Knowledge,attitudes and beliefs towards injury prevention: a population-based telephone survey

Public knowledge and beliefs about injury prevention are currently poorly understood. A total of 1030 residents in the State of Queensland, Australia, responded to questions about injury prevention in or around the home, on the roads, in or on the water, at work, deliberate injury and responsibility for preventing deliberate injury allowing for comparison with reported injury prevalence data. Overall, the youngest members of society were identified as being the most vulnerable to deliberate injury with young adults accounting for 59% of responses aligning with reported data. However, younger adults failed to indicate an awareness of their own vulnerability to deliberate injury in alcohol environments even though 61% of older respondents were aware of this trend. Older respondents were the least inclined to agree that they could make a difference to their own safety in or around the home but were more inclined to agree that they could make a difference to their own safety at work. The results are discussed with a view to using improved awareness of public beliefs about injury to identify barriers to the uptake of injury prevention strategies (e.g. low perceived injury risk) as well as areas where injury prevention strategies may receive public support.     

Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs towards injury prevention: a population-based telephone survey

Public knowledge and beliefs about injury prevention are currently poorly understood. A total of 1030 residents in the State of Queensland, Australia, responded to questions about injury prevention in or around the home, on the roads, in or on the water, at work, deliberate injury and responsibility for preventing deliberate injury allowing for comparison with reported injury prevalence data. Overall, the youngest members of society were identified as being the most vulnerable to deliberate injury with young adults accounting for 59% of responses aligning with reported data. However, younger adults failed to indicate an awareness of their own vulnerability to deliberate injury in alcohol environments even though 61% of older respondents were aware of this trend. Older respondents were the least inclined to agree that they could make a difference to their own safety in or around the home but were more inclined to agree that they could make a difference to their own safety at work. The results are discussed with a view to using improved awareness of public beliefs about injury to identify barriers to the uptake of injury prevention strategies (e.g. low perceived injury risk) as well as areas where injury prevention strategies may receive public support.     

Roles of a hospital for community safety promotion

It is not easy for any health professional to be aware of injury problems and safety issues within their own communities if their main responsibility is not in this field. Health professionals, however, can play an important role in all aspects of injury prevention and safety promotion. This includes not only medical or surgical treatment for the injured patients but also risk assessment, health education, community action, organisational development and advocacy for policy to promote safety at a multi-level in the society. This can be accomplished most efficiently through collaboration with diverse sectors within a community, including hospitals, public health professionals, policy makers, school boards, police departments, fire departments, citizens' coalitions and others. Since 2002, Ajou University School of Medicine and Public Health in Suwon, Korea, has introduced a Safe Community model to many countries in Asia, including Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, among others, which is led by The World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Community Safety Promotion at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.     

The safety attitudes of people who use multi-purpose recreation facilities as a physical activity setting

Multi-purpose recreation facilities (MPRFs) are a popular setting for physical activity and it is therefore important that they are safe for all patrons. However, the attitudes of MPRF users towards safety are a potential barrier to the success of injury prevention programmes implemented within MPRFs. This article reports a survey of the safety attitudes of over 700 users of four indoor MPRFs. Factor analysis of 12 five-point Likert scale statements showed that the attitudes clustered around three major dimensions - the importance of safety, the benefits of safety and the perceptions of injury risk. Together, these three dimensions accounted for 49% of the variability in the attitudes. More than 85% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that: safety was an important aspect of physical activity participation; being injured affected enjoyment of physical activity; people should adopt appropriate safety measures for all physical activity; and individuals were responsible for their own safety. The MPRF users, particularly women and older people, were generally safety conscious, believed in adopting safety measures, and were willing to take responsibility for their own safety. Facility managers can be confident that if they provide evidence-based injury prevention interventions in these settings, then users will respond appropriately and adopt the promoted behaviours.     

Preventive product safety – monitoring accidental injuries related to consumer products in the European Union

Objectives. To measure GPs' and paediatricians' expectations, attitudes, priorities and demands in the area of promoting safety and preventing accidents in the home involving children under 15 years of age.

Methods. A phone survey of a random sample of GPs and paediatricians in the French-speaking community of Belgium (Wallonia and Brussels) conducted in the course of September and October 2000.

