Key factors influencing management decisions concerning safety equipment selection

The construction industry involves many hazardous activities that may expose workers to a wide variety of health hazards. Selection of construction safety equipment is crucial in ensuring workers’ safety. This article aims to examine key factors influencing management decisions concerning safety equipment selection, utilizing exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). A questionnaire survey is conducted in the construction companies in Bangkok, Thailand. The factor analysis extracts 103 sets of data into six key factors – namely supplier agreements, supplier support, personal, equipment design, safety-related policies and cost value factors – with a total of 20 associated items. The AHP results conclude that the safety-related policies, equipment design and personal factors are the most important factors when selecting construction safety equipment. A construction company can use the study results as a checklist to help assess different safety equipment, and to select the best equipment.     

Railway safety climate: a study on organizational development

The safety climate of an organization is considered a leading indicator of potential risk for railway organizations. This study adopts the perceptual measurement–individual attribute approach to investigate the safety climate of a railway organization. The railway safety climate attributes are evaluated from the perspective of railway system staff. We identify four safety climate dimensions from exploratory factor analysis, namely safety communication, safety training, safety management and subjectively evaluated safety performance. Analytical results indicate that the safety climate differs at vertical and horizontal organizational levels. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the multilevel safety climate in a railway organization, presents possible causes of the differences under various cultural contexts and differentiates between safety climate scales for diverse workgroups within the railway organization. This information can be used to improve the safety sustainability of railway organizations and to conduct safety supervisions for the government.     

创建金属冶炼目录需要考虑的若干因素探讨

2014年12月1日施行的《中华人民共和国安全生产法》将金属冶炼单位纳入重点监管,极大提升了冶金有色行业的整体安全管理要求。为便于生产企业、安全监管部门和相关技术服务单位开展工作,国家安全生产监督管理总局组织制定了金属冶炼目录。就目录创建需要综合考虑的若干因素进行探讨。     

亚青会期间南京大气PM_(2.5)中重金属来源及风险

为探究亚青会期间南京奥体中心附近大气PM2.5中重金属来源及潜在的健康风险,于2013年8月3~28日对PM2.5中重金属元素V、Cr、Mn、Fe、Co、Ni、Cu、Zn、As、Cd、Sn、Sb和Pb进行了观测分析.结果表明:受亚青会污染源调控和气象要素影响,亚青会前、中、后不同时期重金属浓度存在差异,亚青会期间各重金属的浓度均值低于亚青会前期.富集因子分析显示Cu、Zn、Cd、Sn、Sb和Pb为重度富集元素,污染程度为CdCuZnPbSbSn.聚类分析表明工业排放、燃煤、道路尘和机动车尾气排放是这些重金属的主要来源.亚青会期间,PM2.5中各重金属通过呼吸途径对运动员造成的非致癌风险均小于1,5种致癌重金属的风险指数均低于致癌风险阈值范围.     

基于因子分析的嫩江重要省界缓冲区水质评价研究

嫩江流域省界缓冲区水质监测与评价,是针对2010年和2015年引起嫩江省界缓冲区水环境质量主要污染物的变化分析,判断主要超标指标为有机生化指标。为进一步明确嫩江缓冲区水质影响关键因子,采用因子分析评价嫩江重要省界缓冲区水质状况。依据因子的荷载矩阵,2010年和2015年的主导因子均累计解释了原始向量80%以上的信息,反映了这两年水环境和污染因子之间的关系。嫩江流域省界缓冲区流域水质状况分析,为今后对嫩江流域水功能区目标管理提供理论支持。     

Characteristics of particulate-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons emitted from industrial grade biomass boilers

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) are carcinogenic or mutagenic and are important toxic pollutants in the flue gas of boilers. Two industrial grade biomass boilers were selected to investigate the characteristics of particulate-bound PAHs: one biomass boiler retro-fitted from an oil boiler(BB1) and one specially designed(BB2) biomass boiler. One coal-fired boiler was also selected for comparison. By using a dilution tunnel system, particulate samples from boilers were collected and 10 PAH species were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry(GC–MS). The total emission factors(EFs) of PAHs ranged from 0.0064 to0.0380 mg/kg, with an average of 0.0225 mg/kg, for the biomass boiler emission samples. The total PAH EFs for the tested coal-fired boiler were 1.8 times lower than the average value of the biomass boilers. The PAH diagnostic ratios for wood pellets and straw pellets were similar.The ratio of indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene/[indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene + benzo(g,h,i)perylene] for the two biomass boilers was lower than those of the reference data for other burning devices, which can probably be used as an indicator to distinguish the emission of biomass boilers from that of industrial coal-fired boilers and residential stoves. The toxic potential of the emission from wood pellet burning was higher than that from straw pellet burning, however both of them were much lower than residential stove exhausts.     

