I3 Workplace LA01-06

Summary

This component of Industry 3 included 6 Learning Activities which induce effective communication in the workplace. After completion the Workplace Assessment Task will be undertaken.

LA01 - Workplace

Instructions

This activity involved reading 'Welcome to the Workplace, a Work Health and Safety Guide for New Workers', and answering 10 questions concerning the material in sentence format.

Question 1

Briefly describe ‘workplace induction’ when you start a new job.

An induction introduces an employee to a company or to a new role within a company and is usually followed by on-going training. Initially a welcome chat or formal meeting to familiarize the company, the industry, the position, and the customers, introducing the supervisor, levels of supervision, co-workers, manager, safety and union representatives. Subjects include conditions of employment, training and equipment requirements, health and safety procedures for hazards, risks, accidents and illness, location of emergency equipment and exits, and internal structure office, workshop, cafeteria, toilets and first aid rooms.

Question 2

What is a ‘Position Description’?

A position description is an often documented method of listing an employee’s conditions of employment including pay rate, type (full / part-time / casual), award or registered agreement, grade or classification, and union membership. It also covers key tasks, the skills and experience required, additional training and safety requirements, and how progress will be monitored.

Question 3

Name two issues that Workplace and Health and Safety laws cover.

Workplace health and safety as applied to the graphic design industry covers incidents that cover an employee that is injured at work, and the training requirements for both employees and employers in the workplace to ensure if issues occur a planned response is organised.

Question 4

What are the 7 health and safety responsibilities at your employer’s workplace.

An employer has a responsibility to maintain workplace health and safety. They should provide a safe working environment identifying hazards such as unguarded machines or inadequate lighting, provide procedures outlining safe work practices, ensure equipment and substances are used and stored safely, offer task related information including details of hazards, employee training, supervision, and personal protective equipment.

Question 5

Name the 5 key points that as a worker you have the right to.

An employee has the right to work in a safe workplace, to work in a safe manner and to ask questions and raise concerns about health and safety matters. They also have the right to obtain work practice information, supervision and training, and be actively involved in health and safety.

Question 6

Name 2 safety issues for your supervisor or Employee’s Safety Representative.

Two safety issues that can be raised with an employee’s supervisor or safety representative / committee is correctly asking for assistance to complete a task correctly and safely, and that they do not feel safe using the equipment by themselves due to lack of experience.

Refer to Safety Coordination – Code of Practice

Question 7

Name two ways you can be injured in a workplace.

Two ways an employee can be injured in a workplace are through misuse of tools, equipment or machinery. Incorrect use, storage or maintenance of machinery can lead to serious physical injury. A workplace environment can also be a primary factor in incidents such as a messy or wet floor causing a broken leg or related injury.

Question 8

What does the acronym S.A.F.E. stand for?

The acronym SAFE stands for Spot the hazard, Access the situation, Fix the problem and Evaluate the results. A hazard is a task with the potential to cause injury involving the employee in identifying which tasks are difficult or dangerous. A risk is the likelihood of this hazard resulting in injury leading to the employee looking for ways to reduce the hazard to an acceptable level. Finally results are evaluated with the employee so that additional hazards are not introduced, the problem is fixed, and how it affects current work place practices.

Question 9

Briefly describe ‘Workplace Stress’?

Workplace stress leads to fatigue, limiting the ability to react quickly and is the underlying cause of workplace incidents. It is a reaction to an employee placed in a situation beyond their ability, experienced physically through raised blood pressure and headaches, emotionally through depression and nerves, or behaviourally through alcohol and bullying. Causes include high levels of pubic contact, work overload, inadequate interpersonal skills or a hazardous environment. Low levels of stress can form ready to work attitudes but relief from stress will avoid long term physical or emotional health damage. A planned response is the coordination of employer using the SAFE steps and discussions with supervisor, health and safety representatives, co-workers and councillors.

Question 10

Name two websites that you can get further information.

1. http://www.workcover.tas.gov.au
   A Government body responsible for managing OH&S and workers compensation.
2. http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au
   An independent agency responsible for improving OH&S and workers compensation in Australia.

LA02 - Communication Research

Instructions

This activity involved understanding the communication skills required to function effectively in the workplace. A communication slideshow was supplied and we were asked to visually interpret between two and ten slides using line drawings, from magazines or the internet using one slide per A4 sheet.

Results

I developed a total of six images from the communication slideshow. All of these images, or parts of, were sourced from the internet using Google Images. Slides A and B were downloaded, colourised and resized, slides C to F involved some Photoshop work as detailed in the concluding table.

