How safe are standard certified motorcycle safety helmets? Malaysian postal delivery riders scenario

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of motorcycle safety helmets (MSHs) used by postal delivery riders (PDRs) that comply with the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia’s (SIRIM) MSH standard guidelines and identify factors that contribute toward compliance of used MSHs with the standards.

Methods: The presence of SIRIM certification label, the status of MSH, type of chinstrap, MSH crash history, and duration of MSH use were observed. The dependent variable was the results of the SIRIM testing procedures (SIRIM tests). MSHs that passed the SIRIM tests were considered “standard certified” MSHs.

Results: The odds of the complimentary MSHs passing all of the SIRIM tests were 3.7 times the odds of the self-purchased MSHs passing the tests. The odds of MSHs with the SIRIM certification label passing all of the SIRIM tests were 24.2 times the odds of MSHs without the SIRIM certification label, and the odds of MSHs used <3?years passing the SIRIM tests were 3.75 times the odds of the MSHs used ≥3.8?years.

Conclusion: PDRs provided with complimentary MSHs with the SIRIM certification label by the employer for their daily delivery routines and duration of MSH used for less than 3 years were found to be safe MSHs for male occupational riders in Malaysia.     

An airport occupational health and safety management system from the OHSAS 18001 perspective

Occupational health and safety represents a set of technical, medical, legal, psychological, pedagogical and other measures with the aim to detect and eliminate hazards that threaten the lives and health of employees. These measures should be applied in a systematic way. Therefore, the aim of this study is to review occupational health and safety legislation in Serbia and the requirements that airports should fulfill for Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series certification. Analyzing the specificity of airport activities and injuries as their outcomes, the article also proposes preventive measures for the health and safety of employees. Furthermore, the airport activities which are the most important from the standpoint of risks are defined, as the goals for occupational health and safety performance improvement.     

运用本质安全原理预防煤粉爆炸

旨在将本质安全原理与粉尘爆炸(以煤粉爆炸为例)的风险控制联系起来。利用20 L球形爆炸装置的标准测试方法测试煤粉及煤粉-CaCO3混合物的爆炸下限、最大爆炸压力、压力上升速度等爆炸特性。基于本质安全基本原理和试验结果,讨论预防煤粉爆炸的各种基本方法,并重点阐述本质安全原理与粉尘爆炸影响因素、不同的预防方法、过程设备的选择等之间的关系,对已制定的爆炸风险控制措施进行完善和补充。     

专业认证与安全工程本科教育

专业认证是注册安全工程师制度的基础与前期,对培养安全人才的安全工程本科专业的认证,对完善注册安全工程师制度有重要意义。随着我国安全工程本科专业认证试点工作的开展与深入,专业认证对安全工程本科专业的影响愈加明显,甚至在某种程度上预示着安全工程本科专业教育发展的趋势。论文从专业认证的内涵分析入手,指出我国安全工程本科专业需要专业认证,并简要介绍了我国安全工程本科专业认证的具体情况。在此基础上,从标准规范、培养目标、课程体系、教学方法、质量保障等五个方面透视了专业认证对安全工程本科教育的影响,旨在推动安全工程本科教育改革,使专业认证与安全工程本科教育形成良性互动,提高安全科技人才培养质量,为安全生产做出应有贡献。     

Paradigms and Safety Requirements for a New Generation of Workplace Equipment

A workplace in the manufacturing industry consists of not only stationary equipment (e.g., machining centres, fixed robots) but also mobile equipment (e.g., automated guided vehicles, mobile robots), with both kinds co-operating directly with workers. Workplace equipment should not only be safe, it should also not generate fear or anxiety; still better if it should inspire calm and confidence. In view of robot laws, this article presents selected examples of robot-human co-operation, reviews safety requirements and safety functions developed to date. It also proposes a package of selected new safety functions, necessary to fulfil this paradigm. It also suggests and presents examples of actions that can make the workplace a human-friendly environment and presents examples of such actions.     

