Evidence-based safety (EBS) management: A new approach to teaching the practice of safety management (SM)

Individualized behavior-based safety-leadership training: A randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION

Construction site managers play a critical role in occupational safety in the construction industry. This study aimed to develop and test a method for training construction site managers in positive feedback and active listening by incorporating the behavioral training components of behavior analysis, goal setting, practice with behavior feedback, homework, and maintenance planning into individualized behavior-based safety-leadership training (IBST), and to assess the effect of IBST on construction site managers' safety-leadership behaviors and performance.

METHOD

In a naturalistic randomized controlled trial, construction site managers were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 16) or a control group (n = 19). The experimental-group managers received IBST, while the control-group managers received no training. Paired sample t-tests on pre- to post-training (i.e., six weeks after the final training session) were performed separately for the experimental- and control-group managers.

RESULTS

The safety-leadership behaviors of the experimental-group managers improved in terms of favorable feedback (d = 0.99, p <.01), safety-specific feedback (d = 0.89, p =.02), behavior-specific feedback (d = 0.66, p =.02), antecedent listening (d = 0.68, p =.02), and consequential listening (d = 0.78, p =.01). In addition, safety-leadership performance improved in terms of transformational leadership (d = 0.78, p =.01) and contingent-reward leadership (d = 0.64, p =.02). No significant change was found for the control-group managers.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that behavior analysis, goal setting, practice with behavior feedback, homework, and maintenance planning are effective behavioral training components of safety-leadership training. Positive feedback and active listening were also found to be important behavioral requisites for transformational and contingent-reward leadership.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

IBST can be used to develop occupational safety in the construction industry by improving construction site managers' safety-leadership behaviors and performance.

Risk pre-control mechanism of mines based on evidence-based safety management and safety big data

The overexploitation of mineral resources and the heavy use of mineral resources have caused serious environmental damage. The growing problem of mine safety also directly threatens the personal safety of the surrounding population and hinders the development of the local economy. Evidence-based safety eliminates the reliance on intuition and unsystematic aspects of traditional safety management systems by taking into account the actual production situations on site, making safety decision-making activities more scientific. However, there is frequently a lag in the transformation and feedback of evidence information, which obstructs the realization of effective safety decision-making activities. From the perspective of process safety management risk analysis and the transformation of safety big data and safety evidence, this paper proposes a new mine risk pre-control mechanism. First and foremost, based on process safety management, evidence-based safety is successfully applied to mine risk control. Secondly, from the perspective of information transformation, a mine risk pre-control mechanism based on evidence-based safety management and safety big data is established. Finally, taking mine open area monitoring as an example, the application analysis of the mine risk pre-control mode constructed above is carried out. The risk pre-control mechanism proposed in this paper provides a new idea for the practice of mine risk management.

Exploring safety capacity from a risk and safety information integration perspective: Connotation, dimension mining and dimensionality reduction

With the development of safety science, the concept of safety capacity (SC) has been proposed. SC has been applied in many fields. Concurrently, there has been an active and robust development of research pertaining to it. However, SC research mainly focuses on practical engineering problems, and SC research is only regarded as the establishment of a quantitative model for system safety. Hence, the theoretical study of SC is ignored. Indeed, the integrated theoretical system and connotation of SC are lacking. In this study, an attempt is made to enrich the theoretical connotation of SC. The following aspects of theoretical exploration are included: (a) The theoretical connotation of SC is redefined so that the lack of theory with respect to SC can be made up. Moreover, research directions of SC are indicated as dimension mining (DM) and dimensionality reduction (DR). (b) The application value of safety similarity theory in the DM of SC is expounded according to the principle of analogism. Core principles of DM are proposed and explained. (c) Common methods of DR are summarized, and the one-sided cognition of DR for the current SC research is corrected. A case study of an explosion accident caused by a boiler water shortage is employed for further discussion. For the investigation of the explosion accident using fault tree analysis (FTA), DR of SC is utilized to provide a more comprehensive explanation. Therefore, the proposed SC is proven to be practical for the analysis of system safety. The results obtained from this study have important implications for research and practice of SC.

Information Delayering Safety Management (IDSM): A New Method of System Safety in Urgent Situations Needs to Be Established

Organizational safety decisions rely heavily on safety information in today's data-driven era, but there is a significant danger of information distortion that can compromise system safety. To address the issue of information distortion and enhance system safety, a new approach called information delayering safety management (IDSM) has been developed and implemented. The IDSM method combines delayering management mode and graph theory to study the relationship between information distortion management and delayering management. By using the delayering mode as a theoretical foundation for safety information management, information distortion can be reduced. The implementation of this approach from a graph theory perspective has been tested using a case study and has been proven to effectively enhance the reliability of safety information and ensure system safety. The minimum control set of the directed graph algorithm can be used to realize the whole network management of safety information distortion. The amount of safety information and signal noise can be controlled by adjusting connectivity, and safety information distortion can be regulated through the adjustment of structural holes and flow direction. Overall, IDSM offers a new, effective method for accident analysis and safety management, allowing safety professionals to make informed decisions based on robust advanced evidence.

