Behavioral Invisibility

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-47
Author(s):  
Ning Li

This chapter focuses on assessing data reliability, using data provided by AUDCO (a large auditing company) from more than forty thousand audits spanning seven-years across twelve countries and thirteen industries. It highlights China, which reports very high levels of unreliable audit information, and examines the role played by a “gray” actor — the audit consulting company (ACC) — in helping suppliers “pass” audits. ACCs provide a variety of services, including falsification of audit records. The chapter then considers how ACCs “advertise” their services and how they work, through a detailed analysis of an audit consultant's work logs, as well as an assessment of why ACCs may be so successful. The analysis suggests that getting a clear picture of what is really happening in a factory requires a nuanced understanding of the nature of the data that auditors examine. It points to the need for auditors to be better trained at spotting falsified data but also to triangulate with other data and information sources (perhaps from workers). Ultimately, the results show that the lack of reliable data provided to auditors is a major reason for the decoupling we see between private regulation practices and sustainable improvements in working conditions in global supply chains across multiple industries and countries.

Author(s):  
Galina V. Kurenkova ◽  
Natalia A. Sudeikina ◽  
Elizaveta P. Lemeshevskaya

Introduction. Professional groups of railway workers engaged in the repair of wagons are directly responsible for the safety of railway traffic. The analysis of literature testifies to insufficient attention of researchers to the hygienic problems associated with labor activity of workers of wagon-repair production.The aim of the study is to assess the occupational risk to the health of wagon repair workers, due to the impact on them of factors of the working environment and the labor process.Materials and methods. The study used comprehensive hygienic studies using the methodology of occupational risk to worker’s health.Results. The leading factors of the working environment (class of working conditions 3.2–3.4), which are exposed to workers depending on the specifics of the work performed. Identified professional groups with medium (significant) high (unbearable) and very high (intolerable) category of a priori occupational risk: in wagon meintenance workshop — 17 groups (94% of jobs), in a wagon assembly workshop — 11 groups (80% jobs), in wagon wheel workshop — 3 group (100% jobs). At the same time, according to the request for medical care, employees were diagnosed with isolated cases of occupational diseases.The levels of morbidity with temporary disability of employees of the main workshops are statistically significant (p<0.05) higher than those of the control group in 1.4–1.9 times. The influence of the complex of chemical factors of low and medium intensity on the levels of morbidity of respiratory diseases in the group of workers of the wagon wheel workshop, which were 1.7–2.0 times higher than in the control group, is confirmed by the average degree of causation of the production condition of this pathology (RR=1.7; EF=42.0%).The combined effect of vibration and severity of the labor process forms a high level of temporary disability of employees of the main workshops in connection with diseases of the musculoskeletal system, which was 2.7–4.4 times higher than in the control group, and also determines the prevalence of this pathology in the structure of diseases detected on medical examinations (23.2%). Diseases of the musculoskeletal system are caused by the production of employees of the wagon meintenance workshop (RR=3,9; EF=74,9%), as the most unfavorable in terms of hygiene on these factors.The stressful influence of the complex of harmful production factors on the health of wagon repair workers is manifested by the high risk of diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, neurological disorders, violation of adaptation of the cardiovascular system in 97% of the examined, as well as the predominance of diseases of the digestive system and circulatory system detected on periodic medical examinations.Conclusions. Harmful working conditions (class 3.1–3.4) cause the suspected occupational risk from small (moderate) to very high (intolerable) to 100% of the jobs of wagon repair workers. The results of the study of morbidity and risk of pathology indicate a significant risk of damage to the health of workers.


Sexualities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 516-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Toft ◽  
Anita Franklin ◽  
Emma Langley

Contemporary discourse on sexuality presents a picture of fluidity and malleability, with research continuing to frame sexuality as negotiable, within certain parameters and social structures. Such investigation is fraught with difficulties, due in part to the fact that as one explores how identity shifts, language terms such as ‘phase’ emerge conjuring images of a definitive path towards an end-goal, as young people battle through a period of confusion and emerge at their true or authentic identity. Seeing sexuality and gender identity as a phase can delegitimise and prevent access to support, which is not offered due to the misconception that it is not relevant and that one can grow out of being LGBT+. This article explores the lives of disabled LGBT + young people from their perspective, using their experiences and stories to explore their identities and examine how this links to the misconception of their sexuality and gender as a phase. Taking inspiration from the work of scholars exploring sexual and gender identity, and sexual storytelling; the article is framed by intersectionality which allows for a detailed analysis of how identities interact and inform, when used as an analytic tool. The article calls for a more nuanced understanding of sexuality and gender in the lives of disabled LGBT + young people, which will help to reduce inequality and exclusion.


2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-257
Author(s):  
Robert Hilsden

Longobardi and colleagues examined the effect of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on employment, using data from 10,891 respondents aged 20 to 64 years from the 1998 cycle of the Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS) (1). This sample included 187 (1.7%) subjects who self-reported IBD or a similar bowel disorder. A significantly greater proportion of IBD than non-IBD respondents reported that they were not in the labour force (28.9% versus 18.5%). Even after adjusting for other factors (age group, level of pain, etc), subjects with IBD had a 2.9% higher nonparticipation rate (21.4%). For example, among people not hospitalized within the past year and with no limitation of activities due to pain, IBD subjects were 1.2 times more likely to be unemployed than those without IBD. Subjects who reported high levels of pain had a very high probability of being out of the labour force. Based on Canadian annual compensation data for all employed persons in Canada, and age- and sex-specific prevalence, and incidence rates for IBD, the authors estimated that there are 119,980 IBD patients between the ages of 20 and 64 years in Canada and that this group includes 3479 people who are not in the labour force. This translates into lost wages of $104.2 million, or $868 per IBD patient


