Agent-based modelling of worker interactions and related impacts on workplace dynamics

This study uses agent based modelling to simulate the worker interactions within a workplace and to investigate how the interactions can have impact on the workplace dynamics. Two new models (Bounded Confidence with Bias model and Relative Agreement with Bias model) are built based on the theoretical foundation of two existing models. A new factor, namely bias, is added into the new models which raises several issues to be studied.

Workplace belongingness, psychological distress and resilience in emergency service workers

- Objective Ambulance personnel provide emergency medical services to the community, often attending to highly challenging and traumatic scenes in complex and chaotic circumstances. Currently the assessment of predictors of psychological well-being remains limited. The current study investigated whether workplace belongingness was significant in predicting psychological distress as well as the presence of resilience in ambulance personnel whilst controlling for more routinely examined factors. - Method Australian ambulance officers (N = 740) completed a survey battery including the Kessler 10 (Kessler & Mroczek, 1994), Brief Resilience Scale (Smith et al., 2008) and Psychological Sense of Organisational Membership (Cockshaw & Shochet, 2010) scale. - Results Controlling for more commonly examined factors such as severity of trauma exposure and length of service, hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that workplace belongingness was significantly associated with reduced distress levels and enhanced resilience levels. - Conclusions Results suggest that strategies to enhance a sense of workplace belongingness in emergency service organisations could promote the well-being of emergency workers despite routine exposure to potentially traumatic events.

Workplace acceptance and experiences of LGBTIQ health professionals: A systematic literature review

Background The purpose of this study was to explore the workplace acceptance and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) paramedics. Methods A systematic search of academic databases and reference lists from selected papers were the sources of the data. Inclusion criteria were research papers published in English, which focused on workplace acceptance and experiences of LGBTIQ health personnel. Results The initial focus of this systematic review was the workplace acceptance and experiences of LGBTIQ paramedics. However due to no published research specific to the paramedic profession the scope of the review was broadened to include of all LGBTIQ health personnel. Thirty-three papers were included in this review. Evidence indicated that LGBTIQ health professionals experienced discrimination from their patients, heterosexual colleagues and ‘closeted’ LGBTIQ peers. Positive contribution of LGBTIQ health professionals include improved patient care and role models for LGBTIQ peers. Inclusive policy is required for LGBTIQ health professional workforce retention. Conclusions The paramedic workforce is known to be a high risk occupational group for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Theoretically, LGBTIQ paramedics working in a heteronormative culture experience increased level of stress. While LGBTIQ health professionals receive legislative protection against discrimination, discrimination still exists in practice through lack of visibility. Effective and efficient integration of LGBTIQ health professionals could improve workplace satisfaction, workforce retention, and equity of access by marginalised groups. An inclusive workplace policy of LGBTIQ embraces and celebrates the value of diversity.

Sexual harassment and the corporation in Australia and Japan: The potential for corporate governance of human rights

The authors explore the legal and social undercurrents in Australia and Japan which are encouraging corporations to embrace broader social responsibilities. They consider a case study of sexual harassment and its regulation within Australian corporations, uncovering the legal and social conditions that have led to the adoption of sexual harassment policies. The authors propose a model for determining when corporate governance of sexual harassment is likely to be effective and test the model by reference to the experience of sexual harassment in Japan. They draw some conclusions about what the experience of corporate implementation of management of sexual harassment might mean for other areas of human rights.

Private governance of public rights in Japan: Revisiting the Japanese governance debate

Dramatic growth in the Japanese economy in the postwar period – and its meltdown in the 1990s – has attracted sustained interest in the power dynamics underlying the management of Japan’s administrative state. For a long time, scholars and commentators have debated about who wields power in Japan. The question has been asked in different ways. In the 1970s and 1980s, the question was usually posed as: who orchestrated Japan’s economic miracle in the 1960s and 1970s? Today, the question is usually reframed to: who is accountable for the policy failures that plunged Japan into financial crisis and recession during the 1990s? Yet the core issue remains the same – who governs Japan? (Johnson 1995)...

