Legislation on benefit sharing dates back to 1992 and the commandment of the UNConvention on Biological Diversity, hence implementation still has few cases to fall back on(CBD, 1992). The case study of the project ProBenefit presented by the thesis highlights howlack of deliberation can undermine a democratic process. The objective of the thesis is thatProBenefit’s attempt to implement the standards of the CBD on access and benefit sharingwill highlight not only problems met by this specific project, but difficulties that generallymeet democratic processes in contexts of high inequality. To define if the project ProBenefitsucceeded in carrying out a deliberative process the project will be analyzed by the criteria:access to information, representation, legitimacy and involvement.The population in the project area of ProBenefit had a long history of social marginalization,which made it hard for foreign projects to gain legitimacy. The lack of independentorganizations and the late establishment of the project, which resulted in time shortage, madeit impossible to prevent the distrust of the local population. The failure of the projectcoordinators to ensure active participation of all stakeholders resulted in a late and lowinvolvement of the local participants. The absence of independent organization also madedemocratic legitimacy of the process questionable. Even if ProBenefit had a vision ofdemocratic deliberation the project was unable to break down the prevailing unequal powerdistribution which resulted in an unsustainable process and failure. The conclusion of thethesis is that the attainment of deliberation foremost depends on how a project deals with theexisting distribution of power and how it succeeds in involving all stakeholders.

Background: There are personal factors and environmental factors playing impacts on the participation of children with developmental disabilities in China. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the participation of children with developmental disabilities in outside home activities compared to typically developing children. Method: A quantitative cross-sectional method was used in this study. Participants were children with developmental disabilities (autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities) and typically developing children between the age of 5 to 13. An instrument called ‘Picture My Participation’ (Simplified Chinese version) was used for data collection. Results: In general, typically developing children attended more frequently and felt more involved than children with developmental disabilities in outside home activities. There were many similarities in attendance between the two groups of children. They both attended more frequently in formal learning at school, shopping and playing with others, and less frequently in spiritual activities, social activities, and trips. Some differences were found in the activities with lower levels of involvement. Apart from the spiritual activity with the lowest mean score of involvement in both groups, typically developing children felt less involved in organized leisure and trips. However, children with developmental disabilities had lower levels of involvement in health center visits and social activities. There was no significant association between age, gender, place of residence, and participation in neither the attendance nor involvement aspect. Conclusion: Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors play essential parts in the participation of children with developmental disabilities. More support should be provided to children with DD.

Kemiska arbetsmiljörisker förekommer inom ett flertal branscher och behöver förebyggas för att skydda arbetstagare mot ohälsa, sjukdom och olycksfall. Det förebyggande arbetet görs genom att identifierade risker bedöms och kontrolleras med ändamålsenliga åtgärder, med målet att riskerna minskar eller helt försvinner. Att genomföra kemiska riskbedömningar är dock ofta både svårt och komplext med många olika aspekter att beakta och kräver både tid och kunskap. Som ett sätt att förenkla och effektivisera processen kring kemisk riskbedömning önskar Skanska, ett företag inom bygg- och anläggningsbranschen, se över om det är möjligt att återanvända kemiska riskbedömningar. Syftet med detta examensarbete blev därmed att utreda möjligheten i återanvändning av redan genomförda kemiska riskbedömningar där de kemiska produkterna ska användas igen. Utredningen har fokuserat på fördelar, hinder eller svårigheter och förutsättningar för återanvändning. Europeiskt och svenskt regelverk och vetenskaplig