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian Parekh ◽  
Robert S. Brown ◽  
Karen Robson

Wide socio-demographic disparities exist between students identified as gifted and their peers (De Valenzuela, Copeland, Qi, & Park, 2006; Leonardo & Broderick, 2011). In this paper, we examine the intersectional construction of giftedness and the academic achievement of students identified as gifted. Using data from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), the largest and one of the most diverse public education systems in Canada, we consider racial, class, and gender characteristics of students identified as gifted in comparison to those who have very high achievement. Results demonstrated that there was almost no relationship between students identified as gifted and students who had very high achievement (Pearson’s correlation of 0.18). White, male students whose parents had high occupation statuses had the highest probability of being identified as gifted. Female students were more likely to be high achievers. Compared to White students, it was only East Asian students who were more likely to be identified as gifted; yet South, Southeast and East Asian students were more likely to be very high achievers. Parental occupation was strongly related to both giftedness and very high achievement. Results point to the socially constructed nature of giftedness and challenge its usage in defining and organizing students in schools.


2021 ◽  
pp. 272-274
Author(s):  
Sarosh Kuruvilla

This concluding chapter reviews the key findings and arguments of this book regarding private regulation. It also looks at other suggestions to reform and improve private regulation which are not canvassed extensively in this book. An important one is to reform the buyer–supplier contract to make the contract “work both ways” — that is, level the playing field so suppliers and workers can sue for buyer compliance. A second concerns institutionalizing unemployment insurance for supply chain workers. Meanwhile, a third suggestion is that global buyers reform their sourcing to source only from countries with good labor standards, or at a minimum, clearly indicate to those country's governments that they will stop sourcing if labor laws are not enforced. Ultimately, private regulation is not a panacea, and researchers have pointed to other steps that could improve working conditions in supply chains. For one thing, national governments need to do a better job enforcing existing labor laws; indeed, it was governments' failure to do so that gave rise to private regulation. Another step is regionalization — harmonizing national labor standards within regional trade blocs through arrangements similar to those employed by the European Union. Moreover, labor standards could be improved if the International Labour Organization (ILO) could be more forceful with its members with respect to adhering to ILO conventions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 815-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Anderson ◽  
D. Klugmann

Abstract. The Met Office has operated a very low frequency (VLF) lightning location network since 1987. The long-range capabilities of this network, referred to in its current form as ATDnet, allow for relatively continuous detection efficiency across Europe with only a limited number of sensors. The wide coverage and continuous data obtained by Arrival Time Differing NETwork (ATDnet) are here used to create data sets of lightning density across Europe. Results of annual and monthly detected lightning density using data from 2008–2012 are presented, along with more detailed analysis of statistics and features of interest. No adjustment has been made to the data for regional variations in detection efficiency.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 675-687
Author(s):  
Florence Nakazi ◽  
Immaculate Babirye ◽  
Eliud Birachi ◽  
Michael Adrogu Ugen

Unlike many other Sub-Saharan African countries, for many years Kenya had comparative advantages in the manufacturing of processed bean products. However, for new competitors intending to join the bean processing industry, little is known about marketing strategies for value added bean products. Using data from 90 retailers in the Nairobi and Kiambu counties in Kenya, a two-step econometric procedure-multivariate probit and Poisson regression models were applied to analyse retailers’ marketing strategy decisions. Findings show that information sources, cost of marketing, supply modalities, price of products, and quantities handled significantly influenced retailers’ marketing strategy choice. Surveyed retailers applied varying marketing strategies to market value added bean products. There is need for prospective retailers to choose an appropriate mix of strategies to penetrate the dynamic market with a number of value added bean products, and promote local consumption of value added bean products.


2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Alford ◽  
Jodi Rowley

AbstractTo gain information on the microhabitat use, home range and movement of a species, it is often necessary to remotely track individuals in the field. Radio telemetry is commonly used to track amphibians, but can only be used on relatively large individuals. Harmonic direction finding can be used to track smaller animals, but its effectiveness has not been fully evaluated. Tag attachment can alter the behaviour of amphibians, suggesting that data obtained using either technique may be unreliable. We investigated the effects of external tag attachment on behaviour in the laboratory by observing 12 frogs for five nights before and five nights after tag attachment, allowing one night to recover from handling. Tag attachment did not affect distance moved or number of times moved, indicating that the effects of tag attachment are unlikely to persist after the first night following attachment. We then compared harmonic direction finding and radio-telemetry using data collected in the field. We fitted rainforest stream frogs of three species with tags of either type, located them diurnally and nocturnally for approximately two weeks, and compared movement parameters between techniques. In the field, we obtained fewer fixes on frogs using harmonic direction finding, but measures of movement and habitat use did not differ significantly between techniques. Because radio telemetry makes it possible to locate animals more consistently, it should be preferred for animals large enough to carry radio tags. If harmonic direction finding is necessary, it can produce reliable data, particularly for relatively sedentary species.


Author(s):  
Yrjö Kaukiainen

This chapter begins with an introduction to Finnish shipping prior to 1700, before discussing in detail its expansion in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and exploring the country’s integration into the international maritime world. The report includes estimations of numbers of crew and officers in the Finnish Merchant Marine during this era of growth and provides information on social structure, ages, wages and working conditions while addressing the difficulties in presenting complete and reliable data.


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