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This article examines gender differences in psychological distress from the impact of stressors. Stress-related illnesses, in particular suicide attempts/successes, are now of major concern in agriculture and attract increased interest from scholars. Many farmers and farm employees have first-hand experience of fatalities, injuries and ill health where stress and fatigue are major contributors. The study was developed through a questionnaire survey, interviews and farm visits. Results from the hierarchical regression models indicated significant gender differences after severity of stressors were taken into account. Male farmers were experienced the impact of psychological strain, whereas the female farmers reported a slightly higher impact of farm stressors. The demographic variables such as marital status, age group, occupational status and size of the farm were not significant factors for contributing toward stressors-strains relationships. This outcome will encourage practitioners who provide services to confront the impact of stressors directly to reduce psychological strain, which likely enhances satisfaction and performance. This research highlights the need to incorporate the frequency and severity of stressors in the work place to understand fully the stressor-strain relationship on individual differences.

There are a number of current debates about the enforcement of occupational health and safety of aircrew and about their levels of injury and illness. The impetuses for these debates are the regulatory reforms of occupational health and safety taking place in both New Zealand and overseas. This paper aims to provide an informed response to this discourse on the health and safety of aircrew by drawing on a number of sources. The paper presents a critique of the legislation governing the health and safety of aircrew and of the industry's response to possible legislative reforms. The paper also analyses civil aviation safety practices both nationally and internationally, and will argue that civil aviation authorities are not necessarily the best agencies to enforce and promote occupational health and safety in the airline industry.

In spite of the fact New Zealand small businesses represent over 90 percent of the business population there has been little research and scant discussion regarding absenteeism in small businesses. The implication is that absenteeism in the small business sector is similar to that experienced by large businesses and therefore does not warrant special attention. Based on data gathered from 65 New Zealand small business case studies since 1990 onwards, this paper attempts to outline the issues surrounding absenteeism in the small business sector within the context of the ECA employment environment. It is understood that any discussion on absenteeism cannot be separated from the employment issues surrounding worker injury and illness as one is the consequence of the other. It is also argued that worker absenteeism in small businesses is the action of last resort for the following reasons: lack of compliance and enforcement small business employment practices; precarious employment and the employment environment.

Call centres are a growing phenomenon worldwide. These have prompted extensive research especially from those concerned with the labour processes and employment practices used in these workplaces. Much of the call centre literature is based on comparative research, attempting to analyse the employment environment and making claims about call centre work in general. However, the classification of call centres is not simple and straightforward and the mainly comparative nature of the call centre research is problematic because of this complexity. Many of the comparative studies do not take in the wider perspectives of the organisation, the location, the sector or the division of labour. This paper presents findings from six New Zealand case studies chosen to represent the diversity of the New Zealand call centre sector. The analysis of the findings shows mixed evidence regarding employment outcomes but clearly demonstrates that work in call centres can be very positive for women who work there.

While the rights of New Zealand adult workers have been the primary concern of successive governments and their agencies, the rights of child workers have often been overshadowed. With the recent Government report to the United Nations on New Zealand released, the issues surrounding New Zealand young workers have come to the fore and now require further investigation. The purpose o f this paper is to report on Phase One o f ongoing research into the working lives and experiences of New Zealand children (thoseunder18years). Drawing on existing academic literature as well as government and non-governmental organisations' (NGO) reports and statistics, the paper will present an overview of the status of New Zealand children in terms of the minimum working age; the minimum wage rates; and occupational health and safety standards. Finally, the paper will outline areas of future research.

Over half of all construction businesses in Kuwait are small firms employing fewer than 10 employees, most of whom are contingent, migrant workers. There is also anecdotal evidence that the practice of employing illegal migrant labour in the Kuwaiti construction industry, particularly amongst sub-contracting firms, is rife. There are disturbing indications that the injury and illness rate amongst construction workers is extremely high. The paper will present the rationale for the proposed study and highlight the characteristics of the Kuwaiti construction industry. A brief review of the literature outlined in the paper will also attempt resolve (or not) the following questions: what are the intersections between the literature on contingent workers and the literature on OHS in the construction industry? In addition, what does the research literature say on the extension to which cultural factors shape employers' practices and attitudes toward employment relations and workplace health and safety? Finally, areas for future research on the topic will he identified and mapped out.

The international research on call centre employment presents a mainly negative view of the nature of this work. A more positive portrayal of call centre work has been demonstrated in some New Zealand research, highlighting the problem of generalising across different contexts. Previous New Zealand research has also found variation in terms of employment outcomes, job satisfaction and career opportunities across various industries, type and size of call centre and different management approaches. This paper continues to explore the work experiences of call centre workers and is based on research in New Zealand conducted in public sector call centres. Insights from focus groups of trade union delegates informed the development of a survey which was circulated across 22 organisation, drawing responses from 845 call centre workers. The findings show that over half of the workers consider their call centre work is enjoyable most of the time, their work is strategically important and there are a number benefits. The benefits include career enhancements, new skills and developing social capital. However, despite the positives described in open ended survey questions and the ranking of attributes important to call centre workers, almost half of the respondents have health concerns about the nature of their work or the call centre workplace. It is this particular finding that is the focus of the paper. It illustrates the need for an occupational health focus to be extended to call centre employment in New Zealand.

