Citation

Cheung CK. J. Saf. Res. 2004; 35(4): 465-475.

Affiliation

Department of Social Work, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, NT. cheungck@cuhk.edu.hk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jsr.2004.04.007

PMID

15474549

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: While there is some evidence of the influences of personal knowledge and organizational factors on workers' hearing protection, a causal model examining relationships between these variables is lacking. METHOD: To create and test such a model, this study collected data from 1,701 workers in Hong Kong through a random sample telephone survey. RESULTS: Fitting the model to the data revealed that organizational regulation of occupational noise protection was a root cause of workers' protective behavior, whereas workers knowledge about the protection exhibited only a minimal effect. CONCLUSIONS: These findings cast doubt on the significance of personal knowledge as a unique factor contributing to noise protection. The study also finds that organizational regulation was predictable by a number of organizational and industrial factors. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: To prevent occupational deafness, organizational regulation accompanied by regular inspection and a norm of noise protection is important.