title: Understanding incident reporting: The employee perspective

authors: MacKenzie, Paula Maria

subjects: incident reporting

abstract: The objective of the present research was to explore the number of accidents and near misses that occur in New Zealand organisations, the proportion of these incidents that are reported, and the factors influence that their reporting.  Most of the research in the area of incident reporting, underreporting and promoting reporting has used qualitative analysis, asking participants to discuss the barriers to reporting incidents.  By applying decision making theories to incident reporting, a framework was created for assessing previous research, as well as collecting data on factors that influence employee’s decisions to reporting incidents.  
A sample of 689 participants took part in the study by completing a 26-item questionnaire.  Twelve New Zealand organisations, two providing health services, three involved in power supply, four involved in construction, two supplying heavy machinery and equipment and one government department, provided a sample of employees that was representative of their business to complete the questionnaire.  Where practical organisations provided a copy of their current incident form, so that differences in incident form design could be compared to questionnaire answers. 
On average, the participants in the present research reported experiencing 3.61 incidents annually, and reported 86.1% of the incidents they experienced.  Based on the differences in organisation incident and reporting rates, the present research has supported the conclusion that incident reporting is associated with lower incident rates (Phimister et al., 2000; Reason, 1990, Storgard et al., 2012).  
The key factors associated with increased incident reporting were training on what and how to report an incident, confidence in one’s understanding of the reporting process, incident form usability, and whether the time estimated to complete an incident form was perceived as reasonable.  All of positive, negative and practical reasons for reporting or not reporting incidents that were presented to participants were found to be important to employees.  It appears that the combination of these factors influence incident reporting.  However, overall positive reasons were rated the most important, followed by practical, and negative reasons.
The present research has expanded the knowledge and understanding of employee perceptions of incident reporting.  If an organisation would like to promote incident reporting in their workplace, an organisation specific approach is required.  However, key actions include ensuring that all employees are trained in what and how to report an incident, and ensuring that their incident form is quick and easy to use.  When considering the incident form, the design and usability should be reviewed from an employee perspective.  An organisation could also review how the positive, negative and practical reasons discussed in the present research could be motivating or deterring incident reporting in their workplace.
There are five key areas of interest that future research could address.  These areas are the content of training and its impact on incident reporting, different elements of incident form design and their impact on incident reporting, how factors combine and interact to influence decisions to report incidents, whether the number of incidents experienced and reported differ across organisations, industries and countries, and the effect of accountability and individual responsibility on safety.

text: Understanding incident reporting: The employee perspective The objective of the present research was to explore the number of accidents and near misses that occur in New Zealand organisations, the proportion of these incidents that are reported, and the factors influence that their reporting.  Most of the research in the area of incident reporting, underreporting and promoting reporting has used qualitative analysis, asking participants to discuss the barriers to reporting incidents.  By applying decision making theories to incident reporting, a framework was created for assessing previous research, as well as collecting data on factors that influence employee’s decisions to reporting incidents.  
A sample of 689 participants took part in the study by completing a 26-item questionnaire.  Twelve New Zealand organisations, two providing health services, three involved in power supply, four involved in construction, two supplying heavy machinery and equipment and one government department, provided a sample of employees that was representative of their business to complete the questionnaire.  Where practical organisations provided a copy of their current incident form, so that differences in incident form design could be compared to questionnaire answers. 
On average, the participants in the present research reported experiencing 3.61 incidents annually, and reported 86.1% of the incidents they experienced.  Based on the differences in organisation incident and reporting rates, the present research has supported the conclusion that incident reporting is associated with lower incident rates (Phimister et al., 2000; Reason, 1990, Storgard et al., 2012).  
The key factors associated with increased incident reporting were training on what and how to report an incident, confidence in one’s understanding of the reporting process, incident form usability, and whether the time estimated to complete an incident form was perceived as reasonable.  All of positive, negative and practical reasons for reporting or not reporting incidents that were presented to participants were found to be important to employees.  It appears that the combination of these factors influence incident reporting.  However, overall positive reasons were rated the most important, followed by practical, and negative reasons.
The present research has expanded the knowledge and understanding of employee perceptions of incident reporting.  If an organisation would like to promote incident reporting in their workplace, an organisation specific approach is required.  However, key actions include ensuring that all employees are trained in what and how to report an incident, and ensuring that their incident form is quick and easy to use.  When considering the incident form, the design and usability should be reviewed from an employee perspective.  An organisation could also review how the positive, negative and practical reasons discussed in the present research could be motivating or deterring incident reporting in their workplace.
There are five key areas of interest that future research could address.  These areas are the content of training and its impact on incident reporting, different elements of incident form design and their impact on incident reporting, how factors combine and interact to influence decisions to report incidents, whether the number of incidents experienced and reported differ across organisations, industries and countries, and the effect of accountability and individual responsibility on safety.

