Worker Safety Training Research Articles

Worker Safety Training in Public Hospitals in Costa Rica

To develop a worker safety training program for its public hospital system, the Costa Rican Social Security System entered into a collaborative agreement with the University of Texas School of Public Health. A national survey to assess safety in the public hospitals revealed high rates of injury and under-reporting of injuries, as well a lack of worker safety training. A program developed based on the results of the survey was implemented using a training-of-trainers model. The program created opportunities for human resource development in occupational health in the hospital system, allowed for the sustainability of the training effort, and reduced dependency on external funding. Over 3700 workers were trained in its first three years, and 57 trainers were established in local hospitals and clinics.

Health and safety training in a sample of open-shop construction companies

Problem: Compared to other industries, construction has the third-highest death rate. Many agree, and research has shown, that one way to change these statistics is through effective worker safety and health training. Little is known about the quality and nature of safety and health training available to open-shop (nonunion) construction workers. Method: It was the goal of this preliminary study to provide some initial background information about the nature and quality of safety and training in open-shop construction operations. Results: While the majority of contractors surveyed did provide safety and health training, most did not quantitatively evaluate their training programs in terms of reduction in hazardous behaviors or exposures, or increased job satisfaction or productivity. Impact on Industry: Learning about the major parameters (e.g., methods, policies, barriers, company/worker perceptions, etc.) influencing nonunion construction safety training will help guide future construction safety-related research and intervention strategies on a national basis.

Evaluation of worker safety and health training

Background Few studies of worker training have addressed the impact on participant's health and safety behaviors and efforts to change health and safety conditions at the workplace. The present study is an evaluation of these impacts as reported by workers and managers. Methods The UAB/CLEAR program has trained over 1,000 participants since 1992. A survey was mailed to a sample of workers and all participating managers. Results The results revealed that both groups reported increasing personal safety and health behavior, both contributed to emergency preparedness, and both influenced the elimination of hazardous chemicals. Managers reported greater influence on health and safety which may be explained by their relatively more powerful position. However, an impressive percentage of workers reported influencing changes. Conclusions This pattern indicates that when the environment supports joint decision making by workers and management, initiating changes becomes easier. Am. J. Ind. Med. 38:155–163, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Computer-based radiation safety training for hospital radiation workers.

Conducting a hospital-based radiation safety training class may lead to temporary technologist staffing shortages resulting in a reduction of patient services or even the cessation of all routine patient services. Use of an interactive computer-based radiation safety training software program may provide a practical alternative for hospital diagnostic and therapeutic radiation departments, as well as other hospital departments utilizing radiation sources, in meeting annual radiation safety training requirements for radiation workers. Medical radiation workers' participation in computer-based radiation safety training can make a positive impact on radiation safety awareness in the hospital, assist license holders in satisfying regulatory training requirements, ensure maximum participation of staff technologists, and reduce the burden of technologist staffing shortages caused by traditional methods of training.

Evaluation of worker safety and health training.

Few studies of worker training have addressed the impact on participant's health and safety behaviors and efforts to change health and safety conditions at the workplace. The present study is an evaluation of these impacts as reported by workers and managers. The UAB/CLEAR program has trained over 1,000 participants since 1992. A survey was mailed to a sample of workers and all participating managers. The results revealed that both groups reported increasing personal safety and health behavior, both contributed to emergency preparedness, and both influenced the elimination of hazardous chemicals. Managers reported greater influence on health and safety which may be explained by their relatively more powerful position. However, an impressive percentage of workers reported influencing changes. This pattern indicates that when the environment supports joint decision making by workers and management, initiating changes becomes easier.

Testing as a measure of worker health and safety training: perspectives from a hazardous materials program.

Health and safety training for hazardous materials workers is among OSHA's major policies. A large and growing workforce in this area, and the resulting risks for these workers and the public, make quality training critical. Measuring trainees' individual knowledge following training is a common but controversial practice. Technical issues and benefits in testing, strategies for mitigating the limitations of testing, and the relevance of testing at a broader policy level were examined from the perspective of a large and diverse program. Knowledge data from individuals greatly aided in evaluating program effectiveness at the time of training and in assessing workplace impact later. Use of sound testing principles and creative examination methods and materials, and collaboration across programs, all helped to address concerns for individual programs and the field generally. Programs would benefit from fully considering the benefits and options related to knowledge assessment in training. Those who choose to assess individual knowledge could move the process forward through added rigor, collaboration, and documentation of efforts.

Worker health and safety training: assessing impact among responders.

A mail survey was conducted among emergency responders who received training at the New Jersey/New York Hazardous Materials Worker Training Center. Responses indicate that technical topics are extremely important (i.e., decontamination, personal protection); that the vast preponderance of trainees felt confident in their ability to recall specific critical concepts in a crisis; and that 42% of respondents (75) had experienced an incident that would have resulted in injury or death without training. Phone surveys for details of specific incidents reported by 43 of the 75 mail survey respondents revealed that anecdotal data provide powerful evidence of the value of training; that extensive and uniform training is needed across jurisdictions; that training should emphasize the technical aspects of health and safety, and should include demonstration and hands-on techniques; and that integrated organizational support for implementation of health and safety practices is critical.

