Moving from contractor to owner operator: Impact on safety culture; a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a change in staffing contractual arrangements, specific training in hazard identification, mentoring of supervisors and the introduction of a robust safety system could improve an organisation\u27s safety culture. How safety conditions change under contracted out labour compared to direct labour and the influence that contracting out has on organisational safety culture is explored. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a case study methodology to detail how the change occurred over a six month period in 2011. As part of the analysis a model of the change process and push-pull factors is offered. Findings – As a result of the change, all areas saw some improvement. Work-related injury statistics dropped significantly, supervisors were clear of their roles, actively monitoring their crews to ensure they worked in a safer manner than before, and staff were actively addressing work-place hazards. With the safety system in place the organisation should be deemed compliant and diligent by the state auditing authorities. This study has also shown that using contractor workers together with in-house workers that are managed under different safety regimes is problematic. The problems don’t occur due to the contractor\u27s safety systems being less robust than the parent company\u27s or that contract workers are themselves less safe; it is the added complexity of managing multiple safety regimes and the lack of trust of the robustness of each system that create conflict. Research limitations/implications – The paper reports on the change process of one mining organisation in Western Australia as a case study from a managerial sample and is thereby limited. Practical implications – This study demonstrates the difficulties in changing safety culture in an underground mining organisation. The paper argues the need for specialised training in identifying hazards by the staff, the mentoring of supervisory staff and the adoption of a robust safety system to support improved safety culture. Originality/value – There is little research conducted in the resources sector researching changes in human resource supply and OHS management, in particular moving from contracted labour to hiring in-house. This case provides an insight into how a change in staffing hiring arrangements, together with specific safety initiatives, has a positive impact on safety performance

Seamen on Land? A Preliminary Analysis of Medieval Ship Graffiti on Cyprus

This article reports on the results of a research project entitled ‘KARAVOI. The Ship Graffiti on the Medieval Monuments of Cyprus: Mapping, Documentation and Digitisation’, during which 233 ship graffiti were recorded in 44 different monuments on the island, dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Innovative recording techniques have been used to mitigate the effects of the subjective or partial recording of graffiti lines on tracing paper. Apart from the study of ship graffiti as iconographic sources, particular emphasis has been given to their geographical and social context through a comprehensive analysis of the graffiti types and their spatial distribution in the monuments as well as the monuments location on the island

Between land and sea in Puerto Rico: climates, coastal landscapes and human occupations in the mid-Holocene Caribbean

Modern human-induced climate change will have a particularly adverse impact on coastal non-industrial societies. Understanding how such changes have occurred in the past can provide better tools to address social vulnerability in these contexts. The main goal of this thesis is to consider how past non-industrial societies responded to environmental change and which conditions affected their sustainability. Here I investigate Mid-Holocene climate change and its relationship to the earliest human occupations in the Caribbean Archipelago (pre-Arawak period), using the site of Angostura (Puerto Rico) as a case study. On-site geoarchaeological tests – including microartefact and bulk-sediment analyses – were selected to study site-formation processes. Off-site sediment cores were collected and studied to address sea-level and landscape change. Archaeomalacological analysis assessed subsistence behaviour and landscape ecology. An assemblage of 18 radiocarbon dates was used to provide chronological context. To consider the dynamic and complex relationship between people and the environment, I apply the Theory of Adaptive Change (TAC) as a model to articulate scale-shifting and facilitate intra-scale comparison of biotic, abiotic and cultural elements. The various analyses show that significant environmental changes occurred during the pre-Arawak, but this had no negative effect on cultural systems. Long-distance webs of interaction, diet diversification, and landscape domestication enabled flexibility to adapt and respond successfully to change. Increasingly inflexible ‘home range’ boundaries and enhanced meso-scale rigidity lowered overall resilience of the cultural system, increasing its sensitivity to long-term landscape change. This vulnerability, however, was social; not an innate effect of changes in the environment. This observation helped identify four aspects that condition social vulnerability to change: territorial boundaries, ecosystem biodiversity, dependence on spatial configuration of landscapes, and knowledge. Understanding the interconnection between systems and their multiple nested interrelations can help develop a better understanding of the complexity of change and the meaning of sustainability within socio-natural systems

