1,721,023 research outputs found
Comprehension of safety pictograms affixed to agricultural machinery: A survey of users
No full textIntroduction: Pictograms affixed to agricultural machinery are important tools to reduce the occurrence of accidents and injuries when correctly noticed, comprehended, and followed. This study investigated the knowledge of safety pictograms used in agricultural machinery in a sample of farmers and farm workers and examined the factors influencing their comprehension. Method: A questionnaire with 12 safety pictograms used for agricultural machinery was administered to 281 owners or users of agricultural machinery. For each of the pictograms, the participants had to select the most appropriate verbal description from among four choices. Results: The pictograms examined yielded poor comprehension scores, including warnings related to the most frequent accidents involving agricultural machinery. Familiarity with the pictograms and years of experience with agricultural machinery significantly increased users' comprehension of the meaning of the pictograms. Conclusions: Specific training programs should be designed to draw attention to safety pictograms and to instill their meaning
Development and validation of the perception of housing quality scale (PHQS)
No full textIn this study, we aimed to develop and validate the Perception of Housing Quality Scale (PHQS), a multi-item, multi-factorial measure of perceived housing quality focused on peoples homes as the unit of analysis and based on individuals perceptions of how much the physical aspects of their home environments fulfill their daily needs. The instrument was developed by a multidisciplinary team comprising psychologists and architects for the identification of the main factors describing the perceived quality of the physical features of home environments. Confirmatory factor analysis performed on the data, collected from a quota sample comprising 285 Italian adults aged between 25 and 65 (women = 52.3%, Mage = 42.81, SD = 12.73), confirmed the hypothesis that two correlated factors define perceived housing quality: "Indoor environment and architectural design" and "Outdoor stressors." These factors revealed the expected correlations with home ownership and the discrepancy between the actual and the ideal home. The implications of this scale in housing research are discussed
Safety signs on agricultural machinery: Pictorials do not always successfully convey their messages to target users
No full textThis study investigated the extent to which a sample of Italian users comprehended safety pictorials used on agricultural machinery. A questionnaire with 12 safety pictorials was administered to 248 users of agricultural machinery. For each of the pictorials, the participants were asked to select the most appropriate description of four written choices. The investigated safety pictorials were, in general, not well comprehended. Two different classes of participants were identified, each with a different level of comprehension. The participants with better comprehension were characterized by the regular use of agricultural machinery and frequent previous exposure to pictorials. The need for training courses focusing on safety pictorials and their meanings, as well as the need for improvement to the pictorials themselves to make them more easily comprehended, is discussed
Environmental quality for comfort and performance in healthcare buildings: a lighting experimental study and simulations
No full textThis paper presents the results from a series of experimental activities and simulations focused on assessing the luminous environmental quality as well as the energy demand for lighting within healthcare buildings. The study was aimed at evaluating the level of visual performance and comfort as perceived within the various hospital spaces by the different categories of users who operate in them: patients, relatives, doctors, nurses and nursing aids. The research consisted of both a subjective and an objective in-the-field study, which was carried out in four hospitals in Turin and Asti (Piedmont, Italy), different for construction age, types of patients and offered services, daylight access and view out, architectural lay-out. The subjective study was based on a survey through questionnaires submitted to both patients/relatives and to the nursing staff, integrated by photometric measurements within sample rooms of different wards. For each ward, both the bedded area (bedrooms and living rooms), and the staff area (nurses/doctors' offices, rooms where the nursing staff visit and manage patients' medical records and prepare medications) were analyzed. As a first step within a more comprehensive work, the topic of lighting was addressed, due to its relevance for carrying out work tasks in safe conditions (particularly for the nursing staff) and for environmental quality perception and well-being for users. Illuminance levels on beds, work surfaces and VDT displays were measured, luminance maps of the visual scenes as perceived by users were recorded by means of an Image Luminance Measuring Device and users' subjective appraisals were investigated through different questionnaires. Furthermore, the field analysis was integrated with simulations to estimate the associated energy demand for lighting and its reduction due to different lighting and blind control strategie
Occupational safety and visual communication: User-centred design of safety training material for migrant farmworkers in Italy
No full textVisual communication allows the transmission of ideas and information more easily than written communication. Therefore, visual communication is used in different sectors (education, health, machinery, marketing, politics, environmental studies, musicology, science) to overcome language barriers and to effectively convey useful information. Nevertheless, the use of visual material to improve the comprehensibility of safety training in the workplace has been under-investigated, which is particularly true in the agricultural sector, despite its hazardousness and the high number of migrant farmworkers who might benefit from training provided by means of visual communication due to their often scarce knowledge of the local language. Combining graphic composition rules with a user-centred design (UCD) approach, this study aimed to develop visual safety training material based on migrant farmworkers' needs to increase migrant trainees' satisfaction in the training process. Focus groups were conducted with both trainers and migrant farmworkers to identify critical issues in existing safety training material and to discuss and evaluate different prototypes of the visual material developed by the authors. Significantly higher satisfaction was reported by migrants trained with the new material compared to a control group in a final training session (U = 152.50, z = -2.165, p = 0.030). Implications for the improvement of safety training for migrant farmworkers are discussed
