Measuring mining safety with injury statistics: lost workdays as indicators of risk

PROBLEM: Mining in the United States remains one of the most hazardous industries, despite significant reductions in fatal injury rates over the last century. Coal mine fatality rates, for example, have dropped almost a thousand-fold since their peak in 1908. While incidence rates are very important indicators, lost worktime measures offer an alternative metric for evaluating job safety and health performance. The first objective of this study examined the distributions and summary statistics of all injuries reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration from 1983 through 2004. Over the period studied (1983-2004), there were 31,515,368 lost workdays associated with mining injuries, for an equivalent of 5,700 person-years lost annually. The second objective addressed the problem of comparing safety program performance in mines for situations where denominator data were lacking. By examining the consequences of injuries, comparisons can be made between disparate operations without the need for denominators. Total risk in the form of lost workday sums can help to distinguish between lower- and higher-risk operations or time periods. METHOD: Our method was to use a beta distribution to model the losses and to compare underground coal mining to underground metal/nonmetal mining from 2000 to 2004. RESULTS: Our results showed the probability of an injury having 10 or more lost workdays was 0.52 for coal mine cases versus 0.35 for metal/nonmetal mine cases. In addition, a comparison of injuries involving continuous mining machines over 2001-2002 versus 2003-2004 showed that the ratio of average losses in the later period to those in the earlier period was approximately 1.08, suggesting increasing risks for such operations. DISCUSSION: This denominator-free safety measure will help the mining industry more effectively identify higher-risk operations and more realistically evaluate their safety improvement programs. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Attention to a variety of metrics concerning the performance of a job safety and health program will enhance industry's ability to manage these programs and reduce risk.     

2007~2016年北京天气分型与霾日的关联

采用COST733软件将北京地区2007~2016年的大气环流总体分为T1~T9种类型,研究其与霾日的关联性,并结合PM_2.5和臭氧地面观测,分析不同天气型对应的污染特征及气象参数分布规律.2007~2016年霾日发生概率21.5%,T4和T9型下霾日最多,T5和T8型最不利于霾日发生.9类天气型下霾日变化具有阶段性,2007~2012年（阶段一）霾日少且年际差异小,2013~2016年（阶段二）霾日增多.对9类天气型下霾日PM_2.5及臭氧变化进行分析,T1、T3、T4和T9型霾日多出现在秋冬季,PM_2.5日变化为逐时增加态势,4类天气型在第一阶段的白天有浓度波动增长形成的小峰值,但第二阶段减弱消失.大部分天气型的霾日,阶段二的PM_2.5浓度较阶段一降低,T7和T9型表现为增加,增幅分别为23.7%和3.9%.所有天气型霾日的臭氧日变化均为单峰型,峰值出现在下午,臭氧日均浓度最高为T8型.此外,阶段二与阶段一相比,T3、T5和T6型臭氧平均浓度增加,其中T5型增幅达到49.8%.将霾日与近地面气象要素关联分析,平均气温、风向、风速可以较好的解释臭氧浓度变化,而PM_2.5的变化特征不仅与气象要素相关,在一定程度上也体现了污染排放及区域联动减排的贡献,需两者结合才能更好探究PM_2.5浓度整体特征及细节变化.     

呼包鄂地区沙尘期间大气污染特征研究

为研究沙尘天气下典型大气污染特征,选择呼和浩特市、包头市、鄂尔多斯市（简称"呼包鄂地区"）为研究对象,分析了呼包鄂地区2016年春季3月1日-5月31日的PM₁₀与PM_2.5数据,利用CMB（化学质量平衡）受体模型、后向轨迹模型研究了呼包鄂地区污染源的特征,通过富集因子法评估了人类活动对沙尘天气的影响,最终通过特征比值法对沙尘天气与非沙尘天气进行了区分.结果表明:①沙尘天气与非沙尘天气时,呼包鄂地区PM₁₀、PM_2.5中主要化学组分均为Si、Ca、Al、Fe、OC、SO₄2-与NO₃-.沙尘天气时,ρ（PM₁₀）与ρ（PM_2.5）的差值大于非沙尘天气,较高的ρ（Al）、ρ（Si）、ρ（Ca）说明呼包鄂地区受到较大的沙尘天气影响.②CMB受体模型源解析结果表明,沙尘天气时扬尘源对PM₁₀与PM_2.5的贡献率分别为59.3%、48.7%,说明PM₁₀和PM_2.5的主要污染源均为扬尘源.后向轨迹模式模拟表明,呼包鄂地区的沙尘主要来自其西北部地区.③元素Na、K、Mg的EF（富集因子）在PM₁₀与PM_2.5中均大于1.0,Si、Cu的EF在PM_2.5中均大于1.0,但在PM₁₀中小于或等于1.0;依据EF表征级别,自然因素对PM_2.5和PM₁₀的影响程度均较大,并且PM_2.5受人类活动影响的程度大于PM₁₀.通过特征比值发现,ρ（Si）/ρ（Al）大于1.7且ρ（Si）/ρ（Fe）大于2.2可作为呼包鄂地区典型沙尘天气的界定.研究显示,呼包鄂地区春季受到较大程度的沙尘影响,这些沙尘主要来自其西北部地区,通过特征比值法可以对呼包鄂地区沙尘天气进行界定.      

