Multi-agent building control in shared environment

Multi-agent systems have been adopted to build intelligent environment in recent years. It was claimed that energy efficiency and occupants' comfort were the most important factors for evaluating the performance of modem work environment, and multi-agent systems presented a viable solution to handling the complexity of dynamic building environment. While previous research has made significant advance in some aspects, the proposed systems or models were often not applicable in a "shared environment". This paper introduces an ongoing project on multi-agent for building control, which aims to achieve both energy efficiency and occupants' comfort in a shared environment.

Collaborative virtual environment for advanced computing

Synchronous collaborative systems allow geographically distributed participants to form a virtual work environment enabling cooperation between peers and enriching the human interaction. The technology facilitating this interaction has been studied for several years and various solutions can be found at present. In this paper, we discuss our experiences with one such widely adopted technology, namely the Access Grid. We describe our experiences with using this technology, identify key problem areas and propose our solution to tackle these issues appropriately. Moreover, we propose the integration of Access Grid with an Application Sharing tool, developed by the authors. Our approach allows these integrated tools to utilise the enhanced features provided by our underlying dynamic transport layer.

Post-occupancy studies of an office environment: Energy performance and occupants’ satisfaction

It is generally accepted that the physical workplace environment affects employees’ satisfaction and, consequently, their perceived productivity and well-being. This study investigated whether employee “satisfaction” variables can predict perceived productivity, well-being and enjoyment at work, and if so, to what extent. The study also explored whether limiting employees’ control over their environment could save energy without compromising employees’ satisfaction and perceived productivity. Preoccupancy and post-occupancy evaluation studies were conducted, in terms of both energy consumption and employee perceptions, to make comparisons between a company’s old and current headquarters buildings, both located in the same area of London. The results showed that employees were more satisfied with their work environment at their new HQ, in general, than with that of their previous office. Also, employees’ self-reported productivity, well-being and enjoyment at work improved after the move. It was revealed that the combination of employees’ level of satisfaction with “interior use of space” and “physical conditions” was the best predictor of their perceived productivity, while satisfaction with “indoor facilities” was not a good predictor. In terms of energy performance, although the new HQ’s energy consumption per m2 was significantly less than that of the previous building, there was still a gap between the refurbishment design target and the actual performance of the building. The findings suggest that this gap could be due to a number of factors, including an ineffective use of interior space, and occupants’ behaviour.

After work : en longitudinell studie i arbetsmiljöns långsiktiga inverkan på sambandet mellan socioekonomisk position och äldres ohälsa

After Work. The long-term effects of work environment on the association between adult socioeconomic position and ill health among the elderly The aim of this study is to analyse the long-term effects of work environment on the association between adult socioeconomic position (SEP) and six ill health outcomes among the elderly. Data was drawn from the longitudinal Level of Living and the SWEOLD-surveys. The individuals are followed from 1968 to 1992 and from 1981 to 2002 and 2004, combining baseline information regarding SEP and work environment during the period of occupational activity with the ill health outcomes from the follow-up studies. Strongest effects where revealed when controlling for the physical work environment on the association between both measures of SEP and two of the ill health outcomes: musculoskeleta lpain and physical performance. The psychological work environment, however, explained very small parts of the associations. The results, even controlled for SEP, exposed strong direct relations between ill health and psychological work environment and rather strong relations to physical work environment. As socioeconomic position indicates a particular structural position within society it may determine the likelihood of health damaging exposures during the period of occupational activity. This study shows that the effect of work environment significantly affects ill health among the elderly. Hence, the results indicate the importance of taking measures in improving work environment during the labour-market participation period, especially since policy-makers attempt to convince workers to stay longer in the workforce.

The attractiveness of the work is affected when production of handcrafted log houses moves indoors

Viewed from a historical perspective, a shift has occurred within the forestry and wood sector towards indoor work. In Sweden, the production of handcrafted log houses has now also begun to move indoors. With a point of departure in development processes within the log house sector involving working indoors, education, work attractiveness, between 2001-2005, the aim of this study was to compare indoor work with outdoor work, based on log house builders' experience of working on handcrafted log houses. Methods used in the interactive development project involving apprentices, experienced log house builders and researchers, were participation with continuous documentation of experiences and opinions; questions; interviews; and measurement of the work environment. The Attractive Work Model has been used in order to analyse perceptions and values. The changes, 15 out of 22 areas, were perceived both negatively and positively. Therefore, it can not be said that working on traditional, handcrafted log houses becomes more attractive if it is moved indoors. The majority wanted to work both outdoors and indoors, while most of the others only wanted to work outdoors. The results indicate that there is scope for developing more attractive work indoors by utilising experiences from log house builders and closely related activities such as the forestry and wood sector. Changes made within one area of work attractiveness affect other areas. Further research is needed both with regard to comparisons between indoor and outdoor work and regarding the interaction between the areas that are identified in the Attractive Work Model.

