Errors of perception in air traffic control

Accurate and timely perception of visual and auditory information by air traffic controllers is critical to aviation safety. The aim of this research was to investigate the types of errors of perception that occur in air traffic control (ATC). The data were gathered from interviews with 28 UK area controllers and a review of 48 area and terminal control incidents involving loss of separation in the UK spanning three years. The data gave rise to a set of classifications, which form part of the technique for the retrospective analysis of human error (TRACEr). The results are discussed in terms of theory and empirical research. Key main implications for future automation are outlined, in terms of display design, automation reliability and the operation of multiple tools designed and developed separately.     

Investigating the effects of monthly weather variations on Connecticut freeway crashes from 2011 to 2015

IntroductionThe objective of this research is to investigate the effects of monthly weather conditions on traffic crash experience on freeways, considering the interactions between weather, traffic volumes, and roadway conditions. Methods: Data from the state of Connecticut from 2011to 2015 were used. Random parameters negative binomial models with first-order, autoregressive covariance were estimated for representative types of freeway crashes (front-to-rear, sideswipe-same-direction, and fixed-object), most severe crashes (i.e., fatal and injury crashes), and non-injury crashes (i.e., property-damage-only crashes). Results: Major findings are that variations in monthly traffic volumes, roadway geometry, and weather conditions explain much of the variations in monthly traffic crashes. Time effects exist in the panel monthly data for all types of crashes. Taking into account this effect improves model prediction results. When the raw weather measures are highly correlated, using dimension reduction techniques helps to extract more interpretable weather factors. By considering the interaction effects between roadway condition variables, additional findings were found. In general, lower temperature, more heavy fog days, decreased precipitation, lower wind speed, higher monthly traffic volumes, and narrower inside shoulder were found to be associated with higher monthly crashes. The effects of area type and outside shoulder width change dramatically as the number of through lanes changes. Practical applications: The findings of this research could help researchers and general readers gain a better understanding of the effects of monthly weather conditions and other roadway factors on freeway crashes and give engineers practical guidelines on improving freeway safety.     

Does the potential safety risk affect whether particular construction hazards are recognized or not?

Introduction: Evidence from the global construction industry suggests that an unacceptable number of safety hazards remain unrecognized in construction workplaces. Unfortunately, there isn’t a sufficient understanding of why particular safety hazards remain unrecognized. Such an understanding is important to address the issue of poor hazard recognition and develop remedial interventions. A recent exploratory effort provided anecdotal evidence that workers often fail to recognize safety hazards that are expected to impose relatively lower levels of safety risk. In other words, the research demonstrated that the underlying risk imposed by a safety hazard can affect whether a hazard will be recognized or not. Method: The presented research focused on empirically testing this preliminary finding. More specifically, the study tested the proposition that Construction workers are more likely to recognize safety hazards that impose higher levels of safety risk than those that impose relatively lower levels of safety risk. The research goals were accomplished through a number of steps. First, a set of 16 construction case images depicting a variety of construction operations that included a number of known safety hazards was presented to a panel of four construction safety experts. The experts were tasked with examining each of the known safety hazards and providing a rating of the relative safety risk that the individual hazards impose. Having obtained an estimate of the underlying safety risk, a hazard recognition activity was administered to 287 workers recruited from 57 construction workplaces in the United States. The hazard recognition activity involved the examination of a random sample of two construction case images that were previously examined by the expert panel and reporting relevant safety hazards. Results: The results of the study provided support for the proposition that workers are more likely to recognize hazards that impose relatively higher levels of safety risk. Practical Applications: The findings of the study can be leveraged to improve existing hazard recognition methods and develop more robust interventions to address the issue of poor hazard recognition levels.     

