Measuring behavioural indicators of self-esteem in the classroom

This study aimed to develop and validate an instrument to be used by teachers to measure the frequency of behaviors indicative of self-esteem and then to evaluate the instruments' reliability and concurrent validity. The Behavioral Indicators of Self-Esteem (BIOS) Scale proved to be a reliable and valid measure.

Opportunities for enhancing the Australian national road safety strategy

With the current National Road Safety Strategy [1] coming to the end of its term, it is timely to consider ways in which the next iteration of this strategy can be enhanced. Strategic planning should be a cyclic process in which learning and adaptation are just as important as planning and implementation. It will always be the case that some actions are not as effective as expected, or that barriers to effective implementation will emerge. Rather than being setbacks, these are opportunities for learning about the validity of our assumptions. They are also opportunities for us to adapt to meet unanticipated or emerging challenges. One of the positive aspects of the implementation of the first and second National Road Safety Strategies has been the willingness of road safety agencies to critically assess progress and to identify where and how actions would be better focused. This has been reflected in the evolving nature of the periodic National Road Safety Action Plans. As the decade of the current Strategy reaches an end, there is a need to take this process further, and undertake a thorough critical evaluation of the Strategy development and implementation. While not an attempt to be exhaustive, the following article will identify some key priorities for consideration as part of this process.

Safer construction : the development of a voluntary code of practice to improve safety performance in the Australian construction industry

In Australia, between 1994 and 2000, 50 construction workers were killed each year as a result of their work, the industry fatality rate, at 10.4 per 100,000 persons, is similar to the national road toll fatality rate and the rate of serious injury is 50% higher than the all industries average. This poor performance represents a significant threat to the industry’s social sustainability. Despite the best efforts of regulators and policy makers at both State and Federal levels, the incidence of death, injury and illness in the Australian construction industry has remained intransigently high, prompting an industry-led initiative to improve the occupational health and safety (OHS) performance of the Australian construction industry. The ‘Safer Construction’ project involves the development of an evidence-based Voluntary Code of Practice for OHS in the industry.

Firm social, cultural and intellectual capital : strategic indicators of international client satisfaction

Despite the increasing significance of the construction industry as an emerging sector of the Australian economy, there is inadequate research performed on construction design firms in terms of theoretical and empirical foundations. Although past research has identified the barriers and success factors for firm market entry, evidence suggests that to date no research has explicitly explored the sustainability of construction design firms in international markets. SMEs and their approach to firm internationalisation differ significantly from large manufacturing firms and a vast majority of construction design firms operate as SMEs. This paper develops a sustainable business model for construction design SMEs, which rely upon the development of clear Client Following (CF) versus Market Seeking (MS) strategies to support internal firm strategic and operational management. The understanding of these strategies is vital as the application of either will shape the design management approach of firms, which would in turn impact on the sustainability of these firms in foreign markets. Long-term sustainability of firms in international markets relies heavily upon client satisfaction. Client and project team participants’ communication during various design processes has often been problematic and the added difficulty of communicating across international boundaries further compounds the problem of capturing and maintaining client’s requirements. Therefore this paper develops a model for economic sustainability of Australian construction design firms working in international markets by exploring factors that affect client satisfaction across international boundaries, through the development of business performance indicators. These include not only the critical financial capital but also other ‘softer’ indicators, namely: social, cultural and intellectual capital. These act as a firm’s measure of success and the acquisition of this type of capital will provide significant advantages to firms’ success, hence sustainability in international markets.

A study of Chinese private passenger cars based on BP neural network

This study employs BP neural network to simulate the development of Chinese private passenger cars. Considering the uncertain and complex environment for the development of private passenger cars, indicators of economy, population, price, infrastructure, income, energy and some other fields which have major impacts on it are selected at first. The network is proved to be operable to simulate the progress of chinese private passenger cars after modeling, training and generalization test. Based on the BP neural network model, sensitivity analysis of each indicator is carried on and shows that the sensitivity coefficients of fuel price change suddenly. This special phenomenon reveals that the development of Chinese private passenger cars may be seriously affected by the recent high fuel price. This finding is also consistent with facts and figures

Construction safety in the repair and maintenance sector

Statistics indicate that the percentage of fatal industrial accidents arising from repair, maintenance, minor alteration and addition (RMAA) works in Hong Kong was disturbingly high and was over 56% in 2006. This paper provides an initial report of a research project funded by the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the HKSAR to address this safety issue. The aim of this study is to scrutinize the causal relationship between safety climate and safety performance in the RMAA sector. It aims to evaluate the safety climate in the RMAA sector; examine its impacts on safety performance, and recommend measures to improve safety performance in the RMAA sector. This paper firstly reports on the statistics of construction accidents arising from RMAA works. Qualitative and quantitative research methods applied in conducting the research are dis-cussed. The study will critically review these related problems and provide recommendations for improving safety performance in the RMAA sector.