Worker health and safety training: Assessing impact among responders

A mail survey was conducted among emergency responders who received training at the New Jersey/New York Hazardous Materials Worker Training Center. Responses indicate that technical topics are extremely important (i.e., decontamination, personal protection); that the vast preponderance of trainees felt confident in their ability to recall specific critical concepts in a crisis; and that 42% of respondents (75) had experienced an incident that would have resulted in injury or death without training. Phone surveys for details of specific incidents reported by 43 of the 75 mail survey respondents revealed that anecdotal data provide powerful evidence of the value of training; that extensive and uniform training is needed across jurisdictions; that training should emphasize the technical aspects of health and safety, and should include demonstration and hands-on techniques; and that integrated organizational support for implementation of health and safety practices is critical. Am. J. Ind. Med. 33:241–246, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Occupational Medicine in France: A Perspective at the Fiftieth Anniversary of Médecine du Travail

Occupational Medicine in France: A Perspective at the Fiftieth Anniversary of Médecine du Travail: Bertrand Libert, et al. Association Interentreprises de Medecine du Travail de L'ile‐de‐France—The occupational health system in France was established in 1946, and is quite unique even in comparison with those in the other European countries. The system provides health care service to all the workers in France with the cost paid by employers. The service is provided as medical examinations and work site inspections by certified physicians for occupational medicine; there are 6,300 certified physicians working in company medical departments or interfirm medical departments which are health care delivery organizations scattered all over the country. The occupational physicians act strictly for prevention, and the health examinations by the occupational physicians are mandatory not only for workers at risk of occupational hazards but for all unspecified workers. This 50‐year‐old system, however, should be adapted to the changes in the occupational landscape of modern French society, such as downsizing of companies, surging of temporary workers, lessening the role of manual work and increasing office staff and service employees. Occupational physicians can be and should be involved more in health and safety training for workers, improving work conditions by ergonomic studies, global prevention including cancer and cardiovascular disease, and environment protection. On the other hand, the shortage of 500 occupational physicians today and the decrease in medical graduates who enter the four‐year internship for occupational medicine are very touchy problems in the French occupational health system. And harmonization in the occupational health field among participating countries in the European Union may lead, sooner or later, to dramatic changes in the participants and activities of the French system.

An evaluation of peer and professional trainers in a union-based occupational health and safety training program.

Social cognitive theory posits that behavior can be changed by observing others perform or describe performance of behaviors. This framework was applied to understanding health behavior change associated with workplace health and safety training. Questionnaires were developed and administered to 426 workers at a United Automobile Worker's Union health and safety training program. Participants received training from one of three trainers: (1) local union discussion leaders (LUDLs), (2) professional staff trainers, or (3) LUDLs with professional staff trainers. Data were collected in three phases: before, after, and three months post-training. Findings show that subjects trained by LUDLs identify most closely with their instructors, whereas subjects trained by staff trainers identify least closely with them. In addition, workers trained by LUDLs reported changing behavior as a result of training more often than workers trained by others.

Action on worksite health and safety problems: a follow-up survey of workers participating in a hazardous waste worker training program.

In it's worker health and safety training program, the California-Arizona Consortium aims to promote worker action to improve health and safety conditions. To assess action on worker-identified health and safety problems, 278 trainees were interviewed 3-8 months after training. Associations with three outcomes were analyzed: (1) attempted action, (2) problem correction, and (3) trainee participation. Perceived management support was associated with all three outcomes, pointing to its key role in maximizing the impact of training. Odds of attempted action were 2-5 times greater with support than without. Trainees for whom English was not the primary language (mostly Spanish speakers) attempted action as often as English speakers. However, the odds of their correcting problems were half that of the English-speaking workers. It is suggested this was due to a perceived lack of control over organizational resources for change, not simply due to communication barriers.

Building a Trainers' Community: Innovations in Worker Health and Safety Training

Building a Trainers' Community: Innovations in Worker Health and Safety Training

Estimating the Impact of Health and Safety Training Using the Retrospective Pretest Design

Abstract An alternative to the traditional pretest/postest method of assessing training program effectiveness from hazardous waste worker training, called the retrospective pretest design, is explored in this study. In the retrospective pretest design, trainee self-reports about their knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or attitudes are obtained only after the completion of the training, not before. Trainees provide two types of self-reports: (1) the traditional posttraining outcome responses and (2) responses on how they would have answered those same outcome items before they participated in the health and safety program. These latter responses are known as retrospective pretests, and comparison of the two responses for an item is considered a better measure of true change due to training than the traditional pretraining and posttraining responses to the same item. Data from five types of hazardous waste worker health and safety training curricula (40-hour site worker; 24-hour treatment, storage, and disp...

