Effects of an absenteeism feedback intervention on employee absence behavior†

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of an Absenteeism Feedback Intervention (AFI) on employee absenteeism. Three hundred and seventy‐one employees working in 14 experimental and 13 control groups in a medium sized hospital participated in the study. Employees working in the experimental groups received absenteeism feedback at three time periods that provided them with information about their own number of absent days and episodes (sequential days counted as a single absence episode) as well as the average of their work and occupational group. Comparisons of absent days and episodes between the AFI and control groups indicate some support for the effectiveness of the intervention. In particular, there was a reduction in absent days and episodes for employees with higher than average absenteeism during the previous year but who were not extreme offenders. The research and practical implications of the AFI for reducing employee absenteeism are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reducing carbon,tackling fuel poverty: adoption and performance of air-source heat pumps in East Yorkshire,UK

Deploying heating technologies, such as air-source heat pumps (ASHPs), can respond to the dual challenges of tackling fuel poverty and reducing carbon emissions from domestic energy consumption. In the UK, ASHP performance has been found to be below design levels. Elements of three strands of literature – innovation diffusion, environmental psychology and neighbourhood effects – are combined to gain insights into why the adoption and performance of ASHPs are lagging policy targets and design potential. Evidence from users, installers and area-based scheme facilitators suggests that the perceived complexity of the technology is a barrier. The level of technology maturity and the typical profile of the elderly fuel poor do not match; the target group might prefer to be late adopters or laggards in adopting technology. The role of installers is critical as the disruption from installation is a barrier to adoption and ASHPs place demands on users to change existing practices.     

The design of child restraint system (CRS) labels and warnings affects overall CRS usability

A study was conducted that assessed the effectiveness of different child restraint system (CRS) label/warning designs on users' installation performance. Forty-eight paid participants installed a convertible CRS in a vehicle, and two child test dummies in a CRS, using one of four label conditions. The label conditions were: (1) no labels, (2) the manufacturer's labels that were already affixed to the CRS ("Current"), (3) labels that were designed according to a combination of the current U.S. regulations concerning CRS labels and recently proposed changes to these regulations ("Proposed"), and (4) labels that were designed according to human factors principles and guidelines, and that were based on a hierarchical behavioral task analysis ("Optimal"). Results demonstrated that, overall, the Optimal labels resulted in higher usability ratings and better task performance. This indicates that labels designed using human factors and task analyses that identify critical task information requirements for label features will result in increased user compliance with instructions, higher usability, and improved task performance. Surprisingly, having no labels on the CRS resulted in better installation performance than when either the Current or the Proposed label conditions were used. This indicates that label design can decrease task performance; the actual physical design of a CRS may be just as critical as label content in the installation choices provided to the user. Collectively, results suggest that implementation of the proposed changes to the U.S. regulations concerning CRS labeling would likely not result in increased performance or usability compared to existing manufacturer labels that follow the current guidelines. In order to achieve significantly better ease-of-use and task performance, it would be necessary to implement features of the Optimal label condition.     

Improving the solid waste management in Phnom Penh city: a strategic approach

Though the solid waste management (SWM) system in Phnom Penh city in general has been upgraded since the waste collection service was franchised out to the private sector, the performance of the existing SWM system is still low. Unreliable and irregular collection service still exists. This means that there are shortcomings in the existing SWM system that need correction. This paper is an attempt to identify those shortcomings in order to find ways to improve the existing system. First, the present SWM system is reviewed. Then the system is evaluated to find constraints and shortfalls and finally some appropriate strategies are proposed that may help make SWM in the city more effective and efficient to meet environmentally sound objectives.     

Race, Ethnicity and Disasters in the United States: A Review of the Literature

In this paper we synthesise past disaster research that addresses issues of race and ethnicity in the United States. Using an eight-stage typology to organise the findings, this literature review presents the results from a wide range of studies. The synthesis shows how various racial and ethnic groups perceive natural hazard risks and respond to warnings, how groups may be differentially affected, both physically and psychologically, and how disaster effects vary by race and ethnicity during the periods of emergency response, recovery and reconstruction. We show that studies have important findings, many illustrating that racial and ethnic communities in the US are more vulnerable to natural disasters, due to factors such as language, housing patterns, building construction, community isolation and cultural insensitivities. By presenting these studies together, we are able to witness patterns of racial and ethnic inequalities that may be more difficult to see or interpret in individual studies that take place in one specific time and place. We conclude the review with policy and research recommendations.     

Integrated Crop–livestock Management Systems in Sub-saharan Africa

This paper outlines the advantages of integrated crop–livestock systems and unsolved problems that need to be studied further. The discussion is subdivided by ecozone with consideration of arid and dry semi-arid areas with extensive livestock management; moist semi-arid and semi-humid areas where integrated crop–livestock systems are common; and humid areas where swine and poultry often predominate. To maintain soil organic matter in all ecozones, efficient recovery and use of nutrients from animal manures, crop residues and green manures is essential. In extensive systems in dry zones, animals transport nutrients from grazing areas to cropland, while in moister regions that are more intensively farmed, the emphasis is on the efficiency of nutrient recovery. Specific research questions relating to the overall ecosystem, nutrient cycling, plants, and animals are posed.