Survey of factors associated with nurses' perception of patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Sun A; Lee, Sui Jin; Choi, Go Un

2011-01-01

To describe the nurses' perception of hospital organization related to cultural issues on the safety of the patient and reporting medical errors. In addition, to identify factors associated with the safety of the patient and the nurse. A survey conducted during December 2008-Jannuary 2009, with 126 nurses using the Korean version of the AHRQ patient safety survey, a self-report 5-point Likert scale. Stata 10.0 was used for descriptive analysis, ANOVA (Analysis of variance) and logistic regression. National Cancer Center in Korea. The means for a working environment related to patient safety was 3.4 (±0.62). The associated factors of duration were at a present hospital, a special area, and direct contact with patients. Among organizational culture factors related to patient safety, the means were 3.81(±0.54) for the boss/manager's perception of patient safety and 3.37(±0.49) for the cooperation/collaboration between units. The frequent number of errors reported by nurses were 1~2(22.2%) times over the past 12 months. For incidence reporting, the items that the 'nurses perceived for communication among clinicians as fair' had a means of 3.23(±0.40) and the 'overall evaluation of patient safety was a good' 3.34(±0.73). The nurses' perception of cooperation and collaboration between units were associated with the direct contact between the patient and the nurse. The frequency of incidence reporting was associated with the duration of working hours at the present hospital and also their work experience. The nurses' perception of hospital environment, organizational culture, and incidence reporting was above average and mostly associated with organizational culture.

Human factors in nuclear safety oversight

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, K.

1989-01-01

The mission of the nuclear safety oversight function at the Savannah River Plant is to enhance the process and nuclear safety of site facilities. One of the major goals surrounding this mission is the reduction of human error. It is for this reason that several human factors engineers are assigned to the Operations assessment Group of the Facility Safety Evaluation Section (FSES). The initial task of the human factors contingent was the design and implementation of a site wide root cause analysis program. The intent of this system is to determine the most prevalent sources of human error in facility operations and to assist in determining where the limited human factors resources should be focused. In this paper the strategy used to educate the organization about the field of human factors is described. Creating an awareness of the importance of human factors engineering in all facets of design, operation, and maintenance is considered to be an important step in reducing the rate of human error

Studying the Relationship between Individual and Organizational Factors and Nurses' Perception of Patient Safety Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farahnaz Abdolahzadeh

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Safety culture is considered as an important factor in improving patient safety. Therefore, identifying individual and organizational factors affecting safety culture is crucial. This study was carried out to determine individual and organizational factors associated with nurses' perception of patient safety culture. Methods: The present descriptive study included 940 nurses working in four training hospitals affiliated with Urmia University of Medical Sciences (Iran. Data was collected through the self-report questionnaire of patient safety culture. Descriptive (number, percent, mean, and standard deviation and inferential (t-test and analysis of variance statistics were used to analyze the data in SPSS. Results: Nurses' perception of patient safety culture was significantly correlated with marital status, workplace, and overtime hours. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that some individual and organizational factors can impact on nurses' perception of patient safety culture. Nursing authorities should thus pay more attention to factors which promote patient safety culture and ultimately the safety of provided services.

Safety culture in the Finnish and Swedish nuclear industries - history and present

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reiman, T.; Pietikaeinen, E. (Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT (Finland)); Kahlbom, U. (RiskPilot AB (Sweden)); Rollenhagen, C. (Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) (Sweden))

2010-03-15

The report presents results from an interview study that examined the characteristics of the Nordic nuclear branch safety culture. The study also tested the theoretical model of safety culture developed by the authors. The interview data was collected in Sweden (n = 14) and Finland (n = 16). Interviewees represented the major actors in the nuclear field (regulators, power companies, expert organizations, waste management organizations). The study gave insight into the nature of safety culture in the nuclear industry. It provided an overview on the variety of factors that people in the industry consider important for safety. The respondents rather coherently saw such psychological states as motivation, mindfulness, sense of control, understanding of hazards and safety and sense of responsibility as important for nuclear safety. Some of the respondents described a certain Nordic orientation towards safety. One characteristic was a sense of personal responsibility for safety. However, there was no clear agreement on the existence of a shared Nordic nuclear safety culture. Sweden and Finland were seen different for example in the way the co-operation between plants and nuclear safety authorities was arranged and re-search activities organized. There were also perceived differences in the way everyday activities like decision making were carried out in the organizations. There are multiple explanations for the differences. The industry in Sweden has been driven by the strong supplier. In Finland the regulator's role in shaping the culture has been more active. Other factors creating differences are e.g. national culture and company culture and the type of the power plant. Co-operation between Nordic nuclear power organizations was viewed valuable yet challenging from safety point of view. The report concludes that a good safety culture requires a deep and wide under-standing of nuclear safety including the various accident mechanisms of the power plants as well as

Safety culture in the Finnish and Swedish nuclear industries - history and present

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiman, T.; Pietikaeinen, E.; Kahlbom, U.; Rollenhagen, C.

2010-03-01

The report presents results from an interview study that examined the characteristics of the Nordic nuclear branch safety culture. The study also tested the theoretical model of safety culture developed by the authors. The interview data was collected in Sweden (n = 14) and Finland (n = 16). Interviewees represented the major actors in the nuclear field (regulators, power companies, expert organizations, waste management organizations). The study gave insight into the nature of safety culture in the nuclear industry. It provided an overview on the variety of factors that people in the industry consider important for safety. The respondents rather coherently saw such psychological states as motivation, mindfulness, sense of control, understanding of hazards and safety and sense of responsibility as important for nuclear safety. Some of the respondents described a certain Nordic orientation towards safety. One characteristic was a sense of personal responsibility for safety. However, there was no clear agreement on the existence of a shared Nordic nuclear safety culture. Sweden and Finland were seen different for example in the way the co-operation between plants and nuclear safety authorities was arranged and re-search activities organized. There were also perceived differences in the way everyday activities like decision making were carried out in the organizations. There are multiple explanations for the differences. The industry in Sweden has been driven by the strong supplier. In Finland the regulator's role in shaping the culture has been more active. Other factors creating differences are e.g. national culture and company culture and the type of the power plant. Co-operation between Nordic nuclear power organizations was viewed valuable yet challenging from safety point of view. The report concludes that a good safety culture requires a deep and wide under-standing of nuclear safety including the various accident mechanisms of the power plants as well as a

The balance between safety and productivity and its relationship with human factors and safety awareness and communication in aircraft manufacturing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Karanikas, N.; Melis, Damien Jose; Kourousis, Kyriakos

2017-01-01

Background: This paper presents the findings of a pilot research survey which assessed the degree of balance between safety and productivity, and its relationship with awareness and communication of human factors and safety rules in the aircraft manufacturing environment. Methods: The study was

Light water reactor safety. Past, present and future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sehgal, Bal Raj

2009-01-01

This paper presents a review of the past, present and possible future developments in light water reactor (LWR) safety. The paper divides the past into two periods: the distant past i.e., before the TMI-2 accident when the main concern was with the design basis, the general design criteria, the concept of the defense in depth, the thermal hydraulics of the large loss of coolant accident (LOCA) and the success of the emergency core cooling system (ECCS), and the near past, i.e., after the TMI-2 accident when the main concern was with the physics of the postulated severe accidents: their prevention and mitigation. The present period is chosen as the translation of the research on the design basis and severe accidents into practical designs of Gen III+ with their core catchers and severe accident management (SAM) strategies, which could, in fact, provide ample assurances of public safety even for very severe accidents. The paper attempts to describe the remaining safety issues for both the Gen II and Gen III+ nuclear plants. The more important safety challenges are being posed by the recent moves of (1) extension of the life of the presently installed Gen II LWRs to 60 years (and perhaps to 80 years) and (2) the large uprates in power that are being sought for the Gen II LWRs. Clearly, the safety margins will be tested by these moves of long extended operations with greater power ratings of the Gen II plants. A prognosis of the emerging development trends in the LWR safety has been attempted with some suggestions. (author)

Organizational factors influencing improvements in safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcus, A.; Nichols, M.L.; Olson, J.; Osborn, R.; Thurber, J.

1992-01-01

Research reported here seeks to identify the key organizational factors that influence safety-related performance indicators in nuclear power plants over time. It builds upon organizational factors identified in NUREG/CR-5437, and begins to develop a theory of safety-related performance and performance improvement based on economic and behavioral theories of the firm. Central to the theory are concepts of past performance, problem recognition, resource availability, resource allocation, and business strategies that focus attention. Variables which reflect those concepts are combined in statistical models and tested for their ability to explain scrams, safety system actuations, significant events, safety system failures, radiation exposure, and critical hours. Results show the performance indicators differ with respect to the sets of variables which serve as the best predictors of future performance, and past performance is the most consistent predictor of future performance

A Study on the Holding Capacity Safety Factors for Torpedo Anchors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luís V. S. Sagrilo

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The use of powerful numerical tools based on the finite-element method has been improving the prediction of the holding capacity of fixed anchors employed by the offshore oil industry. One of the main achievements of these tools is the reduction of the uncertainty related to the holding capacity calculation of these anchors. Therefore, it is also possible to reduce the values of the associated design safety factors, which have been calibrated relying on models with higher uncertainty, without impairing the original level of structural safety. This paper presents a study on the calibration of reliability-based safety factors for the design of torpedo anchors considering the statistical model uncertainty evaluated using results from experimental tests and their correspondent finite-element-based numerical predictions. Both working stress design (WSD and load and resistance factors design (LRFD design methodologies are investigated. Considering the WSD design methodology, the single safety is considerably lower than the value typically employed in the design of torpedo anchors. Moreover, a LRFD design code format for torpedo anchors is more appropriate since it leads to designs having less-scattered safety levels around the target value.

Requirements to amend the main influence factors on the safety culture after fukushima accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farcasiu, M.; Nitoi, M.

2015-01-01

The paper presents a general model that provides a framework for the safety culture assessment, creating the possibility to identify factors that can significantly influence the safety culture. The main safety culture influence factors (SCIF) used by model are the following: regulatory environment, organizational environment, worker characteristics, socio-political environment, national culture, organization history, business and technological characteristics. After the analysis of the deficiencies and weaknesses of SCIFc in evolution of the Fukushima accident, some issues that may become necessities and requirements to change and improve both the safety culture and safety of the nuclear installations were highlighted. For each influence factor were identified some requirements to amend. The results will emphasize the necesity of the human - technology - organization system assessment. Hence it was demonstrated that the safety culture results from the interaction of individuals with technology and with the organization. (authors)

Concept for creating program-technical complex of safety monitoring with system of safety parameters presentation functions on the basis of routine WWER-1000 systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunaev, V.G.; Tarasov, M. V.; Povarov, P.V.

2005-01-01

Prerequisites of creating the software-hardware complex for reactor safety monitoring on the Volgodonsk NPP are analyzed and generalized. The concept of this complex is based on functions of the safety parameters presentation system. It will serve as an interface between operator and technological process and give to operator a possibility to estimate quickly the state of the safety of the nuclear power unit. The complex will be created on the basis of routine reactor monitoring and control systems intended for the WWER-1000 reactor. In addition to existing soft- and hard-wares for reactor monitoring and for analysis of technological archive, it is proposed to create and connect in parallel the new software-hardware complex which ensures calculation and presentation of generalized factors of reactor safety [ru

Presentations of the PTAC driving safety technology forum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

Issues concerning road safety and driver training in relation to the petroleum industry were the focus of this conference. The results of a driving safety survey from the Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada were presented. High risk driver identification methods were discussed along with coaching case studies, including details of continuous and advanced driver training by various industry members. Road hazard analysis was discussed as an effective means of reducing vehicular incidents. The dangers posed by cell phones were reviewed, as well as issues concerning motor vehicle event data recorders and personal privacy. The safety aspects of global positioning system (GPS) enabled fleet management systems were evaluated. Tactical plans for Alberta's traffic collision fatality and injury reduction strategy were examined. An overview of the Schlumberger Canada Driving Program was presented. The systems and processes used within Halliburton Canada to reinforce safe driving behaviors were reviewed. Real time personnel monitoring was discussed, as well as various asset management technologies. It was suggested that new communications technologies for mobile resource management can improve oilfield fleet safety and productivity. The forum featured 12 presentations, of which 8 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database.

Safety and Accountability in Healthcare From Past to Present

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendee, William R.

2008-01-01

Healthcare is transitioning into a new era-an era of accountability. This era demands heightened awareness of the quality, cost, and safety of healthcare, with value (quality/cost) and safety being the watchwords of accountability. Many factors are driving this transition, and it is affecting all healthcare disciplines, including radiation oncology. The transition is accompanied by the transformation of healthcare from a craft-based culture to an information-age culture in which patient needs and information are given top priority. These changes call for new measures to quantify and document the value and safety of procedures in radiation oncology

Organisational factors. Their definition and influence on nuclear safety. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baumont, G.; Wahlstroem, B.; Sola, R.; Williams, J.; Frischknecht, A.; Wilpert, B.; Rollenhagen, C.

2000-12-01

The importance of organisational factors in the operational safety and efficiency of nuclear power plants (NPP) has been recognised by many organisations around the world. Despite this recognition, however, there are as yet very few methods by which organisational factors can be systematically assessed and improved. The majority of research efforts applied so far have tended to be modest and scattered. The ORFA project was created as a remedy to these problems. The objective of the project is to create a better understanding of how organisation and management factors influence nuclear safety. A key scientific objective of the project is to identify components of a theoretical framework, which would help in understanding the relationships between organisational factors and nuclear safety. Three work packages were planned. First, a review of literature listed out the identified factors and methods for assessing them. Then, a draft version of the present report was prepared to clarify the environment context and the main issues of the topics. This draft was discussed at the ORFA seminar in Madrid 21-22 October 1999. During the seminar views and comments were collected on preliminary results of the project. Finally, this information has been integrated in the present and other reports and will be used to give further guidance to the European Commission in the development of forthcoming research programmes in the field. The project has addressed nuclear safety taking a broad perspective, which reflected and took into account the views of senior NPP management and regulators. The questions discussed during the project have been: how can organisational factors be included in safety assessments, how can good and bad operational practices be identified, which methods can be used for detecting weak signals of deteriorating performance, how should incidents be analysed with respect to organisational factors to give the largest learning benefit, how can data on organisational

Importance of human factors on nuclear installations safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caruso, G.J.

1990-01-01

Actually, installations safety and, in particular the nuclear installations infer a strong incidence in human factors related to the design and operation of such installations. In general, the experience aims to that the most important accidents have happened as result of the components' failures combination and human failures in the operation of safety systems. Human factors in the nuclear installations may be divided into two areas: economy and human reliability. Human factors treatments for the safety evaluation of the nuclear installations allow to diagnose the weak points of man-machine interaction. (Author) [es

The role of psychological factors in workplace safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotzé, Martina; Steyn, Leon

2013-01-01

Workplace safety researchers and practitioners generally agree that it is necessary to understand the psychological factors that influence people's workplace safety behaviour. Yet, the search for reliable individual differences regarding psychological factors associated with workplace safety has lead to sparse results and inconclusive findings. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there are differences between the psychological factors, cognitive ability, personality and work-wellness of employees involved in workplace incidents and accidents and/or driver vehicle accidents and those who are not. The study population (N = 279) consisted of employees employed at an electricity supply organisation in South Africa. Mann-Whitney U-test and one-way ANOVA were conducted to determine the differences in the respective psychological factors between the groups. These results showed that cognitive ability did not seem to play a role in workplace incident/accident involvement, including driver vehicle accidents, while the wellness factors burnout and sense of coherence, as well as certain personality traits, namely conscientiousness, pragmatic and gregariousness play a statistically significant role in individuals' involvement in workplace incidents/accidents/driver vehicle accidents. Safety practitioners, managers and human resource specialists should take cognisance of the role of specifically work-wellness in workplace safety behaviour, as management can influence these negative states that are often caused by continuously stressful situations, and subsequently enhance work place safety.

Organizational factors affecting safety implementation in food companies in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Chinda, Thanwadee

2014-01-01

Thai food industry employs a massive number of skilled and unskilled workers. This may result in an industry with high incidences and accident rates. To improve safety and reduce the accident figures, this paper investigates factors influencing safety implementation in small, medium, and large food companies in Thailand. Five factors, i.e., management commitment, stakeholders' role, safety information and communication, supportive environment, and risk, are found important in helping to improve safety implementation. The statistical analyses also reveal that small, medium, and large food companies hold similar opinions on the risk factor, but bear different perceptions on the other 4 factors. It is also found that to improve safety implementation, the perceptions of safety goals, communication, feedback, safety resources, and supervision should be aligned in small, medium, and large companies.

Application of factor analysis in psychological diagnostics (sample: study of students’ social safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavel Aleksandrovich Kislyakov

2015-10-01

Our recommendations for the use of factor analysis, with necessary restrictions and clear reasons of a possible ambiguity of solutions, will be useful to everyone interested in mastering an adequate mathematical tool for solving problems pertaining to the humanities, in particular, those of practical psychology. As a practical example is presented the research of the psychological factors which provide students’ social safety. With the help of the factor analysis relevant personal and professional qualities of a teacher were revealed which are the subjective factors of students’ social safety, namely: social anticipation, socio-psychological stress resistance, social tolerance, professional orientation, responsibility, communication skills.

Influence of organizational factors on safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haber, S.B.; Metlay, D.S.; Crouch, D.A.

1990-01-01

There is a need for a better understanding of exactly how organizational management factors at a nuclear power plant (NPP) affect plant safety performance, either directly or indirectly, and how these factors might be observed, measured, and evaluated. The purpose of this research project is to respond to that need by developing a general methodology for characterizing these organizational and management factors, systematically collecting information on their status and integrating that information into various types of evaluative activities. Research to date has included the development of the Nuclear Organization and Management Analysis Concept (NOMAC) of a NPP, the identification of key organizational and management factors, and the identification of the methods for systematically measuring and analyzing the influence of these factors on performance. Most recently, two field studies, one at a fossil fuel plant and the other at a NPP, were conducted using the developed methodology. Results are presented from both studies highlighting the acceptability, practicality, and usefulness of the methods used to assess the influence of various organizational and management factors including culture, communication, decision-making, standardization, and oversight. 6 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

IRSN-ANCCLI partnership. Organizational and human factors in nuclear safety - April 2014

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeffroy, Francois; Garron, Joel; Mercel, Philippe; Compagnat, Gilles; Gaucher, Eric; Gaillard, Pierre; Fanchini, Henri; Jacquemont, Vincent

2013-06-01

The contributions (Power Point presentations) of this seminar first address the history of the taking into account of organizational and human factors until the Fukushima accident (history of their taking into account in nuclear safety expertise in France, history of the development of policy of organizational and human factors by an operator). The next contributions discuss the main issues regarding these factors after Fukushima: report by a work-group, work performed by the the Comite d'Orientation sur les Facteurs Sociaux, Organisationnels et Humains (Committee of orientation on social, organizational and human factors). The third session addresses the implication of stakeholders in expertise on these factors: analysis of organizational and human factors by a local information commission or by a CHSCT (committee of hygiene, safety and working conditions)

A quantitative assessment of organizational factors affecting safety using system dynamics model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Jae Kook; Ahn, Nam Sung [Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Jae, Moo Sung [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2004-02-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a system dynamics model for the assessment of the organizational and human factors in a nuclear power plant which contribute to nuclear safety. Previous studies can be classified into two major approaches. One is the engineering approach using tools such as ergonomics and Probability Safety Assessment (PSA). The other is the socio-psychology approach. Both have contributed to find organizational and human factors and to present guidelines to lessen human error in plants. However, since these approaches assume that the relationship among factors is independent they do not explain the interactions among the factors or variables in nuclear power plants. To overcome these restrictions, a system dynamics model, which can show cause and effect relationships among factors and quantify the organizational and human factors, has been developed. Handling variables such as the degree of leadership, the number of employees, and workload in each department, users can simulate various situations in nuclear power plant organization. Through simulation, users can get insights to improve safety in plants and to find managerial tools in both organizational and human factors.

A quantitative assessment of organizational factors affecting safety using system dynamics model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Jae Kook; Ahn, Nam Sung; Jae, Moo Sung

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a system dynamics model for the assessment of the organizational and human factors in a nuclear power plant which contribute to nuclear safety. Previous studies can be classified into two major approaches. One is the engineering approach using tools such as ergonomics and Probability Safety Assessment (PSA). The other is the socio-psychology approach. Both have contributed to find organizational and human factors and to present guidelines to lessen human error in plants. However, since these approaches assume that the relationship among factors is independent they do not explain the interactions among the factors or variables in nuclear power plants. To overcome these restrictions, a system dynamics model, which can show cause and effect relationships among factors and quantify the organizational and human factors, has been developed. Handling variables such as the degree of leadership, the number of employees, and workload in each department, users can simulate various situations in nuclear power plant organization. Through simulation, users can get insights to improve safety in plants and to find managerial tools in both organizational and human factors

Analysis of factors influencing safety management for metro construction in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Q Z; Ding, L Y; Zhou, C; Luo, H B

2014-07-01

With the rapid development of urbanization in China, the number and size of metro construction projects are increasing quickly. At the same time, and increasing number of accidents in metro construction make it a disturbing focus of social attention. In order to improve safety management in metro construction, an investigation of the participants' perspectives on safety factors in China metro construction has been conducted to identify the key safety factors, and their ranking consistency among the main participants, including clients, consultants, designers, contractors and supervisors. The result of factor analysis indicates that there are five key factors which influence the safety of metro construction including safety attitude, construction site safety, government supervision, market restrictions and task unpredictability. In addition, ANOVA and Spearman rank correlation coefficients were performed to test the consistency of the means rating and the ranking of safety factors. The results indicated that the main participants have significant disagreement about the importance of safety factors on more than half of the items. Suggestions and recommendations on practical countermeasures to improve metro construction safety management in China are proposed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human Factors in Fire Safety Management and Prevention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.A. Othuman Mydin

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behavior, compartmentalization, and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as well as the research and development, production, testing and application of mitigating systems. Problems still occurred despite of the adequate fire safety systems installed. For most people in high-risk buildings, not all accidents were caused by them. They were more likely to be the victims of a fire that occurred. Besides damaging their properties and belongings, some people were burned to death for not knowing what to do if fire happens in their place. This paper will present the human factors in fire safety management and prevention system.

mathematical models for prediction of safety factors for a simply

African Journals Online (AJOL)

HOD

Keywords: reliability, code calibration, load factor, safety factor, design, steel beam. 1. INTRODUCTION ... safety factors for the design of a simply supported steel beam using regression .... 5 design criteria for a solid timber portal frame.

Proceeding of the Fifth Scientific Presentation on Nuclear Safety Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suhaemi, Tj.; Sudarno; Sunaryo, G. R.; Supriatna, P.; Antariksawan, A. R.; Sumijanto; Febrianto; Histori; Aliq

2000-01-01

The proceedings includes the result of research and development activities on nuclear safety technology that have been done by research Center for Nuclear Safety Technology in 2000 and was presented on June 28, 2000. The proceedings is expected to give illustration of the research result on Nuclear Safety Technology

SafetyNet. Human factors safety training on the Internet

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauland, G.; Pedrali, M.

2002-01-01

This report describes user requirements to an Internet based distance learning system of human factors training, i.e. the SafetyNet prototype, within the aviation (pilots and air traffic control), maritime and medical domains. User requirements totraining have been elicited through 19 semi...

Proceedings of the Fourth Scientific Presentation on Reactor Safety Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

The proceedings includes the result of research and development activities on nuclear safety technology that have been done by research Center for Nuclear Safety Technology in 1998/1999 and was presented on May 5, 1999. The proceedings is expected to give illustration of the research result on Nuclear Safety Technology

Partial Safety Factors for Fatigue Design of Wind Turbine Blades

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toft, Henrik Stensgaard; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2010-01-01

In the present paper calibration of partial safety factors for fatigue design of wind turbine blades is considered. The stochastic models for the physical uncertainties on the material properties are based on constant amplitude fatigue tests and the uncertainty on Miners rule for linear damage...... accumulation is determined from variable amplitude fatigue tests with the Wisper and Wisperx spectra. The statistical uncertainty for the assessment of the fatigue loads is also investigated. The partial safety factors are calibrated for design load case 1.2 in IEC 61400-1. The fatigue loads are determined...... from rainflow-counting of simulated time series for a 5MW reference wind turbine [1]. A possible influence of a complex stress state in the blade is not taken into account and only longitudinal stresses are considered....

Failure and factors of safety in piping system design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antaki, G.A.

1993-01-01

An important body of test and performance data on the behavior of piping systems has led to an ongoing reassessment of the code stress allowables and their safety margin. The codes stress allowables, and their factors of safety, are developed from limits on the incipient yield (for ductile materials), or incipient rupture (for brittle materials), of a test specimen loaded in simple tension. In this paper, we examine the failure theories introduced in the B31 and ASME III codes for piping and their inherent approximations compared to textbook failure theories. We summarize the evolution of factors of safety in ASME and B31 and point out that, for piping systems, it is appropriate to reconsider the concept and definition of factors of safety

Management present situation and countermeasures of coal mines safety in production

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHANG Shu-dong; YU Chang-wu

2008-01-01

Analyzed of the present situation of Chinese coal mines safety in production and the reasons for coal mining accident, and realized the coal mines safety in production,which should increase the legal safeguards of coal mine safety in production, and safety input, established the comprehensive coal mine safety evaluation system, comprehensively enhance quality of coal mine workers, established and improved early warning mechanism of safety production of coal mine.

