Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Health aspects of Aircraft accidents'

In the next coming years global satellite navigation systems (GNSS) will make part of our daily life, as the world is becoming "GNSS-dependant in the same way that it has become Internet-dependant". Indeed, more than ten years folowing the opening up to civilians of satellite-based navigation systems initially designed for military purposes, civil satellite navigation applications are becoming more and more numerous. The potential benefits have proven enormous in terms of transport safety and efficiency as well as for non-transport-related industries.
Dans les toutes prochaines années, les systèmes globaux de navigation par satellite (GNSS) feront partie intégrante de notre vie quotidienne. En effet, un peu plus de dix ans après la libéralisation de l'accès des civils aux systèmes de navigation par satellite initialement conçus à des fins militaires, les applications civiles permises par la navigation par satellite sont de plus en plus nombreuses et les bénéfices potentiels sont énormes en matière de sécurité et d'efficacité des transports comme pour d'autres secteurs et industries. fr

The development of major commercial airports promotes the air transport industry and generates positive economic benefits to the airport and to its host economy. However, external costs are associated with these benefits. Any increase in aircraft movement causes negative environmental impacts, especially noise pollution. Governments have reduced aircraft noise levels at their sources, or introduced aircraft noise management strategies (ANMS); however the problems have never been satisfactorily resolved. This research aims at developing a better understanding of the impacts of aircraft noise on community health and well-being by exploring two core research questions: (1) ???Is health related quality of life worse in communities chronically exposed to aircraft noise than in communities not exposed????; and (2) ???Does long-term aircraft noise exposure associate with adult high blood pressure level via noise stress as a mediating factor????. The Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport has been selected as a case study. The health survey instruments have been developed and piloted, and then translated from English into Greek and Arabic. A postal self-administrative health survey (with follow-up letters) has been implemented in the areas surrounding Sydney Airport (called ???aircraft noise exposure group???) and in the matched control group. The total sample size was 1,500 with 47% response rate. This thesis has developed a ???new??? noise index (named Noise Gap Index, NGI) to describe and assess aircraft noise in such a way that is easily understood by the layperson. Factorial analysis of covariance revealed that ???Health related quality of life, in term of physical functioning, general health, vitality, and mental health, of community chronically exposed to high aircraft noise level were worse than the matched control area???. Binary logistic regression analysis found that ???Subjects (aged 15 ??? 87) who have been chronically exposed to high aircraft noise level have the odds of 2.61 of having chronic noise stress. In addition person who have chronic noise stress have the odds of 2.74 of having hypertension compared with those without chronic noise stress???. Finally, the robust hypotheses of effects of aircraft noise on community health and well-being for future experimental study were proposed.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of exercises on fall prevention among community-dwelling elderly. Design: Systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Method: The literature search of articles was conducted through the electronic databases of PubMed, Medline and EMBASE and manual search, and was confined to articles in English language with full text and publications from 2002 to 2012. Randomized controlled trials with exercise as the only intervention which aimed at reducing falls in older people aged 60 or above in community i.e. community-dwelling elderly were included. The primary outcomes were number of fallers, fall rate, time to the first and subsequent falls. Data Extraction: A total of 145 articles were retrieved through the electronic data bases (137 articles) and manual search (8 articles) of which 10 were selected after applying the inclusion criteria. According to the checklist developed by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for randomized controlled trials, the overall methodological quality of the 10 studies was rated as good as they had fulfilled 79%-93% of the assessment criteria in the NICE checklist. Results: The studies involved a sample size of 3,138 at the median age of 69 to 83. All the subjects were ambulatory and able to mobilize independently. The duration of exercise interventions ranged from 1.5 months to 12 months at a total of 11-156 hours. Eight studies showed that exercises were effective in fall prevention whereas two studies found no evidence of such effectiveness. The effect of exercises on fall prevention was multifactorial including the duration, frequency and continuity of the exercise programs, the health status of the target population and the individuals’ adherence to the exercise programs. Shorter exercise programs and make-up class arrangement resulted in higher adherence rate. Tailor-made (based on the functional capabilities of the subjects) and progressive (gradual increase of the intensity and challenge of the exercises during the intervention period) nature of the exercise programs also enhanced their effectiveness on the elderly. For the studies in which exercise did not have any positive effect on fall prevention, the subjects were generally older (median age at 81) and frailer (with 3-7 frail attributes). Conclusions: This review suggests exercise may be an effective intervention for fall prevention among community-dwelling elderly. Different types of exercise including strengthening, balance, endurance and weight-bearing exercises as well as Tai Chi may prevent falls. The elderly’s age and health status must be taken into consideration when designing exercise intervention programs for the elderly. Further researches are recommended to determine the optimal type, intensity, frequency and duration of exercises in fall prevention. Observations from the studies provide insights for future researches, such as the fall prevention effect of group and home exercises, tailor-made and progressive exercise programs. In Hong Kong, no randomized controlled trial studies have been conducted to examine different intervention programs on fall prevention. To achieve generalizabilty of the studies in the review, further local researches, particularly well designed and powered randomized controlled trials have to be conducted to assess the effect of different kinds of exercise interventions on fall prevention among the community-dwelling elderly.
published_or_final_version
Public Health
Master
Master of Public Health

