Are there domino effects between consumers' ordinary and ‘green’ practices? An analysis of quantitative data from a sensitisation campaign on personal carbon footprint

This paper studies how consumers' reported practices related to food, energy use in housing, daily mobility, and tourism are combined and structured. Social practice theories are the main theoretical framework of this research. Data are drawn from a sensitisation campaign run by the WWF-Belgium and the methods developed to attempt to translate the theoretical focus to practices. Results show that both the low number of ‘green’ practices reported and the multiplicity of combinations of practices indicate a rather important compartmentalisation of ‘green’ practices and seem to refute the hypothesis of vast domino effects in these four different areas. In addition, a wider openness to information on environmentally friendlier practices is associated with a larger number of such practices, which raises questions about the design of such campaigns. Finally, there is no conventionalised way of linking practices and commitments taken by the respondents to reduce their environmental impact. A few policy recommendations are derived for sensitisation campaigns that often assume domino effects between ‘green’ practices, and for tools dealing with personal carbon awareness.     

Role Conflict and Self‐Efficacy Among Employed Parents: Examining Complex Statistical Interactions

In response to growing concerns with explaining how work and family interfere with each other and with statistical approaches that do not capture the way in which predictors interact, this study tested statistical interactions involving personal and social resources of 410 full‐time employed women and men. The results indicate that self‐efficacy is a strong predictor of family interfering with work (FIW) and work interfering with family (WIF). Gender moderates the relation between supervisor support and WIF moderates the impact of efficacy beliefs and instrumental support at home on FIW. Specifically, while supervisor support is negatively related to WIF in women and men, high levels of support more strongly affected men's perceptions of WIF. In low self‐efficacy men, high levels of support at home improved their perceptions of FIW but these perceptions worsened in women. These findings contrast with earlier research that focus predominantly on the predictive value of structural demands (for example, the number of hours worked per week and family size). This study shows that gender plays a critical yet intricate role as a predictor of the successful management of work and family roles: it is not gender per se but its interaction with personal and social variables that informs us about differences in the experience of employed parents.     

Interface design and contemporary: human creating new guidelines for high-tech products

Contemporary electronic industry offers a wide range of products. Usually touch sensitive and with few buttons and a lot of functions these products not always have a friendly interface. The human x design interface based on electronics' ergonomics is the focus of this research. An evolutionary analysis of the electronics industry design within a contemporary context clarifies this relation and proposes new guidelines for a more conscious design.     

Effects of wearing a pressure redistribution belt while lying in a hospital bed

Bedsores (ulcers) are caused by multiple factors which include, but are not limited to; pressure, shear force, friction, temperature, age and medication. Specialised support services, such as specialised mattresses, sheepskin coverings etc., are thought to decrease or relieve pressure, resulting in a lowering of pressure ulcer incidence [3]. The primary aim of this study was to compare the upper/central body pressure distribution between normal lying in a hospital bed versus the use of a pressure redistribution belt. The study involved 16 healthy voluntary subjects lying on a hospital bed with and without wearing the belt. Results showed that the use of a pressure redistribution belt results in reduced pressure peaks and prevents the pressure from increasing over time.     

Production layout improvement in emergency services: a participatory approach

Volunteer fire department is a service that responds emergency situations in places where there are no military emergency services. These services need to respond quickly, because time is often responsible for the operation success besides work environment and setup time interfere with the prompt response to these calls and care efficiency. The layout design is one factor that interferes with the quick setup. In this case, the spaces arrangement can result in excessive or unnecessary movements; also the equipment provision may hinder the selection and collection of these or even create movement barriers for the workers. This work created a new layout for the emergency assistance service, considering the human factors related to work through the task analysis and workers participation on the alternatives of improvement. The results showed an alternate layout with corridors and minimization of unusable sites, allowing greater flexibility and new possibilities of requirements.     

Performance-based management and quality of work: an empirical assessment

In France, in the private sector as in the public sector, performance-based management tends to become a norm. Performance-based management is supposed to improve service quality, productivity and efficiency, transparency of allotted means and achieved results, and to better focus the activity of employees and of the whole organization. This text reports a study conducted for the French Ministry of Budget by a team of researchers in ergonomics, sociology and management science, in order to assess the impact of performance-based management on employees, on teams and on work organization. About 100 interviews were conducted with employees of all categories and 6 working groups were set up in order to discuss and validate or amend our first analyses. Results concern several aspects: workload and work intensification, indicators and performance management and the transformation of jobs induced by performance management.     

Physical and psychosocial indicators among office workers from public sector with and without musculoskeletal symptoms

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMD) are the result of the combination of different risk factors. They are very common among computer workers, mainly when neck and upper limbs are considered. Forty-two office workers from a public university participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: Symptomatic Subjects (SS, n=20) and Asymptomatic Subjects (AS, n=22), according to the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ). Psychosocial indicators were assessed using the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Workplaces were evaluated according to the Ergonomic Workplace Analysis (EWA), proposed by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. The NMQ showed higher weekly prevalence of complaints on neck, shoulders and wrist/hands (p=0.00) among SS. The annual prevalence of symptoms on wrist/hands was also higher among SS (p=0.02). The JCQ did not show any difference between groups (p>0.05). Higher proportion of servers with 'high level' of engagement, dedication and absorption, according to UWES, was identified among SS (p<0.01). EWA showed worse scores for 'Work Site', 'Job Content' and 'Repetitiveness of the Work' among SS (p<0.05). Servers are exposed to physical and psychosocial risk factors that can contribute to the development of WRMD. Work conditions need to be change in order to improve musculoskeletal health.