Risk Perception and Coping Behavior of Construction Workers on Occupational Health Risks-A Case Study of Nanjing, China

The impact of safety attitude on hazard identification and risk analysis: evidence from event-related potentials

A questionnaire survey and an event-related potential (ERP) experiment were used to reveal the impact of safety attitudes on risk perception. The results revealed that during hazard identification, the N130 amplitude of subjects with negative safety attitude was significantly higher, which implied that subjects with negative safety attitude were more likely to feel confused. During risk analysis, subjects with positive safety attitude were more inclined to overestimate the probability and damage degree of risks; subjects with positive safety attitudes displayed higher P150 and late positive potential amplitudes, which indicated that subjects with positive safety attitudes devoted more attention to risks in the early stage of risk analysis and had a more intense affective response in the later period. The risk judgment ability of subjects with positive safety attitude was affected by time pressure, and they exhibited higher risk judgment accuracy only under no time pressure.

The effect of education on safe use of pesticides based on the health belief model

OBJECTIVE

In agricultural activities, pesticide use is critical, but poisoning issues are one of the most important occupational hazards for farmers. Training can help protect farmers' health from pesticide hazards. This study aimed to investigate the effect of education on farmers' behavior in the safe use of pesticides using the health belief model.

METHODS

A quasi-experimental (pretest-post-test) study conducted on 84 farmers who were selected using the convenience sampling method. The data collection tool was a two-part questionnaire including demographic information and a questionnaire designed based on the constructs of the health belief model in using personal protective equipment while working with the pesticides. The instrument was completed before and two weeks after an educational intervention. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 26.

RESULTS

The mean age of the participants was 48.94 ± 9.14 years and 69% were male. The study showed that with increasing age, the mean score of health belief model constructs in the safe use of pesticides decreased. Female and higher-educated farmers had higher scores. After the intervention, the mean scores of health belief model constructs in the safe use of pesticides increased significantly, except perceived barriers construct which decreased significantly. Also, the frequency of protective equipment uses while working with pesticides increased significantly after the intervention and safe behaviors increased, while unsafe behaviors decreased.

CONCLUSION

The education as an effective intervention, improves farmers' safety attitudes and behaviors in pesticide use and it is recommended that educational programs be designed according to the characteristics of the audience.

The status and influencing factors of lung ventilation function in employees exposed to dust in enterprises of the XPCC, China

Background

Occupational health is closely related to harmful factors in the workplace. Dust is the primary contributing factor causing impaired lung ventilation function among employees with dust exposure, and their lung ventilation function may also be influenced by other factors. We aimed at assessing the status and influencing factors of lung ventilation function among employees exposed to dust in the enterprises of the Eighth Division located in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), China.

Methods

Employees exposed to dust in enterprises of the Eighth Division located in the XPCC in 2023 were selected as the subjects of this cross-sectional study. Their lung ventilation function indicators were extracted from health examination records, and an on-site electronic questionnaire survey was conducted among them. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the factors influencing lung ventilation function.

Results

According to the fixed value criteria, the abnormal rates of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and FEV1/FVC were 31.6, 1.4, and 0.4%, respectively. The lower limit of normal (LLN) criteria could overestimate the rate of abnormal lung ventilation function. Several factors were related to impaired lung ventilation function, including gender, age, education level, marital status, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, physical activity, the type of dust, industry, enterprise scale, occupation, length of service, working shift, monthly income, and respiratory protection.

Conclusions

A relatively low abnormal rate of lung ventilation function was observed among employees exposed to dust in enterprises of the Eighth Division, XPCC, and their lung ventilation function was associated with various factors. Effective measures should be taken urgently to reduce the effects of adverse factors on lung ventilation function, thereby further protecting the health of the occupational population.

