Practical Solutions for Pesticide Safety: A Farm and Research Team Participatory Model

Development of the Practical Solutions for Pesticide Safety guide used participatory research strategies to identify and evaluate solutions that reduce pesticide exposures for workers and their families and to disseminate these solutions. Project principles were (1) workplace chemicals belong in the workplace, and (2) pesticide handlers and farm managers are experts, with direct knowledge of production practices. The project’s participatory methods were grounded in self-determination theory. Practical solutions were identified and evaluated based on five criteria: practicality, adaptability, health and safety, novelty, and regulatory compliance. Research activities that had more personal contact provided better outcomes. The Expert Working Group, composed of farm managers and pesticide handlers, was key to the identification of solutions, as were farm site visits. Audience participation, hands-on testing, and orchard field trials were particularly effective in the evaluation of potential solutions. Small work groups in a Regional Advisory Committee provided the best direction and guidance for a “user-friendly” translational document that provided evidence-based practical solutions. The “farmer to farmer” format of the guide was endorsed by both the Expert Working Group and the Regional Advisory Committee. Managers and pesticide handlers wanted to share their solutions in order to “help others stay safe,” and they appreciated attribution in the guide. The guide is now being used in educational programs across the region. The fundamental concept that farmers and farmworkers are innovators and experts in agricultural production was affirmed by this study. The success of this process demonstrates the value of participatory industrial hygiene in agriculture.     

An Environmental Scan of the National and Provincial Diagnostic Reference Levels in Canada for Common Adult Computed Tomography Scans

Several regulatory bodies have agreed that low-dose radiation used in medical imaging is a weak carcinogen that follows a linear, non-threshold model of cancer risk. While avoiding radiation is the best course of action to mitigate risk, computed tomography (CT) scans are often critical for diagnosis. In addition to the as low as reasonably achievable principle, a more concrete method of dose reduction for common CT imaging exams is the use of a diagnostic reference level (DRL). This paper examines Canada's national DRL values from the recent CT survey and compares it to published provincial DRLs as well as the DRLs in the United Kingdom and the United States of America for the 3 most common CT exams: head, chest, and abdomen/pelvis. Canada compares well on the international scale, but it should consider using more electronic dose monitoring solutions to create a culture of dose optimization.     

床旁多普勒超声引导下经皮气管切开术在重症脑出血患者中的应用

目的探讨床旁多普勒超声引导下经皮气管切开术（PDT）在重症脑出血患者中的应用价值。方法选取2014年1月—2019年4月南方医科大学附属小榄医院重症医学科监护治疗的重症脑出血患者126例，在ICU床旁采用超声引导下行PDT。术前采用超声进行检查，明确气管位置、周围组织及血管情况，确定穿刺部位及深度，指导术前气管导管退管。术中实时超声引导，确保手术安全。术后超声确认气管切开套管位置，筛查排除气胸等相关并发症。观察操作时间（从皮肤穿刺到成功置入气管套管时间）、一针穿刺成功率、置管成功率、气管插管意外脱管率；观察术中及术后并发症：出血量、血管/甲状腺损伤、气管后壁损伤、皮下气肿、气胸、低氧血症发生率等。结果126例患者手术均一次操作成功，一针穿刺成功率及置管成功率均为100%，未发生气管插管意外脱管。操作时间5~12 min，平均操作时间7.5 min。术中及术后未发生难以控制的大出血、严重低氧血症、血管/甲状腺损伤、气管后壁损伤、皮下气肿及气胸等并发症。结论对重症脑出血患者行床旁实时超声引导下行PDT，提高了手术的可视性、操作性和安全性，提高PDT成功率，降低相关并发症，具有良好的临床价值。     

The Dangerous Middle: Situational Awareness and Worker Perception of Beetle Kill

ABSTRACT

Forest workers, including loggers, foresters, and wildland firefighters, are regularly exposed to some of the most fatal occupational environments in the United States. These hazardous work environments may become even more complex and dynamic when subject to bark beetle outbreaks that have resulted in significant tree mortality. The impacts of tree death from bark beetles are significant, with the cumulative 17-year (2000–2016) footprint for bark beetle caused tree mortality estimated at 54 million acres. However, how workers think about and act in these environments is understudied. This study, therefore, approaches the issue of beetle kill and forest worker safety by examining the perspectives or workers themselves. Its contribution is to leverage ethnographic research to provide insights that can generate new research questions, better inform outreach, and ultimately improve worker safety outcomes. The resulting insights show that beetle kill was understood by workers as a hazard that increased the complexity and dynamism of the work environment, making situational awareness both more necessary and more difficult to maintain. While much research about situational awareness focuses on hazardous situations, it is suggested that building adequate situational awareness should also include broader considerations of organizational communication, as well as training and experience considered over the course of entire careers.     

Éthique de la recherche : réglementations françaises et applications en oncologie radiothérapie

French regulations about research ethics are based on the so-called Jardé law, which defines researches involving human beings. Researches involving human beings require the submission of research protocols to a committee for protection of persons with a precise list of documents to submit for a favourable opinion. This law describes different categories of researches and determines the ethical procedures to apply before setting up a research protocol. This issue of categorisation is central and must be taken into account by researchers from the beginning of the research process. Researches considered as not involving human beings also require a set of ethical precautions focused on patients’ information and the collection of their non-opposition (due to the application of the General Data Protection Regulation adopted by the European Parliament). Thus, many regulations exist and they require a real work for researchers to meet these requirements in research ethics. This article aims to summarise French regulations. Selected examples are specifically taken into the field of radiation oncology research.     

How current risk assessment and risk management methods for drinking water in The Netherlands cover the WHO water safety plan approach

In the Netherlands, safe and sufficient drinking water is provided to the general population by ten drinking water companies. To guarantee safe drinking water the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a Water Safety Plan (WSP), a Risk Assessment and a Risk Management (RA/RM) framework. The objective of the study was to identify legally required RA approaches, to document application of RA/RM activities at Dutch drinking water companies and to determine to what extent these RA/RM activities as a whole cover all the elements of the WHO WSP approach. This study could be of interest to both managers of large water utilities and decision makers.The assessment was performed by means of a policy review and interviews with two to four staff members involved in RA/RM from all ten Dutch drinking water companies combined with a joint workshop. The drinking water companies are well aware of the potential hazards and risks that can influence the drinking water quality. To guarantee the supply of safe and sufficient drinking water, the Dutch drinking water sector uses six different legally required RA/RM approaches. This study shows that by using the six legally required RA/RM approaches, all WSP steps are covered. WSP entails a generic risk assessment for identifying all hazards and hazardous events from source to tap, whereas the six legally required RA/RM each focus on specific risks at an advanced level. Each risk assessment provides information on specific hazards and hazardous events covering a part of the water supply chain. These legal requirements are complemented with additional RA/RM activities at sector and water company level such as codes of practices and standard operating procedures. The outcomes of all RA/RM approaches combined provide information from source to tap. When using multiple RA/RM approaches, it is crucial to share and combine information derived from the different activities.