No evidence for relationship between biorhythms and industrial accidents

According to the popular biorhythm model accidents are more likely to occur during the "critical days" of three sine wave-like cycles that display periodicities of 23 days, 28 days, and 33 days. Analyses of 400 mining accidents from two separate industries demonstrated that the number of employees who were involved with accidents on their individual critical days of the different cycles did not differ significantly from chance expectancy. Furthermore the number of employees involved in accidents when their cycles were in ascending phases (presumably associated with positive behaviors) did not differ significantly from the number of employees who were involved in accidents when their cycles were in the descending phases, presumably associated with negative behaviors. We have found neither empirical nor theoretical support for the biorhythm model.     

Effects of drugs and alcohol on behavior,job performance,and workplace safety

A study of records for 1 large U.S. company revealed that employees with positive drug screens were fired, whereas workers who self‐disclosed drug/alcohol problems remained employed. Both groups were offered substance abuse intervention, and some previously fired workers were rehired after they received treatment. Accident results showed that drug‐test positive employees, as compared with self‐referred workers, had a significantly higher accident rate in all categories. Treatment data revealed that drug‐test positive workers had significantly higher accident rates before and after treatment than self‐referred employees. Posttreatment results showed that drug‐test positive employees had a significant decrease in accidents after services, whereas the self‐referred group showed no change.     

Accidents happen: Psychological empowerment as a moderator of accident involvement and its outcomes

Research in the occupational safety realm has tended to develop and test models aimed at predicting accident involvement in the workplace, with studies treating accident involvement as the starting point and examining its outcomes being more rare. In this study, we examine the relationship between accident involvement and a series of outcomes drawing upon a learned helplessness theory perspective. Specifically, we predicted that psychological empowerment would moderate the relationship between prior accident involvement and outcomes. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of 392 employees and their 66 supervisors working in an iron and steel manufacturing firm in Southern Turkey, using data collected from employees and their supervisors via four separate surveys. Results suggest that accident involvement was positively related to supervisor‐rated employee withdrawal, production deviance, and sabotage only when psychological empowerment was low. The results illustrate that workplace accidents have indirect costs in the form of higher withdrawal and maladaptive behaviors, and organizations may inoculate employees against some of these outcomes via higher psychological empowerment.     

Cohort effects in older drivers' accident type distribution: are older drivers as old as they used to be?

Accident type distributions were compared in successive cohorts of older drivers, with focus on intersection accidents. It was thought that if the increasing share of intersection accidents is a truly age-related phenomenon, as opposed to cohort-related or time-related, it would remain fairly constant over time in different cohorts. The data consisted of Finnish traffic insurance data on private car accidents of drivers aged 60 yr or more who were legally responsible for causing the accident, and covered the years 1987–1995 (N=56,481). Some changes in accident type distributions were found across cohorts. Among male drivers aged 60–79 yr, the portion of intersection accidents decreased in successive cohorts, so that the younger cohorts showed the age-typical accident picture at a somewhat later age than the older cohorts. In contrast, for male drivers aged 80 yr or more, there was an increase in the share of intersection accidents in more recent cohorts. Among female drivers, a decrease in intersection accidents only reached statistical significance for drivers aged 60–69 yr, and for the oldest age group (75+ yr) no change was observed. For both male and female drivers, the tendency to incur accidents at intersections increased with age in all cohorts. The occurrence of intersection accidents thus is both an age-related and a cohort-related phenomenon: age-related in the sense that it will emerge eventually, but with cohort-related variance in timing.     

Skill performance on biorhythm theory's physically critical day.

The hypothesis of a critical day in biorhythm theory predicts that skill performance would be lower than normal on a physically critical day. Participants in an archery league were observed in 346 events. Indoor archery performance provided scores identical to the goal of the task and unaffected by environmental conditions or other competitors. Above-average performances on 34 physically critical days did not differ significantly from the population proportion of above-average performances. No support for the hypothesis was provided by this observation of archery performance.     

