Micro-level safety risk assessment model for a two-lane heterogeneous traffic environment in a developing country: A comparative crash probability modeling approach

Introduction: There have been a number of studies that have led to the development of safety risk assessment models to quantify the probability of crash frequencies on roadway facilities (both at micro- and macro-levels), over a specified time period. However, past research has rarely focused on heterogeneous traffic conditions in developing countries. Method: This paper puts forward several models related to the traditional count approach to estimate crash frequency at a micro-level in a non-lane based bi-directional heterogeneous traffic environment. The paper shows the results of dispersion, zero-inflation, and random heterogeneity effects of different exogenous factors by comparing Poisson (P); Negative Binomial (NB); random and fixed parameter Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP); and Latent Class Models (LCM). The empirical analysis is based on data from a section of a major national highway in Bangladesh. The performance of the models was validated using different statistical goodness-of-fit measures that compared the estimated and observed average crash frequencies at individual locations. With the identification of the most significant influencing factors, the paper discusses the practical policy implications using partial effects analysis and spatial distribution. Results: It was found that the Zero-Inflated Random Parameter model gives a slightly better statistical fit when compared to alternative approaches. Practical applications: This micro-level modeling approach would be useful to identify significant crash risk factors; to prioritize road sections according to their safety level; to select site-specific appropriate counter-measures; and devise proactive target oriented safety management strategies. Thus, the results shown here could be a point of reference in the planning, designing, maintaining, and managing two-lane highway sections in developing countries.     

基于孕灾环境的沿海城市安全生产风险评价指标体系研究

针对沿海城市安全生产事故孕灾环境体系的构建问题,将孕灾环境理论拓展到安全生产事故,全面分析沿海城市的安全生产事故孕灾环境因素,建立沿海城市安全生产风险评价指标体系。通过相关性分析,剔除信息重复指标,保留包括自然因素、技术因素、人类因素在内的27个指标,并以某沿海县为例进行实例探讨。结果表明:该县各区域安全生产风险等级总体处于中等到中下段,风险分布从中心城区向外呈辐射递减趋势,并且沿海区高于内陆,这是由于沿海地区大力发展港口工业的结果,该评价对于沿海城市安全生产事故风险评价具有一定的参考价值。     

超大城市公共安全风险评估、归因与防范

为了科学评价超大城市公共安全风险,从人口状况、能力指标和脆弱性指标着手,建立超大城市公共安全评估指标体系。基于上海市2007—2016年的部分数据,采用主成分分析法对上海市公共安全风险17个指标进行测度,找出影响公共安全水平的重要因子。同时,基于统计数据分析了公共安全事件风险源和5个潜在风险点,并提出防范建议。研究结果表明:近10 a来,上海公共安全状况存在明显改善,且地区经济与人口因子、公共城建与生态能力因子是影响上海城市公共安全风险最主要的2个因素;汽车交通事故、电气原因造成的火灾事故、盗窃、殴打他人是扰乱城市公共安全最突出的因素。     

某聚氯乙烯分厂的氯乙烯职业健康风险评价

以某化工企业的聚氯乙烯分厂为研究对象,引入美国环境保护署(EPA)推荐的健康风险评价四步法,即危害鉴定、剂量-反应评价、暴露评价和风险表征,对不同作业任务(清釜、看釜、巡检和配料)工人的氯乙烯职业暴露进行健康风险评价。结果表明,从非致癌效应来看,看釜、巡检和配料岗位工人暴露于VC引起肝细胞多态性的HI值均高于安全阈值1,其中看釜工的危害指数最大,引起的不利健康效应最严重。从致癌效应来看,清釜工暴露于VC引起肝血管肉瘤的风险处于可接受水平;而看釜工患肝血管肉瘤的风险值R,达到可接受上限10-4对应的工作年限ED=1.91 a,因此,需要尽可能地采用安全防护措施减少该岗位的职业暴露。巡检和配料岗位的肝血管肉瘤风险达到可接受水平上限10-4时,对应的工作年限分别为4.36 a和9.33 a。由于健康风险评价更侧重长期暴露危害物质对人体健康的影响,即使工作场所满足国标规定的浓度阈值,仍然存在工人长期暴露于低浓度致癌物的风险。     