The human factors and the safety of experimentation reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeffroy, F.; Delaporte-Normier, M.L.

2007-01-01

Inside IRSN (Institute for Radiological protection and Nuclear Safety), the mission of the Human Factors Group is to assess the way operators of nuclear installations take into account the risks related to human activities. In the last few years, IRSN has been involved in the safety analysis of different installations where Cea develops research programs, in particular experimental reactors. The first part of this article presents the methodology used by IRSN to evaluate how operators take into account risks related to human activities. This methodology is made up of 4 steps: 1) the identification of the human activities that convey a risk for the installation nuclear safety (safety-sensitive activities), for instance in the case of the Masurca reactor, it has been shown that errors made during the manufacturing of fuel tubes can lead to a criticality accident; 2) listing all the dispositions or arrangements taken to make human safety-sensitive activities more reliable; 3) checking the efficiency of such dispositions or arrangements; and 4) assessing the ability of the operators to generate the adequate dispositions or arrangements. The second part highlights the necessity to develop inside these research installations an organisation that facilitates cooperation between experimenters and operators

Statistical Hot Channel Factors and Safety Limit CHFR/OFIR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Byeonghee; Park, Suki [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

The fuel integrity of research reactors are usually judged by comparing the critical heat flux ratio (CHFR) and the maximum fuel temperature (MFT) with the safety limits. Onset of flow instability ratio (OFIR) can also be used for the examination with CHFR. Hot channel factors (HCFs) are incorporated when calculating the CHFR/OFIR and MFT, to consider the uncertainties of fuel properties and thermo-hydraulic variables affecting them. The HCFs and safety limit CHFR is sometimes estimated to include too much conservatism, deteriorating the design flexibilities and operating margins. In this paper, a statistical estimation of HCFs and the safety limit CHFR/OFIR is presented by a random sampling of uncertainty parameters. A 15MW pool type research reactor is selected as the sample reactor for the estimation. The HCFs and the safety limit CHFR/OFIR of a 15MW pool type research reactor are evaluated statistically. The parameters affecting the HCF and the safety limit CHFR/OFIR are listed and their uncertainties are estimated. The relevant parameter uncertainties are sampled randomly and the HCFs and the safety limits are evaluated from them. The HCFs and the safety limit CHFR/OFIR with 95% probability are smaller than those estimated deterministically because the statistical evaluation convolute the correlation uncertainties and the other uncertainties in probabilistic way, whereas the deterministic evaluation simply multiply them.

76 FR 35130 - Pipeline Safety: Control Room Management/Human Factors

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-16

...: Control Room Management/Human Factors AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration... the Control Room Management/Human Factors regulations in order to realize the safety benefits sooner... FR 5536). By this amendment to the Control Room Management/Human Factors (CRM) rule, an operator must...

Nuclear safety regulation on nuclear safety equipment activities in relation to human and organizational factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Tianshu

2013-01-01

Based on years of knowledge in nuclear safety supervision and experience of investigating and dealing with violation events in repair welding of DFHM, this paper analyzes major faults in manufacturing and maintaining activities of nuclear safety equipment in relation to human and organizational factors. It could be deducted that human and organizational factors has definitely become key features in the development of nuclear energy and technology. Some feasible measures to reinforce supervision on nuclear safety equipment activities have also been proposed. (author)

Safety update on the use of recombinant activated factor VII in approved indications.

Science.gov (United States)

Neufeld, Ellis J; Négrier, Claude; Arkhammar, Per; Benchikh el Fegoun, Soraya; Simonsen, Mette Duelund; Rosholm, Anders; Seremetis, Stephanie

2015-06-01

This updated safety review summarises the large body of safety data available on the use of recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) in approved indications: haemophilia with inhibitors, congenital factor VII (FVII) deficiency, acquired haemophilia and Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. Accumulated data up to 31 December 2013 from clinical trials as well as post-marketing data (registries, literature reports and spontaneous reports) were included. Overall, rFVIIa has shown a consistently favourable safety profile, with no unexpected safety concerns, in all approved indications. No confirmed cases of neutralising antibodies against rFVIIa have been reported in patients with congenital haemophilia, acquired haemophilia or Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. The favourable safety profile of rFVIIa can be attributed to the recombinant nature of rFVIIa and its localised mechanism of action at the site of vascular injury. Recombinant FVIIa activates factor X directly on the surface of activated platelets, which are present only at the site of injury, meaning that systemic activation of coagulation is avoided and the risk of thrombotic events (TEs) thus reduced. Nonetheless, close monitoring for signs and symptoms of TE is warranted in all patients treated with any pro-haemostatic agent, including rFVIIa, especially the elderly and any other patients with concomitant conditions and/or predisposing risk factors to thrombosis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bracebridge dam safety presentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kulchycky, Vince [Bracebridge Generation Ltd. (Canada)

2011-07-01

In Bracebridge, Ontario, hydroelectric generators have been in use since 1901. Bracebridge Generation is now upgrading the Wilson's Falls unit from 600kW to 2900kW. Bracebridge Generation addressed public safety with an independent audit and signage, fencing, booms and buoys installed. Unfortunately these measures did not prevent a recent drowning at the utility's site. More widespread warnings and safety education were seen as measures to stop people from swimming on the utility's property.

Patient Safety, Present and Future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amalberti, R.

2016-01-01

Health care tends to oversimplify patient safety concepts. We tend to think about patient safety as a linear dimension that is only associated with the progressive reduction in the number of errors and accidents, with the simple notion that fewer are always better. We consider figures in isolation from the underlying context and prerequisites that drive safety models and the reality of the clinical fields. There is no one ultimate reference model of safety, but many models that can be adapted to fit the various clinical fields requirements and constraints. It is therefore not necessarily a bad result to observe a lower safety figure in a medical domain compared to the figures obtained in nonmedical ultra-safe models. The poor figures may represent the best local safety optimization while coping with the special health care requirements such as a high frequency of unplanned and nonstandard challenges. The paper distinguishes three classes of safety models that fit different field demands: the resilient and adaptive model, the high reliability (HRO) model, and the ultra-safe model. The lecture benchmarks the traits of each model while highlighting the specific dimensions for optimization. The conclusion is that firstly, that since the task requirements dictate the relevance and choice of the model and not the other way around, it is counterproductive to impose a model that is inadequate for the task requirements. Either you move the requirements and change the model, or you keep the constraints, and try to locally optimize the model to the clinical and organizational needs. (author)

Factors impacting perceived safety among staff working on mental health wards.

Science.gov (United States)

Haines, Alina; Brown, Andrew; McCabe, Rhiannah; Rogerson, Michelle; Whittington, Richard

2017-09-01

Safety at work is a core issue for mental health staff working on in-patient units. At present, there is a limited theoretical base regarding which factors may affect staff perceptions of safety. This study attempted to identify which factors affect perceived staff safety working on in-patient mental health wards. A cross-sectional design was employed across 101 forensic and non-forensic mental health wards, over seven National Health Service trusts nationally. Measures included an online staff survey, Ward Features Checklist and recorded incident data. Data were analysed using categorical principal components analysis and ordinal regression. Perceptions of staff safety were increased by ward brightness, higher number of patient beds, lower staff to patient ratios, less dayroom space and more urban views. The findings from this study do not represent common-sense assumptions. Results are discussed in the context of the literature and may have implications for current initiatives aimed at managing in-patient violence and aggression. None. © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.

Evaluation of design safety factors for time-dependent buckling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stone, C.M.; Nickell, R.E.

1977-02-01

The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code rules concerning time-dependent (creep) buckling for Class 1 nuclear components have recently been changed. Previous requirements for a factor of ten on service life have been replaced with a factor of safety of 1.5 on loading for load-controlled buckling. This report examines the supposed equivalence of the two rules from the standpoint of materials behavior--specifically, the secondary creep strain rate exponent. The comparison is made using results obtained numerically for an axially-loaded, cylindrical shell with varying secondary creep exponents. A computationally efficient scheme for analyzing creep buckling problems is also presented

Bracebridge dam safety presentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kulchycky, Vince [Bracebridge Generation Ltd. (Canada)

2011-07-01

In Bracebridge, Ontario, hydroelectric generators have been in use since 1901. Bracebridge Generation is now upgrading the Wilson's Falls unit from 600kW to 2900kW. Bracebridge Generation addressed public safety with an independent audit and signage, fencing, booms and buoys installed. Unfortunately these measures did not prevent a recent drowning at the utility's site. More widespread warnings and safety education were seen as measures to stop people from swimming on the utility's property.

Rationalization of safety factors for breakwater design in hurricane-prone areas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tsimopoulou, V.; Kanning, W.; Verhagen, H.J.; Vrijling, J.K.

2011-01-01

This paper presents the development of a semi-probabilistic method for armour layer design of rubble mound breakwaters, which is based on the use of safety factors. The objective is to introduce an approach that is both attractive to designers and sufficiently reliable when a high degree of

Partial Safety Factors and Target Reliability Level in Danish Structural Codes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Hansen, J. O.; Nielsen, T. A.

2001-01-01

The partial safety factors in the newly revised Danish structural codes have been derived using a reliability-based calibration. The calibrated partial safety factors result in the same average reliability level as in the previous codes, but a much more uniform reliability level has been obtained....... The paper describes the code format, the stochastic models and the resulting optimised partial safety factors....

Factors Contribute to Safety Culture in the Manufacturing Industry in Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Ong Choon Hee

2014-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explain the role of safety culture in the manufacturing industry in Malaysia and identify factors contribute to safety culture. It is suggested in this study that leadership support, management commitment and safety management system are important factors that contribute to safety culture. This study also provides theoretical implications to guide future research and offers practical implications to the managers in the development of safety culture. Given that ...

Patient and carer identified factors which contribute to safety incidents in primary care: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernan, Andrea L; Giles, Sally J; Fuller, Jeffrey; Johnson, Julie K; Walker, Christine; Dunbar, James A

2015-09-01

Patients can have an important role in reducing harm in primary-care settings. Learning from patient experience and feedback could improve patient safety. Evidence that captures patients' views of the various contributory factors to creating safe primary care is largely absent. The aim of this study was to address this evidence gap. Four focus groups and eight semistructured interviews were conducted with 34 patients and carers from south-east Australia. Participants were asked to describe their experiences of primary care. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and specific factors that contribute to safety incidents were identified in the analysis using the Yorkshire Contributory Factors Framework (YCFF). Other factors emerging from the data were also ascertained and added to the analytical framework. Thirteen factors that contribute to safety incidents in primary care were ascertained. Five unique factors for the primary-care setting were discovered in conjunction with eight factors present in the YCFF from hospital settings. The five unique primary care contributing factors to safety incidents represented a range of levels within the primary-care system from local working conditions to the upstream organisational level and the external policy context. The 13 factors included communication, access, patient factors, external policy context, dignity and respect, primary-secondary interface, continuity of care, task performance, task characteristics, time in the consultation, safety culture, team factors and the physical environment. Patient and carer feedback of this type could help primary-care professionals better understand and identify potential safety concerns and make appropriate service improvements. The comprehensive range of factors identified provides the groundwork for developing tools that systematically capture the multiple contributory factors to patient safety. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not

Present status of nuclear power safety studies in JAERI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-01-01

Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute carries out the safety research required for ensuring safety accompanying the development and utilization of atomic energy, dividing the roles with industrial circules, universities and other public research institutes. First, it carries out the research based on the yearly program of safety research, in which the subjects of safety research that the state should execute are decided. Next, it carries out a series of the safety verification test on atomic energy facilities entrusted by the state using the special account for power source development promotion countermeasures. Besides, it carries out the safety research on the specific subjects entrusted by outside organizations. The object and range of atomic energy safety at present are roughly divided into four fields, that is, nuclear power stations, nuclear fuel facilities, waste treatment and disposal, and environmental radioactivity. In order to advance the research effectively, in addition to the generalization department and the execution department, various committees are organized. In 1988, about 260 persons engaged in these four research fields, and the budget for fiscal year 1988 was about 17.4 billion yen. (K.I.)

Proposal of criteria for evaluation of engineering safety factors of VVER core parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shishkov, L.; Tsyganov, S.; Dementiev, V.

2009-01-01

The paper states that the regulatory documentation, as a rule, do not give explicit recommendations on formation techniques of engineering safety factors for design limited parameters of normal operation (K eng ). The AER countries use different approaches to K eng evaluation (sometimes even one country in relation of various power units). The paper suggests the development of uniform rules to be used in calculation of engineering safety factor for all VVER reactors. The paper presents principal problems that must be solved in the course of the discussion, and in the form of an exercise suggests the way of their solution. (authors)

Proposal of criteria for evaluation of engineering safety factors of WWER core parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shishkov, L.; Tsyganov, S.; Dementiev, V.

2009-01-01

The paper states that the regulatory documentation, as a rule, do not give explicit recommendations on formation techniques of engineering safety factors for design limited parameters of normal operation. The AER countries use different approaches to evaluation (sometimes even one country in relation of various power units). The paper suggests the development of uniform rules to be used in calculation of engineering safety factor for all WWER reactors. The paper presents principal problems that must be solved in the course of the discussion, and in the form of an exercise suggests the way of their solution. (Authors)

Impact of demographic factors on employees perceptions on health and safety management in the Greek Ministries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlopoulou Georgia

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of selected demographic factors on perceptions of office workers regarding the management of health and safety in the office work place. For the data collection it was used a scale validated with a sample of 155 office employees. The final sample of the study was 301 subjects from three large Ministries in the Athens region of Greece, selected randomly. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors. A further comparison of the health and safety scale factors toward gender, marital status, working hours, monitoring or not seminars related to workplace safety and involvement or not in accidents in the office revealed that: (a The male employees had more positive perceptions than their female counterparts (t = 2.62, p <0.010. (b Positive perceptions showed and those who had attended seminars on safety and those who were not involved in office accidents (t = 2.16, p <0.032 and t = -2.19, p <0.033, respectively. (c It was also founded that men had more positive perceptions than women in the factor workplace environmental conditions (t = 2.40, p <0.018, while employees who had attended seminars on safety had a higher score on the factor health and safety issues in the office in comparison with their colleagues who did not, (t = 2.17, p <0.031. (d Employees who were involved in office accidents rated higher the questions of the factor health and safety issues in the office (t = -2.52, p <0. 015 and lower the factor workplace environmental conditions (t = -2.07, p = .043. It is concluded that despite the differences in the rating health and safety scale, in relation to selected variables, perceptions of employees regarding the management health and safety in the office work are positive.

Assessment of the factors with significant influence on safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farcasiu, M.; Nitoi, M.

2013-01-01

In this paper, a qualitative and a quantitative evaluation of the factors with significant impact on safety culture were performed. These techniques were established and applied in accordance with IAEA standards. In order to show the applicability and opportunity of the methodology a specific case study was prepared: safety culture evaluation for INR Pitesti. The qualitative evaluation was performed using specific developed questionnaires. Through analysis of the completed questionnaires was established the development stage of safety culture at INR. The quantitative evaluation was performed using a guide to rate the influence factors. For each factor was identified the influence (negative or positive) and ranking score was estimated using scoring criteria. The results have emphasized safety culture stages. The paper demonstrates the fact that using both quantitative and qualitative assessment techniques, a practical value of the safety culture concept is given. (authors)

Proceedings of the Third Scientific Presentation on Reactor Safety Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

These proceedings contains the results of research and development on reactor safety technology which carried out by Reactor Safety Technology Centre, National Atomic Energy Agency, Serpong, Indonesia during 1997/1998 fiscal year. The presentation was held on 13-14 May 1998 at Serpong,Indonesia

Improving Safety through Human Factors Engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Siewert, Bettina; Hochman, Mary G

2015-10-01

Human factors engineering (HFE) focuses on the design and analysis of interactive systems that involve people, technical equipment, and work environment. HFE is informed by knowledge of human characteristics. It complements existing patient safety efforts by specifically taking into consideration that, as humans, frontline staff will inevitably make mistakes. Therefore, the systems with which they interact should be designed for the anticipation and mitigation of human errors. The goal of HFE is to optimize the interaction of humans with their work environment and technical equipment to maximize safety and efficiency. Special safeguards include usability testing, standardization of processes, and use of checklists and forcing functions. However, the effectiveness of the safety program and resiliency of the organization depend on timely reporting of all safety events independent of patient harm, including perceived potential risks, bad outcomes that occur even when proper protocols have been followed, and episodes of "improvisation" when formal guidelines are found not to exist. Therefore, an institution must adopt a robust culture of safety, where the focus is shifted from blaming individuals for errors to preventing future errors, and where barriers to speaking up-including barriers introduced by steep authority gradients-are minimized. This requires creation of formal guidelines to address safety concerns, establishment of unified teams with open communication and shared responsibility for patient safety, and education of managers and senior physicians to perceive the reporting of safety concerns as a benefit rather than a threat. © RSNA, 2015.

Modelling of safety barriers including human and organisational factors to improve process safety

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Markert, Frank; Duijm, Nijs Jan; Thommesen, Jacob

2013-01-01

It is believed that traditional safety management needs to be improved on the aspect of preparedness for coping with expected and unexpected deviations, avoiding an overly optimistic reliance on safety systems. Remembering recent major accidents, such as the Deep Water Horizon, the Texas City....... A valuable approach is the inclusion of human and organisational factors into the simulation of the reliability of the technical system using event trees and fault trees and the concept of safety barriers. This has been demonstrated e.g. in the former European research project ARAMIS (Accidental Risk...

Risk factors for fishermen's health and safety in Greece

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frantzeskou, Elpida; Kastania, Anastasia N; Riza, Elena

2012-01-01

Background: This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first occupational health study in Greek fishing. Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the risks for health and safety in Greek fisheries workers by exploring their health status and the health risk factors present in their occupational...... injury, of which half caused more than one day absence, while 14% had a near drowning experience. The health risks factors studied include excessive weight, cardiovascular incidents and dermatological, musculoskeletal, respiratory, hearing, stress, and anxiety problems. The occupational health risk...... factors include alcohol, fatty food consumption, smoking, and lack of physical exercise. Conclusions: The health effects observed are causally related to diet, smoking, and exercise, which in turn relate to the specific working conditions and culture in small-scale fishing that need to be taken...

Presentation of the Nirex disposal safety research programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

Implementation of Nirex plans for the disposal of solid low and intermediate level radioactive waste deep underground requires assurances of safety at every stage. This includes assessment of long-term safety, which must be based on an understanding of how the repository and its contents will behave far into the future. This understanding is being provided by the company's substantial disposal research and development programme, currently running at a level of more than Pound 5 million annually. The principal contractor for the work is the UKAEA's Harwell Laboratory, with contributions from experts in universities and industry. Information from other national and international programmes also contributes. This document supports a presentation held at the CEGB Conference Centre, Didcot Power Station, Oxfordshire on 1st November 1988 to outline the scope of the work and its objectives in the context of the Company's plans and the requirements of safety assessments. It summarises the results and understanding being obtained from the current programme. (author)

Proceeding of the Eighth Scientific Presentation on Nuclear Safety Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geni Rina Sunaryo; Sony Tjahjani, D.T.; Anhar Riza Antariksawan; Sudarno; Djoko Hari Nugroho; Roziq Himawan; Ari Satmoko; Histori; Sumijanto

2003-02-01

The Proceeding of Scientific Meeting and Presentation is routine activity that held in National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) by Centre for Development of Nuclear Safety Technology for monitoring the research activity which was achieved in BATAN. The aims of the proceeding to able to information and reference for nuclear safety technology. There are 30 papers which separated index. (PPIN)

Lyapunov-based distributed control of the safety-factor profile in a tokamak plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bribiesca Argomedo, Federico; Witrant, Emmanuel; Prieur, Christophe; Brémond, Sylvain; Nouailletas, Rémy; Artaud, Jean-François

2013-01-01

A real-time model-based controller is developed for the tracking of the distributed safety-factor profile in a tokamak plasma. Using relevant physical models and simplifying assumptions, theoretical stability and robustness guarantees were obtained using a Lyapunov function. This approach considers the couplings between the poloidal flux diffusion equation, the time-varying temperature profiles and an independent total plasma current control. The actuator chosen for the safety-factor profile tracking is the lower hybrid current drive, although the results presented can be easily extended to any non-inductive current source. The performance and robustness of the proposed control law is evaluated with a physics-oriented simulation code on Tore Supra experimental test cases. (paper)

Patient safety - the role of human factors and systems engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Carayon, Pascale; Wood, Kenneth E

2010-01-01

Patient safety is a global challenge that requires knowledge and skills in multiple areas, including human factors and systems engineering. In this chapter, numerous conceptual approaches and methods for analyzing, preventing and mitigating medical errors are described. Given the complexity of healthcare work systems and processes, we emphasize the need for increasing partnerships between the health sciences and human factors and systems engineering to improve patient safety. Those partnerships will be able to develop and implement the system redesigns that are necessary to improve healthcare work systems and processes for patient safety.

Patient Safety: The Role of Human Factors and Systems Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Carayon, Pascale; Wood, Kenneth E.

2011-01-01

Patient safety is a global challenge that requires knowledge and skills in multiple areas, including human factors and systems engineering. In this chapter, numerous conceptual approaches and methods for analyzing, preventing and mitigating medical errors are described. Given the complexity of healthcare work systems and processes, we emphasize the need for increasing partnerships between the health sciences and human factors and systems engineering to improve patient safety. Those partnerships will be able to develop and implement the system redesigns that are necessary to improve healthcare work systems and processes for patient safety. PMID:20543237

Presentation on development of safety assessment reports in Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goicea, L.

2002-01-01

This presentation shows whole steps of Cernavoda 2 NPP licensing and accident management relevant changes considered. There are description of CANDU Safety principles and design criteria, as well as FSAR structured according to NRC Regulatory Guide 1.70, format of presentation of accident analyses, applicable acceptant criteria to analyses and Design Codes, Safety standards and Safety Guides used. The main features of CANDU reactors are presented, including of base design characteristics and describing of structures of CANDU reactors. During the licensing Cernavoda 2 are passed through Site approval, Construction permits of NPP system (1980-1993), Final construction license (1993) and Commissioning license (1995). In the May 1998 the First operating license is issued, based on FSAR Phase 1, Full power probationary report and carried out the requirements related to revising the FSAR and initiating of the Modernization program. To achieve the defense in depth concept are used and implemented the norms and quality standards during all plant stages, as well as selecting the high quality materials. During all plant stages is keeps strictly accomplishment of the quality requirements, and ensures a high level of reliability by using of operating principle and fabrication. In NPP operation is established using of the approved operating concept permitting only the safe condition for reactor operation. In the process of Cernavoda NPP licensing and operating the CSA and CGSB Canadian Standards, ASME and ANSI American Standards, Romanian Norms are implemented. Another useful Codes and Standards are implemented too, as ACI, ASTM, ANSI, AWS and others. In accident analysis for Safety Analysis Report for Cernavoda Unit 1 are involved 37 computer codes, in such areas as Reactor physics, Thermal-hydraulics, Fuel behavior, Fuel channel, Containment, and Fission product release and dose calculation

Patient safety risk factors in minimally invasive surgery : A validation study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodrigues, S.P.; Ter Kuile, M.; Dankelman, J.; Jansen, F.W.

2012-01-01

This study was conducted to adapt and validate a patient safety (PS) framework for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) as a first step in understanding the clinical relevance of various PS risk factors in MIS. Eight patient safety risk factor domains were identified using frameworks from a systems

Understanding human and organisational factors - Nuclear safety and at-risk organisations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernard, Benoit

2014-01-01

This book addresses human and organisational factors which are present at different moments of the lifetime of an at-risk installation (from design to dismantling). At-risk organisations are considered as firstly human systems, and the objective is then to highlight individual and collective mechanisms in these organisations. Several questions are addressed, notably the origins of at-risk behaviour, and the reasons of the repetition of errors by these organisations. A first chapter, while referring to examples, addresses the human dimension of safety: human and organisational factors as obstacles, normal accidents (Three Mile Island), accidents in high-reliability organisations (Chernobyl), identification of root causes (Tokai-mura), and social-technical approach to safety (Fukushima). By also referring to examples, the second chapter addresses how to analyse at-risk organisations: individual behaviours (case of naval and air transport accidents), team coordination (a fire, the Challenger accident), and organisational regulation (organisations forms and routines, explosion of BP Texas City, explosion of Columbia)

Human factors and safety in emergency medicine

Science.gov (United States)

Schaefer, H. G.; Helmreich, R. L.; Scheidegger, D.

1994-01-01

A model based on an input process and outcome conceptualisation is suggested to address safety-relevant factors in emergency medicine. As shown in other dynamic and demanding environments, human factors play a decisive role in attaining high quality service. Attitudes held by health-care providers, organisational shells and work-cultural parameters determine communication, conflict resolution and workload distribution within and between teams. These factors should be taken into account to improve outcomes such as operational integrity, job satisfaction and morale.

Development and Presentation of the Drigg Post-Closure Safety Case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, Eugene; Watts, Len; Grimwood, Paul

2001-01-01

Drigg is an operational facility for the near-surface disposal of solid low level radioactive waste (LLW). The disposal facility is located in Cumbria, north-west England, near the Sellafield nuclear site, and is owned and operated by British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL). Disposals at Drigg are carried out under the terms of an authorisation granted by the UK Environment Agency. Periodically the Drigg authorisation is subject to formal regulatory review. The current regulatory guidance, 'Disposal Facilities on Land for Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Wastes: Guidance on Requirements for Authorisation' (the GRA) was published in 1997 and contains guidance on the principles and requirements against which the Environment Agency will consider applications for disposal authorisation. BNFL has undertaken to produce an updated Drigg postclosure safety case (PCSC) in September 2002 to support the next authorisation review. In preparation for this, BNFL published a 'Status Report on the Development of the 2002 Drigg PCSC' in March 2000. This paper discusses the main components of the Drigg PCSC and how they relate to each other. Central to the safety case will be a systematic, post-closure radiological safety assessment (PCRSA). However the main focus of this paper is on the other main components of the PCSC which are presented in conjunction with the PCRSA to make a complete and integrated safety case. In addition other confidence building activities which are key to developing and presenting the safety case are discussed, in particular communications with the stakeholders

To the problem of the statistical basis of evaluation of the mechanical safety factor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsyganov, S.V.

