Safety evaluation of cable barriers installation on rural highways in British Columbia

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety effectiveness of cable barrier systems installation on rural highway sections in British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: Data on police-attended serious collisions (injury?+?fatality) on a number of rural highway sections in British Columbia, Canada, were used in the analysis. An empirical Bayes (EB) approach was employed to ensure that the evaluation results were reliable and to account for the regression to the mean artifact. Safety performance functions (SPFs) were developed using data collected at similar sites. For both median cable barrier (MCB) and roadside cable barrier (RCB) sections, the evaluation was undertaken using all serious collisions, truck serious collisions, and off-road serious collisions.

Results: For MCB sections, the evaluation results showed statistically significant reductions of 21.7, 53.8, and 34.8% in all serious collisions, truck serious collisions, and off-road left (ORL) combined with head-on (HO) serious collisions. For RCB sections, statistically significant reductions of 74.7, 100, and 100% were found in all serious collisions, truck serious collisions, and off-road right (ORR) serious collisions, respectively. The impact of the after period on the evaluation results was explored. It was found that the changes in safety become more stable using an after period of 2–5 years.

Conclusions: Cable barriers were successful in reducing the frequency of serious collisions on provincial highways in British Columbia.     

Investigating the impacts of crash prediction models on quantifying safety effectiveness of Adaptive Signal Control Systems

Introduction: Adaptive Signal Control System (ASCS) can improve both operational and safety benefits at signalized corridors. Methods: This paper develops a series of models accounting for model forms and possible predictors and implements these models in Empirical Bayes (EB) and Fully Bayesian (FB) frameworks for ASCS safety evaluation studies. Different models are validated in terms of the ability to reduce the potential bias and variance of prediction and improve the safety effectiveness estimation accuracy using real-world crash data from non-ASCS sites. This paper then develops the safety effectiveness of ASCS at six different corridors with a total of 65 signalized intersections with the same type of ASCS, in South Carolina. Results: Validation results show that the FB model that accounts for traffic volume, roadway geometric features, year factor, and spatial effects shows the best performance among all models. The study findings reveal that ASCS reduces crash frequencies in the total crash, fatal and injury crash, and angle crash for most of the intersections. The safety effectiveness of ASCS varies with different intersection features (i.e., AADT at major streets, number of legs at an intersection, the number of through lanes on major streets, the number of access points on minor streets, and the speed limit at major streets). Conclusions: ASCS is associated with crash reductions, and its safety effects vary with different intersection features. Practical Applications: The findings of this research encourage more ASCS deployments and provide insights into selecting ASCS deployment sites for reducing crashes considering the variation of the safety effectiveness of ASCS.     

工厂安全性评价指标体系科学性的间接测定方法

工厂安全性评价指标体系是评价工厂安全性工作的测定标准，指标体系的科学性和合理性与工厂安全性评价工作密切相关。工厂安全性评价指标体系科学性的间接测定方法是，采用直接测定结果作为间接测定指标体系的样本，再利用各指标之间的相关量，求出间接测定结果，通过直接评价结果与间接评价结果的比较，检查直接评价结果的准确程度，以分析修正指标体系。     

Evaluation of countermeasures for red light running by traffic simulator–based surrogate safety measures

Objective: The conflicts among motorists entering a signalized intersection with the red light indication have become a national safety issue. Because of its sensitivity, efforts have been made to investigate the possible causes and effectiveness of countermeasures using comparison sites and/or before-and-after studies. Nevertheless, these approaches are ineffective when comparison sites cannot be found, or crash data sets are not readily available or not reliable for statistical analysis. Considering the random nature of red light running (RLR) crashes, an inventive approach regardless of data availability is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of each countermeasure face to face.

Method: The aims of this research are to (1) review erstwhile literature related to red light running and traffic safety models; (2) propose a practical methodology for evaluation of RLR countermeasures with a microscopic traffic simulation model and surrogate safety assessment model (SSAM); (3) apply the proposed methodology to actual signalized intersection in Virginia, with the most prevalent scenarios—increasing the yellow signal interval duration, installing an advance warning sign, and an RLR camera; and (4) analyze the relative effectiveness by RLR frequency and the number of conflicts (rear-end and crossing).

