ABSTRACT In South Africa the assessment of exposure to occupational hygiene stressors or environmental factors in workplaces covered by the Occupational Health & Safety Act, Act No. 85 of 1993 must be performed or at least verified by an Approved Inspection Authority for occupational hygiene. However, no formal system is in place to effectively audit and score operational work of Approved Inspection Authorities for occupational hygiene. Formal auditing is a requirement of internationally accepted and implemented management systems such as the International Standards Organisation (ISO) 9001: 2000, Quality Management System – Requirements, the British Standards Institution - Occupational Health and Safety Series (OHSAS) 18001: 1999, as well as the International Standard - ISO 14000: 2004: Environmental Management System. To develop an audit system for Approved Inspection Authorities for occupational hygiene, a descriptive research project that gathered relevant data through electronic questionnaires was conducted with the objective of identifying audit elements and a general scoring system as well as the development of an audit tool that can be applied by regulatory authorities, professional bodies and even competent persons to audit operational work of Approved Inspection Authorities for occupational hygiene. 5 This study had a sample population of 40 Approved Inspection Authorities for occupational hygiene, all based in the Gauteng Province, the province which had the largest number of Approved Inspection Authorities for occupational hygiene. A questionnaire was compiled from local and international audit elements and emailed to the study population for electronic completion. The cover letter and study questionnaire is appended as ANNEXURE A and ANNEXURE B respectively. The Ethics Committee – Clearance Certificate is appended as ANNEXURE C. The questionnaire listed the proposed audit elements and a number of questions relating to the registration of the Approved Inspection Authority for occupational hygiene. A scoring mechanism was also suggested. Questions asked in the questionnaire applied the equivalent-form approach whereby as far as reasonably practicable each question was rephrased so that it “appeared different”, but effectively asked the same question. The study had a response rate of 65%, or a total of twenty six returned questionnaires. The respondents were in agreement that the elements; Organisation & Administration, Human Resources, Accommodation & Environment, Equipment, Measurement & Testing as well as Occupational Hygiene Services & Documentation were applicable to an audit for Approved Inspection Authorities for occupational hygiene. Twenty two or 84.6% of the respondents strongly agreed that the said elements were adequate for an occupational hygiene audit. Four or 15.4% of the respondents disagreed, responding that the proposed elements were not adequate for an audit of Approved Inspection Authorities for occupational hygiene. 6 Four of the 26 respondents indicated that the elements; Suppliers & Accommodation should be excluded from the proposed occupational hygiene audit. Twenty two or 84.6% of the respondents strongly agreed that audits are effective in the identification of poor quality work and the subsequent need for corrective measures. Forty two percent of the respondents agreed to the use of the four point scale applied by most of the CONCAWE member companies (Brussels), which was suggested for the proposed audit of the Approved Inspection Authorities for occupational hygiene. Two of the respondents preferred the use of the terms “comply” and “not comply” instead of a numerical rating or scoring mechanism. Two respondents stated that they preferred the use of a five point scale (numbers 1 – 5) as a scoring mechanism. Six of the respondents stated that they would use a different scoring mechanism but did not explain, or elaborate on their statement. Five respondents did not complete the section on the suggested scoring mechanism. On the subject of adequate scores the study found that 18 of the respondents suggested a score of not less than 80% (out of a possible 100%). The majority of respondents indicated that a score of less than 60% warranted corrective action from the Department of Labour or the Southern African Institute for Occupational Hygiene. The majority of respondents preferred the legal appointment of the Department of Labour as the body permitted and approved to audit the operational activities of Approved Inspection Authorities for occupational hygiene. From the results of the study the researcher concluded that a need exists for a formal auditing and scoring system for operational work of Approved Inspection Authorities for occupational hygiene. A proposed audit tool was designed and is appended.

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Introduction:During a crisis in the society, the communication from the responsible authorities is of big importance. This study shows how the authorities worked with their crisis communication towards the general public during the waterleak in Kalmar in december, 2010. Purpose:The purpose of this study is to investigate how the responsible authorities in Kalmar worked with their crisis communication during the waterleak and also how the general public perceived the crisis communication. Methodology:The study is based on a combination of a qualitative and a quantitative methodology. We begin to work with qualitative interviews with the responsible authorities to get information about the actual event and their work with the crisis communication towards the general public through the mass media. Then we investigate how the general public in Kalmar perceived the crisis communication from the responsible authorities and compare these two results. Conclusion:The study shows that there were several problems, both internally and externally, with the crisis communication from the responsible authorities during the waterleak. Although some people were dissatisified with the responsible authorities crisis communication, the majority were pleased and very satisfied with the information they got from the responsible authorities during the waterleak.

No abstract available / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 1993. / gm2014 / Anthropology and Archaeology / unrestricted

The subjects of this thesis are the current changes in adult education and their effects, focusing on the provision of local education authority (LEA) adult education. I have discussed the past century of adult education and related more recent policies to a case study of an adult education centre. LEA management structures of five counties were analysed and linked to their adult education provision. Within these counties I have investigated LEA adult education providers' partnerships, particularly those with secondary schools and further education (FE) colleges. Structured interviews were conducted with students, county administrators and a Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) adult education policy team leader. Lifelong learning is high on the political agenda throughout Europe, both for its alleged ability to improve national competitiveness and for the promotion of social cohesion. Yet at the same time LEA adult education has been marginalised as a direct result of government policy. Legislation weakened local authorities and divided the curriculum which left only the, so called, 'leisure' classes for adults to be organised by LEAs. Moreover, marketplace competition between providers has inhibited collaborative partnership. In the 2000 Learning and Skills Act, LEAs have the opportunity to make a 'key contribution' to the provision of adult education. The results of my research suggest that some LEAs must restructure and then cultivate harmonious partnerships in order to play a major part in developing a learning society.

