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The Ideas Boom.<br />
Aug-Oct <strong>2018</strong>
21<br />
CONTENTS<br />
24<br />
11<br />
1<br />
Latest Bytes<br />
Tips to get the most out of your workday<br />
24<br />
3<br />
The Ideas Boom<br />
CoWorking spaces the new economy<br />
27<br />
7<br />
Temperature at Work<br />
3D Printing in the Construction Industry<br />
31<br />
11<br />
Health of the Construction Industry<br />
Back to Work<br />
33<br />
15<br />
How to stop Bullying at work<br />
Top Apps for your workplace<br />
35<br />
21<br />
Introducing worker 4.0<br />
<strong>OCCTECH</strong> Occupational Health & Technology <strong>AUG</strong>UST - <strong>OCT</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
<strong>OCCTECH</strong> - Occupational Health &<br />
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LATEST BYTES<br />
LATEST BYTES<br />
<strong>2018</strong> NATIONAL SAFETY AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE AMENDED HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL INFORMATION DISPUTE RESOLUTION THROUGH THE<br />
FAIR WORK COMMISSION<br />
<strong>AUG</strong>UST IS TRADIES HEALTH MONTH<br />
Safe Work Australia is a proud sponsor of the <strong>2018</strong><br />
National Safety Awards of Excellence, held on 11 October<br />
<strong>2018</strong>. Nominate your safety heroes now.<br />
Safe Work Australia is a proud sponsor of the NSCA’s<br />
<strong>2018</strong> National Safety Awards of Excellence (Best Health<br />
and Wellbeing Program).<br />
Winners will be announced on 11 October <strong>2018</strong> at the<br />
Awards Gala Lunch in Sydney at Doltone House, Hyde<br />
Park.<br />
Nominations are open to organisations of all sizes as well<br />
as individuals.<br />
NSCA National Safety Awards of Excellence, Proud<br />
Sponsor of Category 7: Best Health and Wellbeing<br />
program<br />
Key dates<br />
Entries open: Now<br />
Entries close: 29 June <strong>2018</strong><br />
Judging and shortlisting: July/August <strong>2018</strong><br />
Finalists and non-finalists notifed: early September <strong>2018</strong><br />
Winners announced: 11 October <strong>2018</strong><br />
To submit your nomination, download a copy of the <strong>2018</strong><br />
Awards Nomination Guide, or find out more information<br />
about the Awards, visit their website.<br />
More than 750 chemicals have been added to the<br />
Hazardous Chemical Information System to update<br />
classification information available for manufacturers,<br />
importers, suppliers and end users.<br />
The update includes the addition of 755 chemicals and<br />
amendments to more than 600 currently listed chemicals.<br />
The Hazardous Chemical Information System provides<br />
information on chemicals that have been classified<br />
in accordance with Globally Harmonized System of<br />
Classification and Labelling of Chemicals<br />
You can find details on the new and amended chemicals<br />
by using the advanced search feature to show chemicals<br />
revised this week.<br />
The update incorporates classification information<br />
published under the Inventory Multi-tiered Assessment<br />
and Prioritisation program run by the National Industrial<br />
Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme.<br />
If you have any questions about this update please contact<br />
our Chemicals Policy team. For more information about<br />
working with chemicals visit our Hazardous chemicals web<br />
page.<br />
Members of the Fair Work Commission (the Commission)<br />
are experienced in a wide range of alternative dispute<br />
resolution techniques including conciliation, mediation and<br />
arbitration.<br />
They are skilled in helping employers and employees<br />
resolve workplace disputes and can suggest means of<br />
resolving differences that may not have been immediately<br />
apparent to those directly involved.<br />
They are also impartial and have a sound knowledge and<br />
understanding of the relevant legal and industrial issues.<br />
Depending on the circumstances, the Commission can<br />
exercise statutory powers that enable disputes to be<br />
resolved on a final basis.<br />
Who can seek assistance from the Commission?<br />
In general, the Commission can assist in resolving disputes<br />
involving employers, employees and unions and employer<br />
associations who are covered by the national workplace<br />
relations system.<br />
These include:<br />
• any employer that is a constitutional corporation<br />
• any employer in Victoria or the territories<br />
• the Commonwealth (including any Commonwealth<br />
authority) • any employee of one of the above types of<br />
employers<br />
• a registered union or employer organisation.<br />
Unsure if you are covered?<br />
• Contact the Commission on 1300 799 675 to see if you<br />
may be able to seek assistance.<br />
This year, we’re reminding employers to protect their<br />
business’ greatest assets – their workers.<br />
We want to raise awareness of work health and safety<br />
risks for tradies – this includes technicians and trades<br />
workers, labourers, and machinery operators and drivers.<br />
Safe Work Australia’s CEO Michelle Baxter said that<br />
worksites for tradies are hazardous by nature, and that<br />
employers have a duty to ensure their team is working<br />
safely.<br />
“According to the latest WHS statistics, tradies make<br />
up almost one-third of Australia’s workforce, but they<br />
represent over half of the country’s serious claims for<br />
workers’ compensation,” said Ms Baxter.<br />
Throughout August, we’ll be sharing resources on tradies’<br />
health and safety by publishing a collection of data, videos,<br />
resources and information on our website and on our<br />
social media channels.<br />
“Serious injuries and fatalities will end up costing you more<br />
if you take shortcuts. Deadlines are serious, but injuries and<br />
fatalities are worse.”<br />
Visit our website for resources, WHS contacts and general<br />
guidance on how to keep safe as a tradie.<br />
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profound impact on the future of work. Their everincreasing<br />
complexity and accelerating change means<br />
constant disruption is the new business as usual.<br />
If we are to respond to the changing nature of future<br />
work, we need to build a world-beating national innovation<br />
ecosystem, especially by equipping Australians with skills<br />
and experience relevant to 2030. As we transition into the<br />
digital economy, that means technical, digital and STEM skills<br />
are vital. (STEM refers to science, technology, engineering<br />
and maths.)<br />
The Ideas<br />
Boom<br />
Growth in STEM jobs is 1.5 times that of non-STEM since<br />
2005, yet we continue to produce non-STEM graduates<br />
at higher rates than those in STEM. The performance of<br />
our kids at school – particularly in maths and science – has<br />
declined against international benchmarks.<br />
Clearly, strategic intervention is needed: this is where ISA<br />
should come in.<br />
Nothing new on education<br />
The ISA report recommendations on education cover:<br />
• better training for teachers, particularly STEM teachers<br />
• preparing students for STEM degrees and jobs<br />
• improving student achievement in literacy and<br />
numeracy<br />
• interventions to reduce educational inequality<br />
• improving our vocational education and training (VET)<br />
system.<br />
Written by: Sean Gallagher, Beth Webster & Sarah Maddison - Swinburne University of Technology<br />
In 2015, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull welcomed<br />
us to the “ideas boom”, launching a National<br />
Innovation and Science Agenda to<br />
drive smart ideas that create business growth, local<br />
jobs and global success.<br />
In January <strong>2018</strong> the specially-created independent statutory<br />
board Innovation and Science Australia (ISA) released its<br />
report Australia 2030: Prosperity through Innovation. It’s a<br />
document that has been described not as a roadmap for<br />
action, but “more of a sketch with detours, dead ends, and<br />
red lights which should be green.”<br />
The federal government’s May <strong>2018</strong> response to this<br />
report adds further disappointment. The response fails to<br />
seize the opportunity to deliver a properly funded and<br />
connected education, research and innovation system.<br />
Australia is left with a series of well-meaning but disparate<br />
programs that only get us part way to ensuing that Australia<br />
thrives in the global innovation race.<br />
Action is required<br />
Today, we sit at the dawn of the fourth industrial revolution<br />
where virtual, physical and biological worlds are merging.<br />
Sophisticated cognitive and automation technologies will<br />
