Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 68 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-68).

M.A. (Psychology) / Interest has grown over the past decade in the study of stress and more recently in the development and Implement at Ion of primary prevention programmes for various forms of stress related illnesses. Such programmes hold great promise for reducing , illness reactions in combination with, or, as an alternative to pharmacological medication. None of these programmes have been conducted amongst a sample of South African black blue-collar workers and it is important that these procedures are tested in order to evaluate their efficacy for specific cultural contexts. In this dissertation, an extensive review of the literature on the various models of stress is included as well as a proposed model for South African blue-collar workers. The stressors inherent in the lives of the sample population are also discussed. The sample consisted of sixty six male black blue-collar workers between the ages of twenty five and fifty five employed in the milling industry. Over a period of six weeks the effects on work-related stress of five different treatment regimes consisting of the following are evaluated: just lying down, relaxation tape, placebo, Royl 6 (vitamin B) and Panado (paracetamol). sUbjects completed the Job-related tension questionnaire and the Anxiety-stress questionnaire upon commencement of treatment and two weeks after' they had concluded treatment. An analysis of variance and a multivariate analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference in the levels of work-related stress at the post-measurement stage of assessment.' This indicates that none of the five treatment regimes had any affect on the work-related stress levels of the subjects...

Depuis la fin des années 90, poussés par la crise et l’effondrement de l’économie nationale (19 et 20 décembre 2001), des milliers de travailleurs argentins se sont mis à occuper puis à récupérer leur entreprise. Après une lutte souvent ardue, l’extrême majorité de ces récupérations s’est constituée en coopérative de travail. Loin d’être une nouveauté, les coopératives en question ont toutefois une forte particularité : la population qui les compose témoigne d’une différence considérable avec les expériences connues par le passé, puisque elle se caractérise souvent par des salariés zélés et proches du patron. De fait, la mise en place des coopératives se fait tardivement ; on peut même dire qu’elle s’impose à ces salariés, qui n’ont qu’un seul véritable souhait : sauver leur emploi. Dans ce contexte, il est alors intéressant de se pencher autant sur les origines de cette mobilisation que sur l’autogestion qui s’instaure au lendemain de la récupération de l’entreprise : Quelles sont les raisons qui poussent ces ouvriers modèles à se révolter contre leur employeur ? Comment mènent-ils leur lutte ? Enfin, comment ces salariés, hier proches du patron et de ses politiques d’entreprise, vont-ils s’organiser, coopérer et mettre à profit leur coopérative ? Quelles difficultés vont-ils rencontrer ? A partir d’un travail de terrain de dix-huit mois mêlant entretiens et observations, notamment participante, au sein des usines Brukman et la Nueva Esperanza (l’une textile, l’autre de ballons de baudruche), cette thèse invite à repenser la place du travail ainsi que les cultures ouvrières que ce dernier produit, à partir de la proposition théorique « des appropriations du travail ». / Since the 1990s in Argentina, both the crisis and the collapse of the national economy (December 19th and 20th 2001) led thousands of workers to take over their company and turn it into their own. Though the strife was tough at times, most takes did become work cooperatives. The striking point about these specific upturns resides in the composition of their members: they highly differ from well-known past experiments of the kind for the new associates were zealously and closely linked to their employer. Indeed, the creation of the cooperatives was often delayed. We may even add that these employees had no other choice in order to reach their only goal which was to keep their work at all cost. In this light, it is of paramount interest to focus on the origins of the mobilization; the way they organized themselves is mainly relevant: on the one hand, what were the reasons that motivated model employees to turn against their employer? On the other hand, how did they struggle? Meanwhile they agreed with their former administration's politics, we may wonder how they eventually managed to gather their strengths and cooperate to make the best of their cooperative? What were the issues they had to overcome? Based on an eighteen months-long field work combining interviews as well as times of both neutral and participant observation in the heart of two industries, Brukman (clothing business) and La Nueva Esperanza (helium balloons), this thesis aims at questioning the status of work and its derived blue-collar cultures through the theoretical stance labeled “the appropriations of work”.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2020 / Employee perceptions of Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) are pivotal for researchers to ascertain the degree of employee satisfaction and as a quality indicator of such an initiative within an organisation. However, there are considerable challenges faced regarding participation in WHP as employees do not trust the confidentiality of the programme. The problem is further exacerbated in that employees experience the wellness programme as a demand by the employer rather than a beneficial resource to the employee. Thus, this research study aimed to determine the effect of workplace health promotion on downstream outcomes within an organisation. To realise the primary research objective, this study looked into the effect of WHP on clothing and textile employee’s (CTE) physical, mental, cognitive and affective outcomes, and social wellbeing. It also explored the effect of the facilitation of preventive interventions. This study evaluated the perceptions of employees on workplace health promotion in the clothing and textile industry in Cape Town. A combination of both qualitative and quantitative research approaches was followed. Quantitative data were collected from 121 CTEs through a survey questionnaire. The qualitative data were collected via interviews amongst managers, clinical staff and WHP program promotors. SPSS was utilised for analysing the quantitative data, and content analysis was conducted for qualitative data. The results of the study mostly pointed to the fact that employees in the clothing and textile industry perceived WHP in a very positive light. Most respondents recognised the benefits of WHP to the organisation which includes reduced healthcare costs in the long term and employee satisfaction, among others. The findings further revealed that the majority of CTEs were either unsure or noticed no effect of WHP on their physical health. However, this statement is contradicted in that 84.3% of respondents stated that they feel physically better due to participation in the WHP service offering. A previous study reported disagreement or indecisiveness to this statement amongst WCWs. This study revealed that there had been a positive impact on absenteeism and psychosocial issues. Most of the CTEs perceived that participation in WHP made the prevention of illnesses financially affordable.

