Legal risk management of adverse health outcomes and injury in the fitness industry: developing evidence-informed regulation that improves safety. This project analyses Australian laws, policies and practices designed to manage legal risks and liabilities in the fitness industry, and assesses their effectiveness in preventing adverse health outcomes, injuries, and the legal liability associated with those risks.
Next generation smart lighting to improve sleep and alertness. Light has a powerful influence on our sleep and alertness. The manipulation of the amount of blue in a light source and the visual brightness of a light source are key factors, but there has been no systematic study that can guide manufacturers in the design of the ideal light source for promoting either sleep or alertness. This study will systematically examine the impact of the amount of blue light in a light source and the visual ....Next generation smart lighting to improve sleep and alertness. Light has a powerful influence on our sleep and alertness. The manipulation of the amount of blue in a light source and the visual brightness of a light source are key factors, but there has been no systematic study that can guide manufacturers in the design of the ideal light source for promoting either sleep or alertness. This study will systematically examine the impact of the amount of blue light in a light source and the visual brightness, creating a wide range of combinations that can be used to model the optimal light specifications for sleep and alertness, while maintaining visual acuity and colour discrimination. This will be the evidence base needed by the lighting industry to create the next generation of smart lighting.Read moreRead less
Avoiding catastrophic failure of cable bolts in underground mines. This work aims to identify the factors responsible for the emerging problem of catastrophic failure of high-load cable bolts in underground mines and develop strategies for resisting their failure. The work is of high importance since failure of cable bolts is now being reported in several mines across Australia and is expected to become a problem world-wide. The work is novel as it intends to be the very first study of catastrop ....Avoiding catastrophic failure of cable bolts in underground mines. This work aims to identify the factors responsible for the emerging problem of catastrophic failure of high-load cable bolts in underground mines and develop strategies for resisting their failure. The work is of high importance since failure of cable bolts is now being reported in several mines across Australia and is expected to become a problem world-wide. The work is novel as it intends to be the very first study of catastrophic cable bolt failure. The expected outcome is the development of economically viable solutions for avoiding catastrophic cable bolt failure. It is anticipated that the findings will also be relevant to the civil engineering sector.Read moreRead less
Application of contemporary systems-based methods to reduce trauma at rail level crossings. Crashes at railway level crossings continue to cause significant trauma across Australia. Despite being a longstanding safety problem, the design and operation of level crossings has not changed considerably for decades. This research will provide an in-depth understanding of road user, environmental and infrastructure-related factors that influence safety and performance at rail level crossings. This wil ....Application of contemporary systems-based methods to reduce trauma at rail level crossings. Crashes at railway level crossings continue to cause significant trauma across Australia. Despite being a longstanding safety problem, the design and operation of level crossings has not changed considerably for decades. This research will provide an in-depth understanding of road user, environmental and infrastructure-related factors that influence safety and performance at rail level crossings. This will be used to develop a world-first model of the level crossing system that is needed to support the development of innovative countermeasures that will improve safety. Reductions in the levels of significant trauma at level crossings, and new public policy for level crossing upgrades, are the intended real-world outcomes.Read moreRead less
Dynamic Rollover Occupant Protection (DROP): evaluation and regulation. This projects seeks to establish which occupant crashworthiness attributes a vehicle must possess to prevent injury in a rollover crash. The results will assist regulators, industry and consumer groups understand which critical factors need to be considered to develop rollover crashworthiness regulations, consumer tests and vehicle purchase policy.
Innovative and human-centred design in underground coalmining: a new concept vehicle for safe personnel transport. Australian coalminers commute daily on a system of underground roads to the ‘longwall’, the site where their work can begin, in vehicles that are primitive by aboveground standards. These current vehicles contribute to short- and long-term injuries amongst mining personnel. This project will develop benchmark standards for an innovative underground personnel carrier that promotes a ....Innovative and human-centred design in underground coalmining: a new concept vehicle for safe personnel transport. Australian coalminers commute daily on a system of underground roads to the ‘longwall’, the site where their work can begin, in vehicles that are primitive by aboveground standards. These current vehicles contribute to short- and long-term injuries amongst mining personnel. This project will develop benchmark standards for an innovative underground personnel carrier that promotes a safer and healthier working environment by contributing to reduced injury rates and ensuring the comfort of workers. This project contributes to the health and welfare of coalminers in regional Australia and in the international mining sector through innovative and ’human-centred’ design.Read moreRead less
Protecting while they prosper? Organisational responses to whistleblowing. This project aims to examine the adequacy of organisational responses to whistleblowing (employee reporting of wrongdoing). So far, research into public-interest whistleblowing has revealed much about the incidence, significance and experience of whistleblowers. This project now extends the research to the other side of the issue — the organisations. By comparing employee and managerial experience in multiple public and p ....Protecting while they prosper? Organisational responses to whistleblowing. This project aims to examine the adequacy of organisational responses to whistleblowing (employee reporting of wrongdoing). So far, research into public-interest whistleblowing has revealed much about the incidence, significance and experience of whistleblowers. This project now extends the research to the other side of the issue — the organisations. By comparing employee and managerial experience in multiple public and private sector organisations in Australia and New Zealand, the project intends to identify the factors that influence good and bad responses across a range of institutions; provide a clearer basis for reform of policies, procedures and law; and set benchmarks for comparative research worldwide.Read moreRead less
The Australian naturalistic driving study: innovation in road safety research and policy. A revolutionary new approach, the naturalistic driving study, will investigate what people actually do when they drive, in normal and safety-critical situations. It will provide Australia with answers to some intractable, high priority, road safety problems that cannot be answered using current methods, thereby saving hundreds of lives.
Child safety in cars: an international collaboration. Car crashes are the leading cause of child death in Australia. While child restraints offer good protection, their benefits are significantly diminished if used incorrectly. This project will examine children’s out-of-position during car trips and injury implications and will reduce injury through improved engineering and education solutions.
Would more highly-qualified teachers and trainers help to address quality problems in the Australian vocational education and training system? This project examines whether and how higher-level qualifications for vocational education and training (VET) teachers would improve quality in the VET system. Government documents and public commentary indicate that the VET sector suffers from some fairly serious quality problems. This is significant because VET provides training that underpins all Austr ....Would more highly-qualified teachers and trainers help to address quality problems in the Australian vocational education and training system? This project examines whether and how higher-level qualifications for vocational education and training (VET) teachers would improve quality in the VET system. Government documents and public commentary indicate that the VET sector suffers from some fairly serious quality problems. This is significant because VET provides training that underpins all Australian industries. Most VET teachers are qualified only to a Certificate IV level. A more highly qualified VET teaching workforce is likely to lead to improvements in quality; however there is currently no firm evidence to establish this link, as the 2011 Productivity Commission report on the VET workforce pointed out. This project aims to provide much-needed evidence to guide policy.Read moreRead less