What is the "DNA" of healthy buildings? A critical review and future directions

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, buildings that provide improved performance have aroused extensive discussion. Nowadays, the connotation of healthy building is becoming complex, performance metrics for healthy buildings vary significantly from different regions in the world and there may be information asymmetry among stakeholders. Consequently, building health performance cannot be effectively achieved. However, previous studies have launched extensive reviews on green building, and there remains a lack of comprehensive and systematic reviews on healthy buildings. To address the above issues, therefore, this research aims to (1) conduct a thorough review of healthy building research and reveal its nature; and (2) identify the current research gaps and propose possible future research directions. Content analysis using NVivo were applied to review 238 relevant publications. A DNA framework of healthy buildings, which clarifies the characteristics, triggers, guides and actions, was then constructed for better understanding of the nature of them. Subsequently, the application of DNA framework and the directions of future research were discussed. Six future research directions were finally recommended, including life-cycle thinking, standard systems improvement, policies & regulations, awareness increase, healthy building examination, and multidisciplinary integration. This research differs from previous ones because it painted a panorama of previous healthy building research. Findings of this research contribute to reveal knowledge map of healthy buildings, guide researchers to fill existing knowledge gaps, provide a standardized platform for healthy building stakeholders, and promote high-quality development of healthy buildings.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Symptoms among Construction Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study in South China

Statistics showed that work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are the leading cause of productivity loss in the construction industry. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of WMSDs and associated factors among construction workers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 380 construction workers in Guangdong Province, China. A demographic, work-related survey and the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire were used to collect the workers' data. Descriptive statists and logistic regression were used for the data analysis. The results showed that the overall prevalence of WMSDs symptoms among the participants in any body region during the last 12 months was 57.9%. Neck (24.7%), shoulder (22.1%), upper back (13.4%), and lower back (12.6%) showed the highest prevalence of WMSDs. Age, exercise, work experience, work position, and level of fatigue after work were significantly associated with the prevalence of WMSDs symptoms in different body regions. The findings of this study showed that the prevalence of WMSDs symptoms among construction workers in south China is still high and is associated with different body areas compared to previous studies. The prevalence of WMSDs and risk-associated factors vary by country and region. This indicates that further local investigations are needed to propose specific solutions to improve the occupational health of construction workers.

Risk perception in the construction industry: A literature review and future research directions

BACKGROUND

Risk perception is an intuitive risk about hazards to which people are exposed daily and is related to several factors. In the construction context, there is a need to identify and understand how risk perception is related to these factors; construction companies can implement this information to develop measures for effective risk management.

OBJECTIVE

This literature review aims to identify recommendations for future research about factors that may be related to risk perception in construction workers.

METHODS

We used the SPIDER tool and searched available electronic databases for the most recent research articles published on risk perception in the construction area.

RESULTS

We identified main recommendations for future research: Behavior, environment and working conditions, risk assessment methods, culture, individual and demographic factors, and knowledge.

CONCLUSION

Safety behavior is the primary variable of concern in studies related to risk perception in the construction area. Therefore, further research is needed to identify the factors that intervene and impact risk perception to reduce accident rates among construction industry workers.

Correlation of safety behavior, handover quality, and risk perception: A cross-sectional study among Chinese psychiatric nurses

Background

Nurses' safety behaviors played an important role in patients' safety goal realization, and it varies from person to person. However, less research has explored the safety behavior level of psychiatric nurses and its influencing factors. Thus, this research aimed to assess the level of safety behavior and explore whether risk perception mediated the relationship between handover quality and safety behavior among psychiatric nurses.

Methods

A total of 186 registered psychiatric nurses in a Chinese hospital were recruited for this study, through the convenience sampling method. Handover quality, risk perception, and safety behavior were measured. Hayes' PROCESS macro was used to evaluate the mediation of risk perception between handover quality and safety behavior.

Results

Scores of psychiatric nurses' safety behaviors were (47.98 ± 7.45), and handover quality and risk perception could predict the variance of nurses' safety behaviors. Risk perception could partially mediate between handover quality and nurses' safety behaviors, and the value of the mediating effect was 49.17%.

Conclusion

Psychiatric nurses' safety behaviors have a large promotion space. Therefore, healthcare professionals should endeavor to improve the handover quality of psychiatric nurses and decrease their risk perception, thereby promoting nurses' safety behaviors.

Modeling the occupational health risk of workers caused by environmental release during the production of PC components

Prefabricated construction is one of the solutions to the problem of balancing environmental improvements with the new buildings in the construction industry. Some work originally done on site is transferred to the front end, and the occupational health risks to industrial workers during the production of prefabricate concrete components are thus aggravated. This study aims to propose a framework to simulate the occupational health risks of workers in prefabricate concrete component plants from the perspective of risk identification, risk assessment, and risk control. Through the following 4 steps, including environmental release monitoring, diffusion and human inhalation mechanism analysis, occupational health risk evaluation, and full-path health risk simulation, this study maps physical entities to virtual reality. The proposed method tends to address the root causes behind occupational health risks, such as the lack of measurement, assessment and prevention criteria, and providing new ideas for theoretical research and innovative practice of HSE management and risk management in the construction industry.