Results. Close to two-thirds of the physicians surveyed stated that they had been contacted at least once in the 2 weeks preceding the survey to handle an injury. Of the physicians, 80% mention accident prevention after a childhood injury, but only 46% mention it during a routine consultation (whatever the reason of the latter may be). The main obstacles to mentioning prevention during routine consultation put forward by the interviewees are: 1) reasons for consultations that do not permit such an approach (79%); 2) the fact that injuries are not priorities for them (66%); 3) the lack of interesting materials to provide the subject with documentation (63%); 4) the unsuitability of the place where the contact occurs for such discussion, given the time required (56%); 5) insufficient information on the subject (41%); and 6) the patient's lack of interest (39%). An overwhelming majority (98%) nevertheless feel that they have a role to play in preventing children's accidents in the home, with 72.5% seeing this as informative (recommendation on safety rules). More than two-thirds of the respondents feel that they have enough requisite information to play such a role. Those who declare that they have not enough information (34%) proposed some priority subjects about which they would like to find information or additional information to be more effective in preventing accidents. The information needs mentioned most frequently were a systematic review of the risks, of the effective prevention strategies and epidemiological data.

Conclusions. The present study clearly reveals the interest of physicians for accident prevention and puts forward the current obstacles to offering prevention advice during routine consultation. The obstacles mentioned are fairly comparable to those mentioned in other studies, namely, because the reason for the visit does not give such an opening, the lack of appropriate materials and information, the lack of time, the patient's lack of interest, the fact that the issue is not a priority, etc. The problem of lack of priority for certain practitioners underlines the importance of making accident mortality and morbidity statistics available to doctors in order to improve their perception of the magnitude of the problem. The lack of interesting education materials and useful information seems to be a major reason for their failure to carry out such prevention work successfully. These factors should thus be taken into account when developing any policy and/or programme aimed at ‘using’ GPs and paediatricians in the prevention strategies that are adopted.     

Theoretical considerations for a meaningful code of professional ethics

The professions have focused considerable attention on developing codes of conduct. Despite their efforts there is considerable controversy regarding the propriety of professional codes of ethics. Many provisions of professional codes seem to exacerbate disputes between the profession and the public rather than providing a framework that satisfies the public's desire for moral behavior.After examining three professional codes, we divide the provisions of professional codes into those provisions which urge professionals to avoid moral hazard, maintain professional courtesy and serve the public interest. We note that whereas provisions urging the avoidance of moral hazard are uncontroversial, the public is suspicious of provisions protecting professional courtesy. Public interest provisions are controversial when the public and the profession disagree as to what is in the public interest. Based on these observations, we conclude with recommendations regarding the content of professional codes.Karim Jamal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Accounting at the University of Alberta. His research interests are in modelling judgment processes of individuals in professional firms and financial markets. He is currently involved in research on the auditor-client negotiation process, the role of framing effects in masking fraud as well as the means by which frauds are detected, and tensions in professional codes of conduct especially between confidentiality and public disclosure.Norman E. Bowie is the Elmer L. Andersen Chair in Corporate Responsibility at the University of Minnesota. He is the co-editor ofEthical Theory and Business and has published numerous books and articles in business ethics and political philosophy. His most recent book isUniversity Business Partnerships: An Assessment.     

The role of accident theory in injury prevention - time for the pendulum to swing back

Injury prevention is a branch of safety sciences. While comprehensive theoretical developments occurred in the wider field in the last decades, little of these developments reached and influenced the injury prevention community. Instead, a clear retro trend 'back to basics' is seen among injury prevention scholars, especially to Dr William Haddon's pioneering work some 50 years ago. This paper intends to draw attention to this polarisation and discuss possible explanations. It is argued that the strong campaign against the accident concept among leading injury prevention groupings became a serious hindrance for theoretical exchange. The underlying process is interpreted in terms of a struggle for ownership over this truly interdisciplinary field of research, unfortunately at the expense of theoretical stagnation in injury prevention circles and lessened interest in collaboration from other scientific areas. This paper is written as a tribute to Professor Leif Svanstr?m and his scientific contributions, with special regard to his genuine interest in interdisciplinary research.     

The legal framework and initiatives for promoting safety in the United Arab Emirates

Injury is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE is a rapidly developing country with fast economic growth, demographical and environmental changes that are associated with new hazards emerging at a similar pace. The UAE as a federal entity has federal and local systems responsible for safety policy, regulations and enforcement. To set priorities for safety promotion and injury prevention, it is necessary to have data on the most frequent external causes of injury and the main individual, equipment and environmental risk factors that contribute to injury. However good quality data for injury prevention are scarce. The aim of this paper is to describe the scale of injury as a public health problem in the UAE, and the development of safety policies, regulations and promotion efforts with special emphasis on traffic, occupational and child safety.     