城市公共安全风险评估与控制对策研究:以武汉市为例

为明确城市公共安全关键影响因素,解决以往研究中存在的研究区域小、影响因素单一、评估方法主观性强、对策措施缺乏针对性等问题,基于风险评估基础理论和因子分析法,构建城市公共安全风险评估指标体系和风险评估模型,并以武汉市为例进行公共安全风险评估,提出相应的风险控制对策。结果表明:构建的“灾害严重性-风险应对能力”风险评估指标体系对因子分析法具有较好的适用性,风险评估模型能够有效判别城市公共安全的关键影响因素;影响武汉市公共安全的4大关键影响因子为城市发展水平和基础设施、事故灾害、环境影响和地质灾害及其防治;2010—2017年间武汉市公共安全水平总体呈上升趋势,风险应对能力的提升对武汉市公共安全水平提升贡献较大。     

Occupational safety and health in Spain

Occupational Health and Safety in Spain has improved considerably over the last decade, most likely due to a new concept where an overall concept of safety culture is defined. Important changes in industrial safety, hygiene, and psychosocial factors present an optimistic panorama for the future of Spain. Despite this general improvement, according to the European Convergence Program, Spanish statistics still offer far from good safety results. In fact, according to 1997 official statistics, Spain had the highest incidence rate for nonfatal occupational accidents of all European Union (EU) countries, and occupied third place for fatal accidents. This paper summarizes the organizational structure of the Spanish National System of Health & Safety at Work, its effective health and safety laws, and statistics on the Spanish work environment obtained from III Spanish National Survey on Work Conditions (1997). The researchers hope that the findings of this work will have an impact on Spanish industry that will subsequently bring about improvements in work conditions and develop assessment and intervention models in occupational health and safety, from a theoretical position integrating environmental, human, and organizational factors.     

Pythagorean fuzzy VIKOR-based approach for safety risk assessment in mine industry

Introduction: Underground mining is considered one of the most hazardous industries and is often associated with serious work-related fatalities; this paper addresses job-related hazards and associated risks. Method: A risk assessment approach is proposed (Pythagorean fuzzy environment) and a case study is carried out in an underground copper and zinc mine. Results: Results of the study demonstrate that hazards can be categorized into different risk levels via compromised solutions of the fuzzy approach. Conclusion: The study provides a theoretical contribution by suggesting a Pythagorean fuzzy numbers-based VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (PFVIKOR) approach. Moreover, it contributes to improving overall safety levels of underground mining by considering and advising on the potential hazards of risk management. Practical applications: The proposed approach will improve the existing safety risk assessment mechanism in underground copper and zinc mining.     

An integrated approach to assessing the environmental and health impacts of pollution in the urban environment: Methodology and a case study

This paper presents a new decision-support methodology and software tool for sustainable management of urban pollution. A number of different methods and tools are integrated within the same platform, including GIS, LCA, fate and transport modelling, health impact assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis. The application of the framework is illustrated on a case study which investigates the environmental and health impacts of pollution arising from different industrial, domestic and transport sources in a city. The example city chosen for the study is Sheffield, UK, and the main pollutants considered are NO_x, SO₂ and PM10. The results suggest that the absence of the current large industrial sources in the city would lead to a 90% reduction of the SO₂ and 70% of the NO₂ ground concentrations, consequently preventing 27 deaths and 18 respiratory hospital admissions per annum for a population of 500,000. Based on the total annual mortality and hospital admissions in Sheffield for the year of the assessment, this means that 0.53% of premature deaths and 0.49% of respiratory hospital admissions would be prevented by the estimated reduction in air pollution.     

Organizational prerequisites for the implementation of systematic health, environment and safety work in enterprises

The Norwegian internal control (IC) regulation, which was set into force in 1992, has received attention because preventive health and safety systems have become mandatory for every enterprise, regardless of size and business. Enterprises are expected to implement proper systematic actions to ensure that the enterprise operates in accordance with requirements specified in laws and regulations in the health, environment and safety (HES)¹ domain. The present study was conducted in order to find out what organizational factors are feasible in predicting success in managing systematic HES work. The study focuses on enterprises' experiences in their efforts to implement IC of HES. The results showed that 45% of the companies in Norway had implemented IC 4 years after the onset of the regulation. A total of 36% were under way, while 19% had not started yet. In 1993 the corresponding figures were 8%, 25% and 67%, respectively. Available internal HES competency with professional training was the strongest predictor for success in managing systematic HES work. Thereafter followed factors like external push and pull factors (customers, labor inspection and business partners). Time elapsed since implementation of the regulation was also of importance.     

