Industrial Occupations Research Articles

New demand forecast for vocational high school graduates in regional strategic industries : Focusing on comparison between Daejeon and Jeonnam

이 연구의 목적은 지역전략산업에 따른 특성화고 졸업자의 신규수요를 예측함으로써 지역별 중등단계 직업교육의 정책수립과 특성화고의 변화에 필요한 기초 자료를 제공하는데 있다. 이를 위해 대전과 전남을 중심으로 지역전략산업을 선정하고, 특성화고 졸업자의 신규수요를 산업별 및 직업별로 예측하였다. 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 입지상 분석 및 변이할당 분석 결과, 대전과 전남의 전략산업은 서로 다른 양상을 보이는 것으로 확인되었다. 대전은 전남과 달리 `음식료품 및 담배 제조업`, `목재, 종이, 인쇄 및 복제업`, `공공행정, 국방 및 사회보장 행정`과 `전기 전자 및 정밀기기 제조업`이 전략산업에 포함되었다. 전남은 대전에서는 도출되지 않은 `기계 운송장비 및 기타 제품 제조업`, `비금속광물 및 금속제품 제조업`, `전기, 가스, 증기 및 수도사업`, `석탄 및 석유, 화학제품 제조업`, `광업`, `농림어업` 등이 지역전략산업으로 도출되었다. 둘째, 대전과 전남의 특성화고 졸업자에 대한 산업별 직업별 신규수요 역시 서로 다른 양상을 보였다. 대전은 제조업을 중심으로 신규수요가 많은 반면, 전남은 서비스업을 중심으로 신규수요가 많을 것으로 예측되었다. 직업별로는 대전이 전문가 및 관련 종사자의 신규수요 비중이 많은 것과 달리, 전남은 사무 종사자와 서비스 종사자의 신규수요 비중이 많았다. 셋째, 각 직업별 신규수요 중 지역전략산업에서 발생하는 신규 수요의 비중은 대전과 전남에서 모두 높았다. 넷째, 대전과 전남의 특성화고 졸업자에 대한 신규수요를 산업의 입지계수와 변화효과 측면에서 분석한 결과, 대전과 전남 모두 총 변화효과가 정적인(+) 산업들에서 많은 신규수요를 보였다. 입지계수 측면에서는 대전과 전남이 서로 다른 결과를 보였다.The purpose of this study was to provide basic data for policy making for secondary vocational education in each region and transformation in vocational high schools. To achieve this, the regional strategic industries in Daejeon and Jeonnam were selected, new demand for vocational high school graduates was forecasted in each industry and occupation. The results of the study are as follows. First, locational quotient analysis and regional shift-share analysis revealed that Daejon and Jeonnam have different strategic industries. Daejon, unlike Jeonnam strategically develops `manufacturing food, beverage and tobacco`, `manufacturing timber and paper, printing and copying`, `public service and administration of national defense and social security` and `manufacturing electrical devices, electronics and precision devices`. Jeonnam has specialized industries distinguished from Daejon`s, which are `manufacturing of machinery transportation equipments and etc`, `manufacturing of non-metallic minerals and metal products`, `electric, gas, steam and water supply systems/industries`, `manufacturing coal and chemical products, refining petroleum`, `mining` and `agriculture, forestry and fishery`. Second, new demand for vocational high school graduates by occupations and industries showed regional differences(in Daejon and Jeonnam). According the forecast, Daejon will have many workforce demands based on manufacturing industries, on the other hand Jeonnam`s focused on service industries. Analysis by occupations was also different, Daejon showed high demands on professional and related workers, while Jeonnam requested many new office and service workers. Third, new workforce demand by occupations in regional strategic industries is big part of overall new workforce demand both in Daejon and Jeonnam. Forth, according to the results of analyzing the new demand for vocational high school graduates in Daejeon and Jeonnam in terms of industry location quotient and change effect, there was high demand in industries with positive total change effects. In terms of location quotient, Daejeon and Jeonnam showed different results.

