Incidents in manual handling activities

More than 20000 handling manoeuvres in loading or unloading trailers in a large transportation company were observed. The aim of the study was to determine the frequency and nature of the incidents occurring whilst handling. The incidents were recorded and interpreted from a double perspective, namely as risk factors and as activity regulation factors. The study showed that on average, one incident occurred in every seven handling manoeuvres: 71% of them were related to the environment, and 29% to the activity. While numerous, the environment-related incidents were generally without consequences. In this respect, the activity incidents appeared more risky; also, the majority of these incidents occurred during the load positioning phase. The study also showed that loads are re-handled twice as often in unloading as in loading, the frequency of re-handlings varying widely from one handler to another. The reasons why so few of the observed incidents are reported in accident studies and their significance in the understanding of handling problems are discussed.     

聚苯乙烯泡沫芯材的燃烧特性及其在火灾事故原因调查中的应用

利用热解分析、热电偶束和ISO9705房屋/墙角等实验装置测试了彩钢板中聚苯乙烯泡沫(EPS)芯材的热解特性和水平方向的温度分布及整体板材的燃烧特性,结合某乳液公司冷库火灾事故原因调查,分析评价了EPS泡沫夹芯板的潜在和实际火灾危险性,证实了EPS芯材内部的燃烧和热传播为火灾蔓延的主要原因.     

Software tools to support incident reporting in safety-critical systems

Incident reporting systems are playing an increasingly important role in the development and maintenance of safety-critical applications. The perceived success of the FAA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and the FDA's MedWatch has led to the establishment of similar national and international schemes. These enable individuals and groups to report their safety concerns in a confidential or anonymous manner. Unfortunately, many of these systems are becoming victims of their own success. The ASRS and MedWatch have both now received over 500,000 submissions. In consequence, the administrators of incident reporting systems increasingly rely upon software tools to support the administration of their systems. In the past, these systems have relied upon ad hoc applications of conventional database technology. However, there are several reasons why this technology is inadequate for many large-scale reporting schemes. In particular, the problems of query formation often result in poor precision and recall. This, in turn, has profound implications for safety-critical applications. Users may fail to identify similar incidents within national or international collections. These ad hoc approaches also neglect the opportunities provided by recent developments in computer assisted interviewing and in the monitoring of retrieval activities to build models of user behavior. These techniques offer a number of potential benefits. For instance, it is possible to automatically detect potential biases in the way that investigators analyze particular incidents.     

Factors in offshore planning that affect the risk for major accidents

The purpose of this paper is to systematically analyse a typical planning process in the offshore industry from the perspective of causes of major accidents, with the ultimate aim of identifying factors that affect the risk for major accidents occurring. We first study and describe a typical planning process for offshore oil and gas operations in Norway. Then we analyse a number of theories of major accidents, to see how the different theories and their explanations of causes and contributing factors can be of relevance for future plans and planning processes. Finally, we review accident investigations to search for evidence of how weaknesses in planning processes can contribute to major accidents through the above identified factors. Also, we try to identify any additional factors that have not been recognised through the theoretical review. This provides empirical support for the theoretical basis. Thirteen factors which directly or indirectly can influence the planning process causing a major accident potential are identified. These are exemplified through a review of investigation reports. The paper suggests that planning process should focus more on increasing quality in the plans at an early phase, with examples from incidents, and illustrate the relation between planning quality and potential for major accidents.     

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.     

Analysis of work related accidents in the Spanish mining sector from 1982-2006

Introduction

The rate for work related accidents in the Spanish mining sector is notably higher than in other countries such as the United States. It produces a very negative impact on the mining industry. This paper is the report of a study on serious and fatal accidents in Spanish mining from 1982-2006. It is based on the reports of 212 accidents (serious or fatal) carried out by the General Management of Energy and Mining of Catalonia (Spain). Method: The high work-related accident rate in the Spanish mining sector makes it necessary to carry out an analysis and research that can shed light on the causes of this high rate; this is the only way that a solution can be found. The study is based on Feyer and Williamson's analysis of accident causes, as they apply to 212 accidents. The types and causes of the accidents are coded according to the coding system used by the Spanish National Institute for Safety and Hygiene in the Workplace, which allows us to identify a series of direct causes and contributing factors in different accidents. Results If all the causes and factors that are present in the accidents are known, we are able to look for appropriate solutions to reduce them as much as possible. In short, we are able to come up with a series of conclusions that expose the weak links in the management of accident prevention in companies. This is helpful in the struggle to reduce work injuries in the Spanish mining sector.     

Migrating an incident reporting system to a CCPS process safety metrics model

A major chemical company established a formal incident investigation and reporting system several years ago. The original system focused heavily on worker-related injuries, illnesses, and near-misses and was used primarily to track statistics reportable to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This Occupational Injury and Illness (OII) approach has been recognized to be an ineffective tool for measuring, predicting, and preventing process safety incidents. The Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) recently published guidelines on how to establish safety metrics for the measurement and reduction of process safety incidents. The process safety metrics approach relies upon leading and lagging metrics to improve organization process safety. This paper is a case study of the analysis of one organization’s incident database, which represents approximately five years of data from over a dozen facilities. The aim of this investigation was to extract useful process safety metrics from the incident investigation and reporting system, which would be pertinent to the types of process units and process functions at these facilities. This paper will discuss the approach taken to extract process incident information from an OII-based database and present the difficulties of performing an analysis on such a database. This paper provides guidance on how to migrate an existing OII-based reporting system to a program that includes process safety metrics in accordance with industry best practices.     

The prevention of occupational injuries in two industrial plants using an incident reporting scheme

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to examine whether the introduction of an incident reporting scheme with feedback in two industrial plants had an effect on the number of major incidents. METHOD: An intervention design with measurements before the implementation of the incident reporting scheme and two years later was used to examine the relationship between incident rates, safety climate, the willingness to report incidents and perceived management commitment to safety. RESULTS: The results showed that a successful implementation of an incident reporting scheme was followed by a decline in the incidence of major incidents at a Danish metal plant. A key factor in implementing the scheme was top management commitment, which was lacking at another plant, where the implementation of a similar scheme failed. CONCLUSION: Although the study shows some encouraging results concerning the use of incident reporting schemes to prevent occupational accidents, the possibility to draw causal conclusions is limited in the present study, and further studies are needed before the effectiveness of such schemes can be evaluated with certainty.     

Safety issues related to the maintenance operations in a vegetable oil refinery: A case study

The present work was focused on maintenance hazards related to vegetable oil refining. An incident occurred in an Italian vegetable oil refinery was presented to evidence this safety criticality. The incident took place during a maintenance shut down, and was associated to the ignition of the solid residual in a packed column. No fatalities or injuries were reported, but the column was strongly damaged and removed from the plant. A specific experimental characterization of the solid residues accumulated in the column, sampled both from the damaged and undamaged parts of the column, was carried out in order to determine the conditions leading to unwanted combustion of the residues. At the same time, samples taken from the damaged column steelwork were subjected to metallurgical analysis aimed at the thermal and mechanical characterization of the steel, obtaining information about the incident duration and temperature reached during the combustion phenomenon. The study evidenced the need of adequate maintenance procedures and safety management in the generic framework of food industry, identified as key lessons learned.