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1 – 10 of 505Yewei Ouyang, Guoqing Huang and Shiyi He
Safety warnings remind construction workers about dangers and guide them to take necessary actions to avoid potential injuries, which could encourage their safe behavior. Workers’…
Abstract
Purpose
Safety warnings remind construction workers about dangers and guide them to take necessary actions to avoid potential injuries, which could encourage their safe behavior. Workers’ behavior compliance with the safety warnings would be impacted by the risk perception levels induced by the warnings. This study aims to examine whether the design of safety warnings would impact the induced risk perception of workers
Design/methodology/approach
This study compared the risk perception levels of construction workers when processing two forms of safety warnings, i.e., safety signs and safety comics, which are commonly used in construction workplaces. Construction workers (n = 20) volunteered for an experiment with an implicit paradigm to probe how they perceive these safety warnings, using event-related potentials (ERPs) features collected by an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor to indicate the risk perception level
Findings
The results demonstrated that the design of safety warnings would impact the induced risk perception. The safety signs and safety comics performed differently in inducing the workers’ risk perception. The safety signs representing prohibition and caution warnings induced significantly higher risk perception than the comics, and there were no significant differences regarding direction warnings
Originality/value
This is the first study to compare the risk perception levels between various forms of safety warnings presenting safety information in different ways. The findings would help to expand the knowledge of the relationship between the design of safety warnings and workers’ safety behavioral compliance
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Mohammad Belayet Hossain and Muhammad Abdullah Fazi
Critical examination of Bangladeshi laws related to workers’ rights in the garment industry. This paper aims to examine the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the…
Abstract
Purpose
Critical examination of Bangladeshi laws related to workers’ rights in the garment industry. This paper aims to examine the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the protection of garment workers’ rights in Bangladesh, analyzing how international investment practices influence labor standards and the overall well-being of workers in the garment industry.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, qualitative and analytical methods has been used to analyze legal frameworks related to labor rights in Bangladesh and BITs.
Findings
The findings indicate a need to strengthen the current legal framework to better protect workers' rights in Bangladesh. The study also provides recommendations for the relevant authorities to improve the existing laws.
Originality/value
Novel idea critically evaluating the Bangladeshi legal framework in the context of foreign direct investment and implications for worker's rights.
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Benson Rugalema Mwemezi, Geraldine John Kikwasi and Sarah Phoya
Although there are several established frameworks for health and safety in construction, there are inadequate health and safety conditions at informal construction sites, and no…
Abstract
Purpose
Although there are several established frameworks for health and safety in construction, there are inadequate health and safety conditions at informal construction sites, and no framework has been designed to address this problem. The purpose of this paper is to develop a validated framework for health and safety risk management (HSRM) in informal construction sites with the aim of supporting Sustainable Development Goals 3, 8 and 11 of the 2030 Agenda, which are to ensure everyone enjoys a healthy life and to create inclusive, secure, robust and sustainable cities and human settlements, respectively.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on HSRM questionnaire survey and interviews with construction workers working on informal construction sites in Tanzania. A total of 13 health and safety specialists in construction were specifically chosen to validate the proposed framework for HSRM in informal construction to determine its applicability, efficacy and adaptation.
Findings
The validation results demonstrated that all of the suggested metrics within the framework for HSRM in informal construction scored higher than the test value, proving the framework’s feasibility
Originality/value
This research adds to the body of knowledge on the issue in a never-before-seen setting. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical study in Tanzania to develop and validate a framework for HSRM in informal construction.
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Organizations working in high-hazard environments contribute significantly to modern society and the economy, not only for the valuable resources they hold but also for the…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizations working in high-hazard environments contribute significantly to modern society and the economy, not only for the valuable resources they hold but also for the indispensable products and services they provide, such as power generation, transportation and defense weapons. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to develop a framework that outlines future research on systems safety and provides a better understanding of how organizations can effectively manage hazard events.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research, we developed the high hazard theory (HHT) and a theoretical framework based on the grounded theory method (GTM) and the integration of three established theoretical perspectives: normal accident theory (NAT), high reliability theory (HRT) and resilience engineering (RE) theory.
Findings
We focused on the temporal aspect of accidents to create a timeline showing the progression of hazard events and the factors contributing to safety and hazards in organizations. Given the limitations of the previous theories in providing a coherent explanation of hazard event escalation in high-hazard organizations (HHOs), we argue that the highlighted theories can be more complementary than contradictory regarding their standpoints on disasters and accident prevention.
Practical implications
A proper appreciation of the hazard nature of organizations can help reduce their susceptibility to failure, prevent outages and breakdowns of systems, identify areas for improvement and develop strategies to enhance performance.
Originality/value
By developing HHT, we contribute to systems safety research by developing a new, refined theory and enrich the theoretical debate. We also expand the understanding of scholars and practitioners about the characteristics of organizations working in high-hazard environments.