Vocational Education and Training: Quality & Employability

Vocational education system relates to programmes of study with job readiness. Though vocational education is non-formal in nature and focuses primarily on industry specific trade, occupation or vocational study enabling grass-root level people to acquire job specific skills based on hands-on-practice and/or training for their gainful employment. The Indian education system recognizes the role of vocational education, keeping in view the demand of highly skilled labour force both in the government as well as private/business sectors. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) set up by the Government of India plays an important role in co-ordination with its allied bodies like - National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skill Councils (SSC) and training partners for fulfilling the industrial requirements of trained and skilled manpower, besides skill up-gradation, and building of new skills not only for existing jobs but also aiming at jobs that are to be created in near future. Notwithstanding that there are many areas in which India is facing challenges to overcome problems in implementation of vocational education in regard to quality and employability, the paper intends to emphasize on some aspects of quality, employability and Government’s role in vocational education programme implementation.

Propose to Build a Portal Site System which is in Collaboration with Industry, Financial Institutions, Academia, Government and Professional Occupation.

Propose to Build a Portal Site System which is in Collaboration with Industry, Financial Institutions, Academia, Government and Professional Occupation.

Does the built-environment industry attract risk-taking individuals?

This exploratory research examines whether or not those attracted to professional-level occupations in the built-environment industry are innately physical risk-takers and hence potentially, thereby, more likely to countenance or contribute to physically risky workplace climates. Using individual-level data, the occupational attractiveness of the built-environment industry subsectors of construction management and architecture are each found positively and significantly to be predicted by physical risk-taking propensity, but not by a comparator risk-taking propensity, gambling. Conversely, the occupational attractiveness of a comparator profession in financial services is found to be significantly predicted by gambling risk-taking propensity, but not by physical risk-taking propensity. Although exploratory, our finding that two key professions in the built-environment industry are each discretely found to be attractive to physical risk-takers suggests not only that constituent occupations within the industry, but that the industry as a whole might perhaps engender a self-reinforcing suboptimal workplace safety climate. Accordingly, constituent subsectors of the industry may need both separately and collectively to consider the phenomenon of physical risk-taking propensity amongst the professionals it attracts in order effectively to set and manage the site work-place safety climate that such professionals are ultimately responsible for creating and delivering in a sector fraught with physical risks for site workers.

“That's cool, you’re a musician and you drink”: Exploring entertainers’ accounts of their unique workplace relationship with alcohol

This qualitative research investigates the alcohol experiences of entertainers who perform within licensed premises. Previous, mainly quantitative, studies have found that entertainers, specifically musicians, are an occupational group who drink excessively. This qualitative study draws on a wider sample of entertainers to examine their accounts of drinking in the workplace and the explanations they provide for this. We conducted individual semi-structured interviews (n=24) with band-members, variety acts and DJs in Glasgow, Scotland. This revealed a workplace characterised by continual opportunities for often free alcohol consumption. Unlike most occupations, for entertainers ‘drinking-on-the-job’ was normative, expected, and sometimes encouraged by peers, the public, employers or sponsors. Entertainers also experienced performance-related incentives to drink before, during and/or after a show; including anxiety, matching their intoxication level to the audience's, and ‘reward-drinking’. This qualitative research confirms the unique nature of the entertainer-alcohol link, even in comparison to that found within other leisure industry occupations. While providing some explanation as to why entertainers might drink excessively, participants’ accounts also suggested potential strategies for avoiding the negative outcomes of workplace drinking.

That was then, this is now: skills and routinization in the 2000s

We analyze changes in the skill content of occupations in US four-digit manufacturing industries between 1999 and 2010. Following a ‘task-based’ approach, we elaborate a measure of non-routine skill intensity that captures the effects of industry exposure to both technology and international trade. The paper adds to previous literature by focusing on both the determinants of demand for non-routine skills and their effects on industry productivity and wages. The key finding is that import competition from low-wage countries has been a strong driver of demand for non-routine skills during the 2000s. Both technology and trade with low-wage countries are associated with mild cross-industry convergence in skill intensity, while trade with high- and medium-wage countries are at the root of persistent heterogeneity across occupational groups. We also find that higher non-routine skill intensity has had, at best, a modest effect on productivity and wages, except in high-skill occupations

Wake-sleep transition as a noisy bifurcation.