Electrical Fatalities Among U.S. Construction Workers

Over 2000 electrocution deaths were identified among U.S. construction workers from 1980 to 1991, with the highest mean annual crude mortality rate (2.5 per 100,000 people), and second highest mean age-adjusted rate (2.7 per 100,000 people) of all industries. Although the crude fatality rates showed a downward trend, construction workers are still about four times more likely to be electrocuted at work than are workers in all industries combined. Nearly 40% of the 5083 fatal electrocutions in all industries combined occurred in construction, and 80% were associated with industrial wiring, appliances, and transmission lines. Electrocutions ranked as the second leading cause of death among construction workers, accounting for an average of 15% of traumatic deaths in the industry from 1980 to 1991. The study indicates that the workers most at risk of electrical injury are male, young, nonwhite, and electricians, structural metal workers, and laborers. The most likely time of injury is 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. from June to August. Focusing prevention on these populations and characteristics through better methods of worker and supervisor electrical safety training, use of adequate protective clothing, and compliance with established procedures could minimize the average annual loss of 168 U.S. construction workers.

Teaching health and safety: problems and possibilities for learner-centered training.

The University of Massachusetts at Lowell Work Environment Department, working jointly with four New England coalitions on occupational safety and health (COSH) groups, has developed and is delivering participatory and learner-centered health and safety training for hazardous waste site workers and emergency responders throughout New England. This consortium has created a technical curriculum for hazardous waste workers accessible to the nonspecialist and which, more importantly, draws upon workers' own experience and knowledge as a source of information, education, and experiential resources. In this article, we examine the goals of the consortium, the applicability of the training method, its successes and failures, and the wider implications such pedagogical techniques have for effective and empowering health and safety training. We conclude that such a teaching technique is a successful means of providing technical knowledge and skills in a positive and rewarding atmosphere. We also conclude, however, that the extent to which this form of education is empowering, as is claimed by many of its proponents, is less clear-cut.

Quality Assurance for Worker Health and Safety Training Programs: Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response

Quality Assurance for Worker Health and Safety Training Programs: Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response

Microcomputer-based instruction for miner safety-training programs

The passage of The Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-164) is significant because it represents the first instance where the Federal Government, in addition to regulating and enforcing health and safety standards, mandated health and safety training for workers throughout an entire industry. Not only does 30 CFR 48 specify the various classifications of workers that must be trained, it also dictates the topics to be covered and the minimum number of hours that must be devoted to the prescribed training programs.The focus of this paper is on efforts being taken to develop cost-effective, microcomputer-based training aids for the mining industry. Four instructional programs have been developed at Penn State as part of a large research effort in miner training. Examples of the programs will be presented and implementation experience at several underground coal mines will be discussed.

Dangerous and Cancer-Causing Properties of Products and Chemicals in the Oil Refining and Petrochemical Industry: Part V - Asbestos-Caused Cancers and Exposure of Workers in the Oil Refining Industry

In the oil refining and petrochemical industries exposure to cancer-causing asbestos particles, especially during equipment repair and maintenance, is very high. Up to 90% of workers in the oil refining industry had direct and/or indirect contact with asbestos, and more than half of this contact occurred without the use of any kind of precaution, thus these workers are in high risk of developing lung cancer and mesothelioma, both fatal diseases. The hazards include: inadequate health and safety training for both company personnel and workers, failure to inform about the dangers and diseases (cancers) resulting from exposure to asbestos; excessive use of large numbers of untrained and uninformed contract workers; lack of use of protective equipment; and archaeological approaches and responses to repairing asbestos breaks and replacement of asbestos in oil refining facilities. For a better understanding of practices and policies in the oil refining industry, refer to Rachel Scott's Muscle and Blood, in particular the chapter "Oil" (E.P. Dutton, New York, 1974), as well as to an editorial which appeared in the Oil and Gas Journal, April, 1968.

A cause-and-effect analysis of robot accidents

Jiang, B.C. and Gainer, C.A., Jr., 1987. A cause-and-effect analysis of robot accidents. Journal of Occupational Accidents, 9: 27–45. Reported cases of robot accidents involving fatality, injury and non-injury were gathered from several sources (U.S., West Germany, Sweden and Japan). In cases where adequate information was available a cause-effect analysis of these accidents was performed. A total of 32 accidents were analyzed in the study. The accident effects were grouped according to who was injured (line worker, maintenance worker or programmer), the type of injury (pinch-point, impact or other), and the degree of injury (fatal, non-fatal-lost-work or non-fatal-no-lost-work). The accident causes were grouped into four categories (human error, workplace design, robot design and other) with the possibility that an accident could have more than one cause. Findings indicate that line workers are at greatest risk, followed by maintenance workers and programmers. Pinch-point accidents accounted for 56% of all accidents while impact accidents accounted for 44%. Most accidents were caused by poor workplace design (20 of 32 accidents) and human error (13 of 32 accidents). A comprehensive cause-effect analysis was performed on 25 of the accidents and includes: the accident source, the accident cause, the accident effect in terms of human injury, recommended guidelines to be implemented, and applicable safety standards in each case. Conclusions are drawn on the effectiveness of worker safety training and workplace design, both a result of suggested standards.