The purpose of this study was to develop and initially evaluate a survey to assess the level of present safety culture within a petrochemical organization. On the basis of the modified International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety culture model, we identified eight global dimensions of safety culture: safety commitment and support, safety attitude and behavior, safety communication and involvement, safety training and competence, safety supervision and audit, safety management system and organization, accident investigation and emergency planning, and reward and benefits. The 73-item questionnaire, we developed, was distributed as a self-administered survey to 604 workers of five petrochemical companies and 533 surveys were returned with a high response rate of 88.2%. Statistical methods were used to analyze the collected data sets, including factor analysis, t-test, and one-way ANOVA analysis of variance. Data indicated an overall positive performance in relation to organizational safety culture dimensions. Results also showed that personal backgrounds, particularly for job position, work experience, and age, significantly affected perceptions on many safety cul-ture dimensions. In addition, specific factors revealed areas in need of organization attention for improvement, namely, safety commitment and support, safety communication and involvement, and rewards and benefits, were provided to senior managers for their use in decision making on promoting the safety culture within the organization.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of various levels of alcohol consumption on human response to auditory and visual stimuli in terms of reaction time, movement time, total reaction time, and error rate. Placebo level and three low-level alcohol doses were randomly assigned to 20 male university student volunteers. 30 min. after consuming the alcohol or placebo, participants responded to either auditory or visual stimuli. Total reaction time increased significantly at the mid-low dose of alcohol (0.3 g/kg). For alcohol doses less than .5 g/kg, the change in total reaction time was confined to reaction time, i.e., the processing time between onset of stimulus and onset of movement. Effects of alcohol were significantly more pronounced in the choice-type tests. Notably, the effects of alcohol on total reaction time and error rate were significant for auditory but not visual stimuli.

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