Compliance Versus Risk in Assessing Occupational Exposures

Assessments of occupational exposures to chemicals are generally based upon the practice of compliance testing in which the probability of compliance is related to the exceedance [γ, the likelihood that any measurement would exceed an occupational exposure limit (OEL)] and the number of measurements obtained. On the other hand, workers’ chronic health risks generally depend upon cumulative lifetime exposures which are not directly related to the probability of compliance. In this paper we define the probability of “overexposure” (θ) as the likelihood that individual risk (a function of cumulative exposure) exceeds the risk inherent in the OEL (a function of the OEL and duration of exposure). We regard θ as a relevant measure of individual risk for chemicals, such as carcinogens, which produce chronic effects after long-term exposures but not necessarily for acutely-toxic substances which can produce effects relatively quickly. We apply a random-effects model to data from 179 groups of workers, exposed to a variety of chemical agents, and obtain parameter estimates for the group mean exposure and the within- and between-worker components of variance. These estimates are then combined with OELs to generate estimates of γ and θ. We show that compliance testing can significantly underestimate the health risk when sample sizes are small. That is, there can be large probabilities of compliance with typical sample sizes, despite the fact that large proportions of the working population have individual risks greater than the risk inherent in the OEL. We demonstrate further that, because the relationship between θ and γ depends upon the within- and between-worker components of variance, it cannot be assumed a priori that exceedance is a conservative surrogate for overexposure. Thus, we conclude that assessment practices which focus upon either compliance or exceedance are problematic and recommend that employers evaluate exposures relative to the probabilities of overexposure.     

Lot sensitive double sampling plan (lsdsp)

A sampling plan is derived for compliance testing providing consumer protection.     

礼貌原则在公关语言中的运用

语用学和公共关系学是近几十年新发展起来的学科,而礼貌原则是语言运用中要遵循的一项原则,简单介绍语用学和公共关系学的概念之后,阐明礼貌原则的提出和实质内容以及为什么要以利奇所提出的礼貌原则的内容作为理论基础,然后简单介绍公关语言的分类,最后通过实例来详析礼貌原则在公关语言中的遵守与运用。通过分析可以进一步了解到公关语言并不是来适应某项准则,它是为在公关活动中实现某种目的而服务的。     

What Determines the Extent to which Employers will Comply with their Social Security Obligations? Evidence from Chinese Firm‐level Data

This article aims to extend understanding of employer responses to social protection regulations enacted by government to ensure the well‐being and security of employees. By utilizing firm‐specific data collected from Shanghai we explore the relationship between firm characteristics, employer behaviour, and the effectiveness of compliance mechanisms that have been adopted to contain contribution evasion by employers. We offer empirical evidence about the impact of the size of the firm, ownership structure, and incidence of risk on employer evasion behaviour in social protection payments. These results should enable enforcement agencies to improve compliance levels and also contribute to building theory as regards the significance of social policies to employers and the impact of social protection on human resource policy.     

Less cheating? The effects of prefilled forms on compliance behavior

As a consequence of digital transformation, individuals are often confronted with prefilled forms or prefilled data entry masks. In situations where cheating and lying are of concern, prefilling might reduce dishonest behavior. In a controlled experiment, we investigate how correctly and incorrectly prefilled forms influence compliance behavior. We frame our experiment as filing the annual income tax return. We show that correct prefilling enhances compliance. However, in cases of incorrect prefilling, we observe asymmetric effects. If prefilled income is lower than true income, we find no positive compliance effect, and compliance is on the same level as with blank forms. If prefilled income is higher than true income, prefilling still has a positive effect on compliance. In that case, compliance is on the same level as with correctly prefilled forms and higher than with blank forms. Our study contributes to the literature on cheating and lying by showing that prefilled forms affect compliance.     