Managerial Perception of Risk in an Organization in a Post-COVID-19 Work Environment

The COVID-19 pandemic drew the attention of all industries and organizations to the importance of comprehensive preparation for various types of crises and disruptions. Without proper risk management for crisis situations, it is impossible to talk about organizational resilience, maintaining organizational continuity, or ensuring the company's ability to protect workers' lives and health in a crisis. While the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly reshaping the work environment, significant challenges related to risk management are emerging. The purpose of this research paper is to examine the impact of a pandemic on the risk perception in an organization by managers of all three levels (strategic, operational, and line level) and to examine the impact of broadly understood risk management on organizational performance. For the examination of operational risk perception, empirical research was conducted in Polish enterprises. The methodology of the survey is based on a questionnaire of operational risk and risk management perception in a post-COVID-19 work environment. According to the survey results, risk management was generally perceived better than the level of operational risk, compared to the period before the pandemic. Therefore, a substantial improvement in risk management during the crisis allowed the surveyed organizations to cope with the pandemic, and even slightly enhance their performance. Organizations have been able to achieve their goals mainly by slightly reducing risk appetite and lowering the tolerable risk level threshold. Even so, organizations have improved their ability to adapt and seize opportunities.

The Prediction of Public Risk Perception by Internal Characteristics and External Environment: Machine Learning on Big Data

Presently, the public’s perception of risk in terms of topical social issues is mainly measured quantitively using a psychological scale, but this approach is not accurate enough for everyday data. In this paper, we explored the ways in which public risk perception can be more accurately predicted in the era of big data. We obtained internal characteristics and external environment predictor variables through a literature review, and then built our prediction model using the machine learning of a BP neural network via three steps: the calculation of the node number of the implication level, a performance test of the BP neural network, and the computation of the weight of every input node. Taking the public risk perception of the Sino–US trade friction and the COVID-19 pandemic in China as research cases, we found that, according to our tests, the node number of the implication level was 15 in terms of the Sino–US trade friction and 14 in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following this, machine learning was conducted, through which we found that the R2 of the BP neural network prediction model was 0.88651 and 0.87125, respectively, for the two cases, which accurately predicted the public’s risk perception of the data on a certain day, and simultaneously obtained the weight of every predictor variable in each case. In this paper, we provide comments and suggestions for building a model to predict the public’s perception of topical issues.

The Impact of Health Risk Perception on Blockchain Traceable Fresh Fruits Purchase Intention in China

This paper systematically investigates the impact of consumers’ health risk perceptions on the purchase intention of blockchain traceable fresh fruits in China. It uses online-survey data collected from four pilot cities that are part of the food traceability system in China. The ordinary least squares (OLS) and the ordered probit model was applied to examine the posited relationships. The results show that consumers’ health risk perception has a significant positive effect on the purchase intention of blockchain traceable fresh fruits. The stronger consumers’ health risk perception, the stronger their purchase intention of blockchain traceable fresh fruits. Likewise, heterogeneity exists among gender, age, income, and education in their corresponding effect of consumers’ health risk perception on blockchain traceable fresh fruit purchase intention. This suggests that male, high-aged, high-income and high-educated groups have a higher health risk perception, and therefore a higher purchase perception for blockchain traceable fresh fruits than female, low-aged, low-income and low-educated, respectively. Furthermore, family structure, consumers’ traceability cognition and purchase experience of traceable products affect the purchase intention of blockchain traceable fresh fruits. The study has several insights on the broader promotion, acceptance and development of the food traceability system and provides practical cues for policy and practice.

