Exposure to fall hazards and safety climate in the aircraft maintenance industry

PROBLEM: Falls represent a significant occupational hazard, particularly in industries with dynamic work environments. This paper describes rates of noncompliance with fall hazard prevention requirements, perceived safety climate and worker knowledge and beliefs, and the association between fall exposure and safety climate measures in commercial aircraft maintenance activities. METHODS: Walkthrough observations were conducted on aircraft mechanics at two participating facilities (Sites A and B) to ascertain the degree of noncompliance. Mechanics at each site completed questionnaires concerning fall hazard knowledge, personal safety beliefs, and safety climate. Questionnaire results were summarized into safety climate and belief scores by workgroup and site. Noncompliance rates observed during walkthroughs were compared to the climate-belief scores, and were expected to be inversely associated. RESULTS: Important differences were seen in fall safety performance between the sites. The study provided a characterization of aircraft maintenance fall hazards, and also demonstrated the effectiveness of an objective hazard assessment methodology. Noncompliance varied by height, equipment used, location of work on the aircraft, shift, and by safety system. DISCUSSION: Although the expected relationship between safety climate and noncompliance was seen for site-average climate scores, workgroups with higher safety climate scores had greater observed noncompliance within Site A. Overall, use of engineered safety systems had a significant impact on working safely, while safety beliefs and climate also contributed, though inconsistently. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The results of this study indicate that safety systems are very important in reducing noncompliance with fall protection requirements in aircraft maintenance facilities. Site-level fall safety compliance was found to be related to safety climate, although an unexpected relationship between compliance and safety climate was seen at the workgroup level within site. Finally, observed fall safety compliance was found to differ from self-reported compliance.     

复杂事件事故树“人-机-环”简易展开模型及应用

为了寻找编制复杂事件事故树时中间事件的展开方式,采用理论分析的方法,剖析事故原因,发现事故的发生均是事故致因理论中"人-机-环"三因素作用导致的。基于此,根据系统分割准则和事故致因理论,研究了一种事故树基本展开型式,提出事故树编制时的"二分法"原则,建立了通用的事故树简易展开模型。利用模型将事故的"人-机-环"三因素分析方法应用于高处坠落这一事件的事故树分析中,确定了高处坠落事故的主要影响因素,编制出包含7个中间事件和11个基本事件的高处坠落事故树。研究表明,模型可有效实现复杂事件事故树的编制及影响因素分析,研究结论将传统的"因素分析"从定性向半定量方向推进了一步。     

Assessing urban habitat quality based on specific leaf area and stomatal characteristics of Plantago lanceolata L

This study has evaluated urban habitat quality by studying specific leaf area (SLA) and stomatal characteristics of the common herb Plantago lanceolata L. SLA and stomatal density, pore surface and resistance were measured at 169 locations in the city of Gent (Belgium), distributed over four land use classes, i.e., sub-urban green, urban green, urban and industry. SLA and stomatal density significantly increased from sub-urban green towards more urbanised land use classes, while the reverse was observed for stomatal pore surface. Stomatal resistance increased in the urban and industrial land use class in comparison with the (sub-) urban green, but differences between land use classes were less pronounced. Spatial distribution maps for these leaf characteristics showed a high spatial variation, related to differences in habitat quality within the city. Hence, stomatal density and stomatal pore surface are assumed to be potentially good bio-indicators for urban habitat quality.     

大气降尘测定中蒸发方式的选择

为了加快大气降尘样品的蒸发速度和报出数据的及时,经过分析总结,得出蒸发样品的步骤为:先电热套蒸发再水浴蒸发最后用电热板蒸发,这样既可以节省时间,又可以节约能耗,避免样品在空气中放置时间过长,空气中的尘粒进入样品中,影响样品测定的结果。     

一起特大冒顶事故被困人员成功抢救经验探析

本文详细介绍了四老沟矿14-3号层303盘区2309巷道冒顶事故抢救所采取的措施,并对冒顶原因进行了分析。事故发生后,采用生命探测仪探测到了被困区域还有生命迹象,对抢救工作提出了更好要求;合理调整了通风系统,避免了被困人员窒息或中毒死亡;向被困区域打钻孔,给被困人员送进了牛奶等食物,避免了被困人因饥渴而死亡;快速掘进救人通道,救出被困人员。由于决策科学、果断,措施得力,才使得8名被困人员全部脱险。详细分析了事故的原因,一是采用锚杆、无腿工字钢梁联合支护设计不合理;二是施工中存在锚杆预紧力低、托钩外露长度超长、工字钢棚数量不足等问题;三是上覆14-2号煤层采空区岩层活动及8309回采面开采动压对巷道造成了很大的影响。最后,对预防类似事故发生所采取的措施和建议做出了结论。     