Evidence-based evaluation of safety management in port labor outsourcing

Port enterprises resort to external resources, e.g. outsourcing of labor services during loading and unloading operations. The low safety management ability of labor service enterprises causes frequent hazards and unsafe incidents. This study sets out to identify safety system deficiencies that are likely to occur when port enterprises outsource operations, as well as the causes of system hazards and impact on safety management. A quantitative research design was implemented in this study, where the data was collected through evidence-based practice techniques with the participation of safety management experts selected by purposive sampling. The study reveals six themes that may potentially affect safety. Compared with the extensive supervision and management method, the evidence-based evaluation of the safety management mode brings about a striking optimization effect which results in classification accuracy and targeted control. This finding triggered a management requirement for establishing sustainable, direct, legal measures in association with outsourcing safety improvement.

Human Factor Analysis (HFA) Based on a Complex Network and Its Application in Gas Explosion Accidents

Humans are at the core of the social-technical system, and their behavioral errors affect the reliability and safety of the entire system in varying degrees. Occupational accidents and large-scale industrial accidents are often attributed to human errors, accounting for more than 80% of accidents. In view of the complexity of systems and the coupling of elements, a new HFA method is proposed based on a complex network. According to system safety theory, a complex network is regarded as a network composed of humans, matters, environments, and management, and the basic structure of the HFA network is summarized. On this basis, a system safety method of HFA is developed which proposes a universal human error causation model. Moreover, a network analysis method for human errors is also presented, which is a comprehensive analysis of human errors that have occurred. Finally, the above methods are applied to gas explosion accidents that occurred in China. Results show that the two methods proposed are universal to all fields, and their combination improves the effectiveness of human error management and promotes the targeted, proactive, systematic, and dynamic prevention of critical nodes and paths from a holistic perspective.

Assessing the sustainable safety practices based on human behavior factors: an application to Chinese petrochemical industry

Sustainable and safe development is a key issue in petrochemical industry. However, many catastrophic accidents and irreversible environmental pollution have occurred in the petrochemical industry, most of which are caused by human behavior factor. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and improve the sustainable safety performance of a petrochemical plant from the perspective of human behavior factors. Therefore, this study proposes an extended behavior-based safety (BBS) approach that combines the application of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) to assess sustainable safety performance of a petrochemical plant. The results show the importance of human behavior factors, and we should pay attention to the practical application of petrochemical industry. Finally, BBS management can reduce occupational injuries and accidents, which will enhance the sustainable safety development of the petrochemical industry.

Research on the Tournament Incentive Mechanism of the Safety Behavior for Construction Workers: Considering Multiple Heterogeneity

The unsafe behavior of construction workers is one of the most important and direct causes of safety accidents. Managers usually develop effective incentives aimed at regulating worker safety behavior. Due to the large number of workers in construction projects, there are multiple differences in fairness preference, risk preference and ability level, which will lead to the complex effect of the traditional mechanism to regulate workers' safety behavior. In order to improve the effectiveness of incentive measures for worker safety behavior, this paper takes into account the multiple differences of individual workers' fairness preference, risk preference and ability level, based on the tournament mechanism to construct a competition incentive model. By designing a tournament reward and salary distribution for heterogeneous workers, the occurrence of unsafe behaviors can be reduced. The study found that in terms of the optimal level of safety investment, workers with risk aversion attitude generally invest higher than that of workers with risk preference, no matter whether they have a strong fairness preference or not; In terms of the distribution of tournament rewards, workers with a risk aversion attitude and a higher level of fairness preference need to be given higher incentives.

Using an evidence-based safety approach to develop China's road safety strategies

Background

Road accidents are a major global public safety and health problem. Presently, many countries such as China urgently need to find better strategies to improve their road safety. This paper has two key objectives, which are: (i) to propose potential solutions to improve China’s road safety, and (ii) to provide China and other countries with helpful evidence for their future road safety.

Methods

This study attempts to use an evidence-based safety approach to propose some potential strategies for China’s road safety.

Results

First, the current status of China’s road safety was analyzed. Second, major road safety problems in China were identified and discussed. Finally, this paper illustrates China’s road safety strategies based on available evidence.

Conclusions

Presently and in the future, China’s road safety is facing a series of problems, such as increasing road safety management pressure, the weak road safety management foundation, and the lack of government supervision. To improve road safety, China should adopt a comprehensive strategy, which includes road safety risk prevention and control, road safety legislation, road safety supervision, road safety research and its application, road safety propaganda and education, and road safety culture, etc.

