Temporary agency workers and the contribution of workplace unfamiliarity to workplace injuries

International and Australian research agrees that temporary agency workers have a higher incidence of workplace injury, and those injuries are more severe. Much less research has been undertaken upon the cause of those injuries. This paper explores one factor contributing to their poorer occupational health and safety through an examination of the role of unfamiliarity with the hosts’ tasks and workplace. The paper commences with a review of the temporary agency employment literature relevant to placing workers in unfamiliar workplaces, and the OHS literature related to timing of injuries. Archival research on investigated workers’ compensation claims for a sample of agency workers and direct hire workers in Victoria is then analysed to assess the importance of unfamiliarity, and training undertaken to overcome that unfamiliarity, for these injured workers. The analysis includes an examination of the timing of the injury in relation to the workers’ placement with the host, and regression analysis on a range of characteristics related to newness at a host’s workplace. The findings confirm that agency workers are especially vulnerable to injury early in their placement, and insufficient attention is given to accommodating unfamiliarity to counter workers’ vulnerability in new workplaces.

New media pathways: navigating the links between home, school, and the workplace

This chapter uses the case of students enrolled in the Multimedia Pathway offered by Harbourside High School to discuss the tensions and contradictions inherent in the views that: (a) school curriculum and pedagogy have much to learn from young people's informal and leisure-based learning; and (b) school-based courses in new media are important because they increase student retention and the chance of success in post-school employment. We draw on literature about the "new work order" (Gee, Hull, & Lankshear, 1996) to explore the nature of these students' learning about and with lCTs and show that the students' knowledge exists "in a network of relationships" (Gee, 2000) that bridge the formal and informal learning divide. Finally, we discuss the parts played by their in- and out-oi-school engagements with lCT in their becoming the kinds of portfolio people supposedly required by the new capitalism.

Gender, emotion and aggression in the workplace

This study explores emotion and aggressive behaviour in a male-dominated
organisation, an Australian police force. The study examines the extent to which men’s negative emotions are directly associated with their reported experience of aggressive behaviour. One hundred and fifty-nine male participants answered a questionnaire which measured: the intensity of negative feelings, whether or not the intensity of such negative feelings was directly associated with the experience of aggression, and the magnitude of the aggressive behaviour.

Benefits of a year-long workplace weight loss program on cardiovascular risk factors

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a year-long workplace weight loss program in reducing risk factors of coronary heart disease.

Design: A randomised, controlled study of low fat (25% of dietary energy) diet- and/or moderate exercise-induced weight loss interventions in free-living, middle-aged men. Compliance was monitored from food and activity diaries at monthly blood pressure measurement sessions. Blood was sampled and body composition determined from dual energy X-ray absorptiometry before and after 12 months.

Subjects and setting: Fifty-eight overweight men (mean [+ or -] SD age: 43.4 [+ or -] 5.7 years; BMI 29.0 [+ or -] 2.6 kg/[m.sup.2]), recruited from a national corporation, were instructed into diet (n = 18) exercise (a 21) or control (n = 19) groups over 12 months; 16 control subjects combined diet and exercise (n = 16) for the subsequent 12 months.

Main outcome measures: At 12 months, weight, total and regional fat and lean mass, dietary energy and percentage dietary fat intake, physical activity indices, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum insulin, blood lipids and lipoproteins.

Statistical analyses: Differences between groups were tested using analysis of variance with Scheffe post hoc test. Differences between pre- and post-intervention variables were tested using Students' paired t-tests. Pearson's correlation coefficient and univariate linear regression identified association between dependent variables, multiple stepwise regression identified specific predictors.