transform our world in ways difficult to imagine. These<br />
technologies are increasingly able to perform human tasks<br />
better, faster, and more cheaply.<br />
But it is the emergence of vast, expanding digital platforms<br />
and the ecosystems they support that will have a more<br />
Yet none of these education recommendations were<br />
directly supported by the government: only “in principle” or<br />
“noted” support was offered in the response document.<br />
While school education in Australia is the constitutional<br />
responsibility of the states and territories, the Australian<br />
government never shies away from using the funding carrot<br />
to leverage school policy outcomes for the betterment of<br />
the country.<br />
For instance, full marks go to the federal government<br />
supporting STEM education through the Education<br />
Council’s National STEM School Education Strategy 2016-<br />
2026, and for funding several excellent STEM education<br />
projects and initiatives. So why not fund increased numbers<br />
and quality of STEM teachers?<br />
Likewise, the urgent need to support the Vocational<br />
Education and Training (VET) sector to help it drive<br />
innovation, automation and new technologies, and provide<br />
businesses with requisite skills training is absent. The Skilling<br />
Australians Fund – the government’s main VET policy<br />
instrument and a welcome apprenticeship initiative – does<br />
little to transition the existing workforce through VET.<br />
Funding for R&D is unclear<br />
Turning to research and development (R&D), the<br />
government supports the ISA recommendation to enhance<br />
‘It is the emergence of vast,<br />
expanding digital platforms<br />
and the ecosystems they<br />
support that will have a more<br />
profound impact on the future<br />
of work’<br />
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AI and machine learning capabilities – absolutely essential<br />
in the digital economy. However, there was no additional<br />
funding in the <strong>2018</strong> federal budget beyond existing digital<br />
technologies program.<br />
At face value, the raft of funding commitments in the<br />
budget for R&D looks promising. But are the funds in<br />
addition to existing commitments, or a re-labelling of<br />
existing funds?<br />
A persistent criticism from industry of government support<br />
is the continual chopping and changing of policies and<br />
programs, both in name and content.<br />
ISA recommended extending export support programs,<br />
which is sensible given the solid evidence that they work.<br />
However, in its response the government merely said<br />
they are supported in principle, with no further funds<br />
forthcoming.<br />
What about the future of work?<br />
Agile approaches, exponential organisations, freelance<br />
economy, and Industry 4.0 are rewriting the rules of how<br />
economic value is created.<br />
The ISA report aims to provide comfort about how to<br />
create employment opportunities towards 2030, but it<br />
speaks more to the past than to the future. Knowledge<br />
work – a main focus of the report – will increasingly be<br />
performed less by people and more by machines, creating<br />
vast workforce transformation challenges for industry.<br />
The closer we get to 2030, the less the ISA view of<br />
the future will be true. Emerging evidence already<br />
contraindicates this view.<br />
For work done by people, data from the United States and<br />
Australia already show enormous growth of freelancers,<br />
including operating from co-working spaces. Modelling<br />
suggests this trend will continue.<br />
In parallel, business are becoming more agile. ANZ is<br />
completely restructuring itself to look more like 150 startups,<br />
and downsizing in the process. NAB is sacking 6,000<br />
staff – including many knowledge workers – and replacing<br />
them with 2,000 technology specialists and digital workers.<br />
All large companies are expected to follow.<br />
Dissociating ‘work’ from ‘jobs’<br />
In the emerging freelance economy, work is increasingly<br />
being dissociated from jobs on digital platforms like<br />
Upwork. And as more companies go agile, they will have<br />
fewer employees but have a larger workforce, leveraging<br />
the freelance economy through these platforms.<br />
The upshot? People will increasingly need to create their<br />
own work opportunities rather than expect to get a<br />
traditional job.<br />
Developing digital skills is essential, and the ISA report<br />
rightly focuses on them. But in the highly disruptive<br />
and dynamic environment of digital platforms, the core<br />
worker skill set will be competent risk taking. Diversity of<br />
experience combined with continuous learning are essential<br />
ingredients.<br />
Alongside investments in teaching, we should be investing in<br />
opportunities where students – from secondary to tertiary<br />
education – can “learn-by-doing” in emerging futures of<br />
work.<br />
It is for others to discuss the merits of whether these<br />
disruptive changes to the economy and employment should<br />
be allowed happen or not. But New York Times columnist<br />
Tom Friedman sums up the certainty of the approaching<br />
tech disruption perfectly:<br />
Whatever can be done, will be done. The only question is,<br />
“Will it be done by you or to you?” but it will be done.<br />
The inexorable and exponential rise of sophisticated<br />
technologies in the digital economy – the Australian<br />
economy – will impact all work and change all jobs. We<br />
need to be investing in this future for our children.<br />
And we need the government to support and fund a wellintegrated<br />
innovation ecosystem to incorporates education,<br />
research, industry and government.<br />
TOTAL STEM WORKFORCE STEM UNIVERSITY GRADUATES STEM PhD GRADUATES<br />
STEM qualified population<br />
32%<br />
University<br />
qualified<br />
2.3<br />
MILLION<br />
16% of STEM qualified<br />
people are female<br />
Unemployment rate<br />
STEM = 3.7%<br />
Non-STEM = 4.1%<br />
68%<br />
Growth of STEM vs<br />
non-STEM qualified population<br />
Between 2006 and 2011:<br />
Per cent growth<br />
2006<br />
29%<br />
University<br />
qualified<br />
2011<br />
Vocational<br />
Education &<br />
Training (VET)<br />
qualified<br />
9%<br />
VET<br />
qualified<br />
26% Non-STEM<br />
15% STEM<br />
Office of the Chief Scientist<br />
AUSTRALIA’S STEM WORKFORCE<br />
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics<br />
Industries and occupations<br />
STEM graduates work across the<br />
economy in a wide variety of industries<br />
and largely as professionals (55%) and<br />
managers (18%).<br />
Top six industries<br />
(65% of STEM graduates)<br />
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services<br />
Manufacturing<br />
% of STEM graduates<br />
earning in the top income<br />
bracket ($104 000 or above)<br />
32% male 12% female<br />
% of employed STEM graduates<br />
in the private sector<br />
77%<br />
10%<br />
10%<br />
Public Administration and Safety<br />
10%<br />
Education and Training<br />
6%<br />
Health Care and Social Assistance<br />
5%<br />
Financial and Insurance Services<br />
All STEM<br />
graduates<br />
43%<br />
25%<br />
STEM PhDs<br />
Business ownership<br />
23%<br />
Non-STEM<br />
PhDs<br />
10% of STEM PhDs owned<br />
a business compared to 23%<br />
of non-STEM PhDs.<br />
A PhD can provide an<br />
earning premium<br />
PhD<br />
Bachelor<br />
Degree<br />
Biological<br />
Sciences PhD<br />
2.7x<br />
10%<br />
STEM<br />
PhDs<br />
Environmental<br />
Studies PhD<br />
2.0x<br />
PhD earning multiplier<br />
Chemical<br />
Sciences PhD<br />
1.9x<br />
In every STEM field, higher<br />
proportions of PhDs earned in<br />
the top income bracket compared<br />
to bachelor graduates.<br />
Contents<br />
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian<br />
Census of Population and Housing, 2006 and 2011.<br />
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CHILL OUT<br />
A slightly warmer office<br />
won’t make it too hot to think<br />
If you’re reading this article in your office, chances are<br />
the air conditioning is set to around 22°C. Setting the<br />
temperature to 25°C could cut your office’s daily airconditioning<br />
energy consumption by 18%, drive down<br />
electricity bills and help save the planet.<br />
But would it be too hot to think?<br />
Not according to our study, published recently in the<br />
journal Building and Environment.<br />
Our experiment found that office workers’ “cognitive<br />
load” – the total amount of mental effort being used<br />
in the working memory – was not significantly affected<br />
by a little temperature boost.<br />
