Identification, analysis and dissemination of information on near misses: A case study in the construction industry

Near misses are well-known for providing a major source of useful information for safety management. They are more frequent events than accidents and their causes may potentially result in an accident under slightly different circumstances. Despite the importance of this type of feedback, there is little knowledge on the characteristics of near misses, and on the use of this information in safety management. This article proposes guidelines for identifying, analyzing and disseminating information on near misses in construction sites. In particular, it is proposed that near misses be analyzed based on four categories: (a) whether or not it was possible to track down the event; (b) the nature of each event, in terms of its physical features (e.g. falling objects); (c) whether they provided positive or negative feedback for the safety management system; and (d) risk, based on the probability and severity associated with each event. The guidelines were devised and tested while a safety management system was being developed in a healthcare building project. The monitoring of near misses was part of a safety performance measurement system. Among the main results, a dramatic increase in both the number and quality of reports stands out after the workforce was systematically encouraged to report. While in the first 4 months of the study – when the workforce was not encouraged to report – there were just 12 reports, during the subsequent 4 months – when the workforce was so encouraged – there were 110 reports, all of them being analyzed based on the four analytical categories proposed.     

南方城市雨洪基础设施安全保障对策探析

通过对基础设施、单项综合交通、环境保护、绿地系统及河湖水系、城市排水、综合防灾规划中雨洪相关内容进行整合,建立科学的雨洪专项综合规划模式。对雨洪专项综合规划中的城市基础设施用地规划、道路雨水收集方式、绿地系统、河湖水面及大型公共设施的雨洪调蓄用地、雨水的环境污染、雨水工程及防洪工程等雨洪内容进行控制,确保雨洪专项综合规划的实施。采用区域统筹、科学调度的综合管理模式,保障雨洪专项综合规划健康持续发展,为提高城市雨洪基础设施安全保障性能、提升城市防灾减灾能力提供科学依据。     

基于体制视角的煤矿矿难成因及对策研究

对国内外煤矿安全事故的成因进行回顾。通过理论与实践研究发现,影响我国煤矿矿难发生的各项因素只是表象,其更深层次的原因是体制层面的问题。分别从计划经济体制、市场经济体制以及双重体制角度对我国煤矿矿难的成因进行分析,指出计划经济体制导致了煤矿企业积极性不高和安全投入不足;以市场资源配置和利益驱动为导向的市场经济体制使得煤矿企业人才严重缺乏、超能力生产严重、安全管理不严和违规操作频发;双重经济体制共同作用引致了我国煤矿行业的监管不力。针对体制对我国煤矿带来的问题,分别从管理机制、安全投入、福利待遇和监管体制等方面给出治理煤矿矿难的政策建议和意见。     

从《矿山安全和卫生公约》剖析我国矿山安全卫生立法

国际劳工组织制定的劳工标准在国际上被认为具有高度的权威地位,日益成为各国制定法律法规的标准文书。176号《公约》的目的是为了促进各国在矿山职业安全和卫生方面采取行动,制定国家矿山安全和卫生政策、法规和实施制度,并要求政府、主管部门、雇主、工人承担各自的职责,确保矿山职工拥有安全与健康的工作环境和体面的工作,促进采矿业的可持续发展。通过我国矿山法律法规与176号《公约》的比对分析,本文提出了应进一步完善访协商机制,明确主管部门职责,以法律法规形式明确义务,赋予工人安全与已生权利和义务等方面完善我国矿山安全和卫生法律法规建议。     

宁夏供港蔬菜田土壤重金属分布特征及生态风险评价

农田土壤重金属污染会影响蔬菜作物的生长发育及产量,同时也会影响蔬菜的品质与口感,长期以来通过食物链传递和富集,最终对人体健康造成一定危害.因此为探明宁夏多年多茬种植供港蔬菜后其土壤重金属分布特征,预测其生态风险,分析其污染形成原因,于2019~2021年连续3 a采集了477个宁夏供港蔬菜田表层土壤样本,分析As、Cd、Cr、Hg、Pb、Cu、Zn和 Ni 这8种重金属含量和分布特征,采用单因子污染指数法、内梅罗综合污染指数法、地累积指数法和潜在生态风险指数法对宁夏供港蔬菜田土壤重金属污染状况进行评价,利用Pearson相关分析和主成分分析法解析了宁夏供港蔬菜田重金属来源.结果表明,宁夏供港蔬菜田土壤中As、Cd、Cr、Hg、Cu和Zn含量均值高于宁夏土壤背景值,但8种重金属含量均低于国内农用地土壤风险筛选值;在空间分布上,As、Cr和Ni在研究区西北部、中部以及南部出现连片高值区,Pb、Zn、Cd、Hg和Cu在研究区西北部与南部出现高值响应;单因子指数法和内梅罗综合污染指数法表明,宁夏供港蔬菜田土壤整体处于清洁水平;地累积指数法结果显示研究区污染以Hg和Cd污染为主,污染区域主要集中在研究区西北部和南部;潜在生态风险指数显示Hg和Cd为主要风险元素,其中Hg以中等、较强和很强生态风险为主,分别占比44.65 %、44.65 %和1.26 %,Cd以中等、较强为主,占比65.83 %和3.56 %;综合Pearson相关分析和主成分分析表明,8种重金属污染来源可划分为3类,Ⅰ为自然源:Cu、Zn、Pb、As、Ni和Cr;Ⅱ为农业源:Cd;Ⅲ为工业源和农业源:Hg.综合来看,供港蔬菜田土壤重金属均无超标现象,土壤环境条件良好,宁夏供港蔬菜生产整体处于安全水平.研究结果可为宁夏供港菜田土壤安全利用和供港蔬菜安全生产、合理施肥、农艺运筹以及种植结构调整等提供帮助.     

