Major hazards—Thinking the unthinkable

It is a common experience that public administrations tend to shy away from the explicit acknowledgment of quantitative risk levels. Faced with extreme concentrations of population and of industrial activities, including LPG and liquid chlorine storage, within a very small land area, Hong Kong has faced up to the issue of major man-made hazards by “thinking the unthinkable” and adopting explicit risk guidelines. This article describes how these guidelines were developed and the arguments that led to their adoption. It is emphasized that the risk guidelines are not rigid standards but simply a method of focusing decision making and ensuring that any decision to contravene the guidelines is taken at an appropriately senior level in the administration. The way in which the guidelines have been incorporated intimately into the planning and decision-making process is described and details are given on how this has led to the implementation of a variety of measures that have greatly reduced both societal and individual risk from certain types of chemical storage and chemical processing installations in Hong Kong. The opinions in this paper represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Hong Kong Government.     

可持续发展能力建设的理论分析与重构

本文从《２１ 世纪议程》所述的可持续发展能力的解释出发,首次定义了可持续发展能力建设的概念,全面阐术述了能力建设的基本概念和实质内涵;同时,从理论上论述了能力建设的现实意义、能力建设的途径以及能力建设在实施可持续发展战略中基础作用。     

流动危险源毒气泄漏事故伤害模型研究

笔者介绍了危险货物道路运输的现状和特点，阐述了进行流动危险源事故后果分析的必要性，提出了流动危险源运动时毒气泄漏事故伤害模型，并利用该模型进行了数值模拟，证明该模型分析流动危险源运动时毒气泄漏事故的后果是可行的。     

公路运输化学事故应急救援体系研究

以动态源的定义为基础 ,结合危化品公路运输特殊性 ,阐述了危化品在公路运输过程中发生化学事故后应急救援的原则、工作特点与基本要求 ;提出化学事故应急救援中的基本任务是控制危险源 ,抢救受害人员 ,指导并组织群众疏散、自救和做好事故现场清理洗消工作 ,消除危害后果 ;提出公路运输化学事故应急救援预案系统建设的总体目标是 ,在应用ITS智能交通系统对动态源精确定位的基础上 ,建立公路运输化学事故应急救援预案动态库及应急救援组织保障系统和应急救援技术支持系统 ,一旦事故发生 ,能够做到尽快有效处理 ,最大限度地减小或消除事故损失。     

Rendering the world unsafe: 'vulnerability' as western discourse

Disasters seem destined to be major issues of academic enquiry in the new century if for no other reason than that they are inseparably linked to questions of environmental conservation, resource depletion and migration patterns in an increasingly globalised world. Unfortunately, inadequate attention has been directed at considering the historical roots of the discursive framework within which hazard is generally presented, and how that might reflect particular cultural values to do with the way in which certain regions or zones of the world are usually imagined. This paper argues that tropicality, development and vulnerability form part of one and the same essentialising and generalising cultural discourse that denigrates large regions of world as disease-ridden, poverty-stricken and disaster-prone.     

The potential for combining indigenous and western knowledge in reducing vulnerability to environmental hazards in small island developing states

The benefits of indigenous knowledge within disaster risk reduction are gradually being acknowledged and identified. However, despite this acknowledgement there continues to be a gap in reaching the right people with the correct strategies for disaster risk reduction.This paper identifies the need for a specific framework identifying how indigenous and western knowledge may be combined to mitigate against the intrinsic effects of environmental processes and therefore reduce the vulnerability of rural indigenous communities in small island developing states (SIDS) to environmental hazards. This involves a review of the impacts of environmental processes and their intrinsic effects upon rural indigenous communities in SIDS and how indigenous knowledge has contributed to their coping capacity. The paper concludes that the vulnerability of indigenous communities in SIDS to environmental hazards can only be addressed through the utilisation of both indigenous and Western knowledge in a culturally compatible and sustainable manner.     

湘中地区恩口煤矿老采区复采的水害防治研究

湘中地区碳酸盐岩广泛分布,其中岩溶的发育受岩性、地貌、水文、构造运动等诸多因素的控制,主要分布在地下水排泄区,给煤炭资源的开发带来了严重水患。针对恩口煤矿水害问题,笔者在翔实的野外调查基础上,通过分析矿区水文地质条件、矿井水文地质特征;总结以往矿山防治水经验和教训;探讨今后老采区复采的防治水害方向和重点;认为壶天河的山口冲段、小碧河的西坪段、涟水河的杨家冲段等为重点防区,对河床铺底强度不可靠的部位应该重新加强铺底。     

作业场所职业危害信息系统共享数据元标准化初探

通过对国内外数据元标准化研究现状的分析,以探索实现作业场所职业危害信息系统相关数据元标准化为前提,实现作业场所职业危害信息系统数据共享及发布为目的,指出传统基于数据集共享模式存在的统一性共享性差的问题,研究建立基于数据元和数据集相结合的标准化技术路线,并结合作业场所职业危害用人单位相关数据元采集、提取及标准化过程进行应用和示范,实现不同作业场所职业危害信息系统间相关数据共享。     

工艺过程危险有害因素辨识的研究

鉴于化工企业工艺过程的特殊性,笔者建议其危险、有害因素的辨识可以在直观经验分析法和系统安全分析法的基础上,结合危险和可操作性研究(HAZOP)的思想来进行辨识。笔者尝试性地给出了相关术语的说明、介绍辨识方法和操作程序,并分别从生产过程(包括化学反应、化工操作单元和物料输送)和工艺设备、装置角度,对其中的所包含的具体内容进行剖析,最后以电解过程举例说明,该方法可用于化工企业进行危险性因素辨识。     

Newspaper response to flood and erosion hazards on the North Lake Erie shore

The study is primarily concerned with newspaper responses to flooding and erosion associated with Great Lakes high water in 1952–1953 and 1972–1974. Underlying the research is a general interest in informing the public more widely on choices available in resource and environmental decision making.