litteratur har genomlysts och data har samlats in från intervjuer med olika nyckelpersoner på tre arbetsplatser inom Skanska samt utifrån riskbedömningar av några utsedda produkter. Resultatet har därefter jämförts med svenskt regelverk, för att därigenom dra slutsatser om möjligheten i återanvändning av kemiska riskbedömningar. Examensarbetet har resulterat i slutsatsen att återanvändning av kemiska riskbedömningar bör vara möjlig, under förutsättning att de mallar eller checklistor som används som stöd uppfyller de krav som finns för kemisk riskbedömning. Det behöver säkerställas genom ändamålsenliga rutiner av personal med rätt kompetens om kemiska arbetsmiljörisker. Det behöver också stämmas av att exempelvis arbetssätt, omgivning och tillgången av åtgärder är likvärdiga på den arbetsplats som först genomfört riskbedömningen, och den arbetsplats som därefter återanvänder riskbedömningen, eller att dessa faktorer kan bli likvärdiga genom vidtagna åtgärder. Några risker eller hinder för återanvändning har identifierats. En av de mest framträdande riskerna är att kemiska arbetsmiljörisker förbises i samband med återanvändningen och därigenom också de åtgärder som behöver vidtas. Orsaker till detta kan vara bristande kunskap och engagemang eller möjligen fusk och slarv. I situationer där arbete ska ske med farligare kemiska produkter kan det vara svårare med återanvändning av riskbedömningar. Några fördelar med återanvändning bedöms vara förkortad tidsåtgång för kemiska riskbedömningar, en effektivare hantering, samt ett ökat stöd och lärande om kemiska arbetsmiljörisker genom att man lär av varandra och tidigare riskbedömningar. Möjligen kan återanvändning också bidra till att fler riskbedömningar genomförs, för att därigenom trygga yrkesarbetarnas säkerhet och hälsa. / Chemical risks in the work environment occur in several industries, and need to be prevented to protect workers from ill-health, illness and accidents. By performing risk assessments and taking appropriate measures, it is possible to reach the goal to reduce or even eliminate chemical risks. However, performing chemical risk assessments is often a quite difficult and complex issue with several different aspects to consider, requiring both time and knowledge. As a way to simplify and streamline the process of chemical risk assessment, Skanska, a company within the construction industry, wants to investigate whether it is possible to reuse chemical risk assessments. The purpose of this thesis was thus to investigate the possibility of reusing already performed chemical risk assessments in situations where the chemical products will be used again. The investigation has focused on the advantages, obstacles or difficulties and prerequisites for reuse. European and Swedish regulations and scientific literature have been reviewed and data have been collected from interviews with managers, safety representatives and employees at three workplaces at Skanska and from performed risk assessments of some selected products. Thereafter, the results have been compared with Swedish regulations, in order to draw conclusions about the possibility of reusing chemical risk assessments. The conclusion is that it should be possible to reuse chemical risk assessments, provided that the templates or checklists used as a support meet the requirements for chemical risk assessments. This needs to be ensured through appropriate routines by personnel with the right expertise about chemical risks in the work environment. It must also be ensured that some factors, as way of working, the work environment and measures taken, need to be similar for the workplace first performing the risk assessment, and the workplace that will reuse the same risk assessment, or at least that these factors can become similar after measures taken. Some risks or obstacles of reusing chemical risk assessments have been identified. One of the most prominent risks is that chemical hazards will be missed and thereby also the measures that need to be taken. This may be due to lack of knowledge and commitment or possibly cheating or carelessness. In situations where more hazardous chemical products are being used, it may be more difficult to reuse risk assessments. Some benefits of reusing risk assessments may be less time required for chemical risk assessments, more efficient management and increased support and learning about chemical hazards by learning from each other and previous risk assessments. Possibly, reuse can also contribute to more risk assessments being carried out, thereby ensuring the safety and health of professional workers.

