pplications Knowledge of glance patterns during lane changes for older drivers can help older drivers maintain travel mobility as they age. Either through training to reinforce OTS and side mirror glances, or supplemental devices like convex mirrors or oversized rearview mirrors, older drivers can reduce high-risk lane change maneuvers and help older drivers to maintain their mobility and independence longer.
Cargo Tank Trucks (CTTs) are a primary surface transportation carrier of hazardous materials (hazmat) in the United States and CTT rollover crashes are the leading cause of injuries and fatalities from hazmat transportation incidents. CTTs are susceptible to rollover crashes because of their size, distribution of weight, a higher center of gravity, and the surging and sloshing of liquid cargo during transportation. This study identified and quantified the effects of various factors on the probability of rollover and release of hazmat in traffic crashes where a CTT was involved.
Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA)-based logistic regression models were estimated with rollover and hazmat release as the binary response variables, and crash, truck, roadway, environment, and driver characteristics as the explanatory variables. 2010-2016 police-reported CTT-involved crash data from Nebraska and Kansas was utilized. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves confirmed appropriateness of the modeling approach for iision-making towards safe operations of CTTs for transportation of hazmat.
The findings can assist stakeholders (policy-makers, private shippers, and CTT drivers) in restricting CTTs' operations for safety; scheduling, routing, and fleet planning; and low-level decision-making (e.g., emergency stopping or local routing). Practical Applications This study identified and quantified the effects of different factors on the conditional probability of rollover and release of hazmat in CTT-involved crashes. The findings may assist stakeholders in decision-making towards safe operations of CTTs for transportation of hazmat.
Although public buses have been demonstrated as a relatively safe mode of transport, the number of injuries to public bus passengers is far from negligible. Existing studies of public bus safety have focused primarily on injuries caused by collisions. Surprisingly, limited effort has been devoted to identifying factors that increase the severity of passenger injuries in non-collision incidents.
Our study therefore investigated the injury risk of public bus passengers involved in collision incidents and non-collision incidents comparatively, based on a police-reported dataset of 17,383 passengers injured on franchised public buses over a 10-year period in Hong Kong. A random parameters logistic model was established to estimate the likelihood of fatal and severe injuries to passengers as a function of various factors.
Our results indicated substantial inconsistences in the effects of risk factors between models of non-collision injuries and collision injuries. The severity of passenger injuries tended toted countermeasures, namely "4E" (engineering, enforcement, emergency, and education) and "3A" (awareness, appreciation, and assistance), were recommended to mitigate collision injuries and non-collision injuries to public bus passengers, respectively.
The present study discusses roles, characteristics, and safety assessment of a drowsy driving advisory (DDA) system, implemented on rural interstates of Alabama. The DDA system is an engineering countermeasure designed to reduce the likelihood of drowsy driving crashes. It consists of a series of roadside signs with warning and advisory messages for drowsy drivers. The DDA system was implemented upstream of rural rest areas based on a comprehensive crash analysis.
A post-implementation study was conducted three years after the DDA system implementation to assess its safety effects. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/azd-5069.html An empirical bayes (EB) method along with predictive methods of the Highway Safety Manual was used in the safety assessment. To overcome the underreported issue of drowsy driving crashes in the crash analysis, the present study used a concept called, expanded definition of drowsy driving (EDD) crashes.
The analysis found that the DDA system could reduce total and EDD crashes by 64% and 49%, respectively. It is important to noe the guidance of using the DDA system on high-speed roads as a safety countermeasure of drowsy driving crashes. Readers can find details of the DDA system used in this study with its layout, dimension, and roadside safety messages.
Injuries and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common among masons. SAfety Voice for Ergonomics (SAVE) integrates training in ergonomic and safety problem-solving skills into masonry apprenticeship training. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of text messaging to reinforce SAVE program content.
SAVE effectiveness was evaluated at masonry apprenticeship training centers across the United States by comparing three experimental groups (1) Ergonomics training, (2) Ergonomics and Safety Voice training, and a (3) Control. Apprentices received SAVE training with their standard instruction. To reinforce classroom training, refresher training was implemented by sending weekly text messages for six months. Half of the text messages required a response, which tested knowledge or assessed behavior, while the remaining reiterated knowledge. Apprentices (n = 119) received SAVE text messages. Response rates and percentage of correct responses were compared with chi-square tests and inder the utility of text messaging for supporting their training and safety programs.
