Designing for safety in passenger ships utilizing advanced evacuation analyses—A risk based approach

This paper describes a novel set of well-defined evacuation scenarios for use in advanced evacuation analyses of passenger ships according to present maritime safety regulations. The scenarios are based on a recently performed risk assessment of passenger ship evacuation and can be related to actual accident scenarios, covering the major hazards passenger ships are exposed to. Furthermore, a risk-based methodology for using the set of scenarios in evacuation performance evaluation is proposed and it is demonstrated how the scenarios can be used to relate actual design options to the overall level of risk associated with the ship.The paper includes a brief introduction and describes the background for developing the evacuation scenarios. The results from a recently performed risk assessment is reviewed and it is explained how this can be used as basis for deriving a complete set of realistic evacuation scenarios. Furthermore, it is outlined how to use the evacuation scenarios to estimate the overall risk associated with a specific passenger ship. Finally, possible future developments of the maritime safety regulations have been discussed and it has been demonstrated how the proposed set of scenarios will facilitate the emergence of truly risk based probabilistic safety regulations.     

基于风险等值线的职业安全评价分级方法

依据危害因素引发工伤、职业危害事件的后果严重度和可能性来开展职业安全评价,在严重度和可能性的定量评价基础上,引入等值风险线的概念,建立风险评价分级方法,并在单一危害因素的职业安全评价基础上建立了作业场所、工厂、企业的职业安全(风险)评价分级方法.通过应用实例分析,验证了该方法的可操作性.     

The INDICATE safety program: evaluation of a method to proactively improve airline safety performance

A number of recent and highly publicised fatal aircraft accidents, within the Australian regional airline industry, has highlighted the need for operators of regular public transport aircraft to be more proactive in identifying and addressing aviation safety hazards. Despite this need, there are currently few proactive safety management programs that are practical, simple, cost effective and which reliably demonstrate improvements in airline safety performance. This paper outlines a new proactive airline safety program called INDICATE (Identifying Needed Defences In the Civil Aviation Transport Environment) that has been applied within the Australian regional airline industry. To evaluate the INDICATE program, a major Australian regional airline agreed to implement the program in one of its operational bases while another base was used as a control group. Five evaluation criteria were applied to determine whether the program would have a positive influence on the airline's safety performance. These criteria included airline safety culture, staff risk perception of aviation safety hazards, willingness of staff to report safety hazards, action taken on identified safety hazards and staff comments about safety management within the airline. Results from the trial suggest that the program can have a positive influence on airline safety performance, specifically: improving staff confidence in how safety is managed, increasing staff willingness to report safety hazards and incidents, improving organisational safety culture and reducing staff perceptions of the severity and likelihood of safety hazards occurring within the airline. The success of the trial has resulted in a number of Australian and International airlines adopting the program.     

Protection of workers’ mental health in Québec: Do general duty clauses allow labour inspectors to do their job?

Given that no specific provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act explicitly deal with psychosocial risk factors, in Québec, occupational health and safety inspectors employed by the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) address psychosocial hazards under the Act’s general duty clause. This general duty clause and related provisions require that all employers eliminate hazards at source and protect the health of workers. More specifically, they are required to ensure that the organisation of work does not adversely affect the safety or health of the worker. Since 2004, Québec minimum standards legislation has also provided for the right of workers to an environment that is free from psychological harassment.Written from both a legal and public health perspective, this paper has two primary objectives: first, to better understand the potential and limits of the current legislative framework for the protection of the mental health of workers and second, to describe how scientific knowledge related to high risk situations for the mental health of workers might inform interventions by inspectors for the protection of workers’ mental health.     

基于《施工企业安全生产评价标准》的水利水电施工工程项目重大危险源评价

水利水电施工工程项目重大危险源不同于其他危险化学品等行业重大危险源的评价.施工工程项目的安全性和可靠性既取决于施工工程各单元的危险性,还与施工现场安全管理和施工企业安全生产能力有关.目前,我国尚缺乏水利水电施工工程项目重大危险源的评价标准,为了研究水利水电施工工程项目重大危险源的评价,采用作业条件危险性分析方法,对施工工程的危险性进行评价,然后根据行业标准《施工企业安全生产评价标准》( JGJ/T 77-2010)的取值方法和权重标准对施工企业安全生产综合能力进行评价,使用企业安全生产综合能力评价因子作为管理抵消因子,最终确定施工工程重大危险源.结合某水利水电工程项目的实际,进行了应用分析,结果表明,该方法能比较准确、客观地描述施工类工程项目的重大危险源评价.     

