Managing OHS in culturally diverse SMEs

Managing OHS in Small Culturally Diverse Workplaces: Developing a research Agenda

Wednesday 21 October, time: 11.15-12.45, location B-10.

Organizers:
Felicity Lamm,  Auckland University of Technology, NZ, e.mail: Felicity.Lamm@aut.ac.nz
Christophe Martin,  Ecole nationale supérieure des Mines de Paris (ENSMP) , France, e-mail:  cmartin@isaip.org
Boaz Shulruf, University of Auckland, NZ, e-mail: , b.shulruf@auckland.ac.nz 

See summary from the round table.

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, where there has been a tendency in the past to attribute blame to individuals for workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses, more advanced analysis indicate that the lack of communication or the inability to make sense of the communication particularly where cultural or diversity factors are at play, are major contributing factors (Pigeon, 1998; Jaselskis, et al 2008; Schubert & Dijkstra, 2008).

As Mullen (2004: 276) rightly notes, rather than attributing blame to the individual for workplace accidents and injuries, managers and researchers must consider organisational culture and social factors when identifying the causes of workplace injuries and accidents. The challenge, therefore, has been to develop new interdisciplinary models that acknowledge the multifaceted nature of OHS within evolving, culturally diverse small workplaces.

The purpose of this roundtable discussion is to develop a collaborative, international research agenda. In particular the roundtable discussion session will be divided into facilitated sub-sessions coving the following topics:

- Challenges of managing OHS in small culturally diverse businesses: a brief overview will be presented on what research has already been undertaken as well as summarising the key themes and debates within the literature (Facilitator: Suzanne Jamieson)

- Future research directions: the discussion will be open to the participants to identify and prioritise the primary the research gaps, to establish a research agenda, and to draft a research proposal as well as to allocate tasks (Facilitator: Claire Massey)

- Further symposia: in order to facilitate on-doing dialogue on this topic and to present progress reports on the research undertaken, symposia in 2010 and 2011 will be planned and tasks allocated (Facilitator: Franck Guarnieri).