Accident risk of foreign drivers in various road environments

INTRODUCTION: This paper reports on the accident risk of foreign and native drivers in various road environments in Greece. In particular, the analysis aims to determine the combined effect of driver nationality, area type (inside/outside urban area), junction (yes/no), and lighting conditions (day/night) on accident fault risk. METHODS: Data from the national accident database of Greece are used in a hierarchical log-linear analysis. The induced exposure technique is applied due to the lack of exposure data. Estimated and observed odds ratios are then examined for the quantification of the various effects in terms of relative risk. RESULTS: The initial examination of a saturated model leads to the rejection of all three- and higher-order effects within variables, without providing an adequate fit to the data. On the contrary, a non-saturated second-order model presents a very satisfactory overall fit. The examination of single and combined effects indicates that the most significant effect on accident risk rises from the presence of foreign drivers at junctions. CONCLUSIONS: Results confirm that foreign drivers in Greece are at increased risk. However, immigrant permanent residents appear to have a lower risk compared to tourists, regardless of the road environment.     

A review of driving risks and impairments associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and the effects of stimulant medication on driving performance

INTRODUCTION: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may interfere with driving competence, predisposing those with the disorder to impaired driving performance and greater risk for adverse driving outcomes. Effective treatment may minimize the risk in those with ADHD. METHOD: We reviewed the scientific literature on driving risks and impairments associated with ADHD and the effects of stimulants on driving performance. Several lines of evidence were considered, including longitudinal studies and community-derived sample studies. The present review is based on a weekly review (by the first author) of all journals in the behavioral and social sciences indexed in the publication Current Contents spanning the past 15 years, as well as a search of the reference section of all studies found that pertained to driving risks associated with ADHD or to the treatment of ADHD as it relates to driving difficulties. RESULTS: The review of the scientific literature demonstrated well-documented driving risks and impairments associated with ADHD and the positive effects of stimulant medications on driving performance. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should educate patients/caregivers about the increased risk of adverse outcomes among untreated individuals with ADHD and the role of medication in potentially improving driving performance. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Owing to the significantly higher risk of adverse driving outcomes, the use of stimulant medications to treat people with ADHD who drive may reduce such safety risks.     

Coordinability and consistency: Application of systems theory to accident causation and prevention

Recent works in the safety literature report several fruitful attempts to introduce mathematically rigorous results from systems and control theory to bear upon accident prevention and system safety. Previously, we discussed the implications on safety of the systems theoretic principles of coordinability and consistency, and we identified the lack of coordinability and/or consistency as fundamental failure modes in hierarchical multilevel systems. In this work, we further develop system safety analysis techniques based on these principles. We demonstrate that these principles not only provide a domain-independent vocabulary for expressing the results of post-mortem accident analyses, but they can also be applied to guide design and operational choices for accident prevention and system safety. We develop these ideas with the help of an illustrative case study. This case study represents a broad class of systems where operational policies and procedures of individual stakeholders in the system interact with physical processes such that new system behaviors emerge, and unanticipated safety issues arise. We argue, and illustrate our arguments using this case study, that the coordinability and consistency principles can be developed to deliver a threefold impact on accident analysis and prevention: firstly, these principles provide domain-independent procedural templates and vocabulary for post-mortem accident analysis. Secondly, these principles provide theoretical safety specifications to be met during system design and operation. Finally, these safety specifications can precipitate the formulation of a series of questions directly related to safety-oriented choices in the design, operation, and control of systems.     