The finances of blue-collar workers were the most acutely impacted as these workers lost their jobs during the Great Recession of 2007 through 2009. The literature revealed a minimal understanding of how blue-collar workers allocated funds for their retirement, and what their investments might be when they invested. To address this problem, the current qualitative study addressed (a) how blue-collar workers chose to invest or not invest for retirement and (b) how blue-collar workers diversified their portfolio if they chose to invest. Theoretical foundations of the study were based on regret theory and prospect theory. A nonrandom purposeful sample of 10 blue-collar worker participants answered 19 open-ended questions. Data from these questions were analyzed inductively. Findings revealed that, as participants reached the age of 30, they started to consider investing for their retirement. Participants under the age of 30 were not as likely to invest. Only one person over the age of 30 did not invest for retirement. The factors that contributed to these blue-collar workers' investment decisions for retirement were based on an employer-provided retirement accounts, the fear of running out of money later in life during retirement, and the addition of new family members. One of the most popular retirement investment products for the participant group, which included mechanics, laborers, and material movers, was the U.S. Treasury Bonds. Other popular investments were mutual funds, 401(k)s, and IRAs. These findings may inform researchers who are conducting a study on the investment decisions of blue-collar workers. The findings can also be beneficial for other blue-collar workers by showing them that other blue-collar workers do invest, and by revealing their rationales in doing so.

Which solutions exist within the blue collar industries in Sweden and Norway today for conveying safety information to its employees? How may one re-design an understandable onboarding process to a digital app for Swedish-speaking blue collar workers? This study set out to research these questions, collaborating with Inphiz Technologies AB, a SaaS company in Stockholm, Sweden who has created a digital service to manage and automate legislative and regulatory compliance data in blue collar industries. The objective of the study was to answer the research questions and to create a design proposal for the users first steps into the Inphiz app through an onboarding process. Qualitative research methods were conducted throughout a design process with a PACT framework and a case study approach from March 13th to May 25th 2023, in different parts of Sweden. The collected data was aggregated and analysed through affinity diagrams. Results from the analysis showed clear patterns of the workers difficulties in following through with legislative and regulatory compliance due to a dissonance between internal and external demands. Blue collar workers within the construction industry worked under conditions where a trade-off between security and economy existed. However, engagement through all levels of the organisation supported the maintaining and cultivation of a safety culture, affecting the behaviours and attitudes of the employees. Digital tools concerning compliance and communication were moreover perceived as beneficial to the organisation, but in companies where they were present, the onboarding of the employees demanded a lot of resources and convincing of the tools benefits. Furthermore, having users finding the aha moment early the digital prototype and using explorative learning made them realise the benefits of the app. As a summary, this paper gives perspective on the organisational and environmental context of a blue collar worker with regards to safety information and how cognitive strategies can improve the onboarding UX of a digital app. Recommendations in carrying out similar research would be to increase the level of user participation.

Background: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. The rates of smoking remain elevated in rural, low income populations in comparison with the rest of the United States. Thus, prompting the process improvement project of implementing the Ask–Advise–Connect (AAC) method to the national quitline in a nurse practitioner–managed clinic for an automotive manufacturing plant in rural Tennessee. Methods: Ask–Advise–Connect method was added to the current smoking cessation program. The employees who utilized the clinic were assessed for smoking status at each visit and subsequently counseled on cessation. Individuals interested in cessation were connected to the national quitline with the AAC method. Pharmaceutical options and nicotine replacement therapy was also offered at no cost to the employee. Findings: In the 4-month period, the clinic provided 102 tobacco cessation counseling visits to workers who smoke. Twenty-four employees enrolled in the cessation program. The participants reported a cessation rate of 12.5% and 21% had a significant decrease in the number of cigarettes smoked. Of the participants, 12.5% (n = 3) engaged in behavioral counseling with the quitline. Conclusion/application to practice: The addition of the AAC method as part of the smoking cessation program had limited success. As smoking cessation is difficult to achieve, any success greater than 7% can be considered an achievement. The 12.5% cessation rate of the participants was above the national average. Thus, demonstrating the benefit of having a workplace cessation program and incorporating the AAC method to the current smoking cessation program.

Den gröna omställningen har lett till stora investeringar i norra Sveriges industrier. Dessa investeringar har skapat fler jobb och därav behov av fler individer. På grund av norra Sveriges låga befolkningstäthet i kombination med ökad efterfrågan har företag problem att attrahera och rekrytera personal till sin verksamhet. Denna studie undersökte och identifierade faktorer som är viktiga för att en stor industri i norra Sverige ska anses attraktiv ifrån ett medarbetarperspektiv. De faktorer som identifierades var genomgående viktigt för att underlätta framtida marknadsföring samt bibehålla nuvarande kompetens. Detta undersöktes genom en kvalitativ studie som grundade sig i employer branding och Herzbergs tvåfaktorteori. Totalt intervjuades åtta respondenter, varav tre var tjänstemän och fem kollektivanställda genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. För att säkerställa intervjuguiden var relevant för studiens syfte baserades frågorna på Herzbergs motivation- och hygienfaktorer. Bearbetning av datamaterialet utfördes genom tematisk analys. Resultatet visade att kollektivanställda värderade relationer till medarbetare och möjlighet till utveckling högst, medan tjänstemän värderade intressanta arbetsuppgifter och flexibilitet högst. Viktiga faktorer för båda grupper var företagskulturen och jobbsäkerhet. Unika egenskaper för en stor industri var större jobbtrygghet, utvecklingsmöjligheter och variation.

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