Collaborative Supply Mechanism of Government-Subsidized Rental Housing from the Perspective of Tripartite Evolutionary Game in Metropolitan Cities of China

With the advancement of urbanisation, the inflow of population in China's large cities has been increasing and the demand for rental housing of “new citizens” with insufficient housing affordability has become increasingly strong. Therefore, the Chinese government proposes to provide government-subsidized rental housing (GSRH) different from public rental housing. At present, the supply mode of public rental housing in China is mainly government construction and operation, which has the problems of low supply efficiency and low service level. It is critical to explore an efficient supply model in the construction of the GSRH system. Therefore, this study, starting from the three supply subjects of government, market, and society, constructs an evolutionary game model and uses agent-based modelling simulation to explore how multisubjects achieve optimal collaboration in the supply process of GSRH. The results are as follows: First, the development of a collaborative supply system includes four stages: noncooperative behaviour, collaborative exploration, collaborative game, and three-subject collaborative supply. Second, the government is the core of realising multisubject coordination. Increasing government supervision will boost market participation, while increasing government subsidies can fully mobilise the enthusiasm of social subjects but cannot continuously improve the market's enthusiasm. Third, increasing the participation ratio of social subjects will help mobilise the enthusiasm of other subjects to participate, while the excessive participation ratio of market subjects may cause an imbalance in the collaborative supply system. This study provides theoretical support for the efficient supply of GSRH.

Perception of Occupational and Environmental Risks and Hazards among Mineworkers: A Psychometric Paradigm Approach

This study aims to assess workers’ perception of occupational and environmental risks and hazards using the psychometric paradigm. For this purpose, data were collected using survey questionnaires from 360 mineworkers recruited from mineral and sand mines. Respondents were asked to evaluate eight occupational and environmental risks and hazards on nine commonly used risk characteristics. The principal component analysis revealed that two components, “Dreaded” and “Unknown”, explained 73% percent of the total variance in workers’ risk perception. The results also showed that the risk of developing an occupational disease was perceived as the most dreaded and unknown type of risk, while landslide, occupational noise, and vibration exposure were the least familiar to the respondents. A practical implication of this research is that the results may offer an insight into the employees’ perceptions of the hazards and risks associated with their working environment. This could help risk management develop and implement effective risk management and communications strategies.

Occupational Health and Safety Scope Significance in Achieving Sustainability

A safe and healthy working environment is vital for overall sustainability, due to the fact that it affects opportunities of economic and social development. However, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), despite the international commitment to Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) via the 2030’s Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), work-related accidents are still far too common. Work-related mortality accounts for 5% of all deaths worldwide; a toll which has increased dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, in the context of COVID-19, new demands on the labour market, such as teleworking, adequate protective measures, and proper use of personal protective equipment when physical presence cannot be avoided, are necessitating new approaches to ensure health and safety. Arguably, education can be viewed as a cross-cutting strategy in advance of a culture of safety for future generations, through strengthening skills and broadening knowledge. Indeed, even though education cannot be considered a panacea, related to SDG 4, which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, it can be considered a critical component to deal with OSH issues using a preventive, rather than a reactive, approach. Given this fact, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has stressed the prevention approach through mainstreaming OSH in education at all levels, and in all fields of vocational and academic training. Aware of the potential of universities to provide graduates the broad-based knowledge to produce labour-market skills including OSH, the aim of this study is to contribute to the discussion on mainstreaming OSH into Greek university education, using Harokopio University (HUA) as a case study. For this purpose, a web-based survey was conducted to address HUA’s students, faculty members, and staff OSH knowledge, risks awareness, and attitudes, as well as their perceptions, opinions, and beliefs about the role of OSH for academia. A statistical analysis depicted respondents’ high level of willingness to contribute to the promotion of OSH, while additional evidence suggests a considerable commitment of the respondents to participate in HUA’s OSH-related training and education.

The Effect of Occupational Health Risk Perception on Job Satisfaction

This study explored the relationship between occupational health risk perception and job satisfaction. Based on the job demand-resources model and resource conservation theory, eight hypotheses were proposed in this study. In a survey of 237 production line workers and managers, we found that perceived occupational health risks significantly negatively affected job satisfaction. Both work stress and organizational commitment mediate the relationships between perceived occupational health risks and job satisfaction. We also examined whether safety culture could weaken the negative impact of perceived occupational health risks on job satisfaction. However, the results of our study did not support this hypothesis. This study not only helped managers to realize the hazards of occupational health risks, but also encouraged employees to actively participate in safety construction and pay attention to their own health. In addition, we also put forward some targeted intervention measures to reduce the negative impact of perceived occupational health risks on job satisfaction. Therefore, this study had certain practical implications.