnam/ (ចំនៀរឆ្នាំ). Where indicated, whether by monks or healers, or by common knowledge, people sought ritual interventions to banish their /krʊəh/. The cultural framing of risk and vulnerability in Cambodia seems to be based on ancient Vedic astrology and contributes to the understanding of astrology in contemporary Buddhist societies. There are implications for the development of culturally responsive strategies to effectively communicate with communities about their risk and vulnerability to mishap, and disaster.

Proactive analysis of construction equipment operators’ hazard perception error based on cognitive modeling and a dynamic Bayesian network

Construction equipment-related accidents are unarguably one of the most frequent types of construction accidents. Construction equipment operators’ hazard perception error (HPE) has been recognized as one of the primary reasons for these accidents. Operators’ hazard perception involves a series of cognitive functions that will change as the construction process evolves. Although the importance of hazard perception to construction equipment operating safety is widely recognized, the analysis and interpretation of its cognitive processes, potential cognitive failure modes, underlying causes, and dynamic characteristics involved has not been fully addressed. Furthermore, there is still a lack of an effective method to quantitatively assess HPE evolution and changes in corresponding cognitive states over time. This study combines a cognitive model and dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) modeling to provide a qualitative and quantitative proactive analysis of operators’ HPE. Considering the lack of prior knowledge of operators’ HPE in the construction industry, computational models of several key cognitive functions and multiple information sources were integrated to determine the conditional probability distributions of the DBN nodes. The method's feasibility was validated with a case study. Researchers and practitioners may customize the model to quantify the occurrence tendency of operators’ HPE under a specific construction condition to assist in proposing countermeasures to reduce and mitigate HPE.

Chemical hazard perception and post-evacuation behavior following a major earthquake: A case of electrical engineering and chemistry students

Chemical hazard perception and post-evacuation behavior following a major earthquake: A case of electrical engineering and chemistry students

Communication and Hazard Perception Lessons from Category Five Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael made landfall on 10 October 2018 as only the third Saffir Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS) category 5 storm in the USA in the named era. The storm’s intensity, rapid intensification, October landfall, high inland winds, and uncommon landfall location all combined to complicate the communication and preparation efforts of emergency managers (EMs) and broadcast meteorologists (BMs), while clouding the comprehension of the public. Interviews were conducted with EMs, BMs, and a small public sample to hear their stories and identify and understand common themes and experiences. This information and previous research was used to inform the creation of questions for a large sample public survey. Results showed that 61% of our sample did not evacuate, and approximately 80% either underestimated the intensity, misinterpreted or did not believe the forecast, or realized the danger too late to evacuate. Hazard perception from a survey of the public revealed that wind followed by tornadoes, and falling trees were the major concerns across the region. According to their counties of residence, participants were divided into Coastal or Inland, and Heavily Impacted or Less Impacted categories. Inland participants expressed a significantly higher concern for wind, tornadoes, falling trees, and rainfall/inland flooding than Coastal participants. Participants from Heavily Impacted counties showed greater concern for storm surge, tornadoes, and falling trees than participants from Less Impacted counties. These results reinforce the continued need for all parties of the weather enterprise to strengthen communication capabilities with EMs and the public for extreme events.

Acute hyperglycaemia can impair driving skill in young type 1 diabetes mellitus patients

AimDrivers with diabetes are at increased risk of being involved in road accidents. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of acute hyperglycaemia (AH) compared with euglycaemia on driving ability in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). MethodsEighteen drivers with T1DM were asked to navigate twice through nine hazardous scenarios, using a driving simulator, during euglycaemia and then again during AH (mean blood glucose: 138 ± 34 mg/dL and 321 ± 29 mg/dL, respectively) in a counterbalanced crossover study. Driving performance was continually monitored for driving speed, steering wheel angle, acceleration, and location and velocity of other vehicles and obstacles, with drivers wearing a mobile head-mounted eye-tracking system. ResultsThe main findings were that, during AH, participants were less likely to identify a hazard [probability of identification (POI): 0.5725 ± 0.5], glanced fewer times at the hazard (3.24 ± 5.9), maintained shorter headway (between-vehicle) distance (mean: 40.87 ± 20.15 m) and had an increased number of braking events per km driven (6.69 ± 5.20) compared with driving during euglycaemia (POI: 0.733 ± 0.4; number of glances: 3.69 ± 6.99; headway distance: 50.46 ± 26.2 m; number of braking events per km driven: 4.31 ± 3.87; P < 0.05 for all parameters). ConclusionThis study provides evidence that AH impairs driving performance in young T1DM patients by demonstrating the negative effects of AH on both hazard perception and speed management.

