The role of the health surveillance program in the Queensland coal mining industry

The Queensland Coal Industry Employees Health Scheme was implemented in 1993 to provide health surveillance for all Queensland coal industry workers. Tt1e government, mining employers and mining unions agreed that the scheme should operate for seven years. At the expiry of the scheme, an assessment of the contribution of health surveillance to meet coal industry needs would be an essential part of determining a future health surveillance program. This research project has analysed the data made available between 1993 and 1998. All current coal industry employees have had at least one health assessment. The project examined how the centralised nature of the Health Scheme benefits industry by identi~)jng key health issues and exploring their dimensions on a scale not possible by corporate based health surveillance programs. There is a body of evidence that indicates that health awareness - on the scale of the individual, the work group and the industry is not a part of the mining industry culture. There is also growing evidence that there is a need for this culture to change and that some change is in progress. One element of this changing culture is a growth in the interest by the individual and the community in information on health status and benchmarks that are reasonably attainable. This interest opens the way for health education which contains personal, community and occupational elements. An important element of such education is the data on mine site health status. This project examined the role of health surveillance in the coal mining industry as a tool for generating the necessary information to promote an interest in health awareness. The Health Scheme Database provides the material for the bulk of the analysis of this project. After a preliminary scan of the data set, more detailed analysis was undertaken on key health and related safety issues that include respiratory disorders, hearing loss and high blood pressure. The data set facilitates control for confounding factors such as age and smoking status. Mines can be benchmarked to identify those mines with effective health management and those with particular challenges. While the study has confirmed the very low prevalence of restrictive airway disease such as pneu"moconiosis, it has demonstrated a need to examine in detail the emergence of obstructive airway disease such as bronchitis and emphysema which may be a consequence of the increasing use of high dust longwall technology. The power of the Health Database's electronic data management is demonstrated by linking the health data to other data sets such as injury data that is collected by the Department of l\1mes and Energy. The analysis examines serious strain -sprain injuries and has identified a marked difference between the underground and open cut sectors of the industry. The analysis also considers productivity and OHS data to examine the extent to which there is correlation between any pairs ofJpese and previously analysed health parameters. This project has demonstrated that the current structure of the Coal Industry Employees Health Scheme has largely delivered to mines and effective health screening process. At the same time, the centralised nature of data collection and analysis has provided to the mines, the unions and the government substantial statistical cross-sectional data upon which strategies to more effectively manage health and relates safety issues can be based.

An evaluation of IS-impact utility and intuitiveness

This study is conducted within the IS-Impact Research Track at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The goal of the IS-Impact Track is, "to develop the most widely employed model for benchmarking information systems in organizations for the joint benefit of both research and practice" (Gable et al, 2006). IS-Impact is defined as "a measure at a point in time, of the stream of net benefits from the IS [Information System], to date and anticipated, as perceived by all key-user-groups" (Gable Sedera and Chan, 2008). Track efforts have yielded the bicameral IS-Impact measurement model; the "impact" half includes Organizational-Impact and Individual-Impact dimensions; the "quality" half includes System-Quality and Information-Quality dimensions. The IS-Impact model, by design, is intended to be robust, simple and generalisable, to yield results that are comparable across time, stakeholders, different systems and system contexts. The model and measurement approach employs perceptual measures and an instrument that is relevant to key stakeholder groups, thereby enabling the combination or comparison of stakeholder perspectives. Such a validated and widely accepted IS-Impact measurement model has both academic and practical value. It facilitates systematic operationalisation of a main dependent variable in research (IS-Impact), which can also serve as an important independent variable. For IS management practice it provides a means to benchmark and track the performance of information systems in use. From examination of the literature, the study proposes that IS-Impact is an Analytic Theory. Gregor (2006) defines Analytic Theory simply as theory that ‘says what is’, base theory that is foundational to all other types of theory. The overarching research question thus is "Does IS-Impact positively manifest the attributes of Analytic Theory?" In order to address this question, we must first answer the question "What are the attributes of Analytic Theory?" The study identifies the main attributes of analytic theory as: (1) Completeness, (2) Mutual Exclusivity, (3) Parsimony, (4) Appropriate Hierarchy, (5) Utility, and (6) Intuitiveness. The value of empirical research in Information Systems is often assessed along the two main dimensions - rigor and relevance. Those Analytic Theory attributes associated with the ‘rigor’ of the IS-Impact model; namely, completeness, mutual exclusivity, parsimony and appropriate hierarchy, have been addressed in prior research (e.g. Gable et al, 2008). Though common tests of rigor are widely accepted and relatively uniformly applied (particularly in relation to positivist, quantitative research), attention to relevance has seldom been given the same systematic attention. This study assumes a mainly practice perspective, and emphasises the methodical evaluation of the Analytic Theory ‘relevance’ attributes represented by the Utility and Intuitiveness of the IS-Impact model. Thus, related research questions are: "Is the IS-Impact model intuitive to practitioners?" and "Is the IS-Impact model useful to practitioners?" March and Smith (1995), identify four outputs of Design Science: constructs, models, methods and instantiations (Design Science research may involve one or more of these). IS-Impact can be viewed as a design science model, composed of Design Science constructs (the four IS-Impact dimensions and the two model halves), and instantiations in the form of management information (IS-Impact data organised and presented for management decision making). In addition to methodically evaluating the Utility and Intuitiveness of the IS-Impact model and its constituent constructs, the study aims to also evaluate the derived management information. Thus, further research questions are: "Is the IS-Impact derived management information intuitive to practitioners?" and "Is the IS-Impact derived management information useful to practitioners? The study employs a longitudinal design entailing three surveys over 4 years (the 1st involving secondary data) of the Oracle-Financials application at QUT, interspersed with focus groups involving senior financial managers. The study too entails a survey of Financials at four other Australian Universities. The three focus groups respectively emphasise: (1) the IS-Impact model, (2) the 2nd survey at QUT (descriptive), and (3) comparison across surveys within QUT, and between QUT and the group of Universities. Aligned with the track goal of producing IS-Impact scores that are highly comparable, the study also addresses the more specific utility-related questions, "Is IS-Impact derived management information a useful comparator across time?" and "Is IS-Impact derived management information a useful comparator across universities?" The main contribution of the study is evidence of the utility and intuitiveness of IS-Impact to practice, thereby further substantiating the practical value of the IS-Impact approach; and also thereby motivating continuing and further research on the validity of IS-Impact, and research employing the ISImpact constructs in descriptive, predictive and explanatory studies. The study also has value methodologically as an example of relatively rigorous attention to relevance. A further key contribution is the clarification and instantiation of the full set of analytic theory attributes.

