Fun ride or risky transport: Golf cart-related injuries treated in U.S. emergency departments from 2007 through 2017

Introduction: Golf cart-related injuries constitute a substantial source of morbidity, most notably in pediatric populations. Despite the high rate of injuries, there have been no meaningful changes in golf cart design or legislation to reduce the overall burden of these injuries. This study sought to characterize the epidemiology of golf cart-related injuries treated in United States hospital emergency departments. Method: A retrospective analysis was conducted by using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System for patients of all ages who were treated in emergency departments (EDs) (2007–2017) for a golf cart-related injury. Results: From 2007 through 2017, an estimated 156,040 (95% CI = 102,402–209,679) patients were treated in U.S. EDs for golf cart-related injuries. The average rate of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in children (1.62 per 100,000 children) was more than three times that of TBIs in adults (0.52 per 100,000 adults; rate ratio = 2.38; 95% CI = 2.36–2.41) and nearly twice that of TBIs in seniors (1.11 per 100,000 seniors; rate ratio = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.19–1.22). The rate of injuries in seniors increased significantly by 67.6% from 4.81 per 100,000 seniors in 2007 to 8.06 per 100,000 seniors in 2017 (slope = 0.096; p = 0.041). Conclusions: Golf cart use remains an important source of injury for people of all ages, especially in children. As use continues to increase, it is unlikely that golf cart-related injuries will decrease without substantial changes to product design, regulation, and/or legislation. Practical Applications: Use of golf carts pose a considerable risk of injury and morbidity; safety recommendations should be followed.     

A risk reduction approach for academic research labs: A case study on naphthenic corrosion

Academic research and development (R&D) labs are a significant part of academic life. But there can be physical, environmental, and experiment quality risks associated to this activity. Academic labs can present specific experiments, which have associated risks for researchers. Academic labs are also characterized by a high turnover of students and many of them are not fully aware of the level of physical and environmental risks of their activity. Accidents in academic labs with injuries and loss of life are facts that have to be tackled through risk management approaches. The objective of this paper is to present an integrated management approach, tackling risk management and analysis methods. HAZOP (Hazard and Operability Study) and PFMEA (Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) enabled, respectively, the analysis of safety and environmental risks. By quantifying the level of risk according to the type of experiment and the research context, it is possible to provide safety to the system. The resulting Digital Poka-Yoke – a mistake-proofing approach – has brought about the desired quality of results in experiments. The proposed approach was validated through a case study monitoring naphthenic corrosion experiments conducted by the Lab of Surface Electrochemistry and Corrosion (LSEC) at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). As a consequence, this approach is currently in use at this lab.     

A scenario-based study on information flow and collaboration patterns in disaster management

Disaster management (DM) is a continuous, highly collaborative process involving governments, DM organisations, responders, the construction sector, and the general public. Most research approaches to DM include the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) to support the collaboration process rather than the creation of a collaboration process to provide information flows and patterns. An Intelligent Disaster Collaboration System (IDCS) is introduced in this paper as a conceptual model to integrate ICT into DM and the mitigation process and to enhance collaboration. The framework is applicable to the collaboration process at the local, regional and national levels. Within this context, the deployment of ICT tools in DM is explored and scenario-based case studies on flooding and terrorism—examples of natural and human-induced disasters, respectively—are presented. Conclusions are drawn regarding the differences found in collaboration patterns and ICT used during natural and human-induced disasters and the differences between currently available ICT and proposed ICT.     

我国安全专业人员职业化建设现状与分析

我国安全生产形势严峻的深层原因在于安全专业队伍的数量不足、素质不高。有关安全专业人员执业资格的部门规章和地方法规不仅存在交叉,而且法律效力低,这导致许多取得注册安全工程师执业资格安全专业人员在企业得不到重视和重用。参照发达国家和地区安全专业执业资格制度取得的效果和启示,本文提出了实施人才兴安战略的几点对策建议。     

长广七矿通风阻力测定及分析

矿井通风阻力测定是矿井安全管理工作的重要内容之一。本文介绍了气压计基点法的测定原理及测定步骤,并将该方法应用于长广七矿通风系统阻力的测定中,通过对测定数据的整理分析,揭示了该矿通风阻力分布和风量分配的基本情况,并针对存在的问题提出了相应的技术对策,为该矿井实现通风管理的科学化和制订合理的技术改造方案提供基本依据。     

北京市危险化学品安全生产监管监控现状与技术选择

分析了北京市危险化学品的安全生产现状以及监管监控现状,预测了北京市危险化学品的监管监控趋势,为了提高危险化学品监管监控的能力,给出了监管监控危险化学品的优化技术。     

中国安全生产大趋势已进入拐点——生产安全事故宏观预警与发展态势分析

为认清我国安全生产形势现状与发展趋势,作者应用比较研究和预测分析方法,回顾总结了我国生产安全事故历史演变特点,对事故死亡人数、十万死亡率和重大事故发生频率等安全生产指标作了近中期预测模拟分析;结合我国经济社会发展现状,提出了中国安全生产大趋势已进入拐点的判断,并建议在新的历史机遇面前,对安全生产监管模式做重大调整,推进安全生产形势根本性好转,实现安全发展。     

航空公司安全目标控制的研究与改进

通过对航空公司安全目标控制现状的分析,得出了前馈控制中维修隐患查找不力,现场控制中员工自控和领导监督缺乏针对性、安全目标激励作用大打折扣、规章手册不利于查找,以及公司的反馈控制名存实亡等问题。并提出改进意见：针对维修隐患查找提出了新的查找机制;对员工安全指标排序,作为控制和监督的依据;引进目视管理,增强安全目标的激励作用;建议为维修员工提供能够快速查找相关手册项目的设备;使用滚动计划法制定安全计划,并借用其反馈框架,引入因果图查找产生偏差的原因。     

煤矿危险源风险预警与控制的研究

根据现代安全管理的理论与方法,结合煤矿人-机-环境特点和不同煤矿事故的发生机理,对煤矿危险源风险预警和控制的基本理论和方法进行了探讨,提出了基于危险源的煤矿风险预警与控制的一般流程,给出煤矿危险源辨识、风险评价、监控和预警的方法,为煤矿安全管理信息系统提供理论基础。     

一种基于事故后果的重大危险源安全规划方法

介绍了一种基于事故后果的重大危险源安全规划方法。该方法详细阐述了“最坏”事故情景选择、事故后果阈值确定及后果伤害范围划分的方法,以危险源周边人群作为主要脆弱性目标,通过分析事故后果伤害范围和目标的脆弱性级别确定危险源与周边环境的兼容性。另外,以危险品仓储区为例,利用该方法对仓储区可能发生的事故后果影响范围进行计算,对仓储区选址的可行性进行分析。本文提出的重大危险源安全规划方法可为城市土地使用及危险源的安全规划提供参考。