Identifying management practices that drive production-line workers’ engagement through qualitative analysis

Introduction: Engagement research - most often defined by a worker’s psychological state of vigor, dedication, and absorption - pays little attention to production-line workers. This study therefore explores factors that drive workers’ engagement with health and safety (H&S) in a production-line context as well as their perception of managerial influence Furthermore, the study adds to the body of research by exploring H&S engagement concepts through the use of qualitative research methods. Method: 38 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed through template analysis to identify themes that promote and hinder engagement. Results: The main engagement drivers were found to be: (a) the displayed safety focus of the company in organizational and social aspects; (b) the quality of the communication approach with respect to quality, consistency and direction; and (c) the environment encompassing the relationship between workers and supervisors and peers as well as the psychological environment. Notably, a trusting relationship between supervisors and workers appeared to be the most influential driver in determining engaged H&S behavior. Discussion and impact in industry: The study highlights factors that could be adapted to improve engagement and consequently enhance H&S approaches. Originality: The study reported in this paper offers a unique insight into individual production workers’ perceived drivers of H&S engagement using Qualitative Analysis. Practical applications: The study identified the important role that supervisors play in workers’ H&S engagement levels and what skills they need to employ to enhance workers’ engagement in general and in the context of H&S behavior and performance. Furthermore, the importance of psychological and sociological factors in safety approaches are highlighted and were found to be key for creating safer workplaces.     

‘The biggest challenge is that we have to tell people how to sort.’ Waste management and the processes of negotiation of environmental citizenship in Slovenia

ABSTRACT

This article departs from the concept of environmental citizenship. Focus is on the experiences of representatives for Slovenian municipal waste management companies and business sector service companies engaged in the collection and recycling of electronic waste, and their attempts to increase the amount of separately collected municipal waste. They do so by engaging the Slovenian citizens to undertake separate sorting. Theoretically, the focus is on the processes of negotiating citizen engagement and, more specifically, attempts to incentivise the separate sorting of municipal waste which, it is argued, also helps foster the image of a particular kind of citizen. This article understands the informants’ experiences as being intimately linked to, and constitutive of, contemporary waste management discourses where attention is increasingly paid to the activities and behaviours of individual citizens. Noteworthy, while the concept of environmental citizenship can be said to allow citizens to practise sustainability (a concept that is otherwise seemingly quite abstract), the waste management policies of today seem to be increasingly relying on this active citizenship. It is at the intersection of these phenomenon that the negotiation practices of Slovenian waste management authorities happen.     

“The Good Life”: Engaging the public with community-based carbon reduction strategies

In recent years the UK has positioned itself to become a global leader in addressing climate change. Along with this positioning, there has been an increasing emphasis on the role of communities to facilitate, increase and sustain carbon reduction practices. Previous research into community-based carbon reduction projects has highlighted the difficulty of engaging the public in community initiatives and sustaining pro-environmental behaviours. The importance placed on addressing climate change necessitates an understanding of how individuals respond to, and engage with, (or even ignore) community-based carbon reduction strategies. The paper presents findings from focus groups in three urban communities and investigates individual engagements with community-based carbon reduction strategies. Focusing on the three dimensions of engagement: cognitive; affective and; behavioural, the paper discusses what people know, feel and do about addressing climate change at the community level. An “information-vacuum” is reported that leads to an “awareness-involvement gap” that inhibits sustained engagement with community projects. Drawing on these findings, the paper advances a new theoretical framework and a “what works” approach for community-based initiatives attempting to meaningfully engage the public with addressing climate change and sustainable living.     

Interdisciplinarity and participatory approaches to environmental health

This paper reviews a workshop discussion postulated on the notion that social, economic and behavioural factors are responsible for the creation of environmental hazards and benefits that, in turn, can affect human health, with concomitant effects on future social well-being. The workshop case study centred on environmental health investigations, public engagement and partnership work undertaken following the death of two neighbouring children in Cheshire. Discussion included questions of causality and generalisability. It revealed how the attribution of responsibility for environmental damage to health is fraught with difficulties. It may often militate against an informed and open debate among interested parties, with concomitant implications for reducing the danger from environmental hazards. To improve communication, vocabulary needs to be free from jargon and acronyms, and differences in conceptual approach between different disciplines need to be better understood. The definition of the ‘community’ is itself far from clear-cut, yet questions of how to involve this community in intervention processes are important ones. The workshop identified a clear need for better, more considered forms of communication with communities and the public if fears are to be allayed, but recognised the additional costs that this would incur.     

Igniting change in local government: lessons learned from a bushfire vulnerability assessment

Local governments and communities have a critical role to play in adapting to climate variability and change. Spatial vulnerability assessment is one tool that can facilitate engagement between researchers and local stakeholders through the visualisation of climate vulnerability and the integration of its biophysical and socio-economic determinants. This has been demonstrated through a case study from Sydney, Australia where a bushfire vulnerability assessment was undertaken as the first-step in a project to investigate local government perceptions of climate vulnerability and adaptive capacity. A series of relevant biophysical and socio-economic indicators was identified that represented the region’s exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity with respect to bushfires. These indicators were then combined to develop maps of net landscape vulnerability to bushfire. When presented in a workshop setting, vulnerability maps were successful in capturing the attention of stakeholders while simultaneously conveying information regarding the diversity of drivers that can contribute to current and future vulnerability. However, stakeholders were reluctant to embrace representations of vulnerability that differed from their own understanding of hazard, necessitating the demonstration of agreement between the vulnerability assessment and more conventional hazard assessment tools. This validation opened the door for public dissemination of vulnerability maps, the uptake and use of the assessment in local government risk assessment and adaptation planning, and more focused case-studies on barriers to adaptation.     

An adapted companion modelling approach for enhancing multi-stakeholder cooperation in complex river basins

The sustainable development agenda 2030 calls for achievement of certain targets to ensure access to water and sanitation for all. Multi-stakeholder partnerships and the use of data and modelling tools are conditioning elements for their achievement. In this article, we demonstrate that participatory modelling supports informed and participatory decision making in complex river basins. An adapted companion modelling approach is presented to support collective action by reducing disputes and enhancing collaboration among stakeholders. The co-development and use of empirical models for understanding the complexity of the physical system is combined with the use of role-playing games to ensure the active involvement of stakeholders. The approach is implemented in a top-down water quality planning process in Turkey. Results show its suitability for managing water quality in complex river basins in an inclusive manner and its substantial benefits in developing stakeholders’ capacities and creating a cooperative environment.