published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

Marine safety education initiatives are most often constructed along rational functionalist lines that tend to assume that accidents and deaths that accompany them are caused by lack of appropriate technical knowledge, equipment failure or the irrational behaviour of participants. One sector identified by this research, which seems to have a disproportionally high rate of involvement in these incidents, is that of small open skiffs < 5.5m - usually made from aluminum. Most of these incidents take place on the inland waterways of the Canadian Shield. I look at the activity from the perspective of two separate but parallel discourses on the topic: the official discourse as portrayed by the Canadian Coast Guard, Search and Rescue, the Power and Sail Squadrons, the Canadian Red Cross and various police forces and the popular discourse as seen in lifestyle commercials, advertising catalogues, outdoors sporting goods shows and sports television. I suggest throughout that gender, race and economic marginality are powerful influences that must be factored into our educative efforts if we, the Canadian boating public, are to reduce the number of fatalities. The construction of the subjectivites of the participants will be considered in the context of several competing conceptions concerning the nature of Nature in the postmodern era. A form of narrative analysis known as deconstruction is used to interrogate the theoretical foundations of the textual artefacts. I use postcolonial theory to develop a distinctively Canadian narrative concerning the underpinnings of a reconceptualized marine safety education. In the final section, some considerations for extending this work into other areas of wilderness recreation were explored.

Increasing rates of infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, overdose deaths, and social concerns around injection drug use have resulted in the need to evaluate new initiatives for harm reduction in Canada. This study examined experts' views on the feasibility of, benefits of, and barriers to the establishment of safer injection rooms in Canada. The qualitative model involved interviews (N = 6) with a range of professionals in the area of addictions. Analysis of the data revealed that there is an urgent need for expanded and improved harm reduction strategies, that safer injection rooms could offer many benefits to Canadians, that several debates exist with regard to the policies and services related to safer injection rooms, and that safer injection rooms, as well as alternative initiatives, must be considered if Canada wishes to promote health among drug users and wider communities. The implications of the findings for social work and further research are discussed. Recommendations include expanded educational initiatives for professionals and the public, intensive research related to the specific Canadian context, and the establishment of a trial protocol.

Thesis (MTech (Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / During recent years the wine industry has become increasingly dynamic due to competition among wine organisations worldwide. In order to be competitive, many South African wine organisations have implemented and maintained a Food Safety Managements System (FSMS). The Western Cape Province is one of the typical regions of wine-manufacturing in the country. However, the impact of FSMSs on the effectiveness of work performance among wine organisations in the Western Cape is unknown. There is scant literature that focuses on this particular issue. Thus, this study investigates the effectiveness of FSMS implementation to determine whether wine organisations consolidate the fundamental requirements of the FSMSs. Nineteen (19) wine organisations situated in the Western Cape who are currently implementing FSMSs were chosen as the research sites. A group of participants (n=46) who are implementing FSMSs from these wine organisations were selected as samples. A questionnaire based on the Likert scale was used as an instrument for data collection. Statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 19 was employed to generate statistical results such as frequencies, mean, standard deviation, percentage, skewness, etc. In particular, Cronbach’s alpha was utilised to test the reliability of the key items of FSMSs. The findings of this study indicate that the majority of the wine organisations consolidate the fundamental requirements of FSMS. Certification audits, management systems, prerequisite programs, Hazard Critical Control Points (HACCP), validation and verification, emergency preparedness and quality management are used as the main activities to measure the performance of FSMS. Based on the study results, this study recommended that wine organisations should provide regular training to internal auditors and shopfloor employees in order to enhance the effectiveness of FSMSs. The significance of this study is to contribute a valuable guideline to the South African wine industry to consolidate their performances on the implementation of FSMSs.

