Comparative Analysis of the Concepts of Safety Culture at Work

The main concepts of safety culture at work and the problems of their adaptation to specific conditions at the enterprises of PJSC LUKOIL and PJSC SIBUR Holding are considered. Safety culture is a broad concept that includes a set of knowledge, beliefs, moral values, habits, skills, as well as a set of legislative and normative acts. Individual elements of a safety culture can be implemented in various combinations. However, not all the organizations have a specific concept for implementing safety culture programs in their workplaces. In this regard, the study of the efficiency of the activities of the enterprises of PJSC LUKOIL and PJSC SIBUR Holding was conducted to improve the culture of occupational safety. The dynamics of incidents and its dependence on the introduced measures for the implementation of programs for the culture of safety at work were assessed. The objectives of this work are to establish afore-mentioned dependence at work, as well as to identify the best practices for introducing an occupational safety culture. The causes of injuries and their relationship with the safety culture at work, as well as the influence of individual tools of this culture on the frequency and severity of incidents are considered. It is established that the use of only informational tools, as is done at many Russian enterprises, does not reduce injuries. Simple information does not lead to an improvement in occupational safety and efficiency of the enterprise, and sometimes even causes the opposite effect. The most promising and efficient tool for the occupational safety culture is the assessment of occupational risks, i.e., identification of incidents that potentially lead to injury or incident. The conducted analysis of the implementation of various programs on the culture of occupational safety will help enterprises to choose the concept of safety culture that is optimal for themselves and, as a result, reduce the level of work injuries.

Economic burden of work injuries and diseases: a framework and application in five European Union countries

Background Estimates of the economic burden of work injuries and diseases can help policymakers prioritize occupational health and safety policies and interventions in order to best allocate scarce resources. Several attempts have been made to estimate these economic burdens at the national level, but most have not included a comprehensive list of cost components, and none have attempted to implement a standard approach across several countries. The aim of our study is to develop a framework for estimating the economic burden of work injuries and diseases and implement it for selected European Union countries. Methods We develop an incidence cost framework using a bottom-up approach to estimate the societal burden of work injuries and diseases and implement it for five European Union countries. Three broad categories of costs are considered—direct healthcare, indirect productivity and intangible health-related quality of life costs. We begin with data on newly diagnosed work injuries and diseases from calendar year 2015. We consider lifetime costs for cases across all categories and incurred by all stakeholders. Sensitivity analysis is undertaken for key parameters. Results Indirect costs are the largest part of the economic burden, then direct costs and intangible costs. As a percentage of GDP, the highest overall costs are for Poland (10.4%), then Italy (6.7%), The Netherlands (3.6%), Germany (3.3%) and Finland (2.7%). The Netherlands has the highest per case costs (€75,342), then Italy (€58,411), Germany (€44,919), Finland (€43,069) and Poland (€38,918). Costs per working-age population are highest for Italy (€4956), then The Netherlands (€2930), Poland (€2793), Germany (€2527) and Finland (€2331). Conclusions Our framework serves as a template for estimating the economic burden of work injuries and diseases across countries in the European Union and elsewhere. Results can assist policymakers with identifying health and safety priority areas based on the magnitude of components, particularly when stratified by key characteristics such as industry, injury/disease, age and sex. Case costing can serve as an input into the economic evaluation of prevention initiatives. Comparisons across countries provide insights into the relevant performance of health and safety systems.

Disability of enterprise employees in Chelyabinsk region of Russia due to poor environmental conditions

The research is based on analysis of the survey for identification of reasons for injuries and following disability of staff which was organized in November and December 2020. Experts-respondents were 415 employees of 258 enterprises and organization in Chelyabinsk region. As the main reason for disability was named mental outside of work injuries. The second reason is physical outside of work injuries. The 3rd place in the list is physical injuries at work. The fourth reason is mental injuries at work. Thus, the working activity of respondents is 2.4 times less traumatic than outside of work activity. Experts named the reduction of attentiveness as the most valuable reason of injuries and following disability (24.3%). Then follow the omission of technical control over the content of materials, equipment performance and tool quality (19.2%), the omission of control over employees’ behavior (19.1%), risky behavior of employees at work (18.6%), problems of the legislative framework for safety and health (8.7%), no-fault incidents (5.8%).

