Labour rights as human rights : workers' safety at work in Australian-based supply chains

The increase of buyer-driven supply chains, outsourcing and other forms of non-traditional employment has resulted in challenges for labour market regulation. One business model which has created substantial regulatory challenges is supply chains. The supply chain model involves retailers purchasing products from brand corporations who then outsource the manufacturing of the work to traders who contract with factories or outworkers who actually manufacture the clothing and textiles. This business model results in time and cost pressures being pushed down the supply chain which has resulted in sweatshops where workers systematically have their labour rights violated. Literally millions of workers work in dangerous workplaces where thousands are killed or permanently disabled every year. This thesis has analysed possible regulatory responses to provide workers a right to safety and health in supply chains which provide products for Australian retailers. This thesis will use a human rights standard to determine whether Australia is discharging its human rights obligations in its approach to combating domestic and foreign labour abuses. It is beyond this thesis to analyse Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) laws in every jurisdiction. Accordingly, this thesis will focus upon Australian domestic laws and laws in one of Australia’s major trading partners, the Peoples’ Republic of China (China). It is hypothesised that Australia is currently breaching its human rights obligations through failing to adequately regulate employees’ safety at work in Australian-based supply chains. To prove this hypothesis, this thesis will adopt a three- phase approach to analysing Australia’s regulatory responses. Phase 1 will identify the standard by which Australia’s regulatory approach to employees’ health and safety in supply chains can be judged. This phase will focus on analysing how workers’ rights to safety as a human right imposes a moral obligation on Australia to take reasonablely practicable steps regulate Australian-based supply chains. This will form a human rights standard against which Australia’s conduct can be judged. Phase 2 focuses upon the current regulatory environment. If existing regulatory vehicles adequately protect the health and safety of employees, then Australia will have discharged its obligations through simply maintaining the status quo. Australia currently regulates OHS through a combination of ‘hard law’ and ‘soft law’ regulatory vehicles. The first part of phase 2 analyses the effectiveness of traditional OHS laws in Australia and in China. The final part of phase 2 then analyses the effectiveness of the major soft law vehicle ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR). The fact that employees are working in unsafe working conditions does not mean Australia is breaching its human rights obligations. Australia is only required to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure human rights are realized. Phase 3 identifies four regulatory vehicles to determine whether they would assist Australia in discharging its human rights obligations. Phase 3 then analyses whether Australia could unilaterally introduce supply chain regulation to regulate domestic and extraterritorial supply chains. Phase 3 also analyses three public international law regulatory vehicles. This chapter considers the ability of the United Nations Global Compact, the ILO’s Better Factory Project and a bilateral agreement to improve the detection and enforcement of workers’ right to safety and health.

Industrial design in endoscopy : the development of a tissue and organ extractor

Throughout history, developments in medicine have aimed to improve patient quality of life, and reduce the trauma associated with surgical treatment. Surgical access to internal organs and bodily structures has been traditionally via large incisions. Endoscopic surgery presents a technique for surgical access via small (1 Omm) incisions by utilising a scope and camera for visualisation of the operative site. Endoscopy presents enormous benefits for patients in terms of lower post operative discomfort, and reduced recovery and hospitalisation time. Since the first gall bladder extraction operation was performed in France in 1987, endoscopic surgery has been embraced by the international medical community. With the adoption of the new technique, new problems never previously encountered in open surgery, were revealed. One such problem is that the removal of large tissue specimens and organs is restricted by the small incision size. Instruments have been developed to address this problem however none of the devices provide a totally satisfactory solution. They have a number of critical weaknesses: -The size of the access incision has to be enlarged, thereby compromising the entire endoscopic approach to surgery. - The physical quality of the specimen extracted is very poor and is not suitable to conduct the necessary post operative pathological examinations. -The safety of both the patient and the physician is jeopardised. The problem of tissue and organ extraction at endoscopy is investigated and addressed. In addition to background information covering endoscopic surgery, this thesis describes the entire approach to the design problem, and the steps taken before arriving at the final solution. This thesis contributes to the body of knowledge associated with the development of endoscopic surgical instruments. A new product capable of extracting large tissue specimens and organs in endoscopy is the final outcome of the research.

Safety impacts of alcohol and other drugs in construction : a mid term report

Estimated 640,700 persons suffered a work-related injury or illness in 2009-2010 and 444 lost their lives as a result in 2008-2009, in Australia Very little is known about what proportion of accidents are directly attributable to the effects of AOD Anecdotal evidence highlights issues of AOD and its association with safety risk on construction sites

Psychological determinants of safety culture

- Safety psychology and workplace safety - Motivational and attitudinal components of safety - Psychological determinants of safety - Addressing risk-behaviour in safety - Case Study from Construction - Discussion and Questions

Road safety messages tailored for young adults : Using the Internet and encouraging protective passenger behaviour

Young drivers are at higher risk of crashes than other drivers when carrying passengers. Graduated Driver Licensing has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing fatalities however there is considerable potential for additional strategies to complement the approach. A survey with 276 young adults (aged 17-25 years, 64% females) was conducted to examine the potential and importance of strategies that are delivered via the Internet and potential strategies for passengers. Strategies delivered via the Internet represent opportunity for widespread dissemination and greater reach to young people at times convenient to them. The current study found some significant differences between males and females with regard to ways the Internet is used to obtain road safety information and the components valued in trusted road safety sites. There were also significant differences between males and females on the kinds of strategies used as passengers to promote driver safety and the context in which it occurred, with females tending to take more proactive strategies than males. In sum, young people see value in Internet delivery for passenger safety information (80% agreed/ strongly agreed) and more than 90% thought it was important to intervene while a passenger of a risky driver. Thus tailoring Internet road safety strategies to young people may differ for males and females however there is considerable potential for a passenger focus in strategies aimed at reducing young driver crashes.

