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Studies have proved that wood sawmill workers are exposed to high occupational risks if not well managed. In developing countries, many wood sawmills are found in urban and semi-urban areas. Studies exploring how residents near these wood sawmills perceive and react to these risks is scarce in Nigeria. The application of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technology is possibly one of the ways to manage the likely hazards. This study aims to investigate the possible hazards associated with timber sawmills in residential areas and the role of 4IR technologies in proffering feasible solutions to mitigate them in Nigeria’s cities.

Data were sourced from three cities and nine sawmills across Nigeria. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with authoritative participants (residents, environmentalists, government agencies, sawmill owners, 4IR technology experts and medical experts) who have been championing the regulation and safety of timber sawmill locations within the cities (Lagos, Benin City and Owerri) via a phenomenology type of qualitative research and supplemented by secondary sources.

Findings show that timber sawmills are located across the three cities in Nigeria and may have contributed to the health and environmental challenges of the people living in the neighbourhood. The identified hazards were grouped into three sub-themes (physical, health and environmental hazards). Findings identify robots, modularisation, cyber-physical systems, the internet of things and services and human-computer interaction as the digitalised technology that can be used in sawmills to mitigate hazards for the benefit of mankind.

The paper is limited to hazards that residents in timber sawmills locations may face in Nigeria’s cities and data collected via face-to-face 23 interviews. The paper’s referral to past publications in the findings and discussion section compensated for the small sample size.

As part of this paper’s implications, the emerged recommendations will strengthen collaboration with relevant stakeholders regarding control measures via the use of 4IR technologies in timber sawmills. This will stir up policymakers to develop possible policies that will promote and create the platform for the implementation of 4IR technologies in city sawmills.

Apart from probably being the first paper to explore the hazards of residents in timber sawmill locations and proffer solutions via the usage of the 4IR technology, this paper’s contribution emphasis the need for in-depth future studies regarding the risk perceptions of Nigeria’s residents living in timber sawmill area.

The main purpose of this paper was to evaluate the validation process of food safety control measures.

The validation of control measures has been analyzed at 50 food companies in Serbia. The sample included companies that produce food of both plant and animal origin and have certified food safety management systems. A total of 156 control measures that combat physical hazards (41.6%), followed by microbial hazards (34.0%) and chemical hazards (24.4%), have been analyzed. To enable quantification of the validation protocols, each control measure was assigned a score.

The validation scores showed that the highest level of validation was observed in large companies, as opposed to small and medium-sized companies (p < 0.05). The type of food safety hazards and the food sector did not reveal any statistical differences in-between the scores. The main approach to validating control measures was referring to the technical documentation of equipment used (52.6%), followed by scientific and legal requirements (30.7%). Less than 20% of the analyzed control measures were validated with operational data collected on-site. No mathematical modeling was observed for the sampled food companies. Future steps should include the development of validation guides for different types of control measures and training modules.

This study can serve as an improvement guide for food safety consultants, food safety auditors, certification bodies, inspection services, food technologists and food managers.

This study is one of the first to provide an insight into how food companies validate their control measures to combat microbial, chemical and physical food safety hazards.

The modern workplace contains many physical and interpersonal hazards to employee physical and psychological health/well-being. This chapter integrates the literatures on occupational safety (i.e., accidents and injuries) and mistreatment (physical violence and psychological abuse). A model is provided linking environmental (climate and leadership), individual differences (demographics and personality), motivation, behavior, and outcomes. It notes that some of the same variables have been linked to both safety and mistreatment, such as safety climate, mistreatment climate, conscientiousness, and emotional stability.

The purpose of this study is to develop a hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP)-based approach to control risk factors associated with biscuit manufacturing plant.

Methodology was developed to achieve and implement the food safety and quality requirements. Procedure for hazard analysis and risk assessment was based on ISO 22000:2005 and codex standard. The HACCP Plan was summarized in comprehensive figures and tables. Biological, chemical and physical hazards that could exist in every step of biscuits production were identified. Moreover, the critical control points were selected and the critical limits, monitoring, corrective measures, records and verifications were established using risk analysis and decision tree.

With the implementation of HACCP system, it could be possible to reduce the food safety hazard and provide safe food and increase customer satisfaction. The critical control points were identified in sieving, sugar crushing, baking and detecting metal through the use of risk analysis and decision-making tree to control the biological, physical hazards along with monitoring through the control sheets. Critical limits, monitoring methods and frequency, responsibilities and corrective actions of the processes are also presented. This measuring instrument could be used by a food company as assessment tool and a benchmarking tool.

Applying the HACCP system in food manufacturing can effectively assure food safety and quality, as well as expand the market and improve the manufacturers’ management level. In doing so, suitable strategies can be selected by a food company to allocate resources, increase HACCP effectiveness and improve its product safety.

The purpose of this paper is to identify safety hazards likely to be encountered during post‐disaster recovery and reconstruction, identify barriers to effective safety training and hazard mitigation, and provide actionable guidance on methods to safely avoid and abate such hazards.

Surveys were administered to 400 participants at 13 training sites to evaluate safety practices among reconstruction contractors and workers.