Health and safety issues have always been a major problem and concern in the construction industry. Wherever reliable records are available, construction is found to be one of the most dangerous on health and safety criteria, particularly in developing countries. Efforts have been made to address this problem, but the results have been far from satisfactory, as construction accidents continue to dominate the overall construction industry. Despite the programs implemented by government authorities and measures introduced by companies themselves, the number of construction accidents still remains alarmingly high. In developing countries, safety rules usually do not exist; if they do, the regulatory authority is usually very weak in implementing such rules effectively. The UAE is one of developing countries that are currently enjoying a strong growth in construction activities. Unfortunately, some sectors of its construction industry suffer from poor safety and health conditions. Any framework of the existing occupational and health conditions is fragmented and inadequately enforced, making construction sites more hazardous. It may even be argued that relevant regulations are outdated and irrelevant in day-to-day construction operations. From this perspective this research explores the approved methods adopted in the UK in order to improve the existing code of practice in the UAE and thus introduce the foundations on which appropriate health and safety systems may be built. A framework for Health and Safety management in the UK is suggested. To reach this objective an overview of the published materials as well as the legislation has been undertaken. Questionnaires were designed and distributed to potential construction industry players and interview sessions have been conducted to meet the first objective of the project which to determine the health and safety measures currently applied on construction sites. In addition, structured interviews were carried out with selected managers from a selection of construction and oil companies, medium and large size. This thesis specifically, it investigates the safety perceptions, attitudes, and behaviour of construction workers and management safety practices. Based upon the analysis of the results, this study has demonstrated that the majority of those questioned UAE construction companies have a poor degree of risk awareness and do not seems to take health and safety as an important issue.

