Susanne Bahn

Qualitative social research: a risky business when it comes to collecting 'sensitive' data

Qualitative researchers are compelled to use their personal judgements before, during and after interviews, particularly when their interview subjects are drawn from vulnerable groups. This paper discusses the dilemmas qualitative researchers encounter when collecting data that is ethically ‘sensitive’; and situates the discussion in the realm of the Australian Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) legislative requirement of ‘duty of care’ using the Rapidly Degenerative Neurological Diseases Pilot Program in Western Australia as the case example. The paper is focussed upon the practicalities and ethical concerns of the researchers conducting qualitative data collections. The discussion seeks to provide practical reflections on lessons learned and suggestions for self-care practice for researchers in the field and calls for policies that instruct and protect them.

Evaluation of the mandatory Construction Induction Training program in Western Australia: Unanticipated consequences

Since January 1, 2007, Government legislation in Western Australia required all workers in construction to complete mandatory safety awareness training before they began work on site. During the implementation of this new legislation there was considerable resistance from the construction sector due to the mandatory nature of the training. The construction industry viewed this as an unnecessary impost as they considered that there was already sufficient safety training delivered through individual company and site inductions. In 2010, we evaluated the new Construction Induction Training (CIT) in the commercial construction sector in Western Australia to find that since 2007 there has been an unanticipated change in support for the mandatory training. The 2010 study shows a shift in the values of the safety culture for the commercial sector of the construction industry. In 2010, the industry not only supports the mandatory CIT, but is very vocal in its request to re-institute the refresher courses that were withdrawn in 2009. Indeed, 79% of respondents claimed there were measurable benefits to their business having their employees complete the CIT, while 96% claimed the CIT assisted in reducing accidents/incidents on their worksites. This 2010 study indicates that in this case, mandatory training has had a positive effect on safety culture change and gradually reduced work-related injury in the industry since 2007 to the present. The paper uses data from two studies conducted in 2006 and 2010 to highlight the unanticipated change in perception of the value of mandatory safety training in the WA construction industry to one which is positive and supportive.

Managing the well-being of temporary skilled migrants

The war for talent, whereby skilled workers move between countries, continues to remain a global issue. This paper is informed by the human resource management (HRM) literature on global careers of skilled migrants and their cross-cultural adjustment and well-being. These literatures draw on human capital theory to understand skilled migration. In this paper, a case study of Western Australias answer to addressing skills shortages by employing skilled migrant workers through temporary skilled migration schemes (employer-sponsored) situates the discussion within the role of HRM. Temporary skilled migrants are vulnerable in that they can experience a number of stressors, including long periods of separation from their loved ones, commencing a new job in an alien environment and resettlement tasks. The paper makes a contribution in utilising Al Ariss and Syeds (2011) model of human capital drawing on social, cultural, economic and symbolic forms of currency for temporary skilled migrants. This group is not homogenous in that they all draw on these aspects of human capital in varying ways. By addressing the gaps, HRM can add value in providing assimilation strategies for temporary migrant workers that supports retention and ensures improved worker well-being.

Small firms and health and safety harmonisation: Potential regulatory effects of a dominant narrative

Small firms are popularly viewed as resistant to complying with regulation. Harmonisation of Australia’s state-based work health and safety regimes is a significant regulatory change. In this article, we consider the likely responses of small firms to work health and safety harmonisation and argue that a range of choices are open to small firm owner-managers. These choices are shaped by individuals’ world views and are influenced by elements in the firms’ context. A significant element is the public narrative of work health and safety harmonisation, which can be understood by using discourse and sense-making concepts. Our analysis of small firm owner-manager choices takes into account small firms’ embeddedness in their regulatory context and the influence on organisational decision-making of the narrative of work health and safety harmonisation. The dominant narrative is arguably silent on the benefits of the work health and safety regulatory change and therefore the response of small firms is likely to be avoidance or minimalism. Non-compliance could be the result due to poor awareness of opportunities arising from this regulatory change.

Safety training evaluation: The case of Construction Induction Training and the impact on work-related injuries in the Western Australian construction sector

Abstract This paper presents the findings of an evaluation of the mandatory Construction Induction Training initiative (CIT). The paper details a pilot study conducted in 2010 with the commercial construction sector and a subsequent study in 2011 of the housing and civil sectors conducting business in the metropolitan area of Perth and in regional Western Australia. The international literature on safety training evaluations and the impact on safety performance is reviewed. We argue that formal evaluation of safety training and evidence of a link with safety culture improvement is limited. The analysis of the study includes discussion of the transfer of safety knowledge through training participation into the construction safety culture. The findings include evidence of a decreasing trend in work-related injuries and significant support for the CIT. Participants were supportive of the mandatory nature of the CIT and believed that the training had not only increased their personal safety awareness but had also contributed to a positive improvement in the safety culture in construction worksites and in the industry. Although the training has been designed for construction workers there is evidence of extended uptake of the CIT as a generic safety course for preparation for those wishing to work in the other industry sectors.