The role of HPC facilies in development of a novel road safety barrier

Water-filled portable road safety barriers are a common fixture in road works, however their use of water can be problematic, both in terms of the quantity of water used and the transportation of the water to the installation site. This project aims to develop a new design of portable road safety barrier, which will make novel use of composite and foam materials in order to reduce the barrier’s reliance on water in order to control errant vehicles. The project makes use of finite element (FE) techniques in order to simulate and evaluate design concepts. FE methods and models that have previously been tested and validated will be used in combination in order to provide the most accurate numerical simulations available to drive the project forward. LS-DYNA code is as highly dynamic, non-linear numerical solver which is commonly used in the automotive and road safety industries. Several complex materials and physical interactions are to be simulated throughout the course of the project including aluminium foams, composite laminates and water within the barrier during standardised impact tests. Techniques to be used include FE, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and weighted multi-parameter optimisation techniques. A detailed optimisation of several design parameters with specific design goals will be performed with LS-DYNA and LS-OPT, which will require a large number of high accuracy simulations and advanced visualisation techniques. Supercomputing will play a central role in the project, enabling the numerous medium element count simulations necessary in order to determine the optimal design parameters of the barrier to be performed. Supercomputing will also allow the development of useful methods of visualisation results and the production of highly detailed simulations for end-product validation purposes. Efforts thus far have been towards integrating various numerical methods (including FEM, SPH and advanced materials models) together in an efficient and accurate manner. Various designs of joining mechanisms have been developed and are currently being developed into FE models and simulations.

How to progress forward in improving safety outcomes in the work-related driving field : a review of work-related driving research and development of an intervention framework [Extended abstract]

Road crashes are now the most common cause of work-related injury, death and absence in a number of countries. Given the impact of workrelated driving crashes on social and economic aspects of business and the community, workrelated road safety and risk management has received increasing attention in recent years. However, limited academic research has progressed on improving safety within the work-related driving sector. The aim of this paper is to present a review of work-related driving safety research to date, and provide an intervention framework for the future development and implementation of workrelated driving safety intervention strategies.

Exercise and secondary lymphedema : safety, potential benefits, and research issues

Participating in regular physical activity is encouraged following breast cancer (BC) treatment, except for those who have subsequently developed lymphoedema. We designed a randomised controlled trial to investigate the effect of participating in a supervised, mixed-type, moderate-intensity exercise program among women with lymphoedema following breast cancer. Women <76 years who had completed BC treatment at least six months prior and subsequently developed unilateral, upper-limb lymphoedema were randomly allocated to an intervention (n=16) or control (n=16) group. The intervention group (IG) participated in 20 supervised group exercise sessions over 12 weeks, while the control group (CG) was instructed to continue habitual activities. Lymphoedema status was assessed by bioimpedance spectroscopy (impedance ratio between limbs) and perometry (volume difference between limbs). Mean baseline measures were similar for the IG (1.13+0.15 and 337+307ml, respectively) and CG (1.13+0.15 and 377+416ml, respectively) and no changes were observed over time. However, 2 women in the IG no longer had evidence of lymphoedema by study end. Average attendance was over 70% of supervised sessions, and there were no withdrawals. The results indicate that, at worst, exercise does not exacerbate secondary lymphoedema. Women with secondary lymphoedema should be encouraged to be physically active, optimising their physical and psychosocial recovery.

