How do engineering students develop practical competencies during a period of industrial placement? - Students' perceptions

This paper explores engineering students' perceptions of developing practical competencies as experienced in their industrial placements. In addition, it discusses the criticisms in the literature on Problem Based Learning, Project Based Learning and Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate in relation to the evaluation of effective learning and teaching during placements. The paper goes on to discuss a study which examines how undergraduate engineering students develop practical competencies during their industrial placements. A phenomenological research approach is adopted using in-depth interviews and document analysis. The research findings from this PhD study will contribute to the knowledge, theory and practice for the students, the industries and the institutions of higher education as students' practical competencies are developed and graduate employability rises. In conclusion, this study explores students' experiences of developing practical competencies during industrial placements. Hence, the study should be able to contribute to a set of evidence-based guidelines for higher education institutions and industry.

A European competence framework for industrial pharmacy practice in biotechnology

Project Report: The PHAR-IN ("Competences for industrial pharmacy practice in biotechnology") looked at whether there is a difference in how industrial employees and academics rank competences for practice in the biotechnological industry. A small expert panel consisting of the authors of this paper produced a biotechnology competence framework by drawing up an initial list of competences then ranking them in importance using a three-stage Delphi process. The framework was next evaluated and validated by a large expert panel of academics (n = 37) and industrial employees (n = 154). Results show that priorities for industrial employees and academics were similar. The competences for biotechnology practice that received the highest scores were mainly in: . "Research and Development", . "Upstream" and "Downstream" Processing', " . "Product development and formulation", " . "Aseptic processing", ."Analytical methodology", . "Product stability", and . "Regulation". The main area of disagreement was in the category "Ethics and drug safety" where academics ranked competences higher than did industrial employees.

Safety habits promoted by Hispanic parents for school-aged and adolescent children

Accidents are the leading cause of death among children. Compliance with safety measures have been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality in children. However, Hispanic parents and children have not been adequately studied in the literature in regard to trauma and safety habits utilized. In this exploratory-descriptive study, a convenience sample of 48 Hispanic parents were questioned about their child's activities. The purpose was to determine what safety equipment was used during these activities and how often they were used. Responses to an English/Spanish questionnaire were summarized by frequencies and percentages. Findings suggested that these Hispanic children were at risk for injury due to a low percentage of children wearing the necessary protective equipment. Therefore, education must stress consistent use of safety equipment if injuries are to be prevented. ^

Predicting employee compliance with safety regulations, factoring risk perception

The purpose of this research was to develop a methodology that would evaluate employees' personality traits, demographic characteristics, and workplace parameters to predict safety compliance along with the moderating effect of risk perception. ^ One hundred and twenty five employees of a manufacturing facility were given questionnaires to gather their demographic and perception information. Surveys were also used to measure their personality characteristics, and periodic observations were recorded to document employee's safety compliance. A significant correlation was found between compliance and the worker's perception of management's commitment to safety (r = 0.27, p < 0.01), as well as with gender (r = −0.19, p < 0.05). Females showed a significantly higher average compliance (78%), than males (69%). These findings demonstrated the value of developing a model to predict safety behavior that would assist companies in maintaining a safe work environment, preventing accidents, ensuring compliance, and reducing associated costs. ^

A worksite nutrition education program increased firefighters' knowledge and resulted in healthier attitudes toward fad diets

The effectiveness of a worksite nutrition education program to improve firefighters' knowledge and weight management strategies was evaluated. One hundred fifty Miami-Dade Fire Rescue workers recruited for the study were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. The intervention group attended four 30-minute worksite nutrition education sessions. A nutrition knowledge test completed by both groups before and after the intervention showed no significant differences between groups for pre-intervention nutrition knowledge. The post-intervention increase in nutrition knowledge was significantly greater (p < 0.001) for the intervention group (16.8% ± 8.2) compared to the control group (4% ± 8.9). No significant pre-intervention difference was found between the groups' predilection toward a ketogenic diet. A statistically significant (p < 0.01) reduction was seen in the intervention group's willingness (0.57 ± 1.06) to use this diet compared to the control group (0.02 ± 0.99). Results indicate that worksite nutrition education can improve firefighters' knowledge and weight reduction strategies. ^

Overcoming Barriers to Restaurant Food Safety

Food safety is critical to the success of restaurants. Yet current methods of controling foodborne illness are inadequate, including time and temperature control, safe food handling procedures, good employee hygiene, cleaning and sanitizing techniques, and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan. Several barriers to food safety in restaurants are identified and recommendations for management are suggested.