事故隐患两阶段风险评价方法的研究

以事故隐患为研究对象,对当前各类事故隐患评价方法进行研讨,指出在事故隐患风险评价中存在的4个问题;提出把事故隐患风险评价分为事故隐患形成过程和事故隐患发展过程两个阶段进行;引入事故隐患可控性、事故隐患危害性等评价指标,建立新的评价指标体系,从而更为准确地评价事故隐患的风险性。将该评价方法在交通建设行业中应用,依据行业特征,将交通建设行业事故隐患分为5个风险等级。     

Implications of turnover and trust for safety attitudes and behaviour in work teams

Turnover potentially leads to a new individual being selected into a work team. This study investigated the safety-specific trust which team members place in their organisation’s selection and induction processes, and related this to the perceived risk from new employees. The research was conducted with teams working in forest harvesting, an occupation which has high-turnover, high risk and a high accident rate. Results indicate that trust in induction processes was negatively correlated with perceived risk from a new employee. Team members also engaged in a number of safety ensuring behaviours when a new individual joined the team, and these were related to the level of perceived risk, and how much they cared about their team members’ safety. It is argued that trust in the safety-specific characteristics of an organisation’s selection and induction process may have negative consequences for safety.     

Safety study of an LNG regasification plant using an FMECA and HAZOP integrated methodology

A safety analysis was performed to determine possible accidental events in the storage system used in the liquefied natural gas regasification plant using the integrated application of failure modes, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) and hazard and operability analysis (HAZOP) methodologies. The goal of the FMECA technique is the estimation of component failure modes and their major effects, whereas HAZOP is a structured and systematic technique that provides an identification of the hazards and the operability problems using logical sequences of cause-deviation-consequence of process parameters. The proposed FMECA and HAZOP integrated analysis (FHIA) has been designed as a tool for the development of specific criteria for reliability and risk data organisation and to gain more recommendations than those typically provided by the application of a single methodology. This approach has been applied to the risk analysis of the LNG storage systems under construction in Porto Empedocle, Italy. The results showed that FHIA is a useful technique to better and more consistently identify the potential sources of human errors, causal factors in faults, multiple or common cause failures and correlation of cause-consequence of hazards during the various steps of the process.     

Factors in offshore planning that affect the risk for major accidents

The purpose of this paper is to systematically analyse a typical planning process in the offshore industry from the perspective of causes of major accidents, with the ultimate aim of identifying factors that affect the risk for major accidents occurring. We first study and describe a typical planning process for offshore oil and gas operations in Norway. Then we analyse a number of theories of major accidents, to see how the different theories and their explanations of causes and contributing factors can be of relevance for future plans and planning processes. Finally, we review accident investigations to search for evidence of how weaknesses in planning processes can contribute to major accidents through the above identified factors. Also, we try to identify any additional factors that have not been recognised through the theoretical review. This provides empirical support for the theoretical basis. Thirteen factors which directly or indirectly can influence the planning process causing a major accident potential are identified. These are exemplified through a review of investigation reports. The paper suggests that planning process should focus more on increasing quality in the plans at an early phase, with examples from incidents, and illustrate the relation between planning quality and potential for major accidents.     

Risk perception by offshore workers on UK oil and gas platforms

This paper reports the first investigation of risk perception by workers on offshore oil and gas installations on the UK Continental Shelf, following changes in offshore safety legislation in the wake of the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988. The Offshore Safety Case regulations (Health and Safety Executive, 1992, A Guide to the Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations) put the onus on the operator to identify the major hazards and to reduce the risks to As Low As is Reasonably Practicable (ALARP). The regulations specifically state that Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA) must be used when preparing the Safety Case. However, people do not use QRA when making everyday judgements about risk; they make subjective judgements known as risk perceptions, which are influenced by a number of different factors. This study was designed to complement the extensive QRA calculations that have already been carried out in the development of Safety Cases. The aim was to measure subjective risk perception in offshore personnel and examine how this relates to the more objective risk data available, namely accident records and QRA calculations. This paper describes the Offshore Risk Perception Questionnaire developed to collect the data and reports on UK offshore workers' perceptions of the risks associated with major and minor hazards, work tasks and other activities aboard production platforms.     

