Safe design in construction
- Authors: Behm, Michael , Culvenor, John
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Health & Safety, Research & Practice Vol. 3, no. 1 (2011), p. 9-32
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: n 2008, WorkSafe Western Australia and the Western Australia Commission for Occupational Safety and Health developed and implemented a Code of Practice for the Safe Design of Buildings and Structures to provide guidance for construction designers in meeting safe design regulations. Design engineers were surveyed and participated in focus groups to evaluate the Western Australia construction industry’s perspective on the new code of practice and to understand the effects of construction safety in design. The research concluded that engineers generally believe the regulations and code of practice are sensible and almost all believe construction worker safety and health is being positively impacted. Furthermore the research indicates that the regulations and code of practice have made a positive impact on the design engineers’ duty of care, thinking, and actions towards affecting the safety and health of construction workers. The work was carried out to understand the effects in Western Australia and also to inform the current National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Prevention through Design approach and a long-term strategy to adoption in the United States.
- Description: 2003009255
Impact of health and safety representative training on concepts of accident causation and prevention
- Authors: Culvenor, John , Cowley, Stephen , Harvey, Jack
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Occupational Health and Safety - Australia and New Zealand Vol. 19, no. 3 (2003), p. 279-292
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- Reviewed:
- Description: In South Australia, health and safety representatives (HSRs) may undertake three levels of training, commencing at basic level, then progressing through advanced level to continuing level. A survey of 1,200 HSRs in SA was conducted to assess their beliefs about accident causation and accident prevention. In regard to accident causation, the survey found that HSRs showed a tendency to favour behavioural causation over workplace environment or systems-type causation. In regard to accident prevention, HSRs at all levels of training had a preference for low-order controls. However, there appears to be some shift in thinking by the time HSRs have completed all levels of training (that is, to the continuing training level), though the thinking of most remains distinctly safe-worker in orientation.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003003020
Initial force and desirable handle height range when pushing a trolley
- Authors: Culvenor, John
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Occupational Health and Safety - Australia and New Zealand Vol. 21, no. 4 (2005), p. 341-349
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- Reviewed:
- Description: Trolleys are used in many workplaces, often as a solution to the hazards of lifting and carrying. Guidelines are available to set limits on the force that can be reasonably applied for push and pull activities in a workplace setting. With a level floor, low friction and short movements, the force applied for acceleration when pushing a trolley is more significant than the sustained effort (however, many factors interact with the force and these must be considered together). This study determined the initial force applied to trolleys in a manufacturing setting, with a level floor and low rolling friction. Subjects were asked to move trolleys (weighing between 160 kg and 400 kg) a short distance in the way that they would normally do the work. Results showed a preferred grip height of 120-135 cm. The average results for applied force fell closely along a linear relationship. Future research could be conducted in an experimental setting and include more comprehensive trials with a greater number of subjects (including women).
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003002990
Reducing the energy cost of dragging sheep during sheep shearing
- Authors: Payne, Warren , Culvenor, John , Lawrance, Michael , Harvey, Jack , Cowley, Stephen , Stuart, David , Williams, Robyn
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Occupational Health and Safety - Australia and New Zealand Vol. 18, no. 2 (2002), p. 173-179
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The task of dragging sheep into position for shearing has been reported by shearers as the most physically demanding and one of the highest injury risk aspects of shearing, particularly with regard to back injury. This study aimed to identify which of the currently used drag paths induced the lowest energy consumption and risk of injury. The drag path with the lowest work economy (oxygen cost per sheep dragged per minute) and highest injury risk is used by left-handed shearers who are shearing from a workstation which is designed for right-handed shearers. Importantly, there were no significant differences in the work economy of the two drag paths which were used most frequently and which involved the lowest injury risk. These data have been used in advocating the adoption of simple shearing shed design solutions to assist in the control of injury risk and energy expenditure in the wool industry.
- Description: 2003000247