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Zhixuan Shao and Mustafa Kumral
This study aims to address the critical issue of machine breakdowns in industrial settings, which jeopardize operation economy, worker safety, productivity and environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to address the critical issue of machine breakdowns in industrial settings, which jeopardize operation economy, worker safety, productivity and environmental compliance. It explores the efficacy of a predictive maintenance program in mitigating these risks by proactively identifying and minimizing failures, thereby optimizing maintenance activities for higher efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
The article implements Logical Analysis of Data (LAD) as a predictive maintenance approach on an industrial machine maintenance dataset. The aim is to (1) detect failure presence and (2) determine specific failure modes. Data resampling is applied to address asymmetrical class distribution.
Findings
LAD demonstrates its interpretability by extracting patterns facilitating the failure diagnosis. Results indicate that, in the first case study, LAD exhibits a high recall value for failure records within a balanced dataset. In the second case study involving smaller-scale datasets, enhancement across all evaluation metrics is observed when data is balanced and remains robust in the presence of imbalance, albeit with nuanced differences in between.
Originality/value
This research highlights the importance of transparency in predictive maintenance programs. The research shows the effectiveness of LAD in detecting failures and identifying specific failure modes from diagnostic sensor data. This maintenance strategy exhibits its distinction by offering explainable failure patterns for maintenance teams. The patterns facilitate the failure cause-effect analysis and serve as the core for failure prediction. Hence, this program has the potential to enhance machine reliability, availability and maintainability in industrial environments.
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Kuo-Yi Lin and Thitipong Jamrus
Motivated by recent research indicating the significant challenges posed by imbalanced datasets in industrial settings, this paper presents a novel framework for Industrial…
Abstract
Purpose
Motivated by recent research indicating the significant challenges posed by imbalanced datasets in industrial settings, this paper presents a novel framework for Industrial Data-driven Modeling for Imbalanced Fault Diagnosis, aiming to improve fault detection accuracy and reliability.
Design/methodology/approach
This study addressing the challenge of imbalanced datasets in predicting hard drive failures is both innovative and comprehensive. By integrating data enhancement techniques with cost-sensitive methods, the research pioneers a solution that directly targets the intrinsic issues posed by imbalanced data, a common obstacle in predictive maintenance and reliability analysis.
Findings
In real industrial environments, there is a critical demand for addressing the issue of imbalanced datasets. When faced with limited data for rare events or a heavily skewed distribution of categories, it becomes essential for models to effectively mine insights from the original imbalanced dataset. This involves employing techniques like data augmentation to generate new insights and rules, enhancing the model’s ability to accurately identify and predict failures.
Originality/value
Previous research has highlighted the complexity of diagnosing faults within imbalanced industrial datasets, often leading to suboptimal predictive accuracy. This paper bridges this gap by introducing a robust framework for Industrial Data-driven Modeling for Imbalanced Fault Diagnosis. It combines data enhancement and cost-sensitive methods to effectively manage the challenges posed by imbalanced datasets, further innovating with a bagging method to refine model optimization. The validation of the proposed approach demonstrates superior accuracy compared to existing methods, showcasing its potential to significantly improve fault diagnosis in industrial applications.
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Amy Wax, Raquel Asencio, Jeffrey R. Bentley and Catherine Warren
This study aims to explore psychological safety as a potential moderating mechanism for the relation between functional diversity and individual perceptions of learning, and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore psychological safety as a potential moderating mechanism for the relation between functional diversity and individual perceptions of learning, and functional diversity and team performance in self-assembled teams.
Design/methodology/approach
To test these relationships, the authors conducted a cross-level, time-lagged, quasi-experiment, using a sample of 143 self-assembled teams. In one condition, participants formed into functionally diverse teams, and in another condition, participants formed functionally homogeneous teams.
Findings
Results suggest that functional diversity and psychological safety have an interactive effect on both individual learning and self-assembled team performance, albeit in different directions. Specifically, low psychological safety was more deleterious for individuals on functionally diverse teams than functionally homogeneous teams when it came to perceptions of learning, but the opposite was true when it came to team performance.
Originality/value
The results of this study indicate that it is critical to train team members on developing psychological safety, both in traditional and functionally diverse contexts.
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Emmanuel Kodwo Amoako, Saviour Ayertey Nubuor, Abdul-Razak Suleman, Amin Abdul Bawa and Bridget Akwetey-Siaw
The study aims to investigate the impact of anxiety and depression (dimensions of mental health) on mineworkers' safety behaviors (safety compliance and safety participation…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to investigate the impact of anxiety and depression (dimensions of mental health) on mineworkers' safety behaviors (safety compliance and safety participation) while examining the moderating role of safety climate on these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research approach with an explanatory cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. A total of 274 purposively selected mineworkers participated in the study. Responses were obtained from participants through a structured questionnaire which was analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modeling.
