Safety Science Research Articles

Quality Improvement Report: Safety Program for Prevention of Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infections.

The increasing usage of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) in medical imaging departments has led to a corresponding increase in cases of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI). However, this condition is preventable with proper monitoring and use of aseptic techniques. A Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) is a quality improvement (QI) measure implemented by health care institutions to reduce the incidence of CLABSI. However, effective strategies have yet to be established. The authors describe a QI project that evaluated the implementation of CUSP at a teaching hospital to reduce PICC-associated bloodstream infection (BSI). The framework consists of a five-step process: understand and train staff on the science of safety, assemble a team, engage senior executives, identify defects through sensemaking, and implement teamwork and communication strategies in a series of related and sequential steps that use QI tools. Targets were identified for improvement from existing processes, and the workflow was reengineered. Nine months after the start of the CUSP intervention, PICC-associated BSI incidence in the hospital had been reduced from 3.4 to 2.7 per 1000 central lines days after intervention. The incidence of BSI was also reduced correspondingly from 8.8% to 5.9%. The QI processes in this study may be adopted by other hospitals, as they involve minimal cost with significant impact on patient safety and well-being. The QI sequential steps described capture the implementation processes that can be modified for use in other department settings where patient safety could be compromised. Online supplemental material is available for this article. ©RSNA, 2022.

Motor Vehicle Crash and Hospital Charges in Front- and Rear-Seated Restrained and Unrestrained Adult Motor Vehicle Occupants.

There are reports that historically higher mortality observed for front- compared to rear-seated adult motor vehicle (MV) occupants has narrowed. Vast improvements have been made in strengthening laws and restraint use in front-, but not rear-seated occupants suggesting there may be value in expanding the science on rear-seat safety. Methods. A linked 2016–2017 hospital and MV crash data set, the Crash Outcomes Data Evaluation System (CODES), was used to compare characteristics of front-seated (n = 115,939) and rear-seated (n = 5729) adults aged 18 years and older involved in a MV crash in New York State (NYS). A primary enforced seat belt law existed for front-seated, but not rear-seated occupants. Statistical analysis employed SAS 9.4. Results. Compared to front-seated occupants, those rear-seated were more likely to be unrestrained (21.2% vs. 4.3%, p < 0.0001) and to have more moderate-to-severe injury/death (11.9% vs. 11.3%, p < 0.0001). Compared to restrained rear-seated occupants, unrestrained rear-seated occupants had higher moderate-to-severe injury/death (21.5% vs. 7.5%, p < 0.0001) and 4-fold higher hospitalization. More than 95% of ejections were unrestrained and had 7-fold higher medical charges. Unrestrained occupants’ hospital stays were longer, charges and societal financial costs higher. Conclusions. These findings extend the science of rear-seat safety in seriously injured rear-seated occupants, document increased medical charges and support the need to educate consumers and policy makers on the health and financial risks of adults riding unrestrained in the rear seat. The lack of restraint use in adult rear-seated motor vehicle occupants consumes scarce health care dollars for treatment of this serious, but largely preventable injury.

Measuring Safety Culture Using an Integrative Approach: The Development of a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework and an Applied Safety Culture Assessment Instrument.

An exponential amount of academic research has been dedicated to the safety culture concept, but still, no consensus has been reached on its definition and content. In general, safety culture research lacks an interdisciplinary approach. Furthermore, although the concept of safety culture is characterised by complexity and multifacetedness, the safety culture concept has been characterised by reductionism, where models and theories simplify the concept in order to better grasp it, leading to confined approaches. In this article, the multifacetedness of safety culture is acknowledged, and the topic is addressed from a safety science perspective, combining insights from multiple academic disciplines. An integrative and comprehensive conceptual framework to assess safety culture in organisations is developed, taking into account the limitations of existing models, as well as the needs of the work field. This conceptual framework is called the ‘Integrated Safety Culture Assessment’ (ISCA), where the ‘assessment’ refers to its practical usability. The practical rendition of ISCA can be used to map the safety culture of an organisation and to formulate recommendations in this regard, with the ultimate goal of bringing about a change towards a positive safety culture. The comprehensiveness of ISCA lies in the inclusion of technological factors, organisational or contextual factors and human factors interacting and interrelating with each other, and in considering both observable or objective safety-related aspects in an organisation, and non-observable or subjective safety-related aspects. When using ISCA, organisational safety culture is assessed in an integrative way by using a variety of research methods involving the entire organisation, and by taking into account the specific context of the organisation.