Linking Decision Theory and Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment: Tradeoffs Between Compliance and Efficacy for Waterborne Disease Interventions

Achieving health gains from the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals of universal coverage for water and sanitation will require interventions that can be widely adopted and maintained. Effectiveness—how an intervention performs based on actual use—as opposed to efficacy will therefore be central to evaluations of new and existing interventions. Incomplete compliance—when people do not always use the intervention and are therefore exposed to contamination—is thought to be responsible for the lower‐than‐expected risk reductions observed from water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions based on their efficacy at removing pathogens. We explicitly incorporated decision theory into a quantitative microbial risk assessment model. Specifically, we assume that the usability of household water treatment (HWT) devices (filters and chlorine) decreases as they become more efficacious due to issues such as taste or flow rates. Simulations were run to examine the tradeoff between device efficacy and usability. For most situations, HWT interventions that trade lower efficacy (i.e., remove less pathogens) for higher compliance (i.e., better usability) contribute substantial reductions in diarrheal disease risk compared to devices meeting current World Health Organization efficacy guidelines. Recommendations that take into account both the behavioral and microbiological properties of treatment devices are likely to be more effective at reducing the burden of diarrheal disease than current standards that only consider efficacy.     

Open Access Mandates and Policies: The Basics

Abstract

Universities can afford to subscribe to only a small percentage of available scholarly journals. Consequently, researchers do not have access to all articles in journals pertinent to their fields of study. The Open Access (OA) movement began in response to wanting to find a solution to this “serials crisis” and the availability of the Internet to disseminate scholarly research in new and innovative ways to a larger, worldwide audience. OA mandates are policies adopted by research institutions, universities, or funders that require researchers to provide free, unrestricted access to their published research by publishing in OA journals, depositing their articles in an OA repository or both. This edition of “In Lay Terms” provides basic information about OA mandates and policies, gives an overview of university and funder OA mandates, discusses geographic differences in policies and compliance rates, and reviews United States federal funding agencies’ OA policies and Plan S.     

Misperceptions of social norms about tax compliance: From theory to intervention

Taxpayers may estimate others’ acceptance of tax evasion as being greater than their own. This self–other discrepancy in tax ethics could undermine people’s tax compliance as they conform to the misperceived social norm. Feedback about the self–other discrepancy could correct the misperception and improve compliance. This approach was first tested in a scenario study with 64 students. Respondents showed the expected self–other discrepancy in tax ethics and feedback about the finding increased their hypothetical compliance. Further results showed that the effect was due to the intervention improving the perception of others’ tax ethics, as expected. Study 2, a field experiment with 1500 Australian taxpayers, replicated the self–other discrepancy and provided taxpayers with information about the result. Compared to control groups, the feedback did not affect work-related expenses claims but significantly reduced other deduction claims.     

Les sentinelles bancaires de l'antiblanchiment. Acteurs privés et policing économique

Private actors in finance, especially in the banking industry, play a leading role in the campaign, institutionalized during the 1990s, against money-laundering. Assigned the duty of detecting dubious transactions in their establishments, they are supposed to inform Tracfin, a finance intelligence unit located in the French Ministry of Finance, of their suspicions. The latter decides whether to alert judicial authorities. A set of interviews conducted with the ‘compliance officers’ in banks who supervise the implementation of regulations against money-laundering are analyzed in order to understand how persons whose normal duties are oriented toward commercial activities based on a high regard for privacy are being led to assume police duties and how they are performing in this new role.     

Evaluation of a drug and alcohol safety education program in aviation using interrupted time series and the Kirkpatrick framework

Compliance with drug and alcohol regulations are required by 14 CFR Part 120/ and 49 CFR Part 40. These regulations affect approximately 7200 aviation-related companies and their associated services. Consequences for noncompliance can include loss of revenue from imposition of civil penalties, suspension, or revocation of the company’s certificate to conduct business. Front End Analysis (FEA) was conducted to determine specific performance problems and provide five tailored educational interventions to address them. Program evaluation was conducted using Interrupted Time Series (ITS) modeling. Results showed significant (p < .05) decreases in nonconformities across all five models with small to moderate effect sizes. Based on the relative effects, values for reductions in civil penalty costs between 16% and 47%, were predicted. Actual sanction reductions from the pre-to-post-intervention periods were confirmed to be 24.21%. The study supported the efficacy of the ITS approach for implementation of level four Kirkpatrick evaluation.