The formation of a good safety culture at enterprise

The aim of the study is to show innovative possibilities for improvement of safety culture at enterprises through complex approach to occupational health and safety (OH&S). The knowledge of the leadership and workers in OH&S is not sufficient at present in Estonia, particularly in small and medium‐sized enterprises (the number is 60 000). The small (up to 50 workers) or medium‐sized enterprises (up to 150 workers) have no possibility to hire the working environment specialist who would deal only with OH&S problems. Usually obligations in the field of OH&S in small and medium‐sized enterprises are delegated to one employee in addition to other responsibilities related to personnel, security, fire protection and environmental problems. Therefore, the complex approach to management of OH&S issues is needed in order to create a good safety culture and to achieve positive results in company safety performance. The complex method consists of risk assessment and determination of safety level. The authors offer possible tools ‐ simple computer applications which are available for managers, interviews with employers, employees and occupational health specialists for development and dissemination of safety culture. The opinion of workers and occupational health specialists has been taken into consideration in the planning of improvements of working conditions by the employers. The economic issues of safety and health improvement measures are presented. First Publish Online: 09 Jun 201

Human factors and ergonomics in safety management in healthcare: building new relationships

ArticleHuman factors are playing an essential role in ensuring occupational health and safety at work. In the healthcare sector, relevant factors include optimizing the interaction of humans with their technical, social working environment, and human characteristics such as knowledge and motivation. Those fac tors affect the ability to provide good quality of healthcare and safety performance. The aim of this paper is to analyse factors related to safety knowledge, communication and professional competence among caregivers in nursing homes. A group of professio nals studied (n = 241, includes nurses and caregivers) completed a validated questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were applied, using SPSS Statistics 24. Our study revealed that over half of the respondents possess an occupational certificate and the majority of employers organize regular in - service training at workplaces. Respondents who claimed that in - service trainings are not regular still stated that they generally receive safety and ergonomic related trainings, trainings for working with special equipment. However, only a quarter of responden ts have access to occupational safety trainings that f ocus on specific risks at work. Based on the results of the study, we emphasize the need of integrating human factors in the safety ma nagement system in nursing homes with a special focus on adequate safety training in order to develop necessary skills and knowledge of workers. This would enhance employees’ ability to cope successfully with the elderly and people with special needs, to p rovide safe and high - quality care as well as confidence and the knowledge how successfully they manage conflicts in order to ke ep good relationships at work

International Marine Tourism: Trends and Prospects for Sustainable Development

In today’s globalised and open world, international marine tourism needs renewal, reorganisation and definition of perspectives, including in the context of the concept of sustainable development. In order to determine the state and possible prospects for the development of international marine tourism in the context of sustainable development priorities, a bibliometric and contextual analysis of the conclusions and recommendations of selected scientific publications was carried out. Relevant publications since 1987 were searched using the Dimensions research database search engine. This analysis identified the trend in the number of publications, the most numerous research categories according to Fields of Research and the Sustainable Development Goals, the most productive journals and the network of authors. As a result of the contextual analysis of the selected articles, the need for (1) management reforms and (2) scientific research at all levels, in accordance with the concept of sustainable development and the Global Code of Ethics in Tourism, (3) clustering and externalization of marine tourism in accordance with the orientation towards specific community and (4) further development of the blue economy and protection and restoration of natural resources of coastal areas as a basis for marine tourism activities. The results of the research can be useful for the scientific community, the general public and specialists in the field of bibliography

Managing energy efficiency and renewable energy in the residential sector: A bibliometric study

