Children's perception of safety and danger on the road

This study investigates the ability of children between 5 and 11 years to select safe places to cross the street. The children were presented with situations which were either extremely safe or manifestly dangerous and were asked to correctly identify these. In other cases, they were asked to choose for themselves routes across the road which they thought would be safe. The tasks were presented in various ways: by means of a table-top simulation on which traffic scenarios had been contrived; by means of photographs of road situations; and by taking the children to real-world sites in the streets near their schools. All the experiments showed a similar pattern of results. Five- and 7-year olds exhibited very poor skill in identifying dangerous road-crossing sites. Their judgements relied exclusively on the visible presence of cars in the vicinity. Other factors such as blind summits, obscuring obstacles or complex junctions were never recognized as threatening situations. They also showed an unwillingness to make detours when planning their own routes, even where the direct route was manifestly dangerous. Nine-year-olds showed a higher level of ability and 11-year -olds showed quite good skill in these judgements. No sex differences were apparent. These results suggest that young children up to about 9 years must often be at considerable risk as they do not have the ability to recognize a location as dangerous, even if they know the mechanics of the Green Cross Code. The implications for road safety education are discussed

Competitive state anxiety and performance among Malaysian athletes from the view of multidimensional anxiety theory / Vincent A. Parnabas, Yahaya Mahamood and Kwame Ampofo-Boateng

The Multidimensional Anxiety theory examines the relationship between anxiety and performance. It is the first theory that explains that both cognitive and somatic components play an important role on performance. Cognitive anxiety is the mental component of anxiety and somatic anxiety refers to a person’s perceived changes in her or his physiological. The theory hypothesizes a powerful negative linear relationship between cognitive state anxiety and performance and a less powerful, inverted U relationship between somatic anxiety and performance. The theory states that the increases of cognitive and somatic anxiety will deteriorate an athlete’s performance. However, previous research had showed inconsistent results. Therefore, this research examines the effect of cognitive and somatic anxiety on performance among Malaysian athletes. The sample consisted of 902 athletes, consisting of national (N=53), state (N=395), district (N=120), university (N=211), and school athletes (N= 123). The sample was drawn from among athletes who competed in three big sport events of Malaysia, MASUM (Universities Sports Competition), MSSM (Schools Sport Competition) and Sukan Olimpik Muda (Young Olympic Athletes Competition).The instrument used for the study comprised of a 27-item Competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2, consisting of cognitive and somatic component. The result has received support from the Multidimensional Anxiety theory, that the increased level of cognitive and somatic anxiety deteriorated athletes’ performance. Coaches, sport psychologists and counsellors can use this research to reduce the cognitive and somatic anxiety to increase athletes’ performance

Children's perception of safety and danger on the road

This thesis examines aspects of children's road safety awareness in relation to road crossing. The principal concern is with children's ability to discriminate safe from dangerous road crossing sites and their ability to select safe routes to cross the road. The influence of age, sex and specific road environmental features (hedges, bends, junctions, parked cars and zebra crossings) on safety judgements are explored. Children's judgements were obtained in a variety of experimental situations including table-top models, photographic posters and the real-world traffic environment. The results showed no sex differences in children's understanding of road dangers, but very significant age differences. Five and seven year olds used as their main referent the presence or absence of cars on the road to determine whether a situation was safe or dangerous. Other dangers, for example, an obscured view, were ignored. They were also inclined to select the shortest and most direct route as the safest. Nine and eleven year olds by contrast reasoned that even without cars on the road some crossing sites and routes were potentially dangerous because they did not permit an adequate view of the roadway. They also noted more varied and relevant road features in estimating safety and danger. On the basis of the findings, a preliminary training scheme was designed using a large table-top model to see if the younger children's skills could be improved. The results of the training were encouraging; the implications of the findings for child pedestrian research and training are discussed. Other psychological factors which may facilitate or hinder child pedestrians ability to identify safety and danger in traffic are also considered.This thesis examines aspects of children's road safety awareness in relation to road crossing. The principal concern is with children's ability to discriminate safe from dangerous road crossing sites and their ability to select safe routes to cross the road. The influence of age, sex and specific road environmental features (hedges, bends, junctions, parked cars and zebra crossings) on safety judgements are explored. Children's judgements were obtained in a variety of experimental situations including table-top models, photographic posters and the real-world traffic environment. The results showed no sex differences in children's understanding of road dangers, but very significant age differences. Five and seven year olds used as their main referent the presence or absence of cars on the road to determine whether a situation was safe or dangerous. Other dangers, for example, an obscured view, were ignored. They were also inclined to select the shortest and most direct route as the safest. Nine and eleven year olds by contrast reasoned that even without cars on the road some crossing sites and routes were potentially dangerous because they did not permit an adequate view of the roadway. They also noted more varied and relevant road features in estimating safety and danger. On the basis of the findings, a preliminary training scheme was designed using a large table-top model to see if the younger children's skills could be improved. The results of the training were encouraging; the implications of the findings for child pedestrian research and training are discussed. Other psychological factors which may facilitate or hinder child pedestrians ability to identify safety and danger in traffic are also considered