Even though there was no training center requirement to respond, the high response rate suggests that text messaging can effectively be used to reinforce ergonomics and safety voice training for both knowledge and behavior. Practical Application The prevalent use of text messaging creates opportunities to reinforce health and safety training and engage workers, especially for populations that may be at various locations over time such as construction sites. Instructors and practitioners should consider the utility of text messaging for supporting their training and safety programs.
Safety management programs (SMPs) are designed to mitigate risk of workplace injuries and create a safe working climate. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the relationship between contractors' SMPs and workers' perceived safety climate and safety behaviors among small and medium-sized construction subcontractors.
Subcontractor SMP scores on 18 organizational and project-level safety items were coded from subcontractors' written safety programs and interviews. Workers completed surveys to report perceptions of their contractor's safety climate and the safety behaviors of coworkers, crews, and themselves. The associations between SMP scores and safety climate and behavior scales were examined using Spearman correlation and hierarchical linear regression models (HLM).
Among 78 subcontractors working on large commercial construction projects, we found striking differences in SMP scores between small, medium, and large subcontractors (p < 0.001), related to a number of specific safety managementompanies to gain knowledge for creating safer work environments.
Future work should determine the best way to measure safety performance of construction companies and determine the factors that can lead to improved safety performance of construction firms. Practical applications Our simple assessment of common elements of safety management programs used document review and interviews with knowledgeable representatives. These methods identified specific safety management practices that differed between large and small employers. In order to improve construction safety, it is important to understand how best to measure safety performance in construction companies to gain knowledge for creating safer work environments.
A regulatory training standard for construction workers using fall protection equipment became mandatory in 2015 in the province of Ontario, Canada. By the end of the transition period in 2017, 418,000 workers had been trained to the new standard. Two primary research questions were posed (1) To what extent does the WAH training affect practices at the worksite? and (2) Has there been a change in the incidence of fall-from-height injuries coincident with the introduction of the WAH Training Standard?
A longitudinal survey of 633 learners was conducted in 2017 at one-, four- and seven-week post-training. A quasi-experiment estimated the incidence of lost-time injuries attributed to falls from heights in 2017 compared to 2012-2014 for a census of construction workers insured for work disability in Ontario, Canada.
Learners self-reported substantial increases in knowledge of and improvements in safe work practices when working at heights. The incidence rate of lost-time claim injuries attributed to falls t problem. Practical application A mandatory training standard should be considered as one approach to preventing traumatic injuries. However, other approaches higher in the hierarchy of risk controls should also be considered.
Impaired driving has resulted in numerous accidents, fatalities, and costly damage. One particularly concerning type of impairment is driver drowsiness. Despite advancements, modern vehicle safety systems remain ineffective at keeping drowsy drivers alert and aware of their state, even temporarily. Until recently the use of user-centric brain-computer interface (BCI) devices to capture electrophysiological data relating to driver drowsiness has been limited.
In this study, 25 participants drove on a simulated roadway under drowsy conditions.
Neither subjective nor electrophysiological measures differed between individuals who showed overt signs of drowsiness (prolonged eye closure) during the drive. However, the directionality and effect size estimates provided by the BCI device suggested the practicality and feasibility of its future implementation in vehicle safety systems. Practical applications This research highlights opportunities for future BCI device research for use to assess the state of drowsy drivers in a real-world context.
Neither subjective nor electrophysiological measures differed between individuals who showed overt signs of drowsiness (prolonged eye closure) during the drive. However, the directionality and effect size estimates provided by the BCI device suggested the practicality and feasibility of its future implementation in vehicle safety systems. Practical applications This research highlights opportunities for future BCI device research for use to assess the state of drowsy drivers in a real-world context.
Young workers, typically characterized as 15-24 years of age, are commonly employed in jobs where the risk of workplace violence is high. It is unknown how these young workers, at varying stages of development, might understand and respond to workplace violence differently. We set out to explore whether the experiences and understandings of young workers varied between those in middle (ages 15-17) and late (ages 18-24) adolescence.
Separate focus groups were conducted with working students (n = 31), ages 15-17 and ages 18-24, who had either experienced or witnessed workplace violence. A focus group guide was used to facilitate the sessions which were recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed for themes.
Those in the older group experienced more severe episodes of sexual harassment and physical assault, reported using formal mechanisms for reporting, and noticed an employer focus on customer satisfaction over employee safety, while the younger participants tended to report to their parents. Both groups reported negative effects of experiencing workplace violence including depression, anxiety, feelings of worthlessness, and spill over into personal life.