D.Phil. / Health and safety (H&S) is still a problem in the construction industry. Both locally in Southern Africa and internationally, the construction industry continues to lag behind other industries in terms of H&S performance. As a result, there has been a considerable amount of research and interest on H&S performance improvement. However, there seems to be little research of note focusing on the role and contribution of construction clients to H&S performance improvement. This research project investigated and modelled H&S performance on the role and contribution of clients to H&S. The primary aim of the research was to model how improved H&S performance could be achieved if clients and/or owners were involved. Literature was reviewed on the status of H&S performance in the construction industry, the significance of the industry and on the current trends in H&S performance improvement. Empirical data was collected through a Delphi study and through a field questionnaire survey. Analysis of results from the Delphi study was done with Microsoft Excel to output descriptive statistics. These descriptive statistics informed on whether the experts had reached consensus. Analysis of results from the field questionnaire was done with EQS version 6.1 and MPlus version 6.0. Both of these are structural equation modelling software. A conceptual client centred H&S performance improvement model was based on the theory developed from literature review findings and the Delphi study. The questionnaire survey was conducted for the purpose of validating the conceptual model. The questionnaire survey was conducted in Gaborone, Botswana and Johannesburg, South Africa. Respondents were asked to report on current construction projects that they were part of as a professional. Respondents were asked to indicate their assessment of client H&S culture, contractor, designer and project H&S performance. Results from the investigation pertained to three broad areas. The first results related to theory on H&S performance and performance improvement. Findings were that H&S performance improvement was unlikely if H&S culture was not improved. Further findings were that clients could provide the needed impetus to improve H&S performance.

Mankind, and the development of people, exists due to risk-taking behaviour. It is not that humans should not take risks, but rather the ability to identify the magnitude of risk exposure in order that mankind‟s actions would be so selected as to mitigate exposed risk factors, that no harm should befall them. The approach to health and safety (H&S) has always been to manage H&S environmental factors that could have a negative impact on people, capital, and organisational systems. However, the critical component of human risk-taking behaviour that would have a far greater impact has rarely been acknowledged as part of the drivers that increase risk exposure. Human behaviour is a major contributing factor in accident causation. Although human error cannot be completely eliminated, it should be identified and correctly managed according to each individual‟s risk-taking profile. The reason people decide to take certain risks under certain conditions and the effect it has on H&S management systems is a key component to managing organisational risk exposure. To quantify the value of individual risk-taking behaviour could provide management with better opportunities of lowering the organisational risk exposure. Human risk-taking behaviour is influenced by each individual‟s perception of risk. Such perception of risk will influence decisions on risk-taking behaviour, which in turn is influenced by the individual‟s psychological profile and environmental factors, including character and the impact of a cultural environment. The electrical construction and maintenance industry differs from other similar industries in that the physical entity of electricity requires not only sensory perception for the identification and evaluation of risk factors, but also requires specialised knowledge and testing equipment to evaluate the parameters of electrical installation, plant or equipment. Without such competence, direct exposure to most electrical installations could be fatal. The optimum human resource (HR) solution for managing the risk potential of high risk-taking behaviour is the rating and allocation of specific job tasks that can match and limit the individual potential for risk-taking behaviour and the impact on organisational incident statistics. Maintaining and optimising employee job performance enables organisations to better achieve pre-set goals and missions. Such improvements being a catalyst for better job performance by setting limitations on high risk-taking behaviour, that will improve H&S performance by lowering incident rates.

Being a journalist today can be a deadly pursuit, particularly for those covering conflict and other dangerous assignments. In 2004 more journalists and other media workers were killed than in the last ten years. While it is impossible to guarantee that journalists will not be killed or injured, kidnapped or detained, a policy has been created to help protect them in the course of their duties. This study examines the perceptions of journalists working for two international television news agencies about this safety policy called the ‘Joint code of practice for journalists working in conflict zones’. This policy was adopted in November 2000 by five major television companies including the television news agencies Reuters Television and Associated Press Television News. This study finds that the policy had significant flaws in how it was formulated and how it is communicated, implemented and reviewed. Recognising the existence of unequal relations of power and conflicting interests at play in any policy process, this study stresses that in the case of the journalist safety policy, all stakeholders should have participated in the relevant policy stages. This argument arises from researching the policy document as well as from the point of view of managers, and particularly journalists who work on dangerous assignments, either full-time or on a freelance basis for either of the two television news agencies. It finds that while journalists are not generally aware of the policy, they do practice many of its elements as well as a range of their own custom-made strategies to protect themselves. The result is to make the policy less effective than it could be.