2009-01-01

The methodology applied for the safety factor assessment of the WWER fuel cycles uses methods and terms of statistics. Value of the factor is calculated on the basis of estimation of probability to meet predefined limits. Such approach demands the special attention to the statistical properties of parameters of interest. Considering the mechanical constituents of the engineering factor it is assumed uncertainty factors of safety parameters are stochastic values. It characterized by probabilistic distributions that can be unknown. Traditionally in the safety factor assessment process the unknown parameters are estimated from the conservative points of view. This paper analyses how the refinement of the factors distribution parameters is important for the assessment of the mechanical safety factor. For the analysis the statistical approach is applied for modelling of different type of factor probabilistic distributions. It is shown the significant influence of the shape and parameters of distributions for some factors on the value of mechanical safety factor. (Authors)

To the problem of the statistical basis of evaluation of the mechanical safety factor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsyganov, S.

2009-01-01

The methodology applied for the safety factor assessment of the VVER fuel cycles uses methods and terms of statistics. Value of the factor is calculated on the basis of estimation of probability to meet predefined limits. Such approach demands the special attention to the statistical properties of parameters of interest. Considering the mechanical constituents of the engineering factor it is assumed uncertainty factors of safety parameters are stochastic values. It characterized by probabilistic distributions that can be unknown. Traditionally in the safety factor assessment process the unknown parameters are estimated from the conservative points of view. This paper analyses how the refinement of the factors distribution parameters is important for the assessment of the mechanical safety factor. For the analysis the statistical approach is applied for modelling of different type of factor probabilistic distributions. It is shown the significant influence of the shape and parameters of distributions for some factors on the value of mechanical safety factor. (author)

The PSA of safety-critical digital I and C system: the determination of important factors and sensitivity analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, H. G.; Sung, T. Y.; Eom, H. S.; Jeong, H. S.; Park, J. K.; Lee, K. Y.; Park, J. K.

2002-01-01

This report is prepared to suggest a practical Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) methodology of safety-critical digital instrumentation and control (I and C) systems. Even though conventional probabilistic safety assessment methods are immature for applying to microprocessor-based digital systems, practical needs force to apply it because the result of probabilistic safety assessment plays very important role in proving the safety of a designed system. Microprocessors and software technologies make the digital system very complex and hard to analyze the safety of their applications. The aim of this is: (1) To summarize the factors which should be represented by the model for probabilistic safety assessment and to propose a standpoint of evaluation for digital systems. (2) To quantitatively presents the results of a mathematical case study which examines the analysis framework of the safety of digital systems in the context of the PSA. (3) To show the results of a sensitivity study for some critical factors

Factors impacting on the microbiological quality and safety of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Problems with the safety and shelf life of export hake have been raised by the Namibian fishing industry. This prompted an investigation into the factors that may have an impact on the microbiological quality and safety of processed hake. Samples were collected along the processing line; the general microbiological quality ...

Risk factors for fishermen’s health and safety in Greece

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frantzeskou, Elpida; Kastania, Anastasia N; Riza, Elena

2013-01-01

Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the risks for health and safety in Greek fisheries workers by exploring their health status and the health risk factors present in their occupational environment, thus providing a current baseline for further research in the future and for documentation....... The health risks factors studied include excessive weight, cardiovascular incidents and dermatological, musculoskeletal, respiratory, hearing, stress, and anxiety problems. The occupational health risk factors include alcohol, fatty food consumption, smoking, and lack of physical exercise. Conclusions......: The health effects observed are causally related to diet, smoking, and exercise, which in turn relate to the specific working conditions and culture in small-scale fishing that need to be taken into consideration in prevention programmes. The results are comparable withinternational fisheries experience...

The Expected Net Present Value of Developing Weight Management Drugs in the Context of Drug Safety Litigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chawla, Anita; Carls, Ginger; Deng, Edmund; Tuttle, Edward

2015-07-01

Following withdrawals, failures, and significant litigation settlements, drug product launches in the anti-obesity category slowed despite a large and growing unmet need. Litigation concerns, a more risk-averse regulatory policy, and the difficulty of developing a product with a compelling risk-benefit profile in this category may have limited innovators' expected return on investment and restricted investment in this therapeutic area. The objective of the study was to estimate perceived manufacturer risk associated with product safety litigation and increased development costs vs. revenue expectations on anticipated return on investment and to determine which scenarios might change a manufacturer's investment decision. Expected net present value of a weight-management drug entering pre-clinical trials was calculated for a range of scenarios representing evolving expectations of development costs, revenue, and litigation risk over the past 25 years. These three factors were based on published estimates, historical data, and analogs from other therapeutic areas. The main driver in expected net present value calculations is expected revenue, particularly if one assumes that litigation risk and demand are positively correlated. Changes in development costs associated with increased regulatory concern with potential safety issues for the past 25 years likely did not impact investment decisions. Regulatory policy and litigation risk both played a role in anti-obesity drug development; however, product revenue-reflecting efficacy at acceptable levels of safety-was by far the most important factor. To date, relatively modest sales associated with recent product introductions suggest that developing a product that is sufficiently efficacious with an acceptable level of safety continues to be the primary challenge in this market.

Reliability-based Calibration of Partial Safety Factors for Wave Energy Converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ambühl, Simon; Kramer, Morten Mejlhede; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2015-01-01

of partial safety factors for design of welded details for wave energy converter applications is presented in this paper using probabilistic methods. The paper presents an example with focus on the Wavestar device. SN curves and Rainflow counting are used to model fatigue without considering inspections....... The influence of inspections is modelled using a fracture mechanics approach, which is calibrated by the SN curve approach. Furthermore, the paper assesses the influence of the inspection quality. The results show that with multiple inspections during the lifetime of the device and by applying a good inspection...

Perspectives on managing nuclear safety at Cernavoda NPP past, present and future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serban, M.

1997-01-01

The presentation considers the following issues: background of Romanian nuclear programme; 1990 management issues involved in Cernavoda project, nuclear safety perspectives; Cernavoda U1 operating organization today (safety related issues); good practices at Cernavoda NPP

Perspectives on managing nuclear safety at Cernavoda NPP past, present and future

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Serban, M [Technical Safety Directorate, Unit 1., Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (Romania)

1997-12-01

The presentation considers the following issues: background of Romanian nuclear programme; 1990 management issues involved in Cernavoda project, nuclear safety perspectives; Cernavoda U1 operating organization today (safety related issues); good practices at Cernavoda NPP.

Evaluating the impact of grade crossing safety factors through signal detection theory

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-22

The purpose of this effort was to apply signal detection theory to descriptively model the impact : of five grade crossing safety factors to understand their effect on driver decision making. The : safety factors consisted of: improving commercial mo...

Human factors and systems engineering approach to patient safety for radiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivera, A Joy; Karsh, Ben-Tzion

2008-01-01

The traditional approach to solving patient safety problems in healthcare is to blame the last person to touch the patient. But since the publication of To Err is Human, the call has been instead to use human factors and systems engineering methods and principles to solve patient safety problems. However, an understanding of the human factors and systems engineering is lacking, and confusion remains about what it means to apply their principles. This paper provides a primer on them and their applications to patient safety.

Human Factors and Systems Engineering Approach to Patient Safety for Radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rivera, A. Joy; Karsh, Ben-Tzion

2008-01-01

The traditional approach to solving patient safety problems in healthcare is to blame the last person to touch the patient. But since the publication of To Err is Human, the call has been instead to use human factors and systems engineering methods and principles to solve patient safety problems. However, an understanding of the human factors and systems engineering is lacking, and confusion remains about what it means to apply their principles. This paper provides a primer on them and their applications to patient safety

Modelling of Safety Factors in the Design of GRP Composite Products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Babu, B.J.C.; Prabhakaran, R.T. Durai; Lystrup, Aage

2010-01-01

as independent, while in real applications these factors may interact/influence each other. Following the concept developed by the authors, a simple graph theoretic model has been used to determine overall factor of safety. This is described with the help of an example and it has been demonstrated......An attempt has been made in this paper to arrive at the safety factor design of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GRP) composite products using graph theoretic model. In the conventional design and recommendations of the standards, these design factors affecting properties have been considered...

5 CFR 847.602 - Present value factors.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Present value factors. 847.602 Section... INSTRUMENTALITIES Additional Employee Costs Under the Retroactive Provisions § 847.602 Present value factors. (a... present value factors for all CSRS annuities; (2) One table of present value factors for FERS annuities...

Present situation and countermeasures for managing expenses of safety in production in enterprise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pang Liefen

2012-01-01

The paper introduces the evolutions concerning accountant accounting for the capital of safety in production over the recent years, and analyses the present situation and reasons for the problems existed in enterprise as for gathering expenses of safety in production, and propose the countermeasures to reinforce the management of enterprise expenses of safety in production, in order to improve the management of enterprise expenses of safety in production and to enhance the level of the management in safety for the enterprise. (author)

A cross-cultural study of organizational factors on safety: Japanese vs. Taiwanese oil refinery plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Shang Hwa; Lee, Chun-Chia; Wu, Muh-Cherng; Takano, Kenichi

2008-01-01

This study attempts to identify idiosyncrasies of organizational factors on safety and their influence mechanisms in Taiwan and Japan. Data were collected from employees of Taiwanese and Japanese oil refinery plants. Results show that organizational factors on safety differ in the two countries. Organizational characteristics in Taiwanese plants are highlighted as: higher level of management commitment to safety, harmonious interpersonal relationship, more emphasis on safety activities, higher devotion to supervision, and higher safety self-efficacy, as well as high quality of safety performance. Organizational characteristics in Japanese plants are highlighted as: higher level of employee empowerment and attitude towards continuous improvement, more emphasis on systematic safety management approach, efficient reporting system and teamwork, and high quality of safety performance. The casual relationships between organizational factors and workers' safety performance were investigated using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results indicate that the influence mechanisms of organizational factors in Taiwan and Japan are different. These findings provide insights into areas of safety improvement in emerging countries and developed countries respectively.

Factor Analysis and Framework Development for Incorporating Public Trust on Nuclear Safety issues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Seongkyung; Lee, Gyebong [The Myongji Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Gihyung; Lee, Gyehwi; Jeong, Jina [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), a regulatory expert organization in charge of nuclear safety in Korea, realized that a more fundamental and systematic analysis of activities is needed to actively meet the greater variety of concerns people have and increase the reliability of the results of regulation. Nuclear safety, a highly specialized field, has previously been discussed primarily from the viewpoint of the engineers who deal with the technology, but now 'public trust in nuclear safety' has to be viewed from the standpoint of the general public and from the socio-cultural perspective. Specific measures must be taken to examine which factors affect public trust and how we can secure and reproduce those factors to gain it. Also, an efficient system for incorporating public trust in nuclear safety must be established. In this study, various case studies were examined to identify the factors that affect public trust in nuclear safety. First, nuclear safety laws and information disclosure systems of major countries were examined by investigating data and conducting in-depth interviews. To explore a public framework concerning nuclear safety, big data of social media were analyzed. Also, Q methodology was used to analyze the risk schemata of the opinion leaders living in areas near nuclear power plants. Several surveys were conducted to analyze the amount of trust the public had in nuclear safety as well as their awareness of nuclear safety issues. Based on these analyses, factors affecting public trust in nuclear safety were extracted, and measures to build systems incorporating public trust in nuclear safety were proposed. This study addresses the public trust in nuclear safety on condition that the safety is ensured technically and mechanically.

Factor Analysis and Framework Development for Incorporating Public Trust on Nuclear Safety issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Seongkyung; Lee, Gyebong; Lee, Gihyung; Lee, Gyehwi; Jeong, Jina

2014-01-01

The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), a regulatory expert organization in charge of nuclear safety in Korea, realized that a more fundamental and systematic analysis of activities is needed to actively meet the greater variety of concerns people have and increase the reliability of the results of regulation. Nuclear safety, a highly specialized field, has previously been discussed primarily from the viewpoint of the engineers who deal with the technology, but now 'public trust in nuclear safety' has to be viewed from the standpoint of the general public and from the socio-cultural perspective. Specific measures must be taken to examine which factors affect public trust and how we can secure and reproduce those factors to gain it. Also, an efficient system for incorporating public trust in nuclear safety must be established. In this study, various case studies were examined to identify the factors that affect public trust in nuclear safety. First, nuclear safety laws and information disclosure systems of major countries were examined by investigating data and conducting in-depth interviews. To explore a public framework concerning nuclear safety, big data of social media were analyzed. Also, Q methodology was used to analyze the risk schemata of the opinion leaders living in areas near nuclear power plants. Several surveys were conducted to analyze the amount of trust the public had in nuclear safety as well as their awareness of nuclear safety issues. Based on these analyses, factors affecting public trust in nuclear safety were extracted, and measures to build systems incorporating public trust in nuclear safety were proposed. This study addresses the public trust in nuclear safety on condition that the safety is ensured technically and mechanically

Factors associated with the enactment of safety belt and motorcycle helmet laws.

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Teik Hua; Noland, Robert B; Evans, Andrew W

2013-07-01

It has been shown that road safety laws, such as motorcycle helmet and safety belt laws, have a significant effect in reducing road fatalities. Although an expanding body of literature has documented the effects of these laws on road safety, it remains unclear which factors influence the likelihood that these laws are enacted. This study attempts to identify the factors that influence the decision to enact safety belt and motorcycle helmet laws. Using panel data from 31 countries between 1963 and 2002, our results reveal that increased democracy, education level, per capita income, political stability, and more equitable income distribution within a country are associated with the enactment of road safety laws. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

Infrastructural and Human Factors Affecting Safety Outcomes of Cyclists

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Useche

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The increasing number of registered road crashes involving cyclists during the last decade and the high proportion of road crashes resulting in severe injuries and fatalities among cyclists constitutes a global issue for community health, urban development and sustainability. Nowadays, the incidence of many risk factors for road crashes of cyclists remains largely unexplained. Given the importance of this issue, the present study has been conducted with the aim of determining relationships between infrastructural, human factors and safety outcomes of cyclists. Objectives: This study aimed, first, to examine the relationship between key infrastructural and human factors present in cycling, bicycle-user characteristics and their self-reported experience with road crashes. And second, to determine whether a set of key infrastructural and human factors may predict their self-reported road crashes. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, a total of 1064 cyclists (38.8% women, 61.2% men; M = 32.8 years of age from 20 different countries across Europe, South America and North America, participated in an online survey composed of four sections: demographic data and cycling-related factors, human factors, perceptions on infrastructural factors and road crashes suffered. Results: The results of this study showed significant associations between human factors, infrastructural conditions and self-reported road crashes. Also, a logistic regression model found that self-reported road crashes of cyclists could be predicted through variables such as age, riding intensity, risky behaviours and problematic user/infrastructure interactions. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that self-reported road crashes of cyclists are influenced by features related to the user and their interaction with infrastructural characteristics of the road.

A quantitative assessment of organizational factors affecting safety using a system dynamics model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, J. K.; Yoon, T. S.

2003-01-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a system dynamics model for the assessment of organizational and human factors in the nuclear power plant safety. Previous studies are classified into two major approaches. One is the engineering approach such as ergonomics and Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). The other is socio-psychology one. Both have contributed to find organizational and human factors and increased nuclear safety However, since these approaches assume that the relationship among factors is independent they do not explain the interactions between factors or variables in NPP's. To overcome these restrictions, a system dynamics model, which can show causal relations between factors and quantify organizational and human factors, has been developed. Operating variables such as degree of leadership, adjustment of number of employee, and workload in each department, users can simulate various situations in nuclear power plants in the organization side. Through simulation, user can get an insight to improve safety in plants and to find managerial tools in the organization and human side

Patient safety in the operating room: an intervention study on latent risk factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van Beuzekom Martie

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patient safety is one of the greatest challenges in healthcare. In the operating room errors are frequent and often consequential. This article describes an approach to a successful implementation of a patient safety program in the operating room, focussing on latent risk factors that influence patient safety. We performed an intervention to improve these latent risk factors (LRFs and increase awareness of patient safety issues amongst OR staff. Methods Latent risk factors were studied using a validated questionnaire applied to the OR staff before and after an intervention. A pre-test/post-test control group design with repeated measures was used to evaluate the effects of the interventions. The staff from one operating room of an university hospital acted as the intervention group. Controls consisted of the staff of the operating room in another university hospital. The outcomes were the changes in LRF scores, perceived incident rate, and changes in incident reports between pre- and post-intervention. Results Based on pre-test scores and participants’ key concerns about organizational factors affecting patient safety in their department the intervention focused on the following LRFs: Material Resources, Training and Staffing Recourses. After the intervention, the intervention operating room - compared to the control operating room - reported significantly fewer problems on Material Resources and Staffing Resources and a significantly lower score on perceived incident rate. The contribution of technical factors to incident causation decreased significantly in the intervention group after the intervention. Conclusion The change of state of latent risk factors can be measured using a patient safety questionnaire aimed at these factors. The change of the relevant risk factors (Material and Staffing resources concurred with a decrease in perceived and reported incident rates in the relevant categories. We conclude that

Consensus achievement of leadership, organisational and individual factors that influence safety climate: Implications for nursing management.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Shelly A; Jones, Jacqueline; Verran, Joyce A

2018-01-01

To validate a framework of factors that influence the relationship of transformational leadership and safety climate, and to enable testing of safety chain factors by generating hypotheses regarding their mediating and moderating effects. Understanding the patient safety chain and mechanisms by which leaders affect a strong climate of safety is essential to transformational leadership practice, education, and research. A systematic review of leadership and safety literature was used to develop an organising framework of factors proposed to influence the climate of safety. A panel of 25 international experts in leadership and safety engaged a three-round modified Delphi study with Likert-scored surveys. Eighty per cent of participating experts from six countries were retained to the final survey round. Consensus (>66% agreement) was achieved on 40 factors believed to influence safety climate in the acute care setting. Consensus regarding specific factors that play important roles in an organisation's climate of safety can be reached. Generally, the demonstration of leadership commitment to safety is key to cultivating a culture of patient safety. Transformational nurse leaders should consider and employ all three categories of factors in daily leadership activities and decision-making to drive a strong climate of patient safety. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effects of the safety factor on ion temperature gradient modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, A.K.; Dong, J.Q.; Sanuki, H.; Itoh, K.

2003-01-01

A model for the ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven instability is derived from Braginskii magnetohydrodynamic equations of ions. The safety factor q in a toroidal plasma is introduced into the model through the current density J parallel . The effects of q or J parallel on both the ITG instability in k perpendicular and k parallel spectra and the critical stability thresholds are studied. It is shown that the current density // J or the safety factor q plays an important role in stabilizing the ITG instability. (author)

Relationship between organizational factors, safety culture and PSA in nuclear power plant operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joksimovich, V.; Orvis, D.D.

1997-01-01

There are four nuclear safety imperatives or ''4Ms'': machine (hardware, design, QA/QC), milieux (operating conditions, environment, natural phenomena), man (human reliability) and management (organizational and management influences). Nuclear safety evaluations as well as evolution of its most powerful tool, Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA), followed chronologically the 4M constituents. The nuclear industry worldwide, and the nuclear safety regulators in particular, have been preoccupied with the first M almost to the point of obsession with belated and only intuitive interest in the third and fourth M (human dimension). Human factors or economics in the nuclear industry was an afterthought. Human reliability was essentially born in the aftermath of the Three Mile Island (TMI) accident. Impact of organizational factors on nuclear safety is only in the early stages of R and D. This paper describes some of the concepts being pursued by APG to link organizational factors and safety culture to Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) and to integrate such into probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), e.g. [APG, 1993]. (author). 11 refs, 4 figs, 1 tab

National plan to enhance aviation safety through human factors improvements

Science.gov (United States)

Foushee, Clay

1990-01-01

The purpose of this section of the plan is to establish a development and implementation strategy plan for improving safety and efficiency in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system. These improvements will be achieved through the proper applications of human factors considerations to the present and future systems. The program will have four basic goals: (1) prepare for the future system through proper hiring and training; (2) develop a controller work station team concept (managing human errors); (3) understand and address the human factors implications of negative system results; and (4) define the proper division of responsibilities and interactions between the human and the machine in ATC systems. This plan addresses six program elements which together address the overall purpose. The six program elements are: (1) determine principles of human-centered automation that will enhance aviation safety and the efficiency of the air traffic controller; (2) provide new and/or enhanced methods and techniques to measure, assess, and improve human performance in the ATC environment; (3) determine system needs and methods for information transfer between and within controller teams and between controller teams and the cockpit; (4) determine how new controller work station technology can optimally be applied and integrated to enhance safety and efficiency; (5) assess training needs and develop improved techniques and strategies for selection, training, and evaluation of controllers; and (6) develop standards, methods, and procedures for the certification and validation of human engineering in the design, testing, and implementation of any hardware or software system element which affects information flow to or from the human.

Safety climate in university and college laboratories: impact of organizational and individual factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Tsung-Chih; Liu, Chi-Wei; Lu, Mu-Chen

2007-01-01

Universities and colleges serve to be institutions of education excellence; however, problems in the areas of occupational safety may undermine such goals. Occupational safety must be the concern of every employee in the organization, regardless of job position. Safety climate surveys have been suggested as important tools for measuring the effectiveness and improvement direction of safety programs. Thus, this study aims to investigate the influence of organizational and individual factors on safety climate in university and college laboratories. Employees at 100 universities and colleges in Taiwan were mailed a self-administered questionnaire survey; the response rate was 78%. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that organizational category of ownership, the presence of a safety manager and safety committee, gender, age, title, accident experience, and safety training significantly affected the climate. Among them, accident experience and safety training affected the climate with practical significance. The authors recommend that managers should address important factors affecting safety issues and then create a positive climate by enforcing continuous improvements.

A report on human factors in nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-03-01

Following the Three Mile Island incident of 1979, studies were undertaken by the Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB), in-house and through outside consultants, to address the role of human factors in the regulatory process. This report by the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Safety (ACNS) comments briefly on these studies and offers suggestions which would promote a more formal treatment of human factors by the AECB

Classification analysis of organization factors related to system safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Huizhen; Zhang Li; Zhang Yuling; Guan Shihua

2009-01-01

This paper analyzes the different types of organization factors which influence the system safety. The organization factor can be divided into the interior organization factor and exterior organization factor. The latter includes the factors of political, economical, technical, law, social culture and geographical, and the relationships among different interest groups. The former includes organization culture, communication, decision, training, process, supervision and management and organization structure. This paper focuses on the description of the organization factors. The classification analysis of the organization factors is the early work of quantitative analysis. (authors)

Mathematical models for prediction of safety factors for a simply ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

From the results obtained, mathematical prediction models were developed using a least square regression analysis for bending, shear and deflection modes of failure considered in the study. The results showed that the safety factors for material, dead and live load are not unique, but they are influenced by safety index ...

A quantitative assessment of organizational factors affecting safety using a system dynamics model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoo, J. K. [Systemix Company, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Yoon, T. S. [Korea Electric Power Research Institute (Korea, Republic of)

2003-07-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a system dynamics model for the assessment of organizational and human factors in the nuclear power plant safety. Previous studies are classified into two major approaches. One is the engineering approach such as ergonomics and Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). The other is socio-psychology one. Both have contributed to find organizational and human factors and increased nuclear safety However, since these approaches assume that the relationship among factors is independent they do not explain the interactions between factors or variables in NPP's. To overcome these restrictions, a system dynamics model, which can show causal relations between factors and quantify organizational and human factors, has been developed. Operating variables such as degree of leadership, adjustment of number of employee, and workload in each department, users can simulate various situations in nuclear power plants in the organization side. Through simulation, user can get an insight to improve safety in plants and to find managerial tools in the organization and human side.

[Role of some psycho-physiological factors on driving safety].

Science.gov (United States)

Bergomi, M; Vivoli, G; Rovesti, S; Bussetti, P; Ferrari, A; Vivoli, R

2010-01-01

Within a research project on the role played by human factors on road accidents, the aim of the present study is to evaluate, in young adults, the relationships between driver behaviour and personality factors as well as to assess the neuroendocrine correlates of psychological and behavioural factors investigated. Another aim is to estimate in what measure the performance levels are affected by demographic, psychological and chronobiological variables. It has been found a positive relation between highway code violations, extroversion trait of personality and Sensation Seeking scores, so confirming that this component of personality can affect risky behaviour. Furthermore the subjects more oriented to morningness chronotype were found to be prone to adopt safe driving behaviour. Regarding the relations of the neuroendocrine parameters and driving behaviour a positive correlation was observed between dopamine levels and frequency of driving violations while a negative relationship was found between adrenaline levels and frequency of driving errors. In conclusion the identification of psycho-physiological variables related to driving risky behaviour might be a useful instrument to design traffic safety programs tailored to high risk subjects.

Organizational factors and nuclear power plant safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haber, S.B.

