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1 – 10 of over 5000Isik Ates Kiral and Sevilay Demirkesen
This study aims to observe the impact of peripheral vision on construction safety. The study further intends to create awareness of eye diseases in construction safety, an…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to observe the impact of peripheral vision on construction safety. The study further intends to create awareness of eye diseases in construction safety, an important root cause for most construction-related hazards and accidents.
Design/methodology/approach
This study focuses on the impact of peripheral vision in terms of construction site safety. Experiments were conducted with construction employees with different qualifications, ages, expertise and previous safety training experience. The experiments were conducted with an experiment set consisting of a tangent screen to measure the peripheral angle of the participants. The study measured peripheral vision, which helped determine the vision field accordingly. In this context, a total of 32 participants were investigated in terms of their peripheral visual angle and the field of vision. The data collected were analyzed in terms of several statistical tests such as One-Sample t-test, multivariate ANOVA and multiple linear regression.
Findings
The results of the study indicated that there are significant differences in peripheral vision in terms of age of participants, work qualification, work experience, area of expertise and previous safety training experience. The study further revealed that most of the participants failed to satisfy both OSHA requirements about peripheral vision, and normal limits defined in the previous literature. The study further implies that participants, who reported previous sight problems or eye diseases are more vulnerable to construction site accidents.
Originality/value
Construction site safety remains a major concern for most construction companies despite the latest developments in technology. Several companies are struggling with poor safety performance, occupational injuries and illnesses, and work-related accidents resulting in fatalities. However, the root causes behind several construction accidents are still vague due to different dynamics in the construction industry. Among these root causes, poor sight, vision and or eye diseases constitute an important part. Hence, the study provides empirical evidence with the workers checked for eye health to help policymakers and industry practitioners in terms of developing awareness for eye-related injuries and accidents and review their safety programs accordingly.
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Aims to subject to empirical scrutiny the claim that peripheralwork is characterized by a range of undesirable characteristics. Theanalysis of data from the Australian Workplace…
Abstract
Aims to subject to empirical scrutiny the claim that peripheral work is characterized by a range of undesirable characteristics. The analysis of data from the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS) clearly shows that there is a link between peripheral forms of employment and undesirable working conditions in Australian workplaces. Further, the negative features of peripheral employment apply regardless of workplace size, sector or industry. In conjunction with the evidence of the growth of a peripheral workforce and the marked over‐representation of women in such jobs, supports the argument that peripheral work contributes to inequality in Australian workplaces.
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Linda J. Twiname, Maria Humphries and Kate Kearins
As part of an ongoing project on worker well‐being, this paper aims to examine the application of flexible work arrangements through the experiences of core workers in a small…
Abstract
Purpose
As part of an ongoing project on worker well‐being, this paper aims to examine the application of flexible work arrangements through the experiences of core workers in a small, European‐owned, New Zealand manufacturing firm.
Design/methodology/approach
A participatory action research approach is taken.
Findings
The research reveals that flexible employment arrangements utilised in this firm did not afford protection to core workers as theory suggests. Both core and peripheral workers were exposed to pressure primarily to extend their hours of work and to reduce their expectations regarding remuneration. Production level increases were not reflected in increases in numbers of core workers; in fact perceived job security was low. Core workers felt pressure to work extended hours out of their commitment to the firm, each other, and to maintain their own employment.
Practical implications
The use of more democratic processes inherent in action research oriented at workplace well‐being are shown to have had some value toward enhancing worker well‐being.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates that the participative project placed pressure upon management and that it had the potential to redress a power imbalance within the employment relationship.
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Yvonne Guerrier and Andrew Lockwood
This article discusses approaches to work flexibility and the useof core and peripheral workers in the hotel industry. It argues thathotel companies have traditionally neglected…
Abstract
This article discusses approaches to work flexibility and the use of core and peripheral workers in the hotel industry. It argues that hotel companies have traditionally neglected building a core workforce and resorted to using “peripheral” workers in key operative jobs. It distinguishes between three groups of core workers that can be found in hotels: company core staff, who make their careers across a range of units in a hotel group; unit core staff, who are limited to the single hotel unit; and operative core staff, who may develop their careers within one hotel or across a number of hotels. The problems of developing such an operative core are discussed, as are the consequences of not developing it.
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Sara Ann McComb, Melissa Woodard Barringer and Kristina A Bourne
Part-time employment is a vital portion of the U.S. labor force, yet research to date has provided only limited insights into how to successfully create and manage this sector of…
Abstract
Part-time employment is a vital portion of the U.S. labor force, yet research to date has provided only limited insights into how to successfully create and manage this sector of the workforce. We propose that these limitations are due, at least in part, to an inadequate explication of the levels issues inherent in this area. In this article, we present a summary framework of constructs at the economic, industry, organization, individual, and work levels that influence part-time work arrangements. We then specify a cross-level moderator model that examines how the number of hours worked by employees influences their attitudes and behaviors. We posit that this relationship is moderated by a number of contextual effects at multiple levels. Using this sample model, we demonstrate the way in which researchers examining part-time work arrangements can effectively address levels issues. Our article concludes with a discussion of the implications that this summary framework has for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.