What we did and how we did it<br />
To test our hypothesis,<br />
we asked volunteers to sit<br />
some performance tests, under<br />
various air-con temperature<br />
settings. We ran the experiments<br />
at 22°C and 25°C.<br />
Our experiments took place in the<br />
University of Sydney’s Indoor Environmental<br />
Quality Laboratory climate chamber. It has a<br />
floor area of about 25 square metres, and is designed<br />
such that it’s easy for us to control the room<br />
temperature.<br />
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Participants sat at separate workstations, each consisting of<br />
a desk, a chair, and a computer.<br />
A total of 26 office workers (12 men and 14 women)<br />
volunteered as subjects in this study.<br />
A little over 70% of the participants were aged between<br />
31 and 50 years and about a third were aged 30<br />
years or under. These people had diverse employment<br />
circumstances, ranging from professional (35%) and<br />
technical (31%) to managerial (15%) and administrative<br />
(19%). Participants wore their normal office clothes, and<br />
were also free to adjust their clothing as they liked during<br />
the experiments.<br />
All participants, in groups of two to four, were given half an<br />
hour to acclimatise to the environment, and then sat two<br />
one-hour tests (with a break in between the tests).<br />
Before they sat the tests, our participants were fitted<br />
with a number of electrodes worn via a headset, so we<br />
could monitor their brain activity and “cognitive load”<br />
– how hard their brains were working – through an<br />
electroencephalogram (EEG). They also wore a heart rate<br />
monitor.<br />
During each one-hour experiment session, participants<br />
first filled in a questionnaire designed to ascertain how<br />
comfortable they were with the room temperature. Then<br />
it was time to test how their brain power coped at the<br />
different temperature settings.<br />
Assessing ‘cognitive load’<br />
The first test they did is called the Cambridge Brain Science<br />
(CBS) test, which has been used in many studies aimed at<br />
measuring cognitive performance.<br />
Then, we asked them to fill in a questionnaire aimed at<br />
determining how challenging they found that task. This<br />
questionnaire is called the NASA Task Load Index and<br />
asks participants questions such as: how much mental and<br />
perceptual activity was required? Was the task easy or<br />
demanding, simple or complex?<br />
After a 10 minute break, we then asked our participants to<br />
complete three different difficulty levels of another brainpower<br />
test, called the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test<br />
(PASAT). Again, when the test was over we asked them<br />
to fill in the NASA-TLX questionnaire to ascertain how<br />
cognitively challenging they found the test.<br />
At the end of the one hour experiment session, our<br />
test participants then completed the thermal comfort<br />
questionnaire again.<br />
Our results showed that their CBS test scores were not<br />
significantly affected by temperature.<br />
In fact, many of the participants performed even better at<br />
a warmer temperature of 25°C, (but this could be due to<br />
what scientists call “the learning effect”, meaning it is not<br />
uncommon to do better the second time you sit a test<br />
compared to the first).<br />
And when we analysed and compared the EEG and<br />
heart rate monitoring results during the PASAT tests, we<br />
did not find any significant difference, whether the room<br />
temperature was at 22°C or 25°C.<br />
Why does this matter?<br />
A typical Australian commercial lease stipulates indoor<br />
air temperatures of between 20°C and 24°C. This means<br />
that building managers or landlords who set the indoor<br />
temperature higher than 24°C during summer run the risk<br />
of breaching leases and incurring penalties.<br />
However, the research shows there is no empirical<br />
evidence that this temperature range should be maintained.<br />
The significant over-cooling in commercial buildings not<br />
only often leads to office workers complaining their<br />
workplaces are too cold, but also affects building energy<br />
use, greenhouse gas emissions and electricity bills.<br />
The standard 22°C setpoint for office air conditioning<br />
has prevailed in Australia for over a decade now. Many<br />
employers may fear that boosting the office temperature<br />
will make it too hot to think, and reduce worker<br />
productivity.<br />
However, our study shows that boosting the office<br />
temperature a little can save energy and keep office<br />
workers comfortable without sacrificing their cognitive<br />
performance.<br />
Authors:<br />
Dian Tjondronegora<br />
Southern Cross University<br />
Christhina Candido<br />
Shamila Haddard<br />
University of Sydney<br />
Fan Zhang<br />
Griffith University<br />
<br />
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HEALTH OF THE<br />
CONSTRUCTION<br />
INDUSTRY<br />
Construction sites are busy places.<br />
Many contractors work side-byside<br />
and heavy vehicles come<br />
and go. In this environment<br />
consultation, cooperation and<br />
coordination are essential to<br />
ensure the health and safety of<br />
everyone on site. They are also<br />
a requirement for businesses<br />
under the model WHS Act.<br />
Construction work: a definition<br />
Construction work is any work carried out in connection<br />
with the construction, alteration, conversion, fittingout,<br />
commissioning, renovation, repair, maintenance,<br />
refurbishment, demolition, decommissioning or<br />
dismantling of a structure, or preparation of a building<br />
site. Under the model WHS Act, the term ‘demolition’<br />
includes ‘deconstruction’.<br />
Work-related injuries<br />
An industry profile we compiled in 2015 found the most<br />
common work-related injuries experienced by workers in<br />
the construction industry were:<br />
cuts and open wounds (31%)<br />
sprains and strains (21%)<br />
chronic joint or muscle conditions (16%).<br />
These injuries were mainly due to:<br />
hitting or being hit by an object (31%)<br />
lifting, pushing or pulling objects (30%)<br />
falls from a height (15%).<br />
Work-related fatalities<br />
When it comes to work-related fatalities, the most recent<br />
statistics from the Construction Industry Profile show<br />
that between 2003–13, 401 workers died on construction<br />
sites in Australia. The majority of those (28% or 112<br />
workers) involved falls from a height:<br />
40 involved ladders, mobile ramps, stairways and<br />
scaffolding<br />
32 involved a fall from a roof<br />
17 involved buildings under construction or demolition.<br />
Other fatalities during this period were made up of:<br />
vehicle collisions 16% (65)<br />
electrocution 15% (61)<br />
being hit by a moving object 12% (48)<br />
being hit by a falling object 11% (46)<br />
being trapped between or in equipment 8% (31)<br />
other causes 9% (38).<br />
Work health and safety duties<br />
At each step of the process in construction work, PCBUs<br />
are subject to certain general and specific duties under<br />
the model WHS laws. For example:<br />
The model WHS Regulations require the person that<br />
commissions construction work to consult with the<br />
designer of a structure about safety matters and to give<br />
the designer and the principal contractor for the project<br />
information about safety matters.<br />
A PCBU that carries out construction work must manage<br />
and control WHS risks associated with that work. It<br />
must also ensure that a construction site is secured from<br />
unauthorised access.<br />
The principal contractor for a construction project is<br />
also a PCBU and must be aware of the WHS duties that<br />
apply to all PCBUs that carry out construction work, as<br />
well as the specific duties that are imposed on principal<br />
contractors in that industry.<br />
Specific duties that apply to principal contractors include,<br />
but are not limited to, the duty to be clearly identified<br />
by signage posted at the construction site, the duty to<br />
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worker has completed white card training, including those<br />
who have completed training in the past but have not<br />
carried out construction work in the last two years. Once<br />
a person has completed that training they may apply to a<br />
WHS regulator for a white card.<br />
A white card issued in one state or territory or by the<br />
Commonwealth is generally recognised Australia wide.<br />
Hazardous Manual Tasks<br />
How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace<br />
How to Safely Remove Asbestos.<br />
Our national approach<br />
The Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2012–<br />
2022 has identified the construction industry as a priority<br />
due to the high number and rate of work-related fatalities<br />
and serious injuries.<br />
prepare, review, keep and inform others about the WHS<br />
management plan for the construction project.<br />
Under the model WHS Act, the person with management<br />
or control of a workplace must ensure, so far as is<br />
reasonably practicable, that the workplace, the means of<br />
entering and exiting the workplace and anything arising<br />
from the workplace are without risk to the health and<br />
safety of any person.<br />
The model Code of Practice for Construction Work<br />
provides practical guidance to achieve the standards of<br />
health, safety and welfare required under the model WHS<br />
Act and Regulations in relation to construction work.<br />
High risk construction work<br />
In the construction industry, a PCBU that carries out high<br />
risk construction has additional WHS duties. These include<br />
requirements to prepare, keep, comply with and review a<br />
safe work method statement for the work and provide the<br />
safe work method statement to the principal contractor.<br />
High risk construction work:<br />
involves a risk of a person falling more than 2 m<br />
is carried out on a telecommunication tower<br />
involves demolition of an element of a structure that is<br />
load-bearing<br />
involves demolition of an element of a structure that is<br />
related to the physical integrity of the structure<br />
involves, or is likely to involve, disturbing asbestos<br />
involves structural alteration or repair that requires<br />
temporary support to prevent collapse<br />
is carried out in or near a confined space<br />
is carried out in or near a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5<br />
m or a tunnel<br />
involves the use of explosives<br />
is carried out on or near pressurised gas mains or piping<br />
is carried out on or near chemical, fuel or refrigerant lines<br />
is carried out on or near energised electrical installations or<br />
services<br />
is carried out in an area that may have a contaminated or<br />
flammable atmosphere<br />
involves tilt-up or precast concrete<br />
is carried out on, in or adjacent to a road, railway, shipping<br />
lane or other traffic corridor in use by traffic other than<br />
pedestrians<br />
is carried out in an area of a workplace where there is any<br />
movement of powered mobile plant<br />
is carried out in areas with artificial extremes of<br />
temperature<br />
is carried out in or near water or other liquid that involves<br />
a risk of drowning<br />
involves diving work.<br />
Requirements for carrying out construction work<br />
To be able to carry out construction work, a person<br />
must complete an introductory safety training course<br />
called ‘general construction induction training’. This is also<br />
commonly known as ‘white card’ training.<br />
Under the model WHS Act, a PCBU must make sure every<br />
For more information about white card training, crossborder<br />
recognition, applications and renewal of white cards,<br />
contact the WHS Regulator in your state or territory or the<br />
Commonwealth.<br />
Some types of construction work—such as operating<br />
certain types of cranes or carrying out scaffolding work—<br />
require a high-risk work licence.<br />
Model codes of practice<br />
The model Code of Practice for Construction Work should<br />
be read in conjunction with other codes on specific hazards<br />
and control measures relevant to the construction industry<br />
including:<br />
Demolition Work<br />
Excavation Work<br />
Safe Design of Structures<br />
Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces<br />
Preventing Falls in Housing Construction<br />
Managing Electrical Risks at the Workplace<br />
Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work<br />
Confined Spaces<br />
Serious claims for tradies 2010-11 to 2014-15<br />
190<br />
serious claims<br />
each day<br />
Incidence rate<br />
x3<br />
all other<br />
occupations<br />
44%<br />
Traumatic joint<br />
injuries<br />
Source: Safe Work Australia’s National Data Set for Compensation-based Statistics, 2014-15.<br />
Note: For the purposes of this infographic, ‘Tradies’ are comprised of Technicians and trades<br />
workers, Labourers, and Machinery operators and drivers.<br />
For a number of years, construction has consistently been<br />
among the top few industries with the highest number of<br />
serious claims. Since 2006–07, it has had the fifth highest<br />
incidence rate of serious claims of all industries.<br />
The Strategy aims to reduce the incidence of serious<br />
injury by at least 30% nationwide by 2022, and reduce the<br />
number of work-related fatalities due to injury by at least<br />
20%. The construction industry will play a critical role in<br />
meeting these targets.<br />
Since the Strategy launched, Safe Work Australia and all<br />
jurisdictions have been working collaboratively with the<br />
industry, unions, relevant organisations and the community<br />
to reduce traumatic injury fatalities and injuries in the<br />
construction industry.<br />
Further advice<br />
SWA is not a regulator and cannot advise you about<br />
compliance in the construction industry. If you need help,<br />
please contact your state or territory work health and<br />
safety authority.<br />
Most common types of serious claims<br />
18%<br />
Wounds/<br />
lacerations<br />
Tradies are<br />
30%<br />
of workforce<br />
15%<br />
Musculoskeletal<br />
disorders<br />
10%<br />
Fractures<br />
but represent<br />
58%<br />
of serious claims<br />
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Being bullied as a child, being female, young, and<br />
neurotic are significant predictors of whether<br />
you might be bullied in the workplace, our online<br />
anonymous survey shows.<br />
Our team investigated the personality traits and coping<br />
styles of workplace bullying victims which might contribute<br />
to their victimisation.<br />
Neuroticism is defined as a vulnerability to negative mood<br />
states such as excessive worrying, anxiety, anger, hostility,<br />
self-consciousness, and difficulty coping with stress.<br />
Destructive behaviours such as bullying or harassment<br />
reduce employees’ potential at work, in turn increasing<br />
businesses’ operational costs. They are often associated with<br />
staff absence, increased sick days, and high staff turnover,<br />
which are also expensive for organisations.<br />
Absenteeism is usually a direct consequence of repeated<br />
harassment in the workplace. However, presenteeism<br />
(attending work when not fit to do so) is the new norm in<br />
psychologically unsafe workplaces.<br />
Our study showed that most employees suffering repeated<br />
abuse at work nevertheless chose to continue attending.<br />
Yet only a small percentage reported taking action towards<br />
changing their situation – 10% of individuals had attempted<br />
to resolve the situation and 9% had made a complaint.<br />
Presenteeism contributes to a loss of work productivity.<br />
An Australian Medibank survey in 2011 showed that<br />
presenteeism results in the loss of an estimated 6.5 working<br />
days per year, per employee. This cost an estimated A$34.1<br />
billion to the Australian economy over 2009 and 2010.<br />
These statistics show that although employees might<br />
keep going to work, they do not maintain their previous<br />
standards when their mental health is compromised.<br />
What neuroticism looks like in the workplace<br />
Neuroticism and mental health difficulties are often<br />
expressed in subtle ways.<br />
For example, an employee might become excessively<br />
worried about missing work and professional opportunities,<br />
or unreasonably concerned about what others will think or<br />
do in their absence.<br />
But mental distress is not always a function of personality.<br />
Resilient people can also be brought to breaking point by<br />
the “climate” at work without the control to change it.<br />
Bullying takes many forms<br />
Safe Work Australia defines workplace bullying as repeated<br />
and unreasonable behaviours directed towards a worker or<br />
a group of workers creating a risk to health and safety.<br />
But bullying is not limited to overt behaviours. Covert<br />
and subtle victimisation, such as spreading gossip about<br />
someone or deliberately excluding them, also causes<br />
distress.<br />
Concealed harassment tactics often involve abuse of power<br />
that functions to silence potential complainants.<br />
Organisational policy is one effective way to stop bullying<br />
and incivility at work. However, there is a difference<br />