Policy expectations and the use of market mechanisms for regulatory OSH certification and testing regimes

Governments strive increasingly to reduce the ‘burden of legislation’ by shifting responsibilities to private institutions, thereby making use of ‘the market’ as regulating mechanism, and striving to base the relationship with industries on trust, rather then stringent enforcement. This makes mandatory certification and testing arrangements in occupational safety and health (OSH) an attractive alternative for traditional legislation and enforcement. The functioning of such OSH market arrangements has, however, hardly been investigated so far.The research described in this paper elaborated on the same cases that were used in the twin article (Zwetsloot et al., this issue) on risk control in mandatory occupational safety and health certification and testing regimes. In this research we carried out additional analyses on the functioning of market mechanisms in (mandatory) OSH regimes.Other market interests may prevail over the OSH aspect, and the conditions for good market functioning (a well-functioning supply and demand side, independency of the agents, informedness and transparency of the agents, and the added-value of the certificate expressed in the price), are not always met. The results show that policy makers are often too optimistic in their assumptions about the functioning of the market mechanisms in mandatory certification and testing.This does not imply that mandatory certification cannot be an interesting policy option. However, there seems to be a need for a second generation of mandatory certification arrangements, whereby the limitations of the market regulation are recognised, and the consequences are digested.     

电弧焊防触电技术探讨

从电焊机保护接地（或接零）的规则、电源线与焊钳的安全技术、控制电器的安全技术、电焊工作业中的安全保障措施等四个方面,探讨了电弧焊作业中如何防范触电事故的技术措施,实践证明,所述的安全要求和技术方法对于电弧焊作业的安全管理和安全生产具有很高的实用价值。     

工业控制系统功能安全与信息安全一体化防护措施研究

现代工业控制系统面临着越来越严峻的信息安全问题,因此信息安全措施越来越广泛地应用于工业控制系统当中。然而,这些信息安全措施是否会对原有的功能安全措施产生影响,两者之间是否存在潜在的矛盾和冲突,两者如何有效兼容运行,业内并无公认的、可落地执行的解决方案。为保证工业控制系统安全功能的可靠执行,同时又能有效抵御越来越严重的信息安全攻击,须探索一种适用于工业控制系统的、有效确保信息安全与功能安全措施相互兼容的技术方案。以典型的SIL3和SL3工业控制系统为例,基于功能安全措施,逐一遍历信息安全措施,识别出两者潜在的矛盾问题,采用事件树和风险分析相结合的方法给出功能安全与信息安全协同解决方案,最终得到工业控制系统功能安全与信息安全一体化防护措施。     

Regulatory risk control through mandatory occupational safety and health (OSH) certification and testing regimes (CTRs)

Governments make increasing use of private certification and testing infrastructures as an alternative for traditional regulatory arrangements in several areas including occupational safety and health (OSH).This research, commissioned by the Dutch Inspectorate for Work and Income (IWI), concerns an analysis of risk control of four certification and testing regimes (CTRs) in the Netherlands, three mandatory regimes and one non-mandatory regime. The aim was to create a better understanding of problems that may arise in the risk control through such regimes and to identify critical processes and factors that can affect the risk control process.The results of this research are reported in two papers in this special issue (see also Zwetsloot et al., this issue). This one presents an analysis of the risk control at the regulatory level, and its associated critical factors and processes. These critical factors are clustered in four essential processes: the regulatory choice for a CTR, the definition of requirements for the auditing or inspection regime, the certification and testing processes as such, and the processes needed for the self-correcting or learning capability of the CTR. Jointly, these factors and processes form a framework for both the design and the evaluation of such regimes. The case studies clearly demonstrate that these critical factors may undermine the effectiveness of such regulatory practices. We propose that a further development of our framework should be used in the (re)design process for proposed and existing CTRs, and in the process of independent evaluation of such regimes.     

高寒地区露天矿排土场稳定性分析研究*

为分析高寒地区露天排土场稳定性,以乌努格吐山铜钼矿排土场为工程背景,结合室内试验并利用GeoStudio及FLAC3D软件对边坡进行模拟计算分析,给出边坡治理有效措施。结果表明:前3次冻融循环对散体物料的抗剪强度影响显著,后期影响则趋于稳定;6个剖面的安全系数普遍大于1.2,在地下水的干扰下,各剖面安全系数普遍下降,尤其是剖面E-E,其安全系数低于1,存在滑坡风险;水对边坡的安全性影响较大,其次提出削坡治理及布置抗滑桩措施,当边坡角度削减至31°时,边坡的安全系数增至为1.383;抗滑桩增至8根时,安全系数增加至1.296,这些措施对边坡的治理皆起到积极作用。研究结果可为高寒地区矿山安全开采提供技术支持。     

Definition of an airworthiness certification framework for civil unmanned aircraft systems

