scholarly journals Compatibility as guiding principle for ergonomics work design and preventive occupational health and safety

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Strasser
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
System Performance ◽  
Occupational Diseases ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Design ◽  
Human Organism ◽  
Machine System ◽  
Human Capacity

AbstractMutual adaptation and inter-changeability of system elements are very important prerequisites for machines, technical devices and products. Similar to that technical compatibility which can be achieved by standards and regulations, optimum design of human-oriented workplaces or a man-machine system cannot be attained without, e.g., a compatible arrangement of connected displays and controls. Over and above those stimulus/response relations, all technical elements and interfaces have to be designed in such a way that they do not exceed human capacity in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance. Compatibility between the properties of the human organism on the one hand, and the adaptable technical components of a work system on the other hand, offers a great potential of preventive measures. Examples of ergonomically designed working tools show that compatibility is capable of reducing the prevalence of occupational diseases and repetitive strain injuries as well as leading to lower physiological cost in such a way that the same output results from a lower demand of human resources or even a higher performance will be attained. Compatibility also supports the quick perception and transmission of information in a man-machine system, and as a result of lower requirements for decoding during information processing, spare mental capacity may enhance occupational safety. In the field of software, compatibility also helps to avoid psychological frustration. All in all, the center core competency, which reflects the major significant function of the ergonomist in work design, consists in determining the compatibility of human capacity and planned or existing demands of work. In order to provide efficient working tools and working conditions as well as to be successful in occupational health and safety, ergonomics and industrial engineering in the future are expected to pay more attention to the rules of compatibility. Applied in an appropriate way, these rules may convince people that ergonomics can be a powerful means for reducing prevalence of occupational diseases and complaints, and has a positive effect on overall system performance. Besides presenting examples of work design according to the principle of compatibility, also methods will be shown which enable the assessment of the ergonomic quality of hand-held tools and computer input devices.

scholarly journals Foreword and Introduction to This Issue on Contemporary Safety Topics in Animal Research

ILAR Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-126
Author(s):  
John Bradfield ◽  
Esmeralda Meyer ◽  
John N Norton
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Animal Research ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
The Status ◽  
Safety Considerations ◽  
Animal Care ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract Institutions with animal care and use programs are obligated to provide for the health and well-being of the animals, but are equally obligated to provide for safety of individuals associated with the program. The topics in this issue of the ILAR Journal, in association with those within the complimentary issue of the Journal of Applied Biosafety, provide a variety of contemporary occupational health and safety considerations in today’s animal research programs. Each article addresses key or emerging occupational health and safety topics in institutional animal care and use programs, where the status of the topic, contemporary challenges, and future directions are provided.

scholarly journals Smart occupational health and safety for a digital era and its place in smart and sustainable cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 8831-8856
Author(s):  
María-Isabel Sánchez-Segura ◽  
◽  
German-Lenin Dugarte-Peña ◽  
Antonio de Amescua ◽  
Fuensanta Medina-Domínguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Support Service ◽  
A Value ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Prevention Model

<abstract> <p>As innovative technologies emerge, there is a need to evolve the environments in which these technologies are used. The trend has shifted from considering technology as a support service towards making it the means for transforming all complex systems. Smart cities focus their development on the use of technology to transform every aspect of society and embrace the complexity of these transformations towards something leading to the well-being and safety of people inhabiting these cities. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is an essential aspect to be considered in the design of a smart city and its digital ecosystems, however, it remains unconsidered in most smart city's frameworks, despite the need for a specific space for smart OHS. This paper summarizes a 9-month process of generation of a value proposition for evolving the sector of OHS based on a value-map in whose creation several stakeholders have participated. They focused on identifying the products, the methods, the organizational structures and the technologies required to develop an updated, dynamic and robust prevention model focused on workers in smart and complex contexts, and to improve the organizations' capability to guarantee safety even in the most changing, digital and disruptive settings. To assess the relevance and validity of this value-map, a study was carried out to match the set of its elements and its specific and conceptual products discovered, considering also the definition of the past needs and future trends of the sector that a set of renowned stakeholders and key opinion leaders (with mastery in OHS from several companies and industries) have recently defined for the decade of 2020. A prospective analysis of this match is presented, revealing that there is still an existing gap to be covered in the context of smart cities design: the explicit guarantee of safety for workers.</p> </abstract>

scholarly journals Reimagining Sex Work Venues: Occupational Health, Safety, and Rights in Indoor Workplaces

2021 ◽  
pp. 207-230
Author(s):  
Brooke S. West ◽  
◽  
Anne M. Montgomery ◽  
Allison R. Ebben
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Critical Element ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Safety Standards