between policy and application. Most bullying policies only<br />
tackle overt behaviours.<br />
What should be done?<br />
Suffering in silence and not seeking help is costly to<br />
individuals and organisations. On the flip side, workplace<br />
psychological safety increases productivity.<br />
According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada,<br />
employers who invest in psychologically safe workplaces<br />
see the benefits not only in productivity but also in<br />
recruiting and retaining staff, reduced workplace conflict,<br />
and declining costs of disability and absenteeism.<br />
But to tackle the problem effectively, workplace policies<br />
need to tackle all types of bullying behaviours, both overt<br />
and covert.<br />
Whether the individual chooses to leave or stay at work,<br />
the consequences of bullying persist for years and are never<br />
forgotten. All workplaces should provide effective policies<br />
for managing continuing abuse and improving the mental<br />
health outcomes of individuals after bullying.<br />
How can companies stop bullying at work?<br />
Raquel Peel & Beryl Buckby - James Cook University<br />
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Introducing ‘Operator 4.0’<br />
a tech-augmented<br />
human worker<br />
The Fourth Industrial Revolution has arrived. The first was<br />
the steam engine-driven Industrial Revolution; the second<br />
involved the innovations from Henry Ford’s assembly line.<br />
Third, microelectronics and computer power appeared<br />
on factory floors. Now, manufacturing businesses are<br />
beginning to integrate robotics, automation and other<br />
data-driven technologies into their workflows.<br />
Robots have taken over difficult, dangerous and repetitive<br />
physical tasks, improving factory safety, worker comfort<br />
and product quality. The next phase of labor innovation will<br />
do the same thing for cognitive work, removing mentally<br />
stressful and repetitive tasks from people’s daily routines.<br />
Human work will become more versatile and creative.<br />
Robots and people will work more closely together<br />
than ever before. People will use their unique abilities to<br />
innovate, collaborate and adapt to new situations. They will<br />
handle challenging tasks with knowledge-based reasoning.<br />
Machines enabled by the technologies that are now<br />
becoming commonplace – virtual assistants like Siri and<br />
Alexa, wearable sensors like FitBits and smart watches –<br />
will take care of tedious work details.<br />
People will still be essential on the factory floors, even as<br />
robots become more common. Future operators will have<br />
technical support and be super-strong, super-informed,<br />
super-safe and constantly connected.<br />
We call this new generation of tech-augmented human<br />
workers, both on factory floors and in offices, “Operator<br />
4.0.” There are several types of enhancements available,<br />
which can be used individually or in combination to put<br />
humans at the heart of this technological revolution.<br />
One straightforward enhancement would let workers<br />
wear robotic exoskeletons to enhance their strength. A<br />
“super-strength operator” could let a human truly control<br />
the physical power of a large robot. In today’s warehouses<br />
and construction sites, workers risk injury and exhaustion<br />
by handling heavy objects themselves. Or they are forced<br />
to compromise, using a more powerful tool with less<br />
adaptability, like a forklift.<br />
The benefits go well beyond the workplace. Of course,<br />
a worker in a powered robotic suit could easily handle<br />
extremely heavy objects without losing the flexibility of<br />
natural human movements. The worker would also be<br />
far less likely to suffer severe injuries from accidents or<br />
overwork. And at the end of a day, a super-strength worker<br />
could take off the exoskeleton and still have energy to play<br />
with the kids or spend time with friends.<br />
Super informed<br />
Fighter pilots use heads-up displays, which provide them<br />
with crucial information right on the cockpit windshield<br />
and directly in their line of sight. This is “augmented<br />
reality,” because it displays information within a live view<br />
of the world. It used to be very specialized and expensive<br />
technology. Now, Microsoft’s HoloLens makes it available<br />
for consumers.<br />
An “augmented operator” can get directions or assistance<br />
without interrupting the task he or she is working on.<br />
Often, when new equipment or processes are developed,<br />
trainers need to travel long distances to factories, staying<br />
for weeks to teach workers what to do. Designers do the<br />
same, getting feedback for refinements and improvements.<br />
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All that travel takes up a huge amount of time and is<br />
extremely expensive. With augmented reality available, it is<br />
often unnecessary.<br />
Augmented reality on the job.<br />
A worker wearing a set of smart glasses can receive<br />
individualized, step-by-step instructions displayed right<br />
in front of his or her eyes, no matter where he or she is<br />
looking. With earbuds and a microphone, she or he could<br />
talk directly to trainers in real time.<br />
Super safe<br />
Many manufacturing environments are hazardous, involving<br />
heavy equipment, caustic chemicals and other dangers that<br />
can maim and kill human workers. A “healthy operator”<br />
may be equipped with wearable sensors tracking pulse rate,<br />
body temperature, chemical exposure or other factors that<br />
indicate risks of injury.<br />
This type of system is already available: Truck drivers can<br />
wear the Maven Co-Pilot, a hands-free headset that detects<br />
fatigue symptoms, like head-bobbing movements. It can also<br />
ensure drivers check their rear-view mirrors regularly to<br />
stay aware of nearby traffic. It can even provide reminders<br />
to take scheduled breaks. This helps keep the truck’s driver<br />
safe and improves everyone else’s road safety.<br />
And beyond…<br />
Possibilities are limitless. An “analytical operator” would<br />
wear a monitor showing real-time data and analytics, such<br />
as information on chemicals in a sewage treatment plant<br />
or pollutants at an incinerator. A “collaborative operator”<br />
may be linked to collaborative robots, or co-bots, like the<br />
assembly assistant YuMi. A “smarter operator” could be<br />
equipped with an intelligent virtual personal assistant, like an<br />
advanced Siri or Alexa.<br />
There does not have to be conflict between robots and<br />
humans, with machines taking people’s jobs and leaving<br />
them unemployed. Technology should be designed with<br />
collaboration in mind. That way, companies and workers<br />
alike will be able to capitalize on the respective strengths<br />
of both human and machine. What’s more, the inherent<br />
flexibility of “Operator 4.0” workers will also help to<br />
ensure workplaces of the future that can change and adapt.<br />
That means getting ever more efficient and safer, as new<br />
technologies emerge.<br />
5 Tips to<br />
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of your<br />
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Getting a lot done each day is about more than just having<br />
the right productivity tools and setup. It’s about taking care<br />
of your body and mind, and this starts even outside of the<br />
workplace.<br />
We all need strategies for increasing productivity; here are<br />
five to get you started.<br />
Researchers at MIT found that scheduling coffee breaks<br />
so that the entire team took it at the same time increased<br />
productivity. When tested at a bank call centre, efficiency<br />
increased by 8% on average, and 20% for the worst<br />
performing teams. The benefit here came less from<br />
the caffeine and more from increasing the interactions<br />
between team members.<br />
1) Get a good night’s rest<br />
The first key to productivity is plenty of sleep. Getting 7-8<br />
hours sleep a night will flow through into your work, from<br />
sharper decision making and problem solving, to better<br />
coping with change.<br />
But before you rush out to grab a coffee, remember<br />
that in these experiments “a good cup of coffee” means<br />
black coffee. Research shows the levels of the beneficial<br />
antioxidants in coffee were higher and lasted longer in<br />
black coffee drinkers than for people who added sugar or<br />
non-dairy creamer to their coffee.<br />
It is not just the quantity of sleep that matters, but quality as<br />
well. You should try to stick to a regular sleep pattern.<br />
Going to bed late during the working week and hoping to<br />
