Phenomenology of being a safe taxi driver.

BACKGROUND: In developing countries, a great number of people typically utilize public transportation such as Taxis. Therefore, taxi drivers have an important role in residents' well-being and safety. The aim of this study was to describe the subjective experiences and insights on safe driving among taxi drivers in Zanjan, Iran. METHOD: In this qualitative study, 17 taxi drivers (23-54 years) were purposefully selected to participate in 11 semi-structured interviews, as well as one focus group (n = 6). The data was then analyzed based on a combination of Braun's and Colaizzi's methods. RESULT: By analysis of the qualitative data, four main themes emerged from expressed experiences by taxi drivers, including 1) traffic chaos, 2) social prestige, 3) economic pressure, and 3) job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The emerging concepts of the present study imply a threefold structure of existence, which introduced by Heidegger, as taxi drivers' (the self) feelings and experiences of being under pressure of traffic chaos (the world), accompanied by low social prestige, economic pressure and job dissatisfaction (being in). Thus, strategic planning for traffic safety should consider taxi drivers' needs to feel a friendly world, as well as, to find themselves in a respectful and supportive environment.

Do dental students have a neutral working posture?

BACKGROUND: Dentists are susceptible to Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) due to prolonged static postures. To prevent MSDs, working postures of dental students should be assessed and corrected in early career life. OBJECTIVE: This study estimated the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders in dental students using Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) tool. METHODS: A number of 103 undergraduate dental students from fourth and fifth academic years participated. Postures of these students were assessed using RULA tool while working in the dental clinic. They also answered a questionnaire regarding their knowledge about postural dental ergonomic principles. RESULTS: The majority of the students (66%) were at intermediate and high risk levels to develop MSDs and their postures needed to be corrected. There was no significant correlation between RULA score and gender, academic year and different wards of dental clinics. There was no significant correlation between knowledge and RULA scores. CONCLUSIONS: Dental students did not have favorable working postures. They were at an intermediate to high risk for developing MSDs which calls for a change in their working postures. Therefore students should be trained with ergonomic principles and to achieve the best results, ergonomic lessons should be accompanied by practice and periodical evaluations.

Relationship between organisational safety culture dimensions and crashes.

Knowing about organisational safety culture in public transportation system can provide an appropriate guide to establish effective safety measures and interventions to improve safety at work. The aim of this study was investigation of association between safety culture dimensions (leadership styles and company values, usage of crashes information and prevention programmes, management commitment and safety policy, participation and control) with involved self-reported crashes. The associations were considered through Spearman correlation, Pearson chi-square test and logistic regression. The results showed an association among self-reported crashes (occurrence or non-occurrence) and factors including leadership styles and company values; management commitment and safety policy; and control. Moreover, it was found a negative correlation and an odds ratio less than one between control and self-reported crashes.

Reliability and validity of a safety climate questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: It is believed that improved safety culture/climate is a fundamental element to accident prevention. Therefore, development a scale to assess safety climate is a step towards accident control. The purpose of this study was to construct a Persian safety climate questionnaire. METHODS: The study took place in Tehran and Esfahan oil refineries in Iran in 2010. An initial questionnaire was formed from two previous studies. This tool was translated to Persian based on back translation. The 61-item questionnaire was tested on operational staffs (N=324). Principle component analysis and Varimax with Kaiser Normalization was used to extract factors, in statistical software package SPSS 11.0. RESULTS: The factors were obtained as Management Commitment to Safety and personnel collaboration 23 variables, 17.33 % of the variance, Safety communication five items, 6.97% of the variance, Supportive environment five items, 6.245% of the variance, Work Environment six items, 5.590% of the variance, Formal Training four items, 4.581% of the variance, Priority of Safety five items, 4.177% of the variance, Personal Priorities and Need for Safety three items, 3.333% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS: Achievement of a valid and reliable safety climate tool may bring enormous benefits to the refineries. However, a reliable and valid tool to measure safety climate could be useful in other refineries. Moreover, the generic nature of the safety climate scale may grant its use for other workplaces.