Results: Weight loss with either diet or exercise resulted in a reduction in systolic blood pressure (-3.3 [+ or -] 1.7%), diastolic blood pressure (-4.8 [+ or -] 1.3%) and LDL cholesterol (-3.9 [+ or -] 2.8%), a rise in HDL cholesterol (+10.0 [+ or -] 3.8%) and a change in the LDL/HDL ratio (-8.9 [+ or -] 3.5%). Abdominal fat loss (-26.8 [+ or -] 3.6% after diet; -16.6 [+ or -] 4.5% after exercise; -21.0 [+ or -] 4.7% after diet and exercise) was the strongest predictor of change in blood pressure: twenty percent abdominal fat loss predicted a percentage fall of 2.4 [+ or -] 0.05% in systolic blood pressure and 5.4 [+ or -] 0.07% in diastolic blood pressure. Greater abdominal fat loss was associated with the greatest decrease in serum insulin (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Modest changes in diet and exercise effected by a low cost workplace-based education program achieved weight loss, loss of abdominal fat, reduced blood pressure and serum insulin and improved blood lipid concentrations. (Nutr Diet 2002;59:87-96)

Women exposed to intimate partner violence : expectations and experiences when they encounter health care professionals : a meta-analysis of qualitative studies

Background The appropriate response of health care professionals to intimate partner violence is still a matter of debate. This article reports a meta-analysis of qualitative studies that answers 2 questions: (1) How do women with histories of intimate partner violence perceive the responses of health care professionals? and (2) How do women with histories of intimate partner violence want their health care providers to respond to disclosures of abuse?

Methods Multiple databases were searched from their start to July 1, 2004. Searches were complemented with citation tracking and contact with researchers. Inclusion criteria included a qualitative design, women 15 years or older with experience of intimate partner violence, and English language. Two reviewers independently applied criteria and extracted data. Findings from the primary studies were combined using a qualitative meta-analysis.

Results Twenty-nine articles reporting 25 studies (847 participants) were included. The emerging constructs were largely consistent across studies and did not vary by study quality. We ordered constructs by the temporal structure of consultations with health care professionals: before the abuse is discussed, at disclosure, and the immediate and further responses of the health care professional. Key constructs included a wish from women for responses from health care professionals that were nonjudgmental, nondirective, and individually tailored, with an appreciation of the complexity of partner violence. Repeated inquiry about partner violence was seen as appropriate by women who were at later stages of an abusive relationship.

Conclusion Women’s perceptions of appropriate and inappropriate responses partly depended on the context of the consultation, their own readiness to address the issue, and the nature of the relationship between the woman and the health care professional.

Measuring the impact of intimate partner violence on the health of women in Victoria, Australia

Objective: Using burden of disease methodology, estimate the health risks of intimate partner violence (IPV) among women in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: We calculated population attribute fractions (from survey data on the prevalence of IPV and the relative risks of associated health problems in Australia) and determined health outcomes by applying them to disability-adjusted life year estimates for the relevant disease and injury categories for Victoria, Australia for 2001.

Findings: For women of all ages IPV accounted for 2.9% (95% uncertainty interval 2.4-3.4%)  of the total disease and injury burden.  Among women 18-44 years of age, IPV was associated with 7.9% (95% uncertainty interval 6.4-935%) of the overall disease burden and was a larger risk to health than risk factors traditionally included in burden of disease studies, such as raised blood pressure, tobacco use and increased body weight.  Poor mental health contributed 73% and substance abuse 22% to the disease burden attributed to IPV.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that IPV constitutes a significant risk to women's health.  Mental health policy-makers and health workers treating common mental health problems need to be aware that IPV is an important factor.  Future research should concentrate on evaluating effective interventions to prevent women being exposed to violence, and identifying the most appropriate mental health care for victims to reduce short- and long-term disability

Changing risk behaviours for non-communicable disease in New Zealand working men - is workplace intervention effective?