Findings
Anxiety had a significant negative effect on safety compliance but not participation. However, depression was found to have a significant negative effect on both mineworkers' safety compliance and participation behaviors. The findings of the study also show that safety climate moderates the relationships between the dimensions of mental health and mineworkers' safety behavior except for the relationship between anxiety and mineworkers' safety participation behavior.
Originality/value
The study offers an account of the negative effect of mental health on mineworkers' safety behavior whiles highlighting that safety climate is an important construct to mitigate the negative effects of mental illness on the safety behaviors of mineworkers.
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Ali Rehman and Tariq Umar
This research paper explores the transformative potential of Industry 5.0 for environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors within corporate settings. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
This research paper explores the transformative potential of Industry 5.0 for environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors within corporate settings. This study aims to elucidate the role of Industry 5.0 and its related technologies in influencing ESG factors, explore potential risks linked to ESG and present strategies for mitigation through Industry 5.0.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is the literature review that introduces Industry 5.0 as a pivotal factor in implementing and mitigating ESG and its related risks. It outlines Industry 5.0's characteristics, driven by advanced technologies.
Findings
Literature reviews suggest that Industry 5.0 has the potential to significantly influence ESG factors within corporate settings. It can promote sustainability, enhance working conditions and offer operational advantages.
Practical implications
The practical implications of this research paper are twofold. First, it provides valuable insights to policymakers, organizations and regulatory bodies, guiding them in adapting their frameworks to embrace Industry 5.0. This adaptation is essential for achieving ESG goals and facilitating sustainable development. Second, it highlights the critical role of Industry 5.0 in mitigating ESG-related risks, offering a robust structure for sustainable development.
Originality/value
This research paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge by highlighting the transformative potential of Industry 5.0 in the context of ESG. It offers a comprehensive exploration of the historical evolution of corporate governance, the integration of sustainability and the growing focus on ESG. It also highlights the originality and value of Industry 5.0 as a critical mitigating factor for ESG-related risks, presenting a holistic approach to sustainable corporate practices.
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Alaa Shqairat, Sébastien Liarte, Pascale Marange, Cali Nuur and Alexandre Chagnes
This study aims to analyze the implications of the recent European Union Regulation 2023/1542 on the circular economy and stakeholder strategies within the electric vehicle…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the implications of the recent European Union Regulation 2023/1542 on the circular economy and stakeholder strategies within the electric vehicle lithium-ion battery (EV-LIB) sector. It aims to explain the policy intentions, recommend practical strategies for stakeholders and examine how the new regulation exerts pressure on stakeholders to transition from older directives to more sustainable practices and operational standards, while also highlighting policy gaps.
Design/methodology/approach
The research employs a dual-method approach, combining text analysis of EU legislation with semi-structured interviews of industry stakeholders. This methodology allows for a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory impacts by integrating legislative intent with practical, on-the-ground insights from key players in the EV-LIB sector.
Findings
Our findings show that the three aggregated dimensions of operational sustainability, R&D and new technologies and collaborative dynamics are the key dynamics underlying the intended outcomes. The findings also highlight the policy’s historical development, the stakeholder categories, the implications for each and practical recommendations in responding to the policy requirements. Additionally, the findings identify policy gaps, such as weak incentives and broad economic operator classifications, with examples from international markets. The regulation creates proactive stakeholders driving innovation and collaboration and reactive ones adapting to changes, where static implicit implications may affect their viability by imposing unequal burdens.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to analyze the new EU Regulation 2023/1542, offering novel insights into the strategic responses required by stakeholders to adapt to the regulatory pressures. By focusing on the latest regulatory framework and its practical implications, the study bridges the gap between policy and practice, providing valuable guidance for industry players navigating the evolving regulatory environment.
Highlights
- (1)
EU’s policy shift from Directive to Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 has extended implications on the Electric Vehicles battery sector.
- (2)
Duel qualitative methods of text analysis and semi-structured interviews validated three aggregate dimensions and policy gaps.
- (3)
R&D with advancing technology, Operational sustainability and safety and Collaboration dynamics are dominating the scene.
- (4)
Emergence of Proactive vs Reactive stakeholder dynamics.
- (5)
The broad classification of “economic operators” and insufficiently detailed incentives, hinting at potential competitive imbalances and underexplored roles of end-users in achieving circular economy goals are appearing policy’ gaps.
EU’s policy shift from Directive to Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 has extended implications on the Electric Vehicles battery sector.
Duel qualitative methods of text analysis and semi-structured interviews validated three aggregate dimensions and policy gaps.
R&D with advancing technology, Operational sustainability and safety and Collaboration dynamics are dominating the scene.
Emergence of Proactive vs Reactive stakeholder dynamics.
The broad classification of “economic operators” and insufficiently detailed incentives, hinting at potential competitive imbalances and underexplored roles of end-users in achieving circular economy goals are appearing policy’ gaps.
Details