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

On the data consumption benefits of accepting increased uncertainty

In the context of learning paradigms of identification in the limit, we address the question: why is uncertainty sometimes desirable? We use mind change bounds on the output hypotheses as a measure of uncertainty, and interpret ‘desirable’ as reduction in data memorization, also defined in terms of mind change bounds. The resulting model is closely related to iterative learning with bounded mind change complexity, but the dual use of mind change bounds — for hypotheses and for data — is a key distinctive feature of our approach. We show that situations exists where the more mind changes the learner is willing to accept, the lesser the amount of data it needs to remember in order to converge to the correct hypothesis. We also investigate relationships between our model and learning from good examples, set-driven, monotonic and strong-monotonic learners, as well as class-comprising versus class-preserving learnability.

From Civil Strife to Civil Society: civil and military responsibilities in disrupted states

"The 1990s saw the United Nations, the militaries of key member states, and NGOs increasingly entangled in the complex affairs of disrupted states. Whether as deliverers of humanitarian assistance or as agents of political, social, and civic reconstruction, whether in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, or East Timor, these actors have had to learn ways of interacting with each other in order to optimize the benefits for the populations they seek to assist. Yet the challenges have proved daunting. Civil and military actors have different organizational cultures and standard operating procedures and are confronted with the need to work together to perform tasks to which different actors may attach quite different priorities."--BOOK JACKET.

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.

The effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability

The relationship between the quality of parent-child interactions and positive child developmental trajectories is well established (Guralnick, 2006; Shonkoff & Meissels, 2000; Zubrick et al., 2008). However, a range of parental, family, and socio-economic factors can pose risks to parents’ capacity to participate in quality interactions with their children. In particular, families with a child with a disability have been found to have higher levels of parenting stress, and are more likely to experience economic disadvantage, as well as social isolation. The importance of early interventions to promote positive parenting and child development for these families is widely recognised (Shonkoff & Meissels, 2000). However, to date, there is a lack of evidence about the effectiveness of early parenting programs for families who have a young child with a disability. This thesis investigates the impact of a music therapy parenting program, Sing & Grow, on 201 parent-child dyads who attended programs specifically targeted to parents who had a young child with a disability. Sing & Grow is an Australian national early parenting intervention funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and delivered by Playgroup Queensland. It is designed and delivered by Registered Music Therapists for families with children aged from birth to three years. It aims to improve parenting skills and confidence, improve family functioning (positive parent-child interactions), enhance child development, and provide social networking opportunities to socially isolated families. The intervention targets a range of families in circumstances that have the potential to impact negatively on family functioning. This thesis uses data from the National Evaluation Study of Sing & Grow from programs which were targeted at families who had a young child with a disability. Three studies were conducted to address the objectives of this thesis. Study 1 examines the effects of the Sing & Grow intervention on parent reported pre and post parent mental health, parenting confidence, parenting skills, and child development, and other parent reported outcomes including social support, use of intervention resources, satisfaction with the intervention and perceived benefits of and barriers to participation. Significant improvements from pre to post were found for parent mental health and parent reported child communication and social skills, along with evidence that parents were very satisfied with the program and that it brought social benefits to families. Study 2 explored the pre to post effects of the intervention on children’s developmental skills and parent-child interactions using observational ratings made by clinicians. Significant pre to post improvements were found for parenting sensitivity, parental engagement with child and acceptance of child as well as for child responsiveness to parent, interest, and participation in the intervention, and social skills. Study 3 examined the nature of child and family characteristics that predicted better outcomes for families while taking account of the level of participation in the program. An overall outcome index was calculated and served as the dependent variable in a logistic regression analysis. Families who attended six or more sessions and mothers who had not completed high school were more likely to have higher outcome scores at post intervention than those who attended fewer sessions and those with more educated mothers respectively. The findings of this research indicate that the intervention had a positive impact on participants’ mental health, parenting behaviours and child development and that level of attendance was associated with better outcomes. There was also evidence that the program reached its target of high risk families (i.e., families in which mothers had lower educational levels) and that for these families better outcomes were achieved. There were also indications that the program was accessible and highly regarded by families and that it promoted social connections for participants. A theoretical model of how the intervention is currently working for families is proposed to explain the connections between early parenting, child development and maternal wellbeing. However, more research is required to further elucidate the mechanisms by which the intervention creates change for families. This research presents promising evidence that a short term group music therapy program can elicit important therapeutic benefits for families who have a child with a disability.

