Water safety management during the initial phase of the Covid-19 pandemic: challenges, responses and guidance

Water safety plans address both routine operations and incident responses to support risk management in drinking water utilities. Their use and relevance in facing the challenges of the Covid-19 crisis were investigated via a survey distributed to water utilities and health or environmental agencies across the globe. Responses from 86 respondents from 38 countries were analysed to identify the water safety challenges faced and responses. Water safety plans appear to provide some preparedness and organizational advantages to utilities in facing the Covid-19 crisis, including stronger communication links between utilities and governing agencies. Guidance for future water safety planning is provided.

REVITALIZING ONCOLOGIC PATIENT SAFETY IN THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT: LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED COMMUNICATION TO ELIMINATE PATIENT FALLS

The worsening nursing shortage in the United States, coupled with staffing challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, has inspired nursing leaders at a 100-bed urban cancer center to develop a Safety Huddle. This patient safety strategy, aimed at improving change of shift communication practices of an 8-bed intensive care unit (ICU) within the cancer center, was implemented at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Safety Huddle yielded a positive impact on patient care outcomes related to fall prevention. All ICU staff were informed of the priority organizational and unit patient safety goals and collaborated with an all-in mindset and a laser focus on keeping our patients safe. In September 2022, this ICU celebrated two consecutive years of being fall-free. The initial intervention was implemented in April 2020. It began as a checklist of pertinent information that each staff needed to know prior to delivering care for their shift. The Safety Huddle process was reviewed by the lead nurse on the unit and shared with staff nurses, nursing assistants, and unit secretaries at the nurses' station at every change of shift. Each week, the Safety Huddle was updated with the latest information. In January 2021, the Safety Huddle was disseminated to all ICU staff via email in order to facilitate timely communication. During this time, the cancer center transitioned from a hybrid system consisting of paper and minimal electronic charting to an electronic medical record (EMR) effective as of May 2021. The next quarter, starting in September 2021, the ICU recognized 365 days without a fall and posted a celebratory banner at the entrance of the unit to showcase the commendable efforts of the team. The organization's Evidence-Based Practice & Research Council conducted a review of the fall risk assessment tools within the cancer center and at the calendar year close of 2021, adopted the Johns Hopkins Fall Risk Assessment Tool (JHFRAT) that was embedded into the EMR. The Safety Huddle was recently restructured with an addition of a Zero Harm Dashboard, that highlights the number of days since the unit's last significant quality indicator event. To date, the ICU has maintained 730 days without a patient fall. Distributing effective communication and utilizing technology, through a continuous quality improvement framework, has been paramount to our team's success in exceeding such a critical patient safety goal.

The impact of leader safety communication on work engagement under pandemic: The effect of OBSE and anxiety based on COVID-19.

Introduction: The outbreak of COVID-19 has a great impact on employees daily work and psychology. Therefore, as leaders in organization, how to alleviate and avoid the negative impact of COVID-19 so that employees can maintain a positive working attitude has become a problem to be worthy paying attention. Methods: In this paper, we adopted a time-lagged cross-sectional design to test our research model empirically. The data from a sample of 264 participants in China were collected using existing scales in recent studies, and were used for testing our hypothesizes. Results: The results show that leader safety communication based on COVID-19 will positively affect employees' work engagement (b = 0.47, p < 0.001), and organization-based self-esteem plays a full mediating role in the relationship between leader safety communication based on COVID-19 and work engagement (0.29, p < 0.001). In addition, anxiety based on COVID-19 positively moderates the relationship between leader safety communication based on COVID-19 and organization-based self-esteem (b = 0.18, p < 0.01), that is, when anxiety based on COVID-19 is at higher level, the positive relationship between leader safety communication based on COVID-19 and organizational-based self-esteem is stronger, and vice versa. It also moderates the mediating effect of organization-based self-esteem on the relationship between leader safety communication based on COVID-19 and work engagement as well (b = 0.24, 95% CI = [0.06, 0.40]). Discussion: Based on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this paper investigates the relationship between leader safety communication based on COVID-19 and work engagement, and examines the mediating role of organization-based self-esteem and the moderating role of anxiety based on COVID-19.

Assessing the Mediating Role of Safety Communication Between Safety Culture and Employees Safety Performance.

The main purpose of this research was to investigate the mediating role of safety communication (SCO) in the relationship between safety culture (SC) and safety performance (SP) amongst employees in the petrochemical industry. Safety communication methods not only enhance working conditions but also have a positive impact on employee's behaviors and attitudes toward safety leading toward reduced incidents in the workplace environment. A stratified sampling method was followed to collect data in the petrochemical industry in Malaysia. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to analyze the hypothesized model, using data from 320 participants. The findings reveal that safety communication partially mediates the association between safety culture and safety performance. Further, safety culture was found to have a significant and positive effect on safety performance. This -study makes a significant theoretical contribution by providing empirical evidence on the direct and indirect relationship between safety culture and safety performance in the petrochemical industry.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Transit Workers: Perceptions of Employer Responses and Associations with Health Factors.

COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on transit workers' lives, especially among public-facing vehicle operators. The current project examined relationships between workers' knowledge and perceptions of their employer's COVID-19 safety responses, job attitudes, and health. We surveyed transit workers (N = 174) between July and August 2020 and followed up 3 months later. Fifty-seven workers responded to the follow-up survey. Surveys addressed workers' knowledge and perceptions of their employer implementing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended COVID-19 safety responses, COVID-19 risk perceptions, job attitudes, and health factors. Employees reported knowledge of their employer implementing ~8 of 12 CDC-recommended responses. The most reported response was informational poster placements; the least reported was designating a point-person for COVID-19 concerns. Significant associations were found between knowledge of employer safety responses and lower COVID-19 risk perceptions, better job attitudes, and greater mental and global health. Operators (i.e. public-facing workers) reported worse perceptions of employer responses, and higher COVID-19 risk perceptions, work stress, and turnover intentions, compared with non-operators. A time-lagged panel model found that COVID-19 risk perceptions significantly mediated the relationship between public-facing work status and follow-up depression, anxiety, stress, and global health. Results reveal opportunities for transit authorities to broaden and better communicate their responses to emergent occupational safety and health crises.

Rapid Response to COVID-19 in Agriculture: A Model for Future Crises.

Objective: The Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (WCAHS) at the University of California, Davis implemented a multifaceted rapid response to COVID-19 in the western United States. This paper describes the center's response from mid-March through June 30, 2020. Methods: A comprehensive needs assessment was conducted with agricultural stakeholders. Agriculture-specific COVID-19 resources were developed and disseminated, and a farmer/employer survey was launched. Results: The WCAHS COVID-19 resources web page, worksite checklist, and training guide were shared on over 50 web pages nationally. As of June 30, 2020, 282 online surveys have been received. Ongoing informal discussions with agricultural stakeholders indicate a disconnect between the experiences of farmers/employers and farmworkers in relation to COVID-19 prevention at the worksite. Initial survey responses indicate that implementing social distancing is one of the greatest challenges at the worksite. Confusion over local, state, and federal guidelines and which to follow is another concern. Conclusion: The WCAHS response to COVID-19, in close collaboration with agricultural stakeholders, represents a useful model for a rapid response to a public health crisis by regional centers. Key elements to its success include rapid personalized communication with a wide range of agricultural stakeholders, an actively engaged External Advisory Board, the development of industry-specific resources and information, recurring and iterative engagement with stakeholders as new COVID-19 information emerged and resources were developed, and the identification of the unique gap WCAHS was positioned to fill. The multipronged dissemination approach enhanced the reach of WCAHS COVID-19 resources.