Residential fires are the main source of fire deaths and injuries both in the United States and globally. As such, better fire-resistant building materials are needed to bolster fire protection and to enhance life safety. This is during a time when fewer materials are being used to construct homes. Nanotechnology may be a solution if it can overcome its current barriers to widespread adoption in residential construction, namely economy, sustainability, and safety. This research effort includes a critical examination of the literature from a safety perspective to address fire deaths and prevent personal injuries and illnesses by targeting fortification of residential construction building materials via the use of nanotechnology. The paper reviews nanotechnology for building materials by material type, known toxicity of various nanomaterials used in construction, and a discussion on a way forward through assessing materials by their ability to satisfy the requirements of sustainability, economy, and safety- both as a material designed to reduce fire injury and death and from a toxicological hazard perspective.

There is little data delineating relationships between health and worker musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS), particularly among stone, sand, and gravel mine (SSGM) workers. There is also little data detailing the relationships between physical activity and MSS among these workers. A cross-sectional study using data from 459 SSGM workers was completed. Logistic regression analyses assessed relationships between health factors, physical activity, and low back, neck, shoulder, and knee MSS. Those who reported their health as very good/excellent were less likely to suffer low back and knee MSS. Those who indicated their health was poor/fair were more likely to suffer shoulder, neck, and knee MSS. Obese workers were more likely to experience knee MSS and those who smoked in the past had higher odds of neck MSS. Vigorous physical activity was mostly protective, but those performing more than 5 h of moderate physical activity each week had greater odds of shoulder and neck MSS. Given these results, workers in SSGM may benefit from targeted interventions that bolster vigorous physical activity and improve health. Further, health protection efforts need to be initiated by SSGM operations to address work issues and to sustain health as job roles and work hours impacted MSS as well.

Background: There is overwhelming evidence the impacts of climate change present a probable threat to personal health and safety. However, traditional risk management approaches have not been applied to ameliorate the crises. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact on personal motivation for action of a communication intervention that framed climate change as a safety issue that can be mitigated through a safety and health risk management framework. Participants’ perception of climate change in terms of its anthropogenicity, context and importance, perception as a personal threat, belief in the efficacy of human action, motivating drivers for action, knowledge of climate change impacts, perceived personal barriers to climate action, and short- and long-term preferences for mitigating actions were evaluated. In addition, this study assessed the role of personal worldview on motivation for climate action. Methods: Through an online survey instrument embedded with a communication/education intervention, data were collected from N = 273 participants. Pre and post-intervention responses were assessed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and descriptive statistics. A path analysis assessed the influence of anthropogenicity, personal impact, and human efficacy beliefs on participant motivation for action. Multi-regression analyses and descriptive statics were used to evaluate the role of worldview on participant motivation for climate action. Results: Personal motivation for action significantly increased post-intervention. Anthropogenicity, personal impact, and human efficacy beliefs were predictive of personal motivation. Those who prioritized climate change as a safety issue and those driven by a desire to protect current and future generations had higher levels of personal motivation, post-intervention. Knowledge of climate change increased, psychosocial factors as barriers to climate action decreased, and preferences for personal mitigating actions shifted towards more impactful choices post-intervention. Holding Egalitarian worldviews significantly predicted climate action motivation. Conclusion: Presenting climate change and climate action strategies via a traditional health and safety risk management context was effective in increasing personal motivation for climate action. This study contributes to the literature on climate change communication and climate action motivation.

Purpose: Increased work hours can result in stress and burnout among mine workers. Research within stone, sand and gravel mining operations is limited and has not explored whether health impairment, in this context, influences job satisfaction and turnover intention among these workers.Design/methodology/approach: A path analysis was completed using Mplus to assess a theoretical model and hypotheses associated with model variables to include work hours, stress, burnout, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Cross-sectional survey data from 419 stone, sand and gravel mine workers were used in the path analysis.Findings: Model fit was good. Work hours were positively associated with stress, stress was positively associated with burnout, stress and burnout were negatively associated with job satisfaction, stress and burnout were positively associated with turnover intention and job satisfaction was negatively associated with turnover intention. Burnout partially mediated the relationship between stress and both job satisfaction and turnover intention. Job satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between stress and turnover intention and burnout and turnover intention. An alternate model determined there was no direct relationship between work hours and burnout and that this relationship was fully mediated by stress.Originality/value: Findings illustrate the importance of managing work hours among mine workers to reduce health impairment and to bolster job satisfaction and reduce turnover intention.