Introduction

The 1990s saw the United Nations, the militaries of key member states, and NGOs increasingly entangled in the complex affairs of disrupted states. Whether as deliverers of humanitarian assistance or as agents of political, social, and civic reconstruction, whether in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, or East Timor, these actors have had to learn ways of interacting with each other in order to optimize the benefits for the populations they seek to assist. Yet the challenges have proved daunting. Civil and military actors have different organizational cultures and standard operating procedures and are confronted with the need to work together to perform tasks to which different actors may attach quite different priorities. From Civil Strife to Civil Society explores the nature of these challenges, blending the experience of scholars and practitioners. It is underpinned by an understanding that recovery from disruption is a laborious process that can easily be de-railed. The first part of the book offers a rigorous examination of the dimensions of state disruption and the roles of the international community in responding to it; the second part looks at military doctrine for dealing with disorder and humanitarian emergencies; the third part examines mechanisms for ending violence and delivering justice in post-conflict times; the fourth part investigates the problems of rebuilding trust and promoting democracy; the fifth part deals with the reconstitution of the rule of law; while the sixth and seventh parts address the reestablishment of social and civil order.

Using poster presentations as assessment of work integrated learning

Background / context: The ALTC WIL Scoping Study identified a need to develop innovative assessment methods for work integrated learning (WIL) that encourage reflection and integration of theory and practice within the constraints that result from the level of engagement of workplace supervisors and the ability of academic supervisors to become involved in the workplace. Aims: The aim of this paper is to examine how poster presentations can be used to authentically assess student learning during WIL. Method / Approach: The paper uses a case study approach to evaluate the use of poster presentations for assessment in two internship units at the Queensland University of Technology. The first is a unit in the Faculty of Business where students majoring in advertising, marketing and public relations are placed in a variety of organisations. The second unit is a law unit where students complete placements in government legal offices. Results / Discussion: While poster presentations are commonly used for assessment in the sciences, they are an innovative approach to assessment in the humanities. This paper argues that posters are one way that universities can overcome the substantial challenges of assessing work integrated learning. The two units involved in the case study adopt different approaches to the poster assessment; the Business unit is non-graded and the poster assessment task requires students to reflect on their learning during the internship. The Law unit is graded and requires students to present on a research topic that relates to their internship. In both units the posters were presented during a poster showcase which was attended by students, workplace supervisors and members of faculty. The paper evaluates the benefits of poster presentations for students, workplace supervisors and faculty and proposes some criteria for poster assessment in WIL. Conclusions / Implications: The paper concludes that posters can effectively and authentically assess various learning outcomes in WIL in different disciplines while at the same time offering a means to engage workplace supervisors with academic staff and other students and supervisors participating in the unit. Posters have the ability to demonstrate reflection in learning and are an excellent demonstration of experiential learning and assessing authentically. Keywords: Work integrated learning, assessment, poster presentations, industry engagement.