长江源区各拉丹冬峰雪冰中微粒季节变化及其环境意义

分析了长江源区各拉丹冬峰冰川区不同海拔采集的3个雪坑SP1、SP2和SP3样品中δ18O、不溶微粒数量浓度及主要离子浓度,以探讨本研究区域雪冰微粒含量变化及其来源.结果显示,不同粒径微粒含量变化趋势一致,3个雪坑中细微粒含量分别占总微粒的88%、78%、86%.中微粒分别占10%、19%、11%;不同粒径微粒数量浓度之间的相关系数均达0.9以上(置信度可达99%),具有良好的相关性.雪冰中不溶微粒浓度同Ca2 、Mg2 、SO2-4一样,具有明显的季节波动.非季风期微粒浓度要高于季风期2～4倍.3个雪坑非季风期微粒通量分别占一个年层雪冰中微粒总通量的73.6%、92.3%、97%,即初春季节沙尘暴对于各拉丹冬雪冰中微粒沉降贡献远大于夏.秋季节.结合NCAR/NCEP再分析资料.应用HYSPLIT-4模式模拟的不同季节5 d后向气团轨迹图表明,各拉丹冬峰冰川I区雪冰中不溶性微粒可能来源于中亚、南亚和青藏高原本身,其中影响最大的可能是青藏高原自身的沙尘源区,同时冰川区裸露基岩对雪冰中不溶微粒含量亦有贡献.     

Monitoring Diffuse Impacts: Australian Tourism Developments

/ The scientific quality of monitoring for diffuse environmental impacts has rarely been quantified. This paper presents an analysis of all formal environmental monitoring programs for Australian tourism developments over a 15-year period from 1980 to 1995. The tourism sector provides a good test bed for this study because tourism developments are (1) often adjacent to or even within conservation reserves and other relatively undisturbed natural environments, and (2) often clustered, with resulting cumulative impacts that require detection at an early stage. Here we analyze the precision and reliability with which monitoring programs as actually implemented can detect diffuse environmental impacts against natural variation. Of 175 Australian tourism developments subject to EIA from 1980 to 1993 inclusive, only 13 were subject to formal monitoring. Only 44 individual parameters, in total, were monitored for all these developments together. No baseline monitoring was conducted for nine of the 44 parameters. For the remaining 35, only one was monitored for a full year. Before, after, control, impact, paired sampling (BACIP) monitoring designs were used for 24 of the 44 parameters, and power analysis in 10. The scientific quality of monitoring was significantly better for developments subject to control by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). The key factor appears to be the way in which GBRMPA uses external referees and manages external consultants. The GBRMPA model merits wider adoption.     

我国废塑料油化技术的应用现状与前景

介绍了我国废塑料油化技术的现状,对废塑料的热解法、热解－催化改质法、催化热解法3种基本方法进行了经济技术评价,对建立废塑料油化工厂的原料收集体系及运输距离、建厂规模、生产过程中存在的二次污染问题进行了分析,探讨了控制污染的方案,对制定相关的政策和法律提出了建议,探讨了具有我国特色的废塑料油化技术发展及应用之路。     

我国环境污染导致健康损害的赔偿保障体系思考

本文就我国现有法律法规体系、技术现状及组织体系进行剖析。结果表明,我国环境污染导致健康损害赔偿的法律支撑体系严重不足,亟需出台适合我国国情的《环境损害赔偿法》,从法律层面对整个健康损害的赔偿保障体系进行明确指导。针对现有健康损害赔偿的技术支撑体系严重缺乏、认定机构的人员队伍建设薄弱等现状,本文提出应加大相关组织队伍建设,以提高环境损害的技术支撑能力。此外,还需要建立一个更高级别的专业的环境健康污染损害、赔偿与协调机构。该机构应是由国家多部门(环境保护部、保监会、财政部、卫生部、司法部等)共同认可的第三方仲裁机构,且具备独立的性质,负责污染导致的损失评估、责任认定、事故处理、资金赔付等各项仲裁工作。     

Time delay,complexity and support for taxation

People often experience the benefits of taxation over time. We design an intertemporal market experiment with negative externalities to examine how delaying the benefits of taxation affects support for taxes. We find that when negative externalities occur immediately, people learn to adopt Pigouvian taxes, which are aimed at reducing negative externalities and restoring market efficiency. By contrast, when negative externalities are delayed, people are less receptive to taxation. This effect persists over time. Our data reveal that the strong negative delay effect can be explained in large part by narrow bracketing and the increased perceived complexity of the environment, rather than by time discounting per-se. We argue and demonstrate that increasing the transparency of intertemporal tradeoffs can effectively promote support for taxation.