An examination of psychological meaningfulness, safety, and availability as the underlying mechanisms linking job features and personal characteristics to work engagement

The present study tested a nomological net of work engagement that was derived from its extant research. Two of the main work engagement models that have been presented and empirically tested in the literature, the JD-R model and Kahn's model, were integrated to test the effects that job features and personal characteristics can have on work engagement through the psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety, and availability. In this study, safety refers to psychological perceptions of safety and not workplace safety behaviors. The job features that were tested in this model included person-job fit, autonomy, co-worker relations, supervisor support, procedural justice, and interactional justice, while the personal characteristics consisted of self-consciousness, self-efficacy, extraversion, and neuroticism. Thirty-four hypotheses and a conceptual model were tested in order to establish the viability of this nomological net of work engagement in which it was expected that meaningfulness would mediate the relationships between job features and work engagement, safety would mediate the relationships that job features and personal characteristics have with work engagement, and availability (physical, emotional, and cognitive resources) would mediate the relationships that personal characteristics have with work engagement. Furthermore, analyses were run in order to determine the factor structure of work engagement, assess whether or not it exhibits differential validity from organizational commitment and job satisfaction, and confirm that it is positively related to the outcome variable of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The final sample consisted of 500 workers from an online labor market who responded to a questionnaire composed of measures of all constructs included in this study. Findings show that work engagement is best represented as a three-factor construct, composed of vigor, dedication and absorption. Furthermore, support was found for the distinction of work engagement from the related constructs of organizational commitment and job satisfaction. With regard to the proposed model, meaningfulness proved to be the strongest predictor of work engagement. Results show that it partially mediates the relationships that all job features have with work engagement. Safety proved to be a partial mediator of the relationships that autonomy, co-worker relations, supervisor support, procedural justice, interactional justice, and self-efficacy have with work engagement, and fully mediate the relationship between neuroticism and work engagement. Findings also show that availability partially mediates the positive relationships that extraversion and self-efficacy have with work engagement, and fully mediates the negative relationship that neuroticism has with work engagement. Finally, a positive relationship was found between work engagement and OCB. Research and organizational implications are discussed.

Personnel selection, safety performance, and job performance: Are safe workers better workers?

The present dissertation consists of two studies that combine personnel selection, safety performance, and job performance literatures to answer an important question: are safe workers better workers? Study 1 tested a predictive model of safety performance to examine personality characteristics (conscientiousness and agreeableness), and two novel behavioral constructs (safety orientation and safety judgment) as predictors of safety performance in a sample of forklift loaders/operators (N = 307). Analyses centered on investigating safety orientation as a proximal predictor and determinant of safety performance. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and explored the relationship between safety performance and job performance by testing an integrative model in a sample of machine operators and construction crewmembers (N = 323). Both Study 1 and Study 2 found conscientiousness, agreeableness, and safety orientation to be good predictors of safety performance. While both personality and safety orientation were positively related to safety performance, safety orientation proved to be a more proximal determinant of safety performance. Across studies, results surrounding safety judgment as a predictor of safety performance were inconclusive, suggesting possible issues with measurement of the construct. Study 2 found a strong relationship between safety performance and job performance. In addition, safety performance served as a mediator between predictors (conscientiousness, agreeableness and safety orientation) and job performance. Together these findings suggest that safe workers are indeed better workers, challenging previous viewpoints to the contrary. Further, results implicate the viability of personnel selection as means of promoting safety in organizations.^

Prisons, Profits, and Hard Labor: A Brief History of Convict Labor In Florida

The purpose of this research is to develop a broader understanding of the system in Florida. Specifically, I am looking at the privatization of convict labor programs by the Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises Corporation (PRIDE) in the 1980s and 1990s in state correctional institutions. This research will contribute to historiography of prisons in Florida in the context of the developing research about the Prison-Industrial Complex. Many scholars studying the Prison-Industrial Complex have drawn comparisons to today’s prison industries and the convict lease system of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, seeing the prison system go full circle drawing attention to the exploitative and institutionally racist nature of the modern prison system. This researched showed that the trend other scholars have studied also exist in Florida and Florida was actually a pioneer in the Prison-Industrial Complex. It was the first state to privatize its convict labor programs, becoming a model for other states. This research also shows that political and economic motivations were the primary forces governing prison policies, rather than education, rehabilitation, and safety. To complete this project, I analyzed articles from South Florida newspapers, such as the Sun-Sentinel and the Miami Herald, published during this period as well as literature published by the Department of Corrections. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world and spends more money on prisons than education. Being such a large part of country, prisons warrant more critical study. This research will shed light on the nature of prisons, specifically here in Florida, in the hopes of seeking alternatives.