A multi-criteria-based hazard and operability analysis for process safety

Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM) is widely used for problem-solving in various research fields and has shown good results in risk analysis as well. However, given the gaps found in previous studies in the context of risk analysis, this article proposes and conducts a novel MCDM-based HAZOP analysis: a hybrid methodology with an MCDM approach, Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA), and Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets (IFS). We combine their advantages by using SODA with Intuitionistic Fuzzy Cognitive Maps and by reducing the inherent uncertainty and subjectivity of HAZOP with an IFS-based MCDM sorting algorithm. To demonstrate the usefulness and flexibility of this approach, a real application with a continuous pyrolysis system was conducted, and a comparative analysis was made of the main related studies to demonstrate the advantages of the approach now proposed. On applying it, 40 hazards were identified (seven more than a previous analysis conducted in 2016), and only 3 (7.5 %) of them required special attention. Among the positive points highlighted by the team, the most cited were the resource-saving, greater focus and objectivity, and a more realistic perception of hazards. In particular, we show that our methodology is more consistent and appropriate than those in previous related articles. To assist future users, we provide a framework for the application.

The interactive effect of vehicle signals and sensation-seeking on driver hazard perception

Does sensation seeking—as a personality trait that is closely related to risky driving—affect a driver's hazard perception, and if so, under what circumstances? Using hazard locations and vehicle signals as cues, this study classifies traffic situations into four types: danger ahead with cues, danger ahead without cues, danger behind with cues, and danger behind without cues. Based on these classifications, we examine the characteristics of hazard perception, decision-making criteria, sensitivity, and visual attention patterns of drivers with different sensation-seeking tendencies. Fifty-two experienced drivers were recruited for experiments in Dalian, China. Using computer, participants were shown videos taken from the driver's perspective and were asked to respond to hazards by pressing keys on the left mouse button. Their eye movements were recorded, and a multi-dimensional driving-style scale was used to divide participants into higher and lower sensation-seeking groups. The results showed that the higher sensation-seeking drivers had a lower hazard detection rate, fewer fixation counts, and shorter glances when there were cues, and they responded more slowly when there was danger ahead. For dangers ahead with cues and dangers behind without cues, the more attention the higher sensation-seeking drivers paid to the danger, the slower their response and the lower their hazard detection rate. The results indicated that higher sensation-seeking drivers have poor hazard perception in situations when there are vehicle signals as prompting clues and dangers ahead. In particular, for a danger with clues, the visual agility of the higher sensation-seeking drivers was worse than that of the lower sensation-seeking drivers. The more attention they paid to the danger the worse their hazard perception. The results of this study can provide guidance to teach drivers hazard-perception skills.

How safe are school and bus environments? Parents’ perception of risks and hazards in the emirate of Dubai

The increasing numbers of school bus injuries in the United Arab Emirates have generated concerns over children’s safety on school buses and around school premises. A survey was administered on 550...

Nurses' behaviours towards physical restraint use in the ICU: A descriptive qualitative study.

The study aims to explore and describe nurses' behaviours towards physical restraint (PR) use in intensive care units (ICUs) and identify key characteristics of these experiences. Patients within the ICU are always vulnerable, which requires a thoughtful deliberation when employing PR in ethically laden situations. Considering that the qualitative study on nurses' behaviours towards PR use in ICUs is limited, a deep understanding of how nurses reason and restrict patients is necessary before developing a minimizing programme in hospitals. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted in this paper. Data were collected by 24 semistructured, in-depth and individual interviews about PR, where 24 nurses were drawn from six ICUs of four hospital settings from a comprehensive tertiary care hospital in Qingdao. The QSR NVivo 11.0 software program was used to manage the interview data, and data analysis was guided by the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven. The checklist of Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies was followed as a guideline in reporting the study. Regarding PR, nurses' behaviours start with a hazard perception, followed by hesitation about whether to restrict the patient. They would usually decide to apply PR when they think that no other choice to control the situation is available. Then, they would reflect on and rationalize their behaviours. Nurses, intensivists, patients and their families participate in and affect this process directly or indirectly. Nurses' behaviours towards PR use comprise a series of complex processes centred on safety. Nurses' decision making should be performed with the participation of intensivists, patients and family caregivers.

