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The purpose of the study is to assess the usability and acceptability of FallCheck, a Web app that allows users to complete home-hazard assessments within their own home, with a group of people at risk of falling and their carers.

This mixed method study used an online survey followed by semi-structured telephone interviews to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. A Think-Aloud study was used to test usability of the Web app through structured tasks.

Findings showed that FallCheck was easy to use with few usability issues. The Web app was deemed appropriate to use by people at risk of falling (young or old) or by carers if appropriate. The depth of knowledge provision and breadth of content was acceptable, and many participants reported subsequently making changes to their home environment to reduce their risk of falling. Overall, the majority of participants reported feelings of improved confidence and safety with an increased awareness of fall risks and a reduction in fear of falling at home.

FallCheck has good acceptability and usability with people at risk of falling and their carers and has the potential to improve access to home-hazard assessment and affect behavioural change regarding fall risk hazards and behaviour.

This study describes successful use of an app that may be helpful in identifying home-hazards and making changes to reduce risk of falls, particularly in the absence of occupational therapy intervention and has the potential for integration into falls care pathways.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the equalities’ dimension of falls prevention services in light of the Equality Act 2010 and its protected characteristics. Research and policy are discussed in light of the Act and public services’ duties to be aware of their responsibilities.

An initial research review was undertaken in 2012 and updated in 2016.

The research on falls prevention services does not always collect data on users of the service and services do not always collect data about their users that would enable them to build a picture of their users in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Services and commissioners will need to be able to show that the services funded by the public purse are accessible, acceptable and appropriate to the UK’s increasingly diverse older population. This paper describes some of the existing resources and research papers that contain elements of attention to the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010.

This is an update on a research review undertaken in 2012.

Although older women are at disproportionate risk of falling and becoming injured, little is known about the effect of falling on their quality of life. In this qualitative study, we examined the perceived causes of falling among older women, identified how older women's quality of life is influenced by falls, and explored how women can be empowered to prevent falls from occurring in their lives. Women who participated in focus groups indicated that the consequences of falling ranged in severity and duration and encompassed physical and psychosocial domains. The women took some ownership of preventing falls in their lives and believed that falls were caused by factors in the physical environment and personal health factors and practices. The results allow us to gain insight into the consequences of falls on the lives of older women, and that older women can influence change by preventing falls from occurring in their lives.

This article aims to explore the risk characteristics associated with food hazards on the island of Ireland and to assess how the public deal with perceived risks.

A qualitative investigation involving 12 focus groups was conducted on the island of Ireland. Content analysis was undertaken, with the assistance of the qualitative software tool QSR N6.

Four hazard categories (lifestyle, (bio)technological, microbiological and farm orientated production) were identified and the risk characteristics and risk relieving strategies associated with these hazards were explored. The risk perceptions of respondents were consistent with those defined by the psychometric paradigm. The risk characteristics of knowledge, control, dread, harm to health, freedom of choice, ease to identify were all mentioned, but their importance differed greatly depending on the hazards. For example, in the case of lifestyle hazards, personalisation of the risk, and thus dread, occurred when the individual had a health scare, while with microbiological hazards, knowledge and familiarity resulted in increased confidence in ability to cope with the hazard in the home. The media was noted as having an influential role in individual risk assessment. Finally, changing lifestyles were seen as contributing to increasing the level of exposure to food risks among the population. Further investigation into the sources and consequences of these changing lifestyles is required to guide future food policy.

The number of focus group conducted and the qualitative nature of the research limits the degree to which generalised conclusions can be drawn.

These results provide a deeper qualitative understanding of risk perception issues.

The Ba River catchment and delta on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji, supports a wealth of livelihoods and is populated by diverse communities who are living with an increased frequency and intensity of hydro-meteorological hazards (floods, cyclones and droughts). Participatory mapping as part of focus group discussions is a tool that can be used to elucidate communities’ understanding of the differing impacts of multiple hazards, as well as the strategies used to prepare and respond to different hazards. In this chapter, the authors present the results of qualitative research undertaken with members of three communities along the Ba River, from the Nausori highlands to the coastal mangroves, with a particular focus on recent floods (2009, 2012) and Tropical Cyclone Winston (2016). The communities draw on a wide range of livelihood strategies from fishing and agriculture to tourism and outside work. Natural hazard events vary in their impact on these livelihood strategies across the landscape and seascape, so that community members can adjust their activities accordingly. The temporal ‘signatures’ of ongoing impacts are also variable across communities and resources. The results suggest that taking a broad, landscape (and seascape) approach to understanding how communities draw livelihoods is valuable in informing effective and inclusive adaptation strategies for environmental change. Furthermore, documenting how the landscape is used in a mapped output may be a valuable tool for future social impact assessment for resource extraction activities.

