Enhancing employee safety in response to workplace violence. International and national trends indicate that workplace violence is a significant growing problem. Poorly managed, victims can suffer physical and psychological trauma, and employers risk increases in workers compensation claims, insurance premiums, employee turnover, sick leave and low morale. There is a dearth of research into the effectiveness of training employees to predict, control and defuse aggressive incidents, yet this is a ....Enhancing employee safety in response to workplace violence. International and national trends indicate that workplace violence is a significant growing problem. Poorly managed, victims can suffer physical and psychological trauma, and employers risk increases in workers compensation claims, insurance premiums, employee turnover, sick leave and low morale. There is a dearth of research into the effectiveness of training employees to predict, control and defuse aggressive incidents, yet this is a significant priority for many industries. This project will develop and evaluate a new best practice aggression minimisation training program with 200 mental health employees by an RCT assessing gains in safety, knowledge, skills and confidence in managing violence.Read moreRead less
It's only human: Understanding why errors occur in skilled behaviour. There is evidence that error plays a major role in the causes of workplace injury and errors in skilled behaviour are the most common type of error leading to occupational accidents. It is likely that skill-based error is also important in causing fatal and severe injury in other settings. If we want to reduce or prevent injury, tackling the causes of error, and especially skill-based error, must be a prime target. By reduci ....It's only human: Understanding why errors occur in skilled behaviour. There is evidence that error plays a major role in the causes of workplace injury and errors in skilled behaviour are the most common type of error leading to occupational accidents. It is likely that skill-based error is also important in causing fatal and severe injury in other settings. If we want to reduce or prevent injury, tackling the causes of error, and especially skill-based error, must be a prime target. By reducing skill-based error in the workplace, current estimates suggest that loss of life would be reduced by about 200 cases per year and annual direct and indirect costs to the community by $484 million. Similar benefits are likely to emanate from reducing skill-based error in other settings.Read moreRead less
Science of the Surf (SOS): The Development and Evaluation of a National Campaign to Reduce the Risk of Coastal Drowning. Australian beaches attract approximately 80 million domestic and international tourists a year and are an integral part of the Australian lifestyle. Each year, 58 people die and 563 people are hospitalised as a result of coastal drowning in Australia; many more are rescued by surf lifesavers. Many incidents occur when swimmers are caught in rip currents. Raising awareness abou ....Science of the Surf (SOS): The Development and Evaluation of a National Campaign to Reduce the Risk of Coastal Drowning. Australian beaches attract approximately 80 million domestic and international tourists a year and are an integral part of the Australian lifestyle. Each year, 58 people die and 563 people are hospitalised as a result of coastal drowning in Australia; many more are rescued by surf lifesavers. Many incidents occur when swimmers are caught in rip currents. Raising awareness about common surf hazards, such as rip currents, aims to minimise the risk of drowning. This research will promote and maintain good health and well being for Australians by delivering an effective drowning prevention intervention. In doing so, reducing drowning risk would save up to $187 million each year in health care costs.Read moreRead less
From Compliance to Mindfulness. Safety in hazardous organisations does not simply depend on compliance with safety rules. It depends on a more elusive quality, organisational mindfulness. The aim of this project wil be to identify ways in which rule based culture can be transformed into a culture of mindfulness.The focus will be on a power station which is seeking to trasform a rule-based culture into a culture of mindfulness. If this can be done it will not only enhance safety at this po ....From Compliance to Mindfulness. Safety in hazardous organisations does not simply depend on compliance with safety rules. It depends on a more elusive quality, organisational mindfulness. The aim of this project wil be to identify ways in which rule based culture can be transformed into a culture of mindfulness.The focus will be on a power station which is seeking to trasform a rule-based culture into a culture of mindfulness. If this can be done it will not only enhance safety at this power station but it will identify the way other organisations can make the same transition.