Repetitive tasks, awkward hand/wrist postures and forceful exertions are known risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) of the hand and wrist. WMSD is a major cause of long work absence, productivity loss, loss in wages and individual suffering. Currently available assessment methods of the hand/wrist motion have the limitations of being inaccurate, e.g. when using self-reports or observations, or expensive and resource-demanding for following analyses, e.g. when using the electrogoniometers. Therefore, there is a need for a risk assessment method that is easy-to-use and can be applied by both researchers and practitioners for measuring wrist angular velocity during an 8-hour working day. Wearable Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) in combination with mobile phone applications provide the possibility for such a method. In order to apply the IMU in the field for assessing the wrist velocity of different work tasks, the accuracy of the method need to be examined. Therefore, this laboratory experiment was conducted to compare a new IMU-based method with the traditional goniometer and standard optical motion capture system. The laboratory experiment was performed on twelve participants. Three standard hand movements, including hand/wrist motion of Flexion-extension (FE), Deviation, and Pronationsupination (PS) at 30, 60, 90 beat-per-minute (bpm), and three simulated work tasks were performed. The angular velocity of the three methods at 50th and 90th percentile were calculated and compared. The mean absolute error and correlation coefficient were analysed for comparing the methods. Increase in error was observed with increase in speed/bpm during the standard hand movements. For standard hand movements, comparison between IMUbyaxis and Goniometer had the smallest difference and highest correlation coefficient. For simulated work tasks, the difference between goniometer and optical system was the smallest. However, for simulated work tasks, the differences between the compared methods were in general much larger than the standard hand movements. The IMU-based method is seen to have potential when compared with the traditional measurement methods. Still, it needs further improvement to be used for risk assessment in the field. / Upprepade uppgifter, besvärliga hand- / handledsställningar och kraftfulla ansträngningar är kända riskfaktorer för arbetsrelaterade muskuloskeletala störningar (WMSD) i hand och handled. WMSD är en viktig orsak till lång frånvaro, produktivitetsförlust, löneförlust och individuellt lidande. För närvarande tillgängliga bedömningsmetoder för hand / handledsrörelser har begränsningarna att vara felaktiga, t.ex. när du använder självrapporter eller observationer, eller dyra och resurskrävande för följande analyser, t.ex. när du använder elektrogoniometrarna. Därför finns det ett behov av en riskbedömningsmetod som är enkel att använda och som kan användas av både forskare och utövare för att mäta handledens vinkelhastighet under en 8-timmars arbetsdag. Wearable Inertial Measuring Units (IMU) i kombination med mobiltelefonapplikationer ger möjlighet till en sådan metod. För att kunna använda IMU i fältet för att bedöma handledens hastighet för olika arbetsuppgifter måste metodens noggrannhet undersökas. Därför genomfördes detta laboratorieexperiment för att jämföra en ny IMU-baserad metod med den traditionella goniometern och det vanliga optiska rörelsefångningssystemet. Laboratorieexperimentet utfördes på tolv deltagare. Tre standardhandrörelser, inklusive hand / handledsrörelse av Flexion-extension (FE), Deviation och Pronation-supination (PS) vid 30, 60, 90 beat-per-minut (bpm) och tre simulerade arbetsuppgifter utfördes. Vinkelhastigheten för de tre metoderna vid 50: e och 90: e percentilen beräknades och jämfördes. Det genomsnittliga absoluta felet och korrelationskoefficienten analyserades för att jämföra metoderna. Ökning av fel observerades med ökning av hastighet/bpm under standardhandrörelserna. För standardhandrörelser hade jämförelsen mellan IMUbyaxis och Goniometer den minsta skillnaden och högsta korrelationskoefficienten. För simulerade arbetsuppgifter var skillnaden mellan goniometer och optiskt system den minsta. För simulerade arbetsuppgifter var dock skillnaderna mellan de jämförda metoderna i allmänhet mycket större än de vanliga handrörelserna. Den IMUbaserade metoden anses ha potential jämfört med traditionella mätmetoder. Ändå behöver det förbättras för att kunna användas för riskbedömning på fältet.

The smartphone is omnipresent and is cherished and held close by people. It allows for constant connection within a digitally connected society, as well as for many other purposes such as leisure activity or informational purpose. Within the Information Systems studies deeper investigation is required as to what impact this “taken – for – granted” mobile access to information and mobile apps has for individuals and society and if a “technological addiction”can be developed when using the smartphone for everything during the day on such a constant basis. The aim of this study was to understand the role of the smartphone in society and to shed light on this unclear relationship between the constant use of a smartphone and its development towards an addictive quality. To reach a conclusion, in depth – interviews were conducted with participants about their relationship to the smartphone and their smartphone use based on questions derived from literature on mobile communication technologies and the types of digital addictions existing. The results are that the smartphone is a device that seamlessly integrates into our daily lives in that we unconsciously use it as a tool to make our daily tasks more manageable, and enjoyable. It also supports us in getting better organized, to be in constant touch with family and friends remotely, and to be more mobile which is a useful ability in today’s mobility driven society. Smartphones have been found to inhabit a relatively low potential to addiction. Traits of voluntary behaviour, habitual behaviour, and mandatory behaviour of smartphone use have been found. All of these behaviours are not considered a true addiction. In the end, it seems that the increase of smartphone use is mainly due to the way we communicate nowadays digitally,and the shift in how we relate to our social peers using digital means.