Stereotype Perception of the Professional Role of Women in Formations Implementing Tasks for National Security

ObjectivesThe aim of the research was to solve the research problem contained in the question: What is the genesis of shaping gender stereotypes and what is their impact on the perception of the professional role of women by men in the army as a formation carrying out tasks for national security?MethodsThe methods adopted in the research process are, first of all, a meta-analysis of a wide range of source materials, including publications, scientific articles and information materials, as well as the results of the own questionnaire. The theoretical methods characteristic of the safety sciences, i.e. analysis, synthesis, comparison, inference and abstraction, were supplemented by participant observation. The use of this method was possible because the author cooperated with soldiers many times.ResultsThe results of the conducted research confirmed that gender stereotypes can significantly influence the perception of the professional role of women in the formations carrying out tasks for security. Women and men are characterized by a different approach to perceiving professional roles. Therefore, gender stereotypes can significantly affect the professional roles of women and men and the sense of occupational securityConclusionsThe most concrete effect of the arguments made is the emphasis on the fundamental importance of the transformation of stereotypes. Both historical experiences and the assessment of the contemporary professional safety environment in terms of stereotypical perception are in line with the needs of ensuring the occupational safety of women and men in formations carrying out tasks for national security.

TEACHING LIFE SAFETY SCIENCE BASED ON PEDAGOGICAL TECHNOLOGY

TEACHING LIFE SAFETY SCIENCE BASED ON PEDAGOGICAL TECHNOLOGY

Surviving relatives as stakeholders for corporate social responsibility and as leaders for meaningful safety improvement. A case study from the Netherlands

Fatal accidents are a life changing event for surviving relatives. As secondary victims, their life is suddenly disrupted and becomes filled with mourning, sorrow, pain and uncertainty. A case study from the Netherlands shows that a range of organizations and institutions have a social responsibility to contribute to mitigating the suffering of surviving relatives. A responsibility which is up till now often neglected. From a corporate social responsibility point of view the alleviation and prevention of suffering of surviving relatives should be important for any organisation involved in the aftermath of fatal accidents. The case study shows that surviving relatives, as secondary victims, can contribute in a unique way to the initiation, implementation and realization of a successful corporate program to promote prevention and the development of a proactive safety culture. Finally, the case study shows that surviving relatives can contribute actively to the development of more proactive inspection strategies and new legislation. It is suggested that within safety science and practice more attention should be given to the agency and potential positive contributions of surviving relatives and survivors of serious accidents to prevention and safety promotion. By speaking from their heart and out of their dramatic personal experience, they can impact the behaviour of corporate leaders, policy makers as well as operational workers in a unique way. Simultaneously, such activities help them to develop new purpose and meaning in their disrupted lives.

Towards a Systematic Description of Fault Tree Analysis Studies Using Informetric Mapping

Fault tree analysis (FTA) is one of the important analysis methods of safety system engineering commonly utilized in various industries to evaluate and improve the reliability and safety of complex systems. To grasp the current situation and development trend of FTA research and to further point out FTA’s future development directions, 1469 FTA-related articles from the literature were retrieved from the SCIE and SSCI databases. Informetric methods, including co-authorship analysis, co-citation analysis and co-occurrence analysis, were adopted for analyzing the cooperation relationship, research knowledge base, research hotspots and frontier in the FTA research field. The results show that China has the highest number of publications, and the Loughborough University of England has the highest number of publications of relevant institutions. Dynamic fault tree analysis, fuzzy fault tree analysis and FTA based on binary decision diagrams are recognized as the knowledge bases in FTA studies. “Reliability Engineering and System Safety”, “Safety Science” and “Fuzzy Sets and Systems” are the core journals in this field. Fuzzy fault tree analysis, dynamic fault tree analysis based on Bayesian networks and FTA combined with management factors may be both the main research hotspots and the frontiers. Then, by deriving the above results, this study can help scholars better master the current research status and frontiers of FTA to improve system reliability and safety.

