Use of portable ladders - field observations and self-reported safety performance in the cable TV industry.

Portable ladders incidents remain a major cause of falls from heights. This study reported field observations of environments, work conditions and safety behaviour involving portable ladders and their correlations with self-reported safety performance. Seventy-five professional installers of a company in the cable and other pay TV industry were observed for 320 ladder usages at their worksites.

Straight ladder inclined angle in a field environment: the relationship among actual angle, method of set-up and knowledge.

Ladder inclined angle is a critical factor that could lead to a slip at the base of portable straight ladders, a major cause of falls from heights. Despite several methods established to help workers achieve the recommended 75.5° angle for ladder set-up, it remains unclear if these methods are used in practice.

A 4-year intervention to increase adoption of safer dairy farming work practices.

Background: Traumatic and musculoskeletal injury rates have been high in dairy farming compared to other industries. Previous work has shown that social marketing efforts can persuade farm managers to adopt practices that reduce injury hazards compared to traditional practices if the new practices maintain profits.

Methods: The intervention disseminated information to 4,300 Northeast Wisconsin dairy farm managers about three safer and more profitable production practices (barn lights, silage bags, and calf feed mixing sites) using information channels that these managers were known to rely on.

Intervention to increase adoption of safer dairy farming production practices.

Objectives: We conducted an intervention to increase adoption of three dairy farming practices shown to reduce certain traumatic and musculoskeletal injury hazards.

Methods: The intervention disseminated information to 4,300 Wisconsin dairy farm managers about three safer, more profitable production practices (barn lights, bag silos, and calf feed mixing sites) using information channels upon which these managers were known to rely. We evaluated rolling, independent, community-based samples at baseline and after each of two intervention years.

Evaluation of a four year intervention to reduce musculoskeletal hazards among berry growers.

Problem: Fresh market berry production workers are exposed to physical risk factors for musculoskeletal injury.

Method: We disseminated information through trade publications and other sources to berry managers in seven U.S.