基于信息熵的危险天气下进近管制风险评估

针对危险天气下进近管制系统运行风险性大、易发不安全事件的问题,提出根据一段时期内不安全事件的信息来评估该时期进近管制系统运行的风险,从而为以后进近管制系统的安全运行管理提供依据。首先,通过分析危险天气下管制系统运行过程的风险因素,建立风险评估指标体系。其次,给出评估指标灰色关联度属性的计算方法,利用其反映出的信息熵完成指标权重的确定和风险评估模型的建立。最后,应用该模型评估某进近管制中心一段时期内管制运行的风险状态水平,得到了风险值和风险级别,验证了该方法的适用性。     

Interactive mechanism of working environments and construction behaviors with cognitive work analysis: an elevator installation case study

Unsafe behavior is a leading factor in accidents, and the working environment significantly affects behaviors. However, few studies have focused on detailed mechanisms for addressing unsafe behaviors resulting from environmental constraints. This study aims to delineate these mechanisms using cognitive work analysis (CWA) for an elevator installation case study. Elevator installation was selected for study because it involves operations at heights: falls from heights remain a major cause of construction worker mortality. This study adopts a mixed research approach based on three research methodology stages. This research deconstructs the details of the working environment, the workers’ decision-making processes, the strategies chosen given environmental conditions and the conceptual model for workers’ behaviors, which jointly depict environment–behavior mechanisms at length. By applying CWA to the construction industry, environmental constraints can easily be identified, and targeted engineering suggestions can be generated.     

空管安全风险评估指标体系的优化设计

结合国际民航组织提出的安全管理体系实施的相关要求及我国《民航空管安全管理体系指导手册(试行)》的指导思想,根据安全管理一线工作人员及中高层管理者的访谈记录,收集整理出影响空管安全的风险因素,并按照人员、设备、环境、管理4个方面进行分类、提炼、合并和综合,设计了风险评估指标体系并进行优化。该体系把安全科学和系统论相结合,把错综复杂的安全风险因素细化综合、提炼出脉络分明的监控对象,有助于空管系统进行风险识别和综合预警,查找安全隐患和分析不安全事件或事故征候的原因,为民航安全风险信息化管理提供基础数据和决策依据。     

基于认知心理学的驾驶员信息加工模式研究

道路交通系统是一个有人参与的复杂系统,人,特别是驾驶员的行为决定了相当一部分系统的性能。而驾驶行为是一个不断往复进行的信息处理过程,对驾驶员的信息加工模式进行研究是道路交通安全与汽车安全设计的核心基础。随着认知工效研究的深入和人工智能的发展,传统的基于刺激(S)-机体(O)-反应(R)的驾驶员信息加工模式,难以满足技术发展的要求。笔者在对交通系统建模与分析的基础上,应用现代认知心理学理论,对驾驶员的信息获取和处理机制进行了研究,建立了驾驶员对某一确定认知对象的信息处理结构模型,并对模型的作用和特点进行了简单的分析。分析结果为驾驶员认知过程研究和相关系统开发设计提供了依据。     

基于ISM的道路交通安全影响因素研究

为提高交通安全管理水平,促进交通的可持续发展。基于解释结构模型原理,综合考虑车、路和环境因素,构建了影响道路交通安全的影响因素结构模型。该模型不但能够弥补分析结构要素之间内在影响机制的不足,而且对于研究道路交通安全结构要素之间的层次性和复杂性有天然的优势。数据来源于由13位专家构成的ISM小组,其中7位为来自高校从事交通安全研究的教授,6位为来自北京市、上海市、广州市、武汉市等交通运输委员会的高层管理者,保证了数据的科学性和可靠性。采用解释结构图分析车、路和环境各影响因素之间的关系,结果表明,众多因素会对道路交通安全产生影响,车辆技术条件、定期检验合格率、车辆救援设备的完备状况、安全设施是制约道路交通安全的直接影响因素,道路限速、道路负荷度、大客(或货车)比例、交通量、交通监控是影响道路交通安全的间接因素,车辆超限(超载)状况、车流密度、道路路面类型、道路设施完备性、天气状况、单向车道数和地形特征是影响道路交通安全的最根本因素。为提高道路交通安全管理水平,首先,应进一步完善《道路交通安全法实施条例》,加强对车辆定期检验的监督;其次,健全道路信息公示制度,提升交通监控水平,引入相关路段道路限速、负荷度、交通量动态信息显示及预警机制;最后,加强车辆超限(超载)及车流密度的监控,健全道路设施的配套制度。     