Orientador: Egle Novaes Teixeira
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo
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Resumo: A destinação da enorme e diversificada quantidade de resíduo gerado diariamente é, atualmente, uma das maiores preocupações da humanidade. Este tema, é hoje um dos grandes problemas na maioria das cidades. Assim, percebe-se que são várias as razões que motivam as comunidades, a desenvolverem programas de gerenciamento inseridos num programa de gestão ambiental que contemple a minimização de resíduo sólido. Como forma de viabilizar esta ação, diversas cidades realizam a coleta seletiva, disponibilizando o resíduo recolhido para as unidades de triagem de resíduo. Os profissionais que trabalham nestas unidades estão submetidos a um trabalho precário, realizado em condições inadequadas, com alto grau de insalubridade, sem reconhecimento social, com riscos a saúde e com ausência de garantias trabalhistas. Entretanto, apesar das condições adversas, a catação possibilita a sobrevivência de muitos trabalhadores. Dessa forma, neste trabalho buscou-se identificar a visão que estes profissionais têm do trabalho que desempenham, dos principais riscos e acidentes no ambiente de trabalho e, fornecer subsídios para políticas públicas de saúde e de resíduo sólido por meio de proposição de medidas visando à saúde ocupacional destes trabalhadores. Além, de divulgar a profissão de catador visando ao seu reconhecimento. As atividades realizadas para obtenção dos dados foram visitas as unidades de triagem de resíduo sólido urbano; observação e registro do processo de trabalho; e, realização de entrevistas. Os resultados obtidos foram: descrição das características e do processo de trabalho nas cooperativas visitadas; identificação visão que os trabalhadores têm de seu trabalho; identificação dos principais danos a saúde, acidentes e riscos observados pelas catadoras. Com base nestes resultados foram elaboradas medidas visando à melhoria do trabalho, do ambiente de trabalho e da qualidade de vida das catadoras. Desta forma, concluiu-se que a valorização do trabalho dos catadores depende do envolvimento efetivo de toda a sociedade nesta questão
Abstract: The destination of the huge and diverse amount of waste generated daily is currently a major concern for humanity. This theme, which has not been considered for years, is now an important problem in many cities. Thus, there are several reasons motivating communities to develop solid waste management programs, addressing its minimization, as part of a major environmental management program. To do that, many cities hold recycling programs, collecting and delivering waste to specialized sorting units. The professionals working in these units face precarious and inadequate conditions such as insalubrious environment, lack of social recognition, health risks and no labor guarantees. However, despite of the adverse conditions, scavenging allows the survival of many workers. Thus, this study sought to analyze the perception of these professionals about their work and the risks they are exposed such as deseases and accidents, providing data for health and solid waste public policies and proposing solutions to improve the occupational health of these workers. Another purpose of the study is to disclose and recognize the importance of the work of ragpickers for society. The activities undertaken to obtain data were basically visits to the city's waste specialized sorting units; in loco observation and recording of the work processes; and individual interviews. The results were: description of the characteristics and working processes in waste specialized sorting units visited in loco, identification of the ambiguous relationship between the ragpickers' satisfaction with their work and their desire to look for other job opportunities; and identification of major damages to health, accidents and risks observed by ragpickers. Based on these results, recommendations were made focusing in improving their work processes, the work environment and quality of life of the ragpickers. Additionally, the study allowed the conclusion that the recognition of the ragpickers' work and their relevance to society relies on the involvement of the entire community
Doutorado
Saneamento e Ambiente
Doutor em Engenharia Civil

Falls in the older population have devastating consequences on the psychological and physiological health of the individual. Due to the complexity of interacting factors associated with ageing, pathology and falling episodes, determination of a primary cause or set of causes has been difficult to establish. Deficits in components of neuromuscular control have been widely studied with the coordinated interaction of sensory and motor system components being presented as a fundamental factor in the reduction of falling episodes. A causal relationship between deficits in vitamin D status and falling episodes has also been suggested. Furthermore, a relationship between poor vitamin D status, falling episodes and poor neuromuscular performance has been reported. The aims of the current study were designed to advance understanding in three aspects of the problem of falls prevention. Firstly an examination of the reliability of testing procedures commonly used in assessment of falls risk was undertaken. The Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA) testing procedure was selected as a commonly used tool and the reliability of its various components (sensory, motor and balance) was undertaken as an independent assessment of this approach to assessing falls propensity. Secondly, a case control study of fallers and non fallers was undertaken in which the neuromuscular tests evaluated in the reliability study were used to assess differences in neuromuscular control. The influence of vitamin D status on these measures was also considered. Thirdly, a 12-month randomised controlled trial of vitamin D/calcium supplementation or placebo/calcium was undertaken to identify the effect on falls outcome and individual measures of neuromuscular control.