The development of effective safety regulations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) is an issue of paramount concern for industry. The development of this framework is a prerequisite for greater UAS access to civil airspace and, subsequently, the continued growth of the UAS industry. The direct use of the existing conventionally piloted aircraft (CPA) airworthiness certification framework for the regulation of UAS has a number of limitations. The objective of this paper is to present one possible approach for the structuring of airworthiness regulations for civilian UAS. The proposed approach facilitates a more systematic, objective and justifiable method for managing the spectrum of risk associated with the diversity of UAS and their potential operations. A risk matrix is used to guide the development of an airworthiness certification matrix (ACM). The ACM provides a structured categorisation that facilitates the future tailoring of regulations proportionate to the levels of risk associated with the operation of the UAS. As a result, an objective and traceable link may be established between mandated regulations and the overarching objective for an equivalent level of safety to CPA. The ACM also facilitates the systematic consideration of a range of technical and operational mitigation strategies. For these reasons, the ACM is proposed as a suitable method for the structuring of an airworthiness certification framework for civil or commercially operated UAS (i.e., the UAS equivalent in function to the Part 21 regulations for civil CPA) and for the further structuring of requirements on the operation of UAS in un-segregated airspace.     

Assessing the reliability of diverse fault-tolerant software-based systems

We discuss a problem in the safety assessment of automatic control and protection systems. There is an increasing dependence on software for performing safety-critical functions, like the safety shut-down of dangerous plants. Software brings increased risk of design defects and thus systematic failures; redundancy with diversity between redundant channels is a possible defence. While diversity techniques can improve the dependability of software-based systems, they do not alleviate the difficulties of assessing whether such a system is safe enough for operation. We study this problem for a simple safety protection system consisting of two diverse channels performing the same function. The problem is evaluating its probability of failure in demand. Assuming failure independence between dangerous failures of the channels is unrealistic. One can instead use evidence from the observation of the whole system's behaviour under realistic test conditions. Standard inference procedures can then estimate system reliability, but they take no advantage of a system's fault-tolerant structure. We show how to extend these techniques to take account of fault tolerance by a conceptually straightforward application of Bayesian inference. Unfortunately, the method is computationally complex and requires the conceptually difficult step of specifying ‘prior’ distributions for the parameters of interest. This paper presents the correct inference procedure, exemplifies possible pitfalls in its application and clarifies some non-intuitive issues about reliability assessment for fault-tolerant software.     

A new shock tube configuration for studying dust-lifting during the initiation of a coal dust explosion

The traditional defence against propagating coal dust explosions is the application of dry stone dust. This proven and effective safety measure is strictly regulated based on extensive international experience. While new products, such as foamed stone dust, offer significant practical benefits, no benchmark tests currently exist to certify their dust lifting performance in comparison to dry stone dust. This paper reviews the coal dust explosion mechanism, and argues that benchmark testing should focus on dust lifting during the initial development of the explosion, prior to arrival of the flame. In a practical context, this requires the generation of shock waves with Mach numbers ranging from 1.05 to 1.4, and test times of the order of 10's to 100's of milliseconds. These proposed test times are significantly longer than previous laboratory studies, however, for certification purposes, it is argued that the dust lifting behaviour should be examined over the full timescales of an actual explosion scenario. These conditions can be accurately targeted using a shock tube at length scales of approximately 50 m. It is further proposed that useful test time can be maximised if an appropriately sized orifice plate is fitted to the tube exit, an arrangement which also offers practical advantages for testing. The paper demonstrates this operating capability with proof-of-concept experiments using The University of Queensland's X3 impulse facility.     

煤矿安全管理的系统动力学仿真分析

从安全投入和安全产出的角度分析煤矿安全管理系统各要素之间错综复杂和相互依存的关系;运用系统动力学的相关理论和方法研究煤矿安全管理与控制问题;利用VENSIM建模软件做出各要素之间的因果关系图,建立煤矿安全管理的系统动力学流图模型。采用宁煤集团灵新煤矿的实际安全生产数据进行模拟分析,确立最优安全管理与控制方案,提升煤矿安全生产水平。     