1995-01-01

There are many organizations in our society that depend on human performance to avoid incidents involving significant adverse consequences. As our culture and technology have become more sophisticated, the management of risk on a broad basis has become more and more critical. The safe operation of military facilities, chemical plants, airlines, and mass transit, to name a few, are substantially dependent on the performance of the organizations that operate those facilities. The nuclear power industry has, within the past 15 years, increased the attention given to the influence of human performance in the safe operation of nuclear power plants (NPP). While NPPs have been designed through engineering disciplines to intercept and mitigate events that could cause adverse consequences, it has been clear from various safety-related incidents that human performance also plays a dominant role in preventing accidents. Initial efforts following the 1979 Three Mile Island incident focused primarily on ergonomic factors (e.g., the best design of control rooms for maximum performance). Greater attention was subsequently directed towards cognitive processes involved in the use of NPP decision support systems and decision making in general, personnel functions such as selection systems, and the influence of work scheduling and planning on employees' performance. Although each of these approaches has contributed to increasing the safety of NPPS, during the last few years, there has been a growing awareness that particular attention must be paid to how organizational processes affect NPP personnel performance, and thus, plant safety. The direct importance of organizational factors on safety performance in the NPP has been well-documented in the reports on the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents as well as numerous other events, especially as evaluated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

Safety review for human factors engineering and control rooms of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Mengzhuo

1998-01-01

Safety review for human factors engineering and control rooms of nuclear power plants (NPP) is in a forward position of science and technology, which began at American TMI severe accident and had been implemented in China. The importance and the significance of the safety review are expounded, the requirements of its scope and profundity are explained in detail. In addition, the situation of the technical document system for nuclear safety regulation on human factors engineering and control rooms of NPP in China is introduced briefly, on which the safety review is based

A Study on the Allowable Safety Factor of Cut-Slopes for Nuclear Facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Myung Soo; Yee, Eric [KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

In this study, the issues of allowable safety factor design criteria for cut-slopes in nuclear facilities is derived through case analysis, a proposed construction work slope design criteria that provides relatively detailed conditions can be applied in case of the dry season and some unclear parts of slope design criteria be modified in case of the rainy season. This safety factor can be further subdivided into two; normal and earthquake factors, a factor of 1.5 is applied for normal conditions and a factor of 1.2 is applied for seismic conditions. This safety factor takes into consideration the effect of ground water and rainfall conditions. However, no criteria for the case of cut-slope in nuclear facilities and its response to seismic conditions is clearly defined, this can cause uncertainty in design. Therefore, this paper investigates the allowable safety factor for cut-slopes in nuclear facilities, reviews conditions of both local and international cut-slope models and finally suggests an alternative method of analysis. It is expected that the new design criteria adequately ensures the stability of the cut-slope to reflect clear conditions for both the supervising and design engineers.

75 FR 5536 - Pipeline Safety: Control Room Management/Human Factors, Correction

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-03

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Parts...: Control Room Management/Human Factors, Correction AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety... following correcting amendments: PART 192--TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE: MINIMUM...

Development of safety factors to be used for evaluation of cracked nuclear components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brickstad, B.; Bergman, M.

1996-10-01

A modified concept for safety evaluation is introduced which separately accounts for the failure mechanisms fracture and plastic collapse. For application on nuclear components a set of safety factors are also proposed that retain the safety margins expressed in ASME, section III and XI. By performing comparative studies of the acceptance levels for surface cracks in pipes and a pressure vessel, it is shown that some of the anomalies connected with the old safety procedures are removed. It is the authors belief that the outlined safety evaluation procedure has the capability of treating cracks in a consistent way and that the procedure together with the proposed safety factors fulfill the basic safety requirements for nuclear components. Hopefully, it is possible in the near future to develop a probabilistic safety assessment procedure in Sweden, which enables a systematic treatment of uncertainties in the involved data. 14 refs

The present status of iodine chemistry research in Canada and its application to reactor safety analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weaver, K R [Ontario Hydro Nuclear, Toronto (Canada); Kupferschmid, W C.H.; Wren, J C; Ball, J M [Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Pinawa, MB (Canada). Whiteshell Labs.

1996-12-01

The current need to understand iodine chemistry in a reactor safety context has become more sharply focussed as the level of that understanding has advanced. At the same time, the situations of most concern within containment, from an iodine perspective, are also being redefined in the light of that understanding. The present paper summarises these developments. Over the past five years, considerable advances have occurred in our understanding of iodine chemistry under conditions of interest in reactor accidents. A number of key experiments have yielded important results in the areas of solution chemistry, the role of surfaces, the importance of organics and the effects of impurities. This understanding supplements the already substantial gains made in characterising the key roles of pH and the effects of radiation. All these factors underline the now evident fact that the kinetics of iodine are the controlling factor when radiation is involved, and that a number of reactive species, not present in thermal reactions, effectively control the observed volatility of iodine. In this paper, recent advances are summarised and the present status of our understanding of iodine chemistry is reviewed. Specifically, an attempt is made to identify those areas where our understanding appears to be relatively complete, and to flag the remaining critical areas where our attention is currently focussed. The state of our modelling capability is reviewed, as is the significance or related areas such as the role of mass transfer. Finally, an overview is presented of the significance of this work for reactor safety, and our expectations for its application over the near term future. (author) 2 figs., 12 refs.

The present status of iodine chemistry research in Canada and its application to reactor safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weaver, K.R.; Kupferschmid, W.C.H.; Wren, J.C.; Ball, J.M.

1996-01-01

The current need to understand iodine chemistry in a reactor safety context has become more sharply focussed as the level of that understanding has advanced. At the same time, the situations of most concern within containment, from an iodine perspective, are also being redefined in the light of that understanding. The present paper summarises these developments. Over the past five years, considerable advances have occurred in our understanding of iodine chemistry under conditions of interest in reactor accidents. A number of key experiments have yielded important results in the areas of solution chemistry, the role of surfaces, the importance of organics and the effects of impurities. This understanding supplements the already substantial gains made in characterising the key roles of pH and the effects of radiation. All these factors underline the now evident fact that the kinetics of iodine are the controlling factor when radiation is involved, and that a number of reactive species, not present in thermal reactions, effectively control the observed volatility of iodine. In this paper, recent advances are summarised and the present status of our understanding of iodine chemistry is reviewed. Specifically, an attempt is made to identify those areas where our understanding appears to be relatively complete, and to flag the remaining critical areas where our attention is currently focussed. The state of our modelling capability is reviewed, as is the significance or related areas such as the role of mass transfer. Finally, an overview is presented of the significance of this work for reactor safety, and our expectations for its application over the near term future. (author) 2 figs., 12 refs

Quality factors quantification/assurance for software related to safety in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nunez McLeod, J.E.; Rivera, S.S.

1997-01-01

Quality assurance plan is needed to guarantee the software quality. The use of such a plan involves activities that should take place all along the life cycle, and which can be evaluated using the so called quality factors. This is due to the fact that the quality itself cannot be measured, but some of its manifestations can be used for this purpose. In the present work, a methodology to quantify a set of quality factors is proposed, for software based systems to be used in safety related areas in nuclear power plants. (author) [es

Functionality of road safety devices – identification and analysis of factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeliński Łukasz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Road safety devices are designed to protect road users from the risk of injury or death. The principal type of restraint is the safety barrier. Deployed on sites with the highest risk of run-off-road accidents, safety barriers are mostly found on bridges, flyovers, central reservations, and on road edges which have fixed obstacles next to them. If properly designed and installed, safety barriers just as other road safety devices, should meet a number of functional features. This report analyses factors which may deteriorate functionality, ways to prevent this from happening and the thresholds for loss of road safety device functionality.

Safety factor profile control in a tokamak

CERN Document Server

Bribiesca Argomedo, Federico; Prieur, Christophe

2014-01-01

Control of the Safety Factor Profile in a Tokamak uses Lyapunov techniques to address a challenging problem for which even the simplest physically relevant models are represented by nonlinear, time-dependent, partial differential equations (PDEs). This is because of the  spatiotemporal dynamics of transport phenomena (magnetic flux, heat, densities, etc.) in the anisotropic plasma medium. Robustness considerations are ubiquitous in the analysis and control design since direct measurements on the magnetic flux are impossible (its estimation relies on virtual sensors) and large uncertainties remain in the coupling between the plasma particles and the radio-frequency waves (distributed inputs). The Brief begins with a presentation of the reference dynamical model and continues by developing a Lyapunov function for the discretized system (in a polytopic linear-parameter-varying formulation). The limitations of this finite-dimensional approach motivate new developments in the infinite-dimensional framework. The t...

Research on review technology for three key safety factors of periodic safety review (PSR) and its application to Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Shoulv; Yao Weida; Dou Yikang; Lin Shaoxuan; Cao Yenan; Zhou Quanfu; Zheng Jiong; Zhang Ming

2009-04-01

In 2001, after 10 years' operation, Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant (Q1) started to carry out periodic safety review (PSR) based on a nuclear safety guideline, Periodic Safety Review for Operational Nuclear Power Plants (HAF0312), issued by National Nuclear Safety Administration of China (NNSA). Entrusted by the owner of Q1, Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI) implemented reviews of three key safety factors including safety analysis, equipment qualification and ageing. PSR was a challenging work in China at that time and through three years' research and practice, SNERDI summarized a systematic achievement for the review including review methodology, scoping, review contents and implementation steps, etc.. During the process of review for the three safety factors, totally 148 review reports and 341 recommendations for corrections were submitted to Q1. These reports and recommendations have provided guidance for correction actions as follow-up of PSR. This paper focuses on technical aspects to carry out PSR for the above-mentioned three safety factors, including review scoping, contents, methodology and main steps. The review technology and relevant experience can be taken for reference for other NPPs to carry out PSR. (authors)

Modeling the factors affecting unsafe behavior in the construction industry from safety supervisors' perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Khosravi, Yahya; Asilian-Mahabadi, Hassan; Hajizadeh, Ebrahim; Hassanzadeh-Rangi, Narmin; Bastani, Hamid; Khavanin, Ali; Mortazavi, Seyed Bagher

2014-01-01

There can be little doubt that the construction is the most hazardous industry in the worldwide. This study was designed to modeling the factors affecting unsafe behavior from the perspective of safety supervisors. The qualitative research was conducted to extract a conceptual model. A structural model was then developed based on a questionnaire survey (n=266) by two stage Structural Equation Model (SEM) approach. An excellent confirmed 12-factors structure explained about 62% of variances unsafe behavior in the construction industry. A good fit structural model indicated that safety climate factors were positively correlated with safety individual factors (Pconstruction workers' engagement in safe or unsafe behavior. In order to improve construction safety performance, more focus on the workplace condition is required.

Human and organization factors: engineering operating safety into offshore structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bea, Robert G.

1998-01-01

History indicates clearly that the safety of offshore structures is determined primarily by the humans and organizations responsible for these structures during their design, construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning. If the safety of offshore structures is to be preserved and improved, then attention of engineers should focus on to how to improve the reliability of the offshore structure 'system,' including the people that come into contact with the structure during its life-cycle. This article reviews and discusss concepts and engineering approaches that can be used in such efforts. Two specific human factor issues are addressed: (1) real-time management of safety during operations, and (2) development of a Safety Management Assessment System to help improve the safety of offshore structures

Presenting information on regulation values improves the public’s sense of safety: Perceived mercury risk in fish and shellfish and its effects on consumption intention

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Mai; Yamaguchi, Tomiko

2017-01-01

Risk communication aims to promote health and understanding through information exchange; however, explanations regarding the basis of regulation values for the public are insufficient. Moreover, it is unclear how information presentation affects the public’s sense of safety and their consumption intentions. We first investigated the relationship between perception of mercury-risk in fish and shellfish and individual attributes and knowledge. We then examined how presenting information on regulation values and primary factors regarding perception affected sense of safety toward regulations and food-consumption intentions. An online survey was conducted with Japanese individuals (N = 1148). Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three groups based on the presentation level of regulation values. People who frequently consumed tuna had a high perception of dread risk of mercury. This suggests that the dread risk perception of mercury does not determine tuna-type consumption behavior; rather, individuals’ consumption behavior determines dread risk perception of mercury. Among those with high tuna-type consumption, those receiving information that a safety factor of 10 times had been considered showed a significantly greater sense of safety than did the group that was not presented with information on regulation values (odds ratio (95% confidence interval): 2.04 (1.18–3.53), p values showed a weak but significantly positive correlation with excessive intake of tuna-type fish (odds ratio: 2.95 (0.93–9.32), p values increases sense of safety; however, it may also lead to excessive intake. PMID:29267301

Armenia nuclear power plant. Overview of the present situation and its seismic safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Godoy, A.

1993-01-01

The presentation covers the problems of seismic safety of the two Armenian WWER type NPPs in the context of the energy situation in Armenia. Since the seismicity of the region is hazardous the upgrading of the seismic level is necessary and is considered feasible. A more complete and systematic approach to this problem is required. In this regard recommendations for seismic and site related safety which should be implemented are cited in the paper and a two phase approach is proposed in view of IAEA Safety Codes and Safety Guides

The Relationship Between Antecedent and Consequence Factors with Safety Behaviour in PT.X

OpenAIRE

Fitriani, Apris; Nawawiwetu, Erwin Dyah

2017-01-01

Background : Safety behaviour is an act worker to minimize the possibility of accidents in workplace. Based on the Antecedents-Behaviour-Consequence (ABC) theory, safety behaviour of worker related with the antecedent and consequence factors. Purpose : The purpose of this research was to study the association between antecedent and consequence factors with safety behaviour of workers in Ring Frame Unit Spinning II PT. X. Methods : This was an observational descriptive research with cross sect...

A research framework of organizational factors on safety in the Republic of Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwang Seok Lee

1997-01-01

Korean nuclear society is yet unfamiliar with the topic, 'organizational factors on safety', while having shown lots of accomplishments in the area of physical and human factors on safety. However, recent large-scale accidents in other technological areas illustrate the importance of managing organization factors on safety. Recently Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) started paying attention to this topic and is trying to establish a future research framework of organizational factors on safety. This paper tries to explain overall direction of the framework. Our framework, as managing organizational factors on safety, considers two kinds of areas: design of management systems, which implies a feed-forward system including organizational models; and operation of those systems, which implies a feedback system including management information and implementation systems. Our framework also considers the evolution stage of a management system. Management systems evolve from visibility stage to optimization stage. To optimize a management system, we should be able to control the system. To control the system, we should be able to see how the system is going. In addition, this paper tries to share some experience of KAERI on how organizational structure and culture affects organizational performance in R and D perspective. (author). 2 refs, 1 fig

Human and organizational factors in nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, A.; Barrientos, M.; Gil, B.

2015-01-01

Nuclear installations are socio technical systems where human and organizational factors, in both utilities and regulators, have a significant impact on safety. Three Mile Island (TMI) accident, original of several initiatives in the human factors field, nevertheless became a lost opportunity to timely acquire lessons related to the upper tiers of the system. Nowadays, Spanish nuclear installations have integrated in their processes specialists and activities in human and organizational factors, promoted by the licensees After many years of hard work, Spanish installations have achieved a better position to face new challenges, such as those posed by Fukushima. With this experience, only technology-centered action plan would not be acceptable, turning this accident in yet another lost opportunity. (Author)

Organizational factors influencing improvements in safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcus, A.; Nichols, M.L.; Olson, J.; Osborn, R.; Thurber, J.

1991-01-01

Results of conceptual and empirical research conducted by this research team, and published in NUREG-CR 5437, suggested that processes of organizational problem solving and learning provide a promising area for understanding improvement in safety-related performance in nuclear power plants. In this paper the authors describe the way in which they have built upon that work and gone much further in empirically examining a range of potentially important organizational factors related to safety. The paper describes (1) overall trends in plant performance over time on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission performance indicators, (2) the major elements in the conceptual framework guiding the current work, which seeks among other things to explain those trends, (3) the specific variables used as measures of the central concepts, (4) the results to date of the quantitative empirical work and qualitative work in progress, and (5) conclusions from the research

Discussion on the Safety Factors of Slopes Recommended for Small Dams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Vrubel

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The design and assessment of the slope stability of small embankment dams is usually not carried out using slope stability calculations but rather by the comparison of proposed or existing dam slopes with those recommended by technical standards or guidelines. Practical experience shows that in many cases the slopes of small dams are steeper than those recommended. However, most of such steeper slopes at existing dams do not exhibit any visible signs of instability, defects or sliding. For the dam owner and also for dam stability engineers, the safety of the slope, expressed e.g. via a factor of safety, is crucial. The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety margin provided by recommended slopes. The factor of safety was evaluated for several dam shape and layout variants via the shear strength reduction method using PLAXIS software. The study covers various dam geometries, dam core and shoulder positions and parameter values of utilised soils. Three load cases were considered: one with a steady state seepage condition and two with different reservoir water level drawdown velocities – standard and critical. As numerous older small dams lack a drainage system, variants with and without a toe drain were assessed. Calculated factors of safety were compared with required values specified by national standards and guidelines.

General safety considerations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-09-01

This document presents the full filling of the Brazilian obligations under the Convention on Nuclear Safety. The Chapter 4 of the document contains some details about the priority to safety, financial and human resources, human factors, quality assurance, safety assessment and verification, radiation protection and emergency preparedness.

General safety considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This document presents the full filling of the Brazilian obligations under the Convention on Nuclear Safety. The Chapter 4 of the document contains some details about the priority to safety, financial and human resources, human factors, quality assurance, safety assessment and verification, radiation protection and emergency preparedness

General safety considerations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-09-01

This document presents the full filling of the Brazilian obligations under the Convention on Nuclear Safety. The Chapter 4 of the document contains some details about the priority to safety, financial and human resources, human factors, quality assurance, safety assessment and verification, radiation protection and emergency preparedness.

General safety considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

This document presents the full filling of the Brazilian obligations under the Convention on Nuclear Safety. The Chapter 4 of the document contains some details about the priority to safety, financial and human resources, human factors, quality assurance, safety assessment and verification, radiation protection and emergency preparedness

Fuel Cycle Safety - Past, Present and Future. Wilmington, North Carolina, USA, 16-18 October 2007. Papers and presentations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-10-01

At the October 2006 meeting of Working Group on Fuel Cycle Safety (WGFCS), participants agreed that several issues associated with the safety of the nuclear fuel cycle merit more detailed attention by regulators and industry. There was general agreement that more information, from a broader audience, would be of benefit both to regulators and the regulated industry. Therefore, this workshop was held in order to collect the views of interested parties from a global perspective. The workshop focused on the following three topics: - Legacy waste concerns (including facilities and waste); - Reprocessing of nuclear fuel and the recycling of nuclear waste; - Ensuring the safety of current and new fuel cycle facilities. The workshop was expected to provide additional insights on these three topics and enabled facility operators and regulators alike an opportunity to maintain and enhance safety in the future. This document brings together the available presentations (slides and papers) given at the meeting

Present state of the safety concept of natural-draught cooling towers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraetzig, W.B.

1977-01-01

Safety and reliability of a building depend on the mechanical model chosen, on the shape deviations of the structure, as well as on the distribution functions and fractile values of the main influences and strength properties of the materials. For the shell, the supports, and the foundation of a natural-draught cooling tower, the wind plays a special, safety-reducing role due to the fact that its upper limit remains unknown. This role is still enhanced by the dead weight of the concrete which partially exceeds the tensile load. This requires a dimensioning concept with partial safety coefficients which is established in the present paper. So far, it has been successfully used in the construction of more than 50 cooling towers. (orig.) [de

Identifying the Critical Factors Affecting Safety Program Performance for Construction Projects within Pakistan Construction Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zubair Ahmed Memon

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Many studies have shown that the construction industry one of the most hazardous industries with its high rates of fatalities and injuries and high financial losses incurred through work related accident. To reduce or overcome the safety issues on construction sites, different safety programs are introduced by construction firms. A questionnaire survey study was conducted to highlight the influence of the Construction Safety Factors on safety program implementation. The input from the questionnaire survey was analyzed by using AIM (Average Index Method and rank correlation test was conducted between different groups of respondents to measure the association between different groups of respondent. The finding of this study highlighted that management support is the critical factor for implementing the safety program on projects. From statistical test, it is concluded that all respondent groups were strongly in the favor of management support factor as CSF (Critical Success Factor. The findings of this study were validated on selected case studies. Results of the case studies will help to know the effect of the factors on implementing safety programs during the execution stage.

Key Factors Affecting Construction Safety Performance in Developing Countries: Evidence from Cambodia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serdar Durdyev

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Although proper safety management in construction is of utmost importance; anecdotal evidence suggests that safety is not adequately considered in many developing countries. This paper considers the key variables affecting construction safety performance in Cambodia. Using an empirical questionnaire survey targeting local construction professionals, respondents were invited to rate the level of importance of 30 variables identified from the seminal literature. The data set was subjected to factor analysis. Correlations between the variables show that five key factors underlie the challenges facing the local industry; management and organisation, resources, site management, cosmetic and workforce. It is found that the forefront construction professionals (top management and government authorities should take more responsibilities for further improvements in safety performance on project sites. Findings and recommendations of this study may be useful to construction professional who are seeking ways to improve safety records in developing countries.

Workshop presentations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanden, Per-Olof; Edland, Anne; Reiersen, Craig; Mullins, Peter; Ingemarsson, Karl-Fredrik; Bouchard, Andre; Watts, Germaine; Johnstone, John; Hollnagel, Erik; Ramberg, Patric; Reiman, Teemu

2009-01-01

An important part of the workshop was a series of invited presentations. The presentations were intended to both provide the participants with an understanding of various organisational approaches and activities as well as to stimulate the exchange of ideas during the small group discussion sessions. The presentation subjects ranged from current organisational regulations and licensee activities to new organisational research and the benefits of viewing organisations from a different perspective. There were more than a dozen invited presentations. The initial set of presentations gave the participants an overview of the background, structure, and aims of the workshop. This included a short presentation on the results from the regulatory responses to the pre-workshop survey. Representatives from four countries (Sweden, Canada, Finland, and the United Kingdom) expanded upon their survey responses with detailed presentations on both regulatory and licensee safety-related organisational activities in their countries. There were also presentations on new research concerning how to evaluate safety critical organisations and on a resilience engineering perspective to safety critical organisations. Below is the list of the presentations, the slides of which being available in Appendix 2: 1 - Workshop Welcome (Per-Olof Sanden); 2 - CSNI Working Group on Human and Organisational Factors (Craig Reiersen); 3 - Regulatory expectations on justification of suitability of licensee organisational structures, resources and competencies (Anne Edland); 4 - Justifying the suitability of licensee organisational structures, resources and competencies (Karl-Fredrik Ingemarsson); 5 - Nuclear Organisational Suitability in Canada (Andre Bouchard); 6 - Designing and Resourcing for Safety and Effectiveness (Germaine Watts); 7 - Organisational Suitability - What do you need and how do you know that you've got it? (Craig Reiersen); 8 - Suitability of Organisations - UK Regulator's View (Peter

Nuclear safety and human factors: the French factory of expertise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rolina, G.

2009-01-01

The French regulation of the nuclear safety is based on the maintaining of a deep technical dialogue between the nuclear safety authority, the I.R.S.N. (Institute of radiation protection and nuclear safety) and the nuclear operators. This type of risk management is called 'french coking' by the Anglo-Saxons, followers of stricter regulatory approach, more readable by the civil society. This technical dialogue is not without quality, especially in the field of human and organizational factors where it allows to improve the know how situation that stays incomplete. (N.C.)

Safer electronic health records safety assurance factors for EHR resilience

CERN Document Server

Sittig, Dean F

2015-01-01

This important volume provide a one-stop resource on the SAFER Guides along with the guides themselves and information on their use, development, and evaluation. The Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience (SAFER) guides, developed by the editors of this book, identify recommended practices to optimize the safety and safe use of electronic health records (EHRs). These guides are designed to help organizations self-assess the safety and effectiveness of their EHR implementations, identify specific areas of vulnerability, and change their cultures and practices to mitigate risks.This book pr

Effective Presentation Media for Passenger Safety I: Comprehension of Briefing Card Pictorials and Pictograms

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Corbett, Cynthia L; McLean, Garnet A; Cosper, Donna K

2008-01-01

.... The exact content and presentation media used for safety briefings and cards are the responsibility of the airlines to implement, as long as the required minimum safety information is delivered...

Workers’ Age and the Impact of Psychological Factors on the Perception of Safety at Construction Sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Dawood Idrees

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The safety of construction workers is always a major concern at construction sites as the construction industry is inherently dangerous with many factors influencing worker safety. Several studies concluded that psychological factors such as workload, organizational relationships, mental stress, job security, and job satisfaction have significant effects on workers’ safety. However, research on psychological factors that are characteristic of different age groups have been limited. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of psychological factors on the perception of worker safety for two different age groups. After an extensive literature review, different psychological factors were identified, and a hypothetical research model was developed based on psychological factors that could affect workers’ perception of safety. A survey instrument was developed, and data were collected from seven different construction sites in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling (SEM was employed to test the hypothetical model for both age groups. The results revealed that workload and job satisfaction are significantly dominant factors on workers’ perception of safety in older workers, whereas organizational relationships, mental stress, and job security are dominant factors for younger workers at construction sites.

