Do we need sustainability as a new approach in human factors and ergonomics?

The International Ergonomics Association Technical Committee 'Human Factors and Sustainable Development' was established to contribute to a broad discourse about opportunities and risks resulting from current societal 'mega-trends' and their impacts on the interactions among humans and other elements of a system, e.g. in work systems. This paper focuses on the underlying key issues: how do the sustainability paradigm and human factors/ergonomics interplay and interact, and is sustainability necessary as a new approach for our discipline? Based on a discussion of the sustainability concept, some general principles for designing new and enhancing existent approaches of human factors and ergonomics regarding their orientation towards sustainability are proposed. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: The increasing profile of sustainability on the international stage presents new opportunities for human factors/ergonomics. Positioning of the sustainability paradigm within human factors/ergonomics is discussed. Approaches to incorporating sustainability in the design of work systems are considered.

Globalization and working conditions in international supply chains.

The discussion about globalization has included the topic of working conditions in international supply chains for many years. In this context, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has focused on Special Economic Zones (SEZ), especially, the so-called Export Processing Zones (EPZ). It is common for developing countries to attract investors by offering special framework conditions, for example, the granting of tax holidays and the repeal of national labour protection laws (in cases where such laws exist). In recognition of this practice, many years ago the ILO developed compliance guidelines on "decent work." In this paper, Juan Carlos Hiba addresses this issue from the ILO's perspective. Marina Jentsch discusses why the topic is still relevant by comparing developments (or lack thereof) in recent years and uses data from the textile industry to illustrate certain points. The World Trade Organization (WTO) and some regional trade agreements increasingly show a trend to restrict the use of subsidies and countervailing measures and provide rules addressing the special treatment of free trade zones and their incentive systems. In the final section, Klaus J. Zink discusses the future of these zones in light of the increasing criticism levelled at the ecological impacts of production and the working and living conditions of workers. Practical relevance: The German and European planning underway for a Law on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains clearly demands a better understanding of this topic.

Estimation of bacterial biomass in subsurface sediments by quantifying intact membrane phospholipids.

In an earlier study of deep subsurface sediments from Nankai Trough (ODP Leg 190, offshore Japan) we employed intact phospholipids (PLs) as molecular indicators of living microorganisms. The current study extends this work by quantifying absolute amounts of sedimentary PLs by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and by converting PL data into cell numbers in order to improve methods to estimate the extent of bacterial life in the subsurface. Investigations were carried out on 90 cm short cores of Lake Baikal sediment. High amounts of identified intact PLs are interpreted as reflecting the constituents of living bacteria due to high organic matter decomposition and oxic mineralisation between the epilimnion and the sediment-water interface. Concentrations of ester-bound PLs reach up to 13,120 ng/g sediment dry weight. Predominance of ethanolamine and glycerol PL head groups confirms the bacterial origin. The most abundant side-chain pairs are combinations including 14:0 and 16:0 fatty acids and to a minor extent 15:0 and 16:1 fatty acids. Depth profiles of PL concentrations converted from conventional PL fatty acid analysis are of the same order of magnitude and show comparable trends as those for intact PLs. An approximate estimation of bacterial cell numbers is inferred from intact PL quantification using LC-MS.

Comprehensive change management concepts. Development of a participatory approach.

During the last years, many change projects in organizations did not have the planned success. Therefore at first, the causes for these failures and the success factors contributing to organizational change have to be discussed. To get better results, a comprehensive change management concept has been developed and tested in an ongoing research project. By using concepts for an integrated assessment and design of organizations, an approach for analyzing the current situation has been elaborated to identify "lack of integration" in the change initiatives of a company. To realize an integrated overall approach of modernization by harmonizing different methods and concepts, first, one has to prove their relationship to policy and strategy (vertical harmonization). The second step is to take into account the fact that there has to be a logical fit between the single concepts (horizontal harmonization). But even if all elements are logically coherent, that does not mean that the people working in the company also see this coherence. Therefore, in addition to the "logical fit", one has to examine the "psychological fit". In the end, a concept for analyzing the status quo in an organization as a result of "objective data" and "subjective data" originated. Subsequently, instruments for harmonizing different modernizing concepts have been applied. As part of the comprehensive change management concept participatory ergonomic approaches have been used during the project. The present study shows this approach in the case of one company.