Developing the evidence-base for Safe Communities: a multi-level, partly randomised, controlled trial

Safe Communities, representing a global activation of the public health logic, may be strengthened through theoretical, methodological and empirical support. In the spirit of this Special Issue that aims to analyse the achievements and challenges inherent to Safe Communities, we offer our contribution in the form of a methodology of a multi-country child safety, peace and health promotion study. The study, situated within an African-centred initiative called Ukuphepha - an isiZulu word meaning demonstrating African safety - is underpinned by four theoretical claims that frame injury and violence prevention as a multi-disciplinary issue to be addressed through a suite of interventions to family and extended social systems. The interventions, sensitive to the priorities of each participating country, have been informed by the literature on effective interventions and the authors' joint experiences of community development. The study is designed as a population-based, multi-level, multi-intervention partly randomised controlled trial, and there are potentially 24 participant communities representing South Africa, Mozambique, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Australia - over three commencement phases. Whereas process evaluation will focus on community engagement, impact evaluation will consider risk and protective factors, and outcome evaluation will examine the overall effectiveness of the interventions. Notwithstanding the many challenges, the study will provide insights into the methodology and mechanisms of ecologically-oriented interventions that locate injury and violence prevention as an activity arising from safety, peace and health promotion.     

会计职业道德建设的思考

会计职业道德缺失影响市场经济秩序、危害公众利益和投资者利益、危害会计人员自身利益.会计诚信缺失的成因主要有外界环境的影响、会计自身局限性、法律制度不健全、利益的诱惑.因此,要加强会计诚信建设.     

The Business of Commercial Legal Advice and the Ethical Implications for Lawyers and Their Clients

Company directors and executives seek legal advice outside the company on a regular basis. This advice is meant to be given within the context of the lawyers’ professional obligations and ethical practise. What clients may not appreciate is there is often a conflict of interest between the lawyers’ professional and ethical concerns and the legal advice business. If lawyers follow their business interests, their advice may be incomplete especially in relation to the ethical consequences of that advice. This could lead to a compromise of the clients’ commercial interests and even raise doubts in relation to the legality of the clients’ proposed course of action.     

An Empirical Investigation of the Pricing of Professional Services (As Applied to Public Accounting)

Recently there has been escalating interest and attention focused on services marketing in marketing literature. Professionals, in particular, face additional marketing challenges because they have both an increased need and an increased ability to market their services. Yet, the pricing of professional services as an area of investigation in marketing has not been adequately researched. This paper examines the pricing issue in the context of public accounting services. The empirical investigation utilizes a multivariate approach to describe and quantify the fee structure of public accounting services. Empirical findings and then managerial implications are discussed.     

Beyond professional ethics: Issues and agendas

Many professional bodies now include activist committees devoted to better serving the broad public interest. Some of the different ways that these groups operate are explored and analyzed. In particular, professional activist groups are divided into two general categories: those dealing mainly with standards of professional practice, and those dealing with political and social issues relevant to the larger social milieu. By participating in such groups, professionals can give the public an alternative view of their profession, and set the stage for public demand for more responsive, socially controlled, professional practices. Beth Savan teaches Environmental Studies at Innis College, University of Toronto. She has a Ph.D. in ecology from Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London. Her analysis of the influence of vested interests on scientific research, Science Under Siege: The Myth of Objectivity in Scientific Research, was published by CBC Enterprises in 1988. Her other areas of research interest are environmental assessment and environmental education.     

Danish Evidence of Auditors' Level of Moral Reasoning and Predisposition to Provide Fair Judgements

The community has legislatively conferred on external auditors a special but lucrative responsibility to provide fair and independent opinions about management's preparation of company financial statements. In return, auditors are obliged by professional standards to act with integrity, independently and in the public interest. This study examined 174 auditors' predisposition to provide just and fair judgements, using Kohlberg's theory of developmental moral reasoning, one of the most widely accepted theories in justice psychology. Respondents came from five international audit firms in Copenhagen. Results indicated that auditors with pre-conventional or low level of just reasoning or comprised 64 respondents, the largest group in the sample. The pre-conventional level suggests that people will act in their own self-interest and do the right only to avoid punishment. Pre-conventional auditors have the ability to "do deals", advantageous for business. When faced with an ethical crisis, however, auditors as this level will tend to focus on their own needs at the expense of others. The post-conventional or mid level of just reasoning comprised 59 auditors, second largest group in the sample. This level indicates that these auditors have the predisposition to act fairly on principal, particularly when faced with an ethical crisis. The conventional level or mid-just reasoning consisted of 51 auditors. People with a conventional level of just reasoning believe in law and order, the maintenance of the status quo, however they tend not to be critical of laws, nor authority even if those laws and authority are unjust or evil.     

