Dirty work: cultural iconography and working-class pride in industrial apprenticeships.

In the seemingly routine and the everyday, lie layers of cultural and social symbolism. So it is with dirt. This article examines the social and cultural roles of dirt within socialization practices in working-class industrial and ex-industrial communities. Drawn from oral history accounts with 46 former and current engineering apprentices, the discussion demonstrates dirt as a concept and a practicality, and how the idea of 'getting dirty' provided a cultural imagery used to renegotiate moral boundaries that devalue working class, masculine experiences and identities. Building on from the work of Skeggs (1997, 2004, 2011), it demonstrates the lived experience of value within the industrial workplace past and present. Through dirt, the role of cultural artefacts and iconography within working-class experience and workplace training is explored. Additionally, the role of a cultural icon like dirt in the intergenerational dialogues of workplace communities is given new attention. In doing so the article argues that while after decades of underinvestment in apprenticeships as a model for training in the UK, a recent resurgence in interest can go some way in overcoming the long-term effects of the loss of large-scale industrial work. However, the cultures of work attached to the apprenticeships of the past are, within deindustrialization, much more complicated to develop or recreate.

La formación, la industria y las sociedades científicas / Training, industry, and the scientific societies

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The "new normal": Adapting doctoral trainee career preparation for broad career paths in science.

Doctoral recipients in the biomedical sciences and STEM fields are showing increased interest in career opportunities beyond academic positions. While recent research has addressed the interests and preferences of doctoral trainees for non-academic careers, the strategies and resources that trainees use to prepare for a broad job market (non-academic) are poorly understood. The recent adaptation of the Social Cognitive Career Theory to explicitly highlight the interplay of contextual support mechanisms, individual career search efficacy, and self-adaptation of job search processes underscores the value of attention to this explicit career phase. Our research addresses the factors that affect the career search confidence and job search strategies of doctoral trainees with non-academic career interests and is based on nearly 900 respondents from an NIH-funded survey of doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in the biomedical sciences at two U.S. universities. Using structural equation modeling, we find that trainees pursuing non-academic careers, and/or with low perceived program support for career goals, have lower career development and search process efficacy (CDSE), and receive different levels of support from their advisors/supervisors. We also find evidence of trainee adaptation driven by their career search efficacy, and not by career interests.

Developing an industry-oriented safety curriculum using the Delphi technique.

In this study, we examined the development of industry-oriented safety degree curricula at a college level. Based on a review of literature on the practices and study of the development of safety curricula, we classified occupational safety and health curricula into the following three domains: safety engineering, health engineering, and safety and health management. We invited 44 safety professionals to complete a four-round survey that was designed using a modified Delphi technique. We used Chi-square statistics to test the panel experts' consensus on the significance of the items in the three domains and employed descriptive statistics to rank the participants' rating of each item. The results showed that the top three items for each of the three domains were Risk Assessment, Dangerous Machinery and Equipment, and Fire and Explosion Prevention for safety engineering; Ergonomics, Industrial Toxicology, and Health Risk Assessment for health engineering; and Industrial Safety and Health Regulations, Accident Investigation and Analysis, and Emergency Response for safety and health management. Only graduates from safety programmes who possess practical industry-oriented abilities can satisfy industry demands and provide value to the existence of college safety programmes.

Connecting learners: The role of biotechnology programme in preparing students for the industry.

The recent growth of biotechnology requires a wide range of expertise within the industry. Education is the primary platform for students to gain information and knowledge on biotechnology. In Malaysia where biotechnology is relatively new, education programs and courses must be tailored to meet the demands of the industry. A combination of theoretical knowledge as well as practical and industrial training is essential to ensure graduates are prepared for their career in the fields of biotechnology. Results from this study show that university students lack literacy on biotechnology information and access to facilities provided by the universities. This may be a significant contributing factor to the lack of knowledge and information amongst graduates. Furthermore comparative analysis on the biotechnology program in Malaysian universities with that of other countries show the need to restructure the program by offering more specialized courses as well as soft skills and business subjects. This is to meet the demands of the related professionals as well as the various branches that exist in the biotechnology industry.

