Forensics Talk

Adopting Incorrect Positions Is The Main Cause Of Falls From Scaffolding And Ladders

Medical News Today

     Adopting incorrect positions is the main cause of work accidents produced by falling from platforms and ladders, and is also related to workers' lack of knowledge of regulations, according to a study prepared by researchers from the University of Vigo (Pontevedra) and published in the online version of the magazine Science Safety.

One of the authors of the study, Teresa Rivas, from the Mining Engineering School at this university explained to SINC that job duration is also related to adopting bad positions and lack of knowledge of regulations, as a result of which shorter tasks are associated with more falls and less well-trained workers. On the other hand, workers that carry out longer tasks are better prepared for dangerous situations.

To carry out this study, authors surveyed almost 400 workers from 103 companies from industry, construction and the services sector while performing their tasks at height. Bayesian networks, one of the so called "automatic learning" statistical techniques enabling graphic expression of relations of dependence between variables, as well as making estimates in probalistic terms of the influence of each variable and its interaction in the type of fall, were used to analyse researchers' data.

In previous work these scientists have already analysed the capacity of predicting and interpreting different automatic learning techniques and concluded that Bayesian networks, apart from having a comparable predictive capacity to other statistical methods, "have an excellent interpretative capacity". Rivas points out that Bayesian networks can be improved with new data, as a result of which they are a very useful tool for identifying causes of accidents and establishing the bases of understanding for a "solidly based" prevention policy.

José María Matías, mathematician from the Department of Statistics at the University of Vigo who also participated in the study, says that these types of techniques can be used for analysing causes "because there is continuous data on victims of work accidents, but beyond just the numbers what we need to look for is how to avoid such accidents, and this is where these methodological contributions play an important role".

The researcher Rivas concluded that knowing the dependence relationship between the causes of the accident offers experts useful information for improving health and safety at work management models.

J.E. Martín, T. Rivas, J.M. Matías, J. Taboada y A. Arguelles. A Bayesian network analysis of workplace accidents caused by falls from a height. Science Safety. (2008); doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2008.03.004

J. M. Matías, T. Rivas, J. E. Martín, J. Taboada. A machine learning methodology for the analysis of workplace accidents. International Journal of Computer Mathematics (85):3 - 4, 559 - 578 Marzo Abril 2008

Plataforma SINC
http://www.plataformasinc.es

Study Of Religious Activity Finds Benefit In Mental Health Of Women

Medical News Today
Main Category: Anxiety / Stress
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Women's Health / Gynecology;  Mental Health
Article Date: 02 Jan 2008 - 3:00 PST

     For many, religious activity changes between childhood and adulthood, and a new study finds this could affect one's mental health.

According to Temple University's Joanna Maselko, Sc.D., women who had stopped being religiously active were more than three times more likely to have suffered generalized anxiety and alcohol abuse/dependence than women who reported always having been active.

"One's lifetime pattern of religious service attendance can be related to psychiatric illness," said Maselko, an assistant professor of public health and co-author of the study, which appears in the January issue of Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

Conversely, men who stopped being religiously active were less likely to suffer major depression when compared to men who had always been religiously active.

Maselko offers one possible explanation for the gender differences in the relationship between religious activity and mental health.

"Women are simply more integrated into the social networks of their religious communities. When they stop attending religious services, they lose access to that network and all its potential benefits. Men may not be as integrated into the religious community in the first place and so may not suffer the negative consequences of leaving," Maselko said.

The study expands on previous research in the field by analyzing the relationship between mental health - anxiety, depression and alcohol dependence or abuse - and spirituality using current and past levels, said Maselko, who conducted the research when she was at Harvard University.

In the study sample, comprising 718 adults, a majority of men and women changed their level of religious activity between childhood and adulthood, which was critical information for the researchers.

"A person's current level of spirituality is only part of the story. We can only get a better understanding of the relationship between health and spirituality by knowing a person's lifetime religious history," Maselko said.

Out of the 278 women in the group, 39 percent (N=109) had always been religiously active and 51 percent (N=141) had not been active since childhood. About 7 percent of the women who have always been religiously active met the criteria for generalized anxiety disorder compared to 21 percent of women who had stopped being religiously active.

"Everyone has some spirituality, whether it is an active part of their life or not; whether they are agnostic or atheist or just 'non-practicing.' These choices potentially have health implications, similar to the way that one's social networks do," Maselko said.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.

Curbing Teen Driver Risks

CBS NEWS
CHICAGO, July 5, 2007

Expert Explains High Accident And Death Rates, As Well As What Parents Can Do

   (CBS) There's hardly a town in America that hasn't been touched by the tragedy of fatal car crashes involving teenagers.

Auto accidents are the leading cause of death for teens, so their parents need to know how to protect their kids when they or their friends are behind the wheel.