AbstractThe setting in which sex workers live and work is a critical element shaping health outcomes, in so far that different venues afford different sets of risk and protective factors. Understanding how contextual factors differ across venue types and influence health outcomes is thus essential to developing and supporting programmes promoting the rights and safety of people in sex work. In this chapter, we focus primarily on indoor workplaces, with the goals of: (1) elucidating unique social, economic, physical, and policy factors that influence the well-being of sex workers in indoor workplaces; (2) highlighting sex worker-led efforts in the Thai context through a case study of the organisation Empower Thailand; (3) describing best practices for indoor settings; and (4) developing a framework of key factors that must be addressed to improve the rights and safety of sex workers in indoor workplaces, and to support their efforts to organise. The chapter draws attention to convergences and divergences in key challenges that sex workers encounter in indoor venues in different global contexts, as well as opportunities to advance comprehensive occupational health and safety programmes. Indoor venues pose important potential for establishing and implementing occupational health and safety standards in sex work and also may provide substantial opportunity for collective organising given the close proximity of people working together. However, any efforts to improve the health and safety of sex workers must explicitly address the structural conditions that lead to power imbalances and which undermine sex worker agency and equality.

Occupational health and safety in horticulture.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynette Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
International Labour Organisation ◽  
Health Safety ◽  
Labour Organisation

Abstract According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), health is defined as the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations, while safety is freedom from unacceptable risk or harm. Occupational health and safety (OHS or OSH) is specifically concerned with the health, safety and welfare of people in their work environment, but it also encompasses any other people who may be present onsite, including customers, friends and family members, visitors and contractors. In addition it considers the fact that many horticultural properties have staff and owners who reside on the site.

Work scheduling and work location control in precarious and ‘permanent’ employment

2020 ◽  
pp. 103530462098140
Author(s):  
Helen Devereux ◽  
Emma Wadsworth
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Rest Period ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Safety Risks ◽  
Jel Code ◽  
Lack Of Commitment

This article explores the relationship between precarious employment and seafarers’ control over the scheduling and location of their work, and considers the implications of this relationship for their occupational health and safety. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 20 permanently and 17 precariously employed seafarers. In contrast with those on permanent contracts, seafarers employed by crewing agencies on temporary contracts were deployed at short notice and commenced work on vessels irrespective of whether they had experienced an adequate rest period at home. Such precariously employed seafarers were also deployed across the various sectors of the industry on unfamiliar vessels. Seafarers felt strongly that scheduling and location uncertainties were closely linked with increased risks to their safety and well-being, and it was clear that these areas of uncertainty were frequently experienced in combination, in particular, by those with precarious employment arrangements. The article, therefore, suggests that the widespread disorganisation of the employment relationship increases the occupational health and safety risks faced by those working in an already dangerous industry. It concludes that this lack of commitment by shipping companies to their workforce means that, for many seafarers, protection against these additional risks is effectively at the discretion of the captain on board. JEL Code: J81

scholarly journals State of the Art and Challenges for Occupational Health and Safety Performance Evaluation Tools

Safety ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Hajer Jemai ◽  
Adel Badri ◽  
Nabil Ben Fredj
Keyword(s):  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evaluation Tools ◽  
Scientific Databases ◽  
Illness Prevention ◽  
Industrialized Nations ◽  
And Performance

In industrialized nations, occupational health and safety (OHS) has been a growing concern in many businesses for at least two decades. Legislation, regulation, and standards have been developed in order to provide organizations with a framework for practicing accident and illness prevention and placing worker well-being at the center of production system design. However, the occurrence of several accidents continues to show that OHS performance evaluation is subject to interpretation. In this review of the literature, we outline the scope of current research on OHS status and performance evaluation and comment on the suitability of the instruments being proposed for field use. This study is based on a keyword-based bibliographical search in the largest scientific databases and OHS-related websites, which allowed us to identify 15 OHS performance evaluation tools. Our principal conclusion is that researchers in the field have shown little interest in generalizing the instruments of OHS performance evaluation and that none of the 15 tools examined is properly applicable to any real organization outside of the sector of activity, economic scale, and jurisdiction for which it was designed.

scholarly journals Occupational Health and Safety Practices Evaluation by Health Workers: An Example of Private Hospital

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selin Dayan ◽  
Volkan Öngel
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Occupational Diseases ◽  
Private Hospital ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Health And Safety Issues

The aim of this study is to identify distribution of occupational diseases and related health complaints among health workers and also to detect employee apprehensions about availability of occupational health and safety issues in the workplace. The application area of this study is a private hospital subservient in Istanbul and accredited by JCI. Within the framework of this study, a survey which contains 8 queries about demographic and personal features, 12 queries about occupational diseases and related complaints and 24 queries about occupational health and safety issues is applied to health staff employed in variable departments and positions in this hospital. The reliability coefficient of this survey is found .816 (Cronbach’s Alpha). In the conclusion of this study; it is detected that the employee’s perception about the occupational health and safety issues in the workplace has a positive aspect. Moreover, arm and leg pains (%65.6), over-fatigue (%64.1), insomnia (%59.7) and presence of venous varicosises (%54.2) were the most determined diseases and complaints, which are considered as work-originated among healthcare workers. In accordance with findings, the privileged improvements about the problems in occupational health and safety issues in this hospital have been presented.

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