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A dimensão social do processo de trabalho e sua relação com a saúde e os acidentes e doenças ocupacionais são dependentes da situação de precarização do trabalho e da ausência de medidas de proteção à saúde. O Sistema Nacional de Notificações por agravos em Saúde tem avançado em termos de estabelecer relações diretas entre o posto de trabalho e os agravos relacionados, para além dos tradicionalmente notificados pela Comunicação de Acidentes de Trabalho. Tomando o acidente grave como indicador de extrema fragilidade social e de saúde dos trabalhadores, o objetivo geral deste estudo foi analisar os acidentes de trabalho graves notificados por setores produtivos no estado de Mato Grosso no período de 2010 a 2012. Os objetivos específicos foram: caracterizar os setores produtivos e o mercado de trabalho, segundo indicadores socioeconômicos; descrever os acidentes de trabalho graves segundo regionais de saúde; caracterizar os acidentes de trabalho graves por características sociodemográficas, ocupacionais e tipo de setor produtivo. Trata-se de um estudo transversal, descritivo, com informações obtidas através do IBGE e RAIS e do banco de dados do SINAN. Resultados: O estado de Mato Grosso teve a maior taxa de crescimento de empregos formais do Brasil no período de 2011 e 2012 e registrou 35 vítimas fatais para cada 100 mil trabalhadores, sendo esta a pior média no país nos últimos 21 anos. Observou-se que no setor produtivo relacionado à agricultura houve maior oferta de postos de trabalho, refletindo na notificação dos acidentes graves de trabalho. O número de notificações de ATG foi à agricultura (348), seguido do comércio (245), outras indústrias de transformação (233), pecuária (209) e construção com 166 registros. No estudo transversal, os setores produtivos de maior risco para acidentes graves em relação ao gênero, foram a agricultura (RP = 1,14; IC 95% 1,10 - 1,16), seguido pela construção (RP = 1,11; IC 95% 1,08 - 1,14), para o sexo masculino. Quanto à faixa etária houve 3,43 vezes mais acidentes de trabalho graves entre os de menor faixa etária, quando 7 comparados aos demais, entretanto, no setor agrícola (RP = 0,28; IC 95% 0,11 – 0,69) e na pecuária (RP = 0,29; IC 95% 0,09 – 0,92) este risco foi inverso, onde em ambos os casos houve uma prevalência maior de acidentes de trabalho graves em pessoas > 18 anos. Em relação a escolaridade, a maior incidência de trabalhadores analfabetos foi no setor da agricultura (RP = 1,80; IC 95% 0,98 - 3,30) e p valor <0,05. Conclusão: A pecuária e agricultura fazem parte do setor produtivo primário e a indústria da madeira e outras indústrias de transformação localizam-se no setor produtivo secundário, onde houve uma alta prevalência de acidentes de trabalho graves típicos, refletindo a precarização do trabalho num dos estados da Federação que mais cresce economicamente.
The social dimension of the labor process and its relationship to health and accidents and occupational diseases are dependent on the situation of precarious work and the lack of measures to protect health. The National System Health Notifications for injuries has advanced in terms of establishing direct links between the workplace and the problems related, in addition to the traditionally reported by the Communication of Accidents. Taking serious accident as an indicator of extreme fragility and social health of workers, the general objective of this study was to analyze serious accidents reported by productive sectors in the state of Mato Grosso in the period 2010-2012. Specific objectives were: Characterize productive sectors and the labor market, according to socioeconomic indicators; describe the serious occupational accidents by regional health; characterize serious occupational accidents for sociodemographic, occupational and type of productive sector characteristics. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study using information obtained from IBGE and RAIS and database SINAN. Results: The state of Mato Grosso had the highest growth rate of formal jobs in Brazil between 2011 and 2012 and recorded 35 fatalities for every 100 thousand workers, this being the worst average in the country for the past 21 years. It was observed that the productive sector related to agriculture was greater supply of jobs, reflecting the notification of serious accidents. The number of notifications of ATG was agriculture (348), followed by trade (245), other manufacturing industries (233), cattle (209) and construction with 166 records. In cross-sectional study, the productive sectors of higher risk for serious accidents in relation to gender, were agriculture (PR = 1.14, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.16), followed by construction (PR = 1.11; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.14) for males. As age group was 3.43 times more serious occupational accidents among younger children, when compared to the others, however, the agricultural sector (PR = 0.28, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.69) and livestock (PR = 0.29, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.92) 9 this risk was reversed, where in both cases there was a higher prevalence of severe accidents in persons> 18 years. Regarding education, the highest incidence was illiterate workers in agriculture (PR = 1.80, 95% CI 0.98 to 3.30) sector ep value <0.05. Conclusion: Ranching and farming are part of the primary production sector and the timber industry and other manufacturing industries are located in secondary production sector, where there was a high prevalence of severe accidents typical, reflecting the precariousness of work in the states Federation of the fastest growing economically.

