A preliminary validation of a new measure of occupational health and safety

INTRODUCTION: This article describes the validation of an instrument designed to conduct an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) self-diagnosis using workers observations of tangible facts and actions in the workplace. The instrument puts the emphasis on observable factors that make it possible to act proactively before accidents actually occur. METHOD: Three companies were recruited from the printing sector in Québec based on their OHS performance (low, medium, and high), their interest in the project, and their availability. The master sample was composed of 269 people. Partial least squares (PLS) and vanishing tetrad analyses were used to study the behavior of the formative scales developed. RESULTS: The results indicate that partial revision of the instrument will be necessary to reach a fully satisfying level of validity. With regards to the statistical approach adopted, the use of a macro called CTA-SAS 2.0 developed by Bollen and Ting [Bollen, K.A., & Ting, K.-F. (1993). Confirmatory tetrad analysis. In P.V. Marsden (Ed.), Social methodology.Vol.23 (pp.147-176). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 23] has proven to be effective in providing a suitable statistical treatment of the latent formative variables on which our instrument's development is based. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the instrument appears to be relatively robust and appropriate to diagnose OHS leading measures. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: In the long run, this instrument will make it possible for companies to draw a more refined picture of OHS evolution, even in the absence of occupational injuries.     

中国建筑火灾引起坍塌事故的统计与分析

为了研究火灾引起的建筑结构坍塌的机理,便于已有建筑的抗火防护和新建建筑的抗火设计,通过查询文献资料和新闻媒体报道,对我国建筑火灾坍塌事例进行了调查,对火灾坍塌建筑物的结构形式、层数和使用功能等方面进行了统计分析,列出了部分我国火灾史上1960-2005年所发生的火灾坍塌事例.调查结果显示,钢结构、特别是工业厂房钢屋架在火灾下较其他形式的建筑易发生坍塌;4～8层的民用建筑发生火灾坍塌的比例较高;工业厂房,仓库和商业建筑发生火灾坍塌的比例较高;民用建筑多发生局部坍塌;发生坍塌的建筑一般存在设计和施工不规范以及防火设施不合格等情况.     

煤矿特种作业人员岗位安全胜任力模型研究

针对某些矿工个人具有事故倾向性现象,提出建立矿工安全胜任力模型,以加强矿工安全管理.笔者首先在对矿难人因事故报告材料分析基础上,从中发现特种作业人员应该具备的关键行为和素质,同时通过对煤矿企业特种作业人员访谈,最终设计煤矿特种作业人员岗位安全胜任力调查问卷,通过初试后的问卷项目内容分析、项目关键程度分析、探索性因子分析,形成特种作业人员岗位安全胜任力正式调查问卷.由正武调查获取数据,通过信效度分析,获得使煤矿特种作业人员表现出高安全绩效的关键素质和行为特征,构建煤矿特种作业人员岗位安全胜任力模型,安全胜任力包括安全责任意识、应急处理能力、隐患识别能力和自制力.     

Mapping nitrate leaching to upper groundwater in the sandy regions of The Netherlands, using conceptual knowledge

The European Community asks its Member States to provide a comprehensive and coherent overview of their groundwater chemical status. It is stated that simple conceptual models are necessary to allow assessments of the risks of failing to meet quality objectives. In The Netherlands two monitoring networks (one for agriculture and one for nature) are operational, providing results which can be used for an overview. Two regression models, based upon simple conceptual models, link measured nitrate concentrations to data from remote sensing images of land use, national forest inventory, national cattle inventory, fertiliser use statistics, atmospheric N deposition, soil maps and weather monitoring. The models are used to draw a nitrate leaching map and to estimate the size of the area exceeding the EU limit value in the early 1990s. The 95% confidence interval for the fraction nature and agricultural areas where the EU limit value for nitrate (50 mg/l) was exceeded amounted to 0.77–0.85 while the lower 97.5% confidence limit for the fraction agricultural area where the EU limit value was exceeded amounted to 0.94. Although the two conceptual models can be regarded as simple, the use of the models to give an overview was experienced as complex.     

Use of the Delphi in a citizen participation project

A Delphi survey, the Dade Toxics Community Assessment, was used to develop a consensus between citizen and professional members of the Dade TOXICS Task Force, as a part of a public participation project in Dade County, Florida. The results showed an agreement between the two groups on the ranking of the five major problems to be studied by the task force.     

Uncertainty and economic analysis of climate change: A survey of approaches and findings

The analysis of climate change is confronted with large uncertainties that need to be taken into account to arrive at meaningful policy recommendations. The main contribution of economics to this interdisciplinary task is to provide formal frameworks and techniques for analyzing climate policy in the context of uncertainty. This paper will give an overview of existing approaches and findings to provide a broad picture of what economics can contribute to the debate.     

土壤污染状况调查普查区点位布设技术初探

土壤布点是土壤污染普查前期工作的一个重要技术部分.为了以最省时、最省力的办法布设采样点,本文结合新疆的实例,介绍了在普查区ARCGIS软件不同模块综合利用进行布点的方法,利用此法能够宏观、准确和快速完成布点,既可节省人力、物力和财力,又可提高工作效率和调查精度.     

A Comparison of Aerial and Ground Level Measurements of 137Cs in the Marshall Islands

The purpose of this paper is to present and compare two independent sets of environmental gamma spectrometry measurements of¹³⁷ Cs collected nearly 14 years apart. One set of data was collected in 1978 by a contractor of the U.S. Department of Energy during an aerial radiological survey of the northern atolls of the Marshall Islands. That program used helicopter mounted sodium-iodide scintillation detectors; measurements were made from an altitude of 38 m. The second measurement program was conducted from early 1990 through late 1994 by the Republic of the Marshall Islands Government in a survey of the entire nation. This latter program used ground level in situ gamma spectrometry with high-purity germanium detectors. In this comparison, we highlight differences between the findings of the two studies and probable reasons for those differences, though we also discuss the effectiveness of the two techniques for monitoring the ionizing radiation environment. In the comparison of exposure rates from ¹³⁷Cs, fair agreement was noted after accounting for radioactive decay during the intervening years. Though the distributions were statistically different over their entire range, they were nearly identical above 1 R h^-1. There was considerable difference in the estimates of¹³⁷ Cs inventory; the difference was greater at low activity levels with the NaI measurements consistently larger than the in situ measurements. Reasons for this difference is attributed to three factors which differed between the two studies: (1) the assumed penetration of the cesium into the soil column, (2) the assumption of soil density, and (3) differences in the ability of the two different detector systems to reject interfering spectral contributions. Precise measurement of the lowest levels has implications for determining those atolls that exceeded the deposition of ¹³⁷Cs from global fallout. This issue is discussed in addition to a comparison of the findings from the two measurement programs.     

关于我国政府对重大突发事件管理现状的问卷调查与分析

在对我国的6个大中城市涉及重大突发事件的相关部门进行了问卷调查与访谈的基础上,通过对263份有效问卷的统计数据处理,笔者分析了被调查者对重大突发事件的基本认识、现有的重大突发事件政府管理现状、我国重大突发事件政府管理中存在的问题。从中得到了重大突发事件自身的发展有其一定的规律性、对社会的影响的主要原因、我国重大突发事件政府管理模式的基本现状和存在的问题,并指出了必须针对重大突发事件的发展规律,提高政府对现有的重大突发事件管理效率,构建相应的政府预警管理模式。最后,提出了我国政府对重大突发事件管理模式的改进意见,期望政府能对重大突发事件管理模式的构建有所参考和启示。