Allocation of performance shaping factors in the risk assessment of an offshore installation

Offshore oil production is one of the most important human productive activities. There are many risks associated with the process of constructing a subsea well, pumping oil to the platform, and transporting it to refineries via underwater pipes or oil tankers. All actions performed by workers in those operations are influenced by specific working conditions, involving the use of complex systems. Contextual factors such as high noise, low and high temperatures and hazardous chemicals are considered to be contributors to unsafe human actions in accident analysis and also give a basis for assessing human factors in safety analysis. Some failure modes are particularly dangerous and can result in severe accidents and damage to humans, the environment and material assets. Fires and explosions on oil rigs are some of the most devastating types of offshore accidents and can result in long-term consequences. The most typical root causes related to accidents include equipment failure, human error, environmental factors, work organization, training and, communication, among others. The principal objective of this study is to propose a methodological framework to identify the factors that affect the performance of operators of an offshore unit for oil processing and treatment. In this phase, an ergonomics approach based on operators' work analysis is used as a supporting tool. After identification of factors that affect the performance of operators, a decision-making model based on AHP (analytic hierarchy process) is applied to rank and weight the principal performance shaping factors (PSFs) that influence safe operations. The next step involves the use of the SHELLO model to group the main PSFs in elements named software, hardware, environment, liveware and organization. In the last phase, a relevant accident that occurred aboard a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel is analyzed. The allocation process of the factors that affect the operator's performance in risk assessment was developed through fuzzy logic and the ISO 17776 standard.     

PDE accident model from a safety information perspective and its application to Zhangjiakou fire and explosion accident

Accident models can provide theoretical frameworks for determining the causes and mechanisms of accidents, and thus are theoretical bases for accident analysis and prevention. The role of safety information in accident causation is profound. Thus, safety information is an important and essential perspective for developing accident models. This study presents a new accident model developed from a safety information perspective, called the Prediction—Decision—Execution (PDE) accident model. Because the PDE accident model is an emerging accident model that was proposed in 2018, its analysis logic and viability remain to be discussed. Thus, the main contributions of this study include two aspects: (i) detailed explanation of the analysis logic of the PDE accident model, and (ii) case-study examination of the Zhangjiakou fire and explosion accident, a serious accident that occurred in China in 2018, to demonstrate the viability of the PDE accident model. Results show that this is a safety-information-driven accident model that can provide a new and effective methodology for accident analysis and prevention, and safety management.     

Guidelines for life extension process management in oil and gas facilities

Facilities life extension has caught the attention among the capital-intensive industries, like oil and gas. By extending the life cycle of the industrial assets, a wide range of benefits is obtained, comparing with other life ending management strategies. This article first contextualizes the implementation of the life extension concept in the oil and gas industry, showing global data about life extension. Despite the importance of the ageing process, due to its great economic impact and the risk it poses to the production sector, regulatory entities, even in countries more advanced in that sector or that have already experienced the extension process, developed only superficial material about the topic without defining a structured methodology for the assessment of the possibility of useful life extension. The available references do not allow a comprehensive analysis of that possibility, which highlights the importance the methodology proposed. Thus, this article proposes a guideline for the life extension process management, strengthening a framework containing the main evaluation stages, aiming to facilitate the analysis of issues related to ageing and to support the decision-making process. Lastly, real case studies regarding current life extension processes submitted to the Brazilian regulatory body were evaluated against the proposed framework stages, evidencing their lack of necessary details to support the decision-making. Upon the realization that the real cases identified do not allow for the assessment of the contribution and adequacy of the proposed framework in its entirety, the same was also applied to a hypothetical case. The latter was developed based on facts reported by a major operator in Brazil. The result was the determination that the use of the proposed methodology transformed the assessment of the possibility of life extension into a systematic and transparent process, leading to easier and better-founded decision-making procedures, and improving the management of the asset during its extended life.     

强化化工园区中小企业特种设备安全监管的若干思考

本文分析、梳理中小型化工企业特种设备安全管理现状和存在的问题,总结国内外化工行业特种设备安全管理经验,从风险管理内涵、保险机制、过程安全管理、安全主体责任落实等角度,构建化工企业特种设备安全监管思路和对策,为促进我国化工中小企业特种设备安全监管提供一定的参考.     

