Impact of Societal Norms on Safety, Health, and the Environment


Book Description

A compelling exploration of how social norms and commercial culture impact the safety of organizational operations In Impact of Societal Norms on Safety, Health, and the Environment: Case Studies in Society and Safety Culture, distinguished engineer Dr. Lee T. Ostrom delivers an authoritative treatment of the cultural, social, and human factors of safety cultures and issues in the workplace. The book offers readers compelling discussions of how those factors impact organizational operations and what contributes to making those impacts beneficial or detrimental. The author provides numerous real-world case studies from North America and Europe that are relevant to a global audience, highlighting the central message of the book: that an organization that views its safety culture as unimportant could be setting itself up for a significant workplace accident. Readers will also find: A thorough introduction to social norms that impact how commercial organizations treat issues of safety and workplace health In-depth safety culture case studies from North America and Europe Comprehensive explorations of how peoples’ perceptions of hazards impact workplace operations and the daily lives of employees Fulsome discussions of the effect of societal attitudes on workplace health and safety Perfect for industrial and safety managers, safety coordinators, and safety representatives, Impact of Societal Norms on Safety, Health, and the Environment will also earn a place in the libraries of industrial hygienists, ergonomic program coordinators, and HR professionals.




U.S. Health in International Perspective


Book Description

The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.




Communities in Action


Book Description

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.




The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Occupational Safety and Workplace Health


Book Description

A Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Organizational Psychology focusing on occupational safety and workplace health. The editors draw on their collective experience to present thematically structured material from leading thinkers and practitioners in the USA, Europe, and Asia Pacific Provides comprehensive coverage of the major contributions that psychology can make toward the improvement of workplace safety and employee health Equips those who need it most with cutting-edge research on key topics including wellbeing, safety culture, safety leadership, stress, bullying, workplace health promotion and proactivity




International Governance and Law


Book Description

Around the world, the role of national regulation is often hotly debated. This book takes as its starting point the fact that legislatures and regulators are criticized for overregulation and for producing poor-quality regulation which ignores input from citizens and stifles private initiative. This situation has enhanced the role of non-state law, in forms such as self-regulation and soft law. In this book, international scholars in various fields of law, as well as socio-legal studies, address the question to what extent non-state law currently influences state regulation, and what the consequences of non-state law are likely to be for state regulation. Drawing lessons for the state legislature and state regulators, this innovative book will be of great interest to academic researchers and post graduate students in the fields of law, regulation, legal sociology, legal theory, law and economics, and environmental law. It will also be of interest to policy makers and regulators those working at ministries and government departments drafting legislation.




Advances in Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare


Book Description

Based on recent research, this book discusses how to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness in patient care through the application of human factors and ergonomics principles. It provides guidance for those involved with the design and application of systems and devices for effective and safe healthcare delivery from both a patient




The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century


Book Description

The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.




The Social Norms Approach to Preventing School and College Age Substance Abuse


Book Description

The Social Norms Approach to Preventing School and College Age Substance Abuse offers educators, counselors, and clinicians a handbook for understanding and implementing a new and highly successful alternative to traditional methods for preventing substance abuse among young people. The proven "social norms" approach outlined in this book identifies young people's dramatic misperceptions about their peer norms and promotes accurate public reporting of actual positive norms that exist in all student populations. The contributors to this important book are the originators, pioneers, and active proponents of this new approach. Many of them have successfully applied the social norms approach in secondary and higher education settings and as a result have promoted healthier lifestyles among adolescents and young adults across the United States.




The Handbook of Health Behavior Change, 4th Edition


Book Description

Choice Outstanding Academic Title! 4 Stars - Doody's! Praise for the Third Edition: "This work will be one that students and clinicians keep on their shelves as the gold-standard reference for health behavior change. Summing up: Essential" --Choice Substantially revised to reflect current trends in the field of health behavior change, this new edition of the highly acclaimed "gold standard" text continues to provide a comprehensive overview of behavior change as it relates to public health. It has been extensively reorganized to eliminate redundancies in the earlier edition, and takes a broader, more pragmatic approach in its coverage of health behavior change. New content includes chapters on lifestyle change and prevention and chronic disease management, with an intensive focus on specific behaviors (i.e. diet and nutrition, tobacco use) and chronic illness (i.e diabetes, heart disease). A new section on Community, System, and Provider Interventions to Support Health Behavior Change focuses on the efficacy of interventions implemented within various systems such as schools, workplaces, and health care systems. The fourth edition also provides learning objectives and discussion questions to facilitate use by course instructors in health psychology, behavioral medicine, and public health. This multidisciplinary text has been authored and edited by highly esteemed practitioners, educators, and researchers who are experts in their specific areas of study. The majority of the text continues to be organized around the specific behaviors and chronic illnesses with the most significant public health impacts in terms of morbidity and mortality. Each chapter explains the significance of a particular problem and reviews the empirical evidence for the various intervention approaches. New to the Fourth Edition: Extensively reorganized to eliminate redundancies Updated to encompass the most current research in health behavior change Includes new chapters on Alcohol, Stress and Mood Management, Diabetes, Obesity, The Workplace, Built Environment, and Behavior Data Focuses intensively on specific behaviors and chronic illnesses that significantly affect public health Includes a new section on Community, System, and Provider Interventions to Support Health Behavior Change Applicable to a wide variety of courses including public health, behavior change, preventive medicine, and health psychology Authored by leading researchers, educators, and practitioners with a multidisciplinary focus Includes learning objectives and discussion questions