胶合竹材单面受火炭化及温度场试验研究

格鲁班(Glubam)胶合竹材作为一种新型建筑材料,研究其耐火性能并与木材进行比较,对胶合竹材单板及杉木单板分别进行了恒温及ISO 834标准升温条件下的单面受火试验,测得了其炭化速率及不同受火条件下试件内部的温度-时间变化曲线。结果表明,胶合竹材的炭化速率低于杉木,其炭化规律与木材相似,即在受火初期炭化层厚度增加较快,炭化速率较大,随时间延长炭化速率逐渐降低,且受火温度越高,材料的炭化速率越大,同时试验测得在标准火灾条件下,胶合竹材受火20 min的平均炭化速率为0.64 mm/min。此外,通过温度场数据的分析比较发现,胶合竹材的传热速率明显低于杉木,其具有优于杉木的隔热性能,且能够满足相关规范对建筑构件隔热性能的要求。     

基于灰色综合评价的通航安全角度下吴淞口建闸方案优选

将层次分析法与灰色关联分析法相结合,评价吴淞口挡潮闸3个备选方案对通航安全的影响。首先通过专家调查法,并对相关资料进行综合分析,确定吴淞口水闸建设工程方案通航安全影响评价指标,然后运用层次分析法计算各指标权重,最后利用灰色关联分析建立灰色评价模型,得到关联序,定量分析各方案在通航安全影响方面的优劣,得出最优方案,为吴淞口建闸方案的确定提供依据。     

空间系绳系统安全性研究综述

系绳技术在空间探测与航天技术领域相较于现有空间技术具有很大优势,随着空间系绳技术的快速发展,其安全性越来越得到关注。首先从理论研究及空间试验两方面对系绳系统安全性的研究现状进行了总结,分析了空间试验的失败原因。其次,详细描述了影响系绳系统安全性的几个因素——空间环境、系绳材料、编制结构、涂层材料及释放机构的设计。最后提出了提升系绳系统安全性的方法,并对系绳系统安全性的研究热点及发展趋势进行了预测。     

Analysis of occupational accidents: prevention through the use of additional technical safety measures for machinery

This article presents an analysis of results of 1035 serious and 341 minor accidents recorded by Poland's National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) in 2005–2011, in view of their prevention by means of additional safety measures applied by machinery users. Since the analysis aimed at formulating principles for the application of technical safety measures, the analysed accidents should bear additional attributes: the type of machine operation, technical safety measures and the type of events causing injuries. The analysis proved that the executed tasks and injury-causing events were closely connected and there was a relation between casualty events and technical safety measures. In the case of tasks consisting of manual feeding and collecting materials, the injuries usually occur because of the rotating motion of tools or crushing due to a closing motion. Numerous accidents also happened in the course of supporting actions, like removing pollutants, correcting material position, cleaning, etc.     

Occupational safety and health education under the lifelong learning framework in Serbia

Serbia is aligning with European Union requirements and the occupational safety and health (OSH) administration is one of the most representative sectors of this alignment. Many efforts were made in this field, by introducing new laws and regulations, but it turned out to be insufficient. OSH professionals need to renovate and strengthen their knowledge in accordance with continuous, updated and improved OSH standards and regulation. Lifelong learning (LLL) programmes can contribute to forming professionals who are always up to date. This paper presents an implemented LLL programme, over the duration of two academic years, dedicated to OSH professionals, and investigates whether this programme will be helpful and accepted by professionals. The results from the study show that the given LLL programme had indeed a positive influence on the professional careers of the participants and that the LLL presents the future trend in OSH education.     

Trends in occupational injuries and fatality in Turkey

Introduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the trend of occupational injuries in Turkey using epidemiologic criteria such as incidence mortality and fatality/all injuries recorded – rates. Materials and methods. Safety and health data were obtained from the Annual Statistic Books of the Social Insurance Institution (1988–2006) and Social Security Institution (2007–2011) of Turkey. Results. The results from the official data showed that although total employment is increasing the number of occupational injuries and incidence and mortality rates are decreasing. The results also demonstrate that occupational fatality/all injuries recorded – rate is increasing. The fatality/all injuries recorded – rate per 1000 injuries increased to 25.5 in 2011 from 8.6 in 1988. Each work day an average of five people died because of occupational injuries. Discussion and conclusions. The fatality/all injuries recorded – rate (the number of fatal cases per 1000 occupational injuries) is an important indicator of the injury rate for a country. Systems of occupational injury and illness surveillance constitute a critical resource for the management and reduction of occupational injuries and illness.     

Motorcycle safety among motorcycle taxi drivers and nonoccupational motorcyclists in developing countries: A case study of Maoming,South China

Objective: An increasing number of motorcycle taxis have been involved in traffic crashes in many developing countries. This study examines the characteristics of both motorcycle taxi drivers and nonoccupational motorcyclists, investigates the risks they pose to road safety, and provides recommendations to minimize their risks.

Methods: Based on the data collected from a questionnaire survey of 867 motorcycle taxi drivers and 2,029 nonoccupational motorcyclists in Maoming, South China, comparisons were made to analyze differences of personal attributes, attitudes toward road safety, and self-reported behavior of the 2 groups.