Occupational health and safety promotion: Problems and solutions

Most occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals would agree that having a good OSH promotion programme is a challenge, and problems can be encountered at almost every stage in the planning and delivery of the programme.The first obstacle which may be encountered is programme justification. How does one convince employers and employees of the need for OSH promotion, and does competition from “Wellness Programmes” reduce available resources? Programme planning, deciding what constitutes a programme, and what to include in the OSH promotion programme, may be a dilemma. The programme implementation, deciding who implements the activities and how a programme is sustained, may be other difficult issues. Finally, programme evaluation can be problematic: How is it done properly? and Who should evaluate the programme?Possible solutions to these problems may include the costing of work accidents and occupational ill health to justify the need and benefits of an OSH programme, and riding on the bandwagon of “wellness promotion” instead of competition for limited resources. In programme planning, knowing what is wanted and employing a professional to plan the programme is essential. The programme coverage should encompass health and safety issues, and preventive strategies should be directed towards both environment and lifestyle factors. There should be a prioritization of topics according to the needs of workers. The choice of OSH professionals versus “wellness promoters” or human resource officers as programme co-ordinators may affect the programme outcome. Training supervisors and line workers to be trainers would involve those directly in contact with work hazards in the programme. Programme evaluation is crucial. There should be provision for both process and outcome evaluations, and pains should be taken to ensure independence and objectivity of evaluations. The idea of linking programme results to the OSH personnel assessments is worth considering.The delivery of OSH promotion programmes in a relevant and effective manner poses a real challenge. While some obstacles and problems appear to be insurmountable, these challenges have to be faced and overcome in order to achieve the goals of protecting and promoting the health of the worker.     

A neuro-fuzzy algorithm for assessment of health,safety, environment and ergonomics in a large petrochemical plant

Process plants such as petrochemical units have been continuously trying to improve Health, Safety, Environment and Ergonomics (HSEE) programs. This study proposes an adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for assessment of HSEE programs in a petrochemical plant. The proposed neuro-fuzzy approach is applied to a set of operators in the petrochemical unit to show its applicability and superiority. To achieve the objectives of this study, standard questionnaires with respect to HSEE are completed by operators. The average results for each category of HSEE are used as inputs and accomplishment of HSEE programs is used as output for the algorithm. Moreover, this algorithm is used to rank operators performance with respect to HSEE. Finally, the algorithm identifies efficient operators with respect to HSEE. This is the first study that introduces an intelligence algorithm for assessment and improvement of HSEE program in a petrochemical plant.     

香港的职业安全健康培训

这篇文章是关于最近在香港实行的职业安全健康培训的有关政策。它描述了职业安全健康局在职业安全健康培训中的作用以及对中小企业的支持。文章还强调了为应对21世纪职业安全健康培训的挑战所需的战略。     

Occupational injury risk in a blue collar, small business industry: Implications for prevention

Conflicting perceptions of risk in OHS generate barriers to occupational injury prevention. Occupational injury prevention strategies that fail to address workplace risk perceptions are likely to be ineffective. In this study, we ask whether employers' and employees' have conflicting risk perceptions that may produce barriers to injury prevention in workplaces and we explore underlying understandings of risk in OHS that produce conflicting risk judgements. A novel research methodology was utilised to compare and contrast risk judgements of employers and employees in a blue collar, small business industry. Participants were asked to rate ten OHS risks and the risk rating scores of the two groups were compared. They were also asked to explain their risk judgements and their responses were contrasted by a method of qualitative data analysis. Significant differences between the risk rating scores of employers and employees were found for four OHS risks. The focus of conflicting risk judgements was a distinction between risks with an immediate injury effect and those with a delayed disease effect. Employers tended to rate the former significantly higher than employees. Employees tended to rate the latter significantly higher than employers. Three themes emerged to explain underlying understandings of risk in OHS that produce conflicting risk judgements. Implications of these understandings for occupational injury prevention strategies in an Australian blue collar, small business industry are explored and a new approach is proposed.     

