When Scientific Knowledge and Ignorance Make It Difficult to Improve Occupational Health: A French and European Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 104829112110191
Author(s):  
Émilie Counil ◽  
Emmanuel Henry
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Exposure Limits ◽  
Attributable Fractions ◽  
Blind Spots

This article analyzes the consequences of the increasing reference to scientific expertise in the decision and implementation process of occupational health policy. Based on examples (exposure limits and attributable fractions) taken from an interdisciplinary seminar conducted in 2014 to 2015 in France, it shows how the measurement or regulation of a problem through biomedicine-based tools produces blind spots. It also uses a case study to show the contradictions between scientific and academic aims and public health intervention. Other indirect implications are also examined, such as the limitation of trade unions’ scope for action. Finally, the article suggests launching a broad political debate accessible to nonspecialists about collective occupational health issues—a dialogue made difficult by the rise of the afore-mentioned techno-scientific perspective.

“To Help a Million Sick, You Must Kill a Few Nurses”: Nurses’ Occupational Health, 1890–1914

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Local History ◽  
National Context ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Experience Of Illness

Although nursing is recognized today as a serious occupational health risk, nursing historians have neglected the theme of occupational health and individual nurses’ experience of illness. This article uses the local history of three case study institutions to set nurses’ health in a national context of political, social, and cultural issues, and suggests a relationship between nurses’ health and the professionalization of nursing. The institutions approached the problem differently for good reasons, but the failure to adopt a coherent and consistent policy worked to the detriment of nurses’ health. However, the conclusion that occupational health was somehow neglected by contemporary actors was, nevertheless, erroneous and facilitated omission of the subject from historical studies concentrating on professional projects and the wider politics of nursing. This article shows that occupational health issues were inexorably connected to these nursing debates and cannot be understood without reference to professional projects.

scholarly journals Lead: ongoing public and occupational health issues in vulnerable populations: a case study

2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Kar-Purkayastha ◽  
S. Balasegaram ◽  
D. Sen ◽  
A. J. Rehman ◽  
P. I. Dargan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Health Issues

scholarly journals ‘Women take care and men take charge’: The case of leadership and gender in the Public and Commercial Services Union

2020 ◽  
pp. 0143831X2094368
Author(s):  
Julie Prowse ◽  
Peter Prowse ◽  
Robert Perrett
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Style ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Union Leader ◽  
The Public ◽  
Union Leadership ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Union Leaders ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Survey Responses

This article presents the findings of a case study that aimed to understand the specific leadership styles that are valued by women and men lay representatives in the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and to determine the gendered implications for increasing women’s leadership and representation in trade unions. Survey responses from PCS lay representatives (reps) show the majority of women and men agreed that the leadership style they value, and that makes a good union leader, is post-heroic (communal) leadership. This approach is associated with leadership characteristics such as being helpful, sensitive and kind and are generally practised by women. This contrasts with male union leaders who are associated with a traditional, heroic (agentic) leadership style characterised by confidence, self-reliance and decisiveness. Although some differences exist that highlight gender issues, both women and men lay reps have positive attitudes towards increasing women’s representation and participation in union leadership.

scholarly journals A Methodology for Harmonizing Safety and Health Scales in Occupational Risk Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 4849
Author(s):  
Zuzhen Ji ◽  
Dirk Pons ◽  
John Pearse
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Chronic Health ◽  
Risk Assessment Method

Successful implementation of Health and Safety (H&S) systems requires an effective mechanism to assess risk. Existing methods focus primarily on measuring the safety aspect; the risk of an accident is determined based on the product of severity of consequence and likelihood of the incident arising. The health component, i.e., chronic harm, is more difficult to assess. Partially, this is due to both consequences and the likelihood of health issues, which may be indeterminate. There is a need to develop a quantitative risk measurement for H&S risk management and with better representation for chronic health issues. The present paper has approached this from a different direction, by adopting a public health perspective of quality of life. We have then changed the risk assessment process to accommodate this. This was then applied to a case study. The case study showed that merely including the chronic harm scales appeared to be sufficient to elicit a more detailed consideration of hazards for chronic harm. This suggests that people are not insensitive to chronic harm hazards, but benefit from having a framework in which to communicate them. A method has been devised to harmonize safety and harm risk assessments. The result was a comprehensive risk assessment method with consideration of safety accidents and chronic health issues. This has the potential to benefit industry by making chronic harm more visible and hence more preventable.

scholarly journals A Questionnaire Case Study of Opinions of Chinese Agricultural Workers on the Coordinated Control of Emissions of Ammonia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1994
Author(s):  
Muxue Liang ◽  
Hong Liao ◽  
Yue Huang ◽  
Zifang Qiao ◽  
Chenchen Tan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Implementation Process ◽  
Coordinated Control ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Nitrogen Fertilizers ◽  
Equivalent Diameter ◽  
National Bureau ◽  
Ammonia Emissions ◽  
Particulate Pollution ◽  
Primary Particles

