"We suffered in silence" : health and safety at Chatham Dockyard, 1945 to 1984 : evaluating the causes and management of occupational hazards, relating especially to asbestos, ionising radiation and masculinity

This thesis is designed to enhance knowledge and understanding of a range of issues relating to the health and safety of the workforce at Chatham Dockyard from 1945 until its closure in 1984. During this period, the Chatham Dockyard workforce was predominantly white, male and working class. Many workers entered the Dockyard with the expectation of a job for life, while others aimed to take advantage of the superior education system to advance to management grades or to progress to further education and/or a career in naval architecture. The majority of workers lived locally and generations of families from the Medway area earned their living in the Dockyard. Casual workers were also employed and came and went as labour requirements fluctuated, while women occupied positions in clerical, cooking, cleaning, sailmaking, ropemaking and, latterly, traditional male roles such as engineering, slinging and plumbing.A key objective of this study is to establish how dangerous it was to work in the Dockyard, with particular reference to the significant hazards posed by asbestos and ionising radiation. The effectiveness of efforts to mitigate the risks of Dockyard labour is assessed, while the health and safety legislative framework is explored, as is its application to the Dockyards. Gauging the influence of an overtly masculine culture on worker safety, which is central to understanding how and why workers endangered themselves (consciously or not) in some circumstances, is a further objective of this study. In order to establish the masculine culture of this working environment, masculine behaviour traits are explored including camaraderie, provider mentality, risk taking and attitudes toward female workers (especially those working in traditionally male roles). Management strategies are also considered, with Admiralty/Ministry of Defence and local management policies set in their historical and legislative contexts in an attempt to shed light on the factors that informed decision making and management behaviour. This encompasses an account of the comprehensive educational and medical facilities provided to the Dockyard’s labour force in the period.In addition to the review of relevant secondary literature, the study utilises a range of documentary and life history sources. The latter include interviews and questionnaires completed by former workers, relating to work experiences, culture and the impact of industrial injury/disease. This evidence reveals a combination of causal factors that contributed to dangerous working conditions at Chatham Dockyard. While shipbuilding and ship-repairing work itself could be perilous, the study identifies the following contributory factors to risk: competing priorities impacted on the level of protection afforded to workers by the Admiralty and latterly the Ministry of Defence; masculine culture among workers increased the risk of succumbing to occupational illness or injury; and where legislation and Admiralty/MoD policy sought to address risks, these efforts were frequently hampered by communication failure, gaps in knowledge and poor management decisions.The study opens a discourse on the history of health and safety in the Royal Dockyards after 1945 and contributes to the historiographies of the use and impact of asbestos and nuclear power in industry. It also adds to literature in the fields of naval, maritime, labour, gender and medical history, while the testimony collected during the study makes an important contribution to the life history of Chatham Dockyard and builds on existing oral histories of the Royal Dockyards

Administrative Law—Licensing by Municipal Bodies: A Judicial Function—Standow v. City of Spokane, 88 Wn. 2d 624, 564 P.2d 1145 (1977)

In this note, the reasoning behind the court\u27s decision will be examined and it will be urged that, despite flaws in the analysis, the result in this case is a sound one. Discretionary municipal action which cannot be reviewed under the Washington Administrative Procedure Act but which involves application of existing law to past or present facts for the purpose of declaring or enforcing liability... resembles the ordinary business of courts and should be susceptible to judicial review on petition for a writ of statutory certiorari

Young People, Music and Political Participation : From the Cultural Politics to the Political Cultures of Young People

This study of young people\u27s participation in politics seeks to investigate some of the areas where music and politics intersect in the lives of young people. From a broad interest in young people\u27s participation, the relationship between young people, music and political participation will be explored. An initial account of the relationship between music and young people\u27s political participation in advanced industrial capitalist societies such as Australia will be established. This relationship has previously received little academic attention. Dominant views of young people that suggest they are not interested in politics, or that they are irrelevant to political decision-making, deny young people\u27s ability to participate. The established literature in the field of young people\u27s political participation is limited in that it operates within a narrow framework which excludes most young people\u27s activities and behaviours. It is apparent that many young people are excluded from formal political participation in contemporary advanced industrial societies. It is thus hoped that this study may help inform future research into the political participation of young people, through the identification of a broader framework for the understanding of young people\u27s participation and politics. In the absence of in-depth fieldwork this project is heavily based upon a critical analysis of current and past literature in fields of study including youth studies, cultural studies, music, politics, civic identity, social movements and the various spaces between these fields. Knowledge of events and activities is also drawn from journalistic accounts and less formal sources such as music websites, flyers and album sleeves. Through reconsidering the dominant discourses and theoretical frameworks within which young people\u27s political participation is conceptualised, a broader conception of political participation is offered. The significance of young people\u27s own perspectives of politics and participation is emphasised. The importance of considering both local and global influences upon the form and content of young people\u27s political participation is stressed. It is argued that young people\u27s use of music, through both production and reception, and with varying degrees of intent and specificity of meaning, should be interpreted as having political relevance and as contributing to the form and content of young people\u27s collective and individual political identifications. Contemporary political institutions and discourses need to broaden their scope to include the multiple and diverse modes of political expression and participation found in numerous places. Differences in the type of participation favoured and the issues most relevant, based upon age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, physical ability, culture, style, taste, or any other sources of difference present in society, need to be valued and negotiated fairly in decision-making processes. If governments in advanced industrial societies are to achieve higher levels of participation in their democratic political systems they need to come some way towards accepting forms of participation that occur through music. They also need to encourage the processes that facilitate the construction of politically active identifications associated with young people\u27s use of music

Key Signature Pedagogy:an exploration of instrumental music teaching and learning in Ireland – ‘fascinating laboratory’ or ‘deviant tradition’?