Designing sustainable work systems: the need for a systems approach.

There is a growing discussion concerning sustainability. While this discussion was at first mainly focused on a society level--and sometimes regarding especially environmental problems, one can now see that this topic is of increasing relevance for companies worldwide and even the social dimension of this three pillar approach is gaining more and more importance. This leads to some questions: Is sustainability already a part of human factors thinking or do we have to further develop our discipline? How can we define sustainable work systems? What are the topics we have to consider? Do we need a new systems ergonomics perspective regarding whole value creation chains and a life-cycle perspective concerning products (and work systems)? How can we deal with potential contradictions about social, ecological, and economic goals?

Defining elements of sustainable work systems--a system-oriented approach.

Based on a system-theoretic discussion of sustainability, this paper aims to develop a conceptual model of a sustainable work system which is consistent with the definition of ergonomics by the IEA in 2000 (but also with earlier definitions) as well as with the triple bottom line understanding of sustainable development - comprising the management of human, social, ecological and economic capital in a balanced manner.

Stress-induced changes of phospholipids in betaproteobacterium Aromatoleum aromaticum strain EbN1 due to alkylbenzene growth substrates.

The denitrifying betaproteobacterium strain EbN1 degrades toluene and ethylbenzene under anoxic conditions. Alkylbenzenes are unusual substrates, since their extraordinary chemical stability necessitates complex reactions and their toxic properties as solvents challenge cellular viability. To study the solvent impact on membrane lipid composition, strain EbN1 was grown at low, standard and semi-inhibitory concentrations of toluene (70, 240, and 740 microM) and ethylbenzene (80, 210, and 315 microM). At semi-inhibitory concentrations, phosphatidylglycerol increased at the expense of phosphatidylethanolamine. Moreover, phosphatidylcholine proportions increased and tentatively identified N-hexanoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine was detected. All observed changes in membrane lipid composition are interpreted as the organism's response to prevent the maceration of the cell membrane.

Marinilactibacillus piezotolerans sp. nov., a novel marine lactic acid bacterium isolated from deep sub-seafloor sediment of the Nankai Trough.

A piezotolerant, mesophilic, marine lactic acid bacterium (strain LT20T) was isolated from a deep sub-seafloor sediment core collected at Nankai Trough, off the coast of Japan. Cells were Gram-positive, rod-shaped, non-sporulating and non-motile. The NaCl concentration range for growth was 0-120 g l(-1), with the optimum at 10-20 g l(-1). The temperature range for growth at pH 7.0 was 4-50 degrees C, with the optimum at 37-40 degrees C. The optimum pH for growth was 7.0-8.0. The optimum pressure for growth was 0.1 MPa with tolerance up to 30 MPa. The main cellular phospholipids were phosphatidylglycerols (25 %), diphosphatidylglycerols (34 %) and a group of compounds tentatively identified as ammonium-containing phosphatidylserines (32 %); phosphatidylethanolamines (9 %) were minor components. The fatty acid composition was dominated by side chains of 16 : 0, 14 : 0 and 16 : 1. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 42 mol%. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and the secondary structure of the V6 region, this organism was found to belong to the genus Marinilactibacillus and was closely related to Marinilactibacillus psychrotolerans M13-2(T) (99 %), Marinilactibacillus sp. strain MJYP.25.24 (99 %) and Alkalibacterium olivapovliticus strain ww2-SN4C (97 %). Despite the high similarity between their 16S rRNA gene sequences (99 %), the DNA-DNA hybridization levels were less than 20 %. On the basis of physiological and genetic characteristics, it is proposed that this organism be classified as a novel species, Marinilactibacillus piezotolerans sp. nov. The type strain is LT20T (=DSM 16108T=JCM 12337T).