Results: All scenarios show a reduction in RLR frequency (?7.8, ?45.5, and ?52.4%, respectively), but only increasing the yellow signal interval duration results in a reduced total number of conflicts (?11.3%; a surrogate safety measure of possible RLR-related crashes). An RLR camera makes the greatest reduction (?60.9%) in crossing conflicts (a surrogate safety measure of possible angle crashes), whereas increasing the yellow signal interval duration results in only a 12.8% reduction of rear-end conflicts (a surrogate safety measure of possible rear-end crash).

Conclusions: Although increasing the yellow signal interval duration is advantageous because this reduces the total conflicts (a possibility of total RLR-related crashes), each countermeasure shows different effects by RLR-related conflict types that can be referred to when making a decision. Given that each intersection has different RLR crash issues, evaluated countermeasures are directly applicable to enhance the cost and time effectiveness, according to the situation of the target intersection. In addition, the proposed methodology is replicable at any site that has a dearth of crash data and/or comparison sites in order to test any other countermeasures (both engineering and enforcement countermeasures) for RLR crashes.     

How can process safety and a risk management approach guide pandemic risk management?

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) brought the world to a halt in March 2020. Various prediction and risk management approaches are being explored worldwide for decision making. This work adopts an advanced mechanistic model and utilizes tools for process safety to propose a framework for risk management for the current pandemic. A parameter tweaking and an artificial neural network-based parameter learning model have been developed for effective forecasting of the dynamic risk. Monte Carlo simulation was used to capture the randomness of the model parameters. A comparative analysis of the proposed methodologies has been carried out by using the susceptible, exposed, infected, quarantined, recovered, deceased (SEIQRD) model. A SEIQRD model was developed for four distinct locations: Italy, Germany, Ontario, and British Columbia. The learning-based approach resulted in better outcomes among the models tested in the present study. The layer of protection analysis is a useful framework to analyze the effect of different safety measures. This framework is used in this work to study the effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions on pandemic risk. The risk profiles suggest that a stage-wise releasing scenario is the most suitable approach with negligible resurgence. The case study provides valuable insights to practitioners in both the health sector and the process industries to implement advanced strategies for risk assessment and management. Both sectors can benefit from each other by using the mathematical models and the management tools used in each, and, more importantly, the lessons learned from crises.     

A process mapping model for calculating indirect costs of workplace accidents

This article follows an earlier one in which four criteria and four bases for the development of an indirect-cost calculation model adapted to the accuracy requirements and time constraints of workplace decision-makers were established. A two-level model for calculating indirect costs using process mapping of the organizational response to a workplace accident is presented. The model is based on data collected in interviews with those employees in charge of occupational health and safety in 10 companies of various sizes in different industry sectors. This model is the first to use process mapping to establish the indirect costs of workplace accidents. The approach allows easy identification of the duration and frequency of actions taken by stakeholders when a workplace accident occurs, facilitates the collection of the information needed to calculate indirect costs and yields a usable, precise result. A simple graphic representation of an organization's accident processes helps the user understand each accident's cost components, allowing the identification and reduction of inefficiencies in the overall process. Impact on Industry: By facilitating data collection and shortening the time needed to assess indirect costs of workplace accidents, this indirect cost calculation tool is better suited for workplace use than those currently available.     