The nuclear safety authority (ASN) presents its report on the status of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2010

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

After a presentation of the French nuclear safety authority (ASN) and of some events which occurred in 2010, this report present the actions performed by the ASN in different fields: nuclear activities (ionizing radiations and risks for health and for the environment), principles and actors of control of nuclear safety, radiation protection and environment protection, regulation, control of nuclear activities and of exposures to ionizing radiations, emergency situations, public information and transparency, international relationship. It proposes a regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France. It addresses the activities controlled by the ASN: medical and non medical usages of ionizing radiations, transportation of radioactive materials, electronuclear power stations, installations involved in the nuclear fuel cycle, research nuclear installations and other nuclear installations, safety in basic nuclear installation dismantling, radioactive wastes and polluted sites

Establishment and prioritization of relevant factors to the safety of fuel cycle facilities non reactor through dynamics archetypes evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sousa, Anna Leticia Barbosa de

2012-01-01

The present work aims to establish and prioritize factors that are important to the safety of nuclear fuel cycle facilities in order to model, analyze and design safety as a physical system, employing systemic models in an innovative way. This work takes into consideration the fact that models that use adaptations of methodologies for nuclear reactors will not properly work due to the specificities of fuel cycle facilities. Based on the fundamentals of the theory of systems, the four levels of system thinking, and the relationship of eight socio technical factors, a mental model has been developed for safety management in the nuclear fuel cycle context. From this conceptual model, safety archetypes were constructed in order to identify and highlight the processes of change and decision making that allow the system to migrate to a state of loss of safety. After that, stock and flow diagrams were created so that their behavior could be assessed by the system's dynamics. The results from the analysis using the model that simulates the dynamic behavior of the variables (socio technical factors) indicated, as expected, that the system's dynamics proved to be an appropriate and efficient tool for modeling fuel cycle safety as an emergent property. (author)

FATIGUE AS A HAZARDOUS FACTOR FOR FLIGHT SAFETY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Lushkin Alexander

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The main priority of any air company activity and the main condition for its development is the achievement of the highest flight safety level. Significant positive results in this area have been recently achieved, hence, the relative stagna- tion of indexes, reflecting the flight safety as a condition of air transport system, has been revealed. It has become evident that the present accident prevention philosophy seems to be exhausted, and at the current stage of development it doesn’t allow to make a breakthrough in the solution of all the problems, which air companies face in this respect. In the perspec- tive to find new ways to solve the existing tasks, in 2011, International Civil Aviation Organization Council adopted fatigue risk management international standards as an alternative for the traditional approach to managing crewmember fatigue by prescribing limits on maximum daily, monthly and yearly flight and duty hours. It’s a well-known fact that state of fatigue has a special place among the functional states, which are professionally significant for airmen work and which are the key link in “man-aircraft-environment” system.In this article, fatigue is considered to be a risk factor that contributes to the formation and development of crew violations and errors in the process of piloting the aircraft. We have analyzed the characteristics and reasons leading to in- flight fatigue and estimated its influence on crew performance, considering the interrelation between them. The article specifies the methods and techniques to measure pilots fatigue; besides it has been substantiated the necessity of fatigue risk management system development in airlines to effectively ensure the flight safety.

Kayenta Township Building & Safety Department, Tribal Green Building Code Summit Presentation

Science.gov (United States)

Tribal Green Building Code Summit Presentation by Kayenta Township Building & Safety Department showing how they established the building department, developed a code adoption and enforcement process, and hired staff to carry out the work.

Evolution of human factors research and studies of health information technologies: the role of patient safety

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beuscart-Zéphir, M. C.; Borycki, E.; Carayon, P.; Jaspers, M. W. M.; Pelayo, S.

2013-01-01

The objective of this survey paper is to present and explain the impact of recent regulations and patient safety initiatives (EU, US and Canada) on Human Factors (HF)/Usability studies and research focusing on Health Information Technology (HIT). The authors have selected the most prominent of these

Impact of Geotechnical Factors on the Safety of Low Embankment Dams From the Perspective of Technical and Safety Supervision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kasana Andrej

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Our research deals with a broad spectrum of problems concerning the variability of geotechnical factors and their influence on the safety of the biggest group of dam constructions in Slovakia, i.e., low earthfill dams. Its specific aim is the observation of their risk factors by using our experience and knowledge gained while working in the sector of technical and safety supervision. To achieve the aims of a research thesis, we analyzed 39 low earthfill dams. We performed observations and documented their conditions with the aim of clarifying the risk factors. After an analysis of the information materials that characterize dams and after a statistical analysis of the measurement results in situ, including measurements from technical and safety supervision databases, we performed an analysis by using mathematical modeling to evaluate the safety of the dam constructions. Out of the total number of 39 dam constructions, an analysis of the stability of the dam slopes was performed on 37 dams, and deformation problems were analyzed on 28 of the dams. Filtration problems were analyzed at 26 dams, and a complete evaluation of the intensity of filtration movements was performed on 19 of the constructions.

Relationships between road safety, safety measures and external factors : a scan of the literature in view of model development and topics for further research.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Churchill, T. & Norden, Y. van

2010-01-01

The purpose of this literature scan is to examine where literature on the effect of external factors and road safety measures on road safety exists and where it is lacking. This scan will help us to decide which factors to include in a comprehensive road safety model as SWOV is working on, and at

Development of a draft of human factors safety review procedures for the Korean Next Generation Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jung Woon; Moon, B. S.; Park, J. C.; Lee, Y. H.; Oh, I. S.; Lee, H. C.

2000-02-01

In this study, a draft of Human Factors Engineering (HFE) Safety Review Procedures (SRP) was developed for the safety review of KNGR based on HFE Safety and Regulatory Requirements and Guidelines (SRRG). This draft includes acceptance criteria, review procedure, and evaluation findings for the areas of review including HFE program management, human factors analyses, human factors design, and HFE verification and validation, based on section 15.1 'human factors engineering design process' and 15.2 'control room human factors engineering' of KNGR specific safety requirements and chapter 15 'human factors engineering' of KNGR safety regulatory guides. For the effective review, human factors concerns or issues related to advanced HSI design that have been reported so far should be extensively examined. In this study, a total of 384 human factors issues related to the advanced HSI design were collected through our review of a total of 145 documents. A summary of each issue was described and the issues were identified by specific features of HSI design. These results were implemented into a database system

The role of engineering judgement, safety culture, and organizational factors in risk assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muzumdar, Ajit; Professor, Visiting

1996-01-01

This paper reviews the role of engineering judgement, safety culture, and organizational factors in risk assessment by examining the reasons for human-based error. The need for more emphasis on producing engineers with good engineering judgement is described. The progress in quantifying the role of safety culture and organizational factors in risk assessment studies is summarized

Defining safety culture and the nexus between safety goals and safety culture. 3. A Methodology for Identifying Deficiencies in Safety Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apostolakis, George; Weil, Rick

2001-01-01

At present, the drivers of performance problems at nuclear power plants (NPPs) are organizational in nature. Organizational deficiencies and other 'latent' conditions cause human errors, resulting in incidents that impact the performance of NPPs. Therefore, the human reliability community, regulators, and others concerned with NPP safety express the view that safety culture and organizational factors play an important role in plant safety. However, we have yet to identify one complete set of organizational factors, establish links between deficient safety culture and performance, or develop adequate tools to measure safety culture. This paper will contribute to the resolution of these issues. Safety culture is not a single factor but rather is a collection of several distinct factors. This paper asserts that in order to pro-actively manage safety culture at NPPs, leading indicators and appropriate measurements must be identified and developed. Central to this effort are the identification of the distinct factors comprising safety culture and the relationships between those factors and performance. We have identified several factors important to safety culture. We have developed a methodology that is a combination of traditional root-cause analysis and theories of human error, most notably Reason's theory of accident causation. In addition to this methodology's usefulness in identifying deficiencies in safety culture, it could also be used as a starting point to identify leading indicators of deteriorating safety performance. We have identified six organizational factors as being important: communication, formalization, goal prioritization, problem identification, roles and responsibilities, and technical knowledge. In addition, we have found that certain organizational factors, although pervasive throughout the organization, have a much greater influence on the successful outcome of particular tasks of work processes, rather than being equally important to all

Probabilistic safety assessment past, present and future. An IAEA perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lederman, L.; Niehaus, F.; Tomic, B.

1996-01-01

Despite the high level of development that probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) methods have reached, a number of issues place constraints on its use in supporting decision making on safety matters. A recent publication of the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) represents an important step in reaching international consensus on the use of PSA. PSA is ''strongly encouraged'' by INSAG; however, it is noted that ''PSA methodology is not sufficiently mature for its present status to be frozen''. The main aspects of the report are discussed in this paper. The paper next discusses three main categories of PSA application, namely the adequacy of design and procedures, optimization of operational activities and regulatory applications. For each of the applications, the objectives, specific modelling requirements and the prospects for implementation are presented. Consistent with its statutory functions, an important aspect of the work of the IAEA is to reach international consensus on the possibilities of and limitations on the use of PSA methods. Whereas past efforts have been concentrated on promotion and assistance to perform Level 1 PSAs, work is now extending with emphasis on PSA applications, Level 2 and Level 3 analysis, external events and shutdown risks. The main elements of IAEA's PSA Programme are discussed. Finally some challenges related to the use of PSA in the backfitting of nuclear power plants in Eastern Europe and countries of the former USSR are addressed. (orig.)

Patient Safety Culture Survey in Pediatric Complex Care Settings: A Factor Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hessels, Amanda J; Murray, Meghan; Cohen, Bevin; Larson, Elaine L

2017-04-19

Children with complex medical needs are increasing in number and demanding the services of pediatric long-term care facilities (pLTC), which require a focus on patient safety culture (PSC). However, no tool to measure PSC has been tested in this unique hybrid acute care-residential setting. The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture tool slightly modified for use in the pLTC setting. Factor analyses were performed on data collected from 239 staff at 3 pLTC in 2012. Items were screened by principal axis factoring, and the original structure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identify the best model fit for the pLTC data, and factor reliability was assessed by Cronbach alpha. The extracted, rotated factor solution suggested items in 4 (staffing, nonpunitive response to mistakes, communication openness, and organizational learning) of the original 12 dimensions may not be a good fit for this population. Nevertheless, in the pLTC setting, both the original and the modified factor solutions demonstrated similar reliabilities to the published consistencies of the survey when tested in adult nursing homes and the items factored nearly identically as theorized. This study demonstrates that the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture with minimal modification may be an appropriate instrument to measure PSC in pLTC settings. Additional psychometric testing is recommended to further validate the use of this instrument in this setting, including examining the relationship to safety outcomes. Increased use will yield data for benchmarking purposes across these specialized settings to inform frontline workers and organizational leaders of areas of strength and opportunity for improvement.

Safety analysis of the present status of the research reactor 'RA' at 'Vinca' Institute

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jovic, V.; Jovic, L.; Zivotic, Z.; Milovanovic, Dj.

1995-01-01

Safety analysis of the nuclear facility which has been out of work for a long time and whose future is not defined at the present moment, can not be connected to the usual, normatively regulated system analysis procedure in both operational and accidental regimes. Therefore, the safety analysis of the present status of the present status of the reactor RA is related to system and components analysis which, in present conditions maintain their nuclear functions operational. In the first place, it refers to components and equipment in which radioactive radiation generation still exists and to installations and equipment maintaining radiation level below permitted limit. in the context of the analysis the following areas are being covered: present status characteristics, accidental events while operating period from 1959. to 1984., nuclear fuels and radioactive waste inventory, basic characteristics and status of safety-related systems and equipment, radiation protection, potential accident analysis at present status of the reactor RA, potential accidental situations due to natural events (earthquakes, water flood) or man-induced events and security. 8 refs

Using partial safety factors in wind turbine design and testing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Musial, W.D. [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)

1997-12-31

This paper describes the relationship between wind turbine design and testing in terms of the certification process. An overview of the current status of international certification is given along with a description of limit-state design basics. Wind turbine rotor blades are used to illustrate the principles discussed. These concepts are related to both International Electrotechnical Commission and Germanischer Lloyd design standards, and are covered using schematic representations of statistical load and material strength distributions. Wherever possible, interpretations of the partial safety factors are given with descriptions of their intended meaning. Under some circumstances, the authors` interpretations may be subjective. Next, the test-load factors are described in concept and then related to the design factors. Using technical arguments, it is shown that some of the design factors for both load and materials must be used in the test loading, but some should not be used. In addition, some test factors not used in the design may be necessary for an accurate test of the design. The results show that if the design assumptions do not clearly state the effects and uncertainties that are covered by the design`s partial safety factors, outside parties such as test labs or certification agencies could impose their own meaning on these factors.

Prescribing safety, negotiating expertise. Building of nuclear safety human factors expertise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rolina, Gregory

2008-01-01

This Ph.D thesis is dedicated to a specific type of expertise, the safety of nuclear installations in the field of human and organisational factors. Empirical work is at the foundation of this thesis: the monitoring of experts 'in action', allowed a detailed reconstruction of three cases they were examining. The analysis, at the core of which lies the definition of what an efficient expertise can be, emphasizes the incompleteness of the knowledge that links together the nuclear facilities' organisational characteristics and their safety. This leads us to identify the expert's three ranges of actions (rhetorical, cognitive, operative). Defined from objectives and constraints likely to influence the expert's behaviour, those three ranges each require specific skills. A conception of expertise based on these ranges seems adaptable to other sectors and allows an enrichment of models of expertise cited in literature. Historical elements from French institutions of nuclear safety are also called upon to take into consideration some of the determinants of the expertise; its efficiency relies on the upholding of a continuous dialogue between the regulators (the experts and the control authority) and the regulated (the operators). This type of historically inherited regulation makes up a specificity of the French system of external control of nuclear risks. (author) [fr

Present and future of probabilistic safety analysis of Juragua Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salomon, J.; Rivero, J.J.

1993-01-01

This work present the main conditions of probabilistic safety analysis of Juragua Nuclear Power Plant, which includes the following aspects: Staff preparedness; Creation of ANCON code; Analysis activity; IAEA technical assistance project. The present situation of PSA National Project and its perspectives development are reported

Implication of human factors in terms of safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furuta, Kazuo

2001-01-01

A critical accident of JCO occurred on September 30, 1999 gave a large impact not only to common society but also to nuclear energy field. This accident occurred by direct reason perfectly out of forecasting of the participants of nuclear energy, where a company made up a guideline violating from business allowance and safety rule and workmen also operated under a procedure out of the guideline. After the accident, a number of countermeasures on equipments, rules, and regulations were carried out, but discussion on software such as their operating methods, concrete regulation on business and authority of operators, and training of specialists seems to be much late. Safety is a problem on a complex system, containing not only hardware but also software such as human, organization, society, and so on. Then, here was discussed on a problem directly faced by conventional safety, engineering centering at hardware through thinking of a problem on human factors. (G.K.)

Method of calculating the safety factor profile on the HT-7 tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xianmei; Lu Yuancheng; Wan Baonian

2001-01-01

A method of calculating the safety factor profile on the HT-7 tokamak has been described. It is derived from Maxwell's equations, among which the authors mainly use two of them: one is the magnetic field diffusion equation, and the other is Ampere's Law. This method can be also used to evaluate the safety factor on other devices with a circular cross sections. It is helpful to the study of the plasma MHD behavior on the HT-7 tokamak

Organizational safety factors research lessons learned

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryan, T.G.

1995-01-01

This Paper reports lessons learned and state of knowledge gained from an organizational factors research activity involving commercial nuclear power plants in the United States, through the end of 1991, as seen by the scientists immediately involved in the research. Lessons learned information was gathered from the research teams and individuals using a question and answer format. The following five questions were submitted to each team and individual: (1) What organizational factors appear to influence safety performance in some systematic way, (2) Should organizational factors research focus at the plant level, or should it extend beyond the plant level to the parent company, rate setting commissions, regulatory agencies, (3) How important is having direct access to plants for doing organizational factors research, (4) What lessons have been learned to date as the result of doing organizational factors research in a nuclear regulatory setting, and (5) What organizational research topics and issues should be pursued in the future? Conclusions based on the responses provided for this report are that organizational factors research can be conducted in a regulatory setting and produce useful results. Technologies pioneered in other academic, commercial, and military settings can be adopted for use in a nuclear regulatory setting. The future success of such research depends upon the cooperation of regulators, contractors, and the nuclear industry

Slope Safety Factor Calculations With Non-Linear Yield Criterion Using Finite Elements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausen, Johan; Damkilde, Lars

2006-01-01

The factor of safety for a slope is calculated with the finite element method using a non-linear yield criterion of the Hoek-Brown type. The parameters of the Hoek-Brown criterion are found from triaxial test data. Parameters of the linear Mohr-Coulomb criterion are calibrated to the same triaxial...... are carried out at much higher stress levels than present in a slope failure, this leads to the conclusion that the use of the non-linear criterion leads to a safer slope design...

Development of a draft of human factors safety review procedures for the Korean next generation reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jung Woon; Moon, B. S.; Park, J. C.; Lee, Y. H.; Oh, I. S.; Lee, H. C. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

2000-02-01

In this study, a draft of human factors engineering (HFE) safety review procedures (SRP) was developed for the safety review of KNGR based on HFE Safety and Regulatory Requirements and Guidelines (SRRG). This draft includes acceptance criteria, review procedure, and evaluation findings for the areas of review including HFE Program Management, Human Factors Analyses, Human Factors Design, and HFE Verification and Validation, based on Section 15.1 'Human Factors Engineering Design Process' and 15.2 'Control Room Human Factors Engineering' of KNGR Specific Safety Requirements and Chapter 15 'Human Factors Engineering' of KNGR Safety Regulatory Guides. For the effective review, human factors concerns or issues related to advanced HSI design that have been reported so far should be extensively examined. In this study, a total of 384 human factors issues related to the advanced HSI design were collected through our review of a total of 145 documents. A summary of each issue was described and the issues were identified by specific features of HSI design. These results were implemented into a database system. 8 refs., 2 figs. (Author)

Verification of Overall Safety Factors In Deterministic Design Of Model Tested Breakwaters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burcharth, H. F.

2001-01-01

The paper deals with concepts of safety implementation in design. An overall safety factor concept is evaluated on the basis of a reliability analysis of a model tested rubble mound breakwater with monolithic super structure. Also discussed are design load identification and failure mode limit...

Identification and assessment of organisational factors related to the safety of NPPs - State-of-the-Art Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baumont, Genevieve; Bourrier, Mathilde; Frischknecht, Albert; Schoenfeld, Isabelle; Weber, Mike J.

1999-01-01

The initiation of this State-of-the-Art Report (SOAR) on Organisational Factors Identification and Assessment comes from operating experience associated with a number of major events world-wide which caused power plants to be shutdown for a significant period of time. Root cause assessments of these events identified weaknesses in organisational factors as contributing to these events. There is general recognition that organisational factors need to be evaluated for their contribution to plant safety performance and risk to prevent their recurrence in events. There is a need to collect and analyse operational and event data from the nuclear environment to determine the safety and risk significance of organisational factors, to identify assessment methods for those factors, and to gain peer review of the results to ensure credibility and acceptability of these methods and possibly their measures. The SOAR presents a representative view of developments in this field and addresses the following topics: - identification of organisational factors; - identification of methods for the evaluation of organisational factors; - identification of methods for the evaluation of whole organisations; - identification of gaps in knowledge and needed research to evaluate adequately the influence of organisation and management on safety and risk. The workshop participants identified 12 organisational factors as important to assess in determining organisational safety performance. They are: external influences; goals and strategies; management functions and overview; resource allocation; human resource management; training; co-ordination of work; organisational knowledge; proceduralization; organisational culture; organisational learning; and communication. Different cultural backgrounds of participants using their own terminology sometimes made it difficult to have a common definition for certain factors. Some factors could be defined by consensus; other factors such as

ASSESSMENT OF RELATED ANAMNESTIC AND CLINICAL FACTORS ON EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF ANTI-HELICOBACTER PYLORI THERAPY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. N. Andreev

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article presents the results of a prospective clinical study in which 100 patients with H. pylori-associated peptic ulcer disease of stomach/duodenum were examined. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of concomitant anamnestic and clinical factors on the efficacy and safety of eradication therapy (ET. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a factor that significantly reduces the efficiency of ET with OR 0.21 (95% CI 0,06-0,69, p = 0,0102. Using a macrolide antibiotics prior to ET during the previous 12 months is associated with a reduction in the effectiveness of H. pylori eradication with OR 0.27 (95% CI 0,08-0,90, p = 0,0342. Despite the lack of statistical significance observed negative effect on the efficiency of ET factors such as smoking and increased BMI. Smoking, female gender, age over 50 years and the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus had no significant impact on the safety profile of ET. 

Partial safety factors for berthing velocity and loads on marine structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roubos, A.A.; Peters, D.J.; Groenewegen, Leon; Steenbergen, R.

2018-01-01

Design methods for marine structures have evolved into load and resistance factor design, however existing partial safety factors related to berthing velocity and loads have not been verified and validated by measurement campaigns. In this study, field observations of modern seagoing vessels

Presentation of a Software Method for Use of Risk Assessment in Building Fire Safety Measure Optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. R. Koohpaei

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Background and aims: The property loss and physical injuries due to fire events in buildings demonstrate the necessity of implementation of efficient and performance based fire safety measures. Effective and high efficiency protection is possible when design and selection of protection measures are based on risk assessment. This study aims at presenting a software method to make possible selection and design of building fire safety measures based upon quantitative risk assessment and building characteristics. Methods: based on “Fire Risk Assessment Method for Engineer (FRAME” a program in MATLB software was written. The first section of this program, according to the FRAME method and based on the specification of a building, calculates the potential risk and acceptable risk level. In the second section, according to potential risk, acceptable risk level and the fire risk level that user want, program calculate concession of protective factor for that building.Results: The prepared software make it possible to assign the fire safety measure based on quantitative risk level and all building specifications. All calculations were performed with 0.001 of precision and the accuracy of this software was assessed with handmade calculations. During the use of the software if an error occurs in calculations, it can be distinguished in the output. Conclusion: Application of quantitative risk assessment is a suitable tool for increasing of efficiency in designing and execution of fire protection measure in building. With using this software the selected fire safety measure would be more efficient and suitable since the selection of fire safety measures performed on risk assessment and particular specification of a building. Moreover fire risk in the building can be managed easily and carefully.

Factor-of-safety formulations for linear and parabolic failure envelopes for rock. Technical memorandum report RSI-0038

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gnirk, P.F.

1975-01-01

This report presents documentation of the basic formulation of the factor-of-safety relationships for linear and parabolic failure criteria for rock with an example application for a candidate room-and-pillar configuration at the proposed Alpha repository site in New Mexico. 8 figures, 4 tables

Safety of recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB in Augment® Bone Graft

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis A Solchaga

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This article discusses nonclinical and clinical data regarding the safety of recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB as a component of the Augment® Bone Graft (Augment. Augment is a bone graft substitute intended to be used as an alternative to autologous bone graft in the fusion of hindfoot and ankle joints. Nonclinical studies included assessment of the pharmacokinetic profile of intravenously administered recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB in rat and dog, effects of intravenous administration of recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB in a reproductive and development toxicity study in rats, and chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity of Augment in a 12-month implantation model. These studies showed that systemic exposure was brief and clearance was rapid. No signs of toxicity, carcinogenicity, or tumor promotion were observed even with doses far exceeding the maximum clinical dose. Results of clinical trials (605 participants and commercial use of recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB containing products indicate that these products are not associated with increased incidence of adverse events or cancer. The safety data presented provide evidence that recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB is a safe therapeutic when used in combination products as a single administration during surgical procedures for bone repair and fusion. There is no evidence associating use of recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB in Augment with chronic toxicity, carcinogenicity, or tumor promotion.

Present status of Japanese Criticality Safety Handbook

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okuno, Hiroshi

1999-01-01

A draft of the second edition of Nuclear Criticality Safety Handbook has been finalized, and it is under examination by reviewing committee for JAERI Report. Working Group designated for revising the Japanese Criticality Safety Handbook, which is chaired by Prof. Yamane, is now preparing for 'Guide on Burnup Credit for Storage and Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel' and second edition of 'Data Collection' part of Handbook. Activities related to revising the Handbook might give a hint for a future experiment at STACY. (author)

Thermal reactor safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-06-01

Information is presented concerning new trends in licensing; seismic considerations and system structural behavior; TMI-2 risk assessment and thermal hydraulics; statistical assessment of potential accidents and verification of computational methods; issues with respect to improved safety; human factors in nuclear power plant operation; diagnostics and activities in support of recovery; LOCA transient analysis; unresolved safety issues and other safety considerations; and fission product transport

Thermal reactor safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1980-06-01

Information is presented concerning new trends in licensing; seismic considerations and system structural behavior; TMI-2 risk assessment and thermal hydraulics; statistical assessment of potential accidents and verification of computational methods; issues with respect to improved safety; human factors in nuclear power plant operation; diagnostics and activities in support of recovery; LOCA transient analysis; unresolved safety issues and other safety considerations; and fission product transport.