Safety signs on agricultural machinery: Pictorials do not always successfully convey their messages to target users
No full textThis study investigated the extent to which a sample of Italian users comprehended safety pictorials used on agricultural machinery. A questionnaire with 12 safety pictorials was administered to 248 users of agricultural machinery. For each of the pictorials, the participants were asked to select the most appropriate description of four written choices. The investigated safety pictorials were, in general, not well comprehended. Two different classes of participants were identified, each with a different level of comprehension. The participants with better comprehension were characterized by the regular use of agricultural machinery and frequent previous exposure to pictorials. The need for training courses focusing on safety pictorials and their meanings, as well as the need for improvement to the pictorials themselves to make them more easily comprehended, is discussed
Perceived barriers to the adoption of smart farming technologies in Piedmont region, northwestern Italy: the role of user and farm variables
No full textSmart Farming Technologies (SFTs) can increase the sustainability of agricultural pro-duction, based on a more precise and resource-efficient approach. However, previous studies pointed out a low level of SFTs adoption, often highlighting that technologies and innovations successfully adopted may be rejected by the users, who go back to the traditional practices even where benefits were being enjoyed. This study aimed at investigating the role played by individual variables, farming system characteristics, and perceived barriers in affecting the adoption of SFTs in a sample of Italian farm operators. Three-hundred and ten participants were administered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire addressing perceived economic, market and data management barriers in the adoption of SFTs. At the same time a set of user and farm-related variables were collected. The analyses showed that farm size and the perception of economic barriers affected the adoption of SFTs. Larger farms were more likely to adopt the SFTs investigated. The present results pointed out some critical aspects which may benefit from tailor-made interventions in terms of policies, work re-organization and/or operators’ training, to support and widen the use of SFTs in the Italian context
The Perception of Honour-Related Violence in female and male university students from Morocco, Cameroon and Italy
Full text linkThe study investigates the perception of honour-related violence against women in female and male university students from three countries - Morocco, Cameroon, Italy – all considered honour cultures but different in terms of various other sociocultural factors, such as family structure and gender roles. One hundred fourteen Moroccan (47 females, 67 males), 106 Cameroonian (41 females, 65 males) and 103 Italian (51 females, 52 males) students attending Turin University and currently living in Turin, answered a questionnaire to evaluate an act of honour-related violence by a father against his daughter. The results showed that the perception of this act was influenced by the participants’ nationality: Italians evaluated the incident as more serious and more as a crime than Moroccans, and the latter more than Cameroonians. Furthermore, Italians attributed less responsibility to the victim and more responsibility to the assailant than Moroccans and Cameroonians did; accordingly, they also proposed more severe punishment for the assailant than Moroccans and Cameroonians. The results also showed an interaction between nationality and gender: Cameroonian women attributed more responsibility to the victim and less to the assailant than Cameroonian men, and Italian men attributed less responsibility to the assailant than Italian women. These results are interpreted in terms of the importance attributed to family honour in the three countries and their differences in social organisation and gender roles
Valutazione soggettiva del comfort del posto di guida di trattori agricoli. Risultati di un’indagine tra gli operatori
No full textGender differences in the perception of honor killing in individualistic versus collectivistic cultures: Comparison between Italy and Turkey
Full text linkGender differences in the perception of honour killing were investigated in two countries, both traditionally considered honour cultures but with differing degrees of individualism and collectivism: Italy and Turkey. Ninety-six Turkish undergraduate students attending Istanbul University (40 % males, mean age = 21.2 years) and 68 Italian undergraduate students attending Turin University (34 % males, mean age = 24.6 years) filled in a questionnaire which assessed the perception of three honour killing scenarios (scenario 1: alleged adultery, scenario 2: adultery, scenario 3: adultery in flagrante delicto). The questionnaire measured the attribution of assailant and victim responsibility, the proposed punishment for the assailant, and the evaluation of the incidents as crimes. Results showed that regardless gender Turkish participants attributed more responsibility to the victim and less responsibility to the assailant, and proposed less severe punishments than the Italian participants. Moreover, Turkish men attributed less responsibility to the assailant and proposed less severe punishments than Turkish women. Finally, there was an interaction of gender by culture by scenario: Turkish women attributed less responsibility to the victim in the case of alleged adultery, compared to their male counterparts. These results are discussed in terms of the complex interaction between gender roles and the individualist versus collectivist social organization of Italy and Turkey, and the profound social changes that both countries have undergone in recent decades
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