Injuries and Exposure to Time Lobstering in Northeast US Inshore Lobster Fleet.

Objectives: The study objective was to estimate a denominator of exposure to inshore lobstering in Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs), to count incident injury data from a sample cohort of this population, to use this count to calculate rates for incident injuries, and to use official counts of fatalities to estimate a fatality rate.Methods: Captains were randomly selected from those licensed to fish in Maine and Massachusetts. Data on work exposure and injuries that occurred on the boat were collected using a survey that was administered once per season via phone or face-to-face interview with the captain. Data included self-reports of the number of weeks worked during the season, average crew size, number of trips per week, and average trip length in hours. In addition, this survey captured relevant information (body segment affected, type of injury, and whether treatment was received) on all acute injuries occurring during the season. Only data on acute injuries were collected, and defined as having newly occurred within the last 3 months. Counts of fatalities were obtained from an official surveillance database at the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety.Results: The total occupational exposure reported for the cohort was over 2 million man-hours over 4 years, resulting in an average annual FTE of 5,847. The fatality rate averaged over 4 years was 21/100,000 FTE. The incidence rates for all injuries (51.0/100 FTE) and injuries receiving treatment (17.5/100 FTE) were much higher than those reported in other studies of fishing that used US Coast Guard data. Lobstermen presented with all categories of injuries, sprains being the most frequent (7.8/100 FTE) and amputations the least (0.2/100 FTE). Wrist/hand injuries on the right side occurred most frequently of all body locations (3.6/100 FTE).Conclusion: Non-fatal injuries occur at high rates in lobstering. The impact of interventions aimed at exposure to risk for sprains and cuts has potential to affect the most lobstermen. Fatality rate appears to have been unchanging since the year 2000.

Likelihood of Entanglement when Materials are Dropped Vertically onto a Rotating PTO Knuckle.

Power take-off (PTO) is a common method of transferring power from a tractor to a towed piece of machinery. The PTO is also a well-documented cause of severe and often permanent disabling injuries to farm operators. The physical conditions that cause entanglements are not well established. Several studies have explored the parameters of PTO entanglements as materials have been drawn across a rotating PTO knuckle to test for entanglement probability. The objective of this study was to determine probability of entanglement when materials are dropped vertically onto a PTO knuckle spinning at 540 rpm. A total of 360 randomized trials were conducted with ten replications for each of the six positions (center of yoke, edge of yoke rotating downward, edge of yoke rotating upward, center of cross, edge of cross rotating downward, and edge of cross rotating upward) and six different materials (woven cotton athletic shoe lace, cotton workboot lace, leather workboot lace, cotton twine, denim strip, and Tyvek strip). Not a single entanglement was recorded. Dramatic high-speed video imagery authenticated the material's motion and path as it interacted with the rotating PTO knuckle.

The use of personal flotation devices in the Northeast lobster fishing industry: An examination of the decision-making process.

BACKGROUND: This study explored perspectives of Northeast commercial lobstermen regarding the use of personal flotation devices (PFDs). Researchers sought to identify factors contributing to low PFD use, and motivators that could lead to increased use of PFDs. METHODS: This qualitative research (n = 72) included 25 commercial fishermen who participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews, and 47 attendees of Lobstermen's meetings who engaged in focus groups. RESULTS: The results showed substantial barriers to PFD use. Fishermen described themselves as being proactive about safety whenever possible, but described a longstanding tradition of not wearing PFDs. Key factors integrally linked with the lack of PFD use were workability, identity/social stigma, and risk diffusion. CONCLUSION: Future safety interventions will need to address significant barriers to PFD use that include issues of comfort and ease of use, as well as social acceptability of PFDs and reorientation of risk perceptions related to falls overboard.

Identification of the human factors contributing to maintenance failures in a petroleum operation.

OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to identify the most frequently occurring human factors contributing to maintenance-related failures within a petroleum industry organization. Commonality between failures will assist in understanding reliability in maintenance processes, thereby preventing accidents in high-hazard domains. BACKGROUND: Methods exist for understanding the human factors contributing to accidents. Their application in a maintenance context mainly has been advanced in aviation and nuclear power. Maintenance in the petroleum industry provides a different context for investigating the role that human factors play in influencing outcomes. It is therefore worth investigating the contributing human factors to improve our understanding of both human factors in reliability and the factors specific to this domain. METHOD: Detailed analyses were conducted of maintenance-related failures (N = 38) in a petroleum company using structured interviews with maintenance technicians. The interview structure was based on the Human Factor Investigation Tool (HFIT), which in turn was based on Rasmussen's model of human malfunction. RESULTS: A mean of 9.5 factors per incident was identified across the cases investigated.The three most frequent human factors contributing to the maintenance failures were found to be assumption (79% of cases), design and maintenance (71%), and communication (66%). CONCLUSION: HFIT proved to be a useful instrument for identifying the pattern of human factors that recurred most frequently in maintenance-related failures. APPLICATION: The high frequency of failures attributed to assumptions and communication demonstrated the importance of problem-solving abilities and organizational communication in a domain where maintenance personnel have a high degree of autonomy and a wide geographical distribution.

Benefits of immediate EMDR vs. eclectic therapy intervention for victims of physical violence and accidents at the workplace: a pilot study.

This study focuses on 34 victims of aggression at the workplace, less than 48 hours following the incident of aggression. We compared victims who received an EMDR emergency protocol (URG-EMDR; n = 19) that we developed with those who received a method of intervention called eclectic therapy (n = 15). The results show that URG-EMDR therapy, provided within 48 hours, resulted in a greater decrease in perceived stress and a lower PCL-S score than eclectic therapy did. The scores were lower in both groups after 24 hours, and after 3 months, the drop was significantly greater among the victims treated with the URG-EMDR protocol; none of the EMDR-treated patients exhibited symptoms of posttraumatic stress.

Prevalence and occupational predictors of psychological distress in the offshore petroleum industry: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates the prevalence of psychological distress and stressors in the work environment as prospective predictors of distress, among employees in the offshore petroleum industry. METHODS: Correlation and logistic regression analyses were employed to examine longitudinal relationships between stressors and distress in a randomly drawn sample of 741 employees from the Norwegian petroleum offshore industry. Time lag between baseline and follow-up was 6 months. Work environment stressors included safety factors, leadership, and job characteristics. RESULTS: The prevalence of psychological distress was 9 % at baseline and 8 % at follow-up. All investigated work environment factors correlated with subsequent distress. In bivariate logistic regression analyses, caseness of distress was predicted by baseline distress, near miss accidents, risk perception, poor safety climate, tyrannical leadership, laissez-faire leadership, job demands, and workplace bullying. After adjustment for baseline distress, control variables, and other predictors, laissez-faire leadership (OR = 1.69; 95 % CI: 1.12-2.54) and exposure to bullying (OR = 1.49; 95 % CI: 1.07-2.10) emerged as the most robust predictors of subsequent distress. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show that the prevalence of psychological distress is lower among offshore employees than in the general population. Although offshore workers operate in a physically challenging context, their mental health is mainly influenced by stressors in the psychosocial work environment. This highlights the importance of developing and implementing psychosocial safety interventions within the offshore industry.

Prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic growth in accidentally injured patients.

This study examined prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic growth in 180 accidentally injured patients of mainland China in their convalescence stage, investigating its relationships with demographic and accidental injury variables, personality, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and coping styles. Our results showed that posttraumatic growth (PTG) presented mostly in the domain of Relating to Others and indicated that PTG was significantly related to marital status, educational level, personality, coping styles, and PTSD symptoms. Avoidance of PTSD symptoms, Openness to experience, and positive coping were significant predictors of PTG. The findings emphasize that when promoting PTG of accidentally injured patients, healthcare providers should facilitate patients utilizing personal resources, understand PTG coexists with PTSD symptoms, and adjust interventions based on the coping styles the patients have adopted.