Improving Legal Structures and Policies to Address the Water Conflicts in the Volta River Basin: Lessons from the International Joint Commission

The Volta River Basin (VRB) in West Africa is facing water conflicts that include water quantity, water quality, pollution, flooding, and competition for water for hydroelectric power generation and water for irrigation. The VRB’s six riparian nations; Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Togo, created a legal regime called the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) to address the water conflicts. However, the VBA has failed to address the water conflicts as it is plagued by deficiencies in its legal structures and policies. The International Joint Commission (IJC) on the other hand, has successfully addressed the boundary waters disputes between the United States and Canada. The IJC’s success has been aided by its exercise of its Reference Jurisdiction mandate that has allowed it to use flexibility to investigate and report on questions referred to it by the governments of the United States and Canada. This thesis seeks to identify the factors that have assisted the IJC’s successful use of flexibility under its Reference Jurisdiction mandate. It assesses the VBA as presently constituted and finds that it lacks an IJC-type independent fact-finding body that is equipped with flexible Reference Jurisdiction-type powers. The thesis suggests that incorporating an IJC-type structure with a flexible Reference Jurisdiction-type mandate into the VBA would assist the VBA to better address the water conflicts in the VRB. As well, the thesis recommends changes to the VBA’s other legal structures and policies to assist it to better deal with the water conflicts in the VRB

Demographic characteristics of study participants.

Demographic characteristics of study participants.</p

Occupational injury, type, causes and PPE use among study participants.

Occupational injury, type, causes and PPE use among study participants.</p

S1 Dataset -

BackgroundEmergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are the primary providers of prehospital emergency medical services. The operations of EMTs increase their risks of being exposed to occupational injuries. However, there is a paucity of data on the prevalence of occupational injuries among EMTs in sub-Saharan Africa. This study, therefore, sought to estimate the prevalence and determinants of occupational injuries among EMTs in the northern part of Ghana.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 154 randomly recruited EMTs in the northern part of Ghana. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data on participants’ demographic characteristics, facility-related factors, personal protective equipment use, and occupational injuries. Binary and multivariate logistic regression analyses with a backward stepwise approach were used to examine the determinants of occupational injuries among EMTs.ResultsIn the 12 months preceding data collection, the prevalence of occupational injuries among EMTs was 38.6%. Bruises (51.8%), and sprains/strains (14.3%) were the major types of injuries reported among the EMTs. The key determinants of occupational injury among EMTs were male sex (AOR: 3.39, 95%CI: 1.41–8.17), an absence of a health and safety committee at the workplace (AOR: 3.92, 95%CI: 1.63–9.43), absence of health and safety policy at the workplace (AOR: 2.76, 95%CI: 1.26–6.04) and dissatisfaction with health and safety measures at the workplace (AOR: 2.51, 95%CI: 1.10–5.71).ConclusionIn the twelve months before to the data collection for this study, the prevalence of occupational injuries among EMTs of the Ghana National Ambulance Service was high. The creation of health and safety committees, the creation of health and safety rules, and the strengthening of current health and safety procedures for EMTs are all possible ways to lessen this.</div

Factors influencing occupational injuries among study participants.

Factors influencing occupational injuries among study participants.</p