The master's thesis focuses on the toxicological aspects of chemical accidents. The aim is to determine the main acute risk of dangerous toxic chemical substances that can be escape in chemical accidents and determine their impact on life and damage to the health of the population and characterize the factors affecting the spread of these dangerous chemicals. The practical part focuses on the toxicological aspects of selected industrial pollutants.

Although the adverse auditory effects of noise have been the focus of occupational health research for decades, little is known about the nonauditory health effects that result from noise exposure. The focus of this research was the nonauditory health effects of exposure to commercial aircraft noise (CAN) overflights. It was theorized that CAN exposure resulted in an ongoing stress-response that had the potential to be harmful to human health over time. Two aspects of CAN were considered; the sound level intensity (dBA), and the frequency of overflights. Data were collected by a stratified random sampling design in the CAN exposed neighborhoods of Eagan, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Bloomington, and in control communities of Shoreview and Mounds View, all located in Minnesota (n=4000). A written questionnaire was used to measure; (1) health (MOS-36 Scale), (2) behavioral and emotional coping strategies, (3) noise sensitivity, (4) annoyance levels, and (5) demographic data. Aircraft noise levels and overflight data were obtained in cooperation with the Metropolitan Airport Sound Abatement Commission. Results showed significantly higher stress levels and lower health measures by CAN exposure type. These findings occurred primarily in communities exposed to high frequencies of aircraft overflights. Multivariate analysis revealed significant reductions for the three main health measures of General Health (GH), Sense of Vitality (Vitality), and Mental Health (MH), based on CAN exposure type. Post-hoc contrast analysis indicated that GH, Vitality, and MH scores were worst with high frequency of overflights. Behavioral copers had significantly fewer stress symptoms and used fewer stress medications than non-behavioral copers. Non-normalized emotional copers had significant negative associations with Gil, Vitality, and MH; however, these correlations were weak. Noise sensitivity levels were not significantly different among the CAN exposed communities; however noise annoyance levels were significantly higher than controls, and were the highest with high frequency of overflights. Finally, multivariate analysis of covariance indicated significant reduction for health measures based on CAN exposure types after adjusting for all effect modifiers (covariates) in the study. Vitality was the most consistently impacted by CAN exposure, and this was particularly the case for subjects exposed to high frequency of aircraft overflights.
Graduation date: 1996

Lam Kwan Heung.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-137).
Abstracts in English and Chinese; appendices in English with some Chinese.
Abstract --- p.ii-iv
Acknowledgement --- p.v
Table of Contents --- p.vi
Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1-6
Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.7-22
Chapter Chapter 3 --- Research Methods --- p.23-35
Chapter Chapter 4 --- An Overview on Hainan --- p.36-46
Chapter Chapter 5 --- Framing of Hainan --- p.47-92
Chapter ´Ø --- International law and order
Chapter ´Ø --- U.S. peacekeeping surveillance
Chapter ´Ø --- Victimized U.S
Chapter Chapter 6 --- Framing of China --- p.93-125
Chapter ´Ø --- China's skewed media
Chapter ´Ø --- China as a problematic communist state
Chapter ´Ø --- China as a secretive military power
Chapter ´Ø --- China's aggression towards Taiwan
Chapter ´Ø --- China's buying off U.S. politicians
Chapter Chapter 7 --- Conclusion --- p.126-134
Bibliography --- p.135-137
Appendices --- p.138-182

