Getting reticent young male participants to talk: using artefact-mediated interviews to promote discursive interaction

During a pilot study that used interviews to collect data from young male apprentices about construction site safety, we were confronted with limited verbal responses. This article is about how we explored this research problem of ameliorating unresponsive interview interactions. The article reviews the options that previous researchers have trialled and developed, and specifically focuses on artefact-mediated interviews conducted with young male participants. We focus on the use of images within artefact-mediated interviews to draw out data from less communicative subjects. Our reflection upon this process proposes that the use of both abstract and concrete images within an artefact-mediated interview can produce diverse and enriched forms of data

Improving safety culture: the impact of the construction induction training on the construction industry in Western Australia

Australia strives to be a world leader in safety practice however improving safety cultures to reduce work-related injuries in the hazardous environment of the construction industry is a continual challenge. It is particularly difficult in Western Australia (WA) where the industry is engaging with the second development boom this century, often in isolated locations, and simultaneously adapting to the national harmonisation of OHS regulations. In 2006, Worksafe WA introduced mandatory certification in safety awareness training for all employees, before they could begin work on a construction site. This paper reviews the impact of this training on the construction industry, presenting both the perceptions of the stakeholders from their survey returns and through the analysis of lost time injury/disease statistics. The findings of the study indicate that the training has played a role in decreased work-related injuries and changing attitudes to safety training

Chiral Reductions in the Salam-Sezgin Model

Reductions from six to four spacetime dimensions are considered for a class of supergravity models based on the six-dimensional Salam-Sezgin model, which is a chiral theory with a gauged U(1) R-symmetry and a positive scalar-field potential. Reduction on a sphere and monopole background of such models naturally yields four-dimensional theories without a cosmological constant. The question of chirality preservation in such a reduction has been a topic of debate. In this article, it is shown that the possibilities of dimensional reduction bifurcate into two separate consistent dimensional-reduction schemes. One of these retains the massless SU(2) vector gauge triplet arising from the sphere's isometries, but it produces a non-chiral four-dimensional theory. The other consistent scheme sets to zero the SU(2) gauge fields, but retains the gauged U(1) from six dimensions and preserves chirality although the U(1) is spontaneously broken. Extensions of the Salam-Sezgin model to include larger gauge symmetries produce genuinely chiral models with unbroken gauge symmetries.Comment: 37 page

Tidal influence on Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica: observations of surface flow and basal processes from closely-spaced GPS and passive seismic stations

High-resolution surface velocity measurements and passive seismic observations from Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, 40 km upstream from the grounding line are presented. These measurements indicate a complex relationship between the ocean tides and currents, basal conditions and ice-stream flow. Both the mean basal seismicity and the velocity of the ice stream are modulated by the tides. Seismic activity increases twice during each semi-diurnal tidal cycle. The tidal analysis shows the largest velocity variation is at the fortnightly period, with smaller variations superimposed at diurnal and semi-diurnal frequencies. The general pattern of the observed velocity is two velocity peaks during each semi-diurnal tidal cycle, but sometimes three peaks are observed. This pattern of two or three peaks is more regular during spring tides, when the largest-amplitude velocity variations are observed, than during neap tides. This is the first time that velocity and level of seismicity are shown to correlate and respond to tidal forcing as far as 40 km upstream from the grounding line of a large ice stream

The unmet promise of occupational health and safety harmonisation: continued complexity for small, multi-jurisdictional firms

Harmonisation of state-based occupational health and safety (OHS) regimes is a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) initiative designed to ‘cut red tape’ for Australian firms. However Western Australia’s, South Australia’s and Victoria’s lack of harmonisation makes it problematic for firms that conduct business in multiple jurisdictions. In this paper we investigate what impacts harmonisation has on firms generally and specifically smaller, multi-jurisdictional firms. First, we look at the requirements of the model WHS Act and what it said about managerial responsibilities for OHS. We focus on the due diligence clause which places personal liability on company directors or persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCUBs) for breaches in their duty. As a new duty, this also increases complexity for small, multi-jurisdictional firms depending on the jurisdiction in which they operate and the legislation to which they need to attend. We then question how these small firms may deal with this problem and draw on findings of a study where the impact of the harmonisation on safety professionals and training design and delivery was explored. Although the focus was not specifically on small firms, the data suggests small firms do not use dedicated safety professionals and instead rely on industry associations to understand their OHS obligations. Indeed, some small firms attempt to avoid compliance entirely, until ordered by regulators to comply. This is a risky strategy as the costs of being found guilty of a breach or non-compliance are significant. Moreover, small, multi-jurisdictional firms need to be conversant with at least two sets of OHS legislation with differing requirements and levels of penalties. The paper contributes to the debate on small firm regulation and shows that despite attempts to ease the regulatory burden in smaller firms that operate across state borders, complexity remains

Workers on temporary 457 visas: Challenges they face when working in the Western Australian resources sector

As a response to the shortage of specialised workers in the Western Australian (WA) resources sector, business has resorted to employing workers on temporary 457 visas. This paper provides an insight into some of the challenges workers on 457 visas reported while working in Australia in a study that collected data in 2012. While the study focussed on costs and benefits of employing workers on 457 visas to business, the migrant worker and the larger Australian community, part of the data included the social and financial costs to these workers. It is this data that is reported in this paper. Workers on 457 visas stated that financial costs that directly affected them were the requirement to cover their medical and child care costs as well as some paid up to $3000 to overseas Migration Agents to arrange their visas. The social costs included extreme loneliness, acceptance by Australian workers and difficulties with spouse and family who may be large distances apart that is further exacerbated by fly-in/fly-out working arrangements. Relocation Agents appear to provide the very valuable connection to community for newly arrived migrants in that they facilitate introductions for people to establish new friendships. The emotional and social welfare of these workers emerged as key components of successful assimilation in Australia. Failure to acknowledge these problems resulted in threats to emotional well being of the workers and their families and in some cases led to workers returning home earl

Retrofitting Crude Oil Refinery Heat Exchanger Networks to Minimise Fouling While Maximising Heat Recovery

The use of fouling factors in heat exchanger design and the lack of appreciation of fouling in traditional pinch approach has often resulted badly designed crude preheat networks that are expensive to maintain. The development of thermal and pressure drop models for crude oil fouling has allowed its effects to be quantified, so that techno-economic analyses can be performed and various design options compared. Application of these fouling models is carried out on two levels: on the assessment of adding extra area to individual exchangers, and the design of a complete network using the Modified Temperature Field Plot. Application to a refinery case study showed that both at the exchanger and network levels, designing for maximum heat recovery using traditional pinch approach results in the least efficient heat recovery over a time period when fouling occurs