Climate change, adaptive cycles, and the persistence of foraging economies during the late Pleistocene/Holocene transition in the Levant

Climatic forcing during the Younger Dryas (∼12.9–11.5 ky B.P.) event has become the theoretical basis to explain the origins of agricultural lifestyles in the Levant by suggesting a failure of foraging societies to adjust. This explanation however, does not fit the scarcity of data for predomestication cultivation in the Natufian Period. The resilience of Younger Dryas foragers is better illustrated by a concept of adaptive cycles within a theory of adaptive change (resilience theory). Such cycles consist of four phases: release/collapse (Ω); reorganization (α), when the system restructures itself after a catastrophic stimulus through innovation and social memory—a period of greater resilience and less vulnerability; exploitation (r); and conservation (K), representing an increasingly rigid system that loses flexibility to change. The Kebarans and Late Natufians had similar responses to cold and dry conditions vs. Early Natufians and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A responses to warm and wet climates. Kebarans and Late Natufians (α-phase) shifted to a broader-based diet and increased their mobility. Early Natufian and Pre-Pottery Neolithic A populations (r- and K-phases) had a growing investment in more narrowly focused, high-yield plant resources, but they maintained the broad range of hunted animals because of increased sedentism. These human adaptive cycles interlocked with plant and animal cycles. Forest and grassland vegetation responded to late Pleistocene and early Holocene climatic fluctuations, but prey animal cycles reflected the impact of human hunting pressure. The combination of these three adaptive cycles results in a model of human adaptation, showing potential for great sustainability of Levantine foraging systems even under adverse climatic conditions

Título en español.

Soursop, tamarind, and blended tamarind-soursop soft drinks were prepared by dispersing the desired amount of fruit pulp in water and adjusting the soluble-solids concentration to the corresponding Brix level. The drinks then were pasteurized in a short-time pasteurizer at 185° F, canned in 7 1/2-ounce plain tin containers, cooled under water, air-dried, and finally stored at 85° F. For soursop drinks, levels of 10- to 15-percent fruit-pulp content were dried at a 15° Brix soluble-solids concentration; and for tamarind, levels of 9- to 12-percent pulp with the soluble solids adjusted at 21.5° Brix. In the case of blended drinks, the fruit pulp contents were varied from 10- to 14-percent by increasing the ratio of tamarind pulp to soursop. Two soluble-solids concentrations were studied: 15° and 17° Brix. The sensory evaluation of the drinks at different pulp concentrations, which were performed during the shelf-life studies, revealed no significant differences among the samples tested, although a tendency to prefer the sweeter one (17° Brix) was observed in the case of the blended drink. Soursop drinks with 12- to 15-percent pulp content remained acceptable for over 1 year and tamarind drinks throughout the whole year of the shelf-life study. Blended drinks were found acceptable for over 10 months.Se prepararon refrescos de guanábana, de tamarindo y de una combibinación de ambas frutas, mediante la dispersión de la pulpa en agua, ajustando el nivel de la acidez y de los sólidos solubles y pasterizándolos luego en un pasterizador de acción rápida a 185° F. Después se envasaron los refrescos en latas estañadas, se enfriaron con agua, se secaron y se almacenaron a 85° F. En el caso de los refrescos de guanábana, se estudiaron niveles de pulpa de 10 a 15 por ciento y un contenido de sólidos solubles de 15° Brix, y en el de los refrescos de tamarindo, niveles de pulpa de 9 a 12 por ciento, con los sólidos solubles ajustados a 21.5° Brix. En el caso de la combinación de guanábana con tamarindo el contenido de pulpa se hizo variar de 10 a 14 por ciento, aumentando proporcionalmente la cantidad de tamarindo respecto a la de guanábana. Se estudiaron dos niveles distintos de sólidos solubles: 15° y 17° Brix. Los catadores no encontraron diferencia significativa alguna entre los diversos niveles de pulpa en los refrescos que se probaron, pero se notó una tendencia a preferir el refresco más dulce, con 17° Brix, en la combinación de guanábana con tamarindo. La calidad de los refrescos se mantuvo aceptable por períodos de alrededor de 1 año

