Mobile work platform for initial lunar base construction

Described is a system of equipment intended for site preparation and construction of a lunar base. The proximate era of lunar exploration and the initial phase of outpost habitation are addressed. Drilling, leveling, trenching, and cargo handling are within the scope of the system's capabilities. The centerpiece is a three-legged mobile work platform, named SKITTER. Using standard interfaces, the system is modular in nature and analogous to the farmer's tractor and implement set. Conceptually somewhat different from their Earthbound counterparts, the implements are designed to take advantage of the lunar environment as well as the capabilities of the work platform. The proposed system is mechanically simple and weight efficient

A conceptual framework for client financed construction and non-traditional approaches for financing construction work

The basic premise of the client-financed-construction philosophy is that those who commission service providers must not only pay for their services for the cost of their labour, materials, plant and equipment but do so in a manner that adds value to all parties. A new framework for proposing, evaluating and implementing such systems has been conceived which is used for evaluating three non-traditional approaches for financing construction work, and thereby validating the framework. The three approaches, namely, ‘rolling advance payment’, ‘rolling material price advance’, and ‘direct financing’ have been described and analysed with the ‘rolling advance payment’ approach being described as a revolutionary approach for solving problems connected with financing contractors and as an approach that has much potential to add value to all parties. The two systems are particularly useful as a crisis management system in projects saddled with cash flow problems bringing ‘life’ to almost ‘dead’ projects with potential benefits to all parties. The paper calls for good construction project management as an essential condition for implementing these schemes with particular attention given to risk management and local construction culture

Fluctuating demands and unexpected events: An action research approach to improving work-family interaction in project-based work

This research into work-family balance in project-based construction work aims to:determine the effect of a consultative approach to the identification and evaluation of work- family balance strategies on the work-family experiences of project-based construction workers;examine the relationship between workload fluctuations and work-family experiences (both positive and negative) on project-based construction workers; andinform the development of industry policy and organisational support for positive work-family interaction in the construction industry.The issue of work-family balance is of great importance to Australia. Driven by demographic changes, the aging workforce, low birth rates, dramatic increases in dual earner couples and the changing expectations of younger generations of Australian workers, there is an urgent need to find practical solutions to the work-family balance problem.In Australia, the longest average work hours are observed in blue-collar, traditionally male industries, including construction. Construction workers are expected to work non-standard work schedules, including regular weekend work.Project-based construction work is subject to varying levels of intensity. In projects, there are critical points at which components must be completed. Immediately prior to these critical points, the intensity of work is very high. During these periods work hours can be very long, impacting negatively upon work-family experiences. The impact of peaks and troughs in work intensity on the work-family experiences of construction workers is not well understood.The research evaluates the effect of a employer-worker consultation concerning work-family interaction and the implementation of selected project-specific work-family balance strategies in a series of case study construction projects. The research will inform the Victorian Government’s policy development and build a strong partnership between government and the construction industry, for the purpose of promoting positive work-family interaction among the construction workforce.Research teamRMIT University, School of Property, Construction and Project Management:Professor Helen LingardTel. +61 3 9925 3449Email: [email protected] University of Melbourne, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning:Valerie FrancisTel. +61 3 8344 8762Email: [email protected] TurnerTel. +61 3 8344 7256Email: [email protected]

Construction and validation of the self-conscious emotions at work scale

The present study reports on the construction and validation of a new assessment instrument for self-conscious emotions in the work context, namely the Self-Conscious Emotions at Work Scale (SCEWS). In eight typical self-conscious work scenarios respondents have to indicate their emotional reaction in terms of 20 appraisals, subjective experiences, and action tendencies that are relevant and representative for the domain of self-conscious emotions. In total 512 students and 467 working adults completed the SCEWS and reported the frequency of positive emotions, anger, anxiety and sadness. In both samples a three-factorial structure emerged with a guilt, a shame/humiliation, and an anger in self-conscious situations factor. These three self-conscious emotion factors correlated differentially and in a predicted way with the frequency of emotions. Guilt-proneness was predicted to be psychologically constructive and correlated to the frequency of positive emotions. The proneness to shame/humiliation was expected to relate to internalising psychopathological tendencies, and positively correlated to a frequency of anxiety and sadness. Proneness to anger in self-conscious situations was expected to relate to externalising psychopathological tendencies and correlated with the frequency of anger in general. The present study demonstrates that self-conscious emotions can be validly measured in the work context. The new instrument allows for the systematic study of the role of self-conscious emotions in work and organisational behaviour