近50 a西北干旱区冬季积雪日数变化特征

论文基于西北干旱区104个站点1961—2010年的日积雪深度、日平均气温、日降水量数据和NCEP/NCAR数据,利用K-means聚类分析、Mann-Kendall法等方法,对西北干旱区冬季积雪日数的时空变化特征及其变化原因进行分析。结果表明:1)冬季积雪日数大值主要集中在阿尔泰山和准噶尔盆地地区,西辽河流域、鄂尔多斯高原、天山、塔里木、阿拉善高原地区冬季积雪日数相对较少,内蒙古高原地区冬季积雪日数基本呈由高纬地区向低纬地区减少的趋势。2)近50 a,西北干旱区冬季积雪日数呈增加趋势,且各区域主要在1984年发生突变现象。内蒙古高原地区内站点冬季积雪日数变化较大,其他分区内站点的冬季积雪日数基本无变化。3)西北干旱区各分区周期变化主要集中在5、10、25 a左右,其中25 a的周期变化最为明显。4)冬季东亚大槽、南支槽的减弱与西风的增强使西北干旱区降水量增加是导致西北干旱区冬季积雪日数增加的主要原因。     

北京沙尘暴成因及其防治途径

自元代以来，北京就有沙尘暴的记载，北京沙尘暴主要发生在腠季，目前尚没有迹象表明北京沙尘暴活动是趋于加强还是减弱，北京沙尘暴的沙尘来源，既有本地的，也有异地的。全球气候变化是少尘暴出现的外部原因；人口压力过大，人地关系不协调则是北京沙尘暴形成的内部原因，防治北京沙尘暴，从外中应积极寻求国际合作，减少温室气体排放，接受国际资金和技术援助；在内部，国家应出台一系列相关政策，北京市也应拿出具体行动计划。     

Parameters affecting the stability of the digestate from a two-stage anaerobic process treating the organic fraction of municipal solid waste

This paper focused on the factors affecting the respiration rate of the digestate taken from a continuous anaerobic two-stage process treating the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). The process involved a hydrolytic reactor (HR) that produced a leachate fed to a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAMBR). It was found that a volatile solids (VS) removal in the range 40-75% and an operating temperature in the HR between 21 and 35 °C resulted in digestates with similar respiration rates, with all digestates requiring 17 days of aeration before satisfying the British Standard Institution stability threshold of 16 mg CO₂ g VS⁻¹ day⁻¹. Sanitization of the digestate at 65 °C for 7 days allowed a mature digestate to be obtained. At 4 g VS L⁻¹ d⁻¹ and Solid Retention Times (SRT) greater than 70 days, all the digestates emitted CO₂ at a rate lower than 25 mg CO₂ g VS⁻¹ d⁻¹ after 3 days of aeration, while at SRT lower than 20 days all the digestates displayed a respiration rate greater than 25 mg CO₂ g VS⁻¹ d⁻¹. The compliance criteria for Class I digestate set by the European Commission (EC) and British Standard Institution (BSI) could not be met because of nickel and chromium contamination, which was probably due to attrition of the stainless steel stirrer in the HR.     

1999年9月21日台湾7.6级大震预报讨论

介绍了用三性法（周期性,公度性,黄金分割性）对１９９９年９月２１日台湾７．６级大震的三要素预报,并用构造分段公式,“静中动判据”补充作了讨论。鉴于短监预报的重要,我们还用样暴倍九律,即预滑－磁暴－天气韵律模式对９．２１大震的发震日期的预报作了讨论。     

空气自动站干旱区风沙天气下运行中存在的问题及其解决方法

针对在新疆特殊干旱气候条件下PM10仪器多年来运行中暴露出的问题,研究和探讨PM10自动监测仪在干旱、风沙多发地区数据的适应性和准确性,提出仪器软硬件方面的改进措施以及减少测量误差的方法,为今后研究干旱区城市沙尘污染变化和改进国产自动监测仪器对干旱风沙区的适应性等提供一些参考。     

近50年新疆沙尘暴频率时空变化趋势分析

采用新疆54个气象站近50年的气象资料,分析新疆沙尘暴时空分布特征、年际和年内演变趋势及年际演变的影响因素。结果显示：新疆沙尘暴近50年以来空间分布特征是南疆多于北疆,沙尘暴主要出现在3～10月,其中4～7月为高发时段。年际演变趋势20世纪80年代以来较60、70年代都有所减少;80年代以后沙尘暴发生日数减少。     

贵州省雷暴日数的时空分布、周期及突变特征

利用1961—2011年贵州省87个台站地面雷暴观测资料,对该省境内雷暴日数的时空分布、周期和突变特征进行了分析。结果表明：贵州省雷暴日数年际变化较大,下降趋势显著;雷暴日数的时空分布形态不对称,92．16％正偏,峰度76．47％为正值,48a贵州区域内空间分布在0．05置信水平上服从正态分布。雷暴日数分布地域特征明显,从贵州西南部向东北方向呈梯状递减趋势,安顺市、六盘水市和黔西南州3个地区为雷暴高发区。贵州省逐年雷暴日数存在不太明显的18a左右的长周期以及4—5a和8—9a显著的周期变化。贵州省年雷暴日数的下降是一突变现象,具体是从1995年开始的,突变前后平均雷暴日数相差9．32d。