Sun Coast

sun Coas

Background To help make a connection between business research and its use in the real world, this course will use an iterative course project. Throughout the term, you will serve as the health and safety director for Sun Coast Remediation (Sun Coast). Sun Coast provides remediation services to business and governmental organizations. Most of their contracts involve working within contamination sites where they remove toxic substances from soil and water. In addition to the toxicity of the air, water, and soil their employees come into contact with, the work environment is physically demanding and potentially contributory to injuries involving musculoskeletal systems, vision, and hearing.

Sun Coast genuinely cares about the health, safety, and well-being of their 5,500 employees, but they are also concerned about worker compensation costs and potential long-term litigation from injuries and illness related to employment.

Sun Coast hired you last month to replace the previous health and safety director, who left to pursue other opportunities. This is a critical position within the company because there are many health and safety-related issues due to the nature of the work. The former health and safety director was in the midst of analyzing these issues through the implementation of a research project when she left the organization.

Senior leadership at Sun Coast has identified several areas for concern that they believe could be solved using business research methods. The previous director was tasked with conducting research to help provide information to make decisions about these issues. Although data were collected, the project was never completed. Senior leadership is interested in seeing the project through to fruition. The following is the completion of that project and includes the statement of the problems, literature review, research objectives, research questions and hypotheses, research methodology, design, and methods, data analysis, findings, and recommendations.

Statement of the Problems

Six business problems were identified:

Particulate Matter (PM)

There is a concern that job-site particle pollution is adversely impacting employee health. Although respirators are required in certain environments, PM varies in size depending on the project and job site. PM that is between 10 and 2.5 microns can float in the air for minutes to hours (e.g., asbestos, mold spores, pollen, cement dust, fly ash), while PM that is less than 2.5 microns can float in the air for hours to weeks (e.g., bacteria, viruses, oil smoke, smog, soot). Due to the smaller size of PM less than 2.5 microns, it is potentially more harmful than PM between 10 and 2.5, as the conditions are more suitable for inhalation. PM less than 2.5 can be inhaled into the deeper regions of the lungs, potentially causing more deleterious health effects.

Understanding if there is a relationship between PM size and employee health is crucial. PM air quality data have been collected from 103 job sites, recorded in microns. Data are also available for the average annual sick days per employee per job site.

Safety Training Effectiveness

Safety and health training is conducted for each new contract awarded to Sun Coast. Data for training expenditures and lost-time hours were collected from 223 contracts. It is valuable to determine if training has been successful in reducing lost-time hours and how to predict lost-time hours from training expenditures.

Sound-Level Exposure

Contracts typically involve noisy environments due to the use of heavy equipment. Standard ear-plugs are adequate if decibel levels are less than 120 dB. For environments exceeding 120 dB, more advanced hearing protection like earmuffs is needed. Historical data from 1,503 contracts include variables believed to contribute to high dB levels. Using this data to predict environmental decibel levels before assigning employees would help in planning appropriate hearing protection.

New Employee Training

All new employees participate in health and safety training, with a revamped program implemented six months ago. Test data are available for two groups: Group A (prior training) and Group B (revised training). It is necessary to determine if the revised training is more effective.

Lead Exposure

Employees working on lead remediation sites are monitored by measuring lead levels in blood (micrograms per deciliter). Data from 49 employees who recently completed a 2-year lead remediation project are available. The goal is to determine if blood lead levels have increased post-project.

Return on Investment

Sun Coast offers four services: air monitoring, soil remediation, water reclamation, and health and safety training. Return on investment data for each service are available. The company wants to determine if ROI is consistent across services or if differences exist, and where.

Literature Review

Research into particulate matter (PM) has shown that exposure to fine particles (

Safety training effectiveness has been extensively studied, revealing that well-designed training programs can reduce workplace accidents and lost-time injuries (Pirie et al., 2016). The transfer of training and its impact on behavior change has been linked to training content, delivery method, and reinforcement strategies (Burke et al., 2015).

Noise-related health risks are well documented. Prolonged exposure to noise levels exceeding 85 dB can result in hearing loss, with the risk increasing in environments above 120 dB (Gusella et al., 2017). Proper assessment of noise levels before job assignment and the use of PPE can mitigate these risks (Nisse et al., 2013).

Research on training program revisions indicates that refresher courses and improved instructional methods tend to elevate knowledge retention and safety compliance (Gillen et al., 2012). Evaluations of such programs often focus on pre- and post-training assessments to gauge effectiveness.

Lead exposure monitoring has demonstrated that consistent adherence to safety protocols and protective measures can significantly reduce blood lead levels (Bartholomew & Kerber, 2020). Changes in blood lead levels serve as reliable indicators of occupational exposure over time.

On the financial front, studies suggest that strategic investments in safety programs can generate positive ROI, with benefits including reduced injury costs and improved productivity (Guldenmund, 2010). Variability in ROI across different service lines can reflect differences in operational efficiency, market conditions, and safety practices.

References

• Bartholomew, K., & Kerber, S. (2020). Blood lead levels and occupational safety: A longitudinal study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 77(6), 370–375.
• Burke, M. J., et al. (2015). Training transfer: A review and new perspectives. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88(1), 157–218.
• Gillen, M., et al. (2012). Impact of training interventions on occupational safety. Safety Science, 50(2), 260–267.
• Gusella, M., et al. (2017). Noise exposure and hearing risk assessment. Noise & Health, 19(90), 33–42.
• Guldenmund, F. W. (2010). The nature of safety culture: A review of theory and research. Safety Science, 48(2), 694–703.
• Klepeis, N. E., et al. (2001). The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): A resource for environmental exposures. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 11(3), 231–252.
• Nisse, M., et al. (2013). Occupational noise exposure and hearing conservation. Journal of Safety Research, 45, 77–86.
• EPA. (2012). Particulate matter (PM) pollution. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution
• Pirie, C. D., et al. (2016). Effectiveness of safety training programs. Journal of Safety Research, 58, 55–62.
• Seaton, A., et al. (1995). Particulate air pollution and acute health effects. The Lancet, 345(8943), 176–182.