Improving job satisfaction with different intervention methods among the school personnel in Estonia and Latvia

ArticleThis investigation was carried out in two high schools: one in Estonia (EST1) and one in Latvia (LAT1). The offices EST2 and LAT2 were chosen from the countryside of the both countries. Office EST1 is situated in an atrium-type building for educational and research needs. The second building is mainly for education (auditoriums) and the offices LAT1 are situated on the ground floor. The third and the fourth offices were taken for comparison. Office EST2 is situated in a countryside in an old wooden building; the fourth office LAT2 is located in a new building in Latvian countryside. All together 181 office-workers were involved. At first, the work environment conditions were measured. The ergonomics of workplaces was assessed with ARTtool and Kiva-questionnaire was used to study psychosocial conditions and job satisfaction at computer-equipped workplaces. Occupational hazards were measured to clarify, do the work environment influence on the behaviour and the job motivation and satisfaction of the worker at workplace? After the first questioning of workers using Kiva-questionnaire, the Metal Age programme was implemented and after the intervention, the Kiva-questionnaire was carried out again. The results showed that if the preventive measures for solving the problems at workplace are implemented, and the employers and the employees are trained and consulted using the appropriate programmes, the stress situations could be avoided. The workers in all offices were confident that the discussion about the problems is very important as the work with computers is intensive and there is a very short time to communicate with each other. The educational work is also stressful

The co-influence of noise and carbon dioxide on humans in the work and living environment

The aim of the paper is to investigate the co-influence of noise and carbon dioxide on people in different situations (inside/outside houses/classrooms) depending on the traffic intensity, the fuel used for heating in residential buildings etc.). All the measurements and the questionnaire have been carried out during the autumn of 2019 (at the mean temperature of 5–10 °C). Riga has a more intensive traffic compared to Tallinn and has greater problems of exceeding the permissible noise levels. The levels of carbon dioxide inside classrooms are also very high in Latvia (1,500–2,000 ppm). The concentration of carbon dioxide outside buildings is low in the forest areas (measured in the south of Estonia), being 340–350 ppm. In regional towns, it is 500 ppm (measured in autumn-winter near a busy street). The co-influence of noise and carbon dioxide on the residents has been investigated by using the Weinstein questionnaire. High carbon dioxide levels cause fatigue. Although it was not particularly pointed out by the residents questioned in a panel house with small apartments, the air was considered to be stuffy. The house is situated near a busy street, so the problems with noise are higher. ANOVA statistics has been used for the questionnaire (p < 0.001, α = 0.93). The decrease of noise and carbon dioxide levels help people stay healthy and the environmental impact from the investigation is emphasising the necessity and providing possibilities to decrease the concentration of CO2 in the ambient air

Prevention the impact of chemicals on the health of workers in fibreglass industry

ArticleMost of the chemicals make our everyday life easier and safer. However, there are a lot of new emerging risks connected with chemicals causing damage to people’s health and environment. The results of the investigation: the chemical exposure index (EI) is between 0.16 to 25.98 (the last determined by the mould spray-up, outside of the protective masks). The air pollution index determined was between 16 to 760%. The ventilation rates for the remove of the volatiles from the workplace air are settled, the possibilities for substitution of hazardous chemicals to less hazardous are presented. When the concentration of a volatile is measured under the protective mask, which has a new filter, the tested substance concentration is lower that under the mask with an old filter, although the differences between these two were rather small. When the volatiles were measured under the protective mask, the concentrations of tested substances met the requirements

Інновації в управлінні відходами будівництва: досвід Латвії

У статті проаналізовано проблематику охорони навколишнього природного середовища (НПС), екологічноорієнтованого управління та впровадження зелених інноваційних технологій у будівельній галузі. Зазначено, що будівельна галузь має значний негативний вплив на стан НПС. Авторами наголошено, що забруднення повітря, води та грунту, шум і вібрація, спричинені в ході будівельних процесів, негативно впливають на НПС та природні екосистеми, а також сусіпільство на глобальному рівні. Будівельні відходи, що утворюються в процесі будівництва, реконструкції та знесення, займають значні території звалищ, а також містять небезпечні речовини для НПС та здоров’я людини. У статті системтаизовано результати досліджень щодо можливостей більш ефективного управління будівельними відходами. Розглянуто досвід компаній, які працюють у будівельному секторі та впровджують інноваційні підходи з метою зменшення негативновго впливу на НПС. Вихідні данні для дослідження сформовано на основі аналізу результатів опитування населення щодо рівня освідченості у поводженні з відходами будівельної галузі Латвії. Головною метою дослідження є систематизація аргументів та контраргументів щодо сучасних проблем управління будівельними відходами та потенціалу інноваційного розвитку в Латвії на основі результатів проведеного опитування. Для практичної реалізації всіх етапів дослідження проведено огляд літератури, аналіз статистичних даних, створено анкету, проведено опитування населення та співбесіду з компаніями, які займаються переробкою відходів. Дослідження проводилось з жовтня 2019 року по липень 2020 року. За отриманими результатами виявлено значний розриви в ефективності управління будівельними відходами між компаніями в Латвії. У ході дослідження встановлено, що працівники зацікавлені у сортуванні відходів на будівельних майданчиках. Однак, практичну реалізацію збору відсортованих відходів не реалізовано через низький рівень еколоігчної свідомості та культури працівників. У свою чергу, компанії з утилізації відходів вважають дану практику неможливою через вплив низки економічних факторів. За результатами дослідження авторами наголошено на необхідності розроблення єдиної нормативної бази для впровадження системи сертифікації будівельних відходів, що забезпечить ефективне впровадження інноваційних рециклінгових технологій у будівництві.The environmental concern has become the top trend nowadays and the ideas of environmental protection, green orientation and green innovation, highly concern from the last few decades in all research areas. The construction industry is one of those that has a very strong impact on the environment. Air, water, noise and vibration, as well as soil pollution caused during construction processes, negatively impact on the environment and its natural ecosystems, as well as on humans at a global level. Construction waste generated during the construction, renovation and demolition process occupies huge landfills due to significant volumes. It may also contain substances that are hazardous to the environment and human health. This paper summarizes the research results on the possibilities for more efficient construction waste management as well as the experience of companies operating in the construction sector with a purpose to reduce the causes of pollution. The data obtained within the framework of the survey on people’s understanding in the field of construction pollution and waste in Latvia have been analyzed. The main goal of the study is to present the main findings of the authors’ survey and to discuss the current construction waste management challenges and potential innovations in Latvia. The authors used the following research methods: literature review, analysis of statistical data; questionnaire creation and conduction a survey; interviews with waste management companies. The research was conducted during the period from October 2019 to July 2020. The obtained results showed that there was a huge potential for innovation because the current situation was far from ideal. The results of an empirical analysis demonstrated that the collection of sorted construction waste on construction sites currently was practically impossible, as the industry points to the human factor in the waste sorting process. Although the data obtained within the framework of the survey clearly indicated the interest of employees in sorting construction waste already on the construction site, waste industry companies currently consider such a practice impossible also due to the influence of other side factors related to economic considerations. It is necessary to develop a normative framework for the implementation of the construction waste certification system to promote the reuse of construction waste in construction as efficiently as possible