The trajectories of Prevention through Design in construction

INTRODUCTION: Construction Hazards Prevention through Design (CHPtD) is a process in which engineers and architects explicitly consider the safety of construction workers during the design process. Although articles on CHPtD have appeared in top construction journals, the literature has not addressed technical principles underlying CHPtD to help designers better perform CHPtD, to facilitate the development of additional CHPtD tools, and to predict the future path of CHPtD. METHOD: This theoretical paper uses the existing literature on CHPtD and current action research associated with several CHPtD workgroups to analyze how CHPtD will likely evolve over the coming decades. RESULTS: There are four trajectories along which CHPtD will progress. (a) Designs will increasingly facilitate prefabricated construction; (b) designers will increasingly choose materials and systems that are inherently safer than alternatives; (c) designers will increasingly perform construction engineering; and (d) designers will increasingly apply spatial considerations to reduce worker hazards. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: By understanding how CHPtD may be manifested in the engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) industry, practitioners can better prepare for adopting CHPtD within their organizations and construction and engineering educators can better prepare their graduates to perform CHPtD.     

National Prevention through Design (PtD) Initiative

INTRODUCTION: The most effective means of preventing and controlling occupational injuries, illness, and fatalities is to "design out" hazards and hazardous exposures from the workplace. There is a long history of designing for safety for the general public and to a lesser degree for workers. METHOD: We now have the experience and insight from thoughtful, previous efforts to call for a comprehensive national strategy to implement a Prevention through Design (PtD) Initiative. RESULTS: This paper describes that initiative in terms of four overarching areas where action can be directed: practice, policy, research, and education. To obtain stakeholder input for issues in these four areas and to focus implementation efforts, eight sector divisions of the economy will be addressed. A seven year strategy is envisioned.     

Application of Prevention through Design for hearing loss in the mining industry

INTRODUCTION: Overexposure to noise remains a widespread and serious health hazard in the U.S. service providing and goods producing industries. Excessive noise can lead to poor verbal communication and reduce the ability to recognize warning signals. These dangerous work conditions can also cause stress and fatigue. Occupational hearing loss is a permanent illness, with no recovery currently possible. METHOD: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recognized Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) as one of the ten leading work-related diseases and injuries in the United States, and has emphasized its importance as one of the critical areas expressed in the National Occupational Research Agenda. RESULTS: One of the most serious noise problems in the goods producing industries is the operation of continuous mining machines during underground coal mining. In order to minimize occupational hearing loss, noise hazards are "designed out" early in the design process. NIOSH is leading a national initiative called Prevention through Design (PTD) to promote this concept. This paper describes the quiet-by-design approach of a noise control that reduced noise exposures of continuous mining machine operators by 3dB(A) using the four functional areas of PTD, namely Practice, Policy, Research, and Education.     

性能化设计方法在高层建筑防火设计中的应用

针对我国现有建筑设计防火规范等一系列规范对建筑物进行防火设计的不足之处,在比较传统指令性设计规范与性能化设计规范对建筑消防设计的要求的基础之上,笔者提出“以性能化为基础的建筑防火设计”的概念及支持体系;阐述性能设计的核心、规范体系和运行过程;并将该方法应用到了大空间防火分区及中庭防排烟设计的实践工作中,取得了比较满意的结果。其理论分析与实践证明建筑物性能化消防设计与评估,为实现建筑设计的多样化,更好地满足建筑功能需要提供了一条新的途径,该设计理念和评估方法的发展将大大促进消防安全设计的科学化、合理化和成本效益的最优化。     

双重预防机制在家具制造业的应用与实践

为了减少安全事故的发生,进一步加强和规范企业生产现场的安全管理,探索双重预防机制在企业安全管理中的应用,结合家具制造企业安全生产现状,运用风险分级管控与隐患排查的相关理论,详细论述了企业构建双重预防体系的要点及方法,并提出了双重预防体系的监督与考核机制。实践结果证明,双重预防机制是一个统一的有机结合体,只有将风险分级管控体系和隐患排查治理体系有机结合,才能将导致事故发生的根源性因素进行有效识别和管控,双重预防机制建设也是一个动态管理的过程,需要及时进行监督、考核和调整。     

国有林场森林防火工作实践与思考

从国有林场森林防火工作现状出发,分析了国有林场当前森林防火存在的困难和问题,提出今后森林防火工作对策与措施。     

铁路工程设计践行绿色发展的实践

设计是铁路工程绿色发展的关键环节之一,以某铁路工程为例,在阐述工程概况和主要问题的基础上,从线路纵断面、辅助坑道、隧道弃渣综合利用、弃土(渣)场数量及取土场数量等方面进行优化设计,并对优化效果进行分析。     

合肥市“国际商业城”工程消防设计

本文以一典型建筑群为例，介绍了现代建筑消防设计的基本要点和设计技巧。     

Reporting road victims: Assessing and correcting data issues through distinct injury scales

IntroductionThe most common measurement for road accidents relies in police reports; however, there is a high portion of underreporting and misclassification, mainly concerning elderly causalities, urban accidents, slightly injured, users of two-wheeled vehicles, and car occupants.MethodsIn order to assess these issues, road accidents occurring in the Porto Metropolitan Area, Portugal, covering a 6-year period (2006–2011) were analyzed based on police and hospital datasets. By linking hospital data with police data, it is possible to evaluate the misclassification of the victims' severity by the police regarding the maximum abbreviated injury scale (MAIS) classification. Additionally, considering that 29% of the victims recorded by hospitals were not reported by the police, which is in line with the reality of other EU countries, underreporting is further investigated. Thus, we used econometric and statistics tools to measure the correlation between different available data to identify possible causes of underreporting and misclassification. In this sense, factors contributing to the misclassification of casualties by the police are identified using a univariate analysis. On the basis of the linked police–hospital data, and considering those factors and the police classification, a probabilistic model was developed to estimate a MAIS-based classification for all individuals included in the police accident records. Results: The results of misclassification indicate a significant over-classification of severe injury by the police. Additionally, a systematic police underreporting phenomenon of around 30% was found. Conclusions and Practical Applications: Finally, comparing estimated results and actual data, we were able to produce non-fatality adjustment coefficients to estimate the total casualties taking into account the underreporting and misclassification phenomena and to compare them with the Portuguese and European realities.