What factors facilitate regulatory competence in supervising the safety of nuclear technology?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mishar, Marina

2012-01-01

The proposed utilization of nuclear energy for electricity generation as the alternative energy source requires Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), the Malaysian nuclear regulatory body taking key role in supervising the safety of the program. This study looked into factors influencing the competency of current AELB human resource as technical competency has been identified as one of the main contributors to the success of a civil nuclear power program. The four quadrant competency model developed by International Atomic Energy Agency was utilized as the required competency. A comprehensive study on 81 personnel from five states in different geographic regions of the country were carried out to investigate the impact of six factors related to competency (educational level, years of working experience, trainings attended, participation in technical committees, numbers of technical papers written and number of technical presentation presented) on four dependent measures in the areas of regulatory competency (legal basis, technical disciplines, regulatory practices and personal and interpersonal effectiveness). Multiple regression (method enter) identified factors that had significant contribution to level of competency while stepwise regression resulted in identifying predictors to enhance competencies. Results were mixed but each of the independent factors is a predictor to different competencies. This study had identified the best predictors that could significantly contribute to the enhancement of regulatory. (author)

Description of present practice concerning the safety criteria for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1977-01-01

In the description at hand, the authors portray how the aims defined in the safety criteria are reached, and they make proposals for improvement. Basic principles, acceptances and requirements, with which the experts of TUeV and GRS involved in licensing procedures work at the moment, are compiled. This description of present practice has to be adapted perhaps to the existing scientific knowledge at the time. In order that an optimal behaviour as regards safety is reached by the employees in nuclear power plants, criterion 2.5 requires the following measures: the places of work and the work routine in nuclear power plants are to be organized in such a way, that they offer the conditions for the optimal behaviour of employees as regards safety. (orig./HP) [de

Factors Influencing the Safety Behavior of German Equestrians: Attitudes towards Protective Equipment and Peer Behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina-Maria Ikinger

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Human interactions with horses entail certain risks. Although the acceptance and use of protective gear is increasing, a high number of incidents and very low or inconsistent voluntary use of safety equipment are reported. While past studies have examined factors influencing the use of safety gear, they have explored neither their influence on the overall safety behavior, nor their relative influence in relation to each other. The aim of the present study is to fill this gap. We conducted an online survey with 2572 participants. By means of a subsequent multiple regression analysis, we explored 23 different variables in view of their influence on the protective behavior of equestrians. In total, we found 17 variables that exerted a significant influence. The results show that both having positive or negative attitudes towards safety products as well as the protective behavior of other horse owners or riding pupils from the stable have the strongest influence on the safety behavior of German equestrians. We consider such knowledge to be important for both scientists and practitioners, such as producers of protective gear or horse sport associations who might alter safety behavior in such a way that the number of horse-related injuries decreases in the long term.

Study on safety educations against individual causal factors of unsafe acts and specification of target trainees

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirose, Ayako; Takeda, Daisuke

2016-01-01

Many accidents and incidents are caused by unsafe acts. It is important to reduce these unsafe acts for preventing the accidents. The countermeasures for each causal factor behind unsafe acts are needed, however, comparing with improvement of facilities, workers-oriented measures such as safety educations are not sufficient. Then the purposes of this study are as follows: 1) to investigate the individual factors which have great impact of unsafe acts and the existing safety educations which aim to mitigate the impact of these factors, 2) to specify the target trainees to perform these safety educations. To identify common factors that affect unsafe act significantly, a web survey was conducted to 500 workers who have regularly carried out accident prediction training (i.e. Kiken-Yochi training). They were asked the situation which they were apt to act unsafely by free description. As the result, the following three main factors were extracted: impatience, overconfidence, and bothersome. Also, it was found that there were few existing safety educations which aim to mitigate the impact of these factors except for overconfidence. To specify the target trainees to perform safety educations which aim to mitigate the impact of these three factors, another web survey was conducted to 200 personnel in charge of safety at the workplace. They were asked the features of workers who tended to act unsafely by age group. The relationship between the factor that need to mitigate and the trainee who need to receive the education were clarified from the survey. (author)

A dispersion safety factor for LNG vapor clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vílchez, Juan A. [TIPs – Trámites, Informes y Proyectos, SL, Llenguadoc 10, 08030 Barcelona (Spain); Villafañe, Diana [Centre d’Estudis del Risc Tecnològic (CERTEC), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain); Casal, Joaquim, E-mail: joaquim.casal@upc.edu [Centre d’Estudis del Risc Tecnològic (CERTEC), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain)

2013-02-15

Highlights: ► We proposed a new parameter: the dispersion safety factor (DSF). ► DSF is the ratio between the distance reached by the LFL and that reached by the visible cloud. ► The results for the DSF agree well with the evidence from large scale experiments. ► Two expressions have been proposed to calculate DSF as a function of H{sub R}. ► The DSF may help in indicating the danger of ignition of a LNG vapor cloud. -- Abstract: The growing importance of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to global energy demand has increased interest in the possible hazards associated with its storage and transportation. Concerning the event of an LNG spill, a study was performed on the relationship between the distance at which the lower flammability limit (LFL) concentration occurs and that corresponding to the visible contour of LNG vapor clouds. A parameter called the dispersion safety factor (DSF) has been defined as the ratio between these two lengths, and two expressions are proposed to estimate it. During an emergency, the DSF can be a helpful parameter to indicate the danger of cloud ignition and flash fire.

A dispersion safety factor for LNG vapor clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vílchez, Juan A.; Villafañe, Diana; Casal, Joaquim

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► We proposed a new parameter: the dispersion safety factor (DSF). ► DSF is the ratio between the distance reached by the LFL and that reached by the visible cloud. ► The results for the DSF agree well with the evidence from large scale experiments. ► Two expressions have been proposed to calculate DSF as a function of H R . ► The DSF may help in indicating the danger of ignition of a LNG vapor cloud. -- Abstract: The growing importance of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to global energy demand has increased interest in the possible hazards associated with its storage and transportation. Concerning the event of an LNG spill, a study was performed on the relationship between the distance at which the lower flammability limit (LFL) concentration occurs and that corresponding to the visible contour of LNG vapor clouds. A parameter called the dispersion safety factor (DSF) has been defined as the ratio between these two lengths, and two expressions are proposed to estimate it. During an emergency, the DSF can be a helpful parameter to indicate the danger of cloud ignition and flash fire

Factors affecting the utilization of safety devices by commercial ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Motorcycle crashes are common causes of morbidity and mortality for both riders and passengers. To prevent and reduce the severity of injuries sustained through road traffic accidents (RTA) many countries enforce the use of safety devices while riding. Certain factors including non-enforcement of the existing ...

Periodic safety review of the HTR-10 safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Fubing; Zheng Yanhua; Shi Lei; Li Fu

2015-01-01

Designed by the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET) of Tsinghua University, the 10 MW High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor-Test Module (HTR-10) is the first modular High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) in China. According to the nuclear safety regulations of China, the periodic safety review (PSR) of the HTR-10 was initiated by INET after approved by the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) of China. Safety analysis of the HTR-10 is one of the key safety factors of the PSR. In this paper, the main contents in the review of safety analysis are summarized; meanwhile, the internal evaluation on the review results is presented by INET. (authors)

Investigation of occupational health and safety application using the internal and external factor assessment matrix: SWOT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2012-09-01

Material and Method: IIn this study, the threats, opportunities, weaknesses and strengths were evaluated by one of the tools named SWOT, in one of the assembly industries company in Iran, in order to controlling the operations in this company considering to safety and health standard (OHSAS18001. A comparison of the company’s performance in implementing the safety and health standards was done between years 1387 and 1388 contain in the Company considered, and weighted scoring weaknesses, strengths, threats and opportunities using the matrix of internal factors (strengths and weaknesses and external factors (treats and opportunities then, the importance of each factor were determined in the company’s implementation and enforcement of those standards. . Result: Focusing on the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, some strategies to improve the implementation were presented. Any points were weighted based on the most important weaknesses identified as the lack of monitoring contractors, lack of management commitment for implementation of OHSAS18001, no attempt to identify the risks of change, lack of training needs assessment, main strengths identified in the context of adequate budget health and safety, environmental efforts, identify risk for abnormal conditions, the most important threats for immediate delivery customer orders and the opportunity to support the safety and health plans, were determined. . Conclusion: Sum of the weighted scores in year 87 were obtained for the external factors (opportunities and threats, 2.16 and internal factors (strengths and weaknesses 1.66. Both of these scores were less than 2.5 (minimum amount of the acceptable rate so, the company has been poor performance in the implementation of this standard for the year 87 and a weak reaction in the use of opportunities and the minimize threats has. In case of internal factors, it was worse than external one and the situation was more bold of the weaknesses companies to

Analysis of Traffic Safety Factors at Level Rail-Road Crossings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomislav Mlinarić

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses the main factors of traffic safety andreliabilityat level crossings. The number and causes of accidentsare stated, that result from ignorance, insufficient training ofthe traffic participants, their ilnsponsibility and insufficient orincomplete legislation, as well as from insufficiently professionaland scientifically not serious enough approach to solvingthis cardinal problem in road and railway traffic. Based on theanalysis the causes are determined and solutions proposed, aswell as more efficient methods to improve safety and reduce thenumber of traffic accidents at level crossings.

Measurement of Safety Factor Using Hall Probes on CASTOR Tokamak

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kovařík, Karel; Ďuran, Ivan; Bolshakova, I.; Holyaka, R.; Erashok, V.

2006-01-01

Roč. 56, suppl.B (2006), s. 104-110 ISSN 0011-4626. [Symposium on Plasma Physics and Technology/22nd./. Praha, 26.6.2006-29.6.2006] R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) KJB100430504 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : Plasma * tokamak * safety factor * hall probe Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 0.568, year: 2006

On applying safety archetypes to the Fukushima accident to identify nonlinear influencing factors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sousa, A.L., E-mail: alsousa@cnen.gov.br [Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear (CNEN), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Ribeiro, A.C.O., E-mail: antonio.ribeiro@bayer.com [Bayer Crop Science Brasil S.A., Belford Roxo, RJ (Brazil); Duarte, J.P., E-mail: julianapduarte@poli.ufrj.br [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Escola Politecnica. Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear; Frutuoso e Melo, P.F., E-mail: frutuoso@nuclear.ufrj.br [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao em Engenharia (COOPE/UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Programa de Engenharia Nuclear

2013-07-01

Nuclear power plants are typically characterized as high reliable organizations. In other words, they are organizations defined as relatively error free over a long period of time. Another relevant characteristic of the nuclear industry is that safety efforts are credited to design. However, major accidents, like the Fukushima accident, have shown that new tools are needed to identify latent deficiencies and help improve their safety level. Safety archetypes proposed elsewhere (e. g., safety issues stalled in the face of technological advances and eroding safety) consonant with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) efforts are used to examine different aspects of accidents in a systemic perspective of the interaction between individuals, technology and organizational factors. Safety archetypes can help consider nonlinear interactions. Effects are rarely proportional to causes and what happens locally in a system (near the current operating point) often does not apply to distant regions (other system states), so that one has to consider the so-called nonlinear interactions. This is the case, for instance, with human probability failure estimates and safety level identification. In this paper, we discuss the Fukushima accident in order to show how archetypes can highlight nonlinear interactions of factors that influenced it and how to maintain safety levels in order to prevent other accidents. The initial evaluation of the set of archetypes suggested in the literature showed that at least four of them are applicable to the Fukushima accident, as is inferred from official reports on the accident. These are: complacency (that is, the effects of complacency on safety), decreased safety awareness, fixing on symptoms and not the real causes and eroding safety. (author)

On applying safety archetypes to the Fukushima accident to identify nonlinear influencing factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sousa, A.L.; Ribeiro, A.C.O.; Duarte, J.P.; Frutuoso e Melo, P.F.

2013-01-01

Nuclear power plants are typically characterized as high reliable organizations. In other words, they are organizations defined as relatively error free over a long period of time. Another relevant characteristic of the nuclear industry is that safety efforts are credited to design. However, major accidents, like the Fukushima accident, have shown that new tools are needed to identify latent deficiencies and help improve their safety level. Safety archetypes proposed elsewhere (e. g., safety issues stalled in the face of technological advances and eroding safety) consonant with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) efforts are used to examine different aspects of accidents in a systemic perspective of the interaction between individuals, technology and organizational factors. Safety archetypes can help consider nonlinear interactions. Effects are rarely proportional to causes and what happens locally in a system (near the current operating point) often does not apply to distant regions (other system states), so that one has to consider the so-called nonlinear interactions. This is the case, for instance, with human probability failure estimates and safety level identification. In this paper, we discuss the Fukushima accident in order to show how archetypes can highlight nonlinear interactions of factors that influenced it and how to maintain safety levels in order to prevent other accidents. The initial evaluation of the set of archetypes suggested in the literature showed that at least four of them are applicable to the Fukushima accident, as is inferred from official reports on the accident. These are: complacency (that is, the effects of complacency on safety), decreased safety awareness, fixing on symptoms and not the real causes and eroding safety. (author)

Factors Affecting the Behavior of Engineering Students toward Safety Practices in the Machine Shop

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessie Kristian M. Neria

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to determine the factors that affect the behavior of engineering student toward safety practices in the machine shop. Descriptive type of research was utilized in the study. Results showed that most of the engineering students clearly understand the signage shown in the machine shop. Students are aware that they should not leave the machines unattended. Most of the engineering students handle and use the machine properly. The respondents have an average extent of safety practices in the machine shop which means that they are applying safety practices in their every activity in machine shop. There is strong relationship between the safety practices and the factors affecting behavior in terms of signage, reminder of teacher and rules and regulation.

[Human factors and crisis resource management: improving patient safety].

Science.gov (United States)

Rall, M; Oberfrank, S

2013-10-01

A continuing high number of patients suffer harm from medical treatment. In 60-70% of the cases the sources of harm can be attributed to the field of human factors (HFs) and teamwork; nevertheless, those topics are still neither part of medical education nor of basic and advanced training even though it has been known for many years and it has meanwhile also been demonstrated for surgical specialties that training in human factors and teamwork considerably reduces surgical mortality.Besides the medical field, the concept of crisis resource management (CRM) has already proven its worth in many other industries by improving teamwork and reducing errors in the domain of human factors. One of the best ways to learn about CRM and HFs is realistic simulation team training with well-trained instructors in CRM and HF. The educational concept of the HOTT (hand over team training) courses for trauma room training offered by the DGU integrates these elements based on the current state of science. It is time to establish such training for all medical teams in emergency medicine and operative care. Accompanying safety measures, such as the development of a positive culture of safety in every department and the use of effective critical incident reporting systems (CIRs) should be pursued.

Presentation of a method for the sequential analysis of incidents - NPP safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Delage, M; Giroux, C; Quentin, P

1989-04-01

This paper presents a method which is designed to assist in the analysis of safety and based on the graphic representation of the occurrence of incidents significant for safety in 900-MWe PWR units. The graphs obtained are linked together to produce a general tree of events. With this tool, and on the basis of operating experience, it is then possible to imagine complex incident scenarios, to evaluate the potential consequences of a particular incident, or to seed out the causes which could lead to a given event. Interactions between systems or common mode faults can also be evidenced with this method.

Present status of nuclear power safety studies in JAERI, 1994

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-10-01

Securing safety in the development and utilization of nuclear power is the prerequisite, and in order to maintain the safety of nuclear power facilities at level corresponding to the expansion and diversification of nuclear power development and utilization, it is necessary to promote the safety research. The reliable evaluation of environmental effect and the safe disposal of radioactive waste are the indispensable conditions. Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute has carried out the research on the engineering safety of nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel cycle facilities and the research on the environmental safety related to environmental radiation and the treatment and disposal of radioactive waste. In this book, the researches on the safety of reactor fuel, the reliability of reactor machinery and equipment and structures, the thermo-hydraulic behavior of reactors at the time of accidents, the behavior of reactors at the time of severe accidents, the analytical research on the safety of reactors, the researches on the safety of nuclear fuel cycle, the treatment and disposal of radioactive waste, the assessment and analysis of environmental radiation and radioactivity, and the individual researches related to nuclear power safety are reported. (K.I.)

Background for Community-Level Work on Physical Health and Safety in Adolescence: Reviewing the Literature on Contributing Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatcher, Juliet L.; Scarpa, Juliet

Although adolescence is characterized by general good health, this developmental stage is a key time for promoting a healthy lifestyle and preventing health-compromising behaviors and injuries. This paper presents a selective review of research into factors predicting health and safety behavior patterns and injury occurrence, focusing on…

Identification and assessment of organisational factors related to the safety of NPPs - State-of-the-Art Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baumont, Genevieve; Bourrier, Mathilde; Frischknecht, Albert; Schoenfeld, Isabelle; Weber, Mike J.

1999-09-01

The initiation of this State-of-the-Art Report (SOAR) on Organisational Factors Identification and Assessment comes from operating experience associated with a number of major events world-wide which caused power plants to be shutdown for a significant period of time. Root cause assessments of these events identified weaknesses in organisational factors as contributing to these events. There is general recognition that organisational factors need to be evaluated for their contribution to plant safety performance and risk to prevent their recurrence in events. A special recommendation to create a SOAR was presented in the NEA report on Research Strategies for Human Performance [NEA/CSNI/R(97)24]. Based on this recommendation the Principle Working Group 1 (PWG1) requested, as a top priority, that the Expanded Task Force (ETF) on Human Factors develop a SOAR for the September 1998 meeting. The ETF members were aware that it was a challenging topic. The field of organisational behaviour is not yet fully developed for the nuclear organisation. There is a need to collect and analyse operational and event data from the nuclear environment to determine the safety and risk significance of organisational factors, to identify assessment methods for those factors, and to gain peer review of the results to ensure credibility and acceptability of these methods and possibly their measures. This SOAR reports on the results of the workshop on Organisational Factors Identification and Assessment held in Boettstein Castle, Switzerland, on 14-19 June 1998. Twenty-eight participants from twelve Member countries and Russia represented three different environments: nuclear utilities; regulatory bodies and inspectorates; and the research and academic community. The various approaches discussed in the SOAR reflect the perspective of these entities. The SOAR addresses the following topics: - identification of organisational factors; - identification of methods for the evaluation of

Assessment of NPP safety taking into account seismic and engineering-geological factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yakovlev, E.A.

1990-01-01

Consideration is given to the problem of probabilistic analysis of NPP safety with account of risk of destructive effect of earthquakes and the danger of accidental geological processes (diapirism, karst etc.) under NPP operation. It is shown that account of seismic and engineering-geological (engineering-seismological) risk factors in probabilistic analysis of safety enables to perform anticipatory analysis of behaviour of principle plant objects and to improve safety of their operation by revealing the most unstable elements of geotechnical system forming the main contribution to the total NPP risk

The 2002 Drigg post-closure safety case: implementation of a multiple factor safety case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lean, C.B.; Grimwood, P.D.; Watts, L.; Fowler, L.; Thomson, G.; Kelly, E.; Hodgkinson, D.

2004-01-01

British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL) owns and operates the Drigg disposal site, which is the UK's principal facility for the disposal of low level radioactive waste (LLW). Disposals are carried out under the terms of an authorization granted by the UK Environment Agency (the Agency). The Agency periodically reviews the authorization to take account of new information and any revisions to regulatory requirements. In September 2002 new Operational Environmental and Post-Closure Safety Cases (OESC and PCSC respectively) were submitted to the Agency to support the next authorization review. The OESC assesses radiological safety aspects up until closure of the site, including a post-operational management phase, whilst the PCSC considers the longer-term radiological safety. The Drigg disposal facility has been operational since 1959. For the first 3 decades of operations, disposals were solely by tumble tipping wastes into excavated trenches. This was phased out in favour of vault disposal and disposals to the trenches were completed in 1995. The first vault (Vault 8) commenced operations in 1988 and construction of future vaults is planned up to the estimated end of disposal operations in about 50 years time. This paper describes the main components of the 2002 Drigg PCSC and how they relate to each other. Central to the safety case is a systematic comprehensive post-closure radiological safety assessment (PCRSA). However, the importance of the more qualitative aspects of the safety case, including a demonstration of optimisation, is also highlighted. In addition, other confidence-building activities which are key to developing and presenting the safety case are discussed. (author)

Evaluation of response factors for seismic probabilistic safety assessment of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ebisawa, K.; Abe, K.; Muramatsu, K.; Itoh, M.; Kohno, K.; Tanaka, T.

1994-01-01

This paper presents a method for evaluating 'response factors' of components in nuclear power plants for use in a seismic probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). The response factor here is a measure of conservatism included in response calculations in seismic design analysis of components and is defined as a ratio of conservative design resonse to actual response. This method has the following characteristic features: (1) The components are classified into several groups based on the differences in their location and in the vibration models used in design response analyses; (2) the response factors are decomposed into subfactors corresponding to the stages of the seismic response analyses in the design practices; (3) the response factors for components are calculated as products of subfactors; (4) the subfactors are expressed either as a single value or as a function of parameters that influence the response of components. This paper describes the outline of this method and results from an application to a sample problem in which response factors were quantified for examples of components selected from the groups. (orig.)

Safety analysis factors for environmental restoration and decontamination and decommissioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellingson, D.R.

1993-04-01

Environmental restoration (ER) and facility decontamination/decommissioning (D ampersand D) operations can be grouped into two general categories. ''Nonstationary cleanup'' or simply ''cleanup'' activities are where the operation must relocate to the site of new contaminated material at the completion of each task (i.e., the operation moves to the contaminated material). ''Stationary production'' or simply ''production'' activities are where the contaminated material is moved to a centralized location (i.e., the contaminated material is moved to the operation) for analysis, sorting, treatment, storage, and disposal. This paper addresses the issue of nonstationary cleanup design. The following are the specific assigned action items: Collect and compile a list of special safety-related ER/D ampersand D design factors, especially ones that don't follow DOE Order 6430.1A requirements. Develop proposal of what makes sense to recommend to designers; especially consider recommendations for short-term projects. Present proposal at the January meeting. To achieve the action items, applicable US Department of Energy (DOE) design requirements, and cleanup operations and differences from production activities are reviewed and summarized; basic safety requirements influencing design are summarized; and finally, approaches, considerations, and methods for safe, cost-effective design of cleanup activities are discussed

Research on Safety Factor of Dam Slope of High Embankment Dam under Seismic Condition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Bin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available With the constant development of construction technology of embankment dam, the constructed embankment dam becomes higher and higher, and the embankment dam with its height over 200m will always adopt the current design criteria of embankment dam only suitable for the construction of embankment dam lower than 200m in height. So the design criteria of high embankment dam shall be improved. We shall calculate the stability and safety factors of dam slope of high embankment dam under different dam height, slope ratio and different seismic intensity based on ratio of safety margin, and clarify the change rules of stability and safety factors of dam slope of high embankment dam with its height over 200m. We calculate the ratio of safety margin of traditional and reliable method by taking the stable, allowable and reliability index 4.2 of dam slope of high embankment dam with its height over 200m as the standard value, and conduct linear regression for both. As a result, the conditions, where 1.3 is considered as the stability and safety factors of dam slope of high embankment dam with its height over 200m under seismic condition and 4.2 as the allowable and reliability index, are under the same risk control level.

Human factors evaluation of man-machine interface for periodic safety review of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Jung Woon; Park, Jae Chang; Hwang, In Koo; Lee, Hyun Cheol; Jang, Tong Il; Ku, Jin Young; Kim, Soo Jin

2004-12-01

This report describes the research results of human factors assessment on the MMI(Man Machine Interface) equipment as part of Periodic Safety Review(PSR) of Nuclear Power Plants(NPPs). As MMI is a key factor among human factors to be reviewed in PSR, we reviewed the MMI components of nuclear power plants in aspect of human factors engineering. The availability, suitability, and effectiveness of the MMI devices were chosen to be reviewed. The MMI devices were investigated through the review of design documents related to the MMI, survey of control panels, evaluation of experts, and experimental assessment. Checklists were used to perform this assessment and record the review results. The items mentioned by the expert comments to review in detail in relation with task procedures were tested by experiments with operators' participation. For some questionable issues arisen during this MMI review, operator workload and possibility of errors in operator actions were analysed. The reviewed MMI devices contain MCR(Main Control Room), SPDS(Safety Parameter Display System), RSP(Remote Shutdown Panel), and the selected LCBs(Local Control Boards) importantly related to safety. As results of the assessments, any significant problem challenging the safety was not found on human factors in the MMI devices. However, several small items to be changed and improved in suitability of MMI devices were discovered. An action plan is recommended to accommodate the suggestions and review comments. It will enhance the plant safety on MMI area

Occupational safety motivation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Louise; Kines, Pete

2010-01-01

Background: Motivation is one of the most important factors for safety behaviour and for implementing change in general. However, theoretical and psychometric studies of safety performance have traditionally treated safety motivation, safety compliance and safety participation unidimensionally....... At the same time many motivation questionnaire items are seldom founded on theory and/or do not account for the theories’ ontological and epistemological differences, e.g. of how knowledge, attitude and action are related. Present questionnaire items tap into occupational safety motivation in asking whether...... or not respondents ‘are’ motivated and whether they feel that safety is important or worthwhile. Another important aspect is ‘what’ motivates workers to comply to and participate in safety. The aim of this article is to introduce a new theory-based occupational safety motivation scale which is validated...

Simplified probabilistic approach to determine safety factors in deterministic flaw acceptance criteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barthelet, B.; Ardillon, E.