Performance study of two different compensating devices in a custom power park

Simulation study of a custom power park (CPP) is presented. It is assumed that the park contains unbalanced and nonlinear loads in addition to a sensitive load. Two different types of compensators are used separately to protect the sensitive load against unbalance and distortion caused by the other loads. It has been shown that a shunt compensator can regulate the voltage of the CPP bus, whereas the series compensator can only regulate the sensitive load terminal voltage. Additional issues such as the load transfer through a static transfer switch, detection of sag/fault etc. are also discussed. The concepts are validated through PSCAD/EMTDC simulation studies on a sample distribution system.

Sensitivity of the lane change test as a measure of in-vehicle system demand

The Lane Change Test (LCT) is one of the growing number of methods developed to quantify driving performance degradation brought about by the use of in-vehicle devices. Beyond its validity and reliability, for such a test to be of practical use, it must also be sensitive to the varied demands of individual tasks. The current study evaluated the ability of several recent LCT lateral control and event detection parameters to discriminate between visual-manual and cognitive surrogate In-Vehicle Information System tasks with different levels of demand. Twenty-seven participants (mean age 24.4 years) completed a PC version of the LCT while performing visual search and math problem solving tasks. A number of the lateral control metrics were found to be sensitive to task differences, but the event detection metrics were less able to discriminate between tasks. The mean deviation and lane excursion measures were able to distinguish between the visual and cognitive tasks, but were less sensitive to the different levels of task demand. The other LCT metrics examined were less sensitive to task differences. A major factor influencing the sensitivity of at least some of the LCT metrics could be the type of lane change instructions given to participants. The provision of clear and explicit lane change instructions and further refinement of its metrics will be essential for increasing the utility of the LCT as an evaluation tool.

Empirical investigation of interactive highway safety design model accident prediction algorithm : Rural intersections

One major gap in transportation system safety management is the ability to assess the safety ramifications of design changes for both new road projects and modifications to existing roads. To fulfill this need, FHWA and its many partners are developing a safety forecasting tool, the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM). The tool will be used by roadway design engineers, safety analysts, and planners throughout the United States. As such, the statistical models embedded in IHSDM will need to be able to forecast safety impacts under a wide range of roadway configurations and environmental conditions for a wide range of driver populations and will need to be able to capture elements of driving risk across states. One of the IHSDM algorithms developed by FHWA and its contractors is for forecasting accidents on rural road segments and rural intersections. The methodological approach is to use predictive models for specific base conditions, with traffic volume information as the sole explanatory variable for crashes, and then to apply regional or state calibration factors and accident modification factors (AMFs) to estimate the impact on accidents of geometric characteristics that differ from the base model conditions. In the majority of past approaches, AMFs are derived from parameter estimates associated with the explanatory variables. A recent study for FHWA used a multistate database to examine in detail the use of the algorithm with the base model-AMF approach and explored alternative base model forms as well as the use of full models that included nontraffic-related variables and other approaches to estimate AMFs. That research effort is reported. The results support the IHSDM methodology.

Feasibility of "subjective" engineering assessments of road safety improvements : Bayesian analysis development

Regional safety program managers face a daunting challenge in the attempt to reduce deaths, injuries, and economic losses that result from motor vehicle crashes. This difficult mission is complicated by the combination of a large perceived need, small budget, and uncertainty about how effective each proposed countermeasure would be if implemented. A manager can turn to the research record for insight, but the measured effect of a single countermeasure often varies widely from study to study and across jurisdictions. The challenge of converting widespread and conflicting research results into a regionally meaningful conclusion can be addressed by incorporating "subjective" information into a Bayesian analysis framework. Engineering evaluations of crashes provide the subjective input on countermeasure effectiveness in the proposed Bayesian analysis framework. Empirical Bayes approaches are widely used in before-and-after studies and "hot-spot" identification; however, in these cases, the prior information was typically obtained from the data (empirically), not subjective sources. The power and advantages of Bayesian methods for assessing countermeasure effectiveness are presented. Also, an engineering evaluation approach developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology is described. Results are presented from an experiment conducted to assess the repeatability and objectivity of subjective engineering evaluations. In particular, the focus is on the importance, methodology, and feasibility of the subjective engineering evaluation for assessing countermeasures.

Safety-restraint use rate as function of law enforcement and other factors : preliminary analysis

Persistent use of safety restraints prevents deaths and reduces the severity and number of injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes. However, safety-restraint use rates in the United States have been below those of other nations with safety-restraint enforcement laws. With a better understanding of the relationship between safety-restraint law enforcement and safety-restraint use, programs can be implemented to decrease the number of deaths and injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes. Does safety-restraint use increase as enforcement increases? Do motorists increase their safety-restraint use in response to the general presence of law enforcement or to targeted law enforcement efforts? Does a relationship between enforcement and restraint use exist at the countywide level? A logistic regression model was estimated by using county-level safety-restraint use data and traffic citation statistics collected in 13 counties within the state of Florida in 1997. The model results suggest that safety-restraint use is positively correlated with enforcement intensity, is negatively correlated with safety-restraint enforcement coverage (in lanemiles of enforcement coverage), and is greater in urban than rural areas. The quantification of these relationships may assist Florida and other law enforcement agencies in raising safety-restraint use rates by allocating limited funds more efficiently either by allocating additional time for enforcement activities of the existing force or by increasing enforcement staff. In addition, the research supports a commonsense notion that enforcement activities do result in behavioral response.