特种设备安全监察工作新模式初探--以广州市从化区为例

特种设备与我们的生产和生活息息相关,近年来,面对着瞬息万变的市场信息和环境,特种设备安全监察工作遇到了新的机遇和挑战,过去监管模式固有的短板也较为明显地显现出来,作为安全监察部门,构建一个新的监管模式是亟待研究的课题,具有重大的实践价值和意义.本文拟从广州市从化区特种设备安全监察现状出发,初步探究特种设备安全监察工作的新模式,以促进监管方式的转变,提高监管和服务水平,进一步保障特种设备的安全运行.     

The relationship between recruitment processes, familiarity, trust, perceived risk and safety

Introduction and Method

Participants′ perceptions of the safety-related aspects of their organization′s recruitment processes were examined, as were their perceptions of safety aspects associated with new recruits.

Results

One hundred and fifty-four professional fire fighters indicated the trust they held in the safety-related aspects of their organizations′ selection and pre-start training. Perceived trust in pre-start training was negatively correlated (r = -.24, p < .01) with the risk associated with new recruits, and positively correlated (r = .50, p < .01) with ratings of trust in recruits to immediately work safely. Furthermore, trust in recruits to immediately work safely was negatively correlated (r = -.21, p < .01) with crews′ safety behavior toward recruits.

Conclusions

These results are interpreted as particularly dangerous for workers, as new recruits lack familiarity with aspects of their new workplace that cannot be addressed by either selection or pre-start training, making them a risk.

Impact on Industry

Organizations should actively identify new recruits, and encourage existing team members not to immediately trust new recruits to work safely.     

Pedestrian crossing decision-making: A situational and behavioral approach

Among road users, pedestrians are those whose continued trajectory is the less constrained by the environment and by the regulation rules. Consequently, the choice of where, when and how to cross roads are more or less conforming with the awaited behavior. Proceeding with an experimental approach, from observations of pedestrian crossings to the modeling of the decision-making process, a categorization of both environments and of pedestrian behavior is proposed.     

Can level of safety climate predict level of orientation toward safety in a decision making task?

Establishing the relationship between level of safety climate and safety performance is a current challenge. This work examines the relationship between level of safety climate and orientation toward safety in the decision making process and choice. Alternatively, this work seeks to answer the question of whether level of safety climate can predict safety-oriented decision making. A generalized safety climate questionnaire and a decision making simulation are utilized to examine this relationship. The results indicate that level of safety climate is not a significant predictor of the decision process; however, it was found to be a significant predictor of the selection of safer choices.     

The safety policies and practices of community multi-purpose recreation facilities

This research investigated the under-explored area of safety in multi-purpose recreation facilities (MPRFs). Facility managers and other managerial staff (key informants) from four MPRFs in Victoria, Australia participated in semi-structured interviews. Safety was considered important from Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S), business viability and legal liability perspectives but not from a health promotion or public health point of view. Most implemented injury prevention measures required gymnasium and pool staff or users to change their behaviours. Awareness of safety standards was higher for some operational areas (e.g. aquatics, child-care) than others (e.g. gymnasium, group fitness activities). Key informants struggled to keep abreast of legislation changes and they relied on commercial, regulatory, and industry information sources rather than evidence of best practice. Reported factors influencing safety in MPRFs were classified into three types: internal (e.g. training, culture); external (e.g. weather, demographic change); and governance (e.g. insurance, industry standards). Comprehensive, relevant and accessible industry safety standards, which focus not only on OH&S but equally on health promotion principles and public health perspectives linked to injury prevention, are required. Training is needed to reflect these broader and equally important perspectives. Health/injury, fitness/recreation and insurance sector links should be improved to ensure a consistent, sustainable approach to safety.     

基于安全等级的地铁车站火灾人员安全疏散方案及其工程应用

地铁火灾安全特别是大型复合地铁车站的火灾安全得到了广泛关注,合理有效的车站人员疏散方案设计是保障地铁车站火灾时人员安全的关键所在.针对地铁车站人员疏散特点,以人员安全疏散准则和现行地铁设计规范为基础,融合了火灾安全工程学的性能化人员疏散设计思路,分别将事故疏散时间和烟控可用安全疏散时间划分为三个等级,综合形成了四类人员疏散安全等级标准,并在此基础上提出了框架性的基于安全等级的地铁车站火灾人员安全疏散方案设计流程.该流程着重采用了自动扶梯反转及列车辅助疏散等措施提高人员的安全性,并结合某大型复合地铁车站的工程案例验证了该疏散方案的可行性.该文的研究工作可为地铁车站人员疏散设计和应急预案制定提供参考.