Results: Results of the chi-square tests show that not only motorcycle taxi drivers but also nonoccupational motorcyclists in Maoming held poor attitudes toward road safety and both groups reported unsafe driving behavior. There is much room for improving local road safety education among all motorcyclists in Maoming. Yet, motorcycle taxi drivers were more likely to pose road safety risks than nonoccupational motorcyclists under some circumstances, such as speeding late at night or early in the morning, not requiring passengers to wear helmets, and running a red light. The results of the binary logistic regression model show that possessing a vehicle license for a motorcycle or not was the common significant predictor for unsafe driving behavior of motorcycle taxi drivers and nonoccupational motorcyclists. Therefore, enforcement against all motorcyclists not showing vehicle licenses for their motorcycles should be stepped up.

Conclusion: Motorcycle safety is largely poor in Maoming. Therefore, efforts to improve motorcycle safety should be strengthened by targeting not only motorcycle taxi drivers but also nonoccupational motorcyclists.     

How do children learn to cross the street? The process of pedestrian safety training

Objective: Pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of child death and may be reduced by training children to cross streets more safely. Such training is most effective when children receive repeated practice at the complex cognitive–perceptual task of judging moving traffic and selecting safe crossing gaps, but there is limited data on how much practice is required for children to reach adult levels of functioning. Using existing data, we examined how children's pedestrian skills changed over the course of 6 pedestrian safety training sessions, each composed of 45 crossings within a virtual pedestrian environment.

Methods: As part of a randomized controlled trial on pedestrian safety training, 59 children ages 7–8 crossed the street within a semi-immersive virtual pedestrian environment 270 times over a 3-week period (6 sessions of 45 crossings each). Feedback was provided after each crossing, and traffic speed and density were advanced as children's skill improved. Postintervention pedestrian behavior was assessed a week later in the virtual environment and compared to adult behavior with identical traffic patterns.

Results: Over the course of training, children entered traffic gaps more quickly and chose tighter gaps to cross within; their crossing efficiency appeared to increase. By the end of training, some aspects of children's pedestrian behavior was comparable to adult behavior but other aspects were not, indicating that the training was worthwhile but insufficient for most children to achieve adult levels of functioning.

Conclusions: Repeated practice in a simulated pedestrian environment helps children learn aspects of safe and efficient pedestrian behavior. Six twice-weekly training sessions of 45 crossings each were insufficient for children to reach adult pedestrian functioning, however, and future research should continue to study the trajectory and quantity of child pedestrian safety training needed for children to become competent pedestrians.     

Seat strength in rear body block tests

Purpose: This study collected and analyzed available testing of motor vehicle seat strength in rearward loading by a body block simulating the torso of an occupant. The data were grouped by single recliner, dual recliner, and all belts to seat (ABTS) seats.

Methods: The strength of seats to rearward loading has been evaluated with body block testing from 1964 to 2008. The database of available tests includes 217 single recliner, 65 dual recliner, and 18 ABTS seats. The trends in seat strength were determined by linear regression and differences between seat types were evaluated by Student's t-test. The average peak moment and force supported by the seat was determined by decade of vehicle model year (MY).

Results: Single recliner seats were used in motor vehicles in the 1960s to 1970s. The average strength was 918 ± 224 Nm (n = 26) in the 1960s and 1,069 ± 293 Nm (n = 65) in the 1980s. There has been a gradual increase in strength over time. Dual recliner seats started to phase into vehicles in the late 1980s. By the 2000s, the average strength of single recliner seats increased to 1,501 ± 335 Nm (n = 14) and dual recliner seats to 2,302 ± 699 Nm (n = 26). Dual recliner seats are significantly stronger than single recliner seats for each decade of comparison (P < .001). The average strength of ABTS seats was 4,395 ± 1,185 in-lb for 1989–2004 MY seats (n = 18). ABTS seats are significantly stronger than single or dual recliner seats (P < .001). The trend in ABTS strength is decreasing with time and converging toward that of dual recliner seats.

Conclusions: Body block testing is an quantitative means of evaluating the strength of seats for occupant loading in rear impacts. There has been an increase in conventional seat strength over the past 50 years. By the 2000s, most seats are 1,700–3,400 Nm moment strength. However, the safety of a seat is more complex than its strength and depends on many other factors.     

Internal short circuit and accelerated rate calorimetry tests of lithium-ion cells: Considerations for methane-air intrinsic safety and explosion proof/flameproof protection methods

Researchers with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) studied the potential for lithium-ion cell thermal runaway from an internal short circuit in equipment for use in underground coal mines. In this third phase of the study, researchers compared plastic wedge crush-induced internal short circuit tests of selected lithium-ion cells within methane (CH₄)-air mixtures with accelerated rate calorimetry tests of similar cells. Plastic wedge crush test results with metal oxide lithium-ion cells extracted from intrinsically safe evaluated equipment were mixed, with one cell model igniting the chamber atmosphere while another cell model did not. The two cells models exhibited different internal short circuit behaviors. A lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄) cell model was tolerant to crush-induced internal short circuits within CH₄-air, tested under manufacturer recommended charging conditions. Accelerating rate calorimetry tests with similar cells within a nitrogen purged 353-mL chamber produced ignitions that exceeded explosion proof and flameproof enclosure minimum internal pressure design criteria. Ignition pressures within a 20-L chamber with 6.5% CH₄-air were relatively low, with much larger head space volume and less adiabatic test conditions. The literature indicates that sizeable lithium thionyl chloride (LiSOCl₂) primary (non rechargeable) cell ignitions can be especially violent and toxic. Because ignition of an explosive atmosphere is expected within explosion proof or flameproof enclosures, there is a need to consider the potential for an internal explosive atmosphere ignition in combination with a lithium or lithium-ion battery thermal runaway process, and the resulting effects on the enclosure.