A recent physiologically based model of the ascending arousal system is used to analyze the dynamics near the transition from wake to sleep, which corresponds to a saddle-node bifurcation at a critical point. A normal form is derived by approximating the dynamics by those of a particle in a parabolic potential well with dissipation. This mechanical analog is used to calculate the power spectrum of fluctuations in response to a white noise drive, and the scalings of fluctuation variance and spectral width are derived versus distance from the critical point. The predicted scalings are quantitatively confirmed by numerical simulations, which show that the variance increases and the spectrum undergoes critical slowing, both in accord with theory. These signals can thus serve as potential precursors to indicate imminent wake-sleep transition, with potential application to safety-critical occupations in transport, air-traffic control, medicine, and heavy industry.

Work-related fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes: Matching of 2010 data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System

Motor vehicle traffic crashes (MVTCs) remain the leading cause of work-related fatal injuries in the United States, with crashes on public roadways accounting for 25% of all work-related deaths in 2012. In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) provides accurate counts of fatal work injuries based on confirmation of work relationship from multiple sources, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) provides detailed data on fatal MVTCs based on police reports. Characterization of fatal work-related MVTCs is currently limited by data sources that lack either data on potential risk factors (CFOI) or work-relatedness confirmation and employment characteristics (FARS).BLS and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) collaborated to analyze a merged data file created by BLS using CFOI and FARS data. A matching algorithm was created to link 2010 data from CFOI and FARS using date of incident and other case characteristics, allowing for flexibility in variables to address coding discrepancies. Using the matching algorithm, 953 of the 1044 CFOI “Highway” cases (91%) for 2010 were successfully linked to FARS. Further analysis revealed systematic differences between cases identified as work-related by both systems and by CFOI alone. Among cases identified as work-related by CFOI alone, the fatally-injured worker was considerably more likely to have been employed outside the transportation and warehousing industry or transportation-related occupations, and to have been the occupant of a vehicle other than a heavy truck.This study is the first step of a collaboration between BLS, NHTSA, and NIOSH to improve the completeness and quality of data on fatal work-related MVTCs. It has demonstrated the feasibility and value of matching data on fatal work-related traffic crashes from CFOI and FARS. The results will lead to improvements in CFOI and FARS case capture, while also providing researchers with a better description of fatal work-related MVTCs than would be available from the two data sources separately.

Trends in mortality from occupational hazards among men in England and Wales during 1979–2010

ObjectivesTo monitor the impact of health and safety provisions and inform future preventive strategies, we investigated trends in mortality from established occupational hazards in England and Wales.MethodsWe analysed data from...

That Was then, this is Now: Skills and Routinization in the 2000s.

We analyze changes in the skill content of occupations in US four-digit manufacturing industries between 1999 and 2010. Following a ‘task-based’ approach, we elaborate a measure of Non-Routine skill intensity that captures the effects of industry exposure to both technology and international trade. The paper adds to previous literature by focusing on both the determinants of demand for Non-Routine skills and their effects on industry productivity and wages. The key finding is that import competition from low-wage countries has been a strong driver of demand for Non-Routine skills during the 2000s. Both technology and trade with low-wage countries are associated with mild cross-industry convergence in skill intensity while trade with high and medium wage countries are at root of persistent heterogeneity across occupational groups. We also find that higher Non-Routine skill intensity has had at best a modest effect on productivity and wages, except for high-skill occupations.