On The Early Show Thursday, John Ulczycki, executive director of transportation safety at the National Safety Council, offered advice for teens and their parents.

Vehicular crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, with nearly 4,000 accident-related fatalities per year in the United States, and summer is the deadliest such season.

When teens are out of school, they log more miles behind they wheel and often have friends in the car, which increases their risk for a crash. In the summer, more young people are finishing drivers' education classes and hitting the road on their own for the first time, often with little experience.

Ulczycki stressed that the two major factors in fatal teen crashes are inexperience and distraction. Alcohol is involved, he says, but to a lesser extent.

Parents frequently don't spend enough time with teens in the car before allowing them to drive in certain situations. Before teens drive in various situations, whether it's on rural roads, the highway, at night, in bad weather, etc., they should have had their parents with them in the car under those circumstances. [Read More]

Six Flags Closes More Rides After Accident

From CBS News

June 23, 2007

13-Year-Old Girl Had Feet Chopped Off On Superman Ride; 8 More Rides Shut Down

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(CBS/AP) Six Flags and another company shut down eight more thrill rides Friday around the country, including a ride at a North Carolina amusement park, after a teenage girl had her feet chopped off at the ankle on a Superman Tower of Power.

State inspectors, meanwhile, returned to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, where the accident happened, to examine the ride, which lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops them nearly the same distance at speeds reaching 54 mph.

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Emergency Physicians Urge Parents To Follow 10 Rules To Prevent Child Drownings

From Medical News Today
Article Date: 27 May 2007 - 0:00 PDT

   Summer has arrived, and UCLA emergency physicians would like to remind parents how to prevent drownings and water-immersion injuries involving children. These unfortunate and heart-wrenching events most often occur in the summer months, which are filled with water activities.

In Los Angeles County, approximately 70 percent of child drownings occur during June, July and August, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Most of these tragic events occur in private backyard swimming pools. More than two-thirds of toddler-age children who were found in pools or spas were thought to have been elsewhere in the house, either sleeping or playing.

"Drowning remains the leading cause of accidental death among toddlers ages 1 to 2," said Dr. Larry J. Baraff, professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "One of the most preventable causes of death, this tragedy can be avoided with just a few simple precautions."

In the past five years, there were, on average, 2,200 children younger than 5 years old treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments for swimming pool submersion injuries and 280 pool-related drowning deaths per year. Ninety percent of these deaths occurred at home.

Parents should follow these 10 basic rules to prevent a child drowning:

1. Never leave a child unattended or with a young sibling in a swimming pool, wading pool, bathtub or hot tub. Even a momentary lapse in supervision may result in drowning a child can drown in just two minutes.

2. Pools should be fenced and gated with self-locking gates. This includes pools located in neighborhoods, apartment complexes, family backyards, etc. Pools must be kept clean, with no covers or rafts that might obstruct one's view of a child.

3. Always secure the safety cover on your spa or hot tub.

4. Be sure all containers with liquids are emptied immediately after use. Do not leave empty containers in yards or around the house where they may accumulate water and attract young children.

5. Adults and teenagers age 14 and older who supervise children should know CPR. Studies have demonstrated that nearly drowned children given quick CPR suffered no brain damage, while children not receiving such immediate treatment sustained brain damage or death.

6. Children should be given swimming lessons but should not be considered water-safe until they are 14 years old.

7. Keep small children out of bathrooms unless supervised by an adult or older child. Since 1973, more than 500 children have drowned in bathtubs, hot tubs, toilets and five-gallon buckets.

8. Older children and even adults should not swim alone in the ocean or fast-moving rivers.

9. Children should wear bright-colored flotation devices when boating.

10. Don't mix alcohol, children and water.

For more information about water safety tips, please visit the Web site of the Injury and Violence Prevention Program of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services at http://www.lapublichealth.org.

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences
924 Westwood Blvd., Ste. 350
Los Angeles, CA 90095
United States
http://www.ucla.edu

Take Me Out To The Courtroom: Hancock's Death Everyone's Fault

From Overlawyered

Score another one for personal responsibility: 29-year old St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock killed himself in April when he drove -- faster than the speed limit, drunk, on a cell phone, and not wearing a seat belt -- into a tow truck stopped on the side of a road. Obviously, we ought to blame... everyone except Josh Hancock for this. Three and a half weeks after the accident, his father has filed suit in St. Louis against: the restaurant where Hancock was drinking, the manager of the restaurant, the tow truck driver, the towing company, and (!) the driver of the stalled vehicle that the tow truck was assisting, for having the temerity to get his car stuck on the side of the road.

So far, he hasn't sued the Cardinals or Major League Baseball, but, while praising the team, his lawyer pointedly refused to rule out suing them.

Clearly, his father's attorney isn't all that creative; think of all the other people responsible for this accident:

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