The social protection of rural workers in the construction industry in urban China

The construction industry is important for Chinese rural to urban migrants. Over 90% of urban construction workers are rural migrants, and over a third of all rural migrants work in construction. The construction industry is not only particularly important, but is also different from other industries in its pay and labour recruitment practices. In common with other rural workers, construction workers have long suffered from various problems, including delayed payment of salaries and exclusion from urban social security schemes. State policies designed to deal with these problems have in general had mixed success. Partly as a result of the peculiarities of the construction industry, state policy has been particularly unsuccessful in dealing with the problems faced by construction workers. This paper considers both the risks rural workers in the construction industry face because of the work they do and the risks they face and because of their being rural workers. It shows that social protection needs to take into account both the work related risks and status related risks. The authors first review the literature concerning work related risks, and then build up a framework to analyse the risks embedded in their work and status, and the relationship between these risks and the existing formal social protection. Thirty one in depth interviews with construction workers, carried out in Tianjin, PRC, are used to demonstrate both the risks and the inability of the state-led social policy to tackle these risks. The results suggest that rural construction workers in cities were exposed to all sorts of problems from not being paid for their work in time to miserable living conditions, from having to pay for their own healthcare to no savings for old age. This paper highlights the problems of policy prescriptions that failed to recognise the complexity of the problems faced by these workers and criticises the tendency to seek quick fixes rather than long-term and careful institutional design

Black Power At Work: Community Control, Affirmative Action, and the Construction Industry

{Excerpt} As the contributors to this book show, confrontations with the building trades unions became a critical axis for the rise of Black Power and community control politics, and provide a means for us to rethink the history of Black Power through the fusion by the movement of community control and labor organizing. By tracing the evolution of these activists\u27 organizing methods and analysis, we show that African American grassroots struggles to desegregate the construction industry provided a major, and in some cities the, means through which Black Power movements became ascendant in African American urban politics. Only through close attention to local politics are these profound cultural and political shifts visible. Because of their decentralized quality, the movements for community control of the construction industry varied by city, based on the idiosyncratic nature of the specific African American communities and political networks from which they emerged. These differences were accentuated by weak federal enforcement of affirmative action plans, which relied on a strategy of localism that placed the origin, evolution, and fate of construction industry affirmative action plans primarily in the hands of local actors and courts

The Social Protection of Rural Workers in the Construction Industry in Urban China

The construction industry is important for Chinese rural to urban migrants. Over 90% of urban construction workers are rural migrants, and over a third of all rural migrants work in construction. The construction industry is not only particularly important, but is also different from other industries in its pay and labour recruitment practices. In common with other rural workers, construction workers have long suffered from various problems, including delayed payment of salaries and exclusion from urban social security schemes. State policies designed to deal with these problems have in general had mixed success. Partly as a result of the peculiarities of the construction industry, state policy has been particularly unsuccessful in dealing with the problems faced by construction workers. This paper considers both the risks rural workers in the construction industry face because of the work they do and the risks they face and because of their being rural workers. It shows that social protection needs to take into account both the work related risks and status related risks. The authors first review the literature concerning work related risks, and then build up a framework to analyse the risks embedded in their work and status, and the relationship between these risks and the existing formal social protection. Thirty one in depth interviews with construction workers, carried out in Tianjin, PRC, are used to demonstrate both the risks and the inability of the state-led social policy to tackle these risks. The results suggest that rural construction workers in cities were exposed to all sorts of problems from not being paid for their work in time to miserable living conditions, from having to pay for their own healthcare to no savings for old age. This paper highlights the problems of policy prescriptions that failed to recognise the complexity of the problems faced by these workers and criticises the tendency to seek quick fixes rather than long-term and careful institutional design.social security, rural-urban migrants, construction workers, industrial organisation, social exclusion, People’s Republic of China, work related risks