Principles, Approaches and Challenges of Applying Big Data in Safety Psychology Research

Big data is now widely used in many fields and is also widely applied to the integration of disciplines. Traditional methods of safety psychology are not well suited for analyzing psychological states, especially in the management of human factors in industrial production. Also, big data now becomes a new way to excavate related insight by analyzing a large amount of psychological data. So, this paper is to propose the concept of big data of safety psychology (BDSP) and to illustrate the challenges of applying big data in safety psychology. First, this paper puts forward the concept of BDSP and analyzes the difference between BDSP and traditional sample data. Subsequently, this paper summarizes the classification standard and basic characteristic of BDSP, explores the framework of BDSP and then constructs a three-dimensional structure of BDSP. Lastly, this paper discusses the challenges of using BDSP. This study is of great help to safety practitioners to solve psychological issues in the safety domain, and points out one of the research trends of human factor in industrial safety.

Effect of particle erosion on mining-induced water inrush hazard of karst collapse pillar

As a typical disaster-causing geological structure, karst collapse pillar (KCP) is widely distributed in coalfields of northern China. The interior of KCP is filled with loose and weakly cemented rock masses. Fine particles can be eroded under the hydraulic pressure and the disturbance of the coal mining operation. Then, water inrush pathway can be formed easily, resulting in water inrush hazard. The release of untreated coal mine water can pollute the environment and waste the limited water resource in China. To investigate the particle erosion effect on the water inrush mechanism of KCP, FLAC^3D numerical investigations were conducted to simulate the water flow process of KCP in the mining floor during the coal seam excavation, according to the stress-seepage coupling model with the consideration of the particle erosion. Besides, the evolution of shear stress field, seepage field, and plastic zone along was obtained as working plane advances. Meanwhile, the influence of the thickness of a waterproof rock floor and the hydraulic pressure of aquifer on the formation of water inrush pathway was analyzed. Numerical results indicated that: (1) Shear failure of the KCP near the side of the working plane occurs under the effect of mining excavation; then, the KCP connects with the damage area around the working plane; finally, the water inrush pathway is formed. (2) Water inrush disaster will not occur immediately when the KCP is connected with the damaged area around the working plane; it only occurs when the KCP is completely exposed in the mining. (3) With the mining advances, the thinner the waterproof rock floor and the greater the hydraulic pressure of the aquifer, the easier the groundwater can lead up, and the KCP tends to be damaged with the formation of water inrush pathway.

The future of hazardous chemical safety in China: Opportunities, problems, challenges and tasks

China is a major country producing and using hazardous chemicals. Unfortunately, the hazardous chemical industry is still one of the most high-risk industries in China. In recent years, especially after two devastating hazardous chemical accidents, namely "Qingdao 11.2 Crude Oil Leaking and Explosion Accident" and "Tianjin Port 8.12 Fire and Explosion Accident" which occurred in 2013 and 2015 respectively, China has attached great importance to hazardous chemical safety. The period between 2016 and 2017 is a crucial period for the future direction of hazardous chemical safety in China because China released a series of important government documents (such as 'Thirteenth Five-Year (2016-2020) Plan for Hazardous Chemical Safety' and 'Comprehensive Plan for Hazardous Chemical Safety Management (December 2016-November 2019)') to promote hazardous chemical safety in the future. What is the future development of China's hazardous chemical safety? To answer this question, this paper attempts to briefly analyze and introduce the opportunities, problems, challenges and tasks of the future of safety with hazardous chemical industrial activities in China, according to the current situation of hazardous chemical safety in China and using the latest government documents and studies. Obviously, this study can provide useful evidence and suggestions for the future of safety management in the hazardous chemical industry both within China and in other countries.

What are the new challenges, goals, and tasks of occupational health in China's Thirteenth Five-Year Plan (13th FYP) period?

OBJECTIVE

In recent years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to occupational health under the guidance of people-oriented concept. This paper introduces the current status and future development of occupational health in China's Thirteenth Five-Year Plan (13th FYP) period (2016-2020) to promote the cooperation and exchange on occupational health between China and other countries.

METHODS

We collected statistical data about occupational diseases and information addressing occupational diseases. We included all types of official reports, guidelines, policies, and relevant laws published by the Chinese government.

RESULTS

China has carried out a series of strategies and measures to reduce the incidence of occupational diseases, and has made progress in occupational health protection. However, occupational health in China still faces severe conditions and challenges for occupational diseases that have not been prevented and controlled effectively. To actively promote the future development of occupational health during the 13th FYP period, China has issued a series of important policy documents (such as the Plan for a Healthy China 2030, the 13th FYP for Occupational Disease Prevention and Control, and the 13th FYP for Occupational Health Hazard Prevention and Control) in the last two years.

CONCLUSION

The overall situation condition of occupational health in China is still serious. Occupational health in China's 13th FYP period faces a series of challenges, future tasks include plans to add the employer and regulatory levels of occupational health management, and occupational health education and publicity to the current technology-dominated approaches.