Safety-specific dimensions

The three dimensions specifically related to safety represent three different links between team members and safety outcomes such as preventable adverse events  

The sense of responsibility is strongly influenced by perceptions of the safety climate, which also affect the dimensions of upward communication and approaching others. Relations with superiors and other team members as well as the sense of fair treatment by the organization and superiors all affect whether team members are likely to raise their concerns regarding patient safety. 

Specific measures of safety climate vary, but a common underlying theme is leadership commitment to safety. The underlying logic is that leadership commitment to safety is often manifested in visible support in the form of resources and programs. This support results in positive perceptions of organizational commitment, which affects how people perform in the working interface. 

This positive chain of influence reduces hazards, exposures, and preventable adverse events. 

Safety climate is underwritten by the organizational dimensions. In particular, there is a strong relationship between perceived organizational support and safety climate. Team members who believe the organization cares about them also accept that leadership is committed to safety. Commitment to safety is one specific way in which organizational support can be demonstrated, and such commitment is a means by which a leader can make his or her ethical commitment to safety visible and tangible. This display of commitment represents an important opportunity for a leader who wants to build a strong safety climate. 

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How do the nine critical dimensions of culture affect safety outcomes Figure 3-3 displays the nine dimensions divided into three groups organizational dimensions, team dimensions, and safety-specific dimensions. It also shows how these categories are related to each other and to safety outcomes. Each relationship shown is statistically significant, and thicker arrows denote stronger predictive relationships. For example. 

For the safety-specific dimensions we could substitute equivalent dimensions related to other specific areas of organizational functioning, such as patient satisfaction, quality, or employee retention. We would likely find similar patterns of influence on these outcomes as we find for safety. 

TABLE 3-6. MANIFESTATION OF SAFETY-SPECIFIC DIMENSIONS IN THE WORKING INTERFACE. 

Table 3-6 shows the effects that strong or weak safety-specific dimensions can have in the working interface. 

The level of team engagement in hazard reduction is measured by means of the three safety-specific dimensions of the OCDI, augmented by interviews with employees and professional staff to determine ... 

Conchie, S. M., Taylor, P. J., Donald, I. J. (2012). Promoting safety voice with safety-specific transformational leadership The mediating role of two dimensions of trust Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(1), 105-115. 

Generalising from a number of dimensions suggested by former studies, safety culture dimensions can be classified into two parts (1) general, core elements that are conunonly applicable to any healthcare context, e.g. field, organisational type and coimtry, and (2) nation-dependent elements that are specific to a national culture or the coimtry s healthcare system. 

Examples (obtained from a survey) of interventions to improve specific safety culture dimensions that were implemented in Belgian hospitals after the baseline measurement are displayed in Table 14.1. 

The nine dimensions of culture map to the first three relationships by measuring treatment team members perceptions of the relationships (Table 3-3). The focus of each dimension is either organizational or safety-specific. 

Note that the organizational and team dimensions are not safety-specific, which means ... 

Product standards may stipulate performance characteristics, dimensions, quaUty factors, methods of measurement, and tolerances and safety, health, and environmental protection specifications. These are introduced principally to provide for interchangeabiUty and reduction of variety. The latter procedure is referred to as rationalization of the product offering, ie, designation of sizes, ratings, etc, for the attribute range covered and the steps within the range. The designated steps may foUow a modular format or a preferred number sequence. 

Whether or not the specification of the final product has been established based on its functional efficacy and safety. For example, the establishment of the specification for each item (e.g., the size of each dimension of the product and the materials used for the product) should be justified by incorporating stability information. 

The tank is specified to have a capacity of 1950 m3. This figure is the sum of one week production of nitric acid (1500 m3) plus an extra 450 m3. This extra 450 m3 capacity will be the normal tank operating level and is available for product sales to external markets. This represents approximately 20 standard road-tanker loads. The dimensions of the tank represent a standard specification available through the Denver Company (United States). The tank internal diameter is 15.2 m and the tank height required is 10.7 m. The internal and external pressure loads require a wall, base and roof plate thickness of 16 mm (a standard plate thickness available through BHP, Australia) to meet the Australian design code for pressure vessels (AS1 210). This thickness gives a 100% safety factor over the maximum anticipated stresses. 

In the fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries, reactors are often used for diverse processes. In such a case, it is difficult to define a scenario for the design of the pressure relief system. Nevertheless, this is required by law in many countries. Thus, a specific approach must be found to solve the problem. One possibility, that is applicable for tempered systems, consists of reversing the approach. Instead of dimensioning the safety valve or bursting disk, one can choose a practicable size and calculate its relief capacity for two-phase flow with commonly-used solvents. This relief capacity will impose a maximum heat release rate for the reaction at the temperature corresponding to the relief pressure. 

Codes and standards relevant to safety relief valves (SRVs) can vary quite considerably in format around the world, and many are sections within codes relevant to boilers or pressure-containing vessels. Some will only oudine performance requirements, tolerances and essential constructional detail, but give no guidance on dimensions, orifice sizes and so forth. Others will be related to installation and application. It is quite common within many markets to use several codes in conjunction with one another and it is not uncommon that specifications call for sections taken from several codes, which makes compliance by manufacturers complex and uneconomical. An overview of most common worldwide codes and standards is given in Appendix M. 

MAK-value Maximum workplace concentration, product-specific value of chemical substances defining the harmful contamination of the air at the workplace due to these substances (dimension ppm = parts per million = mg/kg). Information on MAK-values are given in the safety data sheets of the respective substances. 

The procurement system database must have an adequate number of fields for accurate part description, such as specification number and dimensions. There should also be a field to indicate whether the part is process safety critical, production critical, or maintenance critical. It allows the part to be flagged for special inspections or other considerations. Many electronic procurement systems are populated with inadequate or incorrect information. Job one is to clean them up. See Figure 1-3. 

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