Using a Qualitative Phenomenological Approach to Inform the Etiology and Prevention of Occupational Heat-Related Injuries in Australia
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. Circumstances and Outcomes of Incidents
They have an incident such as a nick or a cut, when someone’s overheating they bleed like a pig …. because all the blood’s at the surface trying to cool you down(#17, manufacturing)
It might just be a cut, it might just be falling over, but on the same note it can be fatal …. I can’t tell you how many times it has been just a cut or a fall or you know just a small injury but the effects are massive they really are(#1, construction)
Uncontrollable cramping of the body and um, yeah, just lack of bodily function. It crippled me(#1, construction)
3.2. Contributing Factors
3.2.1. At the Individual Level
- Acclimatization.
- Dehydration and fatigue.
- Age
The highest level of people who have any injuries, probably under 18s … the younger ones, because they’re just going at everything like a bull at a gate, but the next highest level would probably be the over 50s(#2, construction)
On the day I was so dehydrated and so …hyperthermic that my blood was so thick that the little artery in that part of the cerebellum just blocked and the blood flow stopped causing the stroke.… Nobody could believe that such a drastic outcome could come from just dehydration.
I feel incredibly lucky. It could have killed me. If that … stroke had‘ve been in another part of the brain I could have been either completely incapacitated for life, or it could have killed me.
Your own wellbeing and fitness is … really important … the more unfit you are the more at risk you are I believe. … Make sure you look after yourself, you drink plenty of water, you keep well hydrated, you wear the appropriate clothing, always wear a hat, sunscreen. …you’ve got to make sure your organization is aware of what can happen and provides, um probably supervision. … Make sure that your colleagues are looking out for you as well and you’re looking out for your colleagues.
3.2.2. At the Interpersonal Level
- Attitudes concerning self-presentation
They feel under pressure, they feel like they have to keep delivering, they don’t stop, they don’t have the rests(#22, communication)
3.2.3. At the Organizational Level
- Workplace environment
- Workers’ lack of autonomy
A young guy won’t speak up as much as an older, more experienced employee will. So they’ve got to be able to have the confidence to be able to communicate and speak up to their supervisor’s team leader or someone around them(# 19, retail)
… but an understanding from a boss’s perspective, that we’re not, we’re not machines, that we’re humans and humans have limitations, and that ongoing effect of, for quality work to be done, sometimes leaving an hour earlier, and that understanding that it’s OK to leave an hour earlier, because tomorrow … you can still perform at a better level than if you push through for that one or two extra hours(#1, construction)
Safety goggles, they just fog up, and to me it just seems, it’s more unsafe to be wearing them(#3, construction)
There’s not enough breaks and there’s not enough access to water onsite and even, you know, stories of um having to buy the water from the farmer.
And if you’re on piece-rates and you down tools then you’re not going to make any money … Each of those factors influences how people behave in the heat. Um. Who’s controlling them, do they have any power to say no, um, what are the consequences if they do, and at the moment the consequences are, you know, well you’ll probably lose our job.
- Workplace constraints
It might just be a case of messing up a little piece of what we’re doing, which then has the flow on effect of costing the company money. Um, so it needs to be weighed up, you know, how cost effective is making people working in this heat. …………(#1, construction)
- Sub-contractors and seasonal workers
They’ll just work right through, no matter what the conditions, do it as quick as they can. ………………(#6, transport)
3.3. Prevention of Incidents
They don’t sort of really appreciate the dangers … they don’t really understand the ramification that if they do get heat stroke—it’s pretty bad(#5, manufacturing)
Pre-starts starts off, OK are we wearing hats today, have we got our sunscreen on, you know if you feel, if these are the symptoms, we’ve got some signs made up, you know with urine color in it, … if it looks like that, it needs to look like this(#19, retail)
But for you to actually, to make it to the point where it turns 35 or 38, you still need to regulate yourself and you know, and take precautions to even get to those temperatures, because on a hot day not so much the first hot day, the second, the third the fourth, you’re already flat and struggling, when its 28(#1, construction)
We also have to change this idea that as soon as there is an incident everybody has to overreact and start, basically I suppose, um putting it back on the injured party to actually, you know, like blaming them for the fact that there’s been an incident, or blaming the, you know, their company … So just recognize the fact that yes it is hot, … so we have to find a solution to it rather than trying to blame someone for it(#2, mining)
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Gender | Age (Years) | Occupation/Industry 1 | State 2 | FTF/P 3 | Incident(s) or Topic Discussed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
M | 39 | Construction | SA | FTF | Heat cramps, heat exhaustion |
M | 59 | Rigger | SA | FTF | Heat cramps, nausea, vomiting, fall resulting in broken arm |
M | 23 | Scaffolder | SA | FTF | Non-specific |
F | 66 | Consultant/Mining | WA | P | Heat stress, heat rashes |
M | 63 | Manufacturing | Vic | P | Trips, disorientation, vomiting |
M | 42 | Transport | SA | FTF | Dehydration, heat stress, collapse |
F | 45 | Agriculture | SA | P | Fatigue |
M, F | 46, 57 | Rigger, Inspector | SA | FTF | Dizziness, nausea, fatigue, collapse |
M | 61 | Surveyor | SA | FTF | Headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, dizziness |
M | 55 | Manufacturing | SA | FTF | Light headedness, tired |
M | 29 | Council worker | SA | P | Thirst, tiredness, headache, mood change |
M | 54 | Council worker | SA | P | Loss of consciousness |
M | 68 | Transport | Vic | P | Motor vehicle accident, loss of consciousness |
M | 53 | Transport | SA | FTF | Prevention measures |
M | 56 | Manufacturing | SA | FTF | Dehydration, heat illnesses, fatigue, prevention measures |
M × 2 | 25, 60 | Transport | SA | FTF | Vomiting, fatigue, too much water |
M | 45 | Retail | NSW | P | Loss of consciousness, dehydration |
M | 48 | Education | WA | P | Spinal injury, traffic accident |
F | 52 | Coordinator | NSW | P | Injuries, deaths in seasonal workers |
F | 42 | Postal worker | Tas | P | Delirium, dizziness |
M | 43 | Emergency Services | NSW | P | Vomiting, headache, brain injury |
Recommendation. | Example Quotes |
---|---|
Education of workers, supervisors, persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU)1 |
|
Looking out for each other |
|
Adequate hydration |
|
Work-rest regimes |
|
PPE |
|
Better understanding of heat risks by employers |
|
Devices and safety systems |
|
Heat policies |
|
First aid |
|
Risk assessments |
|
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Hansen, A.L.; Williams, S.; Hanson-Easey, S.; Varghese, B.M.; Bi, P.; Heyworth, J.; Nitschke, M.; Rowett, S.; Sim, M.R.; Pisaniello, D.L. Using a Qualitative Phenomenological Approach to Inform the Etiology and Prevention of Occupational Heat-Related Injuries in Australia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 846. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030846
Hansen AL, Williams S, Hanson-Easey S, Varghese BM, Bi P, Heyworth J, Nitschke M, Rowett S, Sim MR, Pisaniello DL. Using a Qualitative Phenomenological Approach to Inform the Etiology and Prevention of Occupational Heat-Related Injuries in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(3):846. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030846
Chicago/Turabian StyleHansen, Alana L, Susan Williams, Scott Hanson-Easey, Blesson M Varghese, Peng Bi, Jane Heyworth, Monika Nitschke, Shelley Rowett, Malcolm R Sim, and Dino L Pisaniello. 2020. "Using a Qualitative Phenomenological Approach to Inform the Etiology and Prevention of Occupational Heat-Related Injuries in Australia" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 3: 846. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030846