Moving from contractor to owner operator: impact on safety culture – a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a change in staffing contractual arrangements, specific training in hazard identification, mentoring of supervisors and the introduction of a robust safety system could improve an organisations safety culture. How safety conditions change under contracted out labour compared to direct labour and the influence that contracting out has on organisational safety culture is explored.Design/methodology/approach – The study used a case study methodology to detail how the change occurred over a six month period in 2011. As part of the analysis a model of the change process and push‐pull factors is offered.Findings – As a result of the change, all areas saw some improvement. Work‐related injury statistics dropped significantly, supervisors were clear of their roles, actively monitoring their crews to ensure they worked in a safer manner than before, and staff were actively addressing work‐place hazards. With the safety system in place the organisation ...

Getting reticent young male participants to talk: using artefact-mediated interviews to promote discursive interaction

During a pilot study that used interviews to collect data from young male apprentices about construction site safety, we were confronted with limited verbal responses. This article is about how we explored this research problem of ameliorating unresponsive interview interactions. The article reviews the options that previous researchers have trialled and developed, and specifically focuses on artefact-mediated interviews conducted with young male participants. We focus on the use of images within artefact-mediated interviews to draw out data from less communicative subjects. Our reflection upon this process proposes that the use of both abstract and concrete images within an artefact-mediated interview can produce diverse and enriched forms of data.

Community safety and recidivism in Australia: Breaking the cycle of reoffending to produce safer communities through vocational training

Abstract This article links community safety with recidivism and argues that reintegration of offenders is a community responsibility. The paper discusses the role of vocational training for incarcerated offenders as a tool to reduce recidivism. Training and subsequent employment for released offenders are factors that assist them to become contributing members of community who are less likely to reoffend. Research has shown that prisoner training and education can successfully address recidivism rates. Therefore, the cost of incarceration is reduced whilst the level of community safety is increased. However, Australian Vocational Education Training (VET) delivery in prisons requires improvement and a greater emphasis on holistic support from community groups is essential for successful reintegration.

Managing Knowledge: The Critical Role of Culture and Ownership as a Mediator of Systems

For organisations, an environment of continuous change positions knowledge as the source of key competitive advantage and simultaneously mediates change to more fluid structures. More flexible structures challenge the traditions of knowledge flowing through hierarchical and formal chains of command. The emerging more fluid and knowledge based organisational structures present new challenges for developing, retaining and disseminating organisational knowledge. An area of highly contested debate involves the harmony and integration of Knowledge Management Systems KMS and changing organisational cultures. The paper explores KMS and cultural interface through an analysis of three mature organisational cases, identifying the key barriers that appear to prevent the effective use of KMS. The study constructs a framework for exploring cultural integration issues. The study confirms the primacy of culture in shaping integration and the imperative of resourcing learning and development programmes. The findings indicate that the critical issues organisations should explore are the legitimacy of authoring, the transparency of filtering and attribution, and the awareness of cultural dissonance. For practitioners the study provides a framework for exploring employee participation relationships, while academically the study confirms how existing cultural relations will shape KMS relations and how the exploration of existing cultural exchange practices should be equally weighted with practices to build employee capability. Generating ownership may be the key to success.

Migrant workers on temporary 457 visas working in Australia: implications for human resource management

In this paper data was collected in 2012 for a study concerning the employment of skilled workers on temporary 457 visas in the Western Australian resources sector. While workers came from numerous countries in order to meet the sector’s skill shortages, issues relating to workers from the Philippines were prominent due to the difficulties they reported. These difficulties included: skill recognition; workplace and community integration challenges, and deficiencies in their family members’ English language ability. The experiences of workers on 457 visas from other countries are compared with those of workers from the Philippines. Interviews with key stakeholders from a sample of resource sector firms that employ Filipino workers on 457 visas and agencies that support their integration are also reported. The purpose of the paper is to highlight the HRM implications of employing migrant workers on 457 visas, especially Filipino workers, to facilitate successfully adaption to Australian workplace culture.