而今迈步从头越——《安全生产法》征求意见稿学习体会和修改建议

首先分析了我国《安全生产法》的发展沿革,且认真学习了目前发布的《安全生产法》征求意见稿,归纳了征求意见稿还应实现四个重点突破:必须体现以人为本的执政理念;职业危害防治应列为《安全生产法》的重要条款之一;安全生产执法监察应与公共安全及行政管理分离;应对工伤保险预防机制作出明确要求。此外,建议通过《安全生产法》的进一步修订实现我国安全生产的制度化建设:建议逐步建立安全生产分级监察管理体制;推进风险管理制度,对企业实行风险分级与分级监管;逐步提出建立安全生产监察员专业化制度;建立与国际接轨的生产安全事故统计报告系统;强化城市建设土地使用规划的风险管理和安全许可;生产安全事故应急管理应强化应急准备工作;建立独立生产安全事故调查机构和公开公正调查程序;应在《安全生产法》中明确"安全生产委员会"的组织形式和功能;生产安全事故责任追究应与激励政策相结合。     

Bridge building within the province of proactivity

The research questions posed in this study highlight the importance of valuing proactivity in both prompting an individual to engage in proactive behavior and encouraging the expression of that behavior. We integrate a variety of constructs from the proactivity literature to gain a deeper understanding of proactive behavior as it relates to proactive motivation and supervisory performance evaluations. First, we draw upon self‐determination theory, expectancy–value theory, and the recent integration of the proactive motivation literature to hypothesize that proactive behavior is predicted by the interaction of “can do” and “reason to” proactive motivational states. Second, on the basis of performance theory, we hypothesize that the relationship between proactive behavior and performance depends upon the extent to which the supervisor values proactivity. Specifically, we argue that supervisors with proactive personalities are more likely to value and reward subordinate proactive behavior than passive supervisors. Results provide support for both of our hypotheses. Interestingly, results show that proactive behavior did not result in negative consequences but rather that there was a cost (i.e., lower performance rating) for not taking charge for employees with proactive supervisors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Importance of jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas (Orbigny, 1835) in the pelagic ecosystem of the central Gulf of California

The Humboldt squid is an important predator in the pelagic ecosystem of the central Gulf of California and the commercial catch of this species has increased over the past decade, probable due to a decrease of several top predators (sharks, large pelagic fish and the marine mammals) and the optimal feeding conditions in this area. Its high abundance and important position in the pelagic food web was quantified through two trophic models of the pelagic ecosystem of the central Gulf of California. Models represented conditions in 1980 and 2002, to document the decadal changes in ecosystem structure and function. The models were composed of 18 functional groups, including marine mammals, birds, fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and primary producers. Model results show direct negative effects on principal prey groups such as myctophids and pelagic red crab and positive effects on sharks, marine mammals and specifically sperm whales. It thus appears that the jumbo squid has an important role in the ecosystem and plays a central part in the overall energy flow as main food item for most top predators, and due to its predation of organisms on lower tropic levels.     

快开门式压力容器安全管理现状及建议

快开门式压力容器是一种广泛应用于建材、纺织、橡胶、医药、食品、玻璃等行业的固定式压力容器,因其结构的特殊性,对安全联锁保护装置和作业人员操作及应急处置能力要求较高,一旦安全联锁装置失效或作业人员应急处置不当,极易发生安全事故。本文针对快开门式压力容器安全管理的法律法规要求、几种典型快开门式压力容器现状及存在问题,从设计、制造、检验、监管等环节提出快开门式压力容器安全管理措施及建议,以确保其安全运行。     

Effects of release pressure on the transportation characteristics in pipeline and the diffusion behaviors in enclosure space of typical gas extinguishing agent

Reducing the release pressure of fire extinguishing systems can decrease potential safety hazards in large transport airplanes. To explore whether reducing the release pressure can achieve the release effect required by the airworthiness standards or not, the transportation characteristics in the pipeline and diffusion behaviors in the enclosure space of a typical fire extinguishing agent (Halon 1301) were investigated under five release pressures in the present study. The effects of the release pressure on the degree of superheat, injection duration, jet structure, and concentration distribution of Halon 1301 were analyzed. The results show that both of the degree of superheat and the injection duration decrease with an increase in the release pressure. The supplement of bubble expansion in the fire extinguishing agent can slow down the pressure decrease in the vessel. Both of the maximum and mean values of the pipeline differential pressure increase with an increase in release pressure. The maximum value of the jet angle decreases linearly with the increase in release pressure, and the jet deflects upward owing to the effects of buoyancy. The maximum concentration value decreases with an increase in the distance from the nozzle. The maximum concentration values in the near field from the nozzle increase with an increase in the release pressure. Under five release pressures, the concentration and holding time (duration above 6% volume concentration) of Halon 1301 on the centerline of the jet meet the requirements of airworthiness provisions.     