基于EW-SPA模型的海事码头安全评价

鉴于海事码头系统的复杂性,利用单一的集对分析理论难以对其做出准确的风险评价,因此,将熵权和集对分析理论加以组合,基于熵权和集对分析的基本理论,建立EW-SPA模型的海事码头安全评价研究方法。首先,综合分析影响码头安全的影响因素,建立包括自然环境、港口环境、交通环境3类一级指标及14项二级指标的海事码头安全评价指标体系。其次,应用专家调查法赋权与信息熵的理论确定权重,从而保证了原始信息的完整性,减少信息的流失。再次,运用集对分析原理计算集对联系度,对海事码头的安全状况进行评价和预测,从而克服了传统码头安全评价方法在处理不确定性方面的不足。最后,运用EW-SPA模型和熵权云模型对道仁矶海事码头的安全评价与预测进行比对分析,结果表明,将EW-SPA模型应用于海事码头的安全评价和预测,计算简单,评价结果较可靠。     

Human factors and safety in the design of intelligent vehicle-highway systems (IVHS)

Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS) have been proposed in the wake of rapid worldwide growth in traffic volume and density. These systems involve the application of advanced sensor, communications, computational, and control technologies to the design of highways and vehicles to improve traffic flow and safety. Similar technologies have been applied in other transportation systems such as aviation and air-traffic control, and it is suggested that the human factors insights derived from these systems can be usefully applied, proactively rather than retroactively, in IVHS design. Several safety and human factors issues relevant to the design of IVHS technologies, both near-term and long-term, are discussed, including: (a) the optimization of driver mental workload in highly-automated “hybrid” systems; (b) the design of in-vehicle navigation aids and the resolution of display conflicts; (c) individual and group differences in driver behavior and their implications for training and licensure; (d) the evolution and integration of IVHS technologies; and (e) traffic management and the regulation of driver trust in IVHS. Successful resolution of these issues and their incorporation in IVHS design will provide for fully functional systems that will serve the twin needs of reducing traffic congestion and improving highway safety.     

SESAR safety decision-making: Lessons from environmental,nuclear and defense modeling

SESAR, the ‘Single European Sky Air traffic Research’ program, envisages radical changes for European Air Traffic Management (ATM). It integrates and implements new technologies and information processing. This paper examines the safety decision-making in the implementation of SESAR projects. SESAR poses new safety problems because it adopts new paradigms for ATM safety – what lessons are there from environmental, nuclear and defense modeling? These disciplines have also had to confront the limitations of modeling the rates of rare and damaging – even catastrophic – events. A major conceptual change in SESAR is that of automated separation assurance systems. Some existing responsibilities transfer from the controller – either to the pilot or to computer systems – in a progressively phased approach. The major problem for SESAR safety validation is that mixed equipage/operations within a common airspace potentially generate new and different safety issues regarding the validation of safety predictions. A potential way forward uses high-fidelity Human In The Loop Simulations (HITLS) to generate confidence in the resilience of the ATM system. The focus changes from proving safety, i.e. through traditional kinds of validation processes, to extensive resilience testing using these simulations. The aim would be to test how resilient the system is to seeded errors, penetration testing, and crash/stress testing. This would be a high cost process because of the large investments required and the need for long sequences of testing. However, these demanding processes can provide ‘justified belief’ to the decision-maker that the changed ATM system is acceptably safe.     

