A Study on the leadership behaviour, safety leadership and safety performance in the construction industry in South Africa

Abstract: The review of recent publications of employee safety to investigate the relationship between leadership behaviour, safety communication and performance in the construction industry. Method: The study is a cross sectional study, over 348 questionnaires were e-mailed to construction companies in Gauteng, with 155 valid responses received and 44.5% valid response rate achieved. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was carried out to test the factor structure and determine if the composite reliability was significant with a factor loading of > 0.5, resulting in an acceptable model fit. Through the analysis of SPSS, the results show that leadership visibility and behaviour affects safety culture and safety performance in the construction industry. Safety performance was affected and improved with contingency leadership and a positive safety organisational culture. The study suggests improving safety performance by providing well-entrenched safety management systems with the foundation being, safety leadership, communication, commitment and employee training

Life cycle energy analysis of environmental management reports in the Japanese automotive industry: Learning from the Japanese experience

This paper discusses the assessment and compari-son of the life cycle energy impacts of paper-based and electronic environmental reports in the Japanese automotive industry. By January 2007, there were 129 031 ISO 14001 certified organisa-tions and an additional 5389 certified to the European eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS). Energy use and the environmental bur-dens of environmental reporting by these compa-nies, has grown and can no longer be ignored. Electronic systems are often portrayed as being more environmentally beneficial than traditional ones, for environmental reporting. However there are no known assessment methodologies that address this subject. This paper therefore creates a framework for analysing the two systems. Energy consumption models are developed within a life cycle assessment (LCA) framework and applied to the traditional and electronic systems respectively. A postal system model is developed for energy con-sumption in traditional mail distribution in Japan under six different scenarios. Data gaps in the Japanese automotive industry are compensated for by the use of justified assumption and sensitivity analysis of the variables concerned. Simulation results are analysed and some decision issues deci-phered. A comparative analysis of electronic and traditional environmental reports identifies the nec-essary preconditions for reducing environmental burdens of the overall environmental management system (EMS)

Modelling the Electricity Value of Mauritius’ Sugarcane Industrial Ecosystem Using Systems Dynamics Approach

Sugar cane, grown widely in African countries, is known to be one of the most productive species in terms of its conversion of solar energy to chemical potential energy. However, the deployment and diffusion of this technology option on large scale basis is hindered by the complexity in bio-electricity generation. The conversion pathways across bio-electricity production involve water, energy, and land-use planning decision and policy making often occurs in separate and disconnected institutional entities. As such the analytical tools used in support of the decision making process are equally fragmented. In addition the supply of feedstock for electricity generation is limited to the crop harvest season. Let alone the supply is threatened by a wide range of factors among which includes declining sugar prices, competing priorities for land and water which hinder growth of this sector. The complexity warrants the need for decision support tools that can be used not only to broaden the understanding of electricity generation but provide ways of enhancing the energy value of sugarcane production systems in an integrated manner. Using Mauritius as an example this study applied Spatial Systems Dynamics Model (SSDM) that provides a platform for multi-disciplinary simulation. The model integrates the spatial complexity in biomass production, socio-technical complexities in electricity production, and environmental implications in terms of emission avoidance. The model provides multiple scenarios of bio-electricity generation projected from 2012 to 2035. The model highlights the significance of good policy interventions required to optimize electricity production, the potential environmental benefits, and technological improvements that are critical for decision-making especially to a small developing island like Mauritius, which depends heavily on imported fossil fuels to meet its energy demand

Life cycle assessment interpretation and improvement of the Sicilian artichokes production

This paper presents the results obtained from the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the production of Sicilian artichokes (Cynara scolymus) with the aim of reducing impacts, interpreting the results, suggesting possible improvements and enriching the sustainability knowledge already existing in the agro food field. Artichokes represent one of the excellent Italian agricultural products even if still not well-known and not appreciated despite their nutritional and functional quality. According to FAOSTAT (2013) data, Italy is the world leader in artichokes production, grown mainly in the central and southern regions of Italy, in particular in Sicily, Apulia and Sardinia. In particular, among all the Italian regions, Sicily, which is highly suited for this type of cultivation, is ranked first in terms of quantity produced: the reason for this lies in the excellent combination of climate and geological conformation of the soils. The study was conducted in accordance with the ISO standards 14040 and 14044 (2006), with the functional unit of 1 ha of land and, as the system boundaries being the phases of: pre-implantation preparation of the field; artichoke implantation; and harvesting. The most impacting phases are those related with the consumption of fuel and fertilizers as well as with the use of the PVC pipes for irrigation. Possible improvements could be the use of methanol instead of the naphtha (reduction of the total damage of about 13%) and the possibility of recycling the PVC pipes once the field is dismantled (furthermore reduction of the damage of about 3%)