三峡工程蓄水对澎溪河回水区CODMn、NH3-N和TP综合衰减系数的影响

三峡工程蓄水导致支流回水区水流缓滞,从而影响污染物的扩散、降解,使水质发生变化.为研究三峡调蓄水位的变化及其对污染物综合衰减系数的影响,以澎溪河回水区渠口至河口段为研究区域,根据水文和水质监测资料,采用DHI MIKE21的水动力模型和ECOlab水质模型进行计算.结果表明:蓄水前的天然状态下,CODMn、NH3-N和TP综合衰减系数分别为0.130～0.250 d-、0.110～0.180d-1和0.080～0.130 d-1;蓄水后的调蓄状态下,CODMn、NH3-N和TP综合衰减系数分别为0.007～ 0.016 d-、0.006～0.015 d-1和0.005～0.012 d-.可见三峡工程蓄水后,回水区污染物的综合衰减系数仅为蓄水前的1/20～1/10,需通过控制污染物的衰减速率以达到控制水体污染和水体富营养化的目的.     

科尔沁沙地不同水分条件下植物叶凋落物CO2释放研究

采用可以有效控制环境因子的室内土壤培养试验,对固定沙地土壤不同水分作用下叶凋落物释放CO2的情况进行了初步研究。结果表明：土壤CO2的释放量及凋落物的分解均与土壤干湿情况相关。在添加凋落物与不添加凋落物的处理中,培养前4天的低含水条件下CO2释放速率与中高含水处理相比差异均呈极显著,而4天以后不同水分条件下的释放速率无显著差异。在沙地中,土壤过于湿润或干旱均能够阻碍凋落物的分解。     

Safety Level of Acrobatic Work: A Probabilistic Study

Acrobatic work constitutes an activity during which individuals intervene on buildings, cliffs, towers, and so forth, through the use of mountaineering or speleological techniques. The most dangerous situations occur particularly when ascending a rope with ascenders or roping with a descender. Any free fall or false manoeuvre will result in a strong shock on the belaying system that may cause its rupture. The fatal accident rate (FAR) of a given occupation is defined as the average number of fatal accidents per 10⁸ hrs of exposure to a given hazard. In this study it is assumed that the FAR is proportional to the average number of fall-initiating events, η, per worker and per hour of exposure to the fall hazard. η is estimated to be between 10^-3 and 3 × 10^-3. The maximum values of the rupture probability of the securing systems are calculated for the FAR of acrobatic work to be smaller than the FAR of the three most dangerous activity groups of the construction industry in France. These values allow the varying ranges of the parameters that influence this rupture probability to be determined.     

Test Method for Retractable Type Fall Arresters Designed for Horizontal Use

Retractable type fall arresters are designed to protect against falls from a height of people who need freedom of vertical movement. The practice of fall protection shows that the devices are also used to protect people who work on flat roofs. This application creates quite different operating conditions for the devices. In some situations those conditions can be dangerous for users. The article presents a theoretical analysis of phenomena occurring during a fall arrest with retractable type fall arresters arranged horizontally. The analysis was verified with laboratory tests. The article presents a proposal for the construction of a test stand and a test method for estimating retractable type fall arresters intended for horizontal use.     

Locking of Retractable Type Fall Arresters—Test Method and Stand

Retractable type fall arresters are very effective personal equipment protecting against falls from a height. These devices are used under different atmospheric conditions and in the presence of various types of industrial pollution. For this reason appropriate locking after conditioning simulating extreme conditions of a worksite is one of the essential characteristics of retractable type fall arresters. This article presents the requirements for locking of the devices. A previously used locking test method and its disadvantages are discussed. The article suggests an improved test method and test equipment. Measurement of the test mass acceleration is the most important improvement introduced into the test method. The article shows laboratory tests used to verify the method, which turned out to be a valuable source of information concerning the performance of retractable type fall arresters.