Employer safety obligations, safety climate, and safety behaviors in the ready-made garment context in Bangladesh

Purpose: The impact of employer safety obligations on safety climate and safety outcomes has become an important area of research in organizational and safety sciences. Evidence shows that employer safety obligations positively impact safety outcomes, including safety climate and safety behaviors. However, these relationships have not been thoroughly explored within the garment settings. This study is one of the first known studies to examine the relationships between employer safety obligations, safety climate, and safety behavior outcomes in a sample of garment employees. Methods: Two-wave time-lagged data were collected from 347 garment employees and their supervisors in Bangladesh. Hierarchical regression analysis was applied to examine hypothesized relationships using AMOS a SPSS. Results: Employer safety obligations positively influenced safety climate perceptions among garment employees. Safety climate perceptions are positively and significantly associated with safety behaviors, including safety compliance behaviors, prosocial safety behaviors, and proactive safety behaviors. Moreover, the safety climate mediates the influence of employer safety obligations on safety behaviors. Conclusions: These findings provide important evidence of the relationships between employer safety obligations, safety climate, and safety behaviors in the garment industry of Bangladesh. Practical Applications: Ultimately, these findings guide the government, garment manufacturers, and managers to bolster garment employees’ safety outcomes.

From the President andIFSTNews

From the President and<scp>IFST</scp>News

Investigation and numerical reconstruction of a full-scale electric bicycle fire experiment in high-rise residential building

Electric bicycle (E-bike) fires have attracted more concerns recently in the field of fire safety science since several fatal fires occurred especially in residential buildings. This paper conducts a full-scale experiment of E-bike fire in a typical high-rise residential building of China. Fire and smoke characteristics as well as their influences on the residents’ safety and evacuation are studied. It was found that E-bike fire grows quite rapidly once ignited. Less smoke could spread into these residential rooms with closed door. Sealing the entrance door gap could effectively help to prevent the smoke. At the very first stage of the fire (around 4.5min from igniting), the residents could choose to evacuate downstairs. However, it is a better option to stay at home waiting for help during most of the fire period. Smoke from this fire did not exceed the height of the 10th floor in the staircase. Thus, for the residents on the 10th floor and above, to escape through the staircase upward to the building roof is another safe option. Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) was used to numerically reconstruct this fire. The numerical results show good agreement with the experiments. Based on accurate parameters and boundary conditions, FDS is verified to be feasible to conduct numerical reconstruction of E-bike fires for the purpose of assisting fire investigation.

Collaboration networks evolution of Safety Science from 1976 to 2019

Collaboration networks evolution of Safety Science from 1976 to 2019

Safety as a network, digital and global reality

This article is a contribution to the special issue on safety science research in the new age of work. It aims to promotes an interdisciplinary and broad (multilevel) approach of safety, recognising the interplay of technology, tasks, culture, structure, power, strategy, regulation, society and markets. At the conceptual level, the article promotes a multilevel approach to change which connects mega-macro (global) trends with meso-micro realities with the help of an analytical (integrative) framework. It argues that safety has become a networked, digital and global reality during the last decades. At the methodological level, ethnographic research is presented as one suitable approach to studying safety in this context. Its relevance is based on prolonged periods of time spent in safety–critical systems observing work combined with interviews concerning daily operations and incidents. At the empirical level, a study of a plant in the chemical industry is used as an illustration of the argument. A narrative of the case is developed, exploring the implications of changes in automation and computerisation, externalisation of activities and organisational structure following a new corporate strategy. Change in plant boundaries, in the level of standardisation, in the amount of bureaucratic work, and in group (and regulatory) control and oversight are discussed along with their implications in terms of the nature of tasks and activities, professional identities, patterns of social interactions and distribution of power (decision making). Through the narrative, the increasingly networked, digital and global reality of the plant is revealed in full, with its multiple implications. The article then discusses the findings and reflects on the current flurry of changes which expose safety–critical systems to new challenges.