Developing KPI for organizations with similar objective

Abstract:It is a difficult task to attempt developing generic Key Performance Indicators for all the functions of Facilities Management services in all organization it serves. Nevertheless, the exercise is possible for organizations with similar objectives. For example, the objectives of Higher Education institutions revolve around teaching, learning and research that require functional infrastructure, technology and services. The client, end-users and service providers in these organizations can develop acceptable indicators for their operation of the support facilities and that will facilitate the creation of an effective benchmark. The modified classic Delphi technique was used in achieving the consensus of opinion from the participants. The findings revealed that there were convergence of opinion on the essential indicators that can enhance the provision, operation and management of the required support facilities for the effective performance of the core functions of Higher Education institutions. It was recommended that the research should be extended to cover all Higher Education institutions within and across regions for more comprehensive informatio

Environmental assessment of the citrus fruit production in Sicily using LCA

Citrus production is one of the most important sectors of the Sicilian agriculture. In particular, Sicilian orange production is of the best quality producing mainly pigmented or blood oranges (cvv. Tarocco, Moro and Sanguinello). No other region in the Mediterranean area or on the American Continent produces, on a large scale, blood oranges

Enhanced Biogas Generation from Co-Digestion of Sewage Sludge and Kitchen Bio-Waste

In this study kitchen waste and sewage sludge were co-digested anaerobically to produce biogas with the aid of engineering granules to enhance biogas production. Co-digestion was conducted for mesophilic and thermophilic conditions in a 20L bio digester for a period of 30 days. Hycura was inoculated to enhance biogas production. The co-digestion resulted in significant degrease of the total volatile solids and chemical oxygen demand of the bio-waste by >75%. Mesophilic conditions favored high quality biogas production with methane content as high as 74%. Inoculation with Hycura hindered H2S production which enhanced the quality of the biogas and makes it easier for upgradin

The importance of quality management system and leadership in the South African restaurant, fast food and catering sector – case of the Gauteng Region

Abstract: South Africa, being a developing country, experiences the impact of global competition which has pushed many organizations to develop plans to respond to a continuous competitive global market. The restaurant, fast food, and catering sector is broad within the service industry involving independent restaurants, quick service restaurants and fast food outlets, outsourced catering companies, just to name a few. This study’s objective is to establish the importance of focusing on the fundamentals of quality management practices and the usefulness of leadership practices in the management process of the above-mentioned sector. This study included a quantitative research method under which an empirical investigation was executed following the literature review. The study consisted of the analysis of data collected from questionnaires administered to 65 restaurants in Gauteng, South Africa. After results analysis and interpretation, it is concluded that the functions of management were not well integrated, mainly the leadership functions. Hence, a need to improve specific aspects of the foundations of management approaches in the restaurant, fast food and catering sector is required

Planning and monitoring tool to control profitability in a manufacturing concern : a case study at C Chemicals

The aim of this paper is to analyse the key profit drivers in a manufacturing concern, and develop a decision tool based on optimisation techniques. The aim is planning and managing these profit drivers so that the target revenue and profit are realised during an operating period. This was done through developing a forecasting tool based on Visual Basic that was used by the organisation to project the future demand of its products. This tool was linked to a database that had details on past product performance. Planning software was developed using linear programming, which identified the optimum product mix and the sales outlets locations to maximise revenue and profi

Freight traffic planning and rolling stock scheduling management tool

A railway organisation is designed to provide economies of scale in a country’s freight traffic system and it is on this understanding that a need has been observed to prompt a design for a Freight Traffic Planning and Rolling Stock Scheduling Management Tool that will ensure optimum allocation and utilisation of resources, and timely delivery of customer goods. Literature related to freight traffic planning and wagon scheduling is explored in an attempt to find the best solution alternatives in order to develop a programme for freight traffic planning and wagon scheduling that will optimise resource utilisation. However, several aspects have to be additionally taken into account, such as cyclic departures of the trains from stations, available loads at stations, types of wagons required for given commodity types, destinations, locomotive types, and transfer of wagons between or at stations i.e. attaching and or detaching wagons in transit. The model is formulated as a goal programming problem, and solutions are obtained using VB.Net on ORACLE Database. The solutions give proper knowledge of available business (freight traffic) at any station nationwide; knowledge and position of all wagons by types at anytime; proper allocation and scheduling of wagons to take available business in terms of priority and monitored wagon distribution nationwide. Locomotive and Wagon availability revolved around 74 and 66% respectively. Computational results for several test instances are presented