Optimisme comparatif dans le milieu professionnel : l'influence de la fréquence et de la gravité sur la perception des risques d'accident du travail

The aim of this study is to test if people express comparative optimism when they evaluate their risk of being confronted to various work accidents compared to their colleagues. We also test the assumption according to which individuals are as much more optimistic as the event is threatening. Thus, an accident which is serious and probable (and consequently more threatening) should generate a maximum of comparative optimism. Our population is composed by employees of a mirror manufacture company. The latter evaluated their personal risk and that of one of their colleagues to be confronted with a severe /rare, severe/frequent, non severe/rare or non severe/frequent accident. Our results reveal the presence of an optimistic bias and this particularly for the severe and frequent accident. These data are discussed in terms of defensive bias and self esteem maintenance.     

Human Costs of Organizational Downsizing: Comparing Health Trends Between Leavers and Stayers

We studied health-related selection and consequences of an organizational downsizing among 886 municipal employees. Measurements of health indicators were conducted before any rumor of the downsizing and immediately after the downsizing 3 years later. Results of predownsizing health showed that those who did not find employment after the staff reductions were older employees with high preexisting morbidity. Those getting a new job elsewhere were younger and had better health already before the downsizing than the stayers. After the downsizing, deterioration of health was most likely in the stayers working in groups of major staff reductions and among the nonemployed leavers. In the reemployed leavers, the risk of increased health problems was lower than in others including employees working in no or minor downsizing groups.     

Self-monitoring and blood pressure

The association between self-monitoring (regulation and control of nonverbal and expressive behavior) and blood pressure was examined in a field study of 594 municipal employees. For persons not taking antihypertensive medication, the Acting/Extraversion scale was mildly positively associated with resting blood pressure among whites in general, blue collar, clerical, and professional groups. Stronger positive correlations were obtained for attorneys and customer service representatives. These results are contrasted with slightly negative associations for blacks in general, first-level supervisors, and a group of previously studied union stewards. An interactive effect was also obtained between Acting/Extraversion and relative participation in work versus nonwork groups and activities; Acting/Extraversion and systolic pressure were inversely related for employees more active in extrawork groups but not related among other workers. Differential consequences of greater or lesser interpersonal involvement and emotional regulation in different jobs are considered.     

Personality of children with accident‐related injuries

Previous studies based on a variety of behaviour, temperament, and personality measures identified a pattern of over‐activity, impulsiveness, emotional instability, and aggressiveness in children who are prone to accidents. The present study is the first to study accident‐prone children by means of a comprehensive test for the assessment of the Five Factor model (Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC) (Mervielde & De Fruyt, 1999 ). 118 children, aged 6–15 years, who were hospitalized due to an accident‐related injury, were contrasted with 184 school‐children of the same age. Lower socio‐economic status was under‐represented in both groups. Children who were exposed to accidents had higher scores on the facets of energy, optimism, and non‐shyness (Extraversion domain), and lower scores on the facets of concentration and achievement striving (Conscientiousness domain). There was no indication of higher aggressiveness, impulsiveness, or emotional instability in the group exposed to accidents, and there were no gender‐by‐accident interactions. Results suggest that there is a relatively benign pattern of personality traits that is related to greater accident hazard in children. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and validation of the safety locus of control scale

The Safety Locus of Control Scale was designed to predict employees' accidents and injuries. Internal scorers think they should assume personal responsibility for their safety, and they believe they can take preventive steps to avoid accidents. External scorers assume little personal responsibility for prevention of accidents. Instead, they place more blame on factors outside their control, such as luck or chance. This study showed that the safety scale was effective in differentiating between groups with varying accident histories, which supports the criterion-related validity of the scale.     

Spatio-temporal accident analysis for accident prevention in relation to behavioral factors in driving: The case of South Anatolian Motorway