catch up with a sleep-in on the weekends may make you<br />
feel more productive, but you are disrupting your sleepwake<br />
rhythms. This makes it difficult to feel alert and ready<br />
for work on Monday.<br />
Get into a good sleep routine by setting a regular bedtime.<br />
Then avoid caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and other chemicals<br />
that interfere with sleep.<br />
Limit light exposure – including from TV, phone and<br />
computer screens - in the evening. Eat, drink and exercise<br />
enough, but not too much and not too close to your<br />
bedtime. Make sure your bedroom is a calm place, and use<br />
it only for sleep and intimacy.<br />
Shift workers may not be able to keep to a sleep routine, of<br />
course, and they need to be even more careful to get good<br />
sleep when they can.<br />
2) Drink some coffee at work<br />
Coffee helps you feel alert because it blocks adenosine, the<br />
main compound in your brain that makes you sleepy.<br />
A study of US Navy SEALs found caffeine had a range<br />
of positive impacts beyond keeping you awake. Benefits<br />
ranged from increased alertness and reaction time, to<br />
improved learning, memory and even mood. The effects<br />
lasted from one to eight hours.<br />
Another study found that caffeine speeds up how quickly<br />
we process words.<br />
But coffee isn’t just effective on a chemical level.<br />
3) Take a break and do some exercise<br />
Researchers in America have found that taking breaks<br />
during the workday is important for workers to<br />
replace workplace “resources” - energy, motivation,<br />
and concentration. These resources aren’t limitless, and<br />
periodically need “charging” by doing activities that require<br />
less effort or use different resources than normal work, or<br />
are just something the worker enjoys.<br />
A break could be mean completely stopping work and<br />
doing something fun. An office-worker might go for a run,<br />
for instance. Or it could just mean switching tasks and<br />
doing something different, such as a supermarket shelver<br />
sitting down and doing paperwork.<br />
The researchers also found it matters when you take your<br />
break. You will be most productive after a break if you take<br />
it early in the work day rather than later, when you are<br />
already tired.<br />
But perhaps you should also carve out special times in<br />
the day for physical movement. Researchers in Sweden<br />
found that devoting some work time to physical activity<br />
increases productivity. The research found that as little<br />
as two and a half hours of physical activity a week led to<br />
more work being done in the same amount of time, and<br />
reduced absenteeism due to sickness.<br />
assignments. Use the higher energy levels you have in the<br />
morning to do a small task you don’t feel like doing, such as<br />
phoning someone you have been reluctant to contact. You’ll<br />
give yourself the mood and energy boost that comes from a<br />
small achievement.<br />
5) Do one thing at a time<br />
4) Conquer procrastination<br />
Procrastinating not only reduces your immediate<br />
productivity by delaying work, but increases stress and<br />
lowers well-being. This can make your productivity even<br />
worse, later.<br />
There are a range of relatively simple interventions you<br />
can do, such as eliminating notifications on your devices,<br />
only working for 15 minutes to get a project started, or<br />
creating smaller goals.<br />
A classic remedy now supported by a University of<br />
Pennsylvania study is to divide tasks into smaller pieces<br />
so you can work through a more manageable series of<br />
Don’t be tempted to multitask. Our brains are not suited<br />
to dealing with multiple streams of information or doing<br />
multiple jobs at the same time. The more tasks we try to do<br />
simultaneously, the slower we complete them and the more<br />
mistakes we make.<br />
Further, the research found that those who do multitask are<br />
more prone to becoming distracted by their environment.<br />
By contrast, take that difficult phone call you just made. You<br />
gave it your full attention and finished it. Now, do something<br />
else important and then take a short coffee break, perhaps a<br />
walk. Your body and your mind will be in top gear and so will<br />
your productivity.<br />
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Co Working Spaces<br />
Part of the new<br />
economy<br />
to government subsidised and cooperatively managed<br />
community resource centres.<br />
The ownership and funding of individual co-working spaces<br />
may also change through time, as they may receive new<br />
sources of government funding, attract new types of clients<br />
or relocate to new facilities.<br />
What are the benefits?<br />
There are many potential benefits for sharing a working<br />
space, including access to common spaces, equipment, tools,<br />
and technologies. Some people may only need a space for<br />
a few hours a day or on one occasion for a special project,<br />
so they can hire spaces in desirable locations without high<br />
rental charges.<br />
Shared working spaces also offer social benefits through<br />
greater opportunities to interact, network and collaborate<br />
with like-minded workers.<br />
Cities are seeing a growing number of shared working, or<br />
co-working, spaces. They include spaces where individuals<br />
and businesses can flexibly rent desks or rooms, or do<br />
shared work in “third spaces” such as libraries and cafes.<br />
Co-working spaces offer a range of benefits and risks to<br />
the local economy. Our research looked at the role policymakers,<br />
regulators and city planners can play in ensuring<br />
that these spaces make a positive contribution to our cities.<br />
We found shared work spaces emerging in regulatory voids<br />
left by outdated policy frameworks. To exist, they are relying<br />
on the forward thinking of local innovators seeking to<br />
revitalise urban centres.<br />
Types of spaces<br />
Shared work spaces vary by the type of work they facilitate,<br />
from knowledge work (such as IT and professional services)<br />
to small-scale manufacturing. Some are purpose-built for<br />
co-working, whereas others (such as cafes) are informally<br />
used as such.<br />
Some also target particular markets by offering additional<br />
services such as a crèche for childcare, seminars for<br />
professional development and events for networking.<br />
Shared working spaces also differ in their models of<br />
ownership. These range from privately owned and managed,<br />
A co-working space can be a good use of unused spaces<br />
in buildings and be birthing places of new enterprises. They<br />
can also support local businesses by hosting large groups of<br />
potential customers.<br />
And they may afford people a place to work closer from<br />
home, reducing the need for long commutes.<br />
What are the downsides?<br />
Big players in the sharing economy – such as Uber, Lyft and<br />
Airbnb – have had a disruptive effect on existing markets<br />
by reducing opportunities for less advantaged people and<br />
workers in the market, and confusing regulators.<br />
A similar scale of disruption may be on the horizon with<br />
the rapid growth of big players in co-working spaces such<br />
as WeWork. These could threaten existing shared work<br />
spaces by absorbing customers and competitively leasing<br />
out available buildings.<br />
Shared work spaces could potentially contribute to the<br />
gentrification of older neighbourhoods by pushing up<br />
the price of real estate, and displacing established small<br />
businesses and residential tenants.<br />
Co-working spaces has also been seen as representative of<br />
an increasing casualised workforce, as such spaces may host<br />
short-term contractors doing work that was previously<br />
performed by full-time internal staff members.<br />
What we found<br />
We analysed planning and economic development policy<br />
and interviewed founders and users of shared working<br />
spaces in Western Australia.<br />
We identified around 20 shared work spaces in Perth and<br />
regional Western Australia. Many were in retrofitted older<br />
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and under-used buildings such as an old department store,<br />
maternity hospital or converted office space.<br />
Most founders told us that shared working spaces needed<br />
to be accessible to be viable. Many also identified the<br />
quality and intensity of activities around the area as essential<br />
to attracting workers to their space.<br />
But founders identified regulatory frameworks, including<br />
land use permission controls, as significant barriers to<br />
establishing these spaces. For instance, a shared work space<br />
