Comparative Statistical Analysis of the Safety Management Approach and Academic Field Impact on Experimenter Awareness and Behavior

• Published in: Journal of Environment and Safety Vol. 6; no. 2; p. 115
• Main Authors: Shuhara, Ai, Oshima, Yoshito
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Japan Science and Technology Agency 01.01.2015
• Subjects: INW, Japan
• DOI: 10.11162/daikankyo.E14RP0701
• ISSN: 1884-4375

The purpose of this study is to clarify how safety management approach and academic fields among researchers in university laboratories in Japan and the US affect safety awareness/behavior and unobserved statistical variables ("latent factors" in technical terms). Survey data was collected regarding the awareness and behavior of science-major-researchers in the US (Sci-US) and bioscience-majorresearchers universities in Japan (Bio-JP) conducting experiments in a university laboratory environment. In addition to a quantitative analysis, a statistical analysis of the data using predictive analytical tools was also conducted. As for Sci-US, it was revealed that "Internet", "Safety training sessions/lectures" and "Environment, Health, and Safety Office (EHS Office)" were mainly used for information sources on safety. Explorer Factor Analysis (EFA) extracted two factors: "Systems of laboratory safety" and "Active personal behavior." The answer distribution of the question on safety glasses showed a significantly higher usage ratio; this presumably means that EHS education has penetrated American university respondents as aggressive self-protective action. As for Bio-JP, 90% of respondents utilized "Professors/staff in your group" and "Senior-year students" as safety information sources. EFA extracted "Rules on laboratory safety" and "Systems of laboratory safety" as latent factors. Distribution of the answers on safety glasses showed a significantly lower usage rate. The possible reason for this trend seems to be culture-specific customs in this academic field. How backgrounds such a safety management approach and academic field among researchers in university laboratories affected safety awareness/behavior and latent factors were analyzed; furthermore, it was analyzed how multiple backgrounds affected actual behavior. The answers concerning eye-protection usage was chosen, which showed distinct differences between the two background groups. This result showed some respondents were influenced by the safety culture of Sci-US, and others by that of Bio-JP. Since a person who belongs to a group has several backgrounds, behavioral features of a group cannot be explained simply by the feature of any single background.