Mark Aldrich. Death Rode the Rails: American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1828-1965. Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. xvi + 446 pp. ISBN 0-8018-8236-2, $59.95 (paper).

This is an excellent narrative of the evolution of public andindustry focus on industrial safety. It is subtitled "accidentsand safety" because accidents played a very public role of focusingattention on particular problems (e.g., brakes, bridge design,rail failures, and explosions of hazardous materials). By lookingat accidents and safety, Aldrich develops four key themes thathe weaves throughout the narrative. Aldrich’s economicanalysis, much of which is contained in the notes and in thirtypages of     

Injury incidence,risk perception and product-related safety behavior among 18- and 45-year-olds

Abstract

Adolescents generally have twice the injury incidence of adults. This increased risk of injury may partly be a consequence of the types of activities performed, the level of exposure to products and the safety behavior. The purpose of this paper was to identify possible predictors for the increased injury risk of adolescents compared to adults. To this end, all 18- and 45-year-olds in a major city in Norway received a questionnaire asking for information on injury experience, level of use and risk perceptions concerning 14 specific products, and the adoption of safety measures; 686 18-year-olds and 81 o 45-year-olds answered the questionnaire. The adolescents reported a higher injury incidence as compared to adults for all the listed products. The difference was significant even after controlling for level of use. Adolescents also had higher levels of risk perception and decreased adoption of safety measures as compared to adults. Females reported less injuries but higher levels of risk perception than males. Females also adopted more safety measures. An important finding from this study was that adolescents, as compared to adults, also expose themselves to increased risk levels when ‘ordinary’ products are concerned, and not only in terms of well-known high-risk activities (driving fast, skiing downhill, etc.). This tends to support the idea that more general factors or dimensions of risk-related behaviors may exist which should be accounted for in the planning of injury prevention activities.     

对湖北农村金融消费者保护问题的思考

金融产品和服务具有专业化、技术化的特性,面对由金融精英组成的金融产品和服务的提供者,金融消费者相对而言不一定具备金融专业知识,信息不对称的弱势地位显而易见。农村金融消费者由于文化素质低,金融知识缺乏,加之弱势群体的心里劣势,消费者权益更容易受到侵害。侵害消费者的行为不仅损害了农民的利益,也损害了公众对金融体系的信心,影响金融行业的健康发展。针对农村消费者保护不力的状况,需要从增强农村金融供给、提高消费者文化素质和维权意识,加强金融机构的服务意识以及加强金融监管等多方面着手。     

Actuaries,Conflicts of Interest and Professional Independence: The Case of James Hardie Industries Limited

Drawing on calls by researchers to examine corporate scandals involving potential conflicts of interest or compromise to professional independence involving the actuarial profession, this article outlines one such case. The consulting actuaries – to a large Australian listed company, James Hardie Industries Limited – found themselves advising two parties in a corporate restructuring where the interests of each were sometimes competing and the interests of the public appeared to be ignored. The James Hardie case is instructive in a number of ways: first, it demonstrates the subtlety with which conflicts of interest or pressures on professional independence can arise; second, it demonstrates how important professional issues can be obfuscated by more obvious and pressing financial and strategic issues; and finally it demonstrates that adherence to professional codes of conduct and the ease with which professional ethics can be compromised when those codes are vague and transgressions are rarely actionable. The James Hardie case highlights structural issues in the employment of consulting actuaries which presents risks to the profession. It demonstrates that the combination of an aggressive corporate management with a strategic agenda reliant on consulting actuaries that have a vested interest in promoting and maintaining valuable relationships, both financially and professionally, results in ethical challenges.     

Public relations,professionalism, and the public interest

The public interest statement contained in the PRSA Code of Professional Standards is unduly vague and provides neither a working definition of public interest nor any guidance for the performance of what most professions consider to be a primary value. This paper addresses the question of what might constitute public relations service in the public interest, and calls for more stringent guidelines to be developed whereby the profession may advance its service goals more clearly.Thomas H. Bivins, is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon where he teaches public relations and mass media ethics. He received his Ph.D. in 1982 in telecommunication and taught for three years at the University of Delaware before returning to the U of O. Bivins received a B.A. in English and an M.F.A. in creative writing and has nearly twenty years of professional media experience, including work in radio, television, advertising, public relations and editorial cartooning.