where people repair furniture or make jewellery could be<br />
considered as being used for manufacturing.<br />
This type of activity may not be permitted in a disused<br />
department store that falls within a retail zone.<br />
We found that often, local councillors and economic<br />
developers, have thrown their hat in the ring to help<br />
establish shared work spaces in their area. They would<br />
do so by helping founders secure required approvals,<br />
such as building accessibility certifications and emergency<br />
management plans.<br />
Knowing the potential contribution of such spaces to the<br />
economy, they’ve also helped founders navigate regulations<br />
and planning controls intended for more permanent use of<br />
spaces.<br />
But we found that town planners were rarely engaged<br />
in early conversations with shared work space founders.<br />
Planners generally didn’t identify or facilitate opportunities<br />
to host shared working spaces in unused buildings.<br />
Planning policy documents and city planning departments<br />
didn’t actively recognise co-working spaces as a major new<br />
way people use buildings in cities.<br />
Sharing spaces better<br />
Technologies are creating new ways to match a mobile<br />
and flexible workforce with work spaces. This is leaving<br />
regulators to manage the impacts from the temporary uses<br />
of many shared work spaces.<br />
City planners should be prepared to recognise and plan for<br />
the benefits these spaces bring, while minimising possible<br />
negative impacts on users, neighbours, and the broader<br />
community.<br />
Planning strategies that seek to regenerate urban places and<br />
provide economic and social opportunities in urban growth<br />
areas will need to prompt more engagement with shared<br />
work space proponents, users, neighbouring businesses and<br />
residents, and local government divisions.<br />
Shared work spaces have a positive role to play in<br />
Australian cities and regional centres. However, it seems<br />
planners are at risk of missing the boat when it comes<br />
to using shared work space to achieve more socially and<br />
economically viable planning outcomes.<br />
Courtney Babb<br />
Carey Curtis<br />
Sam McLeod<br />
Curtin University<br />
The Facility Management Association is the peak national industry body for facilities management,<br />
representing and supporting professionals and organisations responsible for the operational<br />
management of Australia’s built environments.<br />
Established in 1988, today FMA has branches in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales,<br />
Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania Victoria and Western Australia.<br />
A primary focus of the Association is to ensure the needs of professionals and organisations<br />
working in and dealing with facilities management are understood and considered in government<br />
and business policy formulation and decision making.<br />
FMA provides a range of services to members, including advocacy and industry standards<br />
development, research, networking and information based events and seminars, education and<br />
professional development opportunities and support for special interest groups.<br />
Join us at our prestigious Awards Gala Dinner as we spotlight the best in facilities<br />
management and celebrate a year of industry leadership, innovation and achievement.<br />
This event is a highlight on the FM Industry calendar so, after our sell-out 2015, 2016<br />
and 2017 events, be sure not to miss the <strong>2018</strong> FM Industry Awards for Excellence!<br />
www.fma.com.au<br />
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It’s often claimed that 3D printing – known in the<br />
trade as “additive manufacturing” – will change the<br />
way we live. Most recently, a team from Eindhoven<br />
University of Technology announced plans to build<br />
the “world’s first” habitable 3D printed houses. But<br />
it’s one thing to build small, prototype homes in a park – it’s<br />
quite another to successfully use additive manufacturing for<br />
large scale projects in the construction sector.<br />
Additive manufacturing uses a combination of materials<br />
science, architecture and design, computation and robotics.<br />
Yet in some ways, it’s not as futuristic as it sounds. The<br />
simple approach of layer-wise construction – where<br />
building materials are layered on top of each other to<br />
create a facade – has already been practised for a long time<br />
in the construction sector, for example in conventional brick<br />
layering techniques.<br />
The true novelty of additive manufacturing lies in its ability<br />
to combine new, highly efficient and sustainable materials<br />
with architectural design software and robotic technology,<br />
to automate and improve processes that have already been<br />
proven manually. In this sense, additive<br />
manufacturing holds many potentially<br />
groundbreaking benefits for the construction sector.<br />
3D printing can produce up to 30% less material waste, use<br />
less energy and fewer resources, enable in-situ production<br />
(which in turn cuts transport costs), grant greater<br />
architectural freedom and<br />
generate fewer CO2 emissions<br />
over the entire lifecycle of the product.<br />
Printable feedstocks<br />
But there is still some way to go before additive<br />
manufacturing technology can deliver on its potential. There<br />
are several different components of additive manufacturing,<br />
each of which must be developed and refined before the<br />
process can be successfully used in large-scale construction.<br />
One component is printable feedstocks – the materials<br />
which are actually “printed” to create the final product.<br />
There are many types of printable feedstock, but the<br />
most relevant one for large scale construction is concrete.<br />
Printable feedstocks are typically made from a combination<br />
of bulk materials – such as soil, sand, crushed stone, clay and<br />
recycled materials – mixed with a binder such as Portland<br />
cement, fly ash or polymers, as well as other additives and<br />
chemical agents to allow the concrete to set faster and<br />
maintain its shape, so that the layers can be deposited<br />
rapidly.<br />
3D PRINTING HITS<br />
In a project I am currently working on at Brunel University,<br />
we are focusing on producing a printable cement feedstock.<br />
To create materials for 3D printed constructions, scientists<br />
must carefully control the setting time of the paste, the<br />
stability of first few layers and the bonding between the<br />
layers. The behaviour of the materials must be thoroughly<br />
investigated under a range of conditions, to achieve a<br />
robust structure which can take load.<br />
The combination of cement, sand and other additives must<br />
be just right, so that the feedstocks don’t set while still in<br />
the printer, and don’t stay wet for too long once they have<br />
been deposited to form a structure. Different grades of<br />
feedstock need to be formulated and developed, so that<br />
this technology can be used to build a range of different<br />
structural elements, such as load-bearing and large-scale<br />
building blocks.<br />
Building blocks<br />
Another component is the printer, which must have a<br />
powerful pump to suit the scale of manufacturing in the<br />
construction industry. The pressure and flow rate of the<br />
printer must be trialled with different types of feedstocks.<br />
The speed and the size of the printer is key to achieving<br />
a good print quality: smooth surface, square edges and a<br />
consistent width and height for each layer.<br />
How quickly the feedstock materials are deposited –<br />
typically measured in centimetres per hour – can speed up<br />
or slow down construction. Decreasing the setting time of<br />
the feedstock means that the printer can work faster – but<br />
it also puts the feedstock at risk of hardening inside the<br />
printer system. The printing system should be optimised to<br />
continuously deliver the feedstock materials at a constant<br />
rate, so that the layers can fuse together evenly.<br />
The geometry of the structures produced is the final<br />
piece of the puzzle, when it comes to using 3D printing<br />
in construction. When the printer and the feedstock have<br />
been properly set up, they will be able to produce full-size<br />
building blocks with a smart geometry which can take load<br />
without reinforcements. The shape stability of the truss-like<br />
filaments in these blocks is an essential part of printing,<br />
which provides strength and stiffness to the printed objects.<br />
This three-pronged approach to adapting additive<br />
