A unique intelligent approach for forecasting project completion time in oil refineries

This study presents a hybrid approach for accurate forecasting of project completion time with noisy and uncertain safety factors in oil refineries. The hybrid approach is based on artificial neural network (ANN), fuzzy mathematical programming (FMP) and conventional regression. Three indictors, namely, number of occupational injuries, number of employees and ratio of maximum useful hours over useful hour per month are considered as inputs. Also, project completion time is considered as the main output. To achieve the objective of this study, five sets of data with respect to oil refinery construction projects in various cities of Iran are collected and analyzed through statistical methods. It is shown that for the actual case of this study, ANN presents lowest mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). Also, analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to verify and validate the results of this study. This is the first study that presents a hybrid approach for accurate estimation and forecasting of project completion time with complex, noisy and uncertain occupational factors.     

Status and future tasks of coal mining safety in China

In general, contexts of coal mining safety involve technology, administration and socioeconomic environment as well. This paper presents statistical analysis of China coal mine accidents in recent years and analyzes the reasons causing coal mining high risk from technical and socioeconomic viewpoints. Social and economic reform has been unleashing social, economical factors that are driving a fundamental transformation of new workplace safety problems and making China coal mining safety take on Chinese features. Compared with major state-owned and local state-owned coalmines, township and village coalmines are most dangerous coal mines with highest occupational risks. The incidence and death toll of ceiling accidents are higher than those of accidents such as gas, machinery, electricity, transportation, flood, and fire. New organizational risks appeared with rapid development of state-owned coal mines’ reorganization. Low skilled labors restrict both technical renovation and safety management. The Government has adopted a systematic arrangement to improve coal mining safety such as closing the township and village coalmines that cannot meet the standard of safety, reinforcing the supervision over coal mining safety, strengthening technological renovation and enhancing work safety input.     

Occupational accident: An example of fatalistic beliefs among medical waste workers in Bangladesh

This study was conducted to see whether fatalism is an important factor in explaining occupational accidents among medical waste operatives in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Data were collected using a variety of qualitative techniques and included observation, formal and informal dialogue. Sampling strategies included formal representative sampling, purposive and authoritative sampling. Employers did not supply PPE or offer training to their staff. Most workers (73%) did not wear PPE regularly, and a further 18% wore only insufficient PPE. Consequently, most waste workers (95%) reported that they had experienced occupational accidents, mostly (75%) from used needles and other sharps. These observations were associated with fatalistic beliefs among the participants, both managers and employees, who attributed these events to “fate” reflecting their perceived lack of control over such accidents. This study reveals many examples of a lack of organisational awareness that can occur within a culture of fatalism.     

实施清洁生产,预防职业性危害

随着经济的发展 ,环境问题日趋严峻 ,同时由职业性危害因素导致的职业性危害或灾难也日趋增加 ,为了遏制环境的日益恶化 ,目前世界上大多数国家都实施了清洁生产 ,从源头控制环境污染已成为潮流。而在一定的劳动条件下或生产经营活动中 ,职业性危害因素主要存在于生产过程、劳动过程和生产环境 3个方面 ,而企业在实施清洁生产时 ,为诊断企业“不清洁”的因素 ,也要从这 3个方面来识别和评价。基于上述观点 ,笔者提出了结合企业的清洁生产来识别职业性危害因素 ,以预防职业性危害的发生和发展 ,并提出了具体预防职业性危害的清洁生产措施以及用职业健康监护来检验这些措施的效果 ,以实施安全生产 ,保护劳动者的生命安全与健康。     

对我国工伤事故赔偿的研究

研究了我国工伤事故赔偿的现状 ,目前我国事故多发的一个重要原因就是工伤事故赔偿标准偏低 ,导致事故成本低 ;提出了工伤事故赔偿的法律依据、理论基础及计算办法 ;提出了实施意见。     

