Digital Commons Network^™

Lgbtq+ In A Rural Kentucky Town, Caroline A. Kinsman

Honors Theses

This interview series aims to understand the perspectives of LGBTQ+ community members in relation to local government in a small rural town in Kentucky. The purpose is to ascertain the correlation between the LGBTQ+ community's level of feeling accepted and the efforts and attitudes of non-LGBTQ+ officials. In total, six LGBTQ+ individuals were interviewed, and two elected government officials. Themes found within the interview series include reputation, safety, mental health, urgent change, blindness, and lack of responsibility.

Hiding In Plain Sight: Ghosted Police Vehicles And The Perception Of Police Presence On College Campuses, Mackenzie Kibler

Online Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has shown that police presence, which involves visibility of law enforcement personnel, is often related to perceptions of individual safety and individual behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of college students and campus law enforcement regarding visibility of and citizen/police interaction on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus. The first phase of this project was designed to measure student awareness and visibility of “ghosted” police vehicles, which are black with matte black markings on the doors and have few easily visible indicators of law enforcement vehicles, versus other police types of police vehicles on campus. The …

Trends In State And Federal Osh Enforcement, James P. Klyza Jr., Clint Pinion Jr., D. Gary Brown

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Background: OSHA evaluates State Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) enforcement annually through the Federal Annual Monitoring Evaluation (FAME) process. This process is used to determine whether Kentucky OSH (KY OSH) is meeting or exceeding OSHA performance. The FAME report for KY OSH based its evaluations on only 14.5% of the total number of cases in 2015 and did not test for statistical significance.

Objective: Determine the statistical significance of the 2015 FAME report deficiencies in the KY OSH program.

Method: The OSHA dataset consists of case detail for all inspections conducted from 1970 to present (updated daily). ANOVA (analysis of …

Measuring Employee Engagement: Are Engaged Employees Less Likely To Sustain A Workplace Injury?, Rebecca Mullins

Online Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on employee engagement in a manufacturing facility and strives to determine whether less-engaged employees are more likely to sustain an injury while on the job. Specifically, this study analyzes employee engagement with other employees, employee engagement with management, employee engagement with policies and procedures as well as employee's self-initiative. A Likert-scale survey was administered and was both voluntarily and anonymously completed by 171 hourly employees. The data was then analyzed and it was concluded that certain engagement criteria, do in fact, relate to an employee's on-the-job injury status.

Safety And Improvement Of Movement Function After Stroke With Atomoxetine: A Pilot Randomized Trial, Andrea Ward, Cheryl Carrico, Elizabeth Powell, Philip M. Westgate, Laurie Nichols, Anne Fleischer, Lumy Sawaki

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

BACKGROUND:

Intensive, task-oriented motor training has been associated with neuroplastic reorganization and improved upper extremity movement function after stroke. However, to optimize such training for people with moderate-to-severe movement impairment, pharmacological modulation of neuroplasticity may be needed as an adjuvant intervention.

OBJECTIVE:

Evaluate safety, as well as improvement in movement function, associated with motor training paired with a drug to upregulate neuroplasticity after stroke.

METHODS:

In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, 12 subjects with chronic stroke received either atomoxetine or placebo paired with motor training. Safety was assessed using vital signs. Upper extremity movement function was assessed using Fugl-Meyer Assessment, …

The Heinrich Model: Determining Contemporary Relevance, Bryan P. Basford

Online Theses and Dissertations

For as long as his work has been at the core of the safety profession, Herbert William Heinrich has been a staple of debate. His 1931 work Industrial Accident Prevention: A Scientific Approach has sparked worldwide debate on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of his safety theories, as well as the accuracy or inaccuracy of his research and methods.

Heinrich's work is undoubtedly cited time and again as the foundational teaching for behavior-based safety, as well as countless other teachings in the safety profession as a whole. Despite the continued challenges to the validity of his work, there has been little …

Appraising The Current Status Of The National Institute For Occupational Safety And Health's Fatality Assessment Control Evaluation Program, Douglas Schwindt

Online Theses and Dissertations

Today, generally 13 U.S. workers die from workplace injuries. In 1970 on average, there were as many as 38 workplace fatalities on each day (DOL 2016). As a response to this alarming reality, the government enacted the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970. This governmental legislation created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to regulate safety in the workplace; as well as, The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health who was charged with "developing new knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health and to transfer that knowledge into practice" (CDC NIOSH 2017).

