Ranking of process safety cultures for risk-based inspections using indicative safety culture assessments

Although major hazard industries have no legal obligations to demonstrate a good safety culture, it is an increasingly important factor for risk-based inspections. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a relatively simple method for external indicative assessment of the process safety culture in major hazard industries. As a first step, a tool was developed. Second, the tool was successfully tested in a workshop with major hazard inspectors. After this ‘proof of concept’ and a few adaptations to improve the tool, quantitative evaluation and validation were carried out with a representative sample of major hazard inspectors in the Netherlands. In this stage, the tool comprised 30 questions, of which 19 sufficiently frequent valid responses were given for the validity test. The evaluations demonstrate that without specific preparations, inspection teams can use the tool to discriminate between plants with poor or good safety cultures. That is sufficient for ranking as additional input for risk-based inspection strategies. The resulting indicative ‘scores’ for safety culture correlate meaningfully with the quality of process safety management systems and the number of (legal) non-compliances, which were identified by the inspection team at the same occasion. The use of the tool can be further improved by training inspectors, making minor adaptations of the inspection process, and broadening the scope of a few questions. It is expected that external assessments of safety culture will become increasingly important not only for inspectorates, but also for a range of other external stakeholders.     

Thermal safety assessment for solid organic peroxides

The thermal hazards of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO), self-reactive chemicals are identified and characterized using high-pressuredifferential scanning calorimeter, and simultaneous thermogravimetric analyzer, a C80 micro-calorimeter is used. The apparent exothermic onset temperature of DCP is found to be between the range of 112–122 °C for different heating rates in DSC tests. There are two coupled peaks of BPO around 105 °C at both the heating rates of 4.0 and 8.0 °C/min while no endothermic peak showed at lower heating rates. Furthermore, another endothermic peak appears immediately after the exothermic peak at about 211 °C of DCP under high-pressure conditions. For BPO, the endothermic peak before the exothermic peak disappears as the pressure increases to 1.0 and 1.5 MPa. The average values of apparent activation energy calculated by Flynn-Wall-Ozawa and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose methods during the conversion rate between 15 and 75% of DCP are 80.69 and 74.05 kJ/mol, and that of BPO are 119.96 and 112.93 kJ/mol, respectively. According to the isothermal tests, the thermal decomposition of DCP behaviors is an n-th order reaction while BPO conforms to the laws of autocatalytic reaction.     

烟草粉尘的双重危害及防治技术

基于烟草粉尘的物理、化学特性,对烟草粉尘的职业病危害与粉尘爆炸双重危害进行了分析,提出了从"人、机、环、管"4个方面开展烟草粉尘的收集、清扫、治理、监测等烟草粉尘防治工作。通过建立除尘系统、佩戴防尘口罩、定期浓度检测,尽可能降低环境中的烟草粉尘浓度,减少生产过程中的吸入量,可以避免职业性危害;通过采用防爆、隔爆、泄爆设备设施、规范操作行为、实时在线监测,控制烟草粉尘的爆炸风险,尽可能降低爆炸事故发生的可能性或爆炸产生的不良影响,从而降低烟草粉尘的职业病危害与粉尘爆炸双重危害。     

Exploring risk,resistance and the power of myths among coastal fishing communities in Kerala,India

This paper attempts to capture the socially constructed nature of risk by analyzing the discourses embedded in community beliefs, myths and experiential narratives regarding coastal hazards and fishworkers' livelihoods. This paper draws insights from the works of James Scott on power and resistance in the everyday life of marginalized populations. Qualitative data for the study was collected using semi‐structured interview schedules, in‐depth group interviews, oral histories and storytelling across twenty marine fishing villages in Kerala. A significant finding of the study is that the communal discourse of coastal hazards or kolu is an integral part of fishworkers' resistance against formal authority and scientific knowledge systems in coastal management. The myths and beliefs of fishworkers are expressions of their concerns about present forms of development and coastal resource management.     