Analyzing the pattern of traffic accidents on road segments can highlight the hazardous locations where the accidents occur frequently and help to determine problematic parts of the roads. The objective of this paper is to utilize accident hotspots to analyze the effect of different measures on the behavioral factors in driving. Every change in the road and its environment affects the choices of the driver and therefore the safety of the road itself. A spatio-temporal analysis of hotspots therefore can highlight the road segments where measures had positive or negative effects on the behavioral factors in driving. In this paper 2175 accidents resulted in injury or death on the South Anatolian Motorway in Turkey for the years between 2006 and 2009 are considered. The network-based kernel density estimation is used as the hotspot detection method and the K-function and the nearest neighbor distance methods are taken into account to check the significance of the hotspots. A chi-square test is performed to find out whether temporal changes on hotspots are significant or not. A comparison of characteristics related driver attributes like age, experience, etc. for accidents in hotspots vs. accidents outside of hotspots is performed to see if the temporal change of hotspots is caused by structural changes on the road. For a better understanding of the effects on the driver characteristics, the accidents are analyzed in five groups based on three different grouping schemes. In the first grouping approach, all accident data are considered. Then the accident data is grouped according to direction of the traffic flow. Lastly, the accident data is classified in terms of the vehicle type. The resultant spatial and temporal changes in the accident patterns are evaluated and changes on the road structure related to behavioral factors in driving are suggested.     

Changes in driver celeration behaviour over time: Do drivers learn from collisions?

Although it is well known that drivers’ accident risk changes with experience, it has never been specified exactly how this comes about in terms of changes of behaviour, or what features of their experiences are important for this change. One possibility is that drivers learn from their collision involvement, and change their behaviour after such events, as some studies indicate. However, relative accident involvement tends to be very stable over time, which indicates the opposite. Repeated measurements of celeration (speed change) behaviour of bus drivers were compared between two groups; drivers without accidents within the measurement period (about 3 years), and drivers with at least one crash. For the crash group, there was a steady decline in their celeration values over time, but this was not related to their crashes. A similar reduction was also present for the non-crash sample. The results would seem to be in agreement with the theory of accident proneness; there exist stability in driver behaviour over time, despite accident involvement. However, this stability is relative within the sample, and not absolute. The reduction in celeration values for both groups over time would seem to indicate that drivers learn from their experiences in general, but not specifically from accidents. The present study seems to indicate that daily experience of driving situations is the strongest factor for changes in driving behaviour.     

Psychological Factors in High School Accidents

The role of human characteristics in accident-engendering behavior was studied in 146 high school students by evaluating the relationship between Aviator (Av) scores on the Strong Vocational Interest Blank with records of accidents over three consecutive years. Students with a history of one or more accidents had a mean Av score of 44.89 which was significantly higher (.001 level) than the mean of 37.86 for those without a recorded accident. Follow-up on 22 juniors in their senior year for subsequent accidents showed that high Av scores yielded a significant relationship (.05 level) to future accidents. The available data also suggested that accident-engendering behavior may be different in rural and urban settings.     

An evaluation of preemployment drug testing

As part of a blind longitudinal study, 5,465 job applicants were tested for use of illicit drugs, and the relationships between these drug-test results and absenteeism, turnover, injuries, and accidents on the job were evaluated. After an average 1.3 years of employment, employees who had tested positive for illicit drugs had an absenteeism rate 59.3% higher than employees who had tested negative (6.63% vs. 4.16% of scheduled work hours, respectively). Employees who had tested positive also had a 47% higher rate of involuntary turnover than employees who had tested negative (15.41% vs. 10.51%, respectively). No significant associations were detected between drug-test results and measures of injury and accident occurrence. The practical implications of these results, in terms of economic utility and prediction errors, are discussed.     

Family survivors of suicide and accidental death: consequences for widows

The impact of completed suicide on the surviving family was studied. Thirteen widows whose husbands had died through suicide were compared with 13 widows whose husbands had died in accidents. The widows' views of their families' functioning, and the extent of life stress and psychiatric symptoms experienced by the widows, were assessed. Interview data suggested more guilt and blaming in suicide survivor families. However, on standardized questionnaires, suicide survivors showed no more family dysfunction, life stress, or psychiatric symptomatology than accident survivors. Both groups acknowledged clinically significant levels of symptoms. The findings raise questions about the validity of generalizations based on the clinical literature regarding the uniquely pathogenic impact of suicide on family functioning.     