1997-01-01

The flaw acceptance rules in nuclear components rely on deterministic criteria supposed to ensure the safe operating of plants. The interest of having a reliable method of evaluating the safety margins and the integrity of components led Electricite de France to launch a study to link safety factors with requested reliability. A simplified analytical probabilistic approach is developed to analyse the failure risk in Fracture Mechanics. Assuming lognormal distributions of the main random variables, it is possible considering a simple Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics model, to determine the failure probability as a function of mean values and logarithmic standard deviations. The 'design' failure point can be analytically calculated. Partial safety factors on the main variables (stress, crack size, material toughness) are obtained in relation with reliability target values. The approach is generalized to elastic plastic Fracture Mechanics (piping) by fitting J as a power law function of stress, crack size and yield strength. The simplified approach is validated by detailed probabilistic computations with PROBAN computer program. Assuming reasonable coefficients of variations (logarithmic standard deviations), the method helps to calibrate safety factors for different components taking into account reliability target values in normal, emergency and faulted conditions. Statistical data for the mechanical properties of the main basic materials complement the study. The work involves laboratory results and manufacture data. The results of this study are discussed within a working group of the French in service inspection code RSE-M. (authors)

Present status of Monte Carlo seminar for sub-criticality safety analysis in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, Kiyoshi

2003-01-01

This paper provides overview of the methods and results of a series of sub-criticality safety analysis seminars for nuclear fuel cycle facility with the Monte Carlo method held in Japan from July 2000 to July 2003. In these seminars, MCNP-4C2 system (MS-DOS version) was installed in note-type personal computers for participants. Fundamental theory of reactor physics and Monte Carlo simulation as well as the contents of the MCNP manual were lectured. Effective neutron multiplication factors and neutron spectra were calculated for some examples such as JCO deposit tank, JNC uranium solution storage tank, JNC plutonium solution storage tank and JAERI TCA core. Management for safety of nuclear fuel cycle facilities was discussed in order to prevent criticality accidents in some of the seminars. (author)

Analysis of safety culture components based on site interviews

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueno, Akira; Nagano, Yuko; Matsuura, Shojiro

2002-01-01

Safety culture of an organization is influenced by many factors such as employee's moral, safety policy of top management and questioning attitude among site staff. First this paper analyzes key factors of safety culture on the basis of site interviews. Then the paper presents a safety culture composite model and its applicability in various contexts. (author)

Positive organizational behavior and safety in the offshore oil industry: Exploring the determinants of positive safety climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Hystad, Sigurd W; Bartone, Paul T; Eid, Jarle

2014-01-01

Much research has now documented the substantial influence of safety climate on a range of important outcomes in safety critical organizations, but there has been scant attention to the question of what factors might be responsible for positive or negative safety climate. The present paper draws from positive organizational behavior theory to test workplace and individual factors that may affect safety climate. Specifically, we explore the potential influence of authentic leadership style and psychological capital on safety climate and risk outcomes. Across two samples of offshore oil-workers and seafarers working on oil platform supply ships, structural equation modeling yielded results that support a model in which authentic leadership exerts a direct effect on safety climate, as well as an indirect effect via psychological capital. This study shows the importance of leadership qualities as well as psychological factors in shaping a positive work safety climate and lowering the risk of accidents.

The human factor in the organisation and regulation of nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bordes, F.; Savagner, J.-M.; Snanoudj, G.

1981-10-01

The TMI accident has brought to light the importance of the human factor in the safe operation of complex installations such as nuclear power plants. On this basis, the paper outlines the institutional framework for nuclear safety in France and reports on EDF practices in human resources management as well as in the improvement of working premises (control rooms) to optimize human behaviour in accident conditions. Finally, the interaction of labour laws on nuclear law in connection with safety is described. (NEA) [fr

A Comparative Study on Effective Factors in Patient Safety Culture from the Nursing Staff Points of View

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khalil Alimohammadzadeh

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Patient safety and its requirements fulfillment are today one of the useful valuation indicators in healthcare organizations. Thus, patient safety culture and its promotion are referred to as one of the most important issues raised in the country. The present study aims to examine the effective factors (personal and organizational in patient safety culture from the point of view of nursing staff in Bahman and Parsian private hospitals. Method: The study has an analytical cross-sectional design and is an applied research. HSOPSC (with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.82 and researcher-devised questionnaires (with Cronbach’s Alpha equal to 0.912 were the only data collection tools. Statistical population includes nursing staff of Bahman and Parsian private hospitals in north-west Tehran. A sample consisting of 150 nurse shift supervisors and head nurses was selected from the population. Necessary data for completing questionnaires were collected by interview. Data were analyzed using SPSS16 software. Given the levels of measurement for the variables, valid measures of central tendency (mean, standard deviation, correlation tests, Chi-square, t- test, and ANOVA were used. Results: The findings showed us that such factors as organizational commitment, error reporting system, management support, reward system, and employee empowerment equipment distribution have important roles in patient safety. Their P-values are reported <0.001 for all of them. Patient safety was not significantly associated with age (P=0.964, educational level (P=0.154, and work experience (P=0.888 There is no low awareness about safety culture in any hospital and their mean awareness about patient safety culture was equal to 3.13 ±0.478 and 3.68 ±0.587 in Parsian and Bahman hospitals, respectively (P<0.001. Conclusion: Error reporting system and organizational commitment respectively have the most and the least effect on promoting patient safety culture

The effects of the non-contingent presentation of safety signals on the elimination of safety behaviors: An experimental comparison between individuals with low and high obsessive-compulsive profiles.

Science.gov (United States)

Angelakis, Ioannis; Austin, Jennifer L

2018-06-01

Safety behaviors, defined as engagement in avoidance within safe environments, are a key symptom of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. They may interfere with daily functioning and as such their emission should be reduced. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effects of the non-contingent presentation of safety signals (cues produced by safety behaviors) on reducing safety behaviors in participants self-reporting low and high OCD profiles. In total, 32 participants were asked to play a game to gain points and avoid their loss. After having developed avoidance behavior, evidenced by maintaining all of their earned points, they were exposed to safe environments where no point loss was programmed. In Test 1, safety cues (blue bar) were produced contingent on performing safety behaviors. In Test 2, safety cues were presented continuously without any response requirement. Findings demonstrated that high OCD group displayed higher rates of safety behaviors than low OCD group. However, exposure to the non-contingent presentation of safety signals eliminated their emission in both groups. Future studies need to evaluate the effects of different non-contingent schedules on the suppression of safety behaviors. These findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating that non-contingent introduction of safety signals eliminated safety behaviors completely, even in high OCD participants, who performed safety behavior at higher rates. Such a treatment protocol may ameliorate exposure therapy in which response prevention constitutes a key element and is generally associated with increased drop-out rates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does the concept of safety culture help or hinder systems thinking in safety?

Science.gov (United States)

Reiman, Teemu; Rollenhagen, Carl

2014-07-01

The concept of safety culture has become established in safety management applications in all major safety-critical domains. The idea that safety culture somehow represents a "systemic view" on safety is seldom explicitly spoken out, but nevertheless seem to linger behind many safety culture discourses. However, in this paper we argue that the "new" contribution to safety management from safety culture never really became integrated with classical engineering principles and concepts. This integration would have been necessary for the development of a more genuine systems-oriented view on safety; e.g. a conception of safety in which human, technological, organisational and cultural factors are understood as mutually interacting elements. Without of this integration, researchers and the users of the various tools and methods associated with safety culture have sometimes fostered a belief that "safety culture" in fact represents such a systemic view about safety. This belief is, however, not backed up by theoretical or empirical evidence. It is true that safety culture, at least in some sense, represents a holistic term-a totality of factors that include human, organisational and technological aspects. However, the departure for such safety culture models is still human and organisational factors rather than technology (or safety) itself. The aim of this paper is to critically review the various uses of the concept of safety culture as representing a systemic view on safety. The article will take a look at the concepts of culture and safety culture based on previous studies, and outlines in more detail the theoretical challenges in safety culture as a systems concept. The paper also presents recommendations on how to make safety culture more systemic. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Positive organizational behavior and safety in the offshore oil industry: Exploring the determinants of positive safety climate

Science.gov (United States)

Hystad, Sigurd W.; Bartone, Paul T.; Eid, Jarle

2013-01-01

Much research has now documented the substantial influence of safety climate on a range of important outcomes in safety critical organizations, but there has been scant attention to the question of what factors might be responsible for positive or negative safety climate. The present paper draws from positive organizational behavior theory to test workplace and individual factors that may affect safety climate. Specifically, we explore the potential influence of authentic leadership style and psychological capital on safety climate and risk outcomes. Across two samples of offshore oil-workers and seafarers working on oil platform supply ships, structural equation modeling yielded results that support a model in which authentic leadership exerts a direct effect on safety climate, as well as an indirect effect via psychological capital. This study shows the importance of leadership qualities as well as psychological factors in shaping a positive work safety climate and lowering the risk of accidents. PMID:24454524

Application of the AHP method to analyze the significance of the factors affecting road traffic safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justyna SORDYL

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Over the past twenty years, the number of vehicles registered in Poland has grown rapidly. At the same time, a relatively small increase in the length of the road network has been observed. As a result of the limited capacity of available infrastructure, it leads to significant congestion and to increase of the probability of road accidents. The overall level of road safety depends on many factors - the behavior of road users, infrastructure solutions and the development of automotive technology. Thus the detailed assessment of the importance of individual elements determining road safety is difficult. The starting point is to organize the factors by grouping them into categories which are components of the DVE system (driver - vehicle - environment. In this work, to analyze the importance of individual factors affecting road safety, the use of analytic hierarchy process method (AHP was proposed. It is one of the multi-criteria methods which allows us to perform hierarchical analysis of the decision process, by means of experts’ opinions. Usage of AHP method enabled us to evaluate and rank the factors affecting road safety. This work attempts to link the statistical data and surveys in significance analysis of the elements determining road safety.

Safety of nuclear power plants: Design. Safety requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

The present publication supersedes the Code on the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design (Safety Series No. 50-C-D (Rev. 1), issued in 1988). It takes account of developments relating to the safety of nuclear power plants since the Code on Design was last revised. These developments include the issuing of the Safety Fundamentals publication, The Safety of Nuclear Installations, and the present revision of various safety standards and other publications relating to safety. Requirements for nuclear safety are intended to ensure adequate protection of site personnel, the public and the environment from the effects of ionizing radiation arising from nuclear power plants. It is recognized that technology and scientific knowledge advance, and nuclear safety and what is considered adequate protection are not static entities. Safety requirements change with these developments and this publication reflects the present consensus. This Safety Requirements publication takes account of the developments in safety requirements by, for example, including the consideration of severe accidents in the design process. Other topics that have been given more detailed attention include management of safety, design management, plant ageing and wearing out effects, computer based safety systems, external and internal hazards, human factors, feedback of operational experience, and safety assessment and verification. This publication establishes safety requirements that define the elements necessary to ensure nuclear safety. These requirements are applicable to safety functions and the associated structures, systems and components, as well as to procedures important to safety in nuclear power plants. It is expected that this publication will be used primarily for land based stationary nuclear power plants with water cooled reactors designed for electricity generation or for other heat production applications (such as district heating or desalination). It is recognized that in the case of

Safety of nuclear power plants: Design. Safety requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

The present publication supersedes the Code on the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design (Safety Series No. 50-C-D (Rev. 1), issued in 1988). It takes account of developments relating to the safety of nuclear power plants since the Code on Design was last revised. These developments include the issuing of the Safety Fundamentals publication, The Safety of Nuclear Installations, and the present revision of various safety standards and other publications relating to safety. Requirements for nuclear safety are intended to ensure adequate protection of site personnel, the public and the environment from the effects of ionizing radiation arising from nuclear power plants. It is recognized that technology and scientific knowledge advance, and nuclear safety and what is considered adequate protection are not static entities. Safety requirements change with these developments and this publication reflects the present consensus. This Safety Requirements publication takes account of the developments in safety requirements by, for example, including the consideration of severe accidents in the design process. Other topics that have been given more detailed attention include management of safety, design management, plant ageing and wearing out effects, computer based safety systems, external and internal hazards, human factors, feedback of operational experience, and safety assessment and verification. This publication establishes safety requirements that define the elements necessary to ensure nuclear safety. These requirements are applicable to safety functions and the associated structures, systems and components, as well as to procedures important to safety in nuclear power plants. It is expected that this publication will be used primarily for land based stationary nuclear power plants with water cooled reactors designed for electricity generation or for other heat production applications (such as district heating or desalination). It is recognized that in the case of

New trends in pile safety instrumentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furet, J.

1961-01-01

This report addresses the protection of nuclear piles against damages due to operation incidents. The author discusses the current trends in the philosophy of safety of atomic power piles, identifies the parameters which define safety systems, presents tests to be performed on safety chains, comments the relationship between safety and the decrease of the number of pile inadvertent shutdowns, discusses the issues of instrument failures and chain multiplicity, comments the possible improvement of the operation of elements which build up safety chains (design simplification, development of semiconductors, replacement of electromechanical relays by static relays), the role of safety logical computers and the development of automatics in pile safety, presents automatic control as a safety factor (example of automatic start-up), and finally comments the use of fuses

Preparation of the requirements for the safety regulation related to human and organizational factors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-08-15

The outline of the project in the current fiscal year is to investigate and analyze issues associated with Human and Organizational Factors involved in incidents of nuclear facilities, and to study and develop evaluation methods of these countermeasures. The guideline to evaluate licensee's safety culture and root cause analysis (RCA) had been developed for further improving safety on nuclear power plants at 2007. These guidelines have been used at regulatory inspection since that time. Based on experience of using these existing guidelines, some activities for improving guidelines are now under investigation; these are selecting candidate quantitative indicators for safety culture evaluation and researching good practices for RCA issues. JNES implemented human factor analysis about 18 domestic events including the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident. (author)

75 FR 69912 - Pipeline Safety: Control Room Management/Human Factors

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-16

... 192 and 195 [Docket ID PHMSA-2007-27954] RIN 2137-AE64 Pipeline Safety: Control Room Management/Human... Control Room Management/Human Factors rule at 49 CFR 192.631 and 195.446. The NPRM proposes to expedite... rule and to engage in open discussions with the agency at PHMSA's Control Room Management...

Cultural factors influencing safety need to be addressed in design and operation of technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Meshkati, N

1996-10-01

Cultural factors which influence aviation safety in aircraft design, air traffic control, and human factors training are examined. Analysis of the Avianca Flight 052 crash in New York in January, 1990, demonstrates the catastrosphic effects cultural factors can play. Cultural factors include attitude toward work and technology, organizational hierarchy, religion, and population stereotyping.

Factors that impact on the safety of patient handovers: An interview study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siemsen, Inger Margrete; Madsen, Marlene Dyrløv; Pedersen, Lene Funck

2012-01-01

Aims: Improvement of clinical handover is fundamental to meet the challenges of patient safety. The primary aim of this interview study is to explore healthcare professionals’ attitudes and experiences with critical episodes in patient handover in order to elucidate factors that impact on handover...... from ambulance to hospitals and within and between hospitals. The secondary aim is to identify possible solutions to optimise handovers, defined as “situations where the professional responsibility for some or all aspects of a patient’s diagnosis, treatment or care is transferred to another person...... on patient safety in handover situations: communication, information, organisation, infrastructure, professionalism, responsibility, team awareness, and culture. Conclusions: The eight factors identified indicate that handovers are complex situations. The organisation did not see patient handover...

Hazard Management Dealt by Safety Professionals in Colleges: The Impact of Individual Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsung-Chih Wu

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Identifying, evaluating, and controlling workplace hazards are important functions of safety professionals (SPs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the content and frequency of hazard management dealt by safety professionals in colleges. The authors also explored the effects of organizational factors/individual factors on SPs’ perception of frequency of hazard management. The researchers conducted survey research to achieve the objective of this study. The researchers mailed questionnaires to 200 SPs in colleges after simple random sampling, then received a total of 144 valid responses (response rate = 72%. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the hazard management scale (HMS extracted five factors, including physical hazards, biological hazards, social and psychological hazards, ergonomic hazards, and chemical hazards. Moreover, the top 10 hazards that the survey results identified that safety professionals were most likely to deal with (in order of most to least frequent were: organic solvents, illumination, other chemicals, machinery and equipment, fire and explosion, electricity, noise, specific chemicals, human error, and lifting/carrying. Finally, the results of one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA indicated there were four individual factors that impacted the perceived frequency of hazard management which were of statistical and practical significance: job tenure in the college of employment, type of certification, gender, and overall job tenure. SPs within colleges and industries can now discuss plans revolving around these five areas instead of having to deal with all of the separate hazards.

The Effects of Occupational Health and Safety Risk Factors on Job Satisfaction in Hotel Enterprises

OpenAIRE

Gonca Kilic; Murat Selim Selvi

2009-01-01

Occupational health and safety risk factors can have direct or indirect effects on levels of organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and the job productivity of workers in service companies as well as other types of industries. In this paper, the effects of physical, biological, chemical and socio-psychological risk factors, related to occupational safety and health, encountered in hotel enterprises on job satisfaction were investigated. Questionnaire survey was conducted as a data colle...

Measuring safety climate in elderly homes.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeung, Koon-Chuen; Chan, Charles C

2012-02-01

Provision of a valid and reliable safety climate dimension brings enormous benefits to the elderly home sector. The aim of the present study was to make use of the safety climate instrument developed by OSHC to measure the safety perceptions of employees in elderly homes such that the factor structure of the safety climate dimensions of elderly homes could be explored. In 2010, surveys by mustering on site method were administered in 27 elderly homes that had participated in the "Hong Kong Safe and Healthy Residential Care Home Accreditation Scheme" organized by the Occupational Safety and Health Council. Six hundred and fifty-one surveys were returned with a response rate of 54.3%. To examine the factor structure of safety climate dimensions in our study, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using principal components analysis method was conducted to identify the underlying factors. The results of the modified seven-factor's safety climate structure extracted from 35 items better reflected the safety climate dimensions of elderly homes. The Cronbach alpha range for this study (0.655 to 0.851) indicated good internal consistency among the seven-factor structure. Responses from managerial level, supervisory and professional level, and front-line staff were analyzed to come up with the suggestion on effective ways of improving the safety culture of elderly homes. The overall results showed that managers generally gave positive responses in the factors evaluated, such as "management commitment and concern to safety," "perception of work risks and some contributory influences," "safety communication and awareness," and "safe working attitude and participation." Supervisors / professionals, and frontline level staff on the other hand, have less positive responses. The result of the lowest score in the factors - "perception of safety rules and procedures" underlined the importance of the relevance and practicability of safety rules and procedures. The modified OSHC

Low edge safety factor operation and passive disruption avoidance in current carrying plasmas by the addition of stellarator rotational transform

Science.gov (United States)

Pandya, M. D.; ArchMiller, M. C.; Cianciosa, M. R.; Ennis, D. A.; Hanson, J. D.; Hartwell, G. J.; Hebert, J. D.; Herfindal, J. L.; Knowlton, S. F.; Ma, X.; Massidda, S.; Maurer, D. A.; Roberds, N. A.; Traverso, P. J.

2015-11-01

Low edge safety factor operation at a value less than two ( q (a )=1 /ι̷tot(a )routine on the Compact Toroidal Hybrid device with the addition of sufficient external rotational transform. Presently, the operational space of this current carrying stellarator extends down to q (a )=1.2 without significant n = 1 kink mode activity after the initial plasma current rise phase of the discharge. The disruption dynamics of these low edge safety factor plasmas depend upon the fraction of helical field rotational transform from external stellarator coils to that generated by the plasma current. We observe that with approximately 10% of the total rotational transform supplied by the stellarator coils, low edge q disruptions are passively suppressed and avoided even though q(a) disrupt, the instability precursors measured and implicated as the cause are internal tearing modes with poloidal, m, and toroidal, n, helical mode numbers of m /n =3 /2 and 4/3 observed on external magnetic sensors and m /n =1 /1 activity observed on core soft x-ray emissivity measurements. Even though the edge safety factor passes through and becomes much less than q(a) disruption phenomenology observed.

5 CFR 847.904 - What are Present Value Factors

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What are Present Value Factors 847.904 Section 847.904 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (CONTINUED) CIVIL SERVICE... Qualify for an Immediate CSRS or FERS Retirement § 847.904 What are Present Value Factors Present value...

Missing focus on Human Factors - organizational and cognitive ergonomics - in the safety management for the petroleum industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnsen, Stig O; Kilskar, Stine Skaufel; Fossum, Knut Robert

2017-08-01

More attention has recently been given to Human Factors in petroleum accident investigations. The Human Factors areas examined in this article are organizational, cognitive and physical ergonomics. A key question to be explored is as follows: To what degree are the petroleum industry and safety authorities in Norway focusing on these Human Factors areas from the design phase? To investigate this, we conducted an innovative exploratory study of the development of four control centres in Norwegian oil and gas industry in collaboration between users, management and Human Factors experts. We also performed a literature survey and discussion with the professional Human Factors network in Norway. We investigated the Human Factors focus, reasons for not considering Human Factors and consequences of missing Human Factors in safety management. The results revealed an immature focus and organization of Human Factors. Expertise on organizational ergonomics and cognitive ergonomics are missing from companies and safety authorities and are poorly prioritized during the development. The easy observable part of Human Factors (i.e. physical ergonomics) is often in focus. Poor focus on Human Factors in the design process creates demanding conditions for human operators and impact safety and resilience. There is lack of non-technical skills such as communication and decision-making. New technical equipment such as Closed Circuit Television is implemented without appropriate use of Human Factors standards. Human Factors expertise should be involved as early as possible in the responsible organizations. Verification and validation of Human Factors should be improved and performed from the start, by certified Human Factors experts in collaboration with the workforce. The authorities should check-back that the regulatory framework of Human Factors is communicated, understood and followed.

Assessment of Factors Associated with the Safety Depth of GV15 Yamen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Park Soo-Jung

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Yamen is the fifteenth acupoint of the Governor Vessel Meridian (GV15. It is anatomically close to the medulla oblongata, so finding the safety depth of the acupoint is very important. However, few studies on the safety depth of GV15 have been done. Methods: This study tried to measure the safety depth of GV15 by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI scans and to analyze the factors affecting the safety depth through multiple regression analyses. This study was carried out for patients who had a brain MRI scan while visiting Jeonju Wonkwang Hospital, Korea. The shortest distance between the glabella and the occipital protuberance (DGO, the horizontal distance between the glabella and the back of the head (DGB and the dangerous depth (DD were measured from the sagittal views of the MRI images. The DD is the horizontal distance from the skin’s surface at GV15 to the spinal dura mater. Results: The model suggested that the safety depth (SD was significantly associated with gender (β = 0.474, P < 0.0001, DGO (β = 0.272, P = 0.027, and BMI (β = 0.249, P = 0.005 and the combination of three variables can explain the SD, with R2 = 0.571 (Table 3 A longer SD was associated with males and with greater BMI and DGO. Conclusion: This study suggests that gender, BMI and DGO may be important factors when the SD of GV15 is considered clinically through a multiple regression analysis of GV15.

Safety culture at Mochovce NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Markus, Jozef; Feik, Karol

2002-01-01

This article presents the approach of Mochovce NPP to the Safety culture. It presents activities, which have been taken by Mochovce NPP up to date in the area of Safety culture enhancement with the aim of getting the term into the subconscious of each employee, and thus minimising the human factor impact on occurrence of operational events in all safety areas. The article furthermore presents the most essential information on how the elements characterising a continuous progress in reaching the planned Safety culture goals of the company management have been implemented at Mochovce NPP, as well as the management's efforts to get among the best nuclear power plant operators in this area and to be an example for the others. (author)

Edge gradient and safety factor effects on electrostatic turbulent transport in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, Ing Hwie.

1992-05-01

Electrostatic turbulence and transport measurements are performed on the Tokapole-II tokamak at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as the safety-factor and the edge equilibrium gradients and varied substantially. Tokapole-II is a poloidal divertor tokamak capable of operating at a wide range of safety factors due to its unique magnetic limiter configuration. It also has retractable material limiters in a large scrape-off region, which permits the study of edge boundary conditions like density and temperature gradients. The turbulence is independent of safety factor, but strongly sensitive to the local density gradient, which itself depends upon the limiter configuration. When a material limiter is inserted in a high discharge, the density gradient is increased locally together with a local increase of the turbulence. On the other hand, limiter insertion in low discharges did not increase the density gradient as much and the turbulence properties are unchanged with respect to the magnetic limiter case. It is conducted then, that electrostatic turbulence is caused by the density gradient. Although the electrostatic fluctuation driven transport is enhanced in the large density gradient case, it is in all cases to small to explain the observed energy confinement times. To explore instabilities with small wavelengths, a 0.5 mm diameter shperical Langmuir probe was constructed, and its power compared with the power measured by larger cylindrical probes

Finite element analysis in defining the optimal shape and safety factor of retentive clasp arms of removable partial denture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šćepanović Miodrag

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Bacground/Aim. Retentive force of removable partial denture (RPD directly depends on elastic force of stretched retentive clasp arms (RCAs. During deflection RCA must have even stress distribution. Safety factor is the concept which can be applied in estimating durability and functionality of RCAs. This study was based on analyzing properties of clasps designed by conventional clasp wax profiles and defining the optimal shapes of RCAs for stress distribution and safety factor aspects. Methods. Computer-aided-design (CAD models of RCAs with simulated properties of materials used for fabrication of RPD cobalt-chromium-molybdenum (CoCrMo alloy, commercially pure titanium (CPTi and polyacetale were analyzed. Results. The research showed that geometrics of Rapidflex profiles from the BIOS concept are defined for designing and modeling RCAs from CoCrMo alloys. I-Bar and Bonihard clasps made from CPTi might have the same design as Co- CrMo clasp only by safety factor aspect, but it is obvious that CPTi are much more flexible, so their shape must be more massive. Polyacetale clasps should not be fabricated by BIOS concept for CoCrMo alloy. A proof for that is the low value of safety factor. Conclusion. The BIOS concept should be used only for RCAs made of CoCrMo alloy and different wax profiles should be used for fabricating clasps of other investigated materials. The contribution of this study may be the improvement of present systems for defining the clasps shapes made from CoCrMo alloys. The more significant application is possibility of creating new concepts in defining shapes of RCA made from CPTi and polyacetale.

