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result(s) for
"blue collar"
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Meaningful work: differences among blue-, pink-, and white-collar occupations
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the importance currently placed on meaningful work (MFW), and determine the frequency by which it is experienced in blue-, pink-, and white-collar occupations.
Design/methodology/approachs
Using the comprehensive meaningful work scale (Lips-Wiersma and Wright, 2012) with 1,683 workers across two studies, ANOVAs were conducted to examine differences in dimensions of MFW.
Findings
While unity with others and developing the inner self were regarded as equally important for white-, blue-, and pink-collar workers, the authors data suggest that white-collar workers placed more importance on expressing full potential and serving others than blue-collar workers. The frequency of experiencing MFW differed across the three groups with white-collar workers experiencing higher levels of unity with others, expressing full potential, and serving others; however no mean differences were found for developing the inner self.
Originality/value
This study is the first to empirically investigate an oft-discussed but previously untested question: does the experience of MFW differ across white-, blue-, and pink-collar jobs?
Journal Article
Blue-collar pop culture : from NASCAR to Jersey Shore
\"This book is about Blue Collar Pop Culture - From NASCAR to the Jersey Shore\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Night work, mortality, and the link to occupational group and sex
Objective Night shifts are associated with several major diseases. Mortality has been studied only to a limited extent, and the association with night shifts remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between duration of night shift exposure and mortality in a large sample from the Swedish Twin Registry (the SALT cohort). Methods Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze the data (N=42 731) over a follow-up period of 18 years, with years of night shift work as the exposure variable and adjustment for lifestyle factors and age, and stratification on gender and occupational group. Results The hazard ratio (HR) for \"ever\" night shifts for total mortality was 1.07 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.15] but 1.15 (95% CI 1.07-1.25) for longer exposure (>5 years). Also, HR for cause-specific mortality due to cardiovascular disease was significant, with higher HR for longer night shift exposure. Mortality due to cancer was significant for longer exposure only. White-collar workers showed significant HR for longer exposure. In particular, male white-collar workers showed a significant HR, with a highest value for longer exposure [HR 1.28 (95% CI 1.09-1.49)]. Heredity did not influence the results significantly. Conclusions Long duration of exposure to night shift work is associated with increased mortality, particularly in male white-collar workers. The lack of effects of accumulated exposure suggests that the results should be interpreted with caution.
Journal Article
Cloudstreet : a novel
\"After two separate catastrophes, two very different families leave the country for the bright lights of Perth. The Lambs are industrious, united, and--until God seems to turn His back on their boy Fish--religious. The Pickleses are gamblers, boozers, fractious, and unlikely landlords. Change, hardship, and the war force them to swallow their dignity and share a great, breathing, shuddering house called Cloudstreet. Over the next twenty years, they struggle and strive, laugh and curse, come apart and pull together under the same roof, and try as they can to make their lives. Winner of the Miles Franklin Award and recognized as one of the greatest works of Australian literature, Cloudstreet is Tim Winton's sprawling, comic epic about luck and love, fortitude and forgiveness, and the magic of the everyday\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Unveiling the socio contextual triggers of smokeless tobacco use among blue collar workers: implications for workplace health and policy
This study investigates the socio-contextual determinants of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use among blue-collar workers in India, a demography exhibiting the world’s highest SLT use. The Social Ecology Theory is used to understand the phenomenon by analysing the data collected from 392 blue-collar workers, through the mediated moderation approach in the structural equation model. The findings indicate that working conditions (
β
= 0.17;
p value
= 0.007), social norms and support
(β
= 0.14;
p value
= 0.011), personality (
β
= 0.09;
p value
= 0.014), and perceived effectiveness of SLT control policies (
β
= -0.13;
p value
= 0.002) significantly impact the SLT use of blue collar workers. However, knowledge about the health effects of SLT use and neighborhood disadvantages did not exhibit a significant influence. The theoretical modelling helped identify direct effects and underlying pathways through which environmental and psychological variables jointly shape tobacco behavior. Despite limitations inherent in self-reported data, this research provides actionable guidance for policymakers and organizations to develop targeted public health policies and workplace strategies to reduce SLT use among blue-collar workers.
Journal Article
Factors influencing personal protective equipment (PPE) use among blue-collar workers: an accessible survey
Background
The proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) can save lives and prevent major injuries among blue-collar workers who are at heightened risk of workplace accidents. Yet, the non-use or improper use of PPE is not uncommon. Despite academic interest in the issue, there is an absence of accessible and theory-driven PPE surveys for blue-collar workers. This study seeks to develop a simple language Capability, Opportunity, Motivation – Behaviour (COM-B) survey for PPE wearing among blue-collar workers.
Methods
A combined deductive and inductive approach to item generation was adopted. This included referencing existing research and surveys and working closely and iteratively with blue-collar workers and their managers to develop the survey. A 14-item survey based on five factors of the COM-B model was developed and tested with 867 multi-national male blue-collar workers. Additional questions on demographics and PPE compliance intentions were asked. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) were conducted to assess the model fit and provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the survey.
