scholarly journals Work Organization Factors Associated with Health and Work Outcomes among Apprentice Construction Workers: Comparison between the Residential and Commercial Sectors

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 8899
Author(s):  
Ann Marie Dale ◽  
Diane S. Rohlman ◽  
Lisa Hayibor ◽  
Bradley A. Evanoff
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Job Strain ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Supervisor Support ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Work Outcomes ◽  
Overtime Work ◽  
Work Factors ◽  
Lower Productivity

There are substantial differences in work organization between residential and commercial construction sectors. This paper examined differences in work factors between construction sectors and examined the association between sector and health behaviors, health outcomes, and work outcomes. We surveyed 929 male construction apprentices (44% residential and 56% commercial) and found that residential apprentices reported fewer workplace safety policies, higher frequency of heavy lifting, and greater likelihood of reporting musculoskeletal pain compared to apprentices in commercial work. Residential apprentices reported higher job strain, lower supervisor support, more lost workdays due to pain or injury, and lower productivity related to health than commercial apprentices. Multivariate Poisson regression models controlling for multiple work factors showed that residential construction work, high job strain, heavy lifting, low coworker support, and low supervisor support were each independently associated with one or more work or health outcomes. These findings suggest that interventions should seek to improve coworker and supervisory supportive behaviors, decrease job strain, and reduce organizational stressors, such as mandatory overtime work. Our study shows disparities in health and safety between construction sectors and highlights the need for interventions tailored to the residential sector.

scholarly journals O1E.2 Influence of work organization and environment on health and productivity outcomes among construction apprentices: a total worker health® approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A10.3-A11
Author(s):  
Ann Dale ◽  
Bradley Evanoff ◽  
Diane Rohlman ◽  
Jaime Strickland ◽  
Kevin Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Injury ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Job Security ◽  
Pain Medication ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Lower Productivity ◽  
Health And Well Being

IntroductionConstruction is a hazardous industry, with well-recognized risks of traumatic injury and high physical demands. Other threats to construction workers’ health and well-being occur from work organization and work environment factors, including precarious employment, long commutes, long work hours, and employer policies regarding health and safety. These non-traditional hazards have been associated with injury and illness, psychosocial stress, and unhealthy behaviors including poor diet and smoking. The cumulative impacts of both traditional and non-traditional hazards on the health and well-being of construction workers are largely unknown.MethodsWe conducted annual surveys among apprentice construction workers to identify relationships between four study domains: work organization and environment, health behaviors, health outcomes, and work outcomes.Results963 baseline surveys were completed and returned by apprentice construction workers (90% response rate, mean age 28). Preliminary analyses examined associations between work organization factors and four self-reported outcomes: lower work ability, lower productivity, higher rates of missed days of work due to injury, and use of prescription pain medication. We found that all four outcomes were associated with high job demands, low supervisor support, and low job security. Other factors associated with one or more outcomes included low job security, mandatory overtime, low coworker support, and low foreman supervision of safety. Compared to commercial construction workers, those in residential construction reported higher use of pain medication and higher rates of missed days due to work injuries. One year follow-up data from 901 workers are now being analyzed; we will present results of relationships between the four study domains.DiscussionCross-sectional data highlight non-traditional worksite health risks, and suggest potential interventions to improve heath behaviors and outcomes among construction workers.

scholarly journals Bullying, Supervisor Support, Relaxation, and Personal and Work Outcomes: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Gillet ◽  
Claude Fernet ◽  
Philippe Colombat ◽  
Pierre Cheyroux ◽  
Evelyne Fouquereau
Keyword(s):  
Supervisor Support ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Work Outcomes ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model

Institutional Investor Activism and Employee Safety: The Role of Activist and Board Political Ideology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Shi ◽  
Chongwu Xia ◽  
Philipp Meyer-Doyle
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Shareholder Activism ◽  
Institutional Investor ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Employee Health ◽  
The Political ◽  
Workplace Injury ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Investor Activism