Fifty Years of Accident Analysis & Prevention: A Bibliometric and Scientometric Overview

Accident Analysis & Prevention (AA&P) is a leading academic journal established in 1969 that serves as an important scientific communication platform for road safety studies. To celebrate its 50th anniversary of publishing outstanding and insightful studies, a multi-dimensional statistical and visualized analysis of the AA&P publications between 1969 and 2018 was performed using the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database, bibliometrics and mapping-knowledge-domain (MKD) analytical methods, and scientometric tools. It was shown that the annual number of AA&P’s publications has grown exponentially and that over the course of its development, AA&P has been a leader in the field of road safety, both in terms of innovation and dissemination. By determining its key source countries and organizations, core authors, highly co-cited published documents, and high burst-strength publications, we showed that AA&P’s areas of focus include the “effects of hazard and risk perception on driving behavior”, “crash frequency modeling analysis”, “intentional driving violations and aberrant driving behavior”, “epidemiology, assessment and prevention of road traffic injuries”, and “crash-injury severity modeling analysis”. Furthermore, the key burst papers that have played an important role in advancing research and guiding AA&P in new directions – particularly those in the fields of crash frequency and crash-injury severity modeling analyses were identified. Finally, a modified Haddon matrix in the era of intelligent, connected and autonomous transportation systems is proposed to provide new insights into the emerging generation of road safety studies.

Validation of Brief Screening Tools to Identify Impaired Driving Among Older Adults in Australia

There is an urgent need to develop evidence-based assessments to identify older individuals who may be unsafe drivers. To validate 8 off-road brief screening tests to predict on-road driving ability and to identify which combination of these provides the best prediction of older adults who will not pass an on-road driving test. This prognostic study was conducted between October 31, 2013, and May 10, 2017, using the criterion standard for screening tests, an on-road driving test, with analysis conducted from August 1, 2019, to April 2, 2020. A volunteer sample of older drivers was recruited from community advertisements, rehabilitation and driver assessment clinics, and an optometry clinic in Canberra and Brisbane, Australia. Off-road driver screening measures, including the Useful Field of View, DriveSafe/DriveAware, Multi-D battery, Trails B, Maze test, Hazard Perception Test, DriveSafe Intersection test, and 14-item Road Law test. Classification as unsafe on a standardized 50-minute on-road driving assessment administered by a driving instructor and an occupational therapist masked to the participant's clinical diagnosis and off-road test performance. A total of 560 drivers aged 63 to 94 years (mean [SD] age, 74.7 [6.2] years]; 350 [62.5%] men) were assessed. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses indicated the area under the curve was largest for a multivariate model comprising the Multi-D, Useful Field of View, and Hazard Perception Test, with an area under the curve of 0.89 (95% CI, 0.85-0.94), sensitivity of 80.4%, and specificity of 84.1% for predicting unsafe drivers. The Multi-D battery was the most accurate individual assessment and had an area under the curve of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.79-0.90), sensitivity of 77.1%, and specificity of 82.1%. The multivariate model had sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 91.8% in the cognitively impaired group and sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 70.8% in the visually impaired group. These findings suggest that off-road screening tests can reliably identify older drivers with a strong probability of failing an on-road driving test. Implementation of these measures could enable better targeting of resources for managing older driver licensing and support injury prevention strategies in this group.

Understanding the Relationship Between Direct Experience and Risk Perception of Natural Hazards.