Considerations for Radiation Safety Professionals to Prepare and Respond to the Next Pandemic.

The Health Physics Society's stated mission is "excellence in the science and practice of radiation safety." Why, then, should we discuss disease outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics with radiation safety professionals? The answer is simple: all workers are impacted by infectious diseases-and, as safety professionals, we will inevitably be called upon to prepare for and respond to these events. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every facet of life, including home, school, work, and leisure. Moreover, virtually all radiation safety professionals have been impacted by the pandemic either personally, academically, or professionally. Even if radiation safety professionals were not involved directly with COVID-19 response, they were impacted by school closures, remote schooling and work, testing regimes, temperature screenings, vaccination programs, and so forth. However, many radiation safety professionals have been intimately involved in COVID-19 response through activities such as the deployment of personal protective equipment, directional airflow verification for isolation areas, disinfection and decontamination efforts, the design and layout of testing and vaccine centers, and in many other ways. Yet, it is likely that many radiation safety professionals have not received formal training in epidemiology, disease control, or other related topics, and thus may not be attuned to the key aspects to consider when the next pandemic emerges-and it will.

Can fundamental care be advanced using the science of care framework?

This manuscript aims to provide a description of an evidence-informed Science of Care practice-based research and innovation framework that may serve as a guiding framework to generate new discoveries and knowledge around fundamental care in a more integrated manner. New ways of thinking about models of care and implementation strategies in transdisciplinary teams are required to accelerate inquiry and embed new knowledge and innovation into practice settings. A new way of thinking starts with an explicit articulation and commitment to the core business of the healthcare industry which is to provide quality fundamental care. This discursive paper delineates an iteratively derived Science of Care research and innovation framework (Science of Care Framework) that draws from a targeted literature review. The Science of Care Framework integrates caring science with safety and symptom sciences with implementation, improvement, innovation and team sciences. Each science dimension is described in terms of seminal and evolving evidence and theoretical explanations, focusing on how these disciplines can support fundamental care. The Science of Care Framework can serve as a catalyst to guide future efforts to propel new knowledge and discoveries around fundamental care and how best to implement it into clinical practice through a transdisciplinary lens. The Science of Care Framework can accelerate nursing discipline-specific knowledge generation alongside inter and transdisciplinary insights. The novel articulation of the Science of Care Framework can be used to guide further inquiries that are co-designed, and led, by nurses into integrated models of care and innovations in clinical practice.

Preparing for future challenges in risk assessment in the European Union

In light of the new EU policy targets (e.g., Farm to Fork strategy) and the revised legal framework (Transparency Regulation), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) needs to invest further in preparedness in regulatory and communication science for food safety. To achieve this, EFSA has established a process of advancing selected scientific themes to anticipate future challenges.

Accident Prevention Analysis: Exploring the Intellectual Structure of a Research Field

Accident prevention is of great significance in avoiding or reducing all kinds of casualties and economic losses, and is one of the main challenges for social sustainable development. Hence, it has been an active research field for many decades around the world. To master the research status of accident prevention, and explore the knowledge base and hot trends, 1294 papers from the WOS retrieval platform SCIE and SSCI databases from 1990 to 2021 were selected as data samples. Co-occurrence analysis, co-citation analysis, co-authorship analysis, and keyword analysis were performed on the literature on accident prevention research with bibliometric analysis methods. The study showed that the United States ranked first in the number of publications of any country/region and Georgia Inst Technol ranked first in the number of institutional publications. System analysis and accident model establishment, analysis of construction accidents, road accident prevention, and safety culture and safety climate are the knowledge base in the accident prevention studies and the core journals in this field are Safety Science, Accident Analysis and Prevention, Pediatrics, and Reliability Engineering &amp; System Safety. There are four major research hotspots in accident prevention studies: routine accident prevention, model-based research, systems analysis and accident prediction, and occupational safety and public health research. At present, the basic theory and structural system of accident prevention research have been basically established, with many research directions and a wide range of frontier branches. Safety management, public safety, Bayesian networks, and simulation are the research frontiers of accident prevention.