The impact of intersection design on simulated driving performance of young and senior adults

PURPOSE: The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) proposed guidelines for highway design to increase the safe driving ability of older drivers; however, little empirical evidence exists to support the effectiveness of these guidelines. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of implementing these guidelines (in 4 pairs of intersections) on safe driving performance of older and younger drivers using a high-fidelity driving simulator. DESIGN AND METHODS: We replicated four intersection pairs (improved versus unimproved) in a high-fidelity, virtual reality driving simulator. Simulator scenarios were created from actual road locations, replicating road geometrics and traffic control devices. The simulator's controls were integrated with an actual vehicle to make the driving experience as realistic as possible. Kinematic measures were obtained from the simulator in conjunction with driving errors recorded by trained driving evaluators sitting in the cab of the car. Thirty-nine subjects, 19 younger and 20 older adults, participated in the study. RESULTS: For the kinematic data we found greater lateral control, as indicated by significantly smaller maximum yaw during the turn phase, at all of the improved intersections when compared to the unimproved intersections. We found some significant age differences, but mostly in only one of the intersection-pairs. For the behavioral data, there were significant differences in driving errors between improved and unimproved intersections in two intersection-pairs; however, there were no significant differences in driving errors between the older and younger drivers. IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggest that both young and older drivers may benefit from roadways with safety features recommended by the FHWA guidelines as indicated by the increased lateral control of the vehicle when negotiating these intersections. These findings generate critical information for those involved in the design of roadway systems.     

Investigating hazardous factors affecting freeway crash injury severity incorporating real-time weather data: Using a Bayesian multinomial logit model with conditional autoregressive priors

Introduction: It has been demonstrated that weather conditions have significant impacts on freeway safety. However, when employing an econometric model to examine freeway crash injury severity, most of the existing studies tend to categorize several different adverse weather conditions such as rainy, snowy, and windy conditions into one category, “adverse weather,” which might lead to a large amount of information loss and estimation bias. Hence, to overcome this issue, real-time weather data, the value of meteorological elements when crashes occurred, are incorporated into the dataset for freeway crash injury analysis in this study. Methods: Due to the possible existence of spatial correlations in freeway crash injury data, this study presents a new method, the spatial multinomial logit (SMNL) model, to consider the spatial effects in the framework of the multinomial logit (MNL) model. In the SMNL model, the Gaussian conditional autoregressive (CAR) prior is adopted to capture the spatial correlation. In this study, the model results of the SMNL model are compared with the model results of the traditional multinomial logit (MNL) model. In addition, Bayesian inference is adopted to estimate the parameters of these two models. Result: The result of the SMNL model shows the significance of the spatial terms, which demonstrates the existence of spatial correlation. In addition, the SMNL model has a better model fitting ability than the MNL model. Through the parameter estimate results, risk factors such as vertical grade, visibility, emergency medical services (EMS) response time, and vehicle type have significant effects on freeway injury severity. Practical Application: According to the results, corresponding countermeasures for freeway roadway design, traffic management, and vehicle design are proposed to improve freeway safety. For example, steep slopes should be avoided if possible, and in-lane rumble strips should be recommended for steep down-slope segments. Besides, traffic volume proportion of large vehicles should be limited when the wind speed exceeds a certain grade.     

基于组合赋权法的空管监视信息质量评估

为准确评估监视信息质量,给空中交通管制(ATC)提供决策依据,预防事故的发生,从目标航迹完整性、精确性、正确性等3个方面出发,构建由跟踪完整性、参数完整性、位置精度、速度精度、航向精度、参数正确性和目标真伪值等7个指标构成的监视信息质量评估体系;以总偏差最小为目的 将可拓层次分析法(EAHP)和熵权法有效结合确定指标权...     

