This master thesis concerns the occupational safetyenvironment at Outokompu Stainless, Avesta Work.The study is of a sociotechnical approach wherehumans are involved and interconnected in the samesystem with technology and organisation. In order toreach the corporation?s goal of zero accidents with losttime injury, the work of improving and maintainoccupational safety and health has to regard behaviourand cultural aspects. The aim of this study is todescribe the safety culture at a specific production unitand research what work which has to be done in orderto change and improve the safety culture at AvestaWork.There are several opportunities for improvementpointed out in this paper and here are some mainresults presented. First and foremost, the concern ofsafety among blue-collar is often secondary due toproduction.

Denna studie syftar på att ta reda på hur anställningsbarheten ser ut i förhållande till personlighet och sökbeteende. Studien vänder sig till tidigare studenter på det Arbetsvetenskapliga programmet på Högskolan i Halmstad. Finns det någon personlighetsprofil som är mer gynnsam i arbetssökningsprocessen? Hur ser kraven ut för tjänster inom yrkesområdet samt finns det något samband mellan personlighet, anställningsbarhet och beteende i sökprocessen.Genom att granska platsannonser sammanställdes vilka krav som krävs för tjänster inom yrkesområdet. En enkätundersökning skickades till personer som gått utbildningen.

The ability to tackle NP-hard problems has been greatly extended by the introduction of Metaheuristics (see Blum & Roli (2003)) for a summary of most Metaheuristics, general problem-independent optimisation algorithms extending the hill-climbing local search approach to escape local minima. One of these algorithms is Iterated Local Search (ILS) (Lourenco et al., 2002; Stützle, 1999a, p. 25ff), a recent easy to implement but powerful algorithm with results comparable or superior to other state-of-the-art methods for many combinatorial optimisation problems, among them the Traveling Salesman (TSP) and Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP). ILS iteratively samples local minima by modifying the current local minimum and restartinga local search porcedure on this modified solution. This thesis will show how ILS can be implemented for MSA.

The ability to tackle NP-hard problems has been greatly extended by the introduction of Metaheuristics (see Blum & Roli (2003)) for a summary of most Metaheuristics, general problem-independent optimisation algorithms extending the hill-climbing local search approach to escape local minima. One of these algorithms is Iterated Local Search (ILS) (Lourenco et al., 2002; Stützle, 1999a, p. 25ff), a recent easy to implement but powerful algorithm with results comparable or superior to other state-of-the-art methods for many combinatorial optimisation problems, among them the Traveling Salesman (TSP) and Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP). ILS iteratively samples local minima by modifying the current local minimum and restartinga local search porcedure on this modified solution. This thesis will show how ILS can be implemented for MSA.

This study examines counselors understanding of body fixation (alt: body image fixation) as a social problem among young women aged 15-25 years. Earlier research on this subject highlights the standards and ideals placed on the female body where happiness is associated with a slim body figure. Research has shown that young women that compare their own bodies with others are at higher risk at developing an unhealthy relationship with their body, which can lead to eating disorders. The data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with nine counselors from youth clinics, schools and primary healthcare. The results were interpreted and analysed in the light of social constructionist perspective as developed by Berger & Luckmann and Loseke's social constructionist definition of social problems.

The ability to tackle NP-hard problems has been greatly extended by the introduction of Metaheuristics (see Blum & Roli (2003)) for a summary of most Metaheuristics, general problem-independent optimisation algorithms extending the hill-climbing local search approach to escape local minima. One of these algorithms is Iterated Local Search (ILS) (Lourenco et al., 2002; Stützle, 1999a, p. 25ff), a recent easy to implement but powerful algorithm with results comparable or superior to other state-of-the-art methods for many combinatorial optimisation problems, among them the Traveling Salesman (TSP) and Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP). ILS iteratively samples local minima by modifying the current local minimum and restartinga local search porcedure on this modified solution. This thesis will show how ILS can be implemented for MSA.

Omkring 10-20 % av personer med lumbalt diskbråck opereras. Operationen syftar främst till att behandla utstrålande smärta i nedre extremiteter. Beteenderelaterade faktorer kan påverka smärtupplevelsen vid långvariga smärttillstånd och viss forskning finns om hur resultatet av diskbråcksoperation påverkas av olika biopsykosociala faktorer.Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur smärtintensitet var associerat till vissa beteenderelaterade faktorer före och två år efter lumbal diskbråcksoperation, samt om dessa faktorer preoperativt kan predicera smärta efter diskbråcksoperation. Studien är en longitudinell deskriptiv kohortstudie där associationer analyseras. Data samlades in med en enkät före och efter operationen.Preoperativt besvarade 59 personer enkäten, två år senare upplevde 20 personer ingen smärta och besvarade därför inte de beteenderelaterade frågorna.