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering, 2016
Eskom is a state owned enterprise that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to various sectors. Hence, it supports South Africa’s growth and development aspirations by constructing new electricity infrastructure. This can be achieved by adopting safety, health, environmental and quality (SHEQ) management as a business imperative. Presently, there have been a number of incidents and accidents at some construction sites of the Eskom distribution sector in the Mpumalanga province, which are mainly due to non-compliance with construction health and safety. This research project aims to determine the compliance of contractors servicing Eskom. This is achieved by checking the compliance of the health and safety file of contractors with the Safety, Health and Environmental specification checklist of Eskom. The study aims to investigate if the use of the checklist has improved contractors’ compliance by 2014. In order to achieve these aims, factors are addressed relating to the current state of construction health and safety legislation; the impact of construction health and safety on the economy; project parameters; roles and responsibilities of parties involved on construction sites; performance of small and emerging contractors. The study shows that established contractors always achieved higher compliance when compared to the emerging contractors. In 2014, 90% of contractors complied with the checklist, hence in 2015/16 the contractors can be expected to meet the 100% requirement, therefore complying with the Eskom value of “Zero Harm”.

The general purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between emotional awareness and human error in aviation. A quantitative analysis approach was used to explore this by means of a cross-sectional survey design. The independent variable emotional awareness and the dependent variable human error were contextualised and operationalised. During the empirical phase, biographical information was collected and the Hartmann Emotional Boundary Questionnaire was administered to a purposive sample consisting of 173 aircrew members within the South African Air Force. Factor analysis revealed an eight-factor structure: involved; exactness; blend; openness; structured; unstructured; flexibility; and imagination. No differentiation was found between the mustering groups in relation to emotional awareness and human error. However, correlations differentiated between aircrew with zero human error and aircrew with “more than ten years’ aviation experience”. The test for differences between human error and the emotional awareness sub-construct "imagination" indicated a medium significance. From this relationship, the researcher deducted that “imaginative aircrew are prone to err”.
Industrial and Organisational Psychology
M. Com. (Industrial and organisational Psychology

On August 31, 1992, Quality Printing Circuits, a circuit board manufacturing plant in Phoenix, Arizona, burned to the ground. The fire lasted approximately eight hours, creating a thick, black smoke that blew into the surrounding community. Emergency evacuation was erratic and since no air samples were taken during the fire, community exposure levels were unknown. Immediately afterwards, residents reported health problems but government studies on the community were unable to link reported health problems and the fire. Eight months after the fire, a local advocacy group performed a health study on the community. The 690 people surveyed reported symptoms such as asthma, blurred vision, vomiting, hair loss, rashes, and extremity numbness. The survey was never analyzed and the case was closed. Community members continued to report health problems and five years after the fire, the US Environmental Protection Agency reopened the case. They performed two sampling studies but results found that chemical levels were below allowable exposure levels. This thesis contains three chapters that investigate the political, health, and scientific issues related to the QPC fire. The scientific chapter uses the EPA's ISCST3 dispersion model and a mixed-box model, to approximate community exposure concentrations and compare them to allowable human exposure levels. Results of the ISCST3 model show that four (hydrogen chloride, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Acrolein, and naphthalene) of the twenty chemicals modeled were above government allowable concentrations. Inhalation exposure to these chemicals causes similar symptoms as those reported by residents. The health-focused chapter characterized health symptoms reported in the 1993 health survey. Results found that symptoms experienced by residents were similar to those documented in other studies of exposure to chemical smoke. The study also found that residents living closest to QPC reported a greater number of symptoms than residents living further away. The political chapter analyzed the debate as to whether QPC officials and government agencies took the steps needed to protect the exposed community during and after the QPC fire. What became evident was that a significant conflict existed between the interests of residents involved in the QPC fire and the government agencies responsible for protecting them.
Graduation date: 2004