节球藻毒素的紫外光降解研究

为优化节球藻毒素(NOD)光解处理的最佳光源及反应条件,利用自制光反应装置研究了NOD在暗反应、可见光、暗反应+TiO_2、可见光+TiO_2及单独紫外光(UVA、UVB、UVC)处理下的去除效果,继而选择UVC作为最佳光源进行后续实验,探讨NOD初始浓度、温度、p H和光强对NOD去除效果的影响及反应动力学.结果表明:暗反应、可见光、可见光+TiO_2的组合、UVA和UVB均对NOD无显著去除作用,最高去除率约为20%;UVC处理可以快速去除水中NOD,其去除过程符合二级动力学.UVC处理时,pH对NOD的去除无显著影响;温度升高,NOD去除率缓慢增大,但组间差异并不显著;初始浓度越大,NOD去除率越低;光强增大,NOD去除率快速升高,但到达一定临界值后保持稳定状态.3种因素对UVC去除NOD的影响程度由大到小分别为:光强时间温度.光强318μW·cm~(-2)、p H=7、温度30℃、反应时间4 h为最佳处理条件,此时NOD去除率最高,初始浓度为0.1μg·m L~(-1)的NOD几乎被完全去除,残留浓度低于WHO及我国规定的藻毒素含量限值.研究表明,UVC光解NOD安全高效,是一种非常理想的NOD去除方法.     

Identifying the major fluorescent components responsible for ultrafiltration membrane fouling in different water sources

Three-dimensional fluorescence excitation–emission matrix(EEM) coupled with parallel factor analysis(PARAFAC) was performed for a total of 18 water samples taken from three water sources(two lakes and one wastewater treatment plant(WWTP) secondary effluent),with the purpose of identifying the major ultrafiltration(UF) membrane foulants in different water sources. Three fluorescent components(C1, C2 and C3) were identified,which represented terrestrially derived humic-like substances(C1), microbially derived humic-like substances(C2), and protein-like substances(C3). The correlations between the different fluorescent components and UF membrane fouling were analyzed. It was shown that for the WWTP secondary effluent, all three components(C1, C2 and C3) made a considerable contribution to the irreversible and total fouling of the UF membrane.However, for the two lakes, only the C3 exhibited a strong correlation with membrane fouling, indicating that the protein-like substances were the major membrane foulants in the lake waters. Significant attachment of C1, C2 and C3 to the UF membrane was also confirmed by mass balance analyses for the WWTP secondary effluent; while the attachment of C1 and C2 was shown to be negligible for the two lakes. The results may provide basic formation for developing suitable fouling control strategies for sustainable UF processes.     

Analysis of risk factors affecting driver injury and crash injury with drivers under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and non-DUI

Objective: The objective of this research was to study risk factors that significantly influence the severity of crashes for drivers both under and not under the influence of alcohol.

Methods: Ordinal logistic regression was applied to analyze a crash data set involving drivers under and not under the influence of alcohol in China from January 2011 to December 2014.

Results: Four risk factors were found to be significantly associated with the severity of driver injury, including crash partner and intersection type. Age group was found to be significantly associated with the severity of crashes involving drivers under the influence of alcohol. Crash partner, intersection type, lighting conditions, gender, and time of day were found to be significantly associated with severe driver injuries, the last of which was also significantly associated with severe crashes involving drivers not under the influence of alcohol.

Conclusions: This study found that pedestrian involvement decreases the odds of severe driver injury when a driver is under the influence of alcohol, with a relative risk of 0.05 compared to the vehicle-to-vehicle group. The odds of severe driver injury at T-intersections were higher than those for traveling along straight roads. Age was shown to be an important factor, with drivers 50–60 years of age having higher odds of being involved in severe crashes compared to 20- to 30-year-olds when the driver was under the influence of alcohol.

When the driver was not under the influence of alcohol, drivers suffered more severe injuries between midnight and early morning compared to early nighttime. The vehicle-to-motorcycle and vehicle-to-pedestrian groups experienced less severe driver injuries, and vehicle collisions with fixed objects exhibited higher odds of severe driver injury than did vehicle-to-vehicle impacts. The odds of severe driver injury at cross intersections were 0.29 compared to travel along straight roads. The odds of severe driver injury when street lighting was not available at night were 3.20 compared to daylight. The study indicated that female drivers are more likely to experience severe injury than male drivers when not under the influence of alcohol. Crashes between midnight and early morning exhibited higher odds of severe injury compared to those occurring at other times of day.

The identification of risk factors and a discussion on the odds ratio between levels of the impact of the driver injury and crash severity may benefit road safety stakeholders when developing initiatives to reduce the severity of crashes.     

海洋大气模拟环境下电连接器安装防护工艺验证分析

目的研究海洋大气模拟环境下,电连接器不同安装防护工艺方法的环境适应性。方法选取有代表性的电连接器,以不同的安装防护工艺装配在典型结构材料制作的安装板上,在实验室加速腐蚀环境下,验证其不同的防护效果。结果电连接器线缆的不同防护工艺将对电连接器基本电性能造成直接影响,安装板与电连接器接触面的防护工艺不同将对其基体材料的腐蚀程度造成很大差异。结论采用热缩管对连接器线缆进行有效的密封能保护电连接器内部结构,避免腐蚀介质的侵蚀对电性能造成影响,电连接器安装(包括方盘安装和气密螺母安装),应对其安装接触面进行填角密封,且安装板前后两面都需要进行密封。