Modeling the major accident prevention legislation change process within Europe

The factors giving impulse to changing major accident prevention legislation within Europe, the so-called Seveso Directive, have not been thoroughly studied and molded into an understandable model thus far. For example the exact relationship between major industrial accidents and an ever changing legislation is still unexplored. This paper thoroughly investigates the parameters having influenced the change of the 1996 Seveso II Directive into the 2003 Seveso Directive Amendment 2003/105/EC and develops the accompanying legislation change process. The official major accident reports of Baia Mare, Enschede and Toulouse are studied in-depth, as well as many other official EU documents. Furthermore, experts from academia, government and industry who witnessed and/or participated into the legislation change process were interviewed in-depth. More profound insights into the societal debate following a major accident may help private companies to adapt their safety management system and their prevention policies, and may aid the legislator to develop more efficient and effective regulations. This way, the societal demand to change legislation in an ad hoc manner may be unpressurized.     

Employee representation and occupational health and safety: the significance of Europe

This paper considers the implementation and operation of provisions for employee representation in health and safety in a number of member states of the European Union. It describes the results of two studies undertaken in seven European countries, including the UK, between 1989 and 1993. These studies compared legislative provisions for employee representation in health and safety in different countries and analysed the information available on the implementation and operation of these provisions. With regard to the coverage and implementation of legislation, the research found a similar pattern in all of the countries studied, with Britain distinguished by a number of features, most notably the very specific rights on this subject given to trade unions. However, analysis of information on operation of the provisions in all of the countries studied pointed to the strong association between trade union workplace organization and support as a powerful influence and determinant of the effectiveness of employee representation in health and safety. Taking this finding into account, the paper discusses the present and future situation in Britain with special reference to the implications of the provisions on employee representation found in the CEC Framework Directive 89/391.     

EU Directive,ICNIRP Guidelines and Polish Legislation on Electromagnetic Fields

This review describes the general provisions of and the philosophy behind European Directive 2004/40/EC and ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) guidelines. As an example of national legislation on the protection of workers against excessive electromagnetic field exposure, regulations established in Poland are summarized. The problems of a practical implementation of the Directive’s provisions are discussed.     

Analysis of the impact of health and safety coordinator on construction site accidents: The case of Spain

The figure of the Health and Safety Coordinator (HSC), as a necessary and competent engineer in the construction sector, emerged in Spain on December 25, 1997 as a result of the implementation of European Directive 92/57/EEC. The coming of age of this figure is a sufficient period of time for determining its implementation and impact within the construction sector. The research carried out in this article arose from the analysis of statistical data obtained through Public Authorities and Professional Bodies. The quantitative study of the data extracted is complemented by the creation of specific benchmark indicators which connect four fundamental variables in the construction industry: the number of accidents, volume of workers employed, building units, and health and safety coordination posts. Furthermore, the legislation governing the HSC engineer in each of the 28 Member States of the European Union is studied. The results show a high implementation rate for the figure of the HSC, as well as a positive impact in relation to the reduced accident rate in the construction sector. Likewise, an update to the procedures of the various authorities is considered to be necessary in order to make the data concerning the actual work of the health and safety coordinators public. Finally, a review of the Spanish legislation concerning the HSC Coordinator is considered to be inevitable, in order to bring it up to the levels of professional skill and competence defined by the majority of European Union Member States.     

The role of policy for the management of psychosocial risks at the workplace in the European Union

A number of significant developments towards the management of psychosocial risks have been achieved at the policy level in the European Union (EU) since the introduction of the 1989 European Commission Council Framework Directive 89/391/EEC on Safety and Health of Workers at Work on which a new EU risk prevention culture has since been established, combining legislation, social dialogue, best practices and building partnerships. However, it has been widely acknowledged that initiatives aiming to promote workers’ health have not had the impact anticipated both by experts and policy makers and the main reason for this has been the gap that exists between policy and practice. This paper discusses the findings from the PRIMA-EF project, a policy-orientated project, which focussed on the development of a European framework for psychosocial risk management at the workplace. In particular, the paper presents the results of an EU stakeholder survey and interviews with EU policy level experts to assess their awareness, understanding and evaluation of the impact of policy initiatives for psychosocial risk management.     

EU Directive, ICNIRP guidelines and Polish legislation on electromagnetic fields.

This review describes the general provisions of and the philosophy behind European Directive 2004/40/EC and ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) guidelines. As an example of national legislation on the protection of workers against excessive electromagnetic field exposure, regulations established in Poland are summarized. The problems of a practical implementation of the Directive's provisions are discussed.     