All-terrain vehicle crashes and associated injuries in North Queensland : findings from the Rural and Remote Road Safety Study

Objective: To define characteristics of all-terrain vehicle (ATV) crashes occurring in north Queensland from March 2004 till June 2007 with the exploration of associated risk factors. Design: Descriptive analysis of ATV crash data collected by the Rural and Remote Road Safety Study. Setting: Rural and remote north Queensland. Participants: Forty-two ATV drivers and passengers aged 16 years or over hospitalised at Atherton, Cairns, Mount Isa or Townsville for at least 24 hours as a result of a vehicle crash. Main outcome measures: Demographics of participants, reason for travel, nature of crash, injuries sustained and risk factors associated with ATV crash. Results: The majority of casualties were men aged 16–64. Forty-one per cent of accidents occurred while performing agricultural tasks. Furthermore, 39% of casualties had less than one year’s experience riding ATVs. Over half the casualties were not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. Common injuries were head and neck and upper limb injuries. Rollovers tended to occur while performing agricultural tasks and most commonly resulted in multiple injuries. Conclusions: Considerable trauma results from ATV crashes in rural and remote north Queensland. These crashes are not included in most general vehicle crash data sets, as they are usually limited to events occurring on public roads. Minimal legislation and regulation currently applies to ATV use in agricultural, recreational and commercial settings. Legislation on safer design of ATVs and mandatory courses for riders is an essential part of addressing the burden of ATV crashes on rural and remote communities.

Key performance indicators for innovation implementation : perception vs. actual usage

This paper aimed to explore the proportion associated with the perceived importance and the actual use of performance indicators from manufacturing and non manufacturing industries. The sample was 86 small and medium sized-organizations in Thailand. The perceived importance and the actual use of financial and non financial indicators were found to be significantly related among manufacturing and non manufacturing industries. KPI 3, 9, and 12 (i.e. sales and sales growth; quality of products and /or services; and process time) were perceived the most importance among manufacturing managers (85.3%, 79.4% and 76.5% respectively). While KPI 6, 9, and 12 (i.e. customer satisfaction, quality of products and /or services; and process time) were perceived the most importance among non manufacturing managers (84.8%, 93.5%, and 84.8% respectively). Interestingly, the most used KPIs for manufacturing were sales and sales growth (64.7%); profit margins (61.8%); and customer satisfaction (84.8) while non manufacturing used quality products/services (60.9%); sales and sales growth (54.3%) and employee development (54.3%) respectively. Limitation and implication were also discussed.

What do we really know about designing and evaluating road safety advertising? : current knowledge and future challenges

This paper provides much needed consolidation of the available evidence in relation to the design and evaluation of road safety advertising messages. Drawing upon current knowledge, the paper identifies some key challenges for improving both the persuasiveness of messages and the methods utilised to assess their effectiveness. The paper identifies some key message-related and individual difference factors, such as response efficacy, emotion, gender and involvement, which theoretical and empirical evidence has shown to be key determinants of message persuasiveness. In relation to message evaluation, the paper focuses upon research relating to the direct, persuasive role of advertising as opposed to evaluations of the combined effects of advertising and enforcement. The paper reviews methodological limitations of previous studies and gaps in existing knowledge that together limit the ability to draw accurate and comprehensive conclusions regarding message effectiveness. Overall, this paper provides a significant and timely review of what is currently known about road safety advertising design and evaluation.

Changing motorcycle rider safety attitudes and motives for risk taking : process evaluation of a rider training intervention

Risk-taking behaviour by motorcyclists has been shown to contribute to a substantial proportion of road crashes in Australia and abroad. Concern has been expressed that traditional motorcycle licence training programs do not sufficiently address such behaviour. Accordingly, the Three Steps to Safer Riding program was developed to address risk taking behaviour by riders as an adjunct to existing skills-based rider training. The program was designed to be delivered in a one hour classroom session at the start of training, with a 20 minute debrief to revise the key concepts at the end of training. This paper reports on the key training concepts, methodology and implementation of the pilot program with a major rider training organisation in Queensland and presents findings from a process evaluation. The Three Steps to Safer Riding intervention pilot was delivered to 518 learner riders over a three month period. Follow-up focus groups and one interview with intervention participants (N=18) five to eight months after completion of the program suggest that new riders (absolute novices) embraced and internalised many of the intervention concepts. However, some riders who had previous riding experience prior to training stated these issues were common sense, yet still expressed riding styles that were contrary to some of the key intervention messages. This is discussed in terms of raising awareness of risk issues for motorcyclists versus behaviour change. Additionally, interviews conducted with riding instructors are discussed regarding logistical challenges of implementation, training consistency, skills required to deliver the program, support for the program, and student engagement.