Risk Assessment in the Working Environment in Estonia

The first step to chart hazards in the working environment in Estonia (labour force: 0.65 million) was taken by the National Board of Health Protection in the beginning of 1996.

The existing chemical, physical, and biological agents in the working environment were investigated with the help of local health inspectors in all counties. An identification of hazards and workers at risk was carried out. The results of the analysis showed that 16% of Estonian industrial workers are exposed to different hazards: 20,000 persons are exposed to noise, 11,000 are working in the conditions of vibration, 10,000 are affected by unsatisfactory microclimate, 6,000 complain about long-lasting work in a compulsory posture, the overexertion of eyes is suffered by 5,500 persons, and physical overload by 3,500 workers. In the group of chemical hazards the greatest numbers of workers are exposed to organic dust (6,500) and welding aerosols (5,400), followed by petroleum products (2,700), and oil-shale dust (4,300). The measurements of working conditions showed that an average of 30.3% of the results are above the standards. Proposals for the improvement of the situation in occupational safety and health are presented.     

Learning to Drive: Learners’ Self-Reported Cognitive Failure Level Predicts Driving Instructor’s Observation Rating of Driving Performance

Objectives. Evidence increases that cognitive failure may be used to screen for drivers at risk. Until now, most studies have relied on driving learners. This exploratory pilot study examines self-report of cognitive failure in driving beginners and error during real driving as observed by driving instructors. Methods. Forty-two driving learners of 14 driving instructors filled out a work-related cognitive failure questionnaire. Driving instructors observed driving errors during the next driving lesson. In multiple linear regression analysis, driving errors were regressed on cognitive failure with the number of driving lessons as an estimator of driving experience controlled. Results. Higher cognitive failure predicted more driving errors(p < .01) when age, gender and driving experience were controlled in analysis. Conclusions. Cognitive failure was significantly associated with observed driving errors. Systematic research on cognitive failure in driving beginners is recommended.     

Hearing Protectors: Topicality and Research Needs

Occupational noise specialists do not generally recommend hearing protection devices (HPDs) as a preferred solution to noise risk prevention. Nevertheless, these devices are widely used and are in fact often necessary. Selection of an HPD should take into account comfort and the capacity for perceiving external signals, when they are worn. Current European regulations require that HPD attenuation be considered, when comparing noise exposure to limit values. However, HPD attenuation is effectively unknown under real-world conditions. Some methods are designed to give approximate attenuation values and these provide results within a wide statistical range. Field measurement methods and current standards have been developed to deal with this situation. The specific characteristic of impulse noise requires establishment of dedicated criteria and tools for HPD selection and testing. This paper introduces a number of avenues for research, which could be of assistance in improving HPD selection, qualification and design.     

A Study on the Combined Effect of Noise and Vibration on Operators’ Performance of a Readability Task in a Mobile Driving Environment

This paper presents a study in which the main objective was to investigate the combined effect of noise and vibration on the performance of a readability task in a mobile driving environment. Subjects performed a readability task on a laptop computer in a sitting posture with their backs supported with a backrest under varying levels of noise and vibration. The data in terms of the mean number of characters read per minute were collected and statistically analyzed. Results showed that the individual effect of noise, vibration, and the operators’ gender as well as the interaction between gender and noise, and gender and vibration were statistically significant. However, the combined effect of noise and vibration was not found to be statistically significant. Results also indicated that gender was statistically significant at all levels of noise as well as vibration, and noise and vibration were statistically significant at both levels of gender.     

跨江桥梁项目环境风险概率计算及影响因素分析

跨江大桥项目由于存在对跨越水体水环境影响的特征,故而应该就风险概率的限制因素进行深入的分析.跨江桥梁对项目区域水环境风险产生的最大可信事故是危化品在跨越水体时发生事故进而产生侧翻、坠河、泄露等引起的对水环境的影响,本次研究在对项目区域交通事故基础数据统计的基础上,计算得到了具有代表性的事故概率基数,并在综合考虑了车型比、道路线形特征、事故区域及形态比例、防护措施等各项限制因素的情况下,计算出了大桥项目发生最大可信事故的概率.     

天然气增压站噪声和振动治理效果分析

分析了天然气增压站噪声的主要来源,在阐述降噪原理的基础上,根据增压站所在地区实际情况,采用更换消声器、修建减振沟、修建降噪厂房、优化降噪厂房墙体等不同措施,结合治理前后噪声监测数据分析,对不同措施降噪减振的效果进行评价,同时综合了采取不同措施的合理性,为类似增压站噪声和振动治理提供借鉴。     

轿车前制动噪声降噪方案研究

本文针对轿车出现的前制动噪声问题进行了研究和改进,以及采取改进方案后是否会对制动性能造成影响进行了系统的阐述。     

内燃机噪声测试室的设计与研究

在声学研究分析的基础上,阐述了内燃机噪声测试室的工程设计要点,论证了噪声测试室与试车室共用的可行性。     

湖北省主要城市交通噪声污染趋势与控制

依据武汉、黄石、宜昌、荆州、十堰、襄樊六城市10年监测的数据,在此基础上,运用Daniel统计检验方法,分析湖北省主要城市交通噪声变化趋势、污染因素,并提出控制对策。     

混合交通条件下行人左侧通行的安全性研究

听觉是人接受外部刺激的重要信息通道,然而实验表明,行人依靠听觉察觉身后危险的能力很弱,在道路混合交通条件下容易出现行人未及时发现身后驶来的车辆而引发交通事故。由于我国实行车辆靠右侧通行制度,因此,在目前机动车行驶噪声日益受到严格控制的情况下,让行人在混合交通的道路上靠道路的左侧通行,可以使其始终与距离自己最近的车辆保持相互面向,从而充分利用行人视觉对道路危险的良好感知能力,增强行人躲避危险的主动性,减少行人与车辆之间的危险冲突及事故发生。