Risk perception has been largely examined in studies that have aimed to explain and predict preparedness behavior in the context of natural hazards. Findings from studies on the relationship between previous experience, preparedness, and risk perception in disaster situations have been inconsistent. Hence, the main goal of this work was to explore the influence of physical and emotional experience on risk perception regarding natural hazards. This study was conducted in a statistically representative sample of the city of Iquique, in northern Chile (n = 701), who completed a survey one month after the occurrence of an earthquake and tsunami (8.2 Mw). The survey assessed the experience and preparation actions of survivors in relation to this event. Using a structural equation model, we examined nine proposed relationships, six of which were significant. The final model had an adequate fit (χ² = 752.23, df = 283, comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.90, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.049). Direct experience showed the greatest influence on risk perception: while direct physical experience (i.e., the physical and material consequences associated with the earthquake) maintained a direct positive effect on risk perception, direct emotional experience (i.e., the fear of experiencing an earthquake) produced an indirect positive effect (through worry). Emotional experience, however, did not directly influence current preparedness and risk perception. Implications for understanding the relationship between risk perception and direct experience are discussed.

Grower Perceptions of Safety Hazards and Associated Injuries among Farmworkers Involved in Northwest Potato Production

ABSTRACT Background: Potatoes are a vital part of the Pacific Northwest’s agricultural economy. As in many agricultural industries, workers involved in potato production may be at risk for illness and injuries. Methods: A Hazard Perception Survey (HPS) was completed by 63 potato growers in Washington (n = 26) and Idaho (n = 37) during the fall and winter of 2017–2018. Participants were asked to indicate their level of concern regarding the frequency and severity of injuries associated with various potato production tasks. Descriptive statistical analyses were used to identify operations and tasks that potato growers perceived to be most hazardous. Results: The majority of growers (70.9%) indicated that they were very concerned about injuries on their farm. Growers reported that tasks requiring bending, twisting, and lifting resulted in the most common and severe injuries, followed by potato sorting during harvest and falling during planting operations. Conclusions: Potato growers were concerned with potential hazards related to a variety of potato production tasks. In response to these concerns, we developed educational materials to assist growers in identifying and mitigating safety hazards on their own establishments. Future research is needed to evaluate the utility of these tools on reducing potential hazards and injury rates among workers in the Northwest potato industry.

Are We Sensitive to Different Types of Safety Signs? Evidence from ERPs.

PurposeSafety signs are widely used to deliver safety-related information. There are many different types of safety signs. Although previous studies have paid attention to the design and effectiveness of safety signs, little attention has been devoted to investigating how people process the information conveyed by different types of safety signs. Accordingly, the current study is intended to explore the neural mechanisms underlying people’s perception of different types of safety signs.MethodsThree types of safety signs (prohibition, mandatory and warning signs) were used in the study. We employed questionnaire and event-related potentials (ERPs) experiment with an implicit paradigm to probe how people perceive these three types of safety signs.ResultsBehaviorally, warning signs induced a higher level of perceived hazard than prohibition signs and mandatory signs, and prohibition signs induced a higher level of perceived hazard than mandatory signs. At the brain level, prohibition signs and warning signs led to reduced P2 amplitudes compared to mandatory signs. In addition, warning signs elicited larger N2 and N4 amplitudes than prohibition signs and mandatory signs, and prohibition signs elicited larger N2 and N4 amplitudes than mandatory signs, coinciding with the behavioral results.ConclusionDifferent types of safety signs led to significant differences in individuals’ hazard perception. Based on the neural results, we suggest that the processing of safety signs consists of two stages: the rapid detection of hazard information (indicated by P2) and the conscious integration of hazard information in working memory (indicated by N2 and N4).

Understanding take-over performance of high crash risk drivers during conditionally automated driving