Factors for Assessing the Degree of a Victim’s Fault in an Industrial Incident

The aim of this work is to improve the procedure for investigating industrial incidents. The article offers the methodology for assessing the degree of fault of the incident participants, including work injuries, based on a factor analysis of the event causes. Causal factors are divided into 20 groups, allowing to cover the entire spectrum of possible causes of any event. Br ief description is given concerning the most often used methodology of incident analysis in the companies of fuel and energy complex. Based on the methods — Scale of events, Fault tree, and Five why — one of the most common incidents were analyzed, namely, falling on a flight of stairs of the office building during employee descending stairs. This incident belongs to the conditional group of End-to-end risks, that is risks inherent in all the workplaces at any enterprise. The causal factors and the exposure level on the participants of this event were determined, and the percentage of the victim’s fault was calculated. The proposed methodology is based on the practice of internal investigation of incidents of the leading companies of fuel and energy complex. This methodology will help to eliminate gaps in the legislation, bring clarity and transparency to the procedure for investigating an industrial incident in terms of determining the degree of fault of the insured (victim) in case of gross negligence. The proposed methodology will be useful for specialists in the field of occupational and industrial safety, state labor inspectors and representatives of the trade unions. It can be assumed that this methodology will motivate the employees of fuel and energy complex to work safely and increase the level of safety culture.

Labour Protections for Overseas Chinese Workers: Legal Framework and Judicial Practice

The launch of China’s Belt and Road Initiative has brought attention to the dispatch of Chinese workers overseas. These vulnerable migrants are often charged high fees in China only to suffer wage abuses and work injuries abroad, where obtaining relief is often impossible. But what laws or regulations within China protect these workers, and how effective are they? This study takes an initial step towards answering those unexplored questions by analysing over 100 Chinese court decisions. While, for much of the China’s history, overseas workers were primarily seconded abroad by Chinese employers, a clear preference has emerged for sending workers through intermediary agencies that can charge fees and execute ‘service’ contracts. Nonetheless, the courts generally provide some relief to aggrieved workers who are dispatched through formal channels. However, a large number of workers go abroad through informal brokers. When disputes arise in these cases, judicial practice becomes very inconsistent. Ironically, workers sometimes fare better because the courts adopt a ‘strict liability’ approach that punishes the unregistered broker, ordering them to pay all compensation or refund all fees. But some judges punish the worker who entrusted an unregistered broker or worked abroad on a tourist visa. And other courts simply treat the matter as a contract or tort dispute. While aggrieved overseas workers who litigate in court face mixed results, this article also discusses why many workers never make it to the courthouse door. The conclusion offers proposals to enhance protections for overseas workers and discusses why it is important that China do so.

Days away from Work Injury and Associated Factors among Waste Collectors in Mekelle City, Northern Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: In its nature, solid waste management is a labour intensive industry, which exposes workers to numerous occupational hazards. This study was aimed to investigate the magnitude of days away from work injuries and associated factors among organized waste collectors in Mekelle city, Northern Ethiopia. Method: A questionnaire and observation checklist based cross-sectional study design was employed from June 1 to 30, 2017. Data was analysed using SPSS for windows 20.0. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression methods were used to describe the study population and assess the association between dependent and independent variables, respectively. Result: From the total of 279 waste collectors involved as a study participant, ten percent(10%) of them reported at least one day away from work injuries during the last twelve months. Female were 96% less likely to be injured as compared to male (AOR = 0.04, 95%CI: 0.008 -0.204). Being married is 87% less likely to be injured as compared to being a single (AOR = 0.130 95% CI: 0.027-0.621). The odds of injury were 4.5 times higher among those who do not use personal protective equipment as compared to their counterparts (AOR = 4.514 95%CI: 1.684-12.095). Waste collectors, who had less than 1000 Birr income, were 3 times more likely to be injured than waste collectors who had greater than 1001 Birr per month income (AOR = 3.008 95%CI: 1.081 - 8.371.Conclusion: Days away from work injury among waste collectors is a public health problem and has an impact on the economic and social well-being of workers. Therefore, strengthening the provision of personal protective devices and insuring its utilization is highly recommended.