Assessment of the effect of technical and management characteristics on the frequency of release from piping: An application to a gas storage facility

The assessment of the frequencies of release from piping due to losses of containment is an essential step in the preparing Safety Reports, drawn up as required by the so-called “Seveso” Directive. These are usually calculated starting from the frequencies of random rupture included in international databases and are not plant-specific, furthermore, the quantification of the effect of the safety management system of the facility is not easy. A simple and flexible approach quantifying technical and management characteristics of the plant has been proposed by Milazzo and co-workers in 2010; it is based on the modification of the frequency taken from literature, through the use of the percentages of failure causes actually possible in that plant, and the judgment about their management. The data about the failure causes are taken from the literature and modified by using corrective factors to adapt them to the industrial context. To make possible the application of the method to a large number of major-hazard industry types, some aspects of the approach needed to be improved; these have been identified during a development project coordinated by RINA Consulting, on behalf of Saipem, with the collaboration of the University of Messina. The improvement of the approach focused on two main points, the development of a method to calculate the corrective factors for the failure causes associated with corrosion and erosion phenomena and the strengthening of the methodology for the formulation of the judgment about the safety management. This paper illustrates the fully improved method, as well as an application to a typical gas storage plant.     

The effect of contextual information on professional judgment: Reliability and biasability of expert workplace safety inspectors

Introduction: A critical aspect of occupational safety is workplace inspections by experts, in which hazards are identified. Scientific research demonstrates that expectation generated by context (i.e., prior knowledge and experience) can bias the judgments of professionals and that individuals are largely unaware when their judgments are affected by bias. Method: The current research tested the reliability and biasability of expert safety inspectors’ judgments. We used a two-study design (Study 1, N = 83; Study 2, N = 70) to explore the potential of contextual, task-irrelevant, information to bias professionals’ judgments. We examined three main issues: (1) the effect that biasing background information (safe and unsafe company history) had on professional regulatory safety inspectors’ judgments of a worksite; (2) the reliability of those judgments amongst safety inspectors and (3) inspectors’ awareness of bias in their judgments and confidence in their performance. Results: Our findings establish that: (i) inspectors’ judgments were biased by historical contextual information, (ii) they were not only biased, but the impact was implicit: they reported being unaware that it affected their judgments, and (iii) independent of our manipulations, inspectors were inconsistent with one another and the variations were not a product of experience. Conclusion: Our results are a replication of findings from a host of other professional domains, where honest, hardworking professionals underappreciate the biasing effect of context on their decision making. The current paper situates these findings within the relevant research on safety inspection, cognitive bias and decision making, as well as provides suggestions for bias mitigation in workplace safety inspection. Practical Application: Our results have implications for occupational health and safety given that inspection is an integral aspect of an effective safety system. In addition to our findings, this study contributes to the literature by providing recommendations regarding how to mitigate the effect of bias in inspection.     

A methodology for assessment of long-term exposure to whole-body vibrations in vehicle drivers to propose preventive safety measures

Introduction: The appearance of musculoskeletal disorders (MDs) in professional drivers due to exposition to whole-body vibration (WBV) makes it relevant to assess this exposure. The European Directive 2002/44/EC has two methods to evaluate exposure to WBV (defined in ISO2631-1:2008). These methods evaluate the exposure associated with an 8-hour working day; however, MDs due to WBV could also be caused by accumulated exposure to vibrations over long term, and hence, the methods defined in the European directive may be limited in their ability to ensure the safety of workers exposed to WBV throughout their years of employment. Method: A detailed comparison and discussion of methods defined in the European Directive and the ISO2631-5:2018 was used as a starting point of the main results of this paper. On this basis, a new methodology for the management and organization of preventive measures is proposed to consider the assessment of ISO2631-5:2018 standard and the full working life of workers. Experimental data to assess exposure to WBV in heavy equipment vehicle (HEV) drivers under different road surface conditions and range of velocities were considered to illustrate the process of the proposed methodology. Results: The methods defined in the standards provide different assessments leading to a different possible consideration of safe operations when the risks associated with them may actually be high. The proposed methodology can be used with the aim of ensuring safety of workers throughout their working lives and providing an easy implementation of the calculations of ISO2631-5:2018 standard. Conclusions: A procedure to assess the health risk probability to which the HEV worker is exposed in terms of the exposure years and a different range of operational vehicle speeds is proposed and exemplified with a study case. Practical applications: This study provides a practical tool for the management of WBV exposure related to work-tasks in HEV drivers. Safety managers should consider the global exposition to WBV throughout their working life, and this research provides an easy tool to accomplish it.     

Injury severity analysis of rollover crashes for passenger cars and light trucks considering temporal stability: A random parameters logit approach with heterogeneity in mean and variance

Problem: The rollover crash is a serious crash type that often causes higher injury severities. Moreover, factors that contribute to the injury severities of rollover crashes may show instabilities in different vehicle types and time periods, which requires further investigations. This study utilizes the rollover crash data in North Carolina from Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) to study the effect instabilities of factors in vehicle type and time periods in rollover crashes. Methods: The injury severities of drivers are estimated using the random parameters logit (RPL) model with heterogeneity in means and variances. Available factors in HSIS have been categorized into three groups, which are drivers, road, and environment, respectively. This study also justifies the segmentations through transferability tests. The effects of identified significant factors are evaluated using marginal effects. Results: Factors such as FWP (farm, wood, and pasture areas), unhealthy physical condition, impaired physical condition, road adverse, and so forth have shown instabilities in marginal effects among vehicle types and time periods. Practical Applications: The finding of this research could provide important references for policy makers and automobile manufactures to help mitigate the injury severity of rollover crashes.