Measurement of machinery safety level in the European market: A real case based on market surveillance data

This article aims to highlight the current status of compliance to Machinery Directive 98/37/EC (transposed to Spanish regulation as RD 56/1995, of 20th January) (a new directive numbered as 2006/42/EC [Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 may 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC (recast). OJ L157/24-86, 9.6.2006.], that recasts and replaced 98/37/ED directive and its amendments, came into force on 29 June 2006; it will not be applied until 29th December 2009. European Member States have a lead-time of two years to adopt and publish the national laws and regulations transposing the provisions of the new Directive into national law. Latest 10th October, Spain transposed Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC to national regulation as Real Decreto 1644/2008 [Real Decreto 1644/2008, de 10 de octubre, por el que se establecen las normas para la comercialización y puesta en servicio de las máquinas. BOE 246/2008, de 11 octubre 2008. Páginas 40995–41030]) of a particular family of machinery (hand-held, medium and small-size, deeply introduced in the market, of low-medium cost), that any user, professional or non-professional, can acquire as first-hand in any of the sales points (whether or not experts in these kind of products).At the same time, it emphasises the most significant shortcomings and non-conformities found, after analyzing the results of five consecutive Campaigns of Control of Industrial Products performed by one of the labs (placed in Spain) involved in the market surveillance European Program.     

CEN Standards for Testing and Certifying Personal Protective Equipment—Status Quo and Deficiencies: Examples

By establishing the internal market, the European Union intended to create an area in which safety and health at work are guaranteed. For this purpose, a series of directives was passed.

The EC Directive 89/686/EEC “Approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment” is of particular interest to the manufacturers of personal protective equipment (PPE). On the European level, harmonized standards, that put these basic health and safety requirements into more concrete terms have to be available. The European Standardizing Committee (CEN) is charged with the elaboration of European standards.

A total of 176 standards relating to personal protective equipment have to be setup; 57 of them are available at present. All CEN members are obliged to transpose them without modification into national standards. Formerly existing national standards have to be withdrawn.

Existing European standards sometimes show deficiencies regarding the specification of requirements according to Directive 89/686/EEC: the standardization of PPE for special fields of application and insufficient harmonization of provisions for different PPE serving the same protective purpose. Test methods are not always described precisely enough.     

Learning lessons from tunnel accidents – Recommendations in support of the implementation of Article 15 on Reporting of the EU Directive 2004/54/EC

Tunnels in the trans-European road network (TEN) facilitate the transport of persons and goods on European roads. Following a series of major tunnel accidents European Union Directive 2004/54/EC was adopted to support the achievement of uniform and high tunnel safety levels. With future accident prevention and mitigation in mind and in support of the effective implementation of Article 15 on Reporting of the Directive we outline a procedure for learning lessons and discuss every step in the process with specific regard for its implications on Article 15. This includes accident investigation, reporting, data collection and analysis, learning lessons and their implementation. The realization that validated information on tunnel accidents is not easily available or accessible, or suffers from a lack of detail or accuracy fed into the development of a data-collection template. By its very nature the template development also guided the formulation of key recommendations for accident investigation and reporting as the main information source. In addition, key recommendations on data analysis, learning lessons and implementation were also made to assist the actors responsible for reporting or sharing information under the EU Directive.     

The European Conformity Assessment Procedures and the Quality Assurance Instruments for Personal Protective Equipment in the Internal Market

Conformity assessment procedures prescribed by European legislation are presented and their concrete implementation is illustrated by the example of personal protective equipment (PPE). The different categories of PPE defined by Council Directive 89/686/EEC are explained with reference to the applicable conformity assessment elements. Quality assurance of production is presented as the central element of the conformity assessment procedure for complex PPE. Special emphasis is put on the necessity of having a regular exchange of views and information among notified bodies in Europe. Ways in which third countries can eventually carry out conformity assessment on the basis of a contract with the European Community Commission are explained.     

A Bayesian network analysis of workplace accidents caused by falls from a height

This article analyses, using Bayesian networks, the circumstances surrounding workplace tasks performed using auxiliary equipment (ladders, scaffolding, etc.) that may result in falls. The information source was a survey of employees working at a height. We were able to determine the usefulness of this approach – innovative in the accident research field – in identifying the causes that have the greatest bearing on accidents involving auxiliary equipment: in these cases, the adoption of incorrect postures during work and a worker’s inadequate knowledge of safety regulations. Likewise, the duration of tasks was also associated with both these variables, and therefore, with the accident rate. Bayesian networks also enable dependency relationships to be established between the different causes of accidents. This information – which is not usually furnished by conventional statistical methods applied in the field of labour risk prevention – allow a causality model to be defined for workplace accidents in a more realistic way. With this statistic tool, the expert is also provided with useful information that can be input to a management model for labour risk prevention.     