Although prior research on shareholder activism has highlighted how such activism can economically benefit the shareholders of targeted firms, recent studies also suggest that shareholder activism can economically disadvantage nonshareholder stakeholders, notably employees. Our study extends this research by exploring whether shareholder activism by institutional investors (i.e., institutional investor activism) can adversely affect employee health and safety through increased workplace injury and illness. Furthermore, deviating from the assumption that financially motivated institutional investor activists are homogeneous in their goals and preferences, we investigate whether the influence of institutional investor activism on employee health and safety hinges on the political ideology of the shareholder activist and of the board of the targeted firm. Using establishment-level data, we find that institutional investor activism adversely influences workplace injury and illness at targeted firms and that this influence is stronger for nonliberal shareholder activists and for firms with a nonliberal board. Our study contributes to shareholder activism research by highlighting how the political ideology of shareholder activists and boards affects the impact of shareholder activism on stakeholders and how shareholder activism can adversely affect the health and safety of employees. Furthermore, our paper also contributes to research on workplace safety and the management of employee relations and human capital resources by highlighting the detrimental effect of a firm’s ownership by investor activists on its employees and how the board’s political ideology may enable a firm to reduce this risk.

scholarly journals The Community of Practice: A Method for Cooperative Learning of Occupational Health and Safety Inspectors

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1254-1268
Author(s):  
Luisella Gilardi ◽  
Maurizio Marino ◽  
Lidia Fubini ◽  
Antonella Bena ◽  
Elisa Ferro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Prevention Services ◽  
Questionnaire Result ◽  
Practice Methods

Background: Workplace injuries in Italy still occur despite laws and safety norms. We need to understand the causes rooted in the context and social conditions, and need to improve the practice of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) inspectors of the Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS) of the Italian regional health boards. The aims of this study were to describe the setting up of a Community of Practice (CoP) for the production of best practices for injury prevention and to evaluate the motivation of OSH inspectors for participating in the CoP and the effects of CoP participation on their professional practice. Methods: Two workplace injury stories underwent peer review during each CoP meeting. We evaluated the CoP using a focus group and a questionnaire. Result: Between 2014 and 2021, the CoP met in 18 workshops. Over the 8-year period, the CoP grew from 20 to 150 participants. Overall, 30 stories underwent peer review and were published on the institutional website. The focus group participants stated that the reasons why they participated in the CoP were the need to share experience and to tackle new challenges. Conclusion: The CoP was found to be useful for improving professional practice by strengthening professional identity and contributing to the production of new knowledge.

Workplace Safety and Criminalization

2020 ◽  
pp. 391-408
Author(s):  
Paul Almond
Keyword(s):  
Structural Change ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Contextual Features ◽  
Organizational Norms ◽  
Capacity Choice ◽  
Corporate Manslaughter ◽  
Open Question

This chapter argues that the contribution of criminalization to better health and safety in workplaces has been limited by certain contextual features of this regulatory method. It focuses on the role of criminal law in the health and safety legislation and the corporate manslaughter offence. In particular, this chapter argues that criminal law interventions are gravitationally oriented towards individualized notions of fault, capacity, choice, and responsibility. Once the liability enquiry is structured in this highly personalized way, the regulatory capacities of the criminal law to secure effective and enduring structural change is limited. Thus, it remains an open question whether the criminal law can accommodate approaches to responsibility that are more attuned to structures, cultures, and organizational norms.

The human factor in forest operations: Engineering for health and safety

2008 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-542
Author(s):  
Jeremy Rickards
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Factors Engineering ◽  
Forest Operations ◽  
Workplace Issues ◽  
Harvesting Systems ◽  
Unique Source ◽  
Forest Engineering

Human Factors Engineering is an interdisciplinary science concerned with the effect of work on the human body and its relationship to the workplace. Since the 1970s, UNB – Forest Engineering has been a major contributor to teaching and research in this discipline, and in its application to forest operations. Rapid advances in mechanized tree-harvesting systems resulted in significant new workplace issues for operator health, safety, and machine design. Researchers responded by creating a CSA standard, working cooperatively with FERIC, CPPA and more recently the CWF, and founding the International Journal of Forest Engineering, which is a unique source for research results and developments in this discipline. Future research will involve multi-national teams of Human Factors Engineers, supported by related disciplines in healthcare and engineering. Key words: human factors, forest engineering, workplace health, workplace safety, mechanized forest operations

scholarly journals Health and Safety in the Legal Cannabis Industry Before and During COVID-19