Lifting and overstraining are major causative factors related to musculoskeletal injuries and low back pain. A great number of work-related injuries arise from the handling and/or mishandling of materials. Hence there is a need to quantify risk factors in situ and develop guidelines for safe lifting practises in industry. The aim of this study was to make appropriate in situ quantification, within a commercial warehouse, of the stresses and physical demands imposed on the worker when performing two handed lifts in the sagittal plane. The performance of employees was assessed under normal working conditions through an observational methodology of data collection. Task performance evaluation was based on detailed measurement of all containers handled, an activity and time analysis, and the 'Work Practices Guide to Manual Lifting’ (NIOSH, 1981) which was used as the primary guide to developing theoretical recommendations to probable MMH risk factors for the workers involved. Of the 191 tasks analysed 103 were deemed unsuitable. Appropriate task factor adjustments were made where necessary to both the frequency and Hfactors (horizontal distance between the centre of gravity of the container and that of the worker) in order to reduce the risk factor for the workers

Marine safety education initiatives are most often constructed along rational functionalist lines that tend to assume that accidents and deaths that accompany them are caused by lack of appropriate technical knowledge, equipment failure or the irrational behaviour of participants. One sector identified by this research, which seems to have a disproportionally high rate of involvement in these incidents, is that of small open skiffs < 5.5m - usually made from aluminum. Most of these incidents take place on the inland waterways of the Canadian Shield. I look at the activity from the perspective of two separate but parallel discourses on the topic: the official discourse as portrayed by the Canadian Coast Guard, Search and Rescue, the Power and Sail Squadrons, the Canadian Red Cross and various police forces and the popular discourse as seen in lifestyle commercials, advertising catalogues, outdoors sporting goods shows and sports television. I suggest throughout that gender, race and economic marginality are powerful influences that must be factored into our educative efforts if we, the Canadian boating public, are to reduce the number of fatalities. The construction of the subjectivites of the participants will be considered in the context of several competing conceptions concerning the nature of Nature in the postmodern era. A form of narrative analysis known as deconstruction is used to interrogate the theoretical foundations of the textual artefacts. I use postcolonial theory to develop a distinctively Canadian narrative concerning the underpinnings of a reconceptualized marine safety education. In the final section, some considerations for extending this work into other areas of wilderness recreation were explored. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

A Research Report proposal submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science (Building) Project Management in Construction. Johannesburg 2015 / The construction industry is one of the major industries in the world and has one of the poorest records in Occupation Health and Safety. In developing countries with improved political and economic stability in recent years, infrastructure developments have significantly increased which has implications for the industry to deliver projects safely. Many designers’ in the construction industry in developed countries believe that contractors have knowledge to offer concerning safety as they have the experiences from different projects and can pin point potentially hazardous risks in the design phase of the project and consequently improve on the Health and Safety and Safety Performance of a project. This research aimed to discover what designers’ in the South African construction industry perceived about the use of ECI in the industry and its effect on the safety performance on construction sites. A review of the literature showed that the designers in the construction industry had various perceptions towards trust and commitment of the contractor towards safety and liability issues among other concerns. Twenty-nine questions were identified, which formed the basis of the quantitative analysis that was undertaken. Five hundred architects, engineers and project managers were identified from the Gauteng Province of South Africa and a questionnaire survey emailed to them. A census sample was used in this research and despite the low response rate (9%) from the participants; the data collected was seen as representative of the population. Analysis of the data collected from this survey revealed that designers believe that the use of ECI in the construction industry may improve the safety performance of the project as well as including contractors earlier in the design phase may be beneficial in enhancing safety during construction. The research also revealed that the designers believe that contractors have knowledge to offer in designing for safety as well as identifying potentially hazardous risks that may elude the designers during the design phase. From the data collected, a number of recommendations were developed to promote the use of ECI in developing countries including a review of policies and guidelines in the construction regulations so as to boost the use of ECI and consequently reduce the number of accidents and fatalities in the industry and as well as improve the overall safety performance of construction sites in South Africa. The overall finding of this research show that the designers in the South African construction industry have a positive attitude towards the use of ECI in the construction industry and are ready to implement it mainly due to the fact that it has a positive impact on the health and safety of workers as well as the overall safety performance of construction sites.