我国S02污染、危害及控制技术

分析了我国大气中SO2的污染现状、来源及危害,阐述了现阶段SO2防治技术。认为还应加强其他方面的管理,如完善法律法规等。     

强降雨在滑坡发育中的关键控制机理及典型实例分析

通过构建水动力作用模型,对降雨的激发控制作用进行分析,得出水动力控制机理的结论:强降雨控制滑坡发育,集中表现在改变土体的静水压力、动水压力与浮托力的作用三方面.选取重庆市黔江流水湾滑坡为典型实例,对强降雨的激发控制作用进行验证,强降雨的水动力作用过程分为坡体剪切、滑动开始、剧烈滑动三个不同阶段.最后,提出久旱过后强降雨...     

某熔模铸造企业职业病危害因素调查及检测结果分析

通过开展现场卫生学调查、职业病危害因素检测和职业健康体检的方法,对熔模铸造企业职业病危害因素分布及其健康影响进行了研究。调查结果表明：该企业作业场所存在粉尘、噪声、高温、石蜡烟等多种职业病危害因素,并已对作业人员健康造成损害。其中矽尘、高温等职业病危害因素超标严重;制壳、熔炼、浇铸等岗位的职业病危害严重,需重点加以治理。     

The successes and challenges of implementing high reliability principles: A case study of a UK oil refinery

Research conducted on organisations that are able to sustain excellent safety records over long time periods suggests that there are a number of practices that organisations can adopt to achieve high levels of reliability and safety. These practices are often discussed in the context of major incidents to highlight the safety standards that high hazard organisations should try to emulate. However, previous research has predominantly focused on non-profit organisations, and comparatively little research has examined whether high reliability practices may be meaningfully applied to commercial contexts. This paper addresses this gap by using a qualitative approach to explore the types of reliability-enhancing practices implemented in a UK-based oil refinery in its attempt to achieve its ethos of ‘safe and reliable operations’. The findings illustrate the successful application of reliability-enhancing practices in several domains, including: hazard identification and control; emergency preparedness and collection; and analysis of incidents and near misses. Management commitment to safety emerged as an important factor underpinning the successful implementation of reliability-enhancing practices, highlighting its potential significance in the context of commercial organisations. However, promoting an open reporting culture and maintaining high levels of management visibility may be some of the challenges encountered by organisations striving to implement reliability-enhancing practices.     

Global process industry initiatives to reduce major accident hazards

In the past 10 years, the vapor cloud explosion at Texas City, the ammonium nitrate explosion in Toulouse, a pipeline disaster in Belgium, and three near total loss events in Norway have highlighted that major accident process safety is still a serious issue. Hopes that PSM or Safety Case regulations would reduce process events by 80% have not proven true. The Baker Panel, convened after Texas City developed a series of recommendations, mainly around leadership, incentives, safety culture and more effective implementation of PSM systems. Many US-based companies are working hard to implement the Baker recommendations. In Europe, an approach built around safety barriers, especially relating to technical safety systems, is being widely adopted.The author’s company has carried out a global survey of process industry initiatives, for both upstream and downstream activities, to identify what the industry itself is planning to enhance process safety in the next 5-10 years. This paper presents a summary of some of the major programs and initiatives as apply to traditional oil majors, newer national oil companies, and the chemical industry. These are a mixture of Baker recommendations, barrier approaches and tighter integration of process safety and asset integrity. While the factor of 10 improvement achieved in occupational safety over the past 20 years seems unattainable for process safety, a factor of 3-4 improvement in the next 20 years does seem possible. This would call for significant effort on the part of operators, but the benefits fully justify the effort.     

生产企业职业卫生管理信息系统开发

针对目前生产企业职业卫生管理工作中的具体情况,从企业职业卫生管理的特点出发,基于促进企业职业卫生管理标准化、信息化和实现职业卫生监管网络化的目的,进行了企业职业卫生管理信息系统的功能设计和系统模块化设计,并结合系统开发的要求,选定VB作为开发语言,SQL Server 2000为后台数据库对系统进行了开发.系统经试点运...