Diagnostic intervention program based on construction workers' internal factors for persistent reduction of unsafe behavior

PurposeThis study aims to show what interventions in human factors can effectively reduce construction workers' unsafe behavior.Design/methodology/approachA diagnostic intervention model targeted the construction workers' weakest internal factors. The workers' behavior and cognition data were collected via a questionnaire and a video camera system from two medium-sized construction sites. A safety supervisor accompanied each site supervisor to improve construction workers' internal factors by implementing the designed intervention measures.FindingsThe statistical analysis results confirmed a persistent positive effect on construction workers' safe behavior by improving internal factors. Among the intervention programs applied, those aimed to improve the subjective norms, safety knowledge and attitudes had the most significant effect sizes.Practical implicationsThe findings of this case study advise project managers to design a specific behavioral intervention that aims at improving construction workers' significant internal factors, including subjective norms, safety attitudes, habits and knowledge together with demographic characteristics to reduce construction workers' unsafe behavior.Originality/valueWhile the declining rate of construction accidents approaches an asymptote which is still high, this study suggests that targeting the individual internal factors through diagnostic interventions is the key to further reduce the rate by improving construction workers' behavior.

Nurses and physicians attitudes towards factors related to hospitalized patient safety

Introduction The attitudes of healthcare staff towards patients’ safety, including awareness of the risk for adverse events, are significant elements of an organization’s safety culture. Aim of research To evaluate nurses and physicians’ attitudes towards factors influencing hospitalized patient safety. Materials and methods The research included 606 nurses and 527 physicians employed in surgical and medical wards in 21 Polish hospitals around the country. The Polish adaptation of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) was used to evaluate the factors influencing attitudes towards patient safety. Results Both nurses and physicians scored highest in stress recognition (SR) (71.6 and 80.86), while they evaluated working conditions (WC) the lowest (45.82 and 52,09). Nurses achieved statistically significantly lower scores compared to physicians in every aspect of the safety attitudes evaluation (p<0.05). The staff working in surgical wards obtained higher scores within stress recognition (SR) compared to the staff working in medical wards (78.12 vs. 73.72; p = 0.001). Overall, positive working conditions and effective teamwork can contribute to improving employees’ attitudes towards patient safety. Conclusions The results help identify unit level vulnerabilities associated with staff attitudes toward patient safety. They underscore the importance of management strategies that account for staff coping with occupational stressors to improve patient safety.

“Time is of the essence”: relationship between hospital staff perceptions of time, safety attitudes and staff wellbeing

Background Hospitals are perceived as fast-paced and complex environments in which a missed or incorrect diagnosis or misread chart has the potential to lead to patient harm. However, to date, limited attention has been paid to studying how hospital sociotemporal norms may be associated with staff wellbeing or patient safety. The aim of this study was to use novel network analysis, in conjunction with well-established statistical methods, to investigate and untangle the complex interplay of relationships between hospital staff perceived sociotemporal structures, staff safety attitudes and work-related well-being. Method Cross-sectional survey data of hospital staff (n = 314) was collected from four major hospitals in Australia. The survey included subscales from the Organizational Temporality Scale (OTS), two previously established scales of safety attitudes (teamwork climate and safety climate) and measures of staff-related wellbeing (job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation). Results Using confirmatory factor analysis, we first tested a 19-item version of the OTS for use in future studies of hospital temporality (the OTS-H). Novel psychological network analysis techniques were then employed, which identified that “pace” (the tempo or rate of hospital activity) occupies the central position in understanding the complex relationship between temporality, safety attitudes and staff wellbeing. Using a path analysis approach, serial mediation further identified that pace has an indirect relationship with safety attitudes through wellbeing factors, that is, pace impacts on staff wellbeing, which in turn affects hospital safety attitudes. Conclusions The findings of this study are important in revealing that staff wellbeing and safety attitudes can be significantly improved by placing more focus on temporal norms, and in particular hospital pace. There are implications for increasing levels of trust and providing staff with opportunities to exercise greater levels of control over their work.

Patient safety attitudes of frontline healthcare workers in Lahore: A multicenter study

Objectives: To evaluate patient safety attitudes of the frontline health workers in a hospital of Lahore, Pakistan. Methods: A self-administered Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) survey was deployed in five hospitals across Lahore, Pakistan (July 2019 to June 2020). A total of 1250 consecutive consenting nurses and postgraduate trainee physicians of under five years working experience were recruited. Assessment for each of the six subdomains (teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, stress recognition, perception of management, working conditions) was done on a 0-100 scale. Multivariate analyses examined their relationship with job cadre (nurses and physicians), duration of respondents’ work experience (< 2 years, 3 - 4 years, > 4 years), and hospital sector (private and public). Results: The response rate was 97% (1212 individuals; 765 nurses, 447 physicians). Nurses scored less than physicians in teamwork climate (-2.4, 95% CI -4.5 – -0.2, p=0.02) and stress recognition (-10.6, 95% CI -13.5 – -7.7, p<0.001), but more in perception of management (4.2, 95% CI 1.5 – 6.8, p=0.002) and working conditions (3.4, 95% CI 0.66 – 6.2, p=0.01). Increasing work experience was related to greater scores in all subdomains. Private hospitals scored generally higher than public ones. Conclusion: Duration of job experience was positively correlated with patient safety attitudes of hospital staff. These finding could serve as the baseline to shape staff perceptions by cadre in both public and private sector hospitals. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.1.4964 How to cite this:Arkam J, Azhar S, Khan KS, Aman A. Patient safety attitudes of frontline healthcare workers in Lahore: A multicenter study. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(1):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.1.4964 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Relationships among Perceived Control, Safety Attitude, and Safety Performance: A Case Study on Wastewater Treatment Plant Workers

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an indispensable part of the infrastructure of modern cities. However, because of the existence of many confined working spaces in them, they also pose significant risks of occupational hazards for workers. Therefore, this study was conducted on WWTP workers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan to explore the connections among the perceived control, safety attitude, and safety performance of WWTP workers. In total, 123 valid questionnaires were returned for descriptive statistical analysis, variance analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. According to the analysis results, the WWTP workers in this study indicated a mid to high level of perceived control, and they generally believed they were also responsible for industrial safety management. The variance analysis results showed that workers of a different gender, age, service unit, and seniority had significantly different safety attitudes. The hierarchical regression analysis results indicated that the perceived control of the WWTP workers had a significant influence on their safety performance through their safety attitude, which served as a mediator between perceived control and safety performance. It is hoped that these findings can provide references for WWTP managers and workers in their daily communication, operation, and safety management system introduction to ensure better safety.

A cultura de segurança do paciente em um hospital privado no Sul do Brasil

Objetivo: Analisar a cultura de segurança do paciente em um hospital privado no Sul do Brasil. Método: Trata-se de um estudo exploratório, descritivo de abordagem quantitativa, realizada em agosto e setembro de 2019 por meio do Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Participaram 100 trabalhadores de diversas categorias profissionais e lotados nos três turnos de trabalho. A análise dos dados foi realizada por meio da estatística descritiva. Resultados: A cultura de segurança do paciente na instituição é considerada adequada, uma vez que a maioria dos domínios apresentou um percentual entre 50% e 75% de positividade. Conclusões: Considera-se os resultados positivos, uma vez que os resultados apresentam-se como positivos para a maioria dos participantes da pesquisa, contudo é necessário investir na qualificação das práticas em saúde, principalmente por meio da educação continuada e permanente das equipes multiprofissionais atuantes e disponibilização de ferramentas que auxiliem nessas dinâmicas.