Arbetsplatskonflikter är ett svårt ämne som tenderar att resultera i konsekvenser för både anställda och chefer i organisationer. Då jag anser mig ha upplevt en osäkerhet och frustration hos chefer när de ställts inför konfliktrelaterade samtal, funderade jag över hur det kunde vara möjligt att till synes välutbildade chefer agerade på sådant sätt. För att närma mig en förståelse i fenomenet valde jag att genomföra en studie av chefers subjektiva uppfattningar om hur deras utbildning fungerat som stöd vid konfliktrelaterade samtal med medarbetare. Samt att undersöka hur chefernas upplevelser och agerande kan tänkas ha påverkats av utbildningen. Eftersom att chefernas egna upplevelser var av intresse, genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer.

Sveaverken is a company who manufactures products and equipment for the modern farm enterprise within grain, pork and horse businesses. A large share of Sveaverken's turnover depends on the role as a subcontractor for Delaval within the areas ventilation, manure handling and feeding systems. Sveaverken wants to investigate the possibility to increase sales by establishing new sales channels, for example e-commerce This thesis is an analysis of the Swedish farmers use of internet, attitudes towards e-commerce and Sveaverken's interest within this area. There is also a minor economic analysis of the cost of establishing the e-commerce site. The study focuses on farmers who are potential customers to Sveaverken within Sweden. To examine the farmers opinions about internet and e-commerce a questionnaire was developed and sent out in November 2006, to 500 farmers of which 45% answered. The results show that the average age of the farmers was 42,5 years.

The way you address people is depending on the existing culture, to be on familiar terms with people you don?t know or elderly people is totally unacceptable in some cultures. Some behaviour might be acceptable in one culture, and unacceptable in another. Culture exists on different levels in the society, and what combines people within a culture are that they share the same norms and values.This study identifies and deals with the resemblances and the differences in the customer relationship within one specific organization with activity in several different countries. Two of these countries, which can be seen as each others cultural contrasts, were chosen for the study, Sweden and Spain.

Cattle production systems are changing to bigger intensified systems with larger numbers of animals per farm and more free range systems while at the same time employing fewer people. Aversive handling has been known to affect cattle production negatively for many years, but lately scientists have started to focus more on what positive effects gentle handling and positive human-cattle interactions may have on beef and dairy production. Fear can cause high stress in production animals and this can contribute to not only reduced production within beef and dairy cattle, but also increased risks for accidents and decreased animal welfare. Therefore, by reducing the fear cattle experience of humans, it could be possible to increase production, decrease accidents and increase the welfare of the animals. Reducing the animals fear and stress can be done by simple means, such as walking and talking calmly around the cattle, associating humans to positive feelings (such as feed) and stroking the cattle?s body regions associated with social grooming.

?Games children play? is a study about the importance of playing with a focus on a group of disabled children. I have made some observations by participating in these children?s play at an accommodation. My interest arouse when I worked as holiday substitute at an accommodation for disabled children.The purpose with the study is to carry out participation observations and look for signs and events that show the importance of children?s play.

The purpose of this study is to examine what professionals tell about stress, rewards, impact and treatment in the professional treatment with young sexual offenders. Eleven qualitative interviews of half-structured design brought up results about the professional role in the treatment process. During the interviews the professionals described which methods of treatment they work with. We examined the methods through literature research, which was added to the study whit the purpose of strengthening the interview data. The professionals consider their work important and meaningful and they feel safe in their working role.

This study focuses on the encounter between the academic librarian and the academic library user with a specific need for information. The aim of the study is to examine the process of mediation of information and to uncover any inherent problems or systemic inertia that may occur within that process.Special attention has been given to information-seeking behaviour in the digital age and the possibility of viewing information literacy as a meta-literacy. The difference between the surface web and the academic invis- ible web is also investigated. Empirical data was collected by the use of ethnographic fieldwork at the Karolin- ska Institutet University Library over a period of five weeks. The data is analysed using actor-network theory as a point of departure.

The aim of this study was to understand how social workers perceive and understand violence and threats of violence from clients, and how it effect their working environment. It seems that the respondents understand the violence and threats of violence from clients as a result of the clients background problems, vulnerability, dependency and from ?the reason" that the client is currently in the contact with the organization. How respondents interpret the client´s behaviour based on the above-mentioned factors, seem to determine how the respondents perceive and define the violence and threats of violence by clients directed against them. Interestingly enough, although all respondents in the study experienced violence and threats of violence from clients, none of them perceived themselves as exposed at work. The answer to this is consensual.