Mapping safety culture attributes with integrity management program to achieve assessment goals: A framework for oil and gas pipelines industry

Introduction: The safety of oil and gas pipelines is an increasing concern for the public, government regulators, and the industry. A safety management system cannot be efficient without having an effective integrity management program (IMP) and a strong safety culture. IMP is a formal document (policies, planning, scheduling, and technical processes) while safety culture is a measure of views, beliefs, and traditions about safety. For regulatory authorities and O&G companies, assessing the effectiveness of both the IMP and safety culture through regulatory audits is a daunting task with indistinct findings. Method: An integrated framework based on regulatory audits is developed to assess the maturity of safety culture based on IMP efficacy through risk-based approach by using failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA). The framework focuses on three distinct aspects, the probability of failure occurrence in case of the non-compliance of regulatory and program requirements, severity of non-compliance, and effectiveness of the corrective actions. Results: Program requirements and performance indicators are translated into assessment questions which are grouped into 18 IMP components. Subsequently, these components are linked with four safety culture attributes. Sensitivity analysis revealed that four IMP components, i.e., organizational roles and responsibilities, policy and commitment, risk assessment, and training and competency, significantly affect the safety culture maturity level. Conclusions: Individual assessment of IMP and safety culture in O&G sector consumes extensive time and efforts in the auditing process. The framework facilitates the process by pursuing common criteria between IMP and safety culture. The O&G companies and regulator can prioritize the improvement plans and guidelines using the framework's findings. Practicalapplications:The integrated framework developed in this research will improve the existing assessment mechanism in O&G companies. The framework has been effectively implemented on a case of 17 upstream O&G pipeline-operating companies in the province of British Columbia, Canada.     

Participation for understanding: an interactive method

INTRODUCTION: There are many available models that help evaluate the effectiveness of safety and health measures, but many are complex and require input from many departments within an organization. There is a need to develop a more user-friendly model. METHOD: A participative model was developed that involves face-to-face interviewers with workers, maintenance department, purchasing department and health and safety experts. They were asked about costs, efforts, benefits, and effects of gauging the effects of prevention efforts. RESULTS: Cost effectiveness analyses are essential in all cases and can include whatever the end-user requires, whether it is a small or lasting improvement. Having management participate helps validate the data. CONCLUSIONS: Organizations who collaborate with someone with at least some skill in cost-benefit evaluations will find that they will be able to establish policies and procedures from the data. The end result is a calculation that is understood by all involved.     

Safety and economic impacts of photo radar program

OBJECTIVE: Unsafe speed is one of the major traffic safety challenges facing motorized nations. In 2003, unsafe speed contributed to 31 percent of all fatal collisions, causing a loss of 13,380 lives in the United States alone. The economic impact of speeding is tremendous. According to NHTSA, the cost of unsafe speed related collisions to the American society exceeds 40 billion US dollars per year. In response, automated photo radar speed enforcement programs have been implemented in many countries. This study assesses the economic impacts of a large-scale photo radar program in British Columbia. The knowledge generated from this study could inform policy makers and project managers in making informed decisions with regard to this highly effective and efficient, yet very controversial program. METHODS: This study establishes speed and safety effects of photo radar programs by summarizing two physical impact investigations in British Columbia. It then conducts a cost-benefit analysis to assess the program's economic impacts. The cost-benefit analysis takes into account both societal and funding agency's perspectives. It includes a comprehensive account of major impacts. It uses willingness to pay principle to value human lives saved and injuries avoided. It incorporates an extended sensitivity analysis to quantify the robustness of base case conclusions. RESULTS: The study reveals an annual net benefit of approximately 114 million in year 2001 Canadian dollars to British Columbians. The study also finds a net annual saving of over 38 million Canadian dollars for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) that funded the program. These results are robust under almost all alternative scenarios tested. The only circumstance under which the net benefit of the program turns negative is when the real safety effects were one standard deviation below the estimated values, which is possible but highly unlikely. CONCLUSION: Automated photo radar traffic safety enforcement can be an effective and efficient means to manage traffic speed, reduce collisions and injuries, and combat the huge resulting economic burden to society. The cost-effectiveness of the program takes on special meaning and urgency when considering the present and future government funding constraints. The application of the program, however, should be planned and implemented with caution. Every effort should be made to focus on and to promote the program on safety improvement grounds. The program can be easily terminated because of political considerations, if the public perceives it as a cash cow to enhance government revenue.     