A study of the talent training project management for semiconductor industry in Taiwan: the application of a hybrid data envelopment analysis approach.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the training institution performance and to improve the management of the Manpower Training Project (MTP) administered by the Semiconductor Institute in Taiwan. Much literature assesses the efficiency of an internal training program initiated by a firm, but only little literature studies the efficiency of an external training program led by government. In the study, a hybrid solution of ICA-DEA and ICA-MPI is developed for measuring the efficiency and the productivity growth of each training institution over the period. The technical efficiency change, the technological change, pure technical efficiency change, scale efficiency change, and the total factor productivity change were evaluated according to five inputs and two outputs. According to the results of the study, the training institutions can be classified by their efficiency successfully and the guidelines for the optimal level of input resources can be obtained for each inefficient training institution. The Semiconductor Institute in Taiwan can allocate budget more appropriately and establish withdrawal mechanisms for inefficient training institutions.

Effectiveness of participatory training on improving occupational health in small and medium enterprises in China.

BACKGROUND: Participatory training on occupational health is widely used in the world. Evaluations of local experiences are necessary to its successful performance. OBJECTIVES: The project evaluated the effectiveness of participatory training on occupational health improvement in small and medium enterprises of China, and explored local practice experiences. METHODS: Participatory training was provided to 525 welding workers from 25 small and medium enterprises in ship building and machinery manufacturing industries. This training consisted of interactive learning, worksite assessment and group discussion on laws/regulations, safety of machine operation, prevention of slips and trips, fire/explosion prevention, ergonomics, and recognition and prevention of other workplace hazards. Workers completed knowledge, attitude, and practice and worksite assessment questionnaires before and 3 months after intervention. RESULTS: Knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were significantly increased through the training. An inventory of workplace safety modifications was proposed by participants and many were fixed by workers and employers. Health management and personal protective equipment provision/use were most often improved, but improvements in engineering control and health-related accommodations remained unsatisfactory. CONCLUSIONS: Workers could recognize and fix workplace hazards after the participatory training. More efficient measures in China are to be explored to improve implementing solutions, especially on preventive engineering and human ergonomics.

Design transfer and design for manufacturability [senior design].

ISO 9001 requires a company's product design and development process to include specific components [1]. These include design and development planning, design input, design output, design review, design verification and validation, and design transfer. The more our students become familiar with each of these components, the better prepared they will be for careers in the medical device industry. Ideally, capstone design projects would involve each of these components. In situations where this is not possible, lectures regarding the details of each design control component can be included in the capstone course.

Industrial production and professional application of manufactured nanomaterials-enabled end products in Dutch industries: potential for exposure.

BACKGROUND: In order to make full use of the opportunities while responsibly managing the risks of working with manufactured nanomaterials (MNM), we need to gain insight into the potential level of exposure to MNM in the industry. Therefore, the goal of this study was to obtain an overview of the potential MNM exposure scenarios within relevant industrial sectors, applied exposure controls, and number of workers potentially exposed to MNM in Dutch industrial sectors producing and applying MNM-enabled end products in the Netherlands. METHODS: A survey was conducted in three phases: (i) identification of MNM-enabled end products; (ii) identification of relevant industrial sectors; and (iii) a tiered telephone survey to estimate actual use of the products among 40 sector organizations/knowledge centres (Tier 1), 350 randomly selected companies (Tier 2), and 110 actively searched companies (Tier 3). RESULTS: The most dominant industrial sectors producing or applying MNM-enabled end products (market penetration >5%) are shoe repair shops, automotive, construction, paint, metal, and textile cleaning industry. In the majority of the companies (76%), potential risks related to working with MNM are not a specific point of interest. The total number of workers potentially exposed to MNM during the production or application of MNM-enabled end products was estimated at approximately 3000 workers in the Netherlands. The results of this study will serve as a basis for in-depth exposure and health surveys that are currently planned in the Netherlands. In addition, the results can be used to identify the most relevant sectors for policy makers and future studies focussing on evaluating the risks of occupational exposure to MNM.

