A systems model for the design of occupational health and safety management systems inclusive of work-from-home arrangements.

The study addressed an important knowledge gap in the literature by co-designing a model for OHS management systems inclusive of workers who work-from-home, with a focus on psychosocial risks. This qualitative research study utilised a series of co-design focus groups involving Australian regulators, health and safety managers and practitioners, senior managers, middle managers and workers who work-from-home, to better understand the types of measures that organisations can apply to improve their health and safety management systems. Using a systems approach, consideration was given to the organisation of the remote working system, the home-work interface for remote workers, the competencies of managers and employees in regard to their occupation health and safety (OHS) responsibilities, and the complexity of identifying, reporting and monitoring psychosocial hazards for employees working from home. The study identified a need for tools designed to support both managers and workers in promoting psychologically safe working from home.

Understanding workplace violence: the value of a systems perspective.

Workplace violence is a leading form of occupational injury and fatality, but has received little attention from the ergonomics research community. The paper reports findings from the 2012 New Zealand Workplace Violence Survey, and examines the workplace violence experience of 86 New Zealand organisations and the perceptions of occupational health and safety professionals from a systems perspective. Over 50% of respondents reported violence cases in their organisation, with perpetrators evenly split between co-workers and external sources such as patients. Highest reported levels of violence were observed for agriculture, forestry and construction sectors. Highest risk factor ratings were reported for interpersonal and organisational factors, notably interpersonal communication, time pressure and workloads, with lowest ratings for environmental factors. A range of violence prevention measures were reported, although most organisations relied on single control measures, suggesting unmanaged violence risks were common among the sample.

Monitoring injury in the New Zealand adventure tourism sector: an operator survey.

BACKGROUND: Client safety is a major risk management concern for the commercial adventure tourism sector in New Zealand. This study built on previous exploratory analyses of New Zealand adventure tourism safety, including industry surveys conducted by these authors in 1999 and 2003. The aims of the study were to provide a continuation of injury monitoring across the sector through data collected from self-reported injury incidence by industry operators and to compare findings with those from other primary and secondary research studies conducted by the authors. METHODS: A postal questionnaire was used to survey all identifiable New Zealand adventure tourism operators during 2006. The questionnaire asked respondents about their recorded client injury experience, perceptions of client injury risk factors, and safety management practices. RESULTS: Some 21 adventure tourism activities were represented among the responding sample (n = 127), with most operations being very small in terms of staff numbers, although responding operators catered to nearly 1 million clients in total annually. Highest ranked risk factors for client injury included clients not following instructions; level of client skill, ability, and fitness; and changeable/unpredictable weather conditions. Highest client injury was reported for horse riding, ecotourism, and white water rafting sectors, although serious underreporting of minor injuries was evidenced across the sector. Slips, trips, and falls were the most frequently reported injury mechanism, while safety management measures were inconsistently applied across the sector. CONCLUSIONS: The industry should address reporting culture issues and safety management practices generally. Specifically, the industry should consider risk management that focuses on minor (eg, falls) as well as catastrophic events.

Adventure tourism and adventure sports injury: the New Zealand experience.

The primary aims of this study were to establish a client injury baseline for the New Zealand adventure tourism and adventure sport sector, and to examine patterns and trends in claims for injury during participation in adventure activities. Content analysis of narrative text data for compensated injuries occurring in a place for recreation and sport over a 12-month period produced over 15,000 cases involving adventure tourism and adventure sport. As found in previous studies in New Zealand, highest claim counts were observed for activities that are often undertaken independently, rather than commercially. Horse riding, tramping, surfing and mountain biking were found to have highest claim counts, while hang gliding/paragliding/parasailing and jet boating injuries had highest claim costs, suggesting greatest injury severity. Highest claim incidence was observed for horse riding, with female claimants over-represented for this activity. Younger male claimants comprised the largest proportion of adventure injuries, and falls were the most common injury mechanism.

Investigating risk factors for slips, trips and falls in New Zealand residential construction using incident-centred and incident-independent methods.

Slip, trip and fall (STF) incidents, particularly falls from a height, are a leading cause of injury in the New Zealand residential construction industry. The most common origins of falls from a height in this sector are ladders, scaffolding and roofs, while slipping is the most frequent fall initiating event category. The study aimed to provide detailed information on construction industry STF risk factors for high-risk tasks, work equipment and environments, as identified from an earlier analysis of STF claims data, together with information to be used in the development of interventions to reduce STF risk in New Zealand residential construction. The study involved the use of both incident-centred and incident-independent methods of investigation, including detailed follow-up investigations of incidents and observations and interviews with workers on construction sites, to provide data on a wide range of risk factors. A large number of risk factors for residential construction STFs were identified, including factors related to the work environment, tasks and the use and availability of appropriate height work equipment. The different methods of investigation produced complementary information on factors related to equipment design and work organization, which underlie some of the site conditions and work practices identified as key risk factors for residential construction STFs. A conceptual systems model of residential construction STF risk is presented.

Understanding felling safety in the New Zealand forest industry.

Highest injury rates within the New Zealand forest sector are reported for the logging operation, with up to 30% of logging injuries occurring during the felling task. This paper reports findings from a detailed task and job safety analysis of the motor-manual (chainsaw) felling task, and an analysis of New Zealand Accident Reporting Scheme data for logging injuries for the five-year period, 1996-2000. Key safety factors, including physical hazards and potential errors and violations associated with the felling task, were determined from the task and job safety analysis, along with possible adverse consequences and potential solutions for reducing injury risk. The potential for injury among inexperienced fellers was noted, as felling safety was dependent upon appropriate assessment of hazards and good judgement in respect of decisions regarding the felling of trees. The analysis of some 351 reported felling injury cases allowed identification of high-risk task elements, common injury initiating events and temporal and logger population injury patterns. Findings from the two methods of analysis were triangulated where possible to produce a better understanding of key risk areas. The potential risk associated with inexperienced employees, who incurred a high proportion of felling injuries, and the need for good judgement and decision making for different aspects of the felling task were particularly noted.

The safety experience of New Zealand adventure tourism operators.

BACKGROUND: This survey examined parameters of the New Zealand adventure tourism industry client injury risk. The research also sought to establish priorities for intervention to reduce adventure tourism risk, and identify client injury control measures currently in place (or absent) in the New Zealand adventure tourism industry, with a view to establishing guidelines for the development of effective adventure tourism safety management systems. This 2003 survey builds upon an exploratory study of New Zealand adventure tourism safety conducted by us during 1999. METHOD: A postal questionnaire was used to survey all identifiable New Zealand adventure tourism operators. The questionnaire asked respondents about their recorded client injury experience, perceptions of client injury risk factors, safety management practices, and barriers to safety. RESULTS: Some 27 adventure tourism activities were represented among the responding sample (n=96). The highest client injury risk was reported in the snow sports, bungee jumping and horse riding sectors, although serious underreporting of minor injuries was evident across the industry. Slips, trips and falls (STF) were the major client injury mechanisms, and a range of risk factors for client injuries were identified. Safety management measures were inconsistently applied across the industry. CONCLUSIONS: The industry should consider the implications of poor injury reporting standards and safety management practices generally. Specifically, the industry should consider risk management that focuses on minor (e.g., STF) as well as catastrophic events.