基于信息扩散理论的江苏省酸雨风险评估

利用江苏省2008-2013年24个站的酸雨监测资料,分析出2008-2013年江苏省酸雨的强度和发生频率都有下降趋势,秋冬季酸雨发生频率高,夏季最低。基于信息扩散理论对全省酸雨进行风险评估,结果发现:年降水p H值和酸雨发生频率在不同风险水平分布特征较为一致,呈西北-东南逐渐增强趋势;年降水p H值80%的可能介于4.5~5.6之间,呈弱酸性;淮河以南地区酸雨发生频率的风险为40%的概率超过90%。     

Analysis on causes of chemical industry accident from 2015 to 2020 in Chinese mainland: A complex network theory approach

Chemical manufacturing is a long-process industry, where an end product may pass through numerous dangerous and complex steps. In such long chains of coordinated activity, accidents remain common. This study made loss-prevention recommendations for the chemical industry after conducting a review of accident reports and creating a complex network model. A human factor analysis and classification system (HFACS) was used to classify data from 109 investigation reports from the Chinese mainland (2015–2020). Levels Ⅱ and Ⅲ of the HFACS output were fed into a complex network model to generate a map of causes and chains of risk. It was shown that most accidents were directly or indirectly caused by human action, and human factors played a decisive role in occurrence, evolution, and resolution. The model used was visualized in Gephi, and the key cause nodes were identified by their topological characteristics. A modularity algorithm was used to derive the community structures and segment the network map. Crucial nodes in each community were compared with factors for each class in the HFACS model. It was also found that there was a biasing factor in the causal processes of explosive accidents and poisoning and asphyxiation accidents according to the associations classified by modularity. Risk abatement strategies were proposed for the crucial factors.     

香港特区电梯事故管理机制研究

香港特区是典型的经济发达地区,电梯安全管理水平达到世界先进。通过学习香港电梯安全管理和事故管理经验,研究电梯的安全条例、守则中电梯各相关方的职责、电梯事故的管理机制,分析香港特区电梯典型的事故技术调查报告和历年的事故统计数据,有利于加强内地与香港特区之间的技术和管理方面的深入交流,有助于给出进一步提升国家电梯安全和应急管理水平的有效措施和建议。     

Accident in a French dynamite factory: An example of an organisational investigation

The 27th of March 2003, an explosion caused the death of four employees in a Nitrochimie pyrotechnic plant, at Billy Berclau, in the north of France. Following the accident, the ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development appointed INERIS to perform an investigation. According to the terms of reference, the investigation would cover technical (origins of the explosion, extent of damages) as well as organisational issues, as defined by SEVESO II safety management system requirements. This paper has a threefold purpose. It intends first to illustrate with an empirical case the current trend in safety auditing and accident investigation, targeting organisational factors, alongside human factors. There are not so many published cases of accidents analysed with an organisational perspective. Secondly, it shows that it is possible to investigate organisational dimensions (through articulation of safety engineering, safety management and human and social sciences) within reasonable time frames and a reasonable amount of resources. By focusing on key actors and asking appropriate questions related to key dimensions, investigating organisational accidents might not necessarily imply spending much more resources than other steps such as damage assessment, chronological construction or identification of technical scenarios, although there are also some prerequisite conditions needed to achieve this. Finally this paper should be seen as a technical communication beyond the pyrotechnic industry.     

Project level analysis of special trade contractor fatalities using accident investigation reports

Introduction

Construction is among the most dangerous industries in the United States accounting for thousands of fatalities every year. Although there is data available on high risk work types and areas, the project-level detail is not readily available.

Method

This paper uses the accident investigation reports to categorize project types and presents project level analysis of 350 fatal accidents for special trade contractors.

Results

The results showed that Residential and Commercial projects lead the fatalities where Falls are observed as the leading cause. However, when the fatality causes and project categories are analyzed for each work type, the results showed different fatality cause proportions for each project type.

Impact on Industry

Project level analysis approach has a direct impact on identifying high risk work types and areas for special trade contractors by making it possible to focus the prevention and intervention efforts more accurately, while highlighting training and education needs.     

手提式砂轮机操作事故的产生与预防

从人机系统的观点出发,对两起手提式砂轮机伤人事故进行了分析,找出了产生事故的原因,分析了人机系统与事故的关系,提出了预防措施,给出了操作要领。     

浅析事故上报处理工作中存在的问题和原因

针对事故上报处理工作中存在的问题和原因,提出了几条解决问题的对策。