基于G1法的高危作业疲劳风险模糊综合评判

疲劳严重威胁作业安全,许多事故都直接或间接由疲劳引发。针对高危作业疲劳风险评价问题,考虑作业疲劳致因,综合运用G1法,提出高危作业疲劳风险的模糊综合评判方法。首先,根据疲劳的表现,系统分析影响高危作业疲劳的因素,以管理因素、岗位因素、作业环境、生理、心理等5个因素为准则,构建作业疲劳风险的评价指标体系。然后,应用G1法,确定指标权重,建立高危作业疲劳风险多级模糊综合评价模型,评判疲劳状况。最后,通过一个案例验证了模型方法的可行性与有效性,为综合评判高危作业疲劳发生可能性提供了一个新视角与方法。     

人体热应变预测方法标准在热安全评价中的应用

工业生产中存在着大量的高温工作环境,如高温生产车间或夏季露天作业环境等。高温工作环境可能导致人体体温升高、出汗脱水,对人体安全造成危害。建立人体热生理响应模型,通过计算得出人体生理指标变化,从而判断人体安全状态,是有效的人体安全评价方法。ISO 7933是人体热应变计算方法的国际标准。在考虑了环境和人体的多种情况下,给出人体相关生理参数的计算方法。基于此方法,与人体热安全阈值相结合,建立人体热安全评价方法,并给出了典型热环境下的算例。该方法也可用于评价热防护服的有效性。     

Comprehensive evaluation on self-ignition risks of coal stockpiles using fuzzy AHP approaches

Self-ignition in coal stockpiles is a serious economic, environmental and safety problem. Evaluation is an effective way to identify the self-ignition hazards in implicit environment of coal piles and provides a guide for countermeasures against spontaneous combustion in coal piles. In this paper, a comprehensive evaluation system is proposed. The trapezoidal and the triangular extent fuzzy AHP methods are employed to handle the imprecision and uncertainty of the effects of factors. A coal stockpile stored at the Bulk Cargo Logistics of Tianjin Port of China and three coal piles in the Teruel basins of Spain are studied to demonstrate the validity of the index system and the effectiveness of fuzzy AHP approaches. The evaluated results indicate that the proposed evaluation system and approaches are valid and objective for evaluating self-ignition risks of coal stockpiles; compared with the trapezoidal fuzzy AHP method, the triangular extent fuzzy AHP approach is more effective to evaluate self-ignition risks of coal piles for the priorities of factors impacting self-ignition risks are highlighted by their weight comparisons' calculation using the triangular extent analysis. The comprehensive evaluation system is beneficial to manage self-ignition risks of coal piles from a holistic point of view and to establish an early warming system of self-ignition risks of coal piles.     

Safety performance functions with measurement errors in traffic volume

One of the most common and important predictors in safety performance functions (SPFs) is traffic volume which is known to be measured with uncertainty. Such measurement errors (ME) can attenuate the respective predictors’ effect and also increase dispersion. This paper proposes an approach which involves the use of a ME model based on traffic flow time series data. The model is used in conjunction with the negative binomial SPF to circumvent the bias in predicting the aggregate number of accidents during the time period under study. The proposed approach (denoted by MENB), was compared with the traditional negative binomial (NB) technique by way of Monte Carlo simulation. Furthermore, both approaches were applied to two datasets corresponding to 131 and 130 road segments in British Columbia. The full Bayes method was utilized for parameter estimation, performance evaluation and inference through the use of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques. The simulation results showed that MENB has outperformed NB when large measurement errors are present. The goodness-of-fit statistics showed that MENB has provided a slightly better fit to the data. However, in the presence of measurement errors, the NB has underestimated the predicted number of accidents for heavy traffic on long road segments and vice versa. The use of MENB is justified when the variance in volume between years is large otherwise both approaches yield comparable results.     