Work context, personal control, and burnout amongst nurses

While situational factors such as high workloads have been found to be predictive of burnout, not all people in the same work context develop burnout. This suggests that individual factors are implicated in susceptibility to burnout. We investigated the relationships between care type (acute/chronic), neuroticism, control (primary/secondary), and symptoms of burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy) amongst 21 chronic care nurses and 83 acute care nurses working in a public hospital in regional Australia. Similar levels of burnout symptomatology and neuroticism were found in each group of nurses, and neuroticism was found to be associated with exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy in the total sample of nurses. Our prediction that primary control would protect against burnout symptoms in acute care nurses was supported only for professional efficacy, and the prediction that secondary control would protect against burnout in chronic care nurses was not supported.

Losing innocence : finding the line between emotional bonds and boundaries in protective service work

This paper builds on existing literature on the notion of emotional labour by investigating work in a child protective service environment. Notable characteristics of formal organisations, such as child protective services, are that they operate within a legal framework and that workers' professional duties have great influence on clients. This paper examines the intricacies of the worker-client relationship and the emotional dynamics of the service interactions by interviewing a group of workers in a public hospital in Victoria, Australia. This research extricates the complexities in the client-worker relationship by examining a range of work characteristics including their roles as professional caregivers, the emotional bonds and boundaries in the workers-client relationship, the intensity and magnitude of felt and displayed emotions, as well as the self-management of emotions and clients' emotions. This study adds to existing knowledge on the emotional expressions, experiences and regulation of emotions of the professional work lives in a child protective service work environment.
This paper is divided into the following sections. The first section details protective service work within the larger framework of human service work, and how the worker-client interface is different from other front-line service work. This is followed the need to examine the emotional dynamics of work in a child protective service organisation. Next, a study of these emotional dynamics in a child protective service organisation is reported. The paper concludes with a consideration of the wider implications for the sociology of protective service work, and how affective issues differ other service work roles.

The impact of shift-work and organizational climate on health outcomes in nurses

Shift workers have a higher rate of negative health outcomes than day shift workers. Few studies however, have examined the role of difference in workplace environment between shifts itself on such health measures. This study investigated variation in organizational climate across different types of shift work and health outcomes in nurses. Participants (n = 142) were nursing staff from a metropolitan Melbourne hospital. Demographic items elicited the type of shift worked, while the Work Environment Scale and the General Health Questionnaire measured organizational climate and health respectively. Analysis supported the hypotheses that different organizational climates occurred across different shifts, and that different organizational climate factors predicted poor health outcomes. Shift work alone was not found to predict health outcomes. Specifically, permanent night shift workers had significantly lower coworker cohesion scores compared with rotating day and evening shift workers and significantly higher managerial control scores compared with day shift workers. Further, coworker cohesion and involvement were found to be significant predictors of somatic problems. These findings suggest that differences in organizational climate between shifts accounts for the variation in health outcomes associated with shift work. Therefore, increased workplace cohesion and involvement, and decreased work pressure, may mitigate the negative health outcomes of shift workers.

Balancing work and lifestyle : an exploratory study of chartered accountants in Australia

In today’s work environment, achieving a work-life balance is not only desirable, for employers it is a necessity to maintain a healthy workforce. Accounting careers are impacted by many factors, including technology and an increasing complexity in the demands for financial services, with resulting changes in where, when and how accountants perform their jobs. In addition, due to the general skills shortage faced by the businesses, the need for work-life balance has become a key determining factor for decisions regarding career choices.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (The Institute) has embarked on a long term goal of developing a work environment which helps Chartered Accountants (CAs) to gain work-life balance to complement the demand of the workforce. Three studies have been completed. The first study was conducted in 1995 in which the career expectations and barriers for women Chartered Accountants were examined amongst CAs in Victoria. In 2001, a follow-up survey of both male and female CAs was conducted in Victoria and Tasmania. The present study reports on the latest part of the project – a national survey of all 6,600 CAs regarding their work-life balance and expectations. This paper discusses the trend established by the three studies, and identifies some interesting scenarios of the accounting careers for CAs in Australia.

Job satisfaction versus office environment : influences on academic knowledge worker productivity

This research paper provides a more encompassing review of self-assessment of a variety of knowledge worker activities, as well as providing the basis for these self assessments. A novel aspect is the inclusion of motivational affects which are considered alongside work environment influences on productivity. A questionnaire was administered on 25 academics. The group was questioned for their perceptions of their productivity for a range of their everyday activities and what areas of their work environment enhanced or disrupted their productivity. Job satisfaction was also assessed. The results from a series of self-assessments show that on the whole, the sample perceive themselves to be reasonably to very productive in all tasks undertaken. Staff satisfaction measures are generally very positive with collaboration and job enjoyment being motivational factors for this group. Noise levels, thermal conditions, poor lighting and a lack of storage seem to be the biggest inhibitors of productivity. Having a window to look out of and access to natural light seem to enhance an academics view of their productivity.