Aims. To evaluate the effectiveness of a health promotion
programme targeting dietary behaviours and physical
activity among male hourly-paid workers and to explore
demographic and attitudinal influences on dietary patterns
at baseline.
Methods. A controlled field trial compared workers at one
intervention and one control worksite. The intervention
comprised nutrition displays in the cafeteria and monthly
30-minute workshops for six months. Key outcome
measures at six and twelve-months were self-reported
dietary and lifestyle behaviours, nutrition knowledge, body
mass index (BMI), waist circumference and blood pressure.
Results. 132 men at the intervention site and 121 men at the
control site participated in the study and a high retention rate
(94% at 6-months and 89% at 12-months) was achieved. At
baseline, 40% of the total sample (253) were obese, 30% had
elevated blood pressure, 59% indicated an excessive fat intake
and 92% did not meet the recommended vegetable and fruit
intake. The intervention reduced fat intake, increased
vegetable intake and physical activity, improved nutrition
knowledge and reduced systolic blood pressure when
compared to the control site. There was no difference in
change in mean BMI or waist circumference. Reduction in
BMI was associated with reduction in fat intake.
Discussion. Low intensity workplace intervention can
significantly improve reported health behaviours and
nutrition knowledge although the impact on more
objective measures of risk was variable. A longer duration
or more intensive intervention may be required to achieve
further reduction in risk factors.

The glue that binds : workplace climate, human resource systems and performance

There is now a substantial body of research examining the relationship between human resources (HR) and organisational performance. During the last decade, this research has focused on the impacts of ‘bundles’ of HR practices. While researchers have consistently found a significant relationship between HR systems and performance, the mechanisms that give rise to this relationship remain poorly conceptualised. Building on the work of Barney (1998), Ferris et al. (1998) and Bowen and Ostroff (2004) we suggest the social context in which such practices are implemented provide the basis for specifying these transmission mechanisms. Workplace climate provides a key social context that induces high levels of effort and dynamic efficiency. Using a large sample we find workplace climate significantly influences the relationship between HR systems and performance.

Overt and covert aggression and negative emotion in the workplace

This study explores indirect and direct aggression, emotion and aggressive behaviour in a male-dominated organisation, an Australian police force (APF). The study examines women’s experience of direct/overt and indirect/covert aggression in the workplace and whether their experience of aggression is higher in the presence of men than of other women; also, whether men’s experience of negative emotions is directly associated with their reported aggressive behaviour towards women. The study formed part of a larger project in which 144 women and 159 men employed in the APF completed a questionnaire. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications, and suggestions are made for future research into this important but difficult subject area.

How well are Australian business graduates prepared for the workplace?

The gap between business graduates' skills and competencies, and the graduates' needs in the workplace has been well researched and documented. However, no comprehensive model appears to have been developed on which to base curriculum decisions in this field. The current paper contributes to this area by investigating Australian graduates' skills needs in terms of the importance of nominated skills and satisfaction with the education received for those developed skills as perceived by graduates. Analysis of a survey shows that generic marketing skills are valued at a lower level than general attribute skills. Thus, university marketing programs may need to focus more on general skills and
personal attributes.

Workplace strategies and facilities management

This book provides comprehensive coverage of issues that facility managers in the property industry need to understand and apply in the pursuit of value for money over the life span of built facilities. The authors introduce the fast-growing discipline of facility management, examine the core competencies that facility managers should possess and study different contemporary drivers of change. The book emphasises the need to consider facilities management issues at the pre-design stage of the construction process, rather than only when the building is completed, in order to maximise value for money.

Delphi expert consultation. Final report. Report to Department of Health, Victims of Violence and Abuse Prevention Programme

This report presents the results of one piece of research conducted as a part of the VVAPP programme, namely a three round Delphi consultation. This Delphi consultation was undertaken to identify where there is and is not consensus among experts about what is known and what works in the treatment and care of people affected by child sexual abuse, domestic violence and abuse, and rape and sexual assault. While helping to identify areas of agreement and disagreement about effective mental health service responses, the consultation will also support the evidence base derived from the literature review that is being undertaken as part of the wider VVAPP programme of work