Assessing and intervening on OSH programmes : effectiveness evaluation of the Wellworks-2 intervention in 15 manufacturing worksites

To develop a transparent and broadly applicable method for assessing occupational safety and health (OSH) programmes or management systems; (2) to assess OSH programmes in a sample of manufacturing worksites; and (3) to determine whether a management focused occupational health intervention results in greater improvement in OSH programmes compared to minimal intervention controls. OSH programmes were assessed using an adaptation of the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration's 1995 Program Evaluation Profile. Scores were generated from 91 binary indicator variables grouped under four "Essential Elements". Essential Element scores were weighted to contribute to an overall programme score on a 100 point scale. Seventeen large manufacturing worksites were assessed at baseline; 15 sites completed the 16 month intervention and follow up assessments. There was considerable variation in Essential Element scores across sites at baseline as judged by our instrument, particularly in "management commitment and employee participation" and "workplace analysis". Most sites scored highly on "hazard prevention and control" and "training and education". For overall OSH programme scores, most sites scored in the 60-80% range at baseline, with four sites scoring below 60%, suggesting weak programmes. Intervention sites showed greater improvements than controls in the four programme elements and in overall programme scores, with significantly greater improvements in "management commitment and employee participation". The OSH programme assessment method used is broadly applicable to manufacturing work settings, and baseline profiles suggest needs for improvement in OSH programmes in most such worksites. Despite a small sample size, results showed that sustained management focused intervention can result in improvement in these OSH programme measures.

A multi-objective evolutionary algorithm-based decision support system: a case study on job-shop scheduling in manufacturing

In this paper, an evolutionary algorithm is used for developing a decision support tool to undertake multi-objective job-shop scheduling problems. A modified micro genetic algorithm (MmGA) is adopted to provide optimal solutions according to the Pareto optimality principle in solving multi-objective optimisation problems. MmGA operates with a very small population size to explore a wide search space of function evaluations and to improve the convergence score towards the true Pareto optimal front. To evaluate the effectiveness of the MmGA-based decision support tool, a multi-objective job-shop scheduling problem with actual information from a manufacturing company is deployed. The statistical bootstrap method is used to evaluate the experimental results, and compared with those from the enumeration method. The outcome indicates that the decision support tool is able to achieve those optimal solutions as generated by the enumeration method. In addition, the proposed decision support tool has advantage of achieving the results within a fraction of the time.

Implementation of innovative technologies in small-scale construction firms: five Australian case studies

Purpose - The users of construction technologies such as builders and trades people have been acknowledged as sources of potentially important innovations. These innovations may be in the form of safer, less labour intensive, or cheaper methods and processes. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the Australian construction industry is providing an environment where user-based innovation is being supported and implemented. Design/methodology/approach - An explorative study was undertaken to provide an insight into actual experiences of the implementation of user-based innovation. The data were collected through faceto- face semi-structured interviews providing case studies on multiple aspects of the implementation of innovative construction technologies. The cases involved a cross section of advances, including product, tool, and system technologies. Findings - The main motivation behind developing the technologies was problem solving. The associated industries of manufacturing and retail, as well as consultants within the construction industry present the greatest barriers to implementation. Originality/value - This research provides a better understanding of the factors that are preventing the successful implementation of user-based innovative construction technologies in small firms.

Human and social capital and environmental management in small firms: a developing country perspective

We examine the important roles of two forms of capital—human andsocial—in the accumulation of critical resources that enable firms to adopt soundenvironmental management practices which contribute to better firm performance.Drawing on human and social capital theories and the resource-based view of the firm,we tested this proposition using data from a survey of 141 small manufacturing firmsdrawn from a survey of business enterprises in a metropolitan city in the southernregion of the Philippines. The results of our analysis using structural equationmodelling-partial least square approach show that both human capital such as age,experience and education of managers of the firm and social capital such as externalmanagerial ties and networks have significant and positive contribution to the environmentalmanagement resources of firms although the effects vary in magnitude. Theaccumulation of environmental management resources not only is positively linked tothe adoption by firms of pro-environment practices but also fully mediates the effects ofthe two types of capital on the adoption of such practices. Pro-environment practicesare positively linked to better performance outcomes. The findings underscore the needto account for the intangible and more tacit forms of capital such as managerial talent,knowledge, skills and social ties and networks in the wider debate on how smallmanufacturing firms in developing countries can address the pressing need to integrateenvironmental sustainability in business.

What firm characteristics determine women's employment in manufacturing? evidence from Bangladesh

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the principal determinants of women's employment in the manufacturing sector of Bangladesh using a firm-level panel data from the World Bank's "Enterprise Survey" for the years 2007, 2011 and 2013. The paper sheds light on the demandside factors, mainly firm-level characteristics, which also influence this decision. Design/methodology/approach - The authors estimate a fractional logit model to model a dependent variable that is limited by zero from below and one from above. Findings - The results indicate that firm size, whether medium or large, and firms' export-oriented activities, have an important impact on women's employment in the manufacturing sector in Bangladesh. Moreover, the authors find that women are significantly more likely to work in unskilledlabour- intensive industries within the manufacturing sector. Research limitations/implications - The research is limited to Bangladesh; however, much of the evidence presented here has implications that are relevant to policymakers in other developing countries. Practical implications - The study identifies factors that affect female employment, that is, where the main constraints to increase female labour force participation. The study focuses on the demand-side factors, which has been somewhat neglected in recent years. As such, it has practical policy implications. Social implications - Focusing on female employment in Bangladesh also sheds light on the nexus between labour market opportunities and social change within a country that is characterised by extreme patriarchy, which has wide-reaching implications. Originality/value - This is an original and comprehensive paper by the authors.