Risk assessment: an approach to control hazards in mines

Accidents and injuries related to work are major occupational health problems in most of the industrialized countries.Traditional approaches to manage workplace safety in mines have mainly focused on job redesign and technical aspects of engineering systems.It is being realized that compliance to rules and regulations of mines is a prerequisite;however,it is not sufficient to achieve further reduction in accident and injury rates in mines.Proactive approaches are necessary to further improve the safety standards in mines.Unsafe conditions and practices in mines lead to a number of accidents,which in turn may cause loss and injury to human lives,damages to property,and loss of production.Hazard identification and risk assessment is an important task for the mining industry which needs to consider all the risk factors at workplaces.Applications of risk management approaches in mines are necessary to identify and quantify potential hazards and to suggest effective solutions.In this paper,the following risk estimation techniques were discussed:(i)DGMS(Directorate General of Mines Safety,India)risk rating criterion,and(ii)a matrix based approach.The proposed tools were demonstrated through an application in an opencast coal mine in India.It was inferred that the risk assessment approach can be used as an effective tool to indentify and control hazards in mines.     

AFRA – Heuristic expert system to assess the atmospheric risk of sulphide waste dumps

In 2006, an unprecedented atmospheric confined space accident took place in a sampling shed at the Sullivan Mine in Kimberley, British Columbia. This accident suggests that a risk assessment should be carried out on a regular basis at mine reclamation sites for many years after closure. In this paper, an Atmospheric Fuzzy Risk Assessment (AFRA) tool is described that can assess atmospheric risk given heuristic and measured data at such sites. It can also serve to transfer knowledge about atmospheric hazards in an enclosed structure. The system uses fuzzy logic to input and output information and to perform weighted inferencing. The paper describes the developmental process as well as system verification and validation based on a number of known test and reference waste dumps. AFRA is a heuristic expert system based on fuzzy logic and the first tool that was developed to assess the atmospheric risk of mine waste dumps. The atmospheric risk is estimated by fuzzy Mamdani system given the values of four major elements of risk comprising of: gas generation, gas emission, gas confinement, and human exposure. The ability of AFRA to adapt its risk assessment to different climate conditions is explained. There are many physical, chemical, and environmental factors which fluctuate over time affecting oxygen-depletion in waste dumps. AFRA can help mining engineers and mine managers recognize this type of danger when conducting a confined space inventory at a reclamation site.     

Lessons learnt from a crisis event: How to foster a sound safety culture

Recent events in the nuclear industry have blamed a declining safety culture both on the utility and regulatory side as the major responsible. Confidence in the nuclear industry can be dramatically affected by such events. In this context, the present paper analyses a recent crisis event that involved a research reactor. It shows the time history of the event and how its escalation brought to a temporary shut down of the reactor. In-depth analysis of the event pointed out safety culture deficiencies within the organization. The paper presents the key elements in the ensuing organizational change process and describes the different phases (short and long term approaches), players and measures involved in the process that the organisation set up to address deficiencies and improve safety culture. The case represents an interesting example from which important lessons can be learnt. In particular, staff motivation in terms of involvement in improvement activities is considered central in managing safety.     

Evacuation, escape, and rescue experiences from offshore accidents including the Deepwater Horizon

When a major hazard occurs on an installation, evacuation, escape, and rescue (EER) operations play a vital role in safeguarding the lives of personnel. There have been several major offshore accidents where most of the crew has been killed during EER operations. The major hazards and EER operations can be divided into three categories; depending on the hazard, time pressure and the risk influencing factors (RIFs). The RIFs are categorized into human elements, the installation and hazards. A step by step evacuation sequence is illustrated. The escape and evacuation sequence from the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling platform is reviewed based on testimonies from the survivors. Although no casualties were reported as a result of the EER operations from the Deepwater Horizon, the number of survivors offers a limited insight into the level of success of the EER operations. Several technical and non-technical improvements are suggested to improve EER operations. There is need for a comprehensive analysis of the systems used for the rescue of personnel at sea, life rafts and lifeboats in the Gulf of Mexico.     

