E-cigarette environmental and fire/life safety risks in schools reported by secondary school teachers.

BACKGROUND: To identify if e-cigarette usage is an on-campus problem for secondary schools and evaluate initial school survey responses. More specifically, this survey can aid in identifying where students are seen using e-cigarettes, if smoke alarms have been newly inserted on school property, if smoke alarms have been tampered with to allow for vaping without detection; and, if any e-cigarette fires or explosions have occurred on school property. METHODS: This survey, disseminated to New Jersey secondary school teachers across seven sessions January-July 2019, resulted in 104 complete responses of 109 respondents. The survey was conducted after fire prevention, exit/egress, and life safety portions of "OSHA 10 Plus for General Industry" courses. Survey questions included number of times teachers observed students vaping and location where vaping in last 12 months, fire alarm installation and tampering, and fires or explosions and injuries from vaping/e-cigarette devices. RESULTS: Many (63%) respondents reported very or moderately common rates of vaping within their schools; however, three of four questions regarding school fire and smoke alarm use specifically to detect vaping had a majority of unsure/I don't know responses. CONCLUSION: Results suggested concerns regarding student vaping and e-cigarette use inside and outside secondary schools. Improved school detection and response are warranted. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable.

Online and in-Person Violence, Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying in New Jersey: 2011-2016.

BACKGROUND: New Jersey (NJ) Safe Schools Program, primarily funded by the NJ Department of Education, has aims concerning safety and health including helping to alleviate harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB) in secondary school because HIB can affect learning. We evaluated officially reported adolescent HIB total incidents and estimated rates in NJ public city and county school districts for the 2011-2016 school years. METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study using population-based state-reported public data. We calculated point prevalence and incidence rates for K-12 students in 22 public city school districts, students in 21 career-technical-vocational education (CTE) school districts, and 8 special services school districts during 2011-2016. RESULTS: HIB is prevalent in NJ school classrooms. HIB comprised ≥75% of total officially reported in-school violence-related incidents in a given school year. Rates per 100 enrollees of total officially reported incidents for the 5-year period of 2011-2016 was highest in special services school districts (5.00; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.67, 5.34) followed by CTE districts (1.94; 95% CI: 1.86, 2.01), and lowest in city districts (1.46; 95% CI: 1.44, 1.48). The special services school district also had the highest rates per year and the 5-year period. CONCLUSIONS: Data analyses suggested ideas for further research and improvements for school HIB incident reports. Policies and programs could remedy issues observed in state secondary school classrooms. Best practices within districts and schools can help protect students from HIB and promote safety, health, learning, and maturation.

Injury surveillance trends in career-technical education: New Jersey 1999-2018.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents engaging in school-sponsored work experiences may be at risk of injury due to factors such as inexperience. This article examines trends in 20 years of reported injuries among New Jersey (NJ) adolescents engaging in school-sponsored work experiences, and compares a transition from paper to online reporting format. METHODS: New Jersey requires reporting of injuries occurring during school-sponsored work experiences to the NJ Department of Education. Injuries reported by NJ schools from 1999 to 2018 (n = 2,119) were examined; incidence rates for 2008 to 2018 (n = 743) were calculated using publicly available NJ Department of Education enrollment data for the denominator, including for specific groups of students: career and technical education; special healthcare needs. RESULTS: A downward trend in reported injuries in NJ schools was observed. However, the year online reporting became required by code (2013), an increase of nearly 50% was seen from 2012 (59-89), followed by a decline in reported incidents 2014 to 2018 (mean = 65, range 76 down to 47). Injury rate trends over time paralleled those of reported incidents. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested worker safety and public health benefits of improvements from State of NJ code required training programs and online injury surveillance report form. Practical Applications: One potential method to address the safety and health of adolescents engaging in work experiences is the use of online reporting forms, to aid in surveillance efforts, coupled with occupational safety and health training specifically geared toward teachers and administrators who both supervise young, relatively inexperienced and vulnerable workers and who make relatively frequent worksite visits. Incorporation of specific details of the instructions on the use of a reporting form into required trainings, in addition to providing a clear, accessible guidance manual online, could further help improve youth worker safety surveillance efforts.