Occupational safety and health in Spain

Occupational Health and Safety in Spain has improved considerably over the last decade, most likely due to a new concept where an overall concept of safety culture is defined. Important changes in industrial safety, hygiene, and psychosocial factors present an optimistic panorama for the future of Spain. Despite this general improvement, according to the European Convergence Program, Spanish statistics still offer far from good safety results. In fact, according to 1997 official statistics, Spain had the highest incidence rate for nonfatal occupational accidents of all European Union (EU) countries, and occupied third place for fatal accidents. This paper summarizes the organizational structure of the Spanish National System of Health & Safety at Work, its effective health and safety laws, and statistics on the Spanish work environment obtained from III Spanish National Survey on Work Conditions (1997). The researchers hope that the findings of this work will have an impact on Spanish industry that will subsequently bring about improvements in work conditions and develop assessment and intervention models in occupational health and safety, from a theoretical position integrating environmental, human, and organizational factors.     

劳动安全与卫生管理系统标准化及其对我国社会、经济发展的影响

论述了劳动安全与卫生管理系统标准化的由来及其发展状况，分析了管理标准化的作用及其可能对我国社会、经济发展所产生的正、负面影响，并就我国目前情况下如何开展劳动安全与卫生管理系统标准化工作提出了建议。     

职业噪声危害控制的对策——“听力保护计划纲要(草案)”要点

分析了国内职业噪声危害和控制的现状,提出有效控制我国职业噪声危害的途经是制定并执行有效的听力保护计划。还详细给出了“听力保护计划纲要(草案)”的要点。该纲要(草案)是劳动部劳动保护科学研究所根据国内外在听力保护方面的多年经验,并结合我国国情起草的。此纲要(草案)在北京清河毛纺厂试点,业已取得明显效果。     

Health and safety implications of alternative energy technologies. II. Solar

No energy technology is risk free when all aspects of its utilization are taken into account. Every energy technology has some attendant direct and indirect health and safety concerns. Solar technologies examined in this paper are wind, ocean thermal energy gradients, passive, photovoltaic, satellite power systems, low- and high-temperature collectors, and central power stations, as well as tidal power. For many of these technologies, insufficient historical data are available from which to assess the health risks and environmental impacts. However, their similarities to other projects make certain predictions possible. For example, anticipated problems in worker safety in constructing ocean thermal energy conversion systems will be similar to those associated with other large-scale construction projects, like deep-sea oil drilling platforms. Occupational hazards associated with photovoltaic plant operation would be those associated with normal electricity generation, although for workers involved in the actual production of photovoltaic materials, there is some concern for the toxic effects of the materials used, including silicon, cadmium, and gallium arsenide.Satellite power systems have several unique risks. These include the effects of long-term space travel for construction workers, effects on the ozone layer and the attendant risk of skin cancer in the general public, and the as-yet-undetermined effects of long-term, low-level microwave exposure. Hazards may arise from three sources in solar heating and cooling systems: water contamination from corrosion inhibitors, heat transfer fluids, and bactericides; collector over-heating, fires, and out-gassing and handling and disposal of system fluids and wastes. Similar concerns exist for solar thermal power systems. Even passive solar systems may increase indoor exposure levels to various air pollutants and toxic substances, eitherdirectly from the solar system itself or indirectly by trapping released pollutants from furnishings, building materials, and indoor combustion.Operated by Union Carbide Corporation under contract W-7405-eng-26 for the U.S. Department of Energy.     

Comparison of two fatal occupational injury surveillance systems in the United States

INTRODUCTION: Using different methods, two national systems compile fatal occupational injury data in the United States: the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) surveillance system, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). The NTOF uses only death certificates, while CFOI uses multiple sources for case ascertainment. METHODS: Through overall and case-by-case comparisons, this study compares these systems and evaluates counts for the nation and by state for worker and case characteristics. RESULTS: From 1992 through 1994, NTOF reported an average of 84% of the number of traumatic occupational fatalities reported in CFOI. This percentage changed somewhat when a case-by-case comparison was conducted--88% of the NTOF cases were matched directly to the CFOI cases. Although CFOI captured a larger number of fatalities annually, the additional fatalities did not follow a discernable pattern. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: By understanding the distribution of fatalities, targeted efforts to reduce them will benefit all industries.