manufacturing for construction could revolutionise the<br />
industry within the next ten to 15 years. But before that<br />
can happen, scientists need to fine tune the mix ratios<br />
for the feedstocks, and refine a printing system which can<br />
cope with the rapid manufacturing of building blocks. Only<br />
then can the potential of 3D printing be harnessed to build<br />
faster, and more sustainably, than ever before.<br />
CONSTRUCTION<br />
Seyed Ghaffar<br />
Brunel University London<br />
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Collaborative Partnership foundation member, ICA CEO<br />
Rob Whelan, said: “Australia has a complex and fragmented<br />
approached to supporting people with illness and injury<br />
to participate in the workforce and obtain meaningful<br />
employment.<br />
“One of the aims of this partnership is to simplify the<br />
experience for people who, depending upon their specific<br />
circumstances, are currently dealing with multiple state<br />
and commonwealth schemes and service providers<br />
administered by public or private sector organisations.<br />
“The Insurance Council is proud to be a founding member.<br />
The general insurance industry sees this initiative as a<br />
positive and powerful partnership that will focus the<br />
expertise, research and resources to develop real solutions<br />
and positive outcomes for employees, employers and the<br />
broader economy.”<br />
The Partnership has identified priority areas and work<br />
is underway on projects looking at data and services,<br />
employer and employee attitudes and developing<br />
consistent supports for GPs:<br />
Cross-sector— examining data and services across<br />
compensation and benefit systems, identifying the flow<br />
of people through systems and finding opportunities to<br />
improve services. Led by the Department of Social Services.<br />
focussing on capacity for work. Led by AFOEM.<br />
A key driver of the national initiative is the growing body of<br />
research that shows employment generates positive health<br />
benefits for individuals and the community, while long-term<br />
unemployment can have a negative impact on health and<br />
wellbeing.<br />
This forms the basis of AFOEM’s Health Benefits of Good<br />
Work initiative to promote work as an integral part of<br />
recovery.<br />
Mr Whelan called on public and private sector stakeholders<br />
with an interest in improving the health and wellbeing of<br />
fellow Australians to join the partnership.<br />
“This is an opportunity for organisations, industry groups<br />
and sectors that support improved work participation to<br />
connect and work with like-minded businesses to help<br />
achieve positive outcomes for Australians seeking good<br />
work; to be seen as a leader in work participation; and to<br />
benefit from the experience of other sectors,” Mr Whelan<br />
said.<br />
More information about the Collaborative Partnership –<br />
including how to get involved - is available at www.comcare.<br />
gov.au/collaborativepartnership.<br />
A<br />
unique public-private sector initiative is driving<br />
new approaches to improving participation for<br />
Australians with health conditions that affect<br />
their ability to work.<br />
The Collaborative Partnership to improve work<br />
participation, established by Comcare and launched today, is<br />
focused on aligning the various sectors of Australia’s work<br />
disability system to deliver better outcomes for people<br />
with temporary or permanent physical or mental health<br />
conditions.<br />
The Partnership includes the Insurance Council of<br />
Australia (ICA), the Australasian Faculty of Occupational<br />
and Environmental Medicine (AFOEM), insurer EML, the<br />
Department of Jobs and Small Business, the Australian<br />
Council of Trade Unions and the Department of Social<br />
Services.<br />
Through a range of projects, the Partnership is working<br />
across sectors including workers’ compensation, life<br />
insurance, superannuation, disability support and<br />
employment services to improve disability employment<br />
and return to work rates for people experiencing work<br />
incapacity through illness and injury.<br />
Speaking at the launch, held at the Insurance Council of<br />
Australia’s <strong>2018</strong> Annual Forum in Sydney, Comcare CEO<br />
Jennifer Taylor said too many people with health conditions<br />
struggle to find work, recover at work or return to work.<br />
“The Partnership is the first real attempt to work across<br />
multiple benefit systems to deliver positive change,” Ms<br />
Taylor said.<br />
“We need to break down the siloes the support systems<br />
operate in. At the same time, we have to help businesses<br />
reduce barriers to employment, help GPs prescribe<br />
work as part of recovery, and give employees a better<br />
understanding of the importance of good work to their<br />
health and wellbeing.<br />
“There is a growing realisation that what happens in one<br />
support system impacts others, and the costs often just shift<br />
between the systems. There is also increasing recognition of<br />
the potential for a combined approach to more effectively<br />
influence employers, GPs and employees to achieve better<br />
health and work outcomes.<br />
“Return to work rates have stagnated nationally and,<br />
despite sustained efforts, work participation rates for<br />
people with disability have not improved. It’s time for a new<br />
approach.”<br />
Employer mobilisation— examining attitudes and barriers<br />
and improving employers’ capacity to provide work<br />
opportunities for people with temporary or permanent<br />
physical or mental health conditions. Led by the<br />
Department of Jobs and Small Business.<br />
Employee awareness— improving employees’<br />
understanding of the health benefits of good work and<br />
promoting their role in using work as part of their recovery.<br />
Led by EML.<br />
GP support— developing nationally consistent approaches<br />
that will help GPs use work as part of recovery, including<br />
Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council<br />
www.woorabinda.qld.gov.au<br />
07 4925 9800<br />
112 Munns Drive<br />
Woorabinda QLD 4713<br />
ceo@woorabinda.qld.gov.au<br />
The town of Woorabinda is located in Central Queensland, 170 km south west of Rockhampton. Woorabinda is situated on the traditional lands of the<br />
Wadja Wadja/Yungulu Aboriginal people. Woorabinda Council is located in the heart of the business area and supports the needs of the community.<br />
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apps for productivity<br />
Doodle is an online calendar tool for<br />
time management, and coordinating<br />
meetings. Doodle interacts with<br />
various external calendar systems.<br />
Google Calendar, Yahoo Calendar,<br />
Microsoft Outlook and Apple iCal<br />
can be utilized with Doodle to track<br />
dates. Google Maps may also be used<br />
to share the location of the event<br />
Box is a cloud computing business<br />
which provides file-sharing,<br />
collaborating, and other tools for<br />
working with files that are uploaded.<br />
You can determine how content can<br />
be shared. Users may invite others to<br />
view and/or edit an account’s shared<br />
files, upload documents and photos<br />
to a shared files folder<br />
The BlueJeans app works with the<br />
BlueJeans service to provide true<br />
universal, multi-party video calls<br />
on the go with a variety of video<br />
conference systems such as Polycom,<br />
Cisco, LifeSize, Tely, Microsoft Lync,<br />
and more. With the BlueJeans<br />
app, users can host or join video<br />
conferences from anywhere<br />
When your team needs to kick off a<br />
project, hire a new employee, deploy<br />
some code, review a sales contract,<br />
finalize next year’s budget, measure<br />
an A/B test, plan your next office<br />
opening, and more, Slack has you<br />
covered<br />
Evernote is a mobile app designed<br />
for note taking, organizing, tasks<br />
lists, and archiving. ... The app allows<br />
users to create notes, which can be a<br />
piece of formatted text, a Web page<br />
or Web page excerpt, a photograph,<br />
a voice memo, or a handwritten<br />
“ink” note. Notes can also have file<br />
attachments<br />
CamCard is the easiest app to<br />
manage and exchange business<br />
cards, the perfect fit for sales people,<br />
entrepreneurs, business developers<br />
or marketing experts, and anyone<br />
who want to be one<br />
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<strong>AUG</strong>UST <strong>2018</strong> - <strong>OCCTECH</strong>
Injury or death in the<br />
workplace changes lives<br />
forever<br />
Take a safety moment in<br />
your workplace this October<br />
Share what workplace safety means to you