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Management practices as antecedents of safety culture within the trucking industry: similarities and differences by hierarchical level.

PROBLEM: A homogeneous perception of safety is important for the achievement of a strong safety culture; however, employees may differ in their safety perceptions, depending on their position and/or hierarchical level within the organization. Moreover, there is limited information on the antecedents of safety culture. This study examines how safety training, driver scheduling autonomy, opportunity for safety input, and management commitment to safety influence individuals' perceptions of safety culture. METHOD: Data for this study were drawn from 116 trucking firms, stratified by three safety performance levels. The data were collected from drivers (lowest hierarchical level), dispatchers (medium hierarchical level), and safety directors (highest hierarchical level), regarding their perceptions of their respective corporate safety cultures. Perceptions of safety culture were analyzed through a linear regression using dummy variables to differentiate among the three hierarchical groups. The resulting model allowed for examination of the specific antecedents of safety culture for the three employee groups and the extent to which the hierarchical groups were in agreement with each other. RESULTS: Driver fatigue training, driver opportunity for safety input, and top management commitment to safety were perceived to be integral determinants of safety culture in all three groups. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Trucking firms seeking to strengthen employees' perceptions of safety culture might begin by improving these safety management practices while appreciating that they may have a different impact depending on the employee's hierarchical position (e.g., drivers' perceptions of safety culture are more influenced by top management commitment and driver fatigue training). A fourth safety practice examined, driver scheduling autonomy, was not found to be instrumental in shaping safety culture for any of the three hierarchical levels. Consistent with previous research, implementation of stronger safety cultures should result in fewer accidents.

Automobile Driving↗

Management practices and heifer characteristics associated with early lactation somatic cell count of Belgian dairy heifers.

Associations between somatic cell counts (SCC) from heifers between 5 and 14 d in milk (DIM) and both herd-management practices and heifer characteristics were studied for 1912 heifers in 159 dairy herds in Flanders (Belgium). In higher-producing herds and in herds with an average calving age of heifers > 27 mo, SCC of heifers was lower than in less-producing herds or in herds with an average calving age < or = 27 mo. Heifers raised in herds with a higher bulk-milk somatic cell count had higher SCC. In herds in which heifers calved on slatted floors, heifers had lower SCC compared with herds in which heifers calved on nonslatted floors. A significant difference in SCC was observed between provinces. At the heifer level, SCC decreased with increasing DIM. On average, heifers calving in April to June had higher SCC, compared with those calving in the other months of the year. In the multilevel regression models, nearly all the variations of SCC resided at the heifer level, indicating that preventive measures against udder health problems in freshening dairy heifers should, in the short term, focus more on factors that vary between heifers than on factors that vary between herds. However, for the long term, the need to identify new, and to implement known, herd-level strategies is important.

Animals↗

Management practices from questionnaire surveys in herds with very low somatic cell score through a national mastitis program in France.

French dairy herds (n = 534) were enrolled in the National 'Zero Mastitis Objective' Program to highlight management practices characterizing very low somatic cell score (SCS) herds. The herds studied were stratified into 2 groups. The first group (LOW) included herds within the first 5 percentiles and the second group (MED) herds within the 50 to 55 percentiles of herds on the basis of mean SCS for the 36 mo preceding the program. Potential explanatory variables, collected through questionnaire surveys, were analyzed using multistep logistic regression models. Twenty-six variables were significant factors in the final models, in which 18 were considered as primary factors for very low SCS. The probability for a herd belonging to the LOW group was associated with: (1) regular use of teat spraying; (2) herdsman precise in his techniques; (3) less than 1 person-year used at activities other than dairy herd; (4) teat dipping after mammary infusion at dry off; (5) heifers kept in a calving pen around parturition; (6) cows locked in feed-line lockups after milking; (7) dry cows with prepartum Ca restriction; (8) heifers on a nondamp pasture; (9) cows culled when at least one damaged teat; (10) heifers at pasture not drinking water from a river; and (11) disinfecting teat ends with alcohol before intramammary infusion at dry off. The probability for a herd belonging to the MED group was associated with: (1) milking cows housed in a straw yard; (2) checking heifers for mastitis only beginning at 2-wk prepartum; (3) no mastitis treatment when at least one clot was observed in milk at successive milkings; (4) distance of herdsman's house to cowshed >300 m; (5) only dirty teats washed before milking; (6) free access of cows from pasture to cowshed during bad weather; and (7) more than 18% of spring calvings. The variables associated with very low SCS should be applied as part of a thorough mastitis-control program adapted to each herd.

Animal Husbandry↗

Practical management of atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia that becomes more common as patients get older. We review the common factors associated with AF and hemodynamic abnormalities. In addition, we discuss practical management issues concerning treatment of patients with rapid, hemodynamically significant AF, as well as patients with hemodynamically stable AF. The strategies of rhythm control and rate control and the different modalities available for use with each strategy are presented. Issues related to stroke prevention in AF are reviewed.

Atrial Fibrillation↗

Skin care management practices for premature infants.

OBJECTIVE: To describe current skin care practices for preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units in the United States. We hypothesized that there would be little consensus among facilities. STUDY DESIGN: Neonatal intensive care units (n = 823) listed in the 1996 United States Neonatologists Directory (American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Perinatal Pediatrics) were sent a 28-question survey dealing with many aspects of neonatal skin care along with descriptive data about their neonatal intensive care unit. Descriptive data analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 305 surveys were returned (37% return rate); of these, 241 of the respondents reported admitting infants weighing < or = 1000 gm. Some neonatal skin care practices showed wide consensus (> 70%) (e.g., scrub procedure for staff; use of a skin barrier under tapes/adhesives), whereas other practices showed little consensus (< 30%) (e.g., routine surveillance cultures; use of Aquaphor). CONCLUSION: Consensus on skin care practices was not found among neonatal intensive care units. Data from this survey can be used to develop studies to examine whether certain skin care management practices can improve neonatal outcomes.

Body Temperature Regulation↗