On the importance of the heat release rate in numerical simulations of fires in mechanically ventilated air‐tight enclosures

A fire in a compartment with limited ventilation can cause a significant pressure rise, up to hundreds of Pascal. This is important in practice, as the pressure rise can cause damage or hinder evacuation, but also from the perspective of fire safety science. From the energy balance, taking into account the interaction between compartment pressure, fire dynamics and mechanical ventilation, the importance of the net heat gained per unit time in the gas phase is well recognized. This leads to the need to accurately quantify the heat release rate inside the compartment as a function of time. It is explained that scaling of the transient phenomena is not straightforward. The paper then focuses on numerical simulations, in particular on CFD in the gas phase. An overview is presented of different existing approaches for turbulent combustion modelling in turbulent buoyancy-driven flames with low values of scalar dissipation rate, typical for fire flames. A dynamic approach for modelling turbulent combustion, and the coupling with radiation modelling, is briefly discussed. Extinction and re-ignition are discussed extensively, in the context of reduced ventilation conditions. Finally, low-frequency oscillatory behaviour in mechanically ventilated air-tight compartments is addressed. It is argued that CFD simulations are a very valuable tool to gain further insight in this phenomenon. Suggestions for future research are formulated.

Research advances into mine safety science and engineering

Research advances into mine safety science and engineering

RGB image-based hybrid model for automatic prediction of flashover in compartment fires

This paper proposes a novel hybrid model for flashover prediction in a compartment fire based on visual information from RGB images that are the same as those captured by regular vision cameras. The proposed model was developed as a research tool to study the feasibility of predicting flashover based on RGB vision data. This model consists of sub-modules with data-based methods using Deep Neural Networks and knowledge-based methods using fire safety science and mathematical model. One of the crucial features of the proposed model is enabled by a novel Dual-Attention Generative Adversarial Network that is developed in this study for the vision-to-infrared conversion process. The model and the overall procedure were validated against published test data from a compartment fire. Results show that the proposed model achieved promising performance, which also shows the potential to monitor the constant changes in a room fire through continuous processing images of flame and smoke.

Uncovering Research Trends in Safety Culture in the Global Construction Industry: A Bibliometric Analysis (1995-2020)

Introduction: Safety culture has mainly been used across several safety management literatures to describe the level of safety within workplaces. This paper presents the research landscape and scientific developments on safety culture in the global construction industry. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach was employed to identify, screen, and analyze the published documents indexed in the Elsevier Scopus database. Next, the research landscape and scientific developments on the topic were examined by bibliometric analysis (BA) through co-authorship, keywords co-occurrence, and citations. Results: Results showed that 738 documents were published and indexed on the topic between 1995 and 2020. The findings showed that articles are the preferred medium, whereas Engineering is the preferred subject theme for published documents on the topic. The journal of Safety Science (published by Elsevier) is the most influential source of publications on the topic. In contrast, Dongping Fang, based at Tsinghua University (China), is the most influential researcher due to the substantial research grants and financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation. Further analysis showed that the most prolific authors on the topic are based in China, Australia, and Indonesia, although the United States has published the most documents. BA also revealed large networks of researchers and co-occurring keywords and the organizations and countries that currently exist, collaborate, and cite each other works on the topic. Conclusion: The findings indicate that safety culture in the global construction industry has undergone significant scientific developments resulting in high research impact mainly due to its role in preserving the health and safety of workers.