Understanding driver behavior of conditionally automated driving is necessary to ensure a safe transition from automated to manual driving. This study aimed to examine the difference in take-over performance between high crash risk (HCR) and lower crash risk (LCR) drivers in emergency take-over situations during conditionally automated driving. In the current simulator study, a 3 × 3 (within-subjects) factorial design was used, including the task factors (no task, reading the news, and watching a video) and time budget factors (time budget = 3 s, 4 s, and 5 s). Forty-eight participants completed a test drive on an approximately 10 km long two-way six-lane urban road. The participants firstly were in manual control and then switched to the automated driving mode at a speed of 50 km/h. The automated driving system was able to detect a broken car in the ego-lane and requested the driver to take over the control of the vehicle. There are at least one or two other vehicles or motorcycles on each side of the ego-vehicle, resulting in fewer escape paths. For the two non-handheld non-driving-related tasks (NDRTs), the participants were asked to be fully engaged in a task without any need to monitor the road environments. Each participant completed nine emergency take-over situations. The participants were classified into two groups that were labeled LCR (N ≤ 2) and HCR drivers (N ≥ 3) according to the number of accidents per driver. The results show that LCR drivers had shorter brake reaction time compared to HCR drivers. For all drivers, the engagement in a task led to longer response times, and the time budget affected the longitudinal vehicle control. In addition, the task affected the response times for LCR and HCR drivers, but only the time budget affected the longitudinal vehicle control for LCR drivers. For all drivers, LCR and HCR drivers, the time budget and task affected the safety of take-over. Especially, the two non-handheld everyday tasks seem to have a similar effect on the drivers’ workload. Therefore, the HCR drivers had a lower hazard perception compared to the LCR drivers, and the factor regarding the individual difference of driving ability in take-over situations should be considered to design safe take-over concepts for automated vehicles.

Perception of printing workers regarding occupational health hazards and safety measures

Background and objective: Printing workers are frequently exposed to many forms of occupational hazards while doing their jobs. Little research was done in Egypt about printings occupational hazards, which constitute a huge burden on the affected workers and employment settings. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the perception of occupational hazards and safety measures among printing workers.Methods: Descriptive analytic design was carried out the current study at the Egyptian Book House Press in Cairo on a purposive sample of 200 workers using a structured questionnaire to collect data, which include demographic data, occupational hazards, predisposing factors and safety measures as perceived by workers.Results: The results revealed that the majority of workers exposed to moderate level of occupational health hazards and safety measures. The most hazards the printing workers are exposed to it, are health, chemical, injury and psychological hazards. Also, there is a highly statistically significant negative correlation with total occupational hazards and safety measures.Conclusions: The study can be concluded that the workers exposed to moderate occupational hazards. As well, the majority of workers stated that there is a moderate level of safety measures to occupational hazards in their workplace. Therefore, this study recommended that continuous training of the printing workers on safety guidelines and enforcement of standard safety practices to decrease the potential occupational hazards.

Food disgust sensitivity influences the perception of food hazards: Results from longitudinal and cross-cultural studies

Two survey studies, one conducted in Switzerland and the other in nine countries, suggest that food disgust sensitivity is a personality variable that influences the perception of food hazards. For a large Swiss sample (N = 2813), we found that participants having higher food disgust sensitivity perceived more risks compared with participants having lower disgust sensitivity. A longitudinal analysis further suggests that changes in the participants’ disgust sensitivity result in changes in the perception of food hazards. A second survey was conducted in Australia, China, England, France, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the US (N = 5511). In all countries except China, significant correlations between food disgust sensitivity and risk perception were observed. The results suggest that food disgust sensitivity may be an important factor for the acceptance of novel or existing agri-food technologies.

Risk perception: A study using dashcam videos and participants from different world regions

Objective: Research has shown that perceived risk is a vital variable in the understanding of road traffic safety. Having experience in a particular traffic environment can be expected to affect perceived risk. More specifically, drivers may readily recognize traffic hazards when driving in their own world region, resulting in high perceived risk (the expertise hypothesis). Oppositely, drivers may be desensitized to traffic hazards that are common in their own world region, resulting in low perceived risk (the desensitization hypothesis). This study investigated whether participants experienced higher or lower perceived risk for traffic situations from their region compared to traffic situations from other regions. Methods: In a crowdsourcing experiment, participants viewed dashcam videos from four regions: India, Venezuela, United States, and Western Europe. Participants had to press a key when they felt the situation was risky. Results: Data were obtained from 800 participants, with 52 participants from India, 75 from Venezuela, 79 from the United States, 32 from Western Europe, and 562 from other countries. The results provide support for the desensitization hypothesis. For example, participants from India perceived low risk for hazards (e.g., a stationary car on the highway) that were perceived as risky by participants from other regions. At the same time, support for the expertise hypothesis was obtained, as participants in some cases detected hazards that were specific to their own region (e.g., participants from Venezuela detected inconspicuous roadworks in a Venezuelan city better than did participants from other regions). Conclusion: We found support for the desensitization hypothesis and the expertise hypothesis. These findings have implications for cross-cultural hazard perception research.