Studying organisational cultures and their effects on safety

How do organisational cultures influence safety? To answer this question requires a strategy for investigating organisational culture. By far the most widely used research strategy is the perception survey. An alternative is for researchers is to immerse themselves in one or more organisations, making detailed observations about activities and drawing inferences about the nature of the organisation’s culture (the ethnographic method). A third technique makes use of the wealth of material that is assembled by inquiries into major accidents. This paper describes how this material can be used to provide insights into organisational cultures. It draws on specific examples from the author’s own work as well as the cultural analysis carried out by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. It concludes with some additional suggestions for carrying out research on safety-relevant aspects of organisational culture.     

Environmental conditions for safety work – Theoretical foundations

This paper reviews literature on environmental conditions for safety work. By “environmental conditions for safety work”, we refer to conditions that influence the opportunities an organisation, organisational unit, group, or individual has to control the risk of major accidents and working environment risk. The purpose of the review was to document how international safety science literature uses “environmental conditions” or synonymous concepts, to help build a common conceptualisation of environmental conditions for safety work, and to link environmental conditions to safety work and risks.We did not find a uniform and systematic approach to environmental conditions for safety work in the literature. We therefore turned to a broader range of organisational research literature, where we found a diversity of complementary answers to our research question aimed at investigating the ways in which environmental conditions may constrain or facilitate safety work and thus influence risks. Due to the diversity of these theoretical resources, we have refrained from trying to reduce them to a single model.Our conceptualisation of environmental conditions includes definitions, the “sender–receiver” metaphor, and a selection of theoretical resources. The “sender–receiver” metaphor may be used as a starting point for exploring the ways in which some actors influence the environmental conditions of other actors, and how actors may resist, co-create or re-create the environmental conditions for their own safety work.     

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'.     

重大危险源区域风险评价及监管对策

结合目前重大危险源事故频发的安全生产形势,分析了石油化学工业发展和城市化进程加快所带来的城市区域高风险,阐明了进行区域风险评价和重大危险源监管的必要性.现有区域风险定量评价方法主要有两个主流,分别为基于个人风险和社会风险的方法和基于风险补偿的方法.概要阐述了两种方法的基本原理、评价程序和最终得到的区域风险效果图,对比分析了两种区域风险定量评价方法的适用性.最后从区域规划阶段、运作阶段和应急阶段分别提出了强化重大危险源监管的对策,并阐述了重大危险源区域风险评价和监管的保障机制,以期能够对重大危险源集中区域的规划和监管提供相关的技术支持.     

An Overview of the Nature of Hydrocarbon Jet Fire Hazards in the Oil and Gas Industry and a Simplified Approach to Assessing the Hazards

High pressure jet fires pose a serious hazard to offshore installations operated by the oil and gas industry as demonstrated by the Piper Alpha incident. Following the Piper Alpha incident a major initiative by the offshore oil and gas industry operators led to the production of Interim Guidance Notes which provided guidance to operators on how to assess jet fire hazards. However, many areas of uncertainty were identified where no data was available. Areas of particular concern identified in the Interim Guidance Notes were two-phase jet fires, the effect of confinement on jet fires and their behaviour with water deluge. Since that time a considerable body of experimental research has been undertaken. Based on this recent data, this paper reassesses jet fire hazards in an offshore environment and provides updated guidance on the hazards they pose, including tabulated data and simple calculation techniques for predicting jet fire hazards.     

论重大危险源监控与重大事故隐患治理

重大危险源是指工业活动中危险物质或能量超过临界量的设备、设施或场所。工业活动中重大火灾、爆炸、毒物泄漏事故 ,尽管其起因和影响不尽相同 ,但都有一个共同的特征 :其根源是存在大量的易燃、易爆、有毒物质或具有引发灾难事故的能量。重大危险源同重大事故隐患是两个既有联系又有区别的概念 ,前者强调设备、设施、场所中存在或固有的危险物质 (能量 )的多少 ,后者则可以认为是出现明显缺陷 (人的不安全行为 ,物的不安全状态或管理上的缺陷 )的重大危险源。从重大事故隐患治理到重大危险源普查 (申报 )、监控是预防重大事故理论与技术的进步 ,是从源头抓预防 ,是落实预防为主 ,关口前移的具体体现 ,也是国家安全生产法律、法规的强制要求。笔者论述了重大危险源监控、重大事故隐患治理与重大事故预防之间的区别与联系 ,用事故是能量意外释放的观点 ,论述了安全是相对的、危险是永存的、事故是可以预防的 ;分析了建立重大危险源监控体系与重大事故预防控制体系的几大要素 ,即危险源辨识、评价、分级管理与监控 ,应急救援等。