Estudio CRONO: prevalencia del dolor irruptivo en pacientes con dolor crónico no oncológico en Andalucía, España

ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of breakthrough pain (BTP) in ambulatory patients with non-cancer chronic pain in Spain and to characterize physiopathology, location, intensity and frequency of BTP episodes. Methods: Prospective, non-interventional, observational study conducted in 16 pain units of hospitals of Andalusia and Ceuta. Eligible consecutive patients were are asked if they experience BTP defined as "a transient exacerbation of pain that occurs either spontaneously, or in relation to a specific predictable or unpredictable trigger, despite stable and controlled background pain". At each survey day, the first two patients reporting BTP were further interrogated on the clinical characteristics of their BTP (etiology, onset, intensity, frequency and treatment). Results: A total of 3,209 patients with non-cancer chronic pain were screened to identify 1,118 patients with BTP, which represented a prevalence of 36 %. BTP characteristics were retrieved from 350 patients: mean BTP intensity was 8.3 (± 1.4) on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), with a mean of 2 episodes/24 hour (range 1-5/24 h). Pain mechanism was mixed in 149 (42.6 %), neuropathic in 91 (26 %) and nociceptive in 72 in (20.6 %) of patients. Significant correlation was found between BTP intensity and both higher background pain (r = 0.243, p < 0.001), and daily BTP episodes frequency (r = 0.123, p = 0.003). 78 % of the patients were on opioid treatment. The most frequent were fentanyl citrate (52.6 %) and tramadol (17.4 %). Conclusions: The prevalence rate of BTP in patients with chronic non-oncologic pain is higher than one-third of the patients seen in outpatient hospital pain units in Spain. BTP causes reduced levels of functionality, psychological disorders, and an increase in health care expenditure. Individualization is the key to treatment.RESUMEN Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar la prevalencia de dolor irruptivo (DI) en pacientes ambulatorios con dolor crónico de origen no oncológico y caracterizar la fisiopatología, localización, intensidad y frecuencia de los episodios de DI. Material y métodos: Estudio observacional, prospectivo y no intervencionista realizado en 16 unidades de dolor ambulatorias de hospitales de Andalucía y Ceuta. Se preguntó a los pacientes consecutivos elegibles si experimentan DI definido como "una exacerbación transitoria del dolor que ocurre espontáneamente, o en relación con un desencadenante predecible o impredecible específico, a pesar del dolor de base estable y controlado". En cada día de la encuesta, los dos primeros pacientes que confirmaron DI fueron preguntados sobre las características clínicas de su PTP (etiología, inicio, intensidad, frecuencia y tratamiento). Resultados: Se realizó un cribaje a un total de 3209 pacientes con dolor crónico no oncológico para identificar a 1118 pacientes con DI, lo que representó una prevalencia del 36 %. Se obtuvieron las características del DI de 350 pacientes: la intensidad media fue de 8,3 (± 1,4) en una Escala Analógica Visual (EVA), con una media de 2 episodios/24 horas (rango 1-5/24 h). El mecanismo del dolor fue mixto en 149 (42,6 %), neuropático en 91 (26 %) y nociceptivo en 72 (20,6 %) de los pacientes. Se encontró correlación positiva entre una mayor intensidad de DI con el nivel de dolor basal (r = 0,243, p < 0,001), y el número de crisis diarias de DI (r = 0,123, p = 0,003), ambas estadísticamente significativas. El 78 % de los pacientes estaba en tratamiento con opioides. Los más frecuentes fueron el citrato de fentanilo (52,6 %) y el tramadol (17,4 %). Conclusiones: La tasa de prevalencia del DI en pacientes con dolor crónico no oncológico es superior a un tercio de los pacientes atendidos en las unidades ambulatorias de dolor hospitalario en España. El DI provoca niveles reducidos de funcionalidad, trastornos psicológicos y un aumento del gasto asistencial. La clave del tratamiento es la individualización