Arnaldo Camuffo and Federica De Stefano
In this paper, we argue that work should be recognized as “commons.” We call for a new approach to how managers define their role and responsibility regarding the problem of work…
Abstract
In this paper, we argue that work should be recognized as “commons.” We call for a new approach to how managers define their role and responsibility regarding the problem of work flexibility and of its societal implications. We argue that, in the global and digitized economy, it is in the best interest of all the company’s stakeholders that managers choose combinations of work arrangements and human resource policies considering the externalities of these decisions. Managers’ responsibility spans to the costs and risks that the broader social system of organizational stakeholders will bear because of their decisions. When labor market institutions are “thin,” it is management’s responsibility to contribute structuring and shaping them, so that the interests of workers, independent of the work arrangements, are considered.
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The study aims to provide a critical review of the extent to which digital technologies are likely to replace human labour, the exponential rise in the amount of work to be done…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to provide a critical review of the extent to which digital technologies are likely to replace human labour, the exponential rise in the amount of work to be done and how far distinctively human skills are future-proofed and therefore likely to be in short supply. It reviews the evidence for a permanent switch to home and remote working enabled by emerging technologies. It assesses the business, digital and labour strategies of work organisations and the promise and challenges from a dominant trend towards a digitally enabled flexible labour model.
Design/methodology/approach
A critical review of 1020 plus case studies and the extant literature was carried out.
Findings
The relationship between emerging technologies and work is widely misunderstood, and there are major qualifiers to the idea of an overwhelming tsunami of technology drastically reducing headcounts globally. Distinctive human skills remain valuable, the amount of work to be done is increasing exponentially and automation is becoming more a coping than a labour replacement mechanism. Moves to a hybrid digitalised flexible labour model are promising but not if short-term, and if the challenges they represent are not managed well.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation is that we are making projections into the future, though we are drawing on a lot of different sources and evidence and past data projected into the future.
Practical implications
The problem is not labour displacement but large skills shortages that will slow down the speed of technology adoption. Skills development is vital, as is the taking of long-term perspectives towards the management of hybrid, flexible working based on human-machine interactions.
Social implications
Organisations need to revitalise their training and development and labour management models. Governments and intermediary institutions need to manage transition states if the skills required to gain economic growth are to be available, and to ensure that large labour pools do not get bypassed from not having requisite skills.
Originality/value
The study offers a more subtle and complex perspective on the emerging evidence about the future of technology and work.
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The subject of part‐time work is one which has become increasingly important in industrialised economies where it accounts for a substantial and growing proportion of total…
Abstract
The subject of part‐time work is one which has become increasingly important in industrialised economies where it accounts for a substantial and growing proportion of total employment. It is estimated that in 1970, average annual hours worked per employee amounted to only 60% of those for 1870. Two major factors are attributed to explaining the underlying trend towards a reduction in working time: (a) the increase in the number of voluntary part‐time employees and (b) the decrease in average annual number of days worked per employee (Kok and de Neubourg, 1986). The authors noted that the growth rate of part‐time employment in many countries was greater than the corresponding rate of growth in full‐time employment.
Salima Hamouche and Zakariya Chabani
The labor market has witnessed the increase of the new forms of employment relationship (freelancers, contingent workers, and gig workers) due to the COVID-19 outbreak, generating…
Abstract
Purpose
The labor market has witnessed the increase of the new forms of employment relationship (freelancers, contingent workers, and gig workers) due to the COVID-19 outbreak, generating new workforce patterns that represent a significant challenge for human resource development (HRD) professionals in organizations. Studies that have addressed these new forms of employment relationship and HRD during this pandemic are sparse. This paper aims to broaden the scope of HRD research by exploring the implications of these new forms of employment relationship for HRD in the time of COVID-19. It also provides insights for HRD professionals as well as governments into how to address this challenge.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a viewpoint that addresses the new workforce patterns generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and their implications for HRD at the organizational, individual and national levels.
Findings
COVID-19 sheds light on the importance of atypical workers who can create a competitive advantage for organizations, ensure their continuity and significantly benefit national and societal well-being in times of health crisis. However, these atypical workers are often overlooked when it comes to training and development. Whence the importance, for HRD professionals and governments, to address their situation and to integrate them into organizational and national HRD plans and programs, by going beyond traditional models of HRD which focus mainly on standard employees.
Originality/value
This paper examines a relatively unexplored topic. Besides examining the implications of the new forms of employment relationship, for HRD, it provides insights for HRD professionals and governments into how to address the challenges related to these new forms of employment relationship.
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Francis A. Adzei and Roger A. Atinga
This study seeks to undertake a systematic review to consolidate existing empirical evidence on the impact of financial and non‐financial incentives on motivation and retention of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to undertake a systematic review to consolidate existing empirical evidence on the impact of financial and non‐financial incentives on motivation and retention of health workers in Ghana's district hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed a purely quantitative design with a sample of 285 health workers from ten district hospitals in four regions of Ghana. A stepwise regression model was used in the analysis.
Findings
The study found that financial incentives significantly influence motivation and intention to remain in the district hospital. Further, of the four factor model of the non‐financial incentives, only three (leadership skill and supervision, opportunities for continuing professional development and availability of infrastructure and resources) were predictors of motivation and retention.
Research limitations/implications
A major limitation of the study is that the sample of health workers was biased towards nurses (n=160; 56.1 percent). This is explained by their large presence in remote districts in Ghana. A qualitative approach could enrich the findings by bringing out the many complex views of health workers regarding issues of motivation and retention, since quantitative studies are better applied to establish causal relationships.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that appropriate legislations backing salary supplements, commitment‐based bonus payments with a set of internal regulations and leadership with sound managerial qualities are required to pursue workforce retention in district hospitals.
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