The uses of evidence in accident analysis by professionally versus scientifically trained investigators

The purpose of the study was to analyze how experts having extensive practical experience in accident analysis (professional experts) deal with evidence while analyzing traffic accidents in comparison with participants who had experience in accident analysis as well as graduate scientific education (scientific experts). The study was conducted by giving scientifically and professionally educated accident investigators a set of authentic evidence about an accident and by examining how the experts took the evidence concerning the accident, that is, how they considered, assessed and interpreted it. The results of the study furnished evidence that scientific education facilitates critical taking of evidence. Scientific experts were more critical in relation to the given evidence, challenging many assumptions implicit in the evidence and continuously requesting more information. This critical orientation was occasionally present in the case of the professional experts, but they only mentioned possible sources of faulty conclusions without articulating their criticisms extensively.     

THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF A TOKEN ECONOMY ON SAFETY PERFORMANCE IN OPEN-PIT MINING

A token economy that used trading stamps as tokens was instituted at two dangerous open-pit mines. Employees earned stamps for working without lost-time injuries, for being in work groups in which all other workers had no lost-time injuries, for not being involved in equipment-damaging accidents, for making adopted safety suggestions, and for unusual behavior which prevented an injury or accident. They lost stamp awards if they or other workers in their group were injured, caused equipment damage, or failed to report accidents or injuries. The stamps could be exchanged for a selection of thousands of items at redemption stores. Implementation of the token economy was followed by large reductions in the number of days lost from work because of injuries, the number of lost-time injuries, and the costs of accidents and injuries. The reductions in costs far exceeded the costs of operating the token economy. All improvements were maintained over several years.     

Screening out accident-prone Iranian drivers: Are their at-fault accidents related to driving behavior?

To provide a scientific background in road safety domain a better understanding of human risk factor is crucial. The aims of the present study were the following: (1) developing an accident prediction model for estimating the at-fault accidents of drivers (2) controlling for the regression-to-the-mean and screening out the accident-prone drivers (3) identification of significant behavioral predictors in at-fault accident occurrences and delving into the relationship between the aberrant driving behaviors and at-fault accidents of those identified as accident-prone. A questionnaire survey compiling various measures of personality type, aberrant driving behavior, demographic and accident history information of 1762 Iranian drivers was conducted in which 1375 male and 387 female participants were of the average age of 35.6 (S.D. = 11.987). To analyze the obtained data, the generalized linear modeling (GLM) approach was taken resulting in four models with various independent variables. The results indicated that age, gender, education level, years of active driving, and especially exposure had an effect on drivers’ at-fault accidents while there was no discernible effect from income level, personality type and area of residence. In the screening procedure, 715 drivers were identified as accident-prone. Behavioral comparison analyses indicated that the lapses, errors, ordinary and aggressive violations are different for the accident-prone drivers. A comparison between the accident-prone and non-accident-prone drivers revealed that the ordinary violations have considerably higher effect than the others on at-fault accidents. Implications of the results are discussed with regard to insurance policies and education interventions.     

The influence of attention allocation and age on intersection accidents

Many severe accidents occur in urban areas. As part of the research project UR:BAN, this study investigated the causes of driver errors (e.g., inadequate attention allocation) in urban areas when turning left at intersections. As intersection accidents are especially difficult for older drivers, differences between older and younger drivers were examined as well. In a first step, accident protocols of left turn crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists were analysed in detail, since they are the most dangerous ones. Characteristics of the oncoming traffic and the location of crossing bicyclists and pedestrians were identified as possible causes. Accordingly, critical scenarios were implemented in a static driving simulator, varying the characteristics of the oncoming traffic, the direction and location of crossing vulnerable road users. These factors were examined in a within-subject design, with two different aged groups of participants (12 aged 20–35 y, 12 aged 65+ y; between-subjects factor).The results revealed that the presence of the oncoming traffic, which was assumed to capture the drivers’ attention, did not lead to more accidents with vulnerable road users. However, this may be because many drivers waited until the oncoming traffic had passed. Unexpectedly, older drivers had fewer accidents. This may be explained by the more cautious behaviour of older drivers, who drove significantly slower and waited significantly longer at the stop line before turning. Further analyses showed that a more cautious behaviour, independently of the age, predicted accident avoidance better than attention allocation. From these results, warning systems for younger and older drivers, especially for those not driving cautious, need to be developed. This idea will be tested in future studies introducing different warning concepts.