No description available.

No description available.

This study explores the development plan-making process in two local authorities, and focuses on the role different groups, including 'the public', play in this. This research aims to uncover the ways in which the practices of plan making are constructed through the work of actors and texts, and to trace how these actions reflect and constitute relations of power. Plans have been viewed as modernist tools. However this conception has been criticised in work drawing on the writings of Habermas and Foucault, which will be critically assessed. Problems associated with these theories and a need to trace how actions and structures might be constituted led to adopting a theoretical framework drawing on actor-network theory. This theory has a radical view of structure, agency and power and forces attention onto how stabilities are constructed. The theoretical framework adopted draws on these concerns to trace how actors, entities and networks emerge through social actions. The research questions focus these concerns onto understanding how plans are written, who is important in this and how entities such as 'local authorities' and 'the public' are constructed. Qualitative research was carried out in two cases, examining how the plans were written and focusing on how techniques of involving 'the public' were constructed. Case study descriptions trace how networks were built and how were important in mediating actions. In particular, the ways in which 'councils' 'officers', 'members', 'the public' and 'central government' are defined, form a focus. Analysis of the two cases revealed significant similarities attributed to a 'central government' network. Differences arose in the ways in which 'council' networks composed different practices of plan-writing and how officers and members were defined. This study shows how texts and actors shape plan-making, and how certain practices of governance are constructed.

Health regions in Canada are primarily associated with the rationalization of conventional, historically expensive provincial health care systems. At the same time, it is unclear what contribution health regions make to advancing health system reform, particularly health-promoting activities. This work sets out to understand the relationships between regionalization and health-promoting activity by studying two health regions in Canadian provinces that have different approaches to regionalization (British Columbia and Ontario). I use a constructivist grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2006) to analyse data from nineteen key informant interviews with senior management working in the two regional health authorities and in provincial health organizations. The iterative analysis of the empirical data and the review of corporate documents from both regional organizations result in the identification of three core themes grounded in the data. The dominant theme emerging from the analysis is identified as place-making referring to a region’s ability to facilitate health-promoting activity by making the region a place with special meaning and resonance for the populations served. The other two themes are creating space within organizations for health-promoting activity and developing networks. The former refers to a region’s willingness and ability to operationally support health-promoting activity and the latter refers to efforts undertaken to establish relationships with other organizations in the health-promotion and healthcare networks. I conclude that these three themes characterize critical components of a therapeutic region. A therapeutic region suggests a conceptualization of regional health authorities (RHAs) in which priority is given to health-promoting activities, alongside an entrenched curative healthcare agenda (the medical model). A therapeutic region is conceived of as a region that implements policies and develops structures aimed at achieving improvements in the overall health status of the population it serves. In this research I develop a four-cell matrix to frame the theory of therapeutic regions. One axis represents a continuum of place-making, while the second axis reflects a continuum depicting how regions develop the two other themes -- one extreme represents a piecemeal or patchwork approach, and the other an integrated strategic approach. The implications of this research relate to practice and policy. The practice of improving the health of the population served requires regions to open pathways, and remove longstanding barriers by making place-making core to all community engagement and develop health-promoting activity within their organizations and their networks. Policy-makers need to bring clarity to the regions’ role in health-promoting activity. This research indicates that health-promoting activity, innovation and progress occur when a region has the ability to manage both conventional, curative health care and health-promoting activities. Whether that is through direct governance or new ways to bring together decision-making, service co-ordination and evaluation is a subject for future work. / Graduate

In 2008, a severe economic crisis hit economies around the world. Its effects included a significant loss of GDP and employment which led to several social ills associated with recessions. However, the crisis did not impact all places with the same severity. This thesis investigates the crisis impact across GB Local Authority Districts during 2008-2014 within a framework that utilises the concept of economic resilience. However, this concept does not have a universally accepted definition or methodology of investigation. Hence, the study adopts an operational definition, comparing the conditions in local labour markets before and after the start of the recession. Using this method, a wide variation in resilience performance is identified across spatial areas. To identify the determinants of these differences, the study critically examines existing empirical studies and relevant theories. The factors identified range from past labour market performance to industrial structure, skills, demographics and other variables. The thesis then adopts an empirical method of investigation utilising a cross-sectional model. The results indicate that places which performed well before the start of the crisis have suffered deeper crisis impacts. However, the share of younger aged population and degree level qualification holders has mitigated the impact. The results are confirmed by robustness checks concerning the influence of outliers, migration and exploring the use of a composite indicator of resilience. It is the first time that a study of the crisis has focused on GB Local Authority Districts and comprehensively examined local labour markets. Moreover, the study makes a contribution by providing an operational definition and methodology for measuring resilience and empirically testing the impact of a range of determinants of resilience performance. The policy implications suggest a greater focus on skills and the attraction of younger aged workers through increased embeddedness of anchor institutions such as universities, as well as the inclusion of resilience as a core element of place-based policies.