Life‐safety concerns in chemical plants

The safety and health standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Act do not specifically address life safety in chemical plants, other than requiring owners and operators to “provide a safe place to work” and to ensure that “employees may evacuate the workplace safely.” NFPA 101 would classify chemical plants as high‐hazard industrial occupancies, and a primary concern is to ensure “minimal danger to occupants in case of fire or other emergency before they have time to use exits to escape.” NFPA 1 also requires that the design and operation of buildings and facilities “provide an environment for the occupants that is reasonably safe from fire and similar emergencies, for the amount of time needed to evacuate.” Thus, most life‐safety requirements are concerned with safe exit.There are, however, other life‐safety hazards that should be of concern to chemical plant owners and operators. They include many single‐exit locations, such as the upper levels on distillation/fractionation columns, scrubbers, and other tall equipment; elevated work platforms as atop multistory buildings and smokestacks; platforms above tank cars, tank trucks, and hopper cars; at the head of bucket elevators; work spaces above false ceilings; and ladder‐access roofs over operating areas. Also, chemical‐plant life‐safety hazards include flash fire (flammable vapors and combustible dusts); releases of toxic gases and vapors; and vessel rupture from runaway reaction or other causes of overpressure. This article presents practical countermeasures for these life‐safety hazards. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 35: 18–25, 2016

Ultrasound Guidance in Performing a Tendoscopic Surgery to Treat Posterior Tibial Tendinitis: A Useful Tool?

A 25-year-old man with a pronation-external rotation type of fracture was surgically treated using a fibular plate. Five years later, he underwent resection of bone hyperplasia because of the ankle pain and limitation of range of motion. Thereafter, the left ankle became intermittently painful, which persisted for about one year. He presented at the age of 43 with persistent ankle pain. Physical and image analysis findings indicated a diagnosis of posttraumatic posterior tibial tendinitis, which we surgically treated using tendoscopy. Endoscopic findings showed tenosynovitis and fibrillation on the tendon surface. We cleaned and removed the synovium surrounding the tendon and deepened the posterior tibial tendon groove to allow sufficient space for the posterior tibial tendon. Full weight-bearing ambulation was permitted one day after surgery and he returned to his occupation in the construction industry six weeks after surgery. The medial aspect of the ankle was free of pain and symptoms at a review two years after surgery. Although tendoscopic surgery for stage 1 posterior tibial tendon dysfunction has been reported, tendoscopic surgery to treat posttraumatic posterior tibial tendinitis has not. Our experience with this patient showed that tendoscopic surgery is useful not only for stage 1 posterior tibial dysfunction, but also for posttraumatic posterior tibial tendinitis.

Segregation and Gender Gaps through the UK's Great Recession

Gender gaps in work respond to the business cycle. Although there are many potential explanations, we test the simplest. Is this because of the extent of segregation in work? We study gaps in employment, pay and hours worked. Our counterfactual-type analysis accounts for the specific role of combined gender segregation across industry sectors and occupations that existed at the onset of the Great Recession in the UK. The results contradict the existing narrative that men’s employment has been more harshly affected by the recession than women’s employment: gender segregation accounts for over two and a half times the actual fall in the gender gap between 2007 and 2011. Results for pay and hours gaps are more mixed. Segregation accounts for some of the fall in the pay gap, but does not explain the decline in the hours gap, nor the relatively greater rise in part-time work among men since 2007.

Lung cancer risk among workers in the construction industry: results from two case-control studies in Montreal.