year: 2015

title: Drama and Theatre in and for Schools: Referencing the Nature of Theatre in Contemporary New Zealand

authors: Luton, Jane Isobel

subjects: Educational Drama

abstract: This thesis considers the nature of drama and theatre in and for schools and references the nature of theatre in contemporary New Zealand. Drama in schools in New Zealand has developed from the earliest school productions in the 1800's, through its perceived role to enrich lives, to becoming a discrete Arts subject within the New Zealand educational curriculum in 1999. During this development, theatre companies began to tour schools and arguments ensued regarding drama's role in education as a process or performance. This development is charted through a range of historical and current curriculum documents.  The thesis references the importance of the Australian UNESCO Seminar on drama in education in 1958 which explored the relationship between the educational aspects of Drama and Drama as an art form, and which inspired New Zealand Drama teachers. The research contains interviews conducted during 2009, with Drama teachers, students and theatre practitioners, as well as considering examples of performances by schools and professional theatre since the advent of the new curriculum. The thesis investigates some of the many kinds of Drama work taking place in contemporary New Zealand schools, including co-curricula and curricula productions concerning a wide range of issues and utilising a range of dramatic styles. These include, an Intermediate School's collaboration and contribution to capital E's production of Kia Ora Khalid,   and examples of devised and scripted projects undertaken at Secondary Colleges in New Zealand.  The research explores the relationship which exists between schools and professional theatre practitioners, and establishes some of the ways in which the relationship is beneficial for the development of high quality Drama programmes in schools.   The contribution of the Auckland Theatre Company's Educational Unit to schools is investigated, as is an example of the Artist in Schools programme at Pakuranga College in Auckland.  The introduction of the National certificate in Educational drama in 2001 has  undoubtedly contributed to the range and quality of work being undertaken in schools, allowing the contention that their Drama performance work can, and often does, contribute  to the cultural welfare of local communities and to a New Zealand theatre identity in general.

text: Drama and Theatre in and for Schools: Referencing the Nature of Theatre in Contemporary New Zealand This thesis considers the nature of drama and theatre in and for schools and references the nature of theatre in contemporary New Zealand. Drama in schools in New Zealand has developed from the earliest school productions in the 1800's, through its perceived role to enrich lives, to becoming a discrete Arts subject within the New Zealand educational curriculum in 1999. During this development, theatre companies began to tour schools and arguments ensued regarding drama's role in education as a process or performance. This development is charted through a range of historical and current curriculum documents.  The thesis references the importance of the Australian UNESCO Seminar on drama in education in 1958 which explored the relationship between the educational aspects of Drama and Drama as an art form, and which inspired New Zealand Drama teachers. The research contains interviews conducted during 2009, with Drama teachers, students and theatre practitioners, as well as considering examples of performances by schools and professional theatre since the advent of the new curriculum. The thesis investigates some of the many kinds of Drama work taking place in contemporary New Zealand schools, including co-curricula and curricula productions concerning a wide range of issues and utilising a range of dramatic styles. These include, an Intermediate School's collaboration and contribution to capital E's production of Kia Ora Khalid,   and examples of devised and scripted projects undertaken at Secondary Colleges in New Zealand.  The research explores the relationship which exists between schools and professional theatre practitioners, and establishes some of the ways in which the relationship is beneficial for the development of high quality Drama programmes in schools.   The contribution of the Auckland Theatre Company's Educational Unit to schools is investigated, as is an example of the Artist in Schools programme at Pakuranga College in Auckland.  The introduction of the National certificate in Educational drama in 2001 has  undoubtedly contributed to the range and quality of work being undertaken in schools, allowing the contention that their Drama performance work can, and often does, contribute  to the cultural welfare of local communities and to a New Zealand theatre identity in general.

year: 2010

title: Maori internal and international migration at the turn of the century: An Australasian perspective

authors: Bedford, Richard

abstract: At the beginning of the twenty-first century there were two major national clusters of Maori: New Zealand, the ancestral home for Maori, and Australia, home to a much smaller Maori population from the early years of the nineteenth century. In the 2001 censuses of New Zealand and Australia, the usually resident Maori populations were, respectively, 526,281 (ethnic group classification) and 72,956 (ancestry classification). In this paper we examine four dimensions of Maori population movement between 1996 and 2001 using the census data from New Zealand and Australia: 1) internal migration between rural and urban areas in New Zealand; 2) internal migration between rural and urban areas in Australia; 3) migration into New Zealand of Maori resident overseas in 1996; 4) migration into Australia of Maori resident overseas in 1996. There has never been a comprehensive assessment of Maori migration in an Australasian context before, but in the light of developments in population exchanges between New Zealand and Australia this sort of analysis is critical if one wishes to understand contemporary Maori population dynamics.

text: Maori internal and international migration at the turn of the century: An Australasian perspective At the beginning of the twenty-first century there were two major national clusters of Maori: New Zealand, the ancestral home for Maori, and Australia, home to a much smaller Maori population from the early years of the nineteenth century. In the 2001 censuses of New Zealand and Australia, the usually resident Maori populations were, respectively, 526,281 (ethnic group classification) and 72,956 (ancestry classification). In this paper we examine four dimensions of Maori population movement between 1996 and 2001 using the census data from New Zealand and Australia: 1) internal migration between rural and urban areas in New Zealand; 2) internal migration between rural and urban areas in Australia; 3) migration into New Zealand of Maori resident overseas in 1996; 4) migration into Australia of Maori resident overseas in 1996. There has never been a comprehensive assessment of Maori migration in an Australasian context before, but in the light of developments in population exchanges between New Zealand and Australia this sort of analysis is critical if one wishes to understand contemporary Maori population dynamics.

year: 2004