Youth are vulnerable to sleep loss and fatigue due to biological, social and
psychological factors. However, there are few studies addressing the risk that sleep loss
and fatigue pose for youth in the workplace. The aim of this study was to explore work
health and safety (WHS) issues for young workers and develop strategies and solutions for
improved WHS outcomes, with a focus on issues related to fatigue, using a mixed-method,
multi-stage approach. Participants either completed a survey (n=212) or took part in focus
groups (n=115) addressing WHS for young workers, or attended a Future Inquiry Workshop
(n=29) where strategies for improving youth WHS were developed. Fatigue was identified as
a significant problem by the majority of young workers and was associated with
unpredictable working time arrangements, precarious employment, high workload, working
overtime and limited ability to self-advocate. Participants identified six key areas for
action to improve WHS outcomes for young workers; 1) develop expertise, 2) give young
workers a voice, 3) improve education and training, 4) build stakeholder engagement, 5)
increase employer awareness of WHS responsibilities and, 6) improve processes for
employers to manage and monitor WHS outcomes. The application of these directives to
fatigue is discussed.
Our findings contribute to our understanding of young workers' perceptions of work health and safety. Although young workers could identify their concerns about particular health and safety related issues at work, they lacked the confidence to report their concerns and had limited information about where to go for help. The research suggests that there is a need to empower young people to report WHS concerns to their employer and provide structures and processes that encourage reporting.
Safety culture' is identified in the literature as a critical element of healthy and safe workplaces. How can rail organizations ensure that consistently effective work health and safety cultures are maintained across the diversity of their operations? This paper reports on research that is currently underway in the Australian rail industry aimed at producing a Model of Best Practice in Safety Culture for the industry. Located in rail organizations dedicated to the mining industry as well as urban rail and national freight operations, the research examines the constructs of organizational culture that impact on the development and maintenance of healthy and safe workplaces. The research uses a multi-method approach incorporating quantitative (survey) and qualitative (focus groups, interviews and document analysis) methods along with a participative process to identify interventions to improve the organization and develop plans for their implementation. The research uses as its analytical framework the 10 Platinum Rules, from the findings of earlier research in the New South Wales (Australia) mining industry, Digging Deeper. Data collection is underway at the time of writing and preliminary findings are presented at this stage. The research method may be adapted for use as a form of organizational review of safety and health in organizational culture.
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