BackgroundGiven the large number of workers in the construction industry, it is important to derive accurate and valid estimates of cancer risk, and in particular lung cancer risk. In most previous studies, risks among construction workers were compared with general populations including blue and white collar workers. The main objectives of this study were to assess whether construction workers experience excess lung cancer risk, and whether exposure to selected construction industry exposures carries excess risks. We wished to address these objectives within the sub-population of blue collar workers. MethodsTwo case-control studies were conducted in Montreal. Combined, they included 1593 lung cancer cases and 1427 controls, of whom 1304 cases and 1081 controls had been blue collar workers. Detailed lifetime job histories were obtained and translated by experts into histories of exposure to chemical agents. The two key analyses were to estimate odds ratio (OR) estimates of lung cancer risk: a) for all blue-collar construction workers compared with other blue-collar workers, and b) for construction workers exposed to each of 20 exposure agents found in the construction industry compared with construction workers unexposed to those agents. All analyses were conducted using unconditional logistic regression adjusted for socio-demographic factors and smoking history.ResultsThe OR for all construction workers combined was 1.11 (95 % CI: 0.90–1.38), based on 381 blue collar construction workers. Analyses of specific exposures were hampered by small numbers and imprecise estimates. While none of 20 occupational agents examined was significantly associated with lung cancer, the following agents manifested non-significantly elevated ORs: asbestos, silica, Portland cement, soil dust, calcium oxide and calcium sulfate.ConclusionsCompared with other blue collar workers, there was only a slight increased risk of lung cancer for subjects who ever held an occupation in the construction industry. The analyses of agents within the construction industry produced imprecise estimates of risk, but nevertheless pointed to some plausible associations. Excess risks for asbestos and silica were in line with previous knowledge. The possible excess risks with the other inorganic dusts require further corroboration.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2237-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Cardiovascular mortality associated with low and high temperatures: determinants of inter-region vulnerability in China.

The objectives of this study were to estimate the effects of temperature on cardiovascular mortality in 26 regions in the south and west of China from 2008 to 2011, and to identify socioeconomic and demographic factors contributing to such inter-region variation in the temperature effect. A separate Poisson generalized additive model (GAM) was fitted to estimate percent changes in cardiovascular mortality at low and high temperatures on a daily basis for each region. The model used the smooth functions to model the nonlinear effects of temperature and humidity and to control for the seasonal factor using the calendar time variable. Given variation in the magnitude of the temperature effect on cardiovascular mortality, we employed a Bayesian network (BN) to identify potential region-specific socioeconomic and demographic factors that may explain the variation. In most regions, an increasing trend in high or low temperature was associated with an increase in cardiovascular mortality, with variation in the magnitude of the temperature effects across regions. Three factors, including per capita years of education (as an indicator of economic status), percentage of the population over 65 years of age and percentage of women had direct impact on cold-related cardiovascular mortality. Number of hospital beds (as an indicator of the availability of medical resources), percentage of population engaged in industrial occupations, and percentage of women showed direct impact on heat-related cardiovascular mortality. Due to the socioeconomic and demographic inequalities between regions, the development of customized prevention and adaptation programs to address the low/high temperatures in vulnerable regions should be prioritized.

Temporal changes in rat liver gene expression after acute cadmium and chromium exposure.

U.S. Service Members and civilians are at risk of exposure to a variety of environmental health hazards throughout their normal duty activities and in industrial occupations. Metals are widely used in large quantities in a number of industrial processes and are a common environmental toxicant, which increases the possibility of being exposed at toxic levels. While metal toxicity has been widely studied, the exact mechanisms of toxicity remain unclear. In order to further elucidate these mechanisms and identify candidate biomarkers, rats were exposed via a single intraperitoneal injection to three concentrations of CdCl2 and Na2Cr2O7, with livers harvested at 1, 3, or 7 days after exposure. Cd and Cr accumulated in the liver at 1 day post exposure. Cd levels remained elevated over the length of the experiment, while Cr levels declined. Metal exposures induced ROS, including hydroxyl radical (•OH), resulting in DNA strand breaks and lipid peroxidation. Interestingly, ROS and cellular damage appeared to increase with time post-exposure in both metals, despite declines in Cr levels. Differentially expressed genes were identified via microarray analysis. Both metals perturbed gene expression in pathways related to oxidative stress, metabolism, DNA damage, cell cycle, and inflammatory response. This work provides insight into the temporal effects and mechanistic pathways involved in acute metal intoxication, leading to the identification of candidate biomarkers.

