Exploration of relationships between safety performance and unsafe behavior in the Chinese oil industry

Safety performance is comprised of two components, safety compliance and safety participation. However, relationships between safety performance and unsafe behavior have not been thoroughly investigated. In this work, scales for safety compliance and safety participation were revised for use in the oil industry, and job burnout scale was developed on the basis of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS). A structural equation model was then employed to investigate the interactions of these factors for 238 front-line oil workers from the PetroChina Huabei Oilfield Company in China. From the results, it was determined that workers' unsafe behavior could not be reduced significantly solely from these two dimensions of safety performance. Compared with safety participation, safety compliance was found to have a greater influence on unsafe behavior. However, job burnout was found to be a significant moderator between these two components and unsafe behavior. Furthermore, it was determined that oil workers' occupational psychological health conditions must be taken into account to improve organizational safety management and reduce workers’ unsafe behavior.     

Voluntary participation for sustainability transition: experiences from the ‘Commitment to Sustainable Development 2050’

Voluntary and active participation by a wide variety of actors is a prerequisite for successful societal transitions towards sustainability. The ‘Commitment to Sustainable Development 2050’ is a national-level initiative in Finland, aiming to mobilise a large-scale transition involving various societal actors through openly communicated commitments to concrete actions. Each commitment should focus on at least one of the eight nationally defined sustainability objectives connected to the global Sustainable Development Goals. This article assesses the implementation and the development needs of the commitment process based on a range of materials. The results highlight the importance of securing adequate resources for long-term coordination and continuous development of the commitment process, trust creation through long-term and open communication, and flexibility allowing for experimentation aimed at finding new modes of interaction between the public and private sectors.     

Rethinking Community-Based Conservation

Abstract:  Community-based conservation (CBC) is based on the idea that if conservation and development could be simultaneously achieved, then the interests of both could be served. It has been controversial because community development objectives are not necessarily consistent with conservation objectives in a given case. I examined CBC from two angles. First, CBC can be seen in the context of paradigm shifts in ecology and applied ecology. I identified three conceptual shifts—toward a systems view, toward the inclusion of humans in the ecosystem, and toward participatory approaches to ecosystem management—that are interrelated and pertain to an understanding of ecosystems as complex adaptive systems in which humans are an integral part. Second, I investigated the feasibility of CBC, as informed by a number of emerging interdisciplinary fields that have been pursuing various aspects of coupled systems of humans and nature. These fields—common property, traditional ecological knowledge, environmental ethics, political ecology, and environmental history—provide insights for CBC. They may contribute to the development of an interdisciplinary conservation science with a more sophisticated understanding of social-ecological interactions. The lessons from these fields include the importance of cross-scale conservation, adaptive comanagement, the question of incentives and multiple stakeholders, the use of traditional ecological knowledge, and development of a cross-cultural conservation ethic.     

Crop Failure in Dalocha, Ethiopia: A Participatory Emergency Response

This case study of an NGO's response to a food crisis due to crop failure focuses on the extent of active community participation at each stage of the project. With the current debate on the relationship between relief and development, and in particular the focus on encouraging more active community participation in relief responses, this study has relevance both in the Ethiopian context and beyond.
In this example the participation process was greatly facilitated by the prior relationship between the international NGO and the communities, and also by the high level of staff input into the project. Where resources or conditions are less favourable, as might be the case in similar responses by local NGOs or government agencies, the paper suggests that the participatory approach can be adapted or partially implemented and still result in a more effective and locally relevant operation.     

Public participation in plastics recycling schemes

Without public contributions, recycling from domestic waste would not be possible. In order to support recycling projects it is important to try to understand who recycles, how they recycle, and why they recycle. This paper presents the results of a structured survey of 500 members of the public served by schemes to collect plastics waste for recycling. Data were gathered on the characteristics, behaviours and motivations of recyclers. The authors also sought to discover how the public perceive plastics compared to other materials, and as a recyclable material. Responses were collected in such a way that the awareness of the recyclability of materials could be compared with the recycling behaviour of respondents. An element of comparison was introduced between those served by a system of bottle banks (bring scheme) and those covered by a household collection (collect scheme). The survey results are reported and their implications for the management of post-consumer plastics waste collection schemes are discussed.     

乡镇企业污染治理设施运转分析

由于环境意识差、投资效益低、内部管理水平低技术人员缺乏、工程质量差和监督管理不力等原因，我国乡镇企业存在污染治理设施运转严重不正常的问题。为此，必须强化宣传、推行清洁生产，开展教育培训，提高管理水平，发展高技术产业，建立运营新机制，同时加强监督管理，以促进其运转率的提高。     

循环经济发展模式下公众参与问题分析

中国循环经济工作的深入开展是一项系统工程,离不开公众的广泛、深入和积极参与.本文首先指出了公众参与在中国循环经济整体发展进程中具有基础性地位的重要作用;继而探讨了目前中国循环经济工作的公众参与方面主要存在着公众对循环经济的认识和参与技能严重不足,参与形式单一、范围较窄,各级政府部门职能尚未予以足够重视,环境资源NG0s较薄弱等障碍性因素;最后提出国家应积极从政策、制度层面来构筑公众参与的平台,并通过宣教、规制、激励等措施来提高公众参与中国循环经济工作的力度和效率.     

环境影响评价中的公众参与现状及其改进建议

通过对30多份环境影响报告书的分析,针对我国目前的公众参与现状及存在的问题,提出改进建议。     

论中国环境影响评价中公众参与的一般模式

公众参与在环境影响评价中的作用是不可替代的,并成为各国环评的基本内容.环评中公众参与的一般模式包括公众享有环境知情权和参与决策权、合适的公众参与的主体范围、明确的公众参与环评的程序和方法以及公众参与环评的保障机制.为更好地发挥环评的作用,应当从实体和程序两方面对法规加以完善.还应在信息公开、立法的完善和配套制度的建立等方面完善环评中的公众参与制度.     

浮水植物水处理简介

为了配合乡、镇发展,须考虑规划兴建大型污水处理厂,以免污水破坏环境;但过往颇多大型污水处理厂出现初投大、使用率低等现像,原因是建造配套市政地下管网涉及更大之投资和复杂的征地、施工等问题,难以配合发展速度解决,或因不明朗因素高估了乡镇的发展需要,种种原因往往导致急速发展的地区浪费国家资源。浮水植物生长迅速、吸收养份的能力特强,美国早在三十多年前应用於处理生活污水,唯因有引起臭味、蚊患等蔽端而未推广,经改良之后受到进一步重视。浮水植物水处理系统大多采用凤眼莲,系统拥有统建设规模弹性、投资小、能耗低和操作易等优点,可作为乡、镇污水处理的一个过渡性选择甚至最终方案考虑。