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High Reliability Organisations. Organisations which operate risky technologies with few if any major incidents - High Reliability Organisations - exhibit a distinctive charactertistic - mindfulness. This study looks at a particular organisation - Airservices Australia - which aspires to this ideal, and examines how it measures up. It will also demonstrate how other organisations which aspire to be HROs can move towards this ideal. The study also examines how Airservice Australia and another simi ....High Reliability Organisations. Organisations which operate risky technologies with few if any major incidents - High Reliability Organisations - exhibit a distinctive charactertistic - mindfulness. This study looks at a particular organisation - Airservices Australia - which aspires to this ideal, and examines how it measures up. It will also demonstrate how other organisations which aspire to be HROs can move towards this ideal. The study also examines how Airservice Australia and another similarly mindful organisation identify warnings of danger and act on them before it is too late. This will again provide a model for other organisations.Read moreRead less
Improving Road Safety and Driver Security: The Case of High Risk Fleet (Taxi) Drivers in Australia. Road crashes constitute a major cause of death and injury in Australia and taxis have a 22 times higher crash rate compared to private passenger vehicles. In addition to their high crash risks, 1/3 of all taxi drivers have experienced physical assaults. This innovative study will examine the circumstances that contribute toward taxi crashes and assaults on drivers and more importantly, it will des ....Improving Road Safety and Driver Security: The Case of High Risk Fleet (Taxi) Drivers in Australia. Road crashes constitute a major cause of death and injury in Australia and taxis have a 22 times higher crash rate compared to private passenger vehicles. In addition to their high crash risks, 1/3 of all taxi drivers have experienced physical assaults. This innovative study will examine the circumstances that contribute toward taxi crashes and assaults on drivers and more importantly, it will design, implement and evaluate a program of countermeasures to improve the safety and security of taxi drivers, which will contribute significantly toward reducing the truma related to road crashes in Australia and assaults on public transport drivers.Read moreRead less
From finger pointing to life saving: defining professional responsibility for health and safety in construction design. Specific duties for construction designers exist in the OHS legislation of several Australian jurisdictions. Thus far, the legislation has failed to act as a significant deterrent. The research addresses the empirically neglected question of how design OHS responsibility might be sensibly allocated in the context of industry practice. Hence it will: (1) highlight conceptual pro ....From finger pointing to life saving: defining professional responsibility for health and safety in construction design. Specific duties for construction designers exist in the OHS legislation of several Australian jurisdictions. Thus far, the legislation has failed to act as a significant deterrent. The research addresses the empirically neglected question of how design OHS responsibility might be sensibly allocated in the context of industry practice. Hence it will: (1) highlight conceptual problems inherent in existing legislation; (2) develop alternative mechanisms for allocating design OHS responsibility in the construction process; (3) provide the basis for policy development in the national priority area of hazard elimination in design; and (4) improve design OHS performance in construction and property sectors.Read moreRead less
An investigation of supervisory practices for improving occupational health and safety behaviour in construction teams: a cross-level experimental analysis. Construction workers, comprising 8% of the Australian workforce, are a high risk group for occupational fatality, injury and disease. Almost 10% of all injury and death claims in Australia are attributed to construction, creating a significant social and economic burden. The research addresses the previously neglected issue of how first-line ....An investigation of supervisory practices for improving occupational health and safety behaviour in construction teams: a cross-level experimental analysis. Construction workers, comprising 8% of the Australian workforce, are a high risk group for occupational fatality, injury and disease. Almost 10% of all injury and death claims in Australia are attributed to construction, creating a significant social and economic burden. The research addresses the previously neglected issue of how first-line supervisors shape subordinates' safety behaviour. The research makes a significant contribution by identifying and encouraging supervisory behaviours that: (i) create strong, positive safety climates in sub-contracted work crews; (ii) support the translation of organizational OHS policies/procedures into safe practices; and (iii) improve the OHS performance of the construction industry.Read moreRead less
Time of day, time awake and alcohol: the effects on fatigue and performance. The results of this study will clarify the effects of sleep deprivation and time of day on the experiences of fatigue and on performance. This information will have a direct impact on policy and practice relating to the management of fatigue. The results will have a direct impact on community safety, especially on the road and in the workplace. The study therefore has direct relevance for guidelines and regulations de ....Time of day, time awake and alcohol: the effects on fatigue and performance. The results of this study will clarify the effects of sleep deprivation and time of day on the experiences of fatigue and on performance. This information will have a direct impact on policy and practice relating to the management of fatigue. The results will have a direct impact on community safety, especially on the road and in the workplace. The study therefore has direct relevance for guidelines and regulations deveoped by bodies such as national and state road safety and workplace health and safety bodies.Read moreRead less
Developing Contemporary Driving Risk Assessment Tools to Improve Fleet Safety. The development of effective driving risk management tools will provide valuable insight into methods to reduce a significant community and national problem, as work-related road crashes cost Australia $15 billion a year. Importantly, the project has the potential to benefit both urban and rural areas of Queensland and Australia, as road crashes are a national problem. The research study also has the potential to cr ....Developing Contemporary Driving Risk Assessment Tools to Improve Fleet Safety. The development of effective driving risk management tools will provide valuable insight into methods to reduce a significant community and national problem, as work-related road crashes cost Australia $15 billion a year. Importantly, the project has the potential to benefit both urban and rural areas of Queensland and Australia, as road crashes are a national problem. The research study also has the potential to create business cost savings from reductions in productivity loss and medical expenses, as well as flow through to the general population in terms of better (a) fleet management, and (b) driver attitudes and behaviour.Read moreRead less