This paper places a college at the centreof a multi-hazard assessment (earthquake, flood and landslide). The college is within a less studied, rural area of Ladakh, North India. Research focusses on a case study (Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) College), close to Leh, Ladakh, and extends to incorporate/apply thinking from/to the wider Ladakh region. The approach adopted, centring on the hazard assessment of a single entity/local area, allows a rapid uptake of hazard recommendations within a college environment planning to continue its existence for decades ahead. A sister paper (Petterson et al., 2019) documents the active involvement of college staff and students in the principles of geohazard assessment and the development of student-centric hazard assessments of the college and their home village. SECMOL is a self-sufficient, alternative, college, organised along strong environmentally sustainable principles. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This work has adopted different strategies for different hazards. Fieldwork involved the collection of quantitative and qualitative data (e.g. shape and size of valleys/river channels/valley sides, estimation of vegetation density, measurement of sediment clasts, angle of slopes, assessment of sediment character, stratigraphy of floodplains and identification of vulnerable elements). These data were combined with satellite image analysis to: define river catchment character and flood vulnerability (e.g. using the methodology of Collier and Fox, 2003), examine catchment connectivity, and examine landslip scars and generic terrain analysis. Literature studies and seismic database interrogation allowed the calculation of potential catchment floodwater volumes, and the collation of epicentre, magnitude, depth and date of seismic events, together with recent thinking on the return period of large Himalayan earthquakes. These data were used to develop geological-seismic and river catchment maps, the identification of vulnerable elements, and disaster scenario analyses.

This research concludes that SECMOL, and much of the Ladakh region, is exposed to significant seismic, flood and landslide hazard risk. High magnitude earthquakes have return periods of 100s to c. 1,000 years in the Himalayas and can produce intense levels of damage. It is prudent to maximise earthquake engineering wherever possible. The 2010 Leh floods demonstrated high levels of devastation: these floods could severely damage the SECMOL campus if storms were centred close by. This study reveals the connectivity of catchments at varying altitudes and the potential interactions of adjacent catchments. Evacuation plans need to be developed for the college. Northern ridges at SECMOL could bury parts of the campus if mobilised by earthquakes/rainfall. Slope angles can be lowered and large boulders moved to reduce risk. This work reinforces recommendations that relate to building quality and urban/rural planning, e.g. using spatial planning to keep people away from high-risk zones.

The frequency of hazards is low, but potential impacts high to very high. Hazard mitigation actions include engineering options for hazardous slopes, buildings to be earthquake-proofed, and evacuation management for large floods.

Methodologies undertaken in this research are well-tested. Linkages between disciplines are ambitious and somewhat original. The application of this work to a specific college centre site with the capacity to rapidly take up recommendations is novel. The identification of catchment inter-connectivity in this part of Ladakh is novel. This work complements a sister paper (Petterson et al., 2019) for community aspects of this study, adding to the novelty value.

Food poisoning attributable to the home generates a large disease burden, yet is an unregulated and largely unobserved domain. Investigating food safety awareness and routine practices is fraught with difficulties. The purpose of this paper is to develop and apply a new survey tool to elicit awareness of food hazards. Data generated by the approach are analysed to investigate the impact of oberservable heterogeneity on food safety awareness.

The authors develop a novel Watch-and-Click survey tool to assess the level of awareness of a set of hazardous food safety behaviours in the domestic kitchen. Participants respond to video footage stimulus, in which food hazards occur, via mouse clicks/screen taps. This real-time response data is analysed via estimation of count and logit models to investigate how hazard identification patterns vary over observable characteristics.

User feedback regarding the Watch-and-Click tool approach is extremely positive. Substantive results include significantly higher hazard awareness among the under 60s. People who thought they knew more than the average person did indeed score higher but people with food safety training/experience did not. Vegetarians were less likely to identify four of the five cross-contamination hazards they observed.

A new and engaging survey tool to elicit hazard awareness with real-time scores and feedback is developed, with high levels of user engagement and stakeholder interest. The approach may be applied to elicit hazard awareness in a wide range of contexts including education, training and research.

Describes a study to measure the quality of service provided by food‐poisoning surveillance agencies in England and Wales in terms of the requirements of a representative consumer ‐ the egg producing industry ‐ adopting “egg associated” outbreak investigation reports as the reference output. Defines and makes use of four primary performance indicators: accessibility of information; completeness of evidence supplied in food‐poisoning outbreak investigation reports as to the sources of infection in “egg‐associated” outbreaks; timeliness of information published; and utility of information and advice aimed at preventing or controlling food poisoning. Finds that quality expectations in each parameter measured are not met. Examines reasons why surveillance agencies have not delivered the quality demanded. Makes use of detailed case studies to illustrate inadequacies of current practice. Attributes failure to deliver “accessibility” to a lack of recognition on the status or nature of “consumers”, combined with a self‐maintenance motivation of the part of the surveillance agencies. Finds that failures to deliver “completeness” and “utility” may result from the same defects which give rise to the lack of “accessibility” in that, failing to recognize the consumers of a public service for what they are, the agencies feel no need to provide them with the data they require. The research indicates that self‐maintenance by scientific epidemiologists may introduce biases which when combined with a politically inspired need to transfer responsibility for food‐poisoning outbreaks, skew the conduct of investigations and their conclusions. Contends that this is compounded by serious and multiple inadequacies in the conduct of investigations, arising at least in part from the lack of training and relative inexperience of investigators, the whole conditioned by interdisciplinary rivalry between the professional groups staffing the different agencies. Finds that in addition failures to exploit or develop epidemiological technologies has affected the ability of investigators to resolve the uncertainties identified. Makes recommendations directed at improving the performance of the surveillance agencies which, if adopted will substantially enhance food poisoning control efforts.