Accidents at work during temporary agency work in Finland – Comparisons between certain major industries and other industries

Accidents at work during temporary agency work (TAW) are analysed and compared with those occurring in other industries in Finland on the basis of national statistics databases. The general trend is analysed between 1998 and 2007. The years 2006–2007 are analysed in more detail. Frequency distributions and accident frequencies are calculated for data analysis. Statistically significant differences between TAW and other industries are also tested. The results suggest that the accident risk is increasing in TAW and is higher than in other industries. This might be due to increased use of TAW in traditionally accident prone industries. However, workplace accidents were not so often severe in TAW compared to other industries. The results also indicate that certain work assignments, namely manual work in production and construction, etc. are more common in TAW compared to other industries, which affects the typical kind of accidents. Differences in workplace accidents between TAW and other industries should be taken into account in accident prevention. However, further research is needed to identify the underlying accident mechanisms and their significance in order to guide accident prevention effectively. Information retrieval concerning accidents at work in TAW should continue to be made available in the future.     

我国危险化学品重大危险源安全监管存在问题及建议

近些年发生的一些危险化学品重大事故和石化项目的群体性事件暴露出我国重大危险源监管体系还存在很多问题。对我国和欧美在重大危险源安全监管进行对比分析,总结出我国重大危险源安全监管存在几方面问题。重大危险源的土地利用规划未纳入城市规划控制程序;重大危险源建设项目公众参与不足;部分法规对一般危险化学品企业安全监管要求过高,重点不突出;某些安全监管提法相互重复、混乱;政府监管和企业管理界限不清晰;缺乏安全监察程序、指南,安全监察落实不到位;对化工园区安全发展认识不足。在吸收、借鉴美国和欧洲发达国家在重大危险源管理方面的经验和良好做法基础上,提出相对应的措施建议。政府部门应加快重大危险源的立法工作,在制定重大危险源的相关法规和政策时应科学、合理。     

我国与主要国家温石棉安全使用政策和法规对比研究

我国作为温石棉的生产和使用大国,在温石棉及其制品的危害及防控方面开展了较为系统的研究,但对于其他主要国家在温石棉安全使用政策和法规方面的研究则相对较少。本文简要介绍温石棉安全使用的理论基础,对美国、加拿大等主要国家在温石棉安全生产和使用方面的主要政策和法规进行研究,并对我国温石棉产业政策以及相关法规进行梳理,通过对比发现,我国与美国、加拿大等国家在温石棉及其制品的安全使用法规、标准建设等方面存在一定差距。最后,基于相关对比分析结果,对我国温石棉产业职业病防治、环境保护以及温石棉制品等方面的法规标准的建设提出建议。     

EU initiative on the control of major accident hazards arising from pipelines

The European Council and the Parliament recognised that pipeline accidents had occurred in Europe and worldwide, which clearly indicated the `major accident hazard' potential of pipelines. The present paper presents an overview of the Community Policy on the control of major accident hazards arising from pipelines, summarises the Commission review/assessment of existing legislation on pipelines within the Member States and outlines the principles on which a possible EU initiative should be based. The review has shown that many Member States do not have comprehensive `major accident hazard' legislation in place for pipelines and therefore an EU initiative would complete existing industrial risk management legislation, based on the `precautionary principle'.     

Have government regulations improved workplace safety? : A test of the asynchronous regulatory effects in China's coal industry, 1995-2006

Problem

Empirical studies on the effectiveness of workplace safety regulations are inconclusive. This study hypothesizes that the asynchronous effects of safety regulations occur because regulations need time to become effective. Safety regulations will work initially by reducing the most serious accidents, and later by improving overall safety performance.

Method

The hypothesis is tested by studying a provincial level aggregate panel dataset for China's coal industry using two different models with different sets of dependent variables: a fixed-effects model on mortality rate, which is defined as fatalities per 1,000 employees; and a negative binominal model on the annual number (frequency) of disastrous accidents.

Results

Safety regulations can reduce the frequency of disastrous accidents, but have not reduced mortality rate, which represents overall safety performance.

Discussion and summary

Policy recommendations are made, including shifting production from small to large mines through industrial consolidation, improving the safety performance of large mines, addressing consequences of decentralization, and facilitating the implementation of regulations through carrying on institutional actions and supporting legislation.

Impact on industry

Until recently, about 4,000 coal miners perished annually in China, demonstrating that workplace safety in China's coal industry is an urgent and important issue. This research provides evidence that safety regulations have asynchronous effects and identifies the priorities in improving safety in China's current coal mining. This may assist the Chinese government to design more effective safety improvement policies and improve the effectiveness of safety regulations and safety performance.     

地铁施工事故统计分析与研究*

为了解我国城市地铁施工事故规律特征,降低新建地铁线路施工事故发生频率,统计分析2011—2020年全国31个省市自治区（不包括港澳台）地铁施工事故,归纳事故发生时间、事故类型、施工工法的分布特征,基于灰色关联分析法（GRA）对地铁施工事故致因进行分析。研究结果表明:地铁施工事故季节性特征突出,3,8,11月份呈多发态势;科学技术进步和规章制度完善是保证我国轨道交通运营里程高速增长和施工事故率降低的有效手段;事故类型以坍塌为主,且事故造成影响最大;违章作业、设备设施缺陷、地质环境不良和安全监管未贯彻落实分别为“人、物、环、管”4个维度的关键致因因子。