Results
Results support the internal consistency of our survey subscales (Cronbach’s α coefficients > 0.90), demonstrate good model fit (χ² (104) = 24.963, χ²/df = 0.240, CFI = 1.005, TLI = 1.007, RMSEA = 0.000), and provide initial evidence for the validity of the survey by replicating past findings. COM-B factors of Physical Capability (β = 0.47,
p
< .01) and Psychological Capability (β = 0.69,
p
< .01) significantly predicted blue-collar workers’ intentions to keep their full PPE on properly during their shift.
Conclusions
Despite Limitations resulting from the use of a testing sample from a single company, this short 14-item survey is accessible, theory-driven, and directly tested with multi-national blue-collar workers. Future work with blue-collar workers from different industries and settings can confirm the generalisability of the survey. A reliable and valid survey can lead to the development of effective and evidence-based interventions for PPE compliance among blue-collar workers that can prevent major injuries and save lives.
Journal Article
Heart rate during work and heart rate variability during the following night
Objectives Contrary to leisure-time physical activity, occupational physical activity (OPA) may have harmful health effects, called the physical activity paradox. A proposed mechanism is that OPA can elevate the heart rate (HR) for several hours per day. We aimed to investigate the association between the mean intensity of OPA and HR variability (HRV) indices the following night. Methods Three cohorts (NOMAD, DPhacto, and Physical Workload and Fitness) involving blue-collar workers from different sectors were merged in this study. HR monitors (Actiheart) recorded 24-hour inter-beat intervals (IBI) for up to four consecutive days. The relative intensity of the mean HR during work was estimated by HR reserve (%HRR), and time-domain indices of HRV were analyzed during the following night. Data were analyzed using a multilevel growth model to test the association between mean %HRR during work and HRV indices at night in a day-by-day analysis adjusted for age, BMI, alcohol consumption, smoking, and occupation. Results The dataset included a sample of 959 Danish blue-collar workers, with a mean %HRR during work of 31%, and 42% worked at an intensity ≥30%HRR. The multilevel model showed negative within- and between-subject associations between %HRR during work and HRV indices at night. Conclusions Our results indicate a higher %HRR during work to associate with lower HRV indices the following night and a higher HR, reflecting an imbalanced autonomic cardiac modulation. This finding supports a high mean HR during work to be a potential underlying mechanism for the harmful health effect of OPA.
Journal Article
Language policy and linguistic landscaping in a contemporary blue-collar workplace in the Dutch–German borderland
This article argues that an expanded view of linguistic landscapes provides a useful metaphor for exploring language policies. Following this view, “language policy” is defined as “linguistic landscaping” (i.e., placing language policy mechanisms which, together with already placed mechanisms, construct a metaphorical landscape). The application of this landscaping metaphor has several advantages, as it provides a way to imagine language policy as a continuously ongoing construction process, and as it provides a way to imagine the historical layers of a landscape, the overlap and connections between different landscapes, and the complex hierarchical positions within a landscape. The article is based on linguistic-ethnographic fieldwork in a metal foundry in the Dutch province of Limburg, within walking distance from the Dutch–German border. Specifically, it discusses why a group of senior production workers from Limburg were dissatisfied with the linguistically diverse landscape that had emerged in the foundry over time, even though the foundry’s management tried to place Dutch-speaking workers in the company’s sociolinguistic norm centre. Confirming the usefulness of the landscaping metaphor, the article shows that a full consideration of diverse historical and contemporary acts of both linguistic and semiotic landscaping helps explain why these workers experienced that their position in the foundry had become peripheralised over time. In conclusion, the article calls for more attention to the complex human experience, rather than just the detection, of sociolinguistic inequalities.
Journal Article
Work Characteristics or Workers’ Characteristics? An Input-Process-Output Perspective on Informal Workplace Learning of Blue-Collar Workers
We investigated informal workplace learning (IWL) within an under-researched target group: blue-collar workers. IWL is particularly important for these workers because of learning barriers to participation in formal training. Based on meta-analytical conceptualizations and findings, we developed a conceptual framework of
a
ntecedents,
p
rocesses, and learning
o
utcomes of IWL among blue-collar workers (APO framework), following an input-process-output perspective. The results of our structural equation model analysis with
N
= 702 blue-collar workers from small and medium-sized businesses provided support for seven of eight hypotheses: Personal antecedents, namely
curiosity
,
learning goal orientation
, and
self-directed learning orientation
were positively related to IWL; organizational antecedents, namely
social support
—containing
supervisor support
,
coworker support
, and
error-related learning climate
—and, surprisingly,
time pressure
were positively related to IWL; IWL was positively related to three learning outcomes, namely
job involvement
,
newly acquired competency
, and
organizational citizenship behavior
. The findings establish a basis for future longitudinal studies and theory building in workplace learning research, and they provide managers in organizations with guidance to promote IWL.
Journal Article