A comparison of survey results to hazards likely to cause injuries and fatalities during post‐disaster reconstruction indicates that little effort is made to assess workers' physical condition or immunization records prior to deployment. Furthermore, data suggest that workers lack safety training in reconstruction‐specific hazards such as electrocution, falls, chemical and biological hazards (e.g. contaminated flood water), and equipment hazards (aerial lifts, ladders, electric equipment, generators, etc.). Findings also indicate that training effectiveness is further compromised by limited language and literacy skills of workers, high turnover of workers, and insufficient resources for adequate safety training frequency and duration, especially among smaller contractors (<100 workers).

The paper is based on original research funded by the US Government following Hurricane Katrina and is intended to aid in the development of targeted training to reduce worker injuries and fatalities during post‐disaster reconstruction.

The concept of risk perception in tourism has long been studied and debated, being commonly approached as a multidimensional construct. Physical risk is one of the most common dimensions of perceived risk, covering numerous tourists' concerns. Given the extent of the items included in the physical risk dimension, the study aims to overview this topic, analysing different aggregated risks, presenting a schematic representation based on an extensive literature review that a posteriori was categorized into three groups: human-made, mixed and natural. The aim was to introduce a broader and more precise understanding of the physical risks in tourism.

Literature on natural risks typically examines either biophysical process characteristics or human pre‐ or post‐disaster activities. This paper takes a somewhat different track; first, it argues that also natural disasters are socially constructed and, therefore, second, it resets the framework in which disaster management has to be placed. While most researchers usually focus on risk assessment it is suggested that the concept of vulnerability can provide a vehicle to explore a contextual approach to the reduction of losses due to natural hazards. In a brief overview the conceptualization of vulnerability is presented. Since precise measurement of uncertainties and exact prediction of damages is hardly feasible, a conceptual approach in vulnerability assessment is proposed. Qualities that determine potential damage are identified and characteristics described. It is suggested that, even without assessing risk exactly, vulnerability reduction decreases damages and losses.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different measures of working conditions affect the health at work of female and male workers of 15 European countries. Particular attention is paid to the gender dimension of this relationship.

Using the European Working Conditions Survey from 2005 the author describes differences in health at work by gender accounting for both psychosocial and physical hazards at work. A Probit OLS estimator is used to obtain the relevant estimates and endogeneity problems have been properly addressed.

Results show that controlling for a broad selection of personal and work attributes, working conditions are associated with more work related health problems – both physical and mental. Importantly, some evidence is found in support of a different pattern by gender. With respect to mental health at work, males suffer more from high work demands/low job autonomy compared to females. Task segregation may play a role in explaining these differences. A less clear pattern across gender is found with respect to physical health problems at work. When the endogeneity of working conditions is taken into account, results are confirmed and show that the effect of working conditions on health at work is under‐estimated when endogeneity is not accounted for.

The paper's findings contribute to shed more light on the controversial analysis between working conditions and health according to gender.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether occupational health and safety (OHS) management used to manage musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the aged care sector reflects contemporary research evidence of best practice to reduce the incidence of these disorders.

In total, 58 interviews were conducted with managers and supervisors in the aged care sector across four organisations in Australia. Policies and procedures relating to MSDs were reviewed for each organisation.

Policies and procedures for managing MSDs do not reflect contemporary evidence, which supports a complex aetiology, related to a range of physical and psychosocial workplace factors. Despite strong evidence that psychosocial factors contribute to MSD development, these were not included in the policies and procedures reviewed. Findings from the interviews management practices including leadership and various components of HRM were functioning well but fragmentation was evident due to the challenging nature of the aged care sector.

To address the significant burden of MSDs in the aged care sector, policies and procedures need to include coverage of psychosocial and physical workplace factors. The development of systematic and integrated OHS management at the workplace level may play an important role in the effective management of MSDs.

This study offers insights into the previously unexplored area of MSD risk management and the role of management practices such as HRM in the aged care sector.

This paper was written in order to present research undertaken in several hospital units in Greece, in order to explore: nurses' knowledge on health risk factors associated with their work responsibilities, the ways that these factors interfere with their general condition of health (physically and psychologically) and their views on future training interventions on health and safety (H&S) issues.

The methodological tools used were questionnaires completed by 213 nurses, who were working in various units of three Greek hospitals and structured interviews conducted with ten nurses, which allowed the researchers to explore more thoroughly the respondents' views/feelings on H&S risks, implications and training.

The most frequent hazard identified by nurses was hepatitis (biohazard), latex gloves and antiseptics (chemical hazards). The respondents declared that they consistently apply self-protection measures. They also acknowledged the importance of having a support mechanism among colleagues, which would provide them help when needed. They also appeared very keen on attending regularly H&S training programs, especially if these programs were administered during working hours.

The research has explored all types of health hazards (physical, chemical, biological and psychosocial) faced by nurses. The results of this study could be useful to hospital managers and H&S professionals who wish to take active measures in order to provide a safer working environment. There could also be comparisons with other similar research in other units/hospitals/health systems/countries, so as to examine whether – and for what reasons – there are differences in the way health professionals experience exposure to risk factors. Finally, this study might be useful to training designers/providers, who need to obtain a better understanding on nurses' educational/training needs when they organize and administer their various H&S training interventions.