A comparison of general aviation accidents involving airline pilots and instrument-rated private pilots

Introduction: The extremely low accident rate for U.S air carriers relative to that of general aviation (∼1 and ∼60/million flight hours respectively) partly reflects advanced airman certification, more demanding recurrency training and stringent operational regulations. However, whether such skillset/training/regulations translate into improved safety for airline pilots operating in the general aviation environment is unknown and the aim of this study. Methods: Accidents (1998–2017) involving airline pilots and instrument-rated private pilots (PPL-IFR) operating non-revenue light aircraft were identified from the NTSB accident database. An online survey informed general aviation flight exposure for both pilot cohorts. Statistics used proportion testing and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: In degraded visibility, 0 and 40% (χ² p = 0.043) of fatal accidents involving airline and PPL-IFR airmen were due to in-flight loss-of-control, respectively. For landing accidents, airline pilots were under-represented for mishaps related to airspeed mismanagement (p = 0.036) relative to PPL-IFR but showed a dis-proportionate count (2X) of ground loss-of-directional control accidents (p = 0.009) the latter likely reflecting a preference for tail-wheel aircraft. The proportion of FAA rule violation-related mishaps by airline pilots was >2X (7 vs. 3%) that for PPL-IFR airmen. Moreover, airline pilots showed a disproportionate (χ² p = 0.021) count of flights below legal minimum altitudes. Not performing an official preflight weather briefing or intentionally operating in instrument conditions without an IFR flight plan represented 43% of airline pilot accidents involving FAA rule infractions. Conclusions: These findings inform safety deficiencies for: (a) airline pilots, landing/ground operations in tail-wheel aircraft and lack of 14CFR 91 familiarization regulations regarding minimum operating altitudes and (b) PPL-IFR airmen in-flight loss-of-control and poor landing speed management. Practical Applications: For PPL-IFR airmen, training/recurrency should focus on unusual attitude recovery and managing approach speeds. Airline pilots should seek additional instructional time regarding landing tail-wheel aircraft and become familiar with 14CFR 91 rules covering minimum altitudes.     

戴腰山铜矿采矿技改工程安全评价研究

为了提高戴腰山铜矿采矿技改工程本质安全程度,辨识技改工程中存在的主要危险、有害因素;结合技改项目资料和现场调查,将该项目划分为10个评价单元;针对不同评价单元特点,分别采用安全检查表(SCL)、预先危险性分析(PHA)、事故树分析(FTA)和作业条件危险性评价法(LEC)等对该技改工程中的危险、有害因素进行了定性、定量评价;针对安全评价中出现的问题提出了切实可行的安全措施建议。     

Cognitive failures, driving errors and driving accidents

INTRODUCTION: The impact of a driver's cognitive capability on traffic safety has not been adequately studied. This study examined the relationship between cognitive failures, driving errors and accident data. METHOD: Professional drivers from Iran (160 males, ages 18-65) participated in this study. The cognitive failures questionnaire (CFQ) and the driver error questionnaire were administered. The participants were also asked other questions about personal driving information. A principal component analysis with varimax rotation was performed to determine the factor structure of the CFQ. Poisson regression models were developed to predict driving errors and accidents from total CFQ scores and the extracted factors. RESULTS: Total CFQ scores were associated with driving error rates, but not with accidents. However, the 2 extracted factors suggested an increased effect on accidents and were strongly associated with driving errors. DISCUSSION: Although the CFQ was not able to predict driving accidents, it could be used to identify drivers susceptible to driving errors. Further development of a driving-oriented cognitive failure scale is recommended to help identify error prone drivers. Such a scale may be beneficial to licensing authorities or for developing driver selection and training procedures for organizations.     

