SAGE Journal Articles

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Article 1

Collins, B. L., Lerner, N. D., & Pierman, B. C. (1981). Assessment of workplace safety symbols. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 25, 552.

Abstract:

  • Written signs are commonly used in industrial sites to provide hazard warnings and safety information. The use of safety symbols and pictorials may increase the effectiveness of safety communication, however, because such signs are language-free, and because they can be recognized more rapidly and accurately even under some conditions of interference and distraction. The effectiveness of safety symbols critically depends upon the selection.
  • A three-phase evaluation of a set of selected workplace symbols was conducted to determine the effectiveness of hazard warnings. 

Article 2

Hilyer, B., Leviton, L., Overman, L., & Mukherjee, S. (2000). A union-initiated safety training program leads to improved workplace safety. Labor Studies Journal, 24, 53–66.

Abstract:

  • Workplace safety training programs initiated by unions have gained strength and numbers over the past ten years. Union-initiated peer training offers a new twist on joint labor-management health and safety programs, which have become an important area of labor-management cooperation. Peer trainers play a major role in the new partnerships, as management learns how effectively workers function as trainers who speak directly to worker interests.
  • This article describes a program of cooperation between a large international union, a university labor center, and companies where members of the union developed and taught workplace safety courses. Results of a survey to quantify workplace impact of the training program are reported.