Slide A Active Listening and Asking Questions	Slide B Non-Verbal Communication
Slide C Barriers in Communication	Slide D Body Language Slide 1
Slide E Body Language Slide 2	Slide F Using Appropriate Language

Discussion

Slide A	Active Listening and Asking Questions The image was sourced from the internet. The girl listening with her head to one side and touching her chin expressed thinking, while the question marks above her head re-enforce the concept active listening. The image text was appropriate and touched up.
Slide B	Non-Verbal Communication The image was sourced from the internet. The range of seven smiley faces expressing forms of non-verbal expression was appropriate. The image was touched up and text added. The word verbal used a large font to accentuate the concept.
Slide C	Barriers to Communication The images of a brick wall, office workers and background were sourced from the internet. The brick wall provides a barrier between the two groups of people highlighting the concept. The final components were colour balanced and shadows added for realism.
Slide D	Body Language 1 The image of action talk with hand was sourced from the internet. The letter S, a white board, and the text ‘louder than words’ were added to build on the concept. The final text layout drawing viewer’s eyes from left to right then downward worked well.
Slide E	Body Language 2 The images of a laptop, whirl pool, shaking hands and desk were sourced from the internet. The laptops and desk build on the workplace concept while the golden glow and shaking hands provide a link to body gesture and movement communication.
Slide F	Using Appropriate Language The images of office workers and megaphone, red slash and background were sourced from the internet. The megaphone and text with red slash adds to the inappropriate concept, while the background scene places the workers in an office for realism.

LA03 - Effective Communication

Instructions

An image of a square was supplied and we were asked to practice effective communication and outline why it may not look right ad how it could be improved.

Supplied Image

Process

1. Initial Greeting
2. Artistic Relevance
3. Definition of Square
4. Thumbnail Process
5. Software Recommendation
6. Line Style / Seamless Design
7. Positive Sign-off

Response

Good Morning,

Thank you for supplying the image of a square. I do not know the details of the project but must initially comment on its artistic attributes. If intended for a clipart, low quality branding or satirical exercise I believe it may be more than adequate. However, as stated a square was intended, and I must therefore refer you to the definition itself. The links below describe an image with four equal sides and four 90 degree right angles.

To ensure a reasonably close approximation to this definition is achieved by hand, may I recommend a thumbnail process with light table. Technical drawing implements such as protractors, set squares or straight edges could also prove beneficial. If you prefer a software approach and use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign I advise holding the shift key to ensure a right angle is maintained on each of the four corners. As a graphic artist, whether using a pen tablet, software, or pen and pencil, the weight and thickness of a line is important as well as the seamless flow of the overall shape. It was noted that the line weight varied and the corners of the image did not meet. This may not be ideal for either an artistic rendition or a perfect square and will increase the appeal of the final product.

Good luck in your future artistic endeavours

Regards
Craig

Wiki Sqaure
"A square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, or right angles)."

Basic Geometric Shapes: Square, Circle, Rectangle, and Triangle.
"A square is a four sided figure created by connecting four line segments. All of the line segments are of the same length and they come together to form four right angles."

LA04 - Client Interaction

Instructions

This activity involved reading the supplied document concerning uploading files to a printer then conducting research into creating a graphic pre-press operator checklist.

Results

Graphic Pre-Press Operator Checklist
Client
	Contact details / timeframe / budget
	History of branding and marketing
	Preferred wording, fonts and images
	Specifications for size, colour, substrate and quality
	Ideas for fonts, colour, layout and imagery
	Brief containing project’s purpose, target audience and intended outcome
Printer
	Method of contact (store / email / website)
	Substrate cost and availability
	Bleed, trim, registration and fold mark requirements
	Preferred file formats (PDF, PSD, JPEG, PNG, TIF)
	Preferred colour mode (RGB, CMYK process, PMS spot colour)
	Preferred resolution for colour modes
Pre-Flight
	Text is proof-read and layout conforms to requirements
	Fonts are licensed, in their true form and rasterised in final submission
	Colour has a consistent colour space for separations - Colour CMYK colour mode, 300 DPI - Greyscale Greyscale colour mode, 300 DPI - Lineart Bitmap 2 colour mode, 1200 DPI - Vector Process CMYK colours
	Pantone (PMS) colours have been converted to CMYK spot colours
	Black text is 100% black, and large solids are given a rich mix
	Original image size’s are at least as large as output
	Image bleed, trim, registration and fold marks conform to requirements
	Vector images have been converted to paths
	Preview PDF has been generated
	Project has been exported as a package with assets correctly linked

LA05 - Forms of Communication

Introduction

Complete the following 6 exercises in grammar and spelling.

(A) Prefixes

A prefix is an affix, placed before the stem of a word changing it into a new word. Choose the correct answers for the following prefixes.

Question		Answer
Number	Prefix	a	b	c	d
1.	inter	move	cover	operative	state
2.	pre	move	cover	vent	part
3.	dis	wake	move	cover	vent
4.	re	move	part	see	warn
5.	non	move	party	essential	clude
6.	mis	take	move	cover	party
7.	pro	noun	move	lead	cover

(B) Suffixes

A suffix often called postfix or ending is an affix placed after the stem of a word. Examples are case endings; indicating nouns or verbs, and verb endings, forming the conjugation of verbs. Correct the following words.