Precarious employment is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon in contemporary labour markets. Research on the call centre industry has not only identified a growing use of non-standard employment arrangements, but also evidence to indicate that precariousness may be a feature of employment in this industry. Despite this evidence, however. There is still little known about the extent to which precarious employment is an integral part of the NZ call centre context. In addition, there has been scant research on the individual experiences of non-standard workers employed in the call centre industry. This paper aims to address the gaps in the literature by essentially 'marrying' these three broad areas of research. A framework for measuring precariousness is introduced and examined in relation to two case study call centres, selected to facilitate a comparative approach. Based on in-depth interviews with case study participants and key stakeholders, this paper examines the applicability of this framework to the NZ call centre context. Key findings from the study indicate that precarious employment is indeed a phenomenon that affects non-standard workers in the NZ call centre industry. A number of policy concerns are raised through the data, particularly where the incidence of precarious employment is associated with the lack of organisational compliance with employment legislation.

This paper outlines the rationale and methodology for an international comparative project investigating the links between workplace productivity and employee wellness and well being via the operation of representative employee participation structures in Denmark and New Zealand. It will define and discuss the often contentious terms of productivity, wellbeing and participation and how employee participation and wellbeing and the work environment impact on productivity. This paper employs a multi-dimensional theoretical framework and will assess the significance of the issues examined: analyse the impact of employment practices and quality of the work environment on productivity: and as a result present the methodology developed for the project.

In 2008 there were approximately 3,500 registered commercial fishing vessels in New Zealand and 2,500 full­time employees working in the industry, a fraction of New Zealand’s two million plus labour force. However, in the Maritime New Zealand’s Annual Report 2000­2001 it was reported that New Zealand’s commercial fishing sector represented a disproportionately high number of maritime fatalities. With the exception of the 2007 fatality figures, the rate of Maritime New Zealand reported fatalities and accidents within the commercial fishing sector have remained fairly static. As a result, there have been a variety of initiatives implemented in this hazardous industry, for example, FishSAFE, and a number of reviews undertaken. However, unlike other sectors, implementing OHS interventions in the fishing industry has to account for a number of unique features such as the employment strata, geographical isolation of job, precariousness of employment, increasingly a diverse workforce and social issues such as substance abuse, and. This paper reports on preliminary findings based on interview data of employers and employees in the New Zealand fishing industry. In particular, it exposes a number of barriers to implementing and maintaining OHS measures, for example, increasingly tight profit margins, time pressures, and confusion around regulatory requirements. The initial findings also indicate that the command and control structure of managing staff in the fishing industry can influence individual and group perception and acceptance of risk. Finally, the paper highlights areas requiring further investigation.

As part of a government initiative, the Department of Labour’s Workplace Productivity Working Group has been charged with the task of stimulating debate and broadening the discourse on workplace productivity. The Department of Labour has also supported research into how New Zealand businesses are responding to the productivity challenges they face. The paper presents findings from two studies that were part of this research agenda. In particular, the paper reports on the experiences of individual business case studies, (predominantly SMEs), of introducing and maintaining initiatives designed to raise workforce productivity. Analysis of the data reveals a number of key themes: catalysts and drivers for change; distinctive characteristics of high performing firms; differing characteristics of the case studies; and barriers to introducing productivity initiatives and some solutions. The findings also indicated that in practice, efficiency increased both though innovation and a realignment of activities, with higher value added than those conducted in the past. However, there is an inherent tension with these and other similar studies that cannot easily be resolved. On one hand, employers are striving to obtain increased worker performance and gain more productivity while on the other hand they are driving their employers to wok longer, harder and more effectively often in extremely hazardous conditions. Thus, it would appear that efforts to increase productivity can have contradictory results.

There is growing recognition that as workplaces become more culturally and ethnically diverse, OHS prevention and investigation must be seen within the context of a cross-cultural milieu. In particular, investigations into workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses have indicated that many of the root causes are the lack of communication or the inability to make sense of the communication and where cultural diversity factors are at play. The focus of this paper, therefore, is: ''What evidence is there in the literature on the links between culture and OHS?” In particular, this paper identifies the key debates, strengths and weaknesses of the research on the topic. Finally it is argued that more attention is required on the subject of cultural diversity and its impact on OHS and employment relations in general which has implications for power relations between different groups/individuals in the workplace. Hence, further exploration of the significance of cultural diversity and communication and OHS is encouraged.

This paper reports on the findings from stage one of a collaborative New Zealand and French research project on the construction industry and in particular the link between occupational health and safety (OHS), subcontracting and cultural diversity. The construction sector in France, New Zealand and elsewhere has not only one of the highest injury, illness and fatality rates but the sector also has a prevalence of small subcontracting firms and a substantial migrant labour force (CNAM, 2008; Department of Labour, 2009). The practice of outsourcing in this industry has created a complex web of sub­contracting with an international dimension and resultant confusion over regulatory responsibilities for the health and safety of workers. Thus, those in the industry are grappling with challenges of managing a culturally diverse workforce within a hazardous working environment. Hiring poorly paid migrant labours in the construction industry, however, is not a recent phenomenon in either France or New Zealand. This in turn has created a melting pot where diversity can be both an advantage and a weaknesses in terms of safety. One the on hand the enormous variability of demographic and social status (Jounin, 2009) and cultures (a term which here encompass personal, collective and professional elements) can lead to dissonance on construction site and yet on the other hand diversity can stimulate innovative ways of implementing safety measures more effectively (Mearns and Yule, 2009). Given that the international subcontracting process and migrant labour are central to the construction industry, the aim of this qualitative research is to identify and explain the sources of OHS failure and suggest adjustments that need to be made.

There has hitherto been little attempt to investigate the links between management malpractice, mental health and occupational health and safety. In this paper the development of criteria for a viable methodology to assess the possibility of the existence of this link, has been developed. A semi-structured questionnaire was devised and used in a pilot study which revealed a connection between poor management techniques and mental ill-health. Some of the selected people who were invited to participate declined for fear of further intimidation. The analysis of the pilot study is discussed and the results indicate that there is a need for further, more detailed research to establish and quantify factors contributing to poor mental health in employees.