Visão dos trabalhadores acerca das suas condições de trabalho em um centro integrado de saúde / The worker’s vision about their working conditions at integrated health center

Pesquisa realizada em um Centro Integrado de Saúde inserido no âmbito de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior Particular, situada no Município do Rio de Janeiro. Metodologia fundamentada em uma abordagem quantitativa, não-experimental, apoiada na estatística inferencial descritiva, baseada no problema de estudo: Quais os fatores que caracterizam as condições de trabalho em um Centro Integrado de Saúde (CIS)? Teve como objetivo, analisar a visão dos trabalhadores em um Centro Integrado de Saúde acerca de suas condições de trabalho. Utilizou-se uma população constituída de 73 trabalhadores. Foram aplicados dois instrumentos: o caderno B, que consta de um questionário auto-aplicativo sobre Riscos e Danos e o caderno C que é um formulário de observação sobre as condições de trabalho de Mauro & Mauro (2009) adaptado de Boix e Vogel (1997). Os dados foram analisados através do Programa Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) versão 13.0. Na visão dos trabalhadores, os resultados em relação aos riscos (físico, químico, biológico, ergonômico e de acidente) e considerando as variáveis “desconhece”, “não acontece”, “raramente” e “freqüentemente”, os mesmos indicaram uma freqüência diversificada, embora a maior incidência esteja no grupo de risco biológico com “a variável freqüentemente” e nos demais “a variável raramente”. Quanto aos problemas de saúde evidenciados, no questionário B em ordem decrescente, os que se destacaram foram os problemas oculares; lesão por acidente; varizes; dor de cabeça; hipertensão; doenças infecciosas; lombalgias; lesão da coluna vertebral; dores musculares crônicas; problemas de articulação e estresse. Quanto aos resultados do Caderno C, através de observação pelos especialistas, os riscos são variáveis, destacando-se os riscos ergonômicos, os de acidentes e os biológicos...

Research took place in an integrated health center inserted in the ambit of a private college degree institution, in the county of Rio de Janeiro. Methodology based on quantitative approach, non-experimental, based on the descriptive with inference statistics, based on the problem of study: Which factors characterized the working conditions in an integrated health center (IHC)? The objective was, to analyze the point of view of workers in an integrated health center about their working conditions. It was used a population of 73 workers. Two instruments were applied: the copybook B, that has a questionnaire self-explanatory about risks and damages and the copybook C that is a form of observation about the working conditions from Mauro & Mauro (2009) adapted from Boix and Vogel (1997). The data was analyzed through the software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 13.0. In the workers' point of view the results according to risks ( physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic and from incident) and considered the variables " do not know", " does not happen", " rarely" and " usually", they indicated a diverse frequency, although the highest incidence be in the biological group with "the option usually" and in the others " the option rarely". When it comes to the health problems evidenced, in the questionnaire B in decreasing order the highlighted ones were ocular problems, injury from incidents, varicose veins, headache, hypertension, infectious diseases, back pain, hurt backbone, chronicle muscular pains, joint problems and stress. The results in copybook C, through observations by the experts, the risks can vary, highlighting the ergonomic ones, the ones from incidents and the biological...

Psychosocial factors affecting employees abilities to return to work.

This literature review explored the experiences of workers with on-the-job injuries, and the effect of psychosocial factors on their abilities to return to work. Four common themes were discovered frustration, depression, discrimination, and obstacles in understanding how the workers compensation system works and in obtaining care. The literature review suggested that interventions such as rehabilitation programs and psychosocial interventions help injured workers return to work. Nursing implications, including early, comprehensive, and fair interventions, are discussed. Intervening in this manner contributes to holistic nursing care of injured workers.

Returning back pain patients to work: how private musculoskeletal practitioners outside the national health service perceive their role (an interview study).

BACKGROUND: Private musculoskeletal practitioners treat a large section of people with back pain, and could play an important role in returning and maintaining patients to work. METHOD: We conducted a qualitative study to explore the self-perceived role of such practitioners in the UK. We interviewed 44 practitioners, including chiropractors, osteopaths and physiotherapists. RESULTS: Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts indicated that return to work is a high priority for patients, many of whom are self-employed. Although in general work was perceived as beneficial to health, practitioners perceived work as a threat for some of their back pain patients. They perceived their role as giving ergonomic, postural and exercise based advice, but were more reluctant to address psychosocial problems related to back pain. A common view was that patients' reluctance to take a break from work impacted badly on their condition, and many practitioners advocated a short time off work duties to focus on rehabilitation. Contact with employers was very limited, and determined by the patients' request. CONCLUSION: In summary, the study identifies several areas in which further education could expand the role of musculoskeletal practitioners and benefit their back pain patients. However, further study is required to determine whether these results are generalisable beyond the limits of this qualitative study UK based study.