突发性泄漏事件大气环境与健康风险评估系统研究

针对近些年频繁发生的突发性泄漏事件,为了能快速应急响应以降低事故的伤害程度,构建了突发性泄漏事件大气环境与健康风险评估系统.该系统以广泛应用的重气扩散模型SLAB以及最佳毒物伤害准则AEGLs为基础,将两者有机结合,可以实时有效地给出毒物事故性泄漏所造成的致死、致残、致伤等伤害区域分布以及各区域的最大半宽、最大纵深和面积统计量.针对事故的泄漏方式、泄漏物质、持续泄漏时间和气象条件等因子进行了一系列敏感性试验.分析表明,事故性泄漏的伤害区域分布几乎不受泄漏方式、环境温度、相对湿度的影响,而主要取决于泄漏物质、持续泄漏时间、环境风速和环境稳定度等因素.     

地区性城市群公共安全多灾种综合风险评估研究*

为掌握地区性城市群风险态势,制定风险防控规划,通过综合考虑社会经济基础、历史灾情、灾害链效应、防灾减灾及城际协同救援等因素,构建城市群多灾种综合风险评估模型,以呼包鄂城市群为研究对象开展综合风险评估。结果表明:呼包鄂城市群综合风险处于中低水平,未来需继续加强对洪涝灾害、旱灾、交通事故和矿山安全事故等风险的防范,建立健全各市辖区应急疏散、应急避难管理机制,提高各城市协同救援能力。     

A hybrid decision-making approach based on FCM and MOORA for occupational health and safety risk analysis

IntroductionWith the development of industries and increased diversity of their associated hazards, the importance of identifying these hazards and controlling the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) risks has also dramatically augmented. Currently, there is a serious need for a risk management system to identify and prioritize risks with the aim of providing corrective/preventive measures to minimize the negative consequences of OHS risks. In fact, this system can help the protection of employees’ health and reduction of organizational costs. Method: The present study proposes a hybrid decision-making approach based on the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM), and Multi-Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis (MOORA) for assessing and prioritizing OHS risks. After identifying the risks and determining the values of the risk assessment criteria via the FMEA technique, the attempt is made to determine the weights of criteria based on their causal relationships through FCM and the hybrid learning algorithm. Then, the risk prioritization is carried out using the MOORA method based on the decision matrix (the output of the FMEA) and the weights of the criteria (the output of the FCM). Results: The results from the implementation of the proposed approach in a manufacturing company reveal that the score at issue can overcome some of the drawbacks of the traditional Risk Priority Number (RPN) in the conventional FMEA, including lack of assignment the different relative importance to the assessment criteria, inability to take into account other important management criteria, lack of consideration of causal relationships among criteria, and high dependence of the prioritization on the experts’ opinions, which finally provides a full and distinct risk prioritization.     

Integrating major accidents hazard into occupational risk assessment: An index approach

Major Accident Hazard (MAH) and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) are two separated topics in both industrial practice and legislation; recently, interest is increasing toward an integrated risk assessment mainly forced by the tendency to a more efficient safety management system. The present study proposes a semi-quantitative approach to integrate MAH in OSH risk assessment. The two risk types are characterized by opposite features: the OSH analysis is usually task-based and focused on job profiles, while the MAH analysis is space-based and focused on plant characteristics. The basic idea of the proposed approach is to merge spatial information and job profile features in order to improve OSH assessment; thus, a risk index derived by the recent standard ISO 12100 (2010) has been adapted. In detail, the proposed index combines exposure times of each worker at each plant unit – derived from the OSH analysis – with damage areas derived from MAH analysis allowing a quantitative assessment of the MAH risk level for each individual job profile. The model has been tested in a large petrochemical plant; several hypotheses have been developed in order to validate the model. Results have showed the potentiality of the proposed approach in providing a common and coherent representation of both MAH and OSH risks, according to job profiles and plant units.     

煤矿职业安全健康与个人防护装备

为贯彻落实《国务院关于预防煤矿生产安全事故的特别规定》，本刊特邀我国个体防护装备专家、全国个体防护装备标准化技术委员会顾问佘启元教授撰写此文。文章资料翔实，论述深入，建议读者认真一读。[编者按]