So far, China’s particulate pollution control is principally focused on primary particles and sulfur dioxide from coal combustion. The contribution of ammonia emissions to particulate matter with an aerodynamic equivalent diameter of less than or equal to 2.5 microns (PM2.5) has been increasingly emphasized. As a world-famous agricultural country with 523 million farmers (2017, National Bureau of Statistics of China), approximately 70.0–90.0% of China’s ammonia emissions come from agriculture. With such a huge population, agriculture industrialization (socioeconomic policies and technology upgrades to reduce ammonia emissions from fertilizers and livestock) has a large potential but is more vulnerable to costs compared to other industries. We need a solution involving both economic benefits and environmental protection. For this purpose, we sent out an anonymous questionnaire consisting of 16 questions to 420 farmers and conducted a field visit survey in a rural area of Jiangsu Province. Through statistical analysis, we found that the use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture, which are an important source of ammonia through volatilization, is normal (200/420 × 100% = 47.62% of farmers use such fertilizers). Among the 420 farmers surveyed, 90.71% of them have knowledge of air pollution from agricultural activities and 92.15% of them have certain understanding of agricultural industrialization policies, indicating that coordinated control of ammonia emissions can be achieved together with policy propaganda. Through factor analysis and correlation analysis, we find that the early propaganda of policies can help farmers to be more willing to accept the policies. The correlation coefficient between awareness of pollution and policy approval is 0.94, and that between policy publicity and policy approval is 0.95. Generally speaking, the promotion of policies is worth carrying out during the implementation process.

scholarly journals A mixed methods multiple case study to evaluate the implementation of a care pathway for colorectal cancer surgery using extended normalization process theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. van Zelm ◽  
E. Coeckelberghs ◽  
W. Sermeus ◽  
A. Wolthuis ◽  
L. Bruyneel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Care Pathway ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Colorectal Cancer Surgery ◽  
Protocol Adherence ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Normalization Process

Abstract Background Specific factors that facilitate or prevent the implementation of enhanced recovery protocols for colorectal cancer surgery have been described in previous qualitative studies. This study aims to perform a concurrent qualitative and quantitative evaluation of factors associated with successful implementation of a care pathway (CP) for patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer. Methods This comparative mixed methods multiple case study was based on a sample of 10 hospitals in 4 European countries that implemented a specific CP and performed pre- and post-implementation measurements. In-depth post-implementation interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals who were directly involved. Primary outcomes included protocol adherence and improvement rate. Secondary outcomes included length of stay (LOS) and self-rated protocol adherence. The hospitals were ranked based on these quantitative findings, and those with the highest and lowest scores were included in this study. Qualitative data were summarized on a per-case basis using extended Normalization Process Theory (eNPT) as theoretical framework. The data were then combined and analyzed using joint display methodology. Results Data from 381 patients and 30 healthcare professionals were included. Mean protocol adherence rate increased from 56 to 62% and mean LOS decreased by 2.1 days. Both measures varied greatly between hospitals. The two highest-ranking hospitals and the three lowest-ranking hospitals were included as cases. Factors which could explain the differences in pre- and post-implementation performance included the degree to which the CP was integrated into daily practice, the level of experience and support for CP methodology provided to the improvement team, the intrinsic motivation of the team, shared goals and the degree of management support, alignment of CP development and hospital strategy, and participation of relevant disciplines, most notably, physicians. Conclusions Overall improvement was achieved but was highly variable among the 5 hospitals evaluated. Specific factors involved in the implementation process that may be contributing to these differences were conceptualized using eNPT. Multidisciplinary teams intending to implement a CP should invest in shared goals and teamwork and focus on integration of the CP into daily processes. Support from hospital management directed specifically at quality improvement including audit may likewise facilitate the implementation process. Trial registration NCT02965794. US National Library of Medicine, ClinicalTrials.gov. Registered 4 August 2014.

scholarly journals International framework agreements: new paths to workers' participation in multinationals' governance?

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Schömann ◽  
André Sobzack ◽  
Eckhard Voss ◽  
Peter Wilke
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
International Level ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
The Impact

This article describes the results of a major study on the impact of codes of conduct and international framework agreements (IFAs) on social regulation at company level. The limits of labour legislation at the national, as well as the international, level provide a strong motivation for both multinationals and trade unions to negotiate and sign IFAs. IFAs offer a way to regulate the social consequences of globalisation and to secure adherence to labour and social standards. They thus form part of the growing political debate on the international working and production standards of private actors. Examination of the negotiation process, the motivations of the parties, and the content of the agreements and implementation measures provides valuable insights into the impact of IFAs on multinationals' behaviour in respect of social dialogue and core labour standards. Finally, the article highlights the influence of such agreements on public policy-making and the limits of private self-regulation at European and international level, addressing the growing and controversial debate on the need for supranational structures to regulate labour standards and industrial relations.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document