Alcohol ignition interlock programs

The alcohol ignition interlock is an in-vehicle DWI control device that prevents a car from starting until the operator provides a breath alcohol concentration (BAC) test below a set level, usually .02% (20 mg/dl) to .04% (40 mg/dl). The first interlock program was begun as a pilot test in California 18 years ago; today all but a few US states, and Canadian provinces have interlock enabling legislation. Sweden has recently implemented a nationwide interlock program. Other nations of the European Union and as well as several Australian states are testing it on a small scale or through pilot research. This article describes the interlock device and reviews the development and current status of interlock programs including their public safety benefit and the public practice impediments to more widespread adoption of these DWI control devices. Included in this review are (1) a discussion of the technological breakthroughs and certification standards that gave rise to the design features of equipment that is in widespread use today; (2) a commentary on the growing level of adoption of interlocks by governments despite the judicial and legislative practices that prevent more widespread use of them; (3) a brief overview of the extant literature documenting a high degree of interlock efficacy while installed, and the rapid loss of their preventative effect on repeat DWI once they are removed from the vehicles; (4) a discussion of the representativeness of subjects in the current research studies; (5) a discussion of research innovations, including motivational intervention efforts that may extend the controlling effect of the interlock, and data mining research that has uncovered ways to use the stored interlock data record of BAC tests in order to predict high risk drivers; and (6) a discussion of communication barriers and conceptual rigidities that may be preventing the alcohol ignition interlock from taking a more prominent role in the arsenal of tools used to control DWI. Whether interlock programs can help public policymakers achieve their expressed goals of substantially reducing the level of impaired driving will remain uncertain until procedural barriers and intransigent judiciary practices can be overcome that provide for more systematic routine use of interlock programs. Despite strong effectiveness evidence in all studies to date, the real potential of this technology to reduce the road toll cannot be estimated until they are more widely adopted.     

论注册安全主任制度

为适应市场经济条件下安全生产工作的需要,以广州市建立注册安全主任执业资格制度为背景,概述了作为职业资格制度之一的“执业资格制度”、分析了安全主任执业资格制度产生的社会条件,论述了安全主任知识结构、作用机理等。用以上内容,试图论证：注册安全主任执业资格制度的产生是社会市场经济发展的必然要求     

矿井用箱体防爆面加工安全技术研究

箱体零件是矿井机械中重要的基础零件。它的加工质量直接关系矿井设备的寿命、机器的性能和安全性。针对煤矿井下煤尘和瓦斯存在的环境特性、煤矿井用箱体防爆面加工的特殊要求,采用控制理论的信息流图,对工艺过程中传统方块图进行简化,使繁杂的方块图解采用信息流图表示工艺过程的工序(变量)之间关系。进而讨论箱体零件加工工艺过程误差转换模型、形状精度特征、传递图、描述方程、误差转换结构图;提出防爆面磨削工艺系统的数学模型;求解出振动特性、幅值和相位,得出了形状误差与工艺参数的关系曲线。实践证明,合理选择磨削参数,能够保证煤矿井下工作机械具有高的防爆性能,达到矿井安全生产的技术要求。     

Toward harmonizing prospective effectiveness assessment for road safety: Comparing tools in standard test case simulations

Abstract

Objective: With the overall goal to harmonize prospective effectiveness assessment of active safety systems, the specific objective of this study is to identify and evaluate sources of variation in virtual precrash simulations and to suggest topics for harmonization resulting in increased comparability and thus trustworthiness of virtual simulation-based prospective effectiveness assessment.

Methods: A round-robin assessment of the effectiveness of advanced driver assistance systems was performed using an array of state-of-the-art virtual simulation tools on a set of standard test cases. The results were analyzed to examine reasons for deviations in order to identify and assess aspects that need to be harmonized and standardized. Deviations between results calculated by independent engineering teams using their own tools should be minimized if the research question is precisely formulated regarding input data, models, and postprocessing steps.

Results: Two groups of sources of variations were identified; one group (mostly related to the implementation of the system under test) can be eliminated by using a more accurately formulated research question, whereas the other group highlights further harmonization needs because it addresses specific differences in simulation tool setups. Time-to-collision calculations, vehicle dynamics, especially braking behavior, and hit-point position specification were found to be the main sources of variation.

Conclusions: The study identified variations that can arise from the use of different simulation setups in assessment of the effectiveness of active safety systems. The research presented is a first of its kind and provides significant input to the overall goal of harmonization by identifying specific items for standardization. Future activities aim at further specification of methods for prospective assessments of the effectiveness of active safety, which will enhance comparability and trustworthiness in this kind of studies and thus contribute to increased traffic safety.     

Safety of stationary grinding machines – impact resistance of work zone enclosures

Guards on machine tools are intended to protect persons from being injured by parts ejected with high kinetic energy from the work zone of the machine. Stationary grinding machines are a typical example. Generally such machines are provided with abrasive product guards closely enveloping the grinding wheel. However, many machining tasks do not allow the use of abrasive product guards. In such cases, the work zone enclosure has to be dimensioned so that, in case of failure, grinding wheel fragments remain inside the machine’s working zone. To obtain data for the dimensioning of work zone enclosures on stationary grinding machines, which must be operated without an abrasive product guard, burst tests were conducted with vitrified grinding wheels. The studies show that, contrary to widely held opinion, narrower grinding wheels can be more critical concerning the impact resistance than wider wheels although their fragment energy is smaller.