Truckies and workplace health promotion: Targeting a hard-to-reach group

- Introduction Research identifies truck drivers as being at high risk of chronic disease. For most truck drivers their workplace is their vehicle. Truck drivers’ health is impacted by the limitations of this unique working environment, including reduced opportunities for physical activity and the intake of healthy foods. Workplaces are widely recognised as effective platforms for health promotion. However, the effectiveness of traditional and contemporary health promotion interventions in truck drivers’ novel workplace is unknown. - Methods This project worked with six transport industry workplaces in Queensland, Australia over a two-year period. Researchers used Participatory Action Research (PAR) processes to engage truck drivers and workplace managers in the implementation and evaluation of six workplace health promotion interventions. These interventions were designed to support truck drivers to increase their physical activity and access to healthy foods at work. They included traditional health promotion interventions such as a free fruit initiative, a ten thousand steps challenge, personal health messages and workplace posters, and a contemporary social media intervention. Participants were engaged via focus groups, interviews and mixed-methods surveys. - Results The project achieved positive changes in truck drivers’ health knowledge and health behaviours, particularly related to nutrition. There were positive changes in truck drivers’ self-reported health rating, body mass index (BMI) and readiness to make health-related lifestyle changes. There were also positive changes in truck drivers reporting their workplace as a key source of health information. These changes were underpinned by a positive shift in the culture of participating workplaces. Truck drivers’ perceptions of their workplace valuing, encouraging, modelling and facilitating healthy nutrition and physical activity behaviours improved. PAR processes enabled researchers to develop relationships with workplace managers, contextualise interventions and deliver rigorous outcomes. Despite the novelty of truck drivers’ mobile workplace, traditional health promotion interventions were more effective than contemporary ones. - Conclusion In this workplace health promotion project targeting a ‘hard-to-reach’ group of truck drivers, a combination of well-designed traditional workplace interventions and the PAR process resulted in positive health outcomes.

Climate change and human rights: Intellectual property challenges and opportunities

Mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change will require innovation and the development of new technologies. Intellectual property laws have a key part to play in the global transfer of climate technologies. However, failures to properly utilize flexibilities in intellectual property regimes or comply with technology transfer obligations under international climate change agreements calls for a human rights based analysis of climate technology transfer. Climate change is an unprecedented challenge and requires unprecedented strategies. Given the substantial impact of climate change on all of humanity and the ethical imperative to act, a complete rethink of traditional intellectual property approaches is warranted. This report proposes a series of intellectual property law policy options, through a human rights framework, aimed at promoting access to technologies to reduce the human suffering caused by climate change.

Swimming against the tide? Australian labour regulation and the fissured workplace

In The Fissured Workplace, David Weil dissects the ways in which ostensibly ‘large’ American businesses have come to shed direct employees and instead source their labour needs through a ‘complicated network of smaller business units’. As he notes, this has increased the profitability of these ‘lead’ businesses, at the expense of those who (ultimately) work for them: Wage setting and supervision shift from core businesses to a myriad of organizations, each operating under the rigorous standards of lead businesses but facing fierce competitive pressures. Although lead businesses set demanding goals and standards, and often detailed work practice requirements for subsidiary companies, the actual liability, oversight, and supervision of the workforce become the problem of one or more other organizations. And by replacing a direct employment relationship with a fissured workplace, employment itself becomes more precarious, with risk shifted onto smaller employers and individual workers, who are often cast in the role of independent businesses in their own right.

Child rights as perceived by the community members in India

Attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of an individual influence their behavior as well as culture of a society. The objective of the study was to understand the attitudes and knowledge of 584 Indian community members regarding child rights and their perceptions about whether selected child rights were secured in reality. Overall attitudes of vast majority (96 – 98%) of the participants towards child rights were found to be positive i.e., children should have rights in various respects except issue like right to meet others (Article 15 of CRC). Knowledge of majority of the participants about child rights related legislations was moderate and varied across the cities while participants were unanimous about poor lived experiences of child rights in reality. So far as attitude and perception are concerned about child rights, there was a significant difference in the distribution between cities (p<0.01). Overall, the Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 had the highest awareness (91.3%, n=533), followed by the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 (89.7%, n=523) and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (89.6%, n=523). Findings of the present study speak in favor of community awareness about child rights and penalties for violation of child rights.