Relationships between observed and perceived deviations from normative work procedures.

Deviations from anticipated courses of events are often associated with accidents, while the effects of deviations that decrease productivity but do not obviously lead to human injury are less clear. A systemic approach to production and safety is introduced, and it is proposed that production deviations have effects that may lead to safety violations and personal injury. In addition, the relationship between observed and perceived production deviations from 12 senior (60-79 years old) males' routine work using three firewood processing machines is analysed. For simple machine work, perceived deviations were positively related to observed deviations per work cycle and inversely correlated to the perception of work efficiency. For more complex machine work it was more difficult to match observers' and operators' perceptions of deviations. Despite challenges in the production deviation concept, this approach offers a holistic understanding of the performance of human-machine-environment systems and complements assessments of deviations from safe working practice.

Effects of risk-focused and recommendation-focused mental imagery on occupational risk communication.

This study examined the impact of mental imagery instructions in a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) safety document conveying risk and safety information to farmers. A sample of 314 farmers recruited from a large Southeastern state fair was randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 x 2 design. Participants received a NIOSH safety document about skid steer loader safety in which 2 types of mental imagery instructions were manipulated: (a) risk-focused (imagery vs. control) and (b) recommendation-focused (imagery vs. control). Results indicate that risk-focused imagery influenced perceptions of susceptibility to workplace accidents, whereas recommendation-focused imagery influenced attitudes toward engaging in safety behaviors, intentions to share safety information with others, and perceptions of the safety message. Further analyses indicated that ease of imagery partially mediated the relationship between the imagery manipulations and these outcomes. Other potential mechanisms for these effects are discussed.

Imagery rescripting and reprocessing therapy after failed prolonged exposure for post-traumatic stress disorder following industrial injury.

Prolonged exposure (PE) has been reported to be effective for improving post-traumatic stress symptoms in 60-65% of trauma victims suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study examined the results of adding an imagery-based, cognitive restructuring component (imagery rescripting and reprocessing therapy, IRRT) to the treatment of 23 Type I trauma victims suffering from PTSD, all of whom failed to improve with PE alone. With the added treatment component, 18 of 23 clients showed a full recovery from their PTSD symptoms, and no longer met criteria for PTSD after 1-3 sessions of IRRT. It was noteworthy that non-FEAR emotions (e.g., guilt, shame, anger) were found to be predominant for all 23 PE failures examined in this study, suggesting that a simple habituation model (on which PE is based) is not sufficient to address non-FEAR emotions in PTSD. By contrast, IRRT, a cognitive restructuring treatment, was much more effective in PTSD symptom reduction for these clients. It was proposed that more detailed, individualized trauma assessments be conducted for each patient that focus on (1) identifying the predominant trauma-related emotions and cognitions that maintain the PTSD response, and (2) finding the best CBT "treatment fit" for the specific trauma characteristics of each patient.

Betel nut chewing and selected psychophysiological variables.

28 male operators of earth movers, with an average age of 30 years, after chewing various quantities of betel not, volunteered to participate in a laboratory study of visual choice-reaction time, digit span, eye-hand coordination, pulse rate, and blood pressure. Analysis of variance identified a statistically significant increase in pulse rate only. Given no significant decrement in scores on any work-related measure discussion concerns the possible use of betel put at the work: place and particularly as an antidore for drivers fatigue. Limitations of the study, implications of the findings, and suggestions for research are discussed.

Burn victims after a major disaster: reactions of patients and their care-givers.

There have been considerable advances in the physical management of burns, and there is a greater awareness of their psychological impact. However, much less attention has been given to the staff who have to deal with burn victims. Disasters are critical incidents which offer a magnified opportunity to appreciate with what care-givers have to cope and how they do so. This paper identifies how complex are the psychological and emotional reactions associated with burn care, and it advocates that more should be done, by means of debriefing, to cater for the needs of staff after critical incidents.