2020 ◽  
pp. 104829112097613
Author(s):  
Marty Otañez ◽  
Jassy Grewal
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Las Vegas ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Medical Cannabis ◽  
Federal Level ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
And Training

In 2020, medical cannabis is legal in thirty-six states and adult use (“recreational”) cannabis is legal in fifteen, despite cannabis remaining illegal at the federal level. Up to 250,000 individuals work as full-time employees in cannabis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, California, Colorado, and other states deemed medical cannabis business as essential, raising occupational challenges and safety issues for cannabis employees. In 2020, interviews were conducted with Ethan, an extraction lab assistant in Las Vegas; Haylee, a trainer with a cannabis company in Sacramento; and Belinda, a Wisconsin-based occupational health and safety trainer, to showcase concerns and experiences in cannabis workplaces and training programs. Findings from interviews reveal pro-worker activities to promote workplace safety and labor unionism while large multistate operators seek to optimize profits and obstruct workers' rights. Knowledge gained through the interviews contributes to discussions to lessen the potential exposure of the cannabis workforce to COVID 19.

Factors Associated With Health Complaints Among Leather Tannery Workers in Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-31
Author(s):  
Golam Rabbani ◽  
Baki Billah ◽  
Anil Giri ◽  
Sarder M. Hossain ◽  
Ahmmad I. Ibne Mahmud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Skin Diseases ◽  
Respiratory Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Exposures ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Health Complaints ◽  
Breathing Difficulty ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Tannery Workers

Background: Few studies have reported associations between occupational exposure to tannery chemicals with breathing difficulty and skin diseases and none have been conducted in Bangladesh. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of health complaints with types of work and length of employment among tannery workers in Bangladesh, where occupational health and safety regulations are less restricted compared with the developed world. Methods: One hundred sixty-seven ( n = 167) workers from 10 tanneries were interviewed using a questionnaire adapted from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) and the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study (TAHS) to collect information on occupational exposures and health outcomes. Workers’ length of employment was examined, as well as their areas of work including beamhouse, wet finishing, dry finishing, and miscellaneous. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to investigate potential associations while controlling for confounders. Results: Length of employment was positively associated with breathing difficulty (odds ratio [OR]: 1.32, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.07–1.64). Workers involved in the wet finishing (OR: 11.75, 95% CI: 2.12–65.10) and dry finishing (OR: 13.38, 95% CI: 1.00–181.70) had higher odds of breathing difficulty; while, working in the beamhouse was associated with an increased risk of developing skin diseases (OR: 4.36, 95% CI: 1.10–17.32). Conclusion/Application to Practice: Length of employment and types of work were associated with increased risk of health complaints, including breathing difficulty and skin disease among tannery workers. Stronger regulations with regular enforcement, regular health surveillance, and worker and employer education are necessary for reducing these exposures and improving the health outcomes of the tannery workers.

Calculating psychophysiological work factors in developing scientific work organization (NOT) plans

Refractories ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 13 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 338-340
Author(s):  
E. P. Purgin ◽  
A. V. Zhukhov ◽  
S. M. Vladimirov ◽  
V. I. Dobromyslova ◽  
E. I. Popovskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Work Organization ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Scientific Work Organization ◽  
Work Factors

Managing Workplace Safety and Health

2013 ◽  
pp. 512-536
Author(s):  
Thomas Kniesner ◽  
John D. Leeth
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Economic Incentive ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Market Forces ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Worker Health ◽  
Safety And Health

This entry explicates how market forces incent managers to be concerned with worker health and safety. It also notes how supplementing market forces are government actions intended to improve work-related health and safety. These include the legal system under tort laws, states’ workers’ compensation insurance Programs, research into the causes of health hazards at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the federal government’s workplace regulations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). An important empirical conclusion emerging is that the labor market, via the additional compensation workers require for exposure to health and safety risks, provides the largest economic incentive for managers making workplace decisions involving worker health-related well being.

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