In order to understand …

Analysis Of Union Safety: Determining Relationships Between Union Membership And Injury And Fatality Rates, Madelyn K. Street

Online Theses and Dissertations

In under two centuries the labor union transformed the American workplace, improving wages, benefits, employee engagement, and safety. In more recent years, the government and other organizations have caught up in focusing on safety. Countless studies have been conducted and determined that unions have a significant positive impact on safety compared to work environments absent of a union. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2006-2015, an investigation into the trends of union membership and injuries and fatalities reported in the United States was conducted. It was determined that there was not significant correlation between increased union membership and improved …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Safety Training Provided To Corrections Personnel In Appalachia, Ali K. Al Yammahi

Online Theses and Dissertations

The context of the study was assessment of whether corrections officers in Appalachia are receiving adequate health and safety training who attended health and safety trainings sessions provided by the OSHA Training Institute and Education Center on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University. Participants included in the study were corrections officers who have been working in corrections for a minimum of two years. Participants were required to be working in Appalachian corrections during distribution of the questionnaire. Participants were selected by using convenience and snowball sampling procedures. The questionnaire was sent on 4 separate occasions, 10 of the expected 30 …

Identifications Of Challenges And Success Factors Of Females Entering And Advancing In The Profession Of Emergency Management, Audra Cronen

Online Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on how women in the emergency management field have identified and overcome challenges when entering and advancing in the profession. The two research questions were:

• What barriers have females experienced when entering and advancing in the field of emergency management?

• In what ways have females overcome barriers when entering and advancing in the field of emergency management?

These questions were answered by five women who work in the field of emergency management and responded to a series of interview questions. These women made it clear that while this is a predominately male-dominated field of work, …

The Imperativeness Of The Inclusion Of Multiple Intelligences In Safety Training, Melissa Diers-Sarasin

Online Theses and Dissertations

Many organizations are increasingly becoming aware that effective safety training is a key element in their success. Employers are now forced to face the challenges of holistically evaluating safety programs to ensure their multigenerational workforce comprehends, utilizes, and values the safety training provided to them. These expectations are brought about by regulations and the need to control expenditures directly related to safety training and performance. Now more than ever, it is imperative that multiple intelligences are incorporated into safety education and training programs. This article examines key elements of multiple intelligences, the significance of their incorporation in safety education and …

Leading Indicators Of Safety In Nuclear Energy, Cameron Douglas Cowser

Online Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to attempt to determine the key leading indicators of safety in the nuclear energy generation industry. A leading indicator is a metric of safety performance that is not dependent on trending injuries or incidents. This study was conducted by sending surveys to individuals working in the nuclear energy industry, and attempting to rate a set of indicators by their responses. This research was unsuccessful in empirical validation of any of the surveyed indicators, but does indicate that the concept is well known and accepted in the industry, and paves the way for a more …

The Effectiveness Of Risk Assessment Training On Self-Reported Safe Behaviors Of Employees Of A Manufacturing Organization, Jeffrey Tate Preston

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study is to examine the effectiveness of risk assessment training on self-reported safe behaviors of individuals who are employed by a manufacturing organization in a central Kentucky organization. The analysis was comprised of 31 participants that worked in the production and office areas of a manufacturing organization. These individuals volunteered to participate in the study through the use of informed consent.

A pre-test was conducted prior to a risk assessment training being conducted at the facility. Three weeks after the training was preformed a post-test was taken to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. By determining the a summary …

Safety During A Disaster: A Comparison Of Disaster Events, Lauren Webb

Online Theses and Dissertations

Disasters such as hurricanes disrupt the lives of everyone in their path. The preparation for and response during and after such an event can make all the difference for those involved. Past hurricanes need to be learned from, hurricanes such as Katrina and Hugo; lessons learned from events like these can be applied in future ones such as they were in Sandy and Gustav. This thesis reviews past research done concerning problems and themes of unsafe situations during hurricanes in urban centers, finding these themes and making suggestions to be used in the future to attempt to prevent future re-occurrences. …

The State Of Health And Safety Program Management As It Pertains To Osha In The Funeral Industry: A Formative Analysis, Brad William Kuchnicki

Online Theses and Dissertations

From a law perspective, contingency refers to possible events that may or may not happen, by which, when happening, some particular title may be affected. In the funeral industry, OSHA regulations govern a vast array of procedures directly related to day-to-day operations. If at any time one of these controls have or have not been implemented, enforced or altered, the organization could be influenced. This thesis will analyze the state of health and safety program management as it pertains to OSHA in the funeral industry.

Safety On A Drilling Rig: Is It Safety Culture?, Jonathan Wade Henson

Online Theses and Dissertations

Why do workers on a modern offshore drilling rig continue to make decisions leading to unsafe conditions, acts or incidents? In a perfect world, workers in any industry would go to work and come home in the same condition as they started the day: no incidents. Worker injuries and deaths are all too common in the workplace whether on land or at sea. On a modern drilling rig, operating hundreds of miles offshore, far from the nearest hospital, working in all kinds of weather presents an industry ripe with risks. The worker or rig hand holds the key to making …

A Review Of Air Medical Safety: 2005-2011, Andrew Holcomb

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to research current air medical risks and identify the extent of the risk from 2005 - 2011 by looking at NTSB data. Sixty-eight rotorcraft air medical incidents were discovered based on preset criteria, such as resulting injury or significant damage to aircraft, for severe air medical incidents. Six major concerns in air medical safety were researched in this study: day and nighttime incidents, takeoff/landing and in-flight incidents, Part 91 and Part 135 regulations, pilot hours, post-crash fire, and changing visual conditions. From information given in the NTSB reports based on incident investigation, this information was collected …