[The economic-industrial health care complex and the social and economic dimension of development]. / O complexo econômico-industrial da saúde e a dimensão social e econômica do desenvolvimento.

The strategic role of health care in the national development agenda has been increasingly recognized and institutionalized. In addition to its importance as a structuring element of the Social Welfare State, health care plays a leading role in the generation of innovation - an essential element for competitiveness in knowledge society. However, health care's productive basis is still fragile, and this negatively affects both the universal provision of health care services and Brazil's competitive inclusion in the globalized environment. This situation suggests the need of a more systematic analysis of the complex relationships among productive, technological and social interests in the scope of health care. Consequently, it is necessary to produce further knowledge about the Economic-Industrial Health Care Complex due to its potential for contributing to a socially inclusive development model. This means reversing the hierarchy between economic and social interests in the sanitary field, thus minimizing the vulnerability of the Brazilian health care policy.

O complexo econômico-industrial da saúde e a dimensão social e econômica do desenvolvimento / The economic-industrial health care complex and the social and economic dimension of development

O papel estratégico da saúde na agenda de desenvolvimento nacional tem sido crescentemente reconhecido e institucionalizado. Além de sua importância como elemento estruturante do Estado de Bem-Estar Social, a saúde é protagonista na geração de inovação - elemento essencial para a competitividade na sociedade do conhecimento. Contudo, a base produtiva da saúde ainda é frágil, o que prejudica tanto a prestação universal de serviços em saúde quanto uma inserção competitiva nacional em ambiente globalizado. Essa situação sugere a necessidade de uma análise mais sistemática das complexas relações entre os interesses produtivos, tecnológicos e sociais no âmbito da saúde. Consequentemente, é necessário aprofundar o conhecimento sobre o Complexo Econômico-Industrial da Saúde devido ao seu potencial de contribuir para um modelo de desenvolvimento socialmente inclusivo. Isso significa reverter a hierarquia entre os interesses econômicos e os sociais no campo sanitário, e assim minimizar a vulnerabilidade da política de saúde brasileira.

The strategic role of health care in the national development agenda has been increasingly recognized and institutionalized. In addition to its importance as a structuring element of the Social Welfare State, health care plays a leading role in the generation of innovation - an essential element for competitiveness in knowledge society. However, health care's productive basis is still fragile, and this negatively affects both the universal provision of health care services and Brazil's competitive inclusion in the globalized environment. This situation suggests the need of a more systematic analysis of the complex relationships among productive, technological and social interests in the scope of health care. Consequently, it is necessary to produce further knowledge about the Economic-Industrial Health Care Complex due to its potential for contributing to a socially inclusive development model. This means reversing the hierarchy between economic and social interests in the sanitary field, thus minimizing the vulnerability of the Brazilian health care policy.

Stochastic resonance training reduces musculoskeletal symptoms in metal manufacturing workers: a controlled preventive intervention study.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the effects of stochastic resonance whole-body vibration training on work-related musculoskeletal symptoms and accidents. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were white and blue-collar employees of a Swiss metal manufacturer (N=38), and participation was voluntary. METHODS: The study was designed as a switching-replications longitudinal trial with randomized group allocation. The randomized controlled cross-over design consisted of two groups each given four weeks of exercise and no intervention during a second four-week period. Outcome was measured on a daily basis with questionnaires. Three components constituted musculoskeletal symptoms: musculoskeletal pain, related function limitations and musculoskeletal well-being. Accidents were assessed by ratings for balance and daily near-accidents. For statistical analysis, a mixed model was calculated. RESULTS: At the end of the training period musculoskeletal pain and related function limitation were significantly reduced, whereas musculoskeletal well-being had significantly increased. For function limitation and musculoskeletal well-being, change over time was linear. There was no effect on balance or near-accidents. CONCLUSIONS: Stochastic resonance whole-body vibration was found to be effective in the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms. It is well suited for the use in a work environment since it requires very little effort in terms of infrastructure, time and investment from participants.