Evaluation of the Scottsdale Loop 101 automated speed enforcement demonstration program

Speeding is recognized as a major contributing factor in traffic crashes. In order to reduce speed-related crashes, the city of Scottsdale, Arizona implemented the first fixed-camera photo speed enforcement program (SEP) on a limited access freeway in the US. The 9-month demonstration program spanning from January 2006 to October 2006 was implemented on a 6.5 mile urban freeway segment of Arizona State Route 101 running through Scottsdale. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the SEP on speeding behavior, crashes, and the economic impact of crashes. The impact on speeding behavior was estimated using generalized least square estimation, in which the observed speeds and the speeding frequencies during the program period were compared to those during other periods. The impact of the SEP on crashes was estimated using 3 evaluation methods: a before-and-after (BA) analysis using a comparison group, a BA analysis with traffic flow correction, and an empirical Bayes BA analysis with time-variant safety. The analysis results reveal that speeding detection frequencies (speeds> or =76 mph) increased by a factor of 10.5 after the SEP was (temporarily) terminated. Average speeds in the enforcement zone were reduced by about 9 mph when the SEP was implemented, after accounting for the influence of traffic flow. All crash types were reduced except rear-end crashes, although the estimated magnitude of impact varies across estimation methods (and their corresponding assumptions). When considering Arizona-specific crash related injury costs, the SEP is estimated to yield about $17 million in annual safety benefits.

Green roofs : understanding their benefits for Australia

Summary of Actions Towards Sustainable Outcomes Environmental Issues / Principal Impacts The increased growth of cities is intensifying its impact on people and the environment through: • increased use of energy for the heating and cooling of more buildings, leading to urban heat islands and more greenhouse gas emissions • increased amount of hard surfaces contributing to higher temperatures in cities and more stormwater runoff • degraded air quality and noise impact • reduced urban biodiversity • compromised health and general well-being of people Basic Strategies In many design situations boundaries and constraints limit the application of cutting EDGe actions. In these circumstances designers should at least consider the following: • Consider green roofs early in the design process in consultation with all stakeholders to enable maximised integration with building systems and to mitigate building cost (avoid constructing as a retrofit). • Design of the green roof as part of a building’s structural, mechanical and hydraulic systems could lead to structural efficiency, the ability to optimise cooling benefits and better integrated water recycling systems. • Inform the selection of the type of green roof by considering its function, for example designing for social activity, required maintenance/access regime, recycling of water or habitat regeneration or a combination of uses. • Evaluate existing surroundings to determine possible links to the natural environment and choice of vegetation for the green roof with availability of local plant supply and expertise. Cutting EDGe Strategies • Create green roofs to contribute positively to the environment through reduced urban heat island effect and building temperatures, to improved stormwater quality, increased natural habitats, provision of social spaces and opportunity for increased local food supply. • Maximise solar panel efficiency by incorporating with design of green roof. • Integrate multiple functions for a single green roof such as grey water recycling, food production, more bio-diverse plantings, air quality improvement and provision of delightful spaces for social interaction. Synergies & references • BEDP Environment Design Guide DES 53: Roof and Facade Gardens GEN 4: Positive Development – designing for Net Positive Impacts TEC 26: Living Walls - a way to green the built environment • Green Roofs Australia: www.greenroofs.wordpress.com • International Green Roof Association: www.igra-world.com • Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (USA): www.greenroofs.org • Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology (Singapore): http://research.cuge.com.sg

Centrally supported online surveys for research at QUT

We describe the introduction, service growth, benefits and holistic support approach of a centrally supported universitywide online survey tool for researchers at QUT. The online survey service employs the Key Survey software, and has grown into a significant service for QUT researchers since being introduced in 2009. Key benefits of the approach include the ability of QUT to handle important issues relating to data such as security, privacy, integrity, archiving & disposal. The service also incorporates a workflow process that enhances the institution’s ability to ensure survey quality control through controlled approval and pilot testing before any survey is widely released. An important issue is that a tool like this can make it very easy to do very poor research very quickly while creating lots of data, due to the absence of a rigorous methodology designed to reduce errors and collect accurate, comprehensive, timely data. With this in mind, a holistic approach to service provision and support has been taken, which has included the introduction of an integrated system of seminars, tools and workshops to get researchers thinking about the quality of their research while becoming operational quickly. The system of seminars, workshops, checks and approvals we have put in place at QUT is designed to ensure better quality outcomes for QUT’s research and the individual researchers concerned.

Australian construction industry KPIs

The Australian Construction Industry Forum (which is a peak industry association) and the Australian Procurement and Construction Council (which is a peak government organisation) have jointly agreed on a set of KPIs for the Australian Construction Industry. The goal of such a process is to work collaboratively in order to lift industry performance overall, and thereby bring about economic and social benefits to the industry and broader community. This paper seeks to underpin the process of KPI measurement by providing: an overview of international approaches to KPI measurement, summary of difficulties identified in performance measurement together with possible responses to these problems, and finally a discussion on the various methods for reporting KPIs. A number of findings throughout the paper, based on the review, made in order to advance the goal of performance measurement in the construction industry in Australia. Such findings would be relevant to other countries considering a KPI measurement process as well.