基于Monte Carlo与Markov法参数不确定性条件下SIL评估

为了避免由参数不确定性因素导致较大的Markov法SIL评估偏差,且减少计算工作量和复杂性,采用Monte Carlo（MC）仿真方法处理含不确定性参数的Markov模型,并借助Matlab GUI编程开发MC仿真处理参数不确定性条件下Markov法SIL评估可视化仿真计算软件。在理论研究的基础上,为说明该研究方法与计算软件的可行性,以石油天然气工业高完整性压力保护系统（HIPPS）为算例进行SIL评估。结果表明:MC仿真方法可以有效处理Markov法SIL评估中参数不确定性问题;基于Matlab GUI编程设计出的仿真计算软件在一定程度上可以提高计算效率。     

安全评价技术的探讨

以研制系统安全评价标准为切入点,对系统安全性评价的用途,系统固有危险性评价,事故直接隐患评价,事故间接隐患评价等诸方面,从理论上作了深入的阐述,对指导企业搞好安全评价工作,提高安全管理水平,减少和控制事故有较强的参考和实用价值.     

Validating a Safety Climate Model in Metal Processing Industries: A Replication Study

This paper attempts to replicate a safety climate model originally tested in Australia to assess its applicability in a different context: namely, across production workers in 22 medium-sized metal processing organizations in Austria. The model postulates that safety knowledge and safety motivation mediate the relation between safety climate on the one hand and safety compliance and participation on the other. Self-report data from 1075 employees were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of the replication study largely confirmed the original safety climate model. However, in addition to indirect effects, direct links between safety climate and actual safety behavior were found.     

基于Vague集的隧道施工安全管理脆弱性评价

为了客观地查找并量化隧道施工安全管理系统的脆弱点及管控要点,本文以系统脆弱性的3个特征要素,即暴露性、敏感性和适应性为二级指标,以隧道施工安全管理系统脆弱性的8项直接影响因素为三级指标,构建系统脆弱性评价体系。提出基于区间数互反判断矩阵与Vague集理论的隧道施工安全管理系统脆弱性评价模型,该模型使用区间数描述指标之间的相对重要程度,以模糊信息对系统脆弱性进行量化评价。通过山西吕梁某隧道施工项目,验证该模型的有效性,结果表明,该模型能够实现对系统脆弱性、特征要素以及各关键指标的量化评价。     

Influences on safety consciousness in a utility company: A sequential mediation model

Introduction: The purpose of this research was to determine whether the influence of supervisory support for safety on safety consciousness is direct or indirect. Based in part on predictions from the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), we examined the extent to which belief (safety self-efficacy) and attitude (cavalier safety attitude) mediate the impact of supervisory support for safety on employee safety consciousness. Method: A survey of 995 employees was distributed across 24 work groups in an electric utility company, and sequential mediation modeling was used to determine indirect effects on safety consciousness. Results: We found that the effect of supervisory support on safety consciousness was indirect, fully mediated through both efficacy and attitude in a sequential mediation model. Practical applications: Supervisors should be aware of and emphasize supportive behaviors and create welcoming conditions for employees to raise safety concerns. Furthermore, organizational programs pertaining to safety improvement need to consider how to develop positive beliefs regarding safety activity and attitudes and reduce negative ones.     

尾矿坝地震液化评价可靠度模型及应用

为适应计算参数本身具有的随机性和未确知性,将可靠度理论引入尾矿坝地震液化评价中。以测试数据的统计分析结果为基础,应用一次二阶矩法建立尾矿坝地震液化分析可靠度模型,探讨了可靠度指标与抗液化安全系数之间的关系,并将该模型应用到某尾矿坝地震液化分析中。结果表明,新建可靠度模型各参数的物理意义与统计指标明确,相比传统的确定性分析方法,不仅能判断液化的发生与否,还能给出液化发生的概率;可靠度理论在液化分析中能更好地考虑计算参数的变异性,进一步完善了尾矿坝地震液化分析理论,为进行基于风险分析的尾矿坝抗震设计和地震安全评价提供更全面的依据。