In the United States, falls are the leading cause of unintentional death with one of every three people 65 years and older falling each year. Falls account for approximately 95% of hip fractures among older adults and falls to the side predominate hip fracture related falls in this population. However, risk factors for side and frequent falls are poorly understood. Furthermore, few data exist to explain differences in bone mineral density among older postmenopausal women. In particular, data regarding the timing of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) among older women is scarce. In the first aim of this dissertation, we examined changes in mobility and balance-related risk factors for side falls as well as differences in these risk factors according to fall status in a population of 107 independent, elderly women (>70 yrs), who were followed over 2 years. We found hip abduction strength decreased (p<.001) in all subjects, with side-fallers exhibiting weaker hip abduction strength (p=.008), greater sway velocity (p=.027), and slower performances on the tandem walk (p=.039) and Get Up and Go (p<.001) compared to non-fallers. For the second study, in the same population, we examined 2-year changes in balance self-efficacy (BSE) and the relationship of BSE to side fall risk factors and falls incidence. Results showed BSE at baseline was predictive of Get Up and Go, hip abduction strength and tandem walk at follow-up (p<.008), but that BSE decreased only among the non-fallers (p=.013). In the third study, we examined 3-yr hip bone mineral density (BMD) changes in women with distinct hormone replacement therapy (HRT) profiles: 1) no hormone replacement therapy (N0HRT), 2) HRT continually since menopause (Continual), 3) HRT begun 10 years after menopause (Late), 4) HRT initiated within 5 years (New), and compared the change in BMD of the hip across HRT groups. Only the NoHRT group lost bone over the 3 years (p=.014). We also assessed BMD of the lateral spine across levels of estrogen use in a sub-sample of participants and found long-term HRT users had significantly higher lateral spine BMD (p=.041) compared to women who had never been on HRT.
Graduation date: 2003

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Technology in Business Administration, Entrepreneurial Studies & Management Department, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015.

Text in English
The purpose of this research was to investigate occupational health and safety challenges and their impact on health care workers (HCWs) in selected public hospitals from the Gauteng Province, South Africa. Method: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among HCWs in the study sites. A two-staged sampling that include purposive sampling of study sites and census sampling of 2000 HCWs was used. Self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain data from HCWs. In addition, two different checklists were used to conduct retrospective records reviews to assess occupational health and safety (OHS) policy compliance and occupational injuries and diseases occurrence. The SAS Release 9.3 was used to analyse data. The Fischer Exact test and Chi-square were also used to determine the association of variables and P-value was set at <0.05 to indicate significant association. Results: A total of eight public hospitals and 926 (46.3%) HCWs who were all females nurses participated in this survey. Major occupational health hazards reported by the participants include: needle-stick injuries 275 (54.67%), slips trips and falls 67 (13.32%) and splashes 57 (11.33%). The analysis of open-ended responses indicated increased workloads, long hours of work and shift work as the most reported psychosocial hazards among HCWs. The reviewed records indicated that back injuries 22 (4.37%), tuberculosis (TB) 17 (3.38%) and asthmatic reactions 8 (1.59%) were the commonly reported occupational injuries and diseases among the HCWs. The records review also revealed a lack in the conducting of adequate medical surveillance among participants. The results showed poor compliance with the OHS policy and a negative impact of biological and psychosocial hazards on the HCWs. Conclusion: There was a high risk of exposures to biological hazards whilst providing care to patients, thus warranting the implementation of robust preventive measures. As a result, the guidelines were developed to promote the health and safety of HCWs with a view to promoting policy compliance and preventing the occurrence of occupational injuries and diseases as well as their impact among HCWs.
Health Studies
D.Litt et Phil. (Health Studies)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Physical activity monitoring using wearable sensors give valuable information about patient's neuro activities. Fall among ages of 60 and older in US is a leading cause for injury-related health issues and present serious concern in the public health care sector. If the emergency treatments are not on time, these injuries may result in disability, paralysis, or even death. In this work, we present an approach that early detect fall occurrences. Low power capacitive accelerometers incorporated with microcontroller processing units were utilized to early detect accurate information about fall events. Decision tree algorithms were implemented to set thresholds for data acquired from accelerometers. Data is then verified against their thresholds and the data acquisition decision unit makes the decision to save patients from fall occurrences. Daily activities are logged on an onboard memory chip with Bluetooth option to transfer the data wirelessly to mobile devices. In this work, a system prototype based on neurosignal activities was built and tested against seven different daily human activities for the sake of differentiating between fall and non-fall detection. The developed system features low power, high speed, and high reliability. Eventually, this study will lead to wearable fall detection system that serves important need within the health care sector. In this work Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) protocol is used to communicate between the accelerometers and the embedded control system. The data transfer from the Microcontroller unit to the mobile device or laptop is done using Bluetooth technology.