Effectiveness of occupational health and safety training. A systematic review with meta-analysis

Purpose This meta-analysis aims to verify the efficacy of occupational health and safety (OHS) training in terms of knowledge, attitude and beliefs, behavior and health. Design/methodology/approach The authors included studies published in English (2007–2014) selected from ten databases. Eligibility criteria were studies concerned with the effectiveness of OHS training for primary prevention of workplace injury; and studies focused on examined outcome related to OHS. Findings The selected studies (n = 28) highlighted a strong support for the effectiveness of training on worker OHS attitudes and beliefs and, to a lesser extent, on worker’s knowledge but only medium for behavior and small evidences for its effectiveness on health. Research limitations/implications Future research should more deeply investigate the efficacy on knowledge increase of trainings delivered by experts and researchers, applying different methods, in a small group; training delivered by peer and by researcher, applying different methods; and trained workers less than 29 years and more than 49 years old, considering that workers in these age groups are particularly vulnerable to fatalities. Practical implications Our study is a contribution for those they intend to grant effective training, in response to specific needs of OHS. The evidences presented could be considered a first step to identify the factors related to the efficacy of OHS training to plan adequate interventions. Social implications The OHS training is effective on the basis of the extent interventions are carried out for each specific learning outcome. Originality/value This meta-analysis suggested that classroom training, although the most used and studied, does not ever revealed itself very effective: it was not significant for outcomes in terms of knowledge and showed a decreasing efficacy for attitudes and beliefs, behaviors and health. It seemed that there was a distinction between interventions on knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, as opposed to behavioral interventions and health

Antimicrobial and ATP synthase modulating activity of the surface constituents of Salvia tingitana Etl. (Lamiaceae)

During our research on plant compounds from Salvia species able to face the constantly increasing resistance to antibiotics (1), the antimicrobial properties of the dichloromethane extract obtained from the surface of the aerial parts of S. tingitana were investigated following a bioassay-oriented fractionation approach. The surface extract showed moderate antimicrobial activity against Gram positive multi-resistant bacterial strains; no activity was observed against the Gram-negative strains or Candida albicans. The hexane insoluble and soluble fractions of the crude extract, as well as the semi purified fractions obtained by silica gel column chromatography (Ia-VIa and Ib-VIIb) were evaluated at doses corresponding to that of the crude extract. Among the tested fractions, fraction Ia, IVa, Va and VIa were active against Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis. Fractions IIIb, IVb and were active against S. aureus, S. epidermidis, Enterococcus faecium and E. faecalis, while Vb was active against the two Staphylococcus species. The separation of the fractions afforded eight new and five known sesterterpenes and one new norsesterterpene, along with other known compounds including five labdane and one abietane diterpenes, one sesquiterpene and four flavonoids, identified by IR, 1D and 2D NMR, HR-MS analysis. The antimicrobial activity of the isolates was analysed on several Gram positive multi-resistant bacterial strains, also of marine origin (S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. haemoliticus, S. hominis, S. capitis, S. lugdunensis, S. saprophyticus, S. mitis, E. faecium, E. faecalis, E. durans, E. gallinarum, E. casseliflavus, E. gallolyticus). The compounds showed antimicrobial activities against Gram positive bacteria with MIC values ranging from 32 to 128 \u3bcg/mL, with the exception of manool and sclareol, which exhibited MIC values ranging from 4 to 64 \u3bcg/mL. Moreover, taking into account that the modulation of ATP synthase has been described as the base of the activity of several compounds against multidrug-resistant mycobacteria and Gram-positive pathogens and that the overall structure and energy transduction mechanism of the ATP synthase are well conserved from bacteria to mammalians (2), the inhibitory action of the more active compounds on the ectopic F1Fo-ATP synthase (ATP synthase) of purified rod outer segments (OS), as a subcellular system naturally expressing extra-vesicularly the molecular machinery for the oxidative phosphorylation, was also evaluated (3, 4). The compounds that displayed the best antibacterial activities i.e. salvileucolide methylester, sclareol and manool showed ATP synthase inhibition of 60, 70 and 80%, respectively. Interestingly, their time killing curves, performed against the susceptible bacterial species, showed bacteriostatic activity