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    Traumatic injury and dementia in New Zealand : a Palmerston North Hospital case-control study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Health Science in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Westerberg, Virginia
    Little is known about the relationship between traumatic injury (TI) and dementia. The increasing prevalence of both conditions in the world and in New Zealand (NZ) drove the Author to want to investigate whether the pathophysiological consequences of major trauma of any kind - mostly due to falls in the dementia population - and not just traumatic brain injury (TBI), may result in dementia. Both TI and dementia constitute major health and socio-economic problems contributing to long-term disability worldwide and have important implications for health service delivery and for medico-legal compensation issues. The first specific objective was to determine whether dementia was associated with an increased risk and incidence of trauma in the past and whether such an association might be explained by the injuries or by medical comorbidities. The second specific objective was to identify whether there were any differences in the mechanisms of injury and type of discharge from hospital between cases and controls. The research was a non-experimental, retrospective, hospital-based, case-control study. Cases and controls were selected from the Palmerston North Hospital (PNH) acute admissions database and were matched in terms of exposure to traumatic injury, sex, age, ethnicity, and recorded comordibites. Statistical and epidemiological analyses were done using RaosoftR and MedCalcR softwares. All medical conditions were operationally defined using the current World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). The results showed that a history of TI was more frequently found in cases with dementia than in the controls. Patients with dementia and TI were more likely to have preexisting comorbidities and were more unlikely to be discharged to their previous habitual residence. The findings strongly indicate that the brain is affected by the way the body responds to TI both locally and systemically. The conclusion was that the direct and indirect consequences of TI, mostly due to falls, could constitute a plausible risk factor for the development or progression of dementia but that further research is needed to assess what type of trauma and what type of dementia could be involved in the association, one that is likely to be multifactorial in the elderly population.
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    The 'climates' of the logging industry : effects on safety, commitment, turnover, and accidents : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Soc. Sci.) in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Rothwell, Kelly A
    New Zealand's logging industry is one of the country's largest exporting industries. With increased global competition and demands, work environments like the logging industry are finding that problems such as accidents and turnover rates are intensifying. Much research has been completed on accident and turnover rates, yet no decrease is apparent. New approaches in identifying reasons for such problems are therefore necessary. Gaining knowledge of the rationale for high turnover and accident rates (adverse activities) within the logging industry included investigating the general PC, group and organisational climate, safety climate, organisational commitment and intentions to quit (job behaviours/perceptions)of logging industry members. Field and Abelson's (1982) model asserts that PC can affect job behaviours/perceptions and adverse activities. Their 'new evolution' model of climate also argues that aggregation of psychological climate (PC) perceptions to gain evidence of group and organisational climate is possible if there is consensus in PC perceptions within groups and across organisations. Respondents were a heterogeneous group of contractors (n=6) and crew members (n=67) drawn from a list of Corporate and Woodlot crews provided by Carter Holt Harvey Limited and Fletcher Challenge Limited. The relationships between demographic variables and PC were examined using analysis of variance (ANOVA). ANOVA's and Pearson r's correlations were also performed to analyse potential relationships between all the variables to determine effects on the adverse activities of the logging industry. The psychological climate, safety climate, organisational commitment, and intentions to turnover variables were found to be rather negative in direction. Aggregation of PC to group level climate proved unfruitful because of the lack of consensus within crews. However, organisational climate was evident across the logging industry. Some PC variables were found to be significantly related to safety climate variables, organisational commitment variables, and intention to quit variables. The contractors perceptions of the PC variables role ambiguity and workgroup friendliness and warmth were significantly related to crewmember turnover rates. Moreover, the contractors perceptions of the safety climate variable fatalism were significantly related to crewmember accident rates. The research limitations and implications were discussed along with recommendations for future research.
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    Accidents and safety in New Zealand logging : the central role of the contractor : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Health Science at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Rowsell, Stephen Raymond
    New Zealand logging has a high accident rate which has concerned health and safety personnel, accident insurers, researchers and members of the industry. Efforts to reduce logging accidents and to promote safety, have included development of better equipment and training methods, and understanding of patterns of accident occurrence. The research to date has been mainly quantitative, and focused on individual factors. The aim of the present study was to develop an understanding of the social processes which surround logging accidents to provide a broader perspective of accident causation and its implications for safety promotion. 47 loggers and 32 logging contractors from three regions of New Zealand participated in unstructured interviews which were recorded, transcribed and coded with the assistance of NUD.IST, a computer programme. Personal observations in the workplace and numerous informal discussions with a range of industry personnel, complemented the interviews. The qualitative methodology, Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), was chosen to analyse the data. The results show that loggers perceive that individual factors such as risk-taking, violation of regulations, training, experience, equipment used, and the physical environment affect safety. The analysis of the data revealed that the impact of all these factors is moderated by the contractor who, in such an isolated environment, has a dominant role in the crew culture. The ability of the contractor to organise and motivate workers so that time can be allowed for learning and using appropriate techniques was critical to the safety of the crew. Frequent restructuring of the logging industry, together with falling log prices, have created instability which has impinged on the ability of contractors to run their crews safely. Increased expectations for production have placed pressure on safety systems. Some contractors managed to maintain safety through a proactive approach to training, efficient systems, and a positive safety culture while still being able to improve production. There is a widening gap between contractors who have responded proactively to the changes and those who have resisted them and struggled to manage in the new environment.
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    A systems analysis of quadbike loss of control events on New Zealand farms : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management Systems and Ergonomics at Massey University, Palmerston North
    (Massey University, 2007) Moore, David John
    There are an estimated 70,000 quadbikes (also called All-Terrain Vehicles, four-wheelers or ATV) in use within the farming community in New Zealand, and these have been linked to approximately seven deaths per year since 1997. ACC paid compensation in excess of $3.6 million on new and on-going quadbike-related claims in 2003-4, and the Department of Labour (OSH) have identified quadbike use as their single greatest area of concern in farm safety. The main aims of this series of studies were to: establish the scale and cost of LCE involving quadbikes as well as their context of use on New Zealand farms, develop an investigative methodology suitable for off-road application, identify risk factors for LCE and their interactions, and generate potential interventions. The research comprised a literature review and three studies. The first was an epidemiological analysis of ACC claims data for serious quadbike-related injuries in the year to July 2001, identified individually through the free narrative text in the ACC database. The second study explored the context of farm quadbike use through data gathering with multiple industry sources including users at the 55 farms visited for the third study. This final phase consisted of investigations at the scenes of 156 LCE. Data on the event sequences and contributory factors were captured and analysed using a modified event sequence chart developed from established methods in the ergonomics, forensics psychology and aviation literature. Environmental context-dependent cues and scale models of quadbikes and implements were used to assist the subjects recall event details. An interactive quadbike LCE model incorporating information processing features was developed as a further analysis tool. Potential interventions were identified acting at various system levels. These included changes in: farm management, work organisation, regulation, vehicle conceptualisation, detailed quadbike design and modification, rider awareness and training.