This study examines pedagogy and assessment in instrumental education in Ireland. It arises from a concern that instrumental teaching and learning have remained situated in a 'black box', operating outside of mainstream education, and have not benefitted from the research and theory which have influenced other areas of education.Using Shulman‘s (2005) framework of 'signature pedagogy', the data enable a rich description of instrumental pedagogy in practice. The study explores how this pedagogy is shaped by assessment processes, and questions if current pedagogical practices meet the needs, aspirations and expectations of students, teachers, parents and examiners. The influence of institutions, such as examination boards and conservatoires, on practice is considered. It is argued that Key Signature Pedagogy is congruent with Bernstein's 'performance' pedagogical model (1996) and is determined by institutions which have historically regulated instrumental education for professional purposes.A pragmatic research methodology is employed using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data are obtained by questionnaires completed by parents, semi-structured interviews with teachers and examiners, and a focus group with students.The data suggest that certain unchanged cultural rituals characterise instrumental education in Ireland. Teachers‘ pedagogical practices are influenced by their experiences as students, and the nature of their professional preparation may account for varying levels of agency, adaptability and openness to new ideas in teaching. Parents enrol their children for altruistic reasons, emphasising enjoyment, social interaction, personal and academic development. However, a high stakes examination system impacts on what is taught in lessons and how it is taught, resulting in a culture of performativity. Many factors impact on students' engagement in instrumental lessons, but the prevailing rituals of Key Signature Pedagogy frequently do not sustain students' musical or wider interests.The study concludes with a proposal for a new framework for instrumental teaching, learning and assessment, based on Bernstein's 'competence' model (1996)

Improving Tennis Player Performance Using System Development Interpretations Methodology

This research demonstrates a unique analytical approach to improving a player\u27s performance in the game of tennis. We introduce a system development interpretations (SDI) methodology for associating player characteristics and factors in a hierarchical structure. We then show how this tool is applied in a human performance environment such as tennis. This approach was developed as a multi-disciplinary quality tool for process improvement that identifies factor dependencies and depicts their impact on the resulting player performance. From the implementation of the SDI methodology, the research was able to define the tennis player\u27s difficulties and it has allowed the researchers to build an entire team profile of the Clemson University tennis program as well as to introduce important conceptual foundations in this field

Human Performance Engineering

Ph.D. students are challenged to discover new ideas, invent new products or break through barriers on existing problems. As a Ph.D. student I am leading a new area of research in the STEM discipline. As an industrial engineer, I am attempting to extend the reach of engineering methods and tools traditionally applied in manufacturing and service-related settings to the area of human performance. Human Performance Engineering, IE 402 008, is a new creative inquiry class that Dr. Kevin Taaffe and I have created. The research includes many focus areas such as quality, decision making, perception, game theory, biology, simulation, and disciplines from engineering to psychology to management and the sciences can all potentially play a role. For the last two semesters I have guided undergraduate students in investigating the cause and effect relationships in human performance in individual or team sports. As a research group, we are challenged to learn materials that are beyond our current knowledge base and to examine psychological and biological factors that affect decisions people make in a competitive environment. Moreover, we aim to quantify the extent to which changes to our mental and physical abilities translate into an increased performance during the sporting event

Improving Volunteer Productivity and Retention during Humanitarian Relief Efforts

In the aftermath of a disaster, humanitarian organizations quickly assemble a workforce that can immediately serve a community's needs. However, these needs change over time, and the volunteer base (and their skill sets) also changes over time. In this paper, a mathematical programming model is formulated to solve a volunteer assignment problem in which beneficiaries' needs are addressed based on how many volunteers are assigned to each of the levels of needs. In addition, we also examine the changes in these volunteer assignments based on several key cost parameters, need likelihood scenarios, and volunteer training opportunities. Under various demand scenarios, the optimum decision is to begin training some unskilled volunteers early in the response period even when the short-term, unskilled task demands are still high, in preparation for the more skilled, long-term task demands that are yet to come. Humanitarian relief organization managers who generally feel as though a peak of long-term/skilled volunteer task demands will come at some point during the disaster response should strongly consider allowing volunteer training assignments

The potential therapeutic effects of creatine supplementation on body composition and muscle function in cancer

Low muscle mass in individuals with cancer has a profound impact on quality of life and independence and is associated with greater treatment toxicity and poorer prognosis. Exercise interventions are regularly being investigated as a means to ameliorate treatment-related adverse effects, and nutritional/supplementation strategies to augment adaptations to exercise are highly valuable. Creatine (Cr) is a naturally-occurring substance in the human body that plays a critical role in energy provision during muscle contraction. Given the beneficial effects of Cr supplementation on lean body mass, strength, and physical function in a variety of clinical populations, there is therapeutic potential in individuals with cancer at heightened risk for muscle loss. Here, we provide an overview of Cr physiology, summarize the evidence on the use of Cr supplementation in various aging/clinical populations, explore mechanisms of action, and provide perspectives on the potential therapeutic role of Cr in the exercise oncology setting