Mary Robinson's declaration of climate justice: Climate change, human rights and fossil fuel divestment

In her biography, Everybody Matters: My Life Giving Voice, Mary Robinson explained how she became interested in the topic of human rights and climate change, after hearing testimony from African farmers, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Feedback and clinical practice improvement: A tool to assist workplace supervisors and students

In work integrated learning, students may report difficulties applying theory learned at university to clinical practice. One contributing factor may be students' inability to engage in meaningful reflection and self-correcting behaviours. This paper reports the evaluation of a tool, process and resources developed to assist students to reflect on feedback and engage in self-assessment. Students were assisted to develop self-assessment skills by reflecting on, and engaging with feedback from previous workplace experiences to develop goals, learning outcomes and strategies to improve performance with mostly positive results. A secondary aim was to identify common learning strategies or barriers that impacted on student outcomes. Four themes emerged from the qualitative data: 1) preparing for clinical learning; 2) relationships and engagement levels; 3) shared awareness, and; 4) developing clinical practice. Overall students felt the tool assisted them to narrow their attention on what needed to be improved. While supervisors believed the tool helped them to focus on specific needs of each student. Common barriers to clinical practice improvement related to a lack of opportunity in some settings, and lack of staff willingness to support students to achieve identified goals. Students and supervisors found the use of the tools beneficial and assisted students to demonstrate a greater understanding of how to apply feedback received to support their learning in the clinical environment.

A lifespan perspective on emotion regulation, stress, and well-being in the workplace

Researchers in the field of occupational stress and well-being are increasingly interested in the role of emotion regulation in the work context. Emotion regulation has also been widely investigated in the area of lifespan developmental psychology, with findings indicating that the ability to modify one's emotions represents a domain in which age-related growth is possible. In this chapter, we integrate the literatures on aging, emotion regulation, and occupational stress and well-being. To this end, we review key theories and empirical findings in each of these areas, summarize existing research on age, emotion regulation, and stress and well-being at work, and develop a conceptual model on how aging affects emotion regulation and the stress process in work settings to guide future research. According to the model, age will affect: (1) what kinds of affective work events are encountered and how often; (2) the appraisal of and initial emotional response to affective work events (emotion generation), and; (3) the management of emotions and coping with affective work events (emotion regulation). The model has implications for researchers and practitioners who want to understand and facilitate successful emotion regulation and stress reduction in the workplace among different age groups.

Reducing age bias and turnover intentions by enhancing intergenerational contact quality in the workplace: The role of opportunities for generativity and development

Based on socio-emotional selectivity and self-categorization theories, we developed and tested a model on how the interplay between employee age and opportunities for generativity and development predicts age bias and turnover intentions via intergenerational contact quality in the workplace. We hypothesized indirect effects of opportunities for generativity on outcomes through intergenerational contact quality among older workers only, whereas we expected that the indirect effects of opportunities for development are stronger for young compared with older workers. Data came from 321 employees in Belgium who responded to an online questionnaire. Results showed that age moderated the relationships of opportunities for generativity and development with intergenerational contact quality consistent with the expected patterns. Furthermore, age moderated the indirect effects of opportunities for generativity and development on age bias through intergenerational contact quality, but not on turnover intentions. Implications for future research and practical suggestions for managing intergenerational contact at work are discussed.

From workplace to profession: New focus for the information literacy discourse

The present paper suggests articulating the general context of workplace in information literacy research. The paper considers distinguishing between information literacy research in workplaces and professions. Referring to the results of a phenomenographic enquiry into web professionals’ information literacy as an example, it is indicated that work-related information literacy in particular contexts and depending on the nature of the context, is experienced beyond physical workspaces and at professional level. This involves people interacting with each other and with information at a broader level in comparison to a physically bounded workspace. Regarding the example case discussed in the paper, virtuality is identified as the dominant feature of the profession that causes information literacy to be experienced at a professional level. It is anticipated that pursuing the direction proposed in the paper will result in a more segmented image of work-related information literacy.