Occupational injuries of immigrant and Finnish bus drivers

Problem

With baby boomers reaching retirement age, Western countries may need more immigrant workers to ensure productivity. Many studies have suggested a higher occupational injury frequency among immigrant workers, which could considerably reduce their contribution to society. The aim of this study was to examine whether immigrant workers have a higher injury frequency compared to Finnish workers when performing the exact same tasks under the same working conditions.

Method

A total of 176 Finnish and 130 immigrant bus drivers were asked about their occupational injuries during the past 12 months via a questionnaire. In addition, the data contained 134 injuries reported by the transport firm to an insurance company.

Results

There was no significant difference in reporting occupational injuries by self-reporting or by company-records. Because there were more accident-repeaters among Finnish drivers, their injury frequency (114) was higher than that of immigrant drivers (78).

Application/Impact

This study showed that immigrant workers did not have a higher injury frequency than other workers when they worked in the exact same conditions. Immigrant workers can work as safely as native-Finnish workers, when their working conditions and job contracts are at the same level as those of the original population. Immigrant workers can compensate for the shortage of workforce caused by an aging population.     

Disaster policy and nuclear liability: Insights from post-Chernobyl agriculture in the United Kingdom

The recent events at Chernobyl have again brought the issues of nuclear safety to the forefront of the nuclear power debate. Fortunately, our experience with such incidents has been very limited, but it is important to learn as much as possible from such events so as to minimize the cost and effect of any other nuclear incidents, be they small or large. Much of the discussion about the possible effects of nuclear incidents has centered around the human cost in terms of health. While this is undoubtedly of paramount concern, the effect of the release of radiation from Chernobyl on the agricultural resource base in Europe can provide valuable insights on how to reduce the costs associated with the contamination of agricultural areas. This article outlines some of the lessons that can be learned using the livestock-raising industry in northern Wales as an example.     

我国尾矿库事故统计分析与对策研究

基于2001年以来我国尾矿库所发生的66起事故,从事故发生起数、伤亡人数及引发事故的类型等方面,研究了尾矿库事故发生的特点,分析了事故发生规律,并结合我国尾矿库的特点及现状,提出了减少尾矿库事故、改善安全运行状况的建议与对策。     

重大事故应急指挥系统(ICS)框架与功能

本文叙述了事故应急指挥系统(ICS)在处置重大和复杂突发事件中的优越性,提出了事故应急指挥模型可以分为单一、区域、联合三种应急指挥类型,并对比分析了三个模型的特征。介绍了事故应急指挥系统的原型框架以及系统的要素构成,叙述了指挥和行动等各部门的职责与功能及互相之间的联系。     

Incorporating the 2007 recommendations of the International Commission on Radiation Protection into the J-value analysis of nuclear safety systems

The newly released findings by the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) led to a review of the lifetime risk coefficients for fatal cancer used in J-value analysis of nuclear safety systems. The change in life expectancy a safety system brings about by averting a radiation exposure needs to be estimated in order to calculate the safety system's J-value, and this is done following the ICRP's practice of using risk coefficients that are uniform across both genders and all ages in the defined population group (either workers or the general population). The ICRP predicted uniformly lower radiation risks in 2007 than in 1990 on a like-for-like basis, but it was found that the ICRP's new risk coefficients needed to be multiplied by a compensating factor specific to each population when used in calculating the radiation-induced change in life expectancy. Incorporating the new compensating factor leads to a decrease in the J-value calculated of about 5% for workers and 15% for the general population compared with earlier, reported results. These adjustments are not large compared with the uncertainties associated with radiation harm and the economics of installing a safety system, but will strengthen slightly the case for spending on a nuclear safety measure.     

如何预防和处理因停电引发的化学事故

简述了2起因停电引发的化学事故,从危险识别和风险削减方面提出了此类事故的预防和处理措施。     

A criterion for developing credible accident scenarios for risk assessment

Maximum credible accident analysis is one of the most widely used concepts in risk assessment of chemical process industries. Central to this concept is the aspect of ‘credibility’ of envisaged accident scenarios. However, thus far the term credibility is mostly treated qualitatively, based on the subjective judgement of the concerned analysts. This causes wide variation in the results of the studies conducted on the same industrial unit by different analysts.

This paper presents an attempt to develop a criterion using which credible accident scenarios may be identified from among a large number of possibilities. The credible scenarios thus identified may then be processed for detailed consequence analysis. This would help in reducing the cost of the analysis and prevent undue emphasis on less credible scenarios at the expense of more credible ones.