The mediating role of work climate perceptions in the relationship between personality and performance

Although past research has demonstrated a link between personality and job performance, potential enabling factors of this relationship have yet to be explored comprehensively. We hypothesized that perceptions of work climate, specifically relationship dimensions—cohesion, supervisor support, and job involvement—might be the mechanism through which the relationship between personality and job performance can be explained. Two hundred and thirty Australian employees completed an online survey measuring personality, relationship dimensions of work climate (job involvement, coworker cohesion, and supervisor support) and job performance. Results revealed that the relationship dimensions of work climate fully mediated the relationship between agreeableness and job performance, and extraversion and job performance, while the relationship between neuroticism and job performance was partially mediated by relationship dimensions of work climate. Supervisor support primarily accounted for this mediated effect for the neuroticism–job performance relationship, whereas for extraversion only job involvement explained significant unique variance. Our findings suggest that the relationship of agreeableness, extraversion, and neuroticism with job performance is indirect, and perceptions of the work environment itself play a role in this relationship. This implies that organizations should consider the work environment, in addition to personality during selection procedures. Future research should examine whether different levels of work environment dimensions, foster greater job performance in employees.

Validation of the professional practice environment scale in Australian general practice

Purpose: To validate the Professional Practice Environment Scale (PPE) in Australian general practice. Methods: The PPE was modified slightly for appropriateness for the practice setting and administered to a sample of 342 Australian general practice nurses via an online survey tool. The factor structure of the 38-item PPE was examined using principal components analysis with Varimax rotation. Findings: An eight-factor solution accounted for 71.6% of the variance. Low factor loading (<0.3) or cross-component loadings were detected in eight items. A comparison of Cronbach's alpha values demonstrated little change in the deletion of eight items from four of the eight related components. Conclusions: Findings demonstrated that a 30-item version of the PPE was reliable and valid for use to assess the professional practice environment of nurses working in Australian general practice. Clinical Relevance: A tool to measure the professional practice environment in general practice is important as it will assist in monitoring the impact of the work environment on the recruitment, retention, and satisfaction of nurses in this setting.

Nurses report a healthy culture: Results of the Practice Environment Scale (Australia) in an Australian hospital seeking Magnet recognition

The Magnet Recognition Program requires evidence that the nursing practice environment supports staff to provide optimal care, access professional development opportunities and participate in hospital affairs. This research aimed to assess clinical nurses’ work environment at a leading private hospital in Sydney, Australia using a version of the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index modified for the Australian context. Our results were comparable to Magnet hospitals for two subscales and significantly higher than Magnet results for the remaining three subscales and the composite scale. This was especially pleasing in relation to the hospital's preparation for Magnet recognition. Hospitals across Australasia might find administration of the Practice Environment Scale (modified for use in the Australian context) a useful exercise both as a stimulus to preparation and an indicator of readiness for Magnet recognition.

Unwanted sexual advances at work: variations by employment arrangement in a sample of working Australians

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that the risk of experiencing unwanted sexual advances at work (UWSA) is greater for precariously-employed workers in comparison to those in permanent or continuing employment. Methods: A cross-sectional population-based telephone survey was conducted in Victoria (66% response rate, N=1,101). Employment arrangements were analysed using eight differentiated categories, as well as a four-category collapsed measure to address small cell sizes. Self-report of unwanted sexual advances at work was modelled using multiple logistic regression in relation to employment arrangement, controlling for gender, age, and occupational skill level. Results: Forty-seven respondents reported UWSA in our sample (4.3%), mainly among women (37 of 47). Risk of UWSA was higher for younger respondents, but did not vary significantly by occupational skill level or education. In comparison to Permanent Full-Time, three employment arrangements were strongly associated with UWSA after adjustment for age, gender, and occupational skill level: Casual Full-Time OR = 7.2 (95% Confidence Interval 1.7-30.2); Fixed-Term Contract OR = 11.4 (95% CI 3.4-38.8); and Own-Account Self-Employed OR = 3.8 (95% CI 1.2-11.7). In analyses of females only, the magnitude of these associations was further increased. Conclusions: Respondents employed in precarious arrangements were more likely to report being exposed to UWSA, even after adjustment for age and gender. Implications: Greater protections from UWSA are likely needed for precariously employed workers.

Physical and postural aspects of teachers during work activity

Studies indicate that teachers constitute a professional segment, in which the work characteristics and the demands originating from the act of teaching, favor the emergence of sickness, concerning physical or emotional aspects. The present work aimed to describe physical and postural aspects during the working activity of teachers. A total of 120 elementary school teachers (1st to 8th grade) took part in the survey. For data collection, a questionnaire was applied: it included personal and occupational information, perception of discomfort and being off work; physical strength activities; posture at work and physical conditioning activities. The average age of teachers of the present sample corresponds to 35,8 years. In relation to activities which generate more physical strength, the answer none of the activities was predominant with 30 answers; followed by writing on the board, standing up during the period of classes, explanation of the subjects, class elaboration, correction of homework and others. The area of the body with higher amount of occurrences and prevalent discomfort referred to the lower limbs and spinal cord. These data inform the necessity of investing in prevention programs for the teachers, in order to develop strategies into the organizational context and interventions at the work environment.