Question		Answer	Question		Answer
1.	aufull	awful	7.	acreage
2.	careful	carefull	8.	mileage
3.	abuseive	abusive	9.	tamest
4.	scarey	scary	10.	natural
5.	gracefull	graceful	11.	wideth	width
6.	noticeable

(C) How to make Nouns Plural

A plural denotes more than one of something and also fractional, zero or negative amounts. Correct the following words.

Question		Answer	Question		Answer
1.	dresess	dresses	6.	women
2.	exites	exits	7.	man	men
3.	familys	families	8.	sheep
4.	clothes		9.	oxen
5.	illnesses

(D) Apostrophes

An apostrophe or punctuation mark marks the omission of one or more letters, a possessive case as in the eagle’s feathers, or the marking of plural items as in P’s and Q’s. Correct the following words then write the words that these represent.

Question		Answer	Question		Answer
1.	it's	it is	6.	isn’t	is not
2.	can't	can not	7.	haven’t	have not
3.	won't	will not	8.	we're	we are
4.	i'll	i will	9.	they’ve	they have
5.	we'll	we will

(E) Changing Nouns to Plurals

Change the following words into plurals.

Question		Answer	Question		Answer
1.	dog	dogs	12.	girl	girls
2.	animals		13.	mouse	mice
3.	toys		14.	scarf	scarves
4.	books		15.	sheep
5.	puppys	puppies	16.	tooth	teeth
6.	potato	potatoes	17.	foot	feet
7.	baby	babies	18.	deer
8.	child	children	19.	dwarf	dwarves
9.	woman	women	20.	cactus	cacti
10.	horse	horses	21.	hippopotamus	hippopotamuses
11.	man	men	22.	fish

(F) Correct Words

Circle the correct word in the following sentences.

Question	Answer
1.	The girls thought they had left earlier enough to / too catch the bus, but they were to / too late.
2.	The boys were playing over their / there when they lost there / their ball.
3.	I am not sure weather / whether the whether / weather will be hot enough to swim today.
4.	While the train was stationary / stationery, I went to the newsagent to buy stationary / stationery for the office.
5.	A councillor / counsellor was needed to advise / advice the couple on their personal / personnel options.
6.	I brought / bought the cake from the shop when I could have brought / bought one from home.

LA06 - Discretion and Confidentiality

Instructions

This activity involved reading the website on Intellectual Property IP Australia and answering the following questions.

Describe what is intellectual property?

Intellectual Property (IP) created in developing new and original content is a critical asset needing protection and strategic management. Some forms such as patents, trademarks and designs require formal registration, while others are automatic and governed by the Attorney-General's department.

What is a confidentiality agreement?

A confidentiality agreement is a written obligation of confidence to protect the owner’s content from any use outside the terms of the agreement. Disclosure of this material by any person covered under this contract can be enforced by law.

How does all this relate to Graphic Design Industry?

Australia's IP law provides a framework to protect a graphic designer’s artistic content from misuse. Essentially a reward system for innovation and creativity, the main asset in the task of producing unique shapes, configurations, patterns and ornamentations. A graphic designer needs exclusive rights to use, control and profit from their work. When designs are created they have automatic copyright IP, if intended for commercial use, they can be further protected via registration under the copyright, designs and trademark legislation.

Conclusion

This activity suggested submission using the Adobe InDesign platform. This was achieved by inserting an A4 size text box onto each page, connecting each, then placing the word document into the first page. It was noted the text box margins must be set to match the original word document rather that adjusting the master page. I focused on enhancing my photoshop skills in the communication exercise rather than line based ideas using my visual diary. An approach similar to the name plate exercise would have overcome design restrictions with a limited range of relevant clip art. The pre-press operator check list gave me insight in the colour process requirements within the graphic design industry and the pre-flight phase ensures a product conforms to design and printer specifications.

A link to this assignment is available here.

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Reference

Comic - Design Hell LA01 - Workplace New Employee Health and Safety Guide Safety Consultation Code Workcover Tasmania Safe Work Australia LA02 - Communication Research Communication Effective Communication Workplace Communication LA03 - Effective Communication Wiki Sqaure Basic Geometric Shapes LA04 - Client Interaction Oxford Dictionary

Wikipedia Prefix Wikipedia Suffix Wikipedia English Plurals Oxford Dictionary Plurals of Nouns Wikipedia Apostrophe LA05 - Forms of Communication Pre-Press Training Network Printing - Pre-Press Checklist Creative Latitude - Pre-Press Checklist Inkd - Pre-Press Checklist Guidelines LA06 - Discretion and Confidentiality IPAustralia What is IP IPAustralia Confidentiality IPAustralia Designs IPAustralia Designers