The recent surge in publications addressing household energy efficiency and renewable energy highlights their vital roles in managing national decarbonization and green power transition. The study aims to analyze the research trends in this field to comprehend their significance in shaping residential decarbonization changes. Bibliometric and visualization analyses are applied to bridge existing knowledge gaps by focusing on technology and managerial mechanisms for implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy concepts. Leveraging the Scopus database and VOSviewer 1.6.19 software, the study covers energy efficiency publications from 1978 to 2023 and renewable energy papers from 1984 to 2023. The study clusters academic articles in two ways: keyword co-occurrence and co-authorship analyses. The first one reveals the merging of renewable energy and energy efficiency studies, covering sustainable development, heating/cooling mechanisms, and emerging technology trends. While both topics share commonalities like smart grids and the Internet of Things, renewable energy clusters spotlight specific areas such as bioenergy and wind/solar power. Co-authorship analysis highlights a notable increase in countries considering research topics, reflecting growing international collaboration. Leading contributors include the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and India. This study equips scientists with a systematic understanding of the evolution and latest research trends in managing household energy efficiency and renewable energy transformations. It aids in identifying promising research directions, further advancing these crucial fields. AcknowledgmentsThe publication was prepared in the framework of the research project “Formation of economic mechanisms to increase energy efficiency and provide sustainable development of renewable energy in Ukraine’s households” (No. 0122U001233), funded by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine

Smart projects on the development of green intellectual capital in eco-industrial parks

The study examines problems related to excessive environmental pressure on the ecosystem caused by industrial activities. It suggests constructing eco-industrial parks to optimize production and natural resources, monitor the condition of environmental safety in a limited territory with a developed infrastructure, and create green intellectual capital. The approach to the maximum automation of territories and introducing startups for the continuous modernization of the production and landscape park as part of the eco-industrial park is substantiated. It is proven that smart projects on the development of green intellectual capital based on eco-industrial parks will positively affect their implementation, can become a promising project for foreign investors, and can enhance the environmental safety of settlements. According to the model, for a settlement with a population of 1,500 people that works in an eco-industrial park, the utility function per person will increase by 12% when building a joint system of innovative ecological production and increasing the level of the country’s green capital

Smart projects on the development of green intellectual capital in eco-industrial parks

The study examines problems related to excessive environmental pressure on the ecosystem caused by industrial activities. It suggests constructing eco-industrial parks to optimize production and natural resources, monitor the condition of environmental safety in a limited territory with a developed infrastructure, and create green intellectual capital. The approach to the maximum automation of territories and introducing startups for the continuous modernization of the production and landscape park as part of the eco-industrial park is substantiated. It is proven that smart projects on the development of green intellectual capital based on eco-industrial parks will positively affect their implementation, can become a promising project for foreign investors, and can enhance the environmental safety of settlements. According to the model, for a settlement with a population of 1,500 people that works in an eco-industrial park, the utility function per person will increase by 12% when building a joint system of innovative ecological production and increasing the level of the country's green capital

Relationship Between Nursing Home Safety Climate and Caregivers’ Competence

To provide quality healthcare, strong teamwork, safety commitment and collaboration between workers are needed. The aim of this paper is to analyse factors related to safety climate and professional competence among caregivers and to compare the results between different age groups in Estonian nursing homes. A Nordic Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50), measuring 7 dimensions of safety climate, was used in order to assess caregivers’ perceptions of the safety climate in Estonian nursing homes, on a sample of 233 caregivers. In order to supplement results from the safety climate study, a Caregivers’ Competence Questionnaire (CCQ) measuring 6 scales of the caregivers’ competences, their perceptions towards received education and safety-related procedures in nursing homes, was used on a sample of 241 caregivers. Results show differences between age groups of caregivers. The most experienced caregivers tended to have a better understanding of their specialty and more positive ratings of the dimensions of safety climate and safety commitment than younger age groups of caregivers. Result show that the age group with respondents born in the period of 1961–1970 gave more positive ratings of “Necessary skills, knowledge in living questions and caring activities” than did other groups of caregivers (mean = 4.46 and 4.41) and of “First aid” (mean = 4.47). The study sheds new light on the usability and applicability of the existing assessment tools NASACQ-50 and CCQ. Interventions to promote safety climate in the nursing homes should be tailored to the target group with a special focus on age and work experiences as attitudes and perceptions may differ among those groups