Toward a Typology of Journalism Careers: Conceptualizing Israeli Journalists' Occupational Trajectories

Journalism studies scholarship tends to emphasize professionalism as an occupational ideal, while scholarship on the culture industries stresses the salience of insecure careers. We argue that an exhaustive typology of journalism careers is needed to capture the potential variability in the structure of journalistic labor. This typology distinguishes professional, bureaucratic, entrepreneurial, unwillingly entrepreneurial, and nonemployed careers, and is relevant to a broader set of occupations in the culture industries. We illustrate this typology through an analysis of the occupational life histories of 60 Israeli journalists. This allows us to explain the dual nature of professionalism in journalism as a rhetoric nested within particular institutional contexts and this occupational rhetoric's splitting into “tribes of professionalism.”

Creative work careers: pathways and portfolios for the creative economy

This article examines the career opportunities, challenges and trajectories of creative work. As part of the Creative Trident approach to creative workforce measurements, the embedded mode draws attention to creative work as it is undertaken outside of the creative industries. This article further considers and conceptualises the complex careers pathways of creative workers. Firstly, creative workers in non-creative occupations in other industries are discussed to highlight the challenges and barriers to securing creative employment and the balance creative workers establish with other forms of employment. Secondly, students from creative courses going into non-creative occupations in other industries is discussed to highlight challenges students face in making the transition from higher education to creative employment in terms of workforce expectations and the competition amongst graduates. This article critically evaluates assumptions about transitions from education into creative work employment and associated career trajectories.

Monitoring of pulmonary function in people dwelling and working in and near cement factory area

Indian cement industry is the second largest in the world. With growing industrialization more and more people are involved in industrial occupation, who are prone to serious health hazards. In the present study we focus on pulmonary function tests (PFT) the changed values correlating with the duration of stay and type of occupation in the cement factory area. A base line demographic and patient data of work and stay was taken with the help of questionnaires designed as data collection form. Patients were sent for pulmonary function test which was done by an experienced PFT technician. Mean age of study subjects was found out to be 40.54 years (± 8.91). The different occupations of subjects staying in the said areas can be summarized as 8 house wives, 22 technicians, 4 hospital workers, 6 mine workers, 6 security personnel and 3 drivers. Mean duration of work and stay was found out to be 13.08 years (± 10.55) and 16.78 years (± 13.32) respectively. The mean forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) was found out to be 71.28 (± 20.74) whereas peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) was found to be 68.1 (± 17.20). 6 subjects had a history of asthma, 13 had dust allergy, 18 had shortness of breath functional class (FC) - grade III, and 2 patients working in mines had silicosis. There was a negative correlation between duration of stay and FEV1, PEFR with a co-efficient of correlation being -0.4 (p-value 0.29) & -0.43 (p-value 0.1) also the duration of work and FEV1, PEFR with a co-efficient of correlation being -0.51 (p-value 0.4) & -0.3 (p-value 0.7). Key words: Cement factory; pulmonary function tests; forced expiratory volume; peak expiratory flow rate; occupational lung diseases.

Low Back Pain Preventive Behaviors Among Nurses Based on the Health Belief Model Constructs

The nursing profession is physically demanding as it is ranked second from the viewpoint of physical activity, following industrial occupations. Nursing is considered a profession with high musculoskeletal disorders, specifically low back pain. This article evaluated the nurses’ educational needs based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) with focus on the low back pain and adoption of preventive behaviors. This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 133 nurses who were selected randomly from three public educational hospitals affiliated with Arak University of Medical Sciences. Data collection was performed with a questionnaire, which included demographic characteristics, questions on HBM constructs, and a checklist for explaining the performances. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical tests and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. In this study, among the HBM constructs, the cues to action and the perceived barriers were the main predictors of optimal performance among the sample subjects (B = 0.09, p < .01). Moreover, there was a significant relationship between the nurses’ performance on adopting the preventive behaviors and the scores of perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and cues to action (p < .05). However, no significant relationship was observed between the nurses’ performance and perceived susceptibility, severity, and benefits. In this study, as for behavior barriers, the nurses complained about unfamiliarity with the workplace ergonomics and inappropriate conditions based on ergonomic principles, which requires educational planning with the aim of overcoming perceived barriers, improving managerial activities, and enhancing the working place conditions.