Land-traffic crash leading to passenger vehicle submersion,drowning and other fatal injuries: A 44-year study based on records from the Finnish Crash Data Institute

Background: Land motor traffic crash (LMTC) -related drownings are an overlooked and preventable cause of injury death. The aim of this study was to analyze the profile of water-related LMTCs involving passenger cars and leading to drowning and fatal injuries in Finland, 1972 through 2015. Materials and methods: The database of the Finnish Crash Data Institute (FCDI) that gathers detailed information on fatal traffic accidents provided records on all LMTCs leading to drowning during the study period and, from 2002 to 2015, on all water-related LMTCs, regardless of the cause of death. For each crash, we considered variables on circumstances, vehicle, and fatality profiles. Results: During the study period, the FCDI investigated 225 water-related LMTCs resulting in 285 fatalities. The majority of crashes involved passenger cars (124), and the cause of death was mostly drowning (167). Only 61 (36.5%) fatalities suffered some–generally mild–injuries. The crashes frequently occurred during fall or summer (63.7%), in a river or ditch (60.5%), and resulted in complete vehicle’s submersion (53.7 %). Half of the crashes occurred in adverse weather conditions and in over 40% of the cases, the driver had exceeded the speed limit. Among drivers, 77 (68.8%) tested positive for alcohol (mean BAC 1.8%). Conclusion: Multidisciplinary investigations of LMTCs have a much higher potential than do exclusive police and medico-legal investigations. The risk factors of water-related LMTCs are similar to those of other traffic crashes. However, generally the fatal event in water-related LMTC is not the crash itself, but drowning. The paucity of severe physical injuries suggests that victims’ functional capacity is usually preserved during vehicle submersion. Practical Applications: In water-related LMTCs, expansion of safety measures is warranted from general traffic-injury prevention to prevention of drowning, including development of safety features for submerged vehicles and simple self-rescue protocols to escape from a sinking vehicle.     

The internet of things (IOT) and cloud computing (CC) based tailings dam monitoring and pre-alarm system in mines

Tailings disposal is a significant consideration for the mining industry, with the majority of the ore processed in most mining operations ending up as tailings. Several tailings dam failure accidents have occurred during the past few years and mine tailings dam failures, which are disastrous with the serious damage and the loss of lives, are occurring at relatively high rates. To improve the tailings dam safety, a tailings dam monitoring and pre-alarm system (TDMPAS) based on the internet of things (IOT) and cloud computing (CC) is accomplished with the abilities of real-time monitoring of the saturated line, impounded water level and the dam deformation. TDMPAS has helped the mine engineers monitor the dam safety 24/7 and acquire pre-alarm information automatically and remotely in any kind of weather conditions. TDMPAS has been applied in several mines and has demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring the tailings dam physical condition.     

Advanced process control system with MPC as a new approach for layer of protection analysis

Layer of protection analysis (LOPA) is a widely used method to support process safety in the chemical industries. In the LOPA, the process is classified into many layers, one of such layers considers the basic process control system (BPCS) which commonly uses PID controllers. This kind of controllers cannot deal with constraints. For this reason, the main purpose of this work is to provide a framework to enhance the control layer in the LOPA, which consists of a model predictive control (MPC) with safety features. These features include: sublayers in the controller system (such as real time optimization, target calculation, and MPC), safety constraints, and guarantee of stability by adopting an Infinite Horizon MPC (IHMPC). Here, we propose an approach for control-inspired view to process safety, replacing the BPCS by an Advanced Process Control System (APCS). Moving forward with these concepts, first, a literature review emphasizes the content, showing two perspectives for the APCS. The APCS is designed for two varieties of controllers, a basic IHMPC and IHMPC with zone control to compare the performance. In this framework, the first sublayer consists of a real time optimization (RTO) structure, that calculates the optimal operating condition for the process controller, which computes the control action. Besides, RTO has an additional constraint called the safety index, based on the protection of process operational. RTO and basic IHMPC communicate directly, while for IHMPC with zone control there is an inner sublayer called Target Calculation, it computes a feasible target to the controller, working as another safety strategy in APCS. After that, we demonstrate both structures applied to a CSTR reactor. From the case study, we compared both controllers, and evaluated the effect that the safety index constraint causes in the setpoints, outputs, and control actions. The use of safety constraint in RTO proved to be a safe strategy for the control layer, as well as IHMPC with zone control presented a safer profile than basic IHMPC. Furthermore, the results show that safety constraint affect the economic goal, decreasing its value.