Prisons, Profits, and Hard Labor: A Brief History of Convict Labor In Florida

The purpose of this research is to develop a broader understanding of the system in Florida. Specifically, I am looking at the privatization of convict labor programs by the Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises Corporation (PRIDE) in the 1980s and 1990s in state correctional institutions. This research will contribute to historiography of prisons in Florida in the context of the developing research about the Prison-Industrial Complex. Many scholars studying the Prison-Industrial Complex have drawn comparisons to today’s prison industries and the convict lease system of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, seeing the prison system go full circle drawing attention to the exploitative and institutionally racist nature of the modern prison system. This researched showed that the trend other scholars have studied also exist in Florida and Florida was actually a pioneer in the Prison-Industrial Complex. It was the first state to privatize its convict labor programs, becoming a model for other states. This research also shows that political and economic motivations were the primary forces governing prison policies, rather than education, rehabilitation, and safety. To complete this project, I analyzed articles from South Florida newspapers, such as the Sun-Sentinel and the Miami Herald, published during this period as well as literature published by the Department of Corrections. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world and spends more money on prisons than education. Being such a large part of country, prisons warrant more critical study. This research will shed light on the nature of prisons, specifically here in Florida, in the hopes of seeking alternatives.

Análise de confiabilidade de um moto-ventilador centrífugo: aplicação no sistema de pressurização de subestação industrial para garantia da segurança operacional na indústria petroquímica

The need of the oil industry to ensure the safety of the facilities, employees and the environment, not to mention the search for maximum efficiency of its facilities, makes it seeks to achieve a high level of excellence in all stages of its production processes in order to obtain the required quality of the final product. Know the reliability of equipment and what it stands for a system is of fundamental importance for ensuring the operational safety. The reliability analysis technique has been increasingly applied in the oil industry as fault prediction tool and undesirable events that can affect business continuity. It is an applied scientific methodology that involves knowledge in engineering and statistics to meet and or analyze the performance of components, equipment and systems in order to ensure that they perform their function without fail, for a period of time and under a specific condition. The results of reliability analyzes help in making decisions about the best maintenance strategy of petrochemical plants. Reliability analysis was applied on equipment (bike-centrifugal fan) between the period 2010-2014 at the Polo Petrobras Guamaré Industrial, situated in rural Guamaré municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, where he collected data field, analyzed historical equipment and observing the behavior of faults and their impacts. The data were processed in commercial software reliability ReliaSoft BlockSim 9. The results were compared with a study conducted by the experts in the field in order to get the best maintenance strategy for the studied system. With the results obtained from the reliability analysis tools was possible to determine the availability of the centrifugal motor-fan and what will be its impact on the security of process units if it will fail. A new maintenance strategy was established to improve the reliability, availability, maintainability and decreased likelihood of Moto-Centrifugal Fan failures, it is a series of actions to promote the increased system reliability and consequent increase in cycle life of the asset. Thus, this strategy sets out preventive measures to reduce the probability of failure and mitigating aimed at minimizing the consequences.

Designing for Safety : Implications of a Fifteen Year Review of Swallowed and Aspirated Dentures

Peer reviewed

Developmental study of treatment fidelity, safety and acceptability of a Symptoms Clinic intervention delivered by General Practitioners to patients with multiple medically unexplained symptoms

Acknowledgements This study was funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government, grant CZH_4_495.

Efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of the human papillomavirus 16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine in women older than 25 years : 7-year follow-up of the phase 3, double-blind, randomised controlled VIVIANE study

Acknowledgments The VIVIANE study was funded and coordinated by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA, which also covered all costs associated with development and publication of this report. We thank all study participants and their families. We gratefully acknowledge the work of the central and local study coordinators, and staff members of the sites who participated in this study. Writing support services were provided by Mary Greenacre (An Sgriobhadair, Isle of Barra, UK), on behalf of GSK Vaccines; editing and publication coordination services were provided by Jérôme Leemans (Keyrus Biopharma, Lasne, Belgium), Stéphanie Delval (XPE Pharma and Science, Wavre, Belgium), and Matthieu Depuydt (Business Decision Life Sciences, Brussels, Belgium), on behalf of GSK Vaccines

How to recognise a kick : A cognitive task analysis of drillers’ situation awareness during well operations

Acknowledgements This article is based on a doctoral research project of the first author which was sponsored by an international drilling rig operator. The views presented are those of the authors and should not be taken to represent the position or policy of the sponsor. The authors wish to thank the industrial supervisor and the drilling experts for their contribution and patience, as well as Aberdeen Drilling School for allowing the first author to attend one of their well control courses.