SafetyInsights.org

This sought to examine the effective of Mates in Construction (MATES) training for MATES connectors and the barriers & motivations to help-seeking & help-offering for connectors (those that give support) and clients (whom receive help). MATES is a multimodal suicide prevention & early intervention program delivering training & support to workers. 104 volunteers completed a… Continue reading Understanding the Barriers and Pathways to Male Help-Seeking and Help-Offering: A Mixed Methods Study of the Impact of the Mates in Construction Program

This studied the relationships between work-life balance (WLB), mental health, attitudes towards mental health problems and work schedules. 144 UK construction workers completed surveys. An interesting facet of this study was the focus on shame in construction and its links with WLB, eg the “walk of shame” when people leave early from work. Results: Overall… Continue reading Work-Life Balance of UK Construction Workers: Relationship with Mental Health

This systematic review evaluated the research to determine what the different ergonomic interventions accomplish in a workplace. 1635 articles were screened for inclusion, with 22 studies focusing on workplace interventions meeting the criteria. Most of the ergonomic interventions were ergonomic training programs, participatory ergonomics & workstation design. Results: The majority of outcome measures in results… Continue reading What do the different ergonomic interventions accomplish in the workplace? A systematic review

This conducted focus group interviews with teenagers in two Canadian cities to understand the types of work-related hazards experienced by them, how they respond to hazards & barriers to injury prevent. Results: Participants reported a range of physical & interpersonal hazards at current or previous workplaces. For several people, mostly female, who worked at the… Continue reading Waiting for safety: Responses by young Canadian workers to unsafe work

The second study which looked at the lifetime risk of chronic occupational diseases amongst construction workers. This focused on dust-related occupational lung disease, COPD & hearing loss. Methods Estimates of lifetime risk were performed based on 12,742 radiographic evaluations, 12,679 spirometry tests, and 11,793 audiograms. Control groups from the same dataset were used for comparison.… Continue reading Risks of a Lifetime in Construction. Part II: Chronic Occupational Diseases

Part 1 of 2 studies that looked at mortality (this study) and morbidity (tomorrow) from a lifetime in construction work. Data from the US between 2003-2007 was used to estimate the lifetime risk for fatal & nonfatal injuries per 100 FTE construction workers for a working lifetime of 45 years. Results: Based on the results,… Continue reading Risks of a Lifetime in Construction Part I: Traumatic Injuries

This explored the relationship between Participative decision making (PDM) and Upward Voice (UV), & how trust in leadership and nuclear safety climate affect the relationship. UV facilitates listening to employees` judgements, worries or concerns of problems before they cascade & emphasises employee contribution to safety, rather than seeing them as sources of failure. PDM refers… Continue reading Upward Voice: Participative Decision Making, Trust in Leadership and Safety Climate Matter

This systematically reviewed the evidence (as of Jan 2013) concerning the effectiveness of workplace drug testing (WDT) as a workplace safety strategy. Authors were interested in answering two questions: 1. Does WDT reduce occupational accident injury rates? 2. Does WDT deter employee drug use? Of the 285 studies identified, only 23 met inclusion requirements: 6… Continue reading How effective is drug testing as a workplace safety strategy – A systematic review of the evidence

This may be of interest to those after financial costs of construction accidents in Australia. This paper sought to expand existing research by providing a methodology for calculating more realistic costs. Data was based on work from Safe Work Australia and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The authors say that employers “commonly underestimate the true… Continue reading Construction accidents in Australia: Evaluating the true costs

This looked at how production pressure was related to workers experiencing more accidents & how often they reported them. It surveyed 212 copper mining workers in the US. Results found that around 80% of all experienced accidents as indicated by workers went unreported (this is supported by other research from the authors). Production pressure, as… Continue reading Pressure to produce = pressure to reduce accident reporting?