Efficient and rapid method for extraction of intact phospholipids from sediments combined with molecular structure elucidation using LC-ESI-MS-MS analysis.

This paper presents the application of an efficient method for extraction and fractionation of intact phospholipids (PLs) from complex sediment matrices and elucidation of their molecular structure by normal-phase HPLC-ESI-MS-MS. Flow-blending extraction was tested with different solvent mixtures and the best recovery of all PLs classes from the sediment matrix was achieved by using methanol-dichloromethane-buffer, 2:1:0.8. The applied LC-ESI-MS system has linearity of R2=0.98 and a detection limit of 0.5 ng/PL, sufficient for reliable identification of complex mixtures of PLs. MS-MS analyses using a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer enables detection of individual PL side-chain composition and, hence, characterization of the living organisms contributing to the sedimentary organic material. Parallel GC-MS analysis of the hydrolysed phospholipid fatty acids supports the characterized fatty acid patterns determined from intact PLs. The PL inventory of different investigated lacustrine surface sediments shows predominantly high abundance of phosphatidylglycerols and phosphatidylethanolamines and phosphatidyl-mono- and dimethyl-ethanolamines with fatty acyl side-chains typically known from bacteria. In a sample from Lake Baikal intense signals of bacterial 14:0-acyl-PGs were also identified, for the first time in sediments as far as we are aware.

Organic matter composition in the sediment of three Brazilian coastal lagoons: district of Macaé, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

Freshwater lagoons comprise important coastal ecosystems and natural buffers between urbanized land areas and open ocean in the Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Studies of sediment and water chemistry, zooplankton and bacterial communities to assess the extent of anthropogenic disturbance are available. Here we contribute with an organic-geochemical approach supplemented by some microbiological aspects to complete the characterization of these lagoonal ecosystems. Bulk organic matter and extractable lipids (aliphatic hydrocarbons, alcohols and fatty acids, sterols) were investigated from two locations per lagoon: at the seaward site and landward ends - and at two depth intervals (0-3 and 3-6 cm) per site. Urbanized Imboacica Lagoon received increased anthropogenic input over the most recent years represented by the topmost 3 cm of sediment, whereas deeper sediment layers are less affected by human influence. Eutrophication or nutrient availability favored enhanced algal/cyanobacterial growth. In remote Cabiúnas and Comprida Lagoons pristine conditions are preserved. Organic matter from vascular plants dominates (chain length of free lipids up to C36), which is exceptionally well preserved by acidic lagoonal waters. Differentiation between landward and seaward sites in these two lagoons is less well established due to much smaller surface/volume to catchment ratios. No anthropogenic influences are yet detectable in sediments of Cabiúnas and Comprida Lagoons.

Organic matter composition in the sediment of three Brazilian coastal lagoons: district of Macaé, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

Freshwater lagoons comprise important coastal ecosystems and natural buffers between urbanized land areas and open ocean in the Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Studies of sediment and water chemistry, zooplankton and bacterial communities to assess the extent of anthropogenic disturbance are available. Here we contribute with an organic-geochemical approach supplemented by some microbiological aspects to complete the characterization of these lagoonal ecosystems. Bulk organic matter and extractable lipids (aliphatic hydrocarbons, alcohols and fatty acids, sterols) were investigated from two locations per lagoon: at the seaward site and landward ends - and at two depth intervals (0-3 and 3-6 cm) per site. Urbanized Imboacica Lagoon received increased anthropogenic input over the most recent years represented by the topmost 3 cm of sediment, whereas deeper sediment layers are less affected by human influence. Eutrophication or nutrient availability favored enhanced algal/cyanobacterial growth. In remote Cabiúnas and Comprida Lagoons pristine conditions are preserved. Organic matter from vascular plants dominates (chain length of free lipids up to C36), which is exceptionally well preserved by acidic lagoonal waters. Differentiation between landward and seaward sites in these two lagoons is less well established due to much smaller surface/volume to catchment ratios. No anthropogenic influences are yet detectable in sediments of Cabiúnas and Comprida Lagoons.