Innovations at workplace: an evidence-based model for safety management

Safety culture is a sub-unit of organisational culture, which affects members’ attitudes and behaviour in relation to organisation’s ongoing health and safety performance. Many companies want to enhance their safety culture or some aspect of safety behaviour trying to find the effective way forward. Safety culture in small and medium-scale (SMEs) enterprises has received very little attention in Estonia. Estimates suggest that these enterprises have serious problems aggravated by limited access to human, economic, technological resources as well as lack of relevant occupational health and safety (OH&S) knowledge. The current paper commences with a discussion on the Reciprocal Model of Safety Culture and different perspectives on a framework espoused by Cooper (1999). The concept of safety culture and knowledge management is also discussed. Authors present supplemented Cooper’s Reciprocal Model of Safety Culture with Knowledge Management System Dimensions. The exploratory study based on workplace visits and interviews with owner-managers of SMEs manufacturing enterprises gives an overview of the most characteristic oH&S representations and practices. An overview of the current Estonian OH&S system is also presented based on occupational health (OH) physicians’ questionnaire surveys conducted in 2002 and 2009. The study suggests that there is need for discussion and improvement of collaboration between employers and OH professionals in order to strengthen knowledge management and infrastructure as well as safety culture at the Estonian enterprises. Competence and expertise in work and health topics is the foundation for the added value of OH professionals to the health of working population. Inovacijos darbo vietoje: konstruktyvus darbo saugos vadybos modelis Santrauka. Darbo saugos kultūra yra organizacinės kultūros subvienetas, darantis įtaką organizacijos narių požiūriui ir elgesiui, atsižvelgiant į organizacijoje vykdomą profesinės sveikatos ir darbo saugos politikos lygį. Daugelis kompanijų nori pagerinti saugos kultūrą ar tam tikrą aspektą ir bando rasti efektyvių būdų tam pasiekti. Saugos kultūrai mažose ir vidutinėse įmonėse Estijoje skiriama labai mažai dėmesio. Šios įmonės susiduria su rimtomis problemomis, kurias pagilina ribotas galimybės prieiti prie žmogiškųjų, ekonominių, technologinių išteklių, taip pat žinių trūkumas profesinės sveikatos ir darbo saugos klausimais. Straipsnyje aptariama saugos kultūros ir žinių valdymo koncepcija. Autoriai papildo Cooper (1999) saugos kultūros modelį, įtraukdami ir žinių valdymo sistemos elementus. Remiantis interviu su smulkių ir vidutinių gamybos įmonių vadovais, buvo atliktas tyrimas, kuris atskleidė situaciją, susidariusią profesinės sveikatos ir darbo saugos srityje. Pateikiama Estijos profesinės sveikatos ir darbo saugos sistemos apžvalga, pagrįsta profesinės sveikatos gydytojų anketine apklausa, atlikta 2002–2009 m. Tyrimas parodė, kad reikalingos diskusijos ir bendradarbiavimas tarp darbdavių ir profesinės sveikatos specialistų siekiant pagerinti žinių valdymą bei saugos kultūrą Estijos įmonėse.  Reikšminiai žodžiai: žinių vadyba, darbo saugos vadyba, darbo saugos kultūra, darbo aplinka. First published online: 29 May 200

Work-Related Psychosocial Risk Factors and Care Workers Mental Health (In Estonian Nursing Homes)

The humankind is ageing rapidly, and as a result, there is an increasing need for old people’s homes. The nursing homes face different problems in financing and recruiting the labour force and management. Lack of resources causes the situation, when managers have to find possibilities to accomplish services and to provide quality care with the limited funds. This situation has an additional impact on the nursing professionals, who have to deal with many psychosocial risk factors in their work. The aim of the paper is to explore the work-related psychosocial risk factors and their relationships with mental health problems (MHPs) amongst care workers. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken amongst the care workers in nine Estonian nursing homes. Psychosocial work factors and MHPs (stress, somatic symptoms, depressive symptoms, burnout, cognitive symptoms, and sleep disorders) were analysed using the second version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ II). Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s r correlation were used to analyse the data. The analysis was based on 340 care worker surveys. The highest mean scores for the studied work-related psychosocial factors were recorded for the quantitative demands, influence, rewards, role conflicts, trust, insecurity and work-family balance. Low mean scores were recorded for the meaning of work, role clarity, social relationships at work. The lowest score was followed by burnout and the highest - by cognitive symptoms