The acceleration of the masculine in early-twentieth-century Berlin.

In early-twentieth-century Berlin, agents of speed and industrialisation, such as the railway, contributed to the seemingly unbridled velocity of urban life. Doctors and cultural critics took an ambivalent stance toward the impact of speed and technology on the human body. Critics argued that these factors, in conjunction with sexual excess and prostitution, accelerated the sexual maturation of young men, thereby endangering 'healthy' male sexuality. This comparison of Hans Ostwald's socio-literary study Dunkle Winkel in Berlin (1904) with Georg Buschan's sexual education primer Vom Jüngling zum Mann (1911) queries the extent to which speed shaped the understanding of 'the masculine' in pre-World-War-I Germany. The essay thus examines Ostwald's and Buschan's arguments and postulates that speed in the city (Berlin) can be seen as a feminised, sexualised force that determined sex in the city. According to this reading, the homosexual urban dandy resisted the accelerated modernist urban tempo, whereas the heterosexual man and hegemonic, heteronormative masculinity yielded to speed. '"Das Verhältnis"' became a fleeting, momentary alternative to stable marital relationships, which in turn contributed to the general 'crisis' of ­ and in­ masculinity in early-twentieth-century Berlin.

German suffering in the Franco­German War, 1870/71.

Suffering during the Franco­Prussian War of 1870/71 has to be interpreted in the context of three developments: the willingness to alleviate wartime suffering, which had led to the foundation of the International Red Cross and the Geneva Convention a few years earlier, the industrialization of war, which had enormously increased the efficiency of the weaponry, and the nationalization of war. For many Germans, the outcome of the war justified the wartime suffering, which was often trivialized in the media. The small number of authors who saw the high casualty numbers and the pain of the victims as a warning about the consequences of modern warfare usually belonged to the anti-Prussian opposition. Nationalist euphoria in the face of victory and German unification drowned out such critics, whose patriotism was in doubt. Finally, the remembrance of the war during the Kaiserreich aimed largely at celebrating the triumph of the German army and the foundation of the national state. The glorification of the military was hardly compatible with a detailed description of the misery of the battlefield and the pain of war victims. In 1870/71 and in the subsequent decades, nationalism overwhelmed and eventually excluded a humanitarian narrative.

The modern Chinese family in light of economic and legal history.

Most social science theory and the currently powerful Chinese ideology of modernizationism assume that, with modern development, family-based peasant farm production will disappear, to be replaced by individuated industrial workers and the three-generation family by the nuclear family. The actual record of China's economic history, however, shows the powerful persistence of the small family farm, as well as of the three-generation family down to this day, even as China's GDP becomes the second largest in the world. China's legal system, similarly, encompasses a vast informal sphere, in which familial principles operate more than individualist ones. And, in between the informal-familial and the formal-individualist, there is an enormous intermediate sphere in which the two tendencies are engaged in a continual tug of war. The economic behavior of the Chinese family unit reveals great contrasts with what is assumed by conventional economics. It has a different attitude toward labor from that of both the individual worker and the capitalist firm. It also has a different structural composition, and a different attitude toward investment, children's education, and marriage. Proper attention to how Chinese modernity differs socially, economically, and legally from the modern West points to the need for a different kind of social science; it also lends social­economic substance to claims for a modern Chinese culture different from the modern West's.

Modernization, weather variability, and vulnerability to famine.

This paper shows that under weather variability the transformation from a rural to an incomplete market economy can increase the vulnerability of peasants to famine. This can occur even if improvements in technology have raised agricultural productivity and made production less responsive to weather variability. Indeed, negative environmental shocks can produce a drop in wages that outweighs the increase in wages due to an equivalent positive environmental shock. Consequently, the amount of grain stored increases more slowly in good seasons than it decreases in bad ones. This paper gives new insights on the catastrophic effects produced by widespread droughts in India during the second half of the 19th century. Notwithstanding the introduction of new modes of production and the modernization of infrastructures, the interaction between environmental variability and new institutional arrangements might have contributed to increase the vulnerability of peasants to famine.