Identification of the Uncertainties for the Calibration of the Partial Safety Factors for Load in Tidal Turbines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gaizka Zarraonandia Simeón

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Tidal energy is nowadays one of the fastest growing types of marine renewable energy. In particular, Horizontal Axis Tidal Turbines (HATTs are the most advanced designs and the most appropriate for standardization. This paper presents a review of actual design criteria focusing on the identification of the uncertainties that technology developers need to address during the design process. Key environmental parameters like turbine inflow conditions or predictions of extreme values are still grey areas due to the lack of site measurements and the uncertainty in metocean model predictions. A comparison of turbulence intensity characterization using different tools and at different points in time shows the uncertainty in the prediction of this parameter. Numerical models of HATTs are still quite uncertain, often dependent on experience of the people running them. In the reliability-based calibration of partial safety factors, the uncertainties need to be reflected on the limit state formulation. This paper analyses the different types of uncertainties present in the limit state equation. These uncertainties are assessed in terms of stochastic variables in the limit state equation. In some cases, advantage can be taken from the experience from offshore wind and oil and gas industries. Tidal turbines have a mixture of the uncertainties present in both industries with regard to partial safety factor calibration.

Nuclear safety guide TID-7016 Revision 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, J.T.

1980-01-01

The present revision of TID-7016 Nuclear Safety Guide is discussed. This Guide differs significantly from its predecessor in that the latter was intentionally conservative in its recommendations. Firmly based on experimental evidence of criticality, the original Guide and the first revision were considered to be of most value to organizations whose activities with fissionable materials were not extensive and, secondarily, that it would serve as a point of departure for members of established nuclear safety teams, experienced in the field. The reader will find a significant change in the character of information presented in this version. Nuclear Criticality Safety has matured in the past twelve years. The advance of calculational capability has permitted validated calculations to extend and substitute for experimental data. The broadened data base has enabled better interpolation, extension, and understanding of available, information, especially in areas previously addressed by undefined but adequate factors of safety. The content has been thereby enriched in qualitative guidance. The information inherently contains, and the user can recapture, the quantitative guidance characteristic of the former Guides by employing appropriate safety factors. In fact, it becomes incumbent on the Criticality Safety Specialist to necessarily impose safety factors consistent with the possible normal and abnormal credible contingencies of an operation as revealed by his evaluation. In its present form the Guide easily becomes a suitable module in any compendium or handbook tailored for internal use by organizations. It is hoped the Guide will continue to serve immediate needs and will encourage continuing and more comprehensive efforts toward organizing nuclear criticality safety information

Operator Actions Within a Safety Instrumented Function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suttinger, L.T.

2002-01-01

This paper presents an overview of the factors that should be considered when crediting operator action for performing a safety function or being a part of the process of enabling a safety function. Criteria for evaluating operator action, such as required time response and operator training among others, are discussed. The paper will address these and other factors that should be considered when determining the reliability of the operator to respond and perform his/her part of the safety function. The entire safety function includes the operator and the reliability of the instrumented system that provides the alarm or indication, the final control element, and support systems. The integration of the operator performance with the hardware safety availability, including the effects of the supporting systems is discussed. The analysis of these factors will provide the justification for the amount of risk reduction or safety integrity level that can be credited for the Safety Instrumented Function (SIF), including operator action

The impact of masculinity on safety oversights, safety priority and safety violations in two male-dominated occupations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Kent; Hansen, Claus D.; Bloksgaard, Lotte

2015-01-01

Background Although men have a higher risk of occupational injuries than women the role of masculinity for organizational safety outcomes has only rarely been the object of research. Aim The current study investigated the association between masculinity and safety oversights, safety priority......-related context factors (safety leadership, commitment of the safety representative, and safety involvement) and three safety-related outcome factors (safety violations, safety oversights and safety priority) were administered twice 12 months apart to Danish ambulance workers (n = 1157) and slaughterhouse workers...

Integrated approach to knowledge acquisition and safety management of complex plants with emphasis on human factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosmowski, K.T.

1998-01-01

In this paper an integrated approach to the knowledge acquisition and safety management of complex industrial plants is proposed and outlined. The plant is considered within a man-technology-environment (MTE) system. The knowledge acquisition is aimed at the consequent reliability evaluation of human factor and probabilistic modeling of the plant. Properly structured initial knowledge is updated in life-time of the plant. The data and knowledge concerning the topology of safety related systems and their functions are created in a graphical CAD system and are object oriented. Safety oriented monitoring of the plant includes abnormal situations due to external and internal disturbances, failures of hard/software components and failures of human factor. The operation and safety related evidence is accumulated in special data bases. Data/knowledge bases are designed in such a way to support effectively the reliability and safety management of the plant. (author)

Internationalisation in Road Transport of Goods in Norway: Safety Outcomes, Risk Factors and Policy Implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tor-Olav Nævestad

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The European Union (EU promotes a gradual lifting of restrictions on foreign hauliers involved in domestic road transport of goods (cabotage, and liberalization of the current road cabotage rules may further increase the proportion of foreign heavy goods vehicles (HGVs on Norwegian roads. The aims of the present study are to: (1 Examine the safety outcomes of increasing internationalisation in (Norwegian road transport of goods; and (2 Discuss the importance of potential risk factors related to increasing proportions of foreign HGVs on Norwegian roads. We use four data sources to shed light on the aims. Results show that foreign HGVs account for 6% of the average domestic transport in Norway, and 11% of the HGVs involved in personal injury accidents. Additionally, foreign HGVs have a three times higher risk of single vehicle accidents, and twice the risk of head-on collisions. Foreign HGV drivers also seem more likely to trigger fatal accidents. We conclude that two risk factors seem to be important: (1 experience with/competence on Norwegian roads and (2 winter driving. Thus, the safety challenge is not that the drivers are foreign, but that they to some extent lack experience with, and competence on, the Norwegian road networks and the challenges that these roads may pose (e.g., narrow roads with high gradients, many curves, snow and ice. Previous research from other countries has also found that lacking experience with national road networks is an important risk factor. Given our results on risk factors, we may hypothesize that if foreign HGV drivers get more experience and education on Norwegian driving conditions, then increased internationalization could perhaps be of less concern in road safety. When discussing the higher accident risk and lower experience of foreign HGV drivers in Norway, it is important to note that the reason for foreign HGV drivers, working for foreign hauliers, to drive in Norway is that there are customers of the

Human factors engineering design review acceptance criteria for the safety parameter display

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGevna, V.; Peterson, L.R.

1981-01-01

This report contains human factors engineering design review acceptance criteria developed by the Human Factors Engineering Branch (HFEB) of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to use in evaluating designs of the Safety Parameter Display System (SPDS). These criteria were developed in response to the functional design criteria for the SPDS defined in NUREG-0696, Functional Criteria for Emergency Response Facilities. The purpose of this report is to identify design review acceptance criteria for the SPDS installed in the control room of a nuclear power plant. Use of computer driven cathode ray tube (CRT) displays is anticipated. General acceptance criteria for displays of plant safety status information by the SPDS are developed. In addition, specific SPDS review criteria corresponding to the SPDS functional criteria specified in NUREG-0696 are established

Improvements of the Regulatory Framework for Nuclear Installations in the Areas of Human and Organizational Factors and Safety Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tronea, M.; Ciurea, C.

2016-01-01

The paper presents the development of regulatory requirements in the area of human and organizational factors taking account of the lessons learned from major accidents in the nuclear industry and in particular of the factors that contributed to the Fukushima Daiichi accident and the improvement of the regulatory oversight of nuclear safety culture. New requirements have been elaborated by the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) on the nuclear safety policy of licencees for nuclear installations, on independent nuclear safety oversight, on safety conscious work environment and on the assessment of nuclear safety culture. The regulatory process for the oversight of nuclear safety culture within licencees’ organizations operating nuclear installations and the associated procedure and guidelines, based on the IAEA Safety Standards, have been developed in 2010-2011. CNCAN has used the 37 IAEA attributes for a strong safety culture, grouped into five areas corresponding to safety culture characteristics, as the basis for its regulatory guidelines providing support to the reviewers and inspectors, in their routine activities, for recognising and gathering information relevant to safety culture. The safety culture oversight process, procedure and guidelines are in process of being reviewed and revised to improve their effectiveness and to align with the current international practices, using lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident. Starting with July 2014, Romania has a National Strategy for Nuclear Safety and Security, which includes strategic objectives, associated directions for action and concrete actions for promoting nuclear safety culture in all the organizations in the nuclear sector. The progress with the implementation of this strategy with regard to nuclear safety culture is described in the paper. CNCAN started to define its own organizational culture model and identifying the elements that promote and support safety

Human factors and fuzzy set theory for safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishiwaki, Y.

1987-01-01

Human reliability and performance is affected by many factors: medical, physiological and psychological, etc. The uncertainty involved in human factors may not necessarily be probabilistic, but fuzzy. Therefore, it is important to develop a theory by which both the non-probabilistic uncertainties, or fuzziness, of human factors and the probabilistic properties of machines can be treated consistently. In reality, randomness and fuzziness are sometimes mixed. From the mathematical point of view, probabilistic measures may be considered a special case of fuzzy measures. Therefore, fuzzy set theory seems to be an effective tool for analysing man-machine systems. The concept 'failure possibility' based on fuzzy sets is suggested as an approach to safety analysis and fault diagnosis of a large complex system. Fuzzy measures and fuzzy integrals are introduced and their possible applications are also discussed. (author)

Probabilistic safety assessment model in consideration of human factors based on object-oriented bayesian networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Zhongbao; Zhou Jinglun; Sun Quan

2007-01-01

Effect of Human factors on system safety is increasingly serious, which is often ignored in traditional probabilistic safety assessment methods however. A new probabilistic safety assessment model based on object-oriented Bayesian networks is proposed in this paper. Human factors are integrated into the existed event sequence diagrams. Then the classes of the object-oriented Bayesian networks are constructed which are converted to latent Bayesian networks for inference. Finally, the inference results are integrated into event sequence diagrams for probabilistic safety assessment. The new method is applied to the accident of loss of coolant in a nuclear power plant. the results show that the model is not only applicable to real-time situation assessment, but also applicable to situation assessment based certain amount of information. The modeling complexity is kept down and the new method is appropriate to large complex systems due to the thoughts of object-oriented. (authors)

Discovering Innovation at the Intersection of Undergraduate Medical Education, Human Factors, and Collaboration: The Development of a Nasogastric Tube Safety Pack.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Natalie; Bamford, Thomas; Haindl, Cornelia; Cracknell, Alison

2016-04-01

Significant deficiencies exist in the knowledge and skills of medical students and residents around health care quality and safety. The theory and practice of quality and safety should be embedded into undergraduate medical practice so that health care professionals are capable of developing interventions and innovations to effectively anticipate and mitigate errors. Since 2011, Leeds Medical School in the United Kingdom has used case study examples of nasogastric (NG) tube patient safety incidents within the undergraduate patient safety curriculum. In 2012, a medical undergraduate student approached a clinician with an innovative idea after undertaking an NG tubes root cause analysis case study. Simultaneously, a separate local project demonstrated low compliance (11.6%) with the United Kingdom's National Patient Safety Agency NG tubes guideline for use of the correct method to check tube position. These separate endeavors led to interdisciplinary collaboration between a medical student, health care professionals, researchers, and industry to develop the Initial Placement Nasogastric Tube Safety Pack. Human factors engineering was used to inform pack design to allow guideline recommendations to be accessible and easy to follow. A timeline of product development, mapped against key human factors and medical device design principles used throughout the process, is presented. The safety pack has since been launched in five UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals, and the pack has been introduced into health care professional staff training for NG tubes. A mixed-methods evaluation is currently under way in five NHS organizations.

Development of the safety evaluation system in the respects of organizational factors and workers' consciousness. Pt. 1. Study of validities of functions for necessary evaluation and results obtained

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takano, Kenichi; Tsuge, Tadafumi; Hasegawa, Naoko; Hirose, Ayako; Sasou, Kunihide

2002-01-01

CRIEPI decided to develop the safety evaluation system to investigate the safety level of the industrial sites due to questionnaires of organizational climate, safety managements, and workers' safety consciousness to workers. This report describes the questionnaire survey to apply to the domestic nuclear power plant for using obtained results as a fundamental data in order to construct the safety evaluation system. This system will be used for promoting safety culture in organizations of nuclear power plants. The questionnaire survey was conducted to 14 nuclear power stations for understanding the present status relating to safety issues. This questionnaire involves 122 items classified into following three categories: (1) safety awareness and behavior of plant personnel; (2) safety management; (3) organizational climate, based on the model considering contributing factor groups to safety culture. Obtained results were analyzed by statistical method to prepare functions of evaluation. Additionally, by applying a multivariate analysis, it was possible to extract several crucial factors influencing safety performance and to find a comprehensive safety indicator representing total organizational safety level. Significant relations were identified between accident rates (both labor accidents and facility failures) and above comprehensive safety indicator. Next, 122 questionnaire items were classified into 20 major safety factors to grasp the safety profiles of each site. This profile is considered as indicating the features of each site and also indicating the direction of progress for improvement of safety situation in the site. These findings can be reflected in developing the safety evaluation system, by confirming the validity of the evaluation method and giving specific functions. (author)

Recent developments in iodine chemistry in Canada. Present and future applications to reactor safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fluke, R.J.; Weaver, K.R.; Kupferschmidt, W.C.H.; Wren, J.C.; Ball, J.M.; Evans, G.J.

1997-01-01

In Canada, there exists a mature research programme directed towards resolving the nuclear safety and licensing questions surrounding fission product iodine. This integrated programme has had the long term objectives of developing a mechanistic understanding of the important aspects of iodine behaviour in containment, and of producing a mechanistic computer code to predict iodine behaviour under conditions of interest. The research is funded by Canadian Utilities and AECL through the CANDU Owners Group. In parallel with the research, an applications effort is underway to put existing research results into service for the resolution of reactor safety and licensing issues, as well as to identify and develop solutions for more comprehensive problems, such as chemical mitigation strategies to control post-accident iodine release. The present paper describes (a) the present status and objectives of R and D on iodine, its recent evolution and its significant achievements, (b) the analytical tools that are emerging from this programme and (c) existing and planned future applications of the results of the iodine R and D programme. The author concludes with an assessment of the impact that the iodine programme has had on reactor safety and licensing questions in Canada

Safety, reliability, risk management and human factors: an integrated engineering approach applied to nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasconcelos, Vanderley de; Silva, Eliane Magalhaes Pereira da; Costa, Antonio Carlos Lopes da; Reis, Sergio Carneiro dos

2009-01-01

Nuclear energy has an important engineering legacy to share with the conventional industry. Much of the development of the tools related to safety, reliability, risk management, and human factors are associated with nuclear plant processes, mainly because the public concern about nuclear power generation. Despite the close association between these subjects, there are some important different approaches. The reliability engineering approach uses several techniques to minimize the component failures that cause the failure of the complex systems. These techniques include, for instance, redundancy, diversity, standby sparing, safety factors, and reliability centered maintenance. On the other hand system safety is primarily concerned with hazard management, that is, the identification, evaluation and control of hazards. Rather than just look at failure rates or engineering strengths, system safety would examine the interactions among system components. The events that cause accidents may be complex combinations of component failures, faulty maintenance, design errors, human actions, or actuation of instrumentation and control. Then, system safety deals with a broader spectrum of risk management, including: ergonomics, legal requirements, quality control, public acceptance, political considerations, and many other non-technical influences. Taking care of these subjects individually can compromise the completeness of the analysis and the measures associated with both risk reduction, and safety and reliability increasing. Analyzing together the engineering systems and controls of a nuclear facility, their management systems and operational procedures, and the human factors engineering, many benefits can be realized. This paper proposes an integration of these issues based on the application of systems theory. (author)

Safety, reliability, risk management and human factors: an integrated engineering approach applied to nuclear facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vasconcelos, Vanderley de; Silva, Eliane Magalhaes Pereira da; Costa, Antonio Carlos Lopes da; Reis, Sergio Carneiro dos [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)], e-mail: vasconv@cdtn.br, e-mail: silvaem@cdtn.br, e-mail: aclc@cdtn.br, e-mail: reissc@cdtn.br

2009-07-01

Nuclear energy has an important engineering legacy to share with the conventional industry. Much of the development of the tools related to safety, reliability, risk management, and human factors are associated with nuclear plant processes, mainly because the public concern about nuclear power generation. Despite the close association between these subjects, there are some important different approaches. The reliability engineering approach uses several techniques to minimize the component failures that cause the failure of the complex systems. These techniques include, for instance, redundancy, diversity, standby sparing, safety factors, and reliability centered maintenance. On the other hand system safety is primarily concerned with hazard management, that is, the identification, evaluation and control of hazards. Rather than just look at failure rates or engineering strengths, system safety would examine the interactions among system components. The events that cause accidents may be complex combinations of component failures, faulty maintenance, design errors, human actions, or actuation of instrumentation and control. Then, system safety deals with a broader spectrum of risk management, including: ergonomics, legal requirements, quality control, public acceptance, political considerations, and many other non-technical influences. Taking care of these subjects individually can compromise the completeness of the analysis and the measures associated with both risk reduction, and safety and reliability increasing. Analyzing together the engineering systems and controls of a nuclear facility, their management systems and operational procedures, and the human factors engineering, many benefits can be realized. This paper proposes an integration of these issues based on the application of systems theory. (author)

Safety in relation to risk and benefit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siddall, E.

1985-01-01

The proper definition and quantification of human safety is discussed and from this basis the historical development of our present very high standard of safety is traced. It is shown that increased safety is closely associated with increased wealth, and the quantitative relationship between then is derived from different sources of evidence. When this factor is applied to the production of wealth by industry, a safety benefit is indicated which exceeds the asserted risks by orders of magnitude. It is concluded that present policies and attitudes in respect to the safety of industry may be diametrically wrong. (orig.) [de

Nuclear criticality safety: 2-day training course

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schlesser, J.A.

1997-02-01

This compilation of notes is presented as a source reference for the criticality safety course. At the completion of this training course, the attendee will: be able to define terms commonly used in nuclear criticality safety; be able to appreciate the fundamentals of nuclear criticality safety; be able to identify factors which affect nuclear criticality safety; be able to identify examples of criticality controls as used as Los Alamos; be able to identify examples of circumstances present during criticality accidents; have participated in conducting two critical experiments; be asked to complete a critique of the nuclear criticality safety training course

Nuclear criticality safety: 2-day training course

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schlesser, J.A. [ed.] [comp.

1997-02-01

This compilation of notes is presented as a source reference for the criticality safety course. At the completion of this training course, the attendee will: be able to define terms commonly used in nuclear criticality safety; be able to appreciate the fundamentals of nuclear criticality safety; be able to identify factors which affect nuclear criticality safety; be able to identify examples of criticality controls as used as Los Alamos; be able to identify examples of circumstances present during criticality accidents; have participated in conducting two critical experiments; be asked to complete a critique of the nuclear criticality safety training course.

The Impact of Organizational Factors on Safety. The Perspective of Experts from the Spanish Nuclear Sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

German, S.; Silla, I.; Navajas, J.

2014-01-01

Previous research supports the importance of organizational factors on safety in high reliability organizations. This study aims to determine the impact of those factors in the Spanish nuclear sector. Particularly, this study focuses on examining the role of performance indicators, organizational culture, organizational factors, and organizational context. With that purpose, an electronic survey addressed to experts from the Spanish nuclear sector was carried out. Results showed that performance indicators are well-known among industry experts and are perceived as useful for improving performance. Behavioural norms that influence safety and some relevant factors that promote problem identification were identified. Additionally, findings suggested that organizational context must be taken into account to better understand the role of organizational culture. Moreover, industry experts pointed out organizational factors to be improved: organizational communication processes within the organization, positive reinforcement, and field supervisors practices. Finally, findings supported the influence of organizational context on safety. It is noteworthy the role of the social impact of international events (e.g., Chernobyl...), the relationship with the regulator and the legislative and governmental framework. (Author)

Risk, fear and public safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siddall, E.

1981-04-01

Part 1 of the paper advocates a rational approach to public safety based on unbiassed quantitative assessment of overall risks and benefits of any technological activity. It shows that improved safety should be attainable at less cost than is the case at present. Part 2 offers an explanation of why so little has been achieved in this direction and outlines the major errors in present practices. Part 3 suggests what might realistically be done towards the achievement of some of the possible benefits. Factors which are important in the study of safety and evidence supporting the arguments are discussed in six appendices. It is urged that the scientific and technological community should improve its understanding of safety as a specialization and should endeavour to lead rather than follow in our present political system

Fusion integral experiments and analysis and the determination of design safety factors - I: Methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youssef, M.Z.; Kumar, A.; Abdou, M.A.; Oyama, Y.; Maekawa, H.

1995-01-01

The role of the neutronics experimentation and analysis in fusion neutronics research and development programs is discussed. A new methodology was developed to arrive at estimates to design safety factors based on the experimental and analytical results from design-oriented integral experiments. In this methodology, and for a particular nuclear response, R, a normalized density function (NDF) is constructed from the prediction uncertainties, and their associated standard deviations, as found in the various integral experiments where that response, R, is measured. Important statistical parameters are derived from the NDF, such as the global mean prediction uncertainty, and the possible spread around it. The method of deriving safety factors from many possible NDFs based on various calculational and measuring methods (among other variants) is also described. Associated with each safety factor is a confidence level, designers may choose to have, that the calculated response, R, will not exceed (or will not fall below) the actual measured value. An illustrative example is given on how to construct the NDFs. The methodology is applied in two areas, namely the line-integrated tritium production rate and bulk shielding integral experiments. Conditions under which these factors could be derived and the validity of the method are discussed. 72 refs., 17 figs., 4 tabs

PERCEPTION OF BUILDING CONSTRUCTION WORKERS TOWARDS SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C.R. CHE HASSAN

2007-12-01

Full Text Available The construction industry is known as one of the most hazardous activities. Therefore, safety on the job site is an important aspect with respect to the overall safety in construction. This paper assesses the safety level perception of the construction building workers towards safety, health and environment on a construction job site in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The above study was carried out by choosing 5 selected large building construction projects and 5 small building construction projects respectively in and around Kuala Lumpur area. In the present study, an exhaustive survey was carried out in these 10 project site areas using a standard checklist and a detailed developed questionnaire. The checklist comprised 17 divisions of safety measurements which are considered and perceived to be important from the safety point of view and was assessed based on the score obtained. The questionnaire comprised the general information with 36 safety attitude statements on a 1-5 Likert scale which was distributed to 100 construction workers. The results of the checklist show the difference of safety levels between the large and small projects. The study revealed that the large projects shown a high and consistent level in safety while the small projects shown a low and varied safety levels. The relationship between the factors can be obtained from the questionnaire. They are organizational commitment, factor influencing communication among workmates, worker related factors, personal role and supervisors’ role factors, obstacles to safety and safe behavior factors and management commitment at all levels in line with the management structure and risk taking behavioral factors. The findings of the present study revealed invaluable indications to the construction managers especially in improving the construction workers’ attitude towards safety, health and environment and hence good safety culture in the building construction industries.

Factors influencing workers to follow food safety management systems in meat plants in Ontario, Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Ball, Brita; Wilcock, Anne; Aung, May

2009-06-01

Small and medium sized food businesses have been slow to adopt food safety management systems (FSMSs) such as good manufacturing practices and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). This study identifies factors influencing workers in their implementation of food safety practices in small and medium meat processing establishments in Ontario, Canada. A qualitative approach was used to explore in-plant factors that influence the implementation of FSMSs. Thirteen in-depth interviews in five meat plants and two focus group interviews were conducted. These generated 219 pages of verbatim transcripts which were analysed using NVivo 7 software. Main themes identified in the data related to production systems, organisational characteristics and employee characteristics. A socio-psychological model based on the theory of planned behaviour is proposed to describe how these themes and underlying sub-themes relate to FSMS implementation. Addressing the various factors that influence production workers is expected to enhance FSMS implementation and increase food safety.

PSA methodology including new design, operational and safety factors, 'Level of recognition of phenomena with a presumed dominant influence upon operational safety' (failures of conventional as well as non-conventional passive components, dependent failures, influence of operator, fires and external threats, digital control, organizational factors)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jirsa, P.

2001-10-01

The document represents a specific type of discussion of existing methodologies for the creation and application of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) in light of the EUR document summarizing requirements placed by Western European NPP operators on the future design of nuclear power plants. A partial goal of this discussion consists in mapping, from the PSA point of view, those selected design, operational and/or safety factors of future NPPs that may be entirely new or, at least, newly addressed. Therefore, the terms of reference for this stage were formulated as follows: Assess current level of knowledge and procedures in the analysis of factors and phenomena with a dominant influence upon operational safety of new generation reactors, especially in the following areas: (1) Phenomenology of failure types and mechanisms and reliability of conventional passive safety system components; (2) Phenomenology of failure types and mechanisms and reliability of non-conventional passive components of newly designed safety systems; (3) Phenomenology of types and mechanisms of dependent failures; (4) Human factor role in new generation reactors and its effect upon safety; (5) Fire safety and other external threats to new nuclear installations; (6) Reliability of the digital systems of the I and C system and their effect upon safety; and (7) Organizational factors in new nuclear installations. (P.A.)

Nuclear criticality safety: 2-day training course

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schlesser, J.A.

1992-11-01

This compilation of notes is presented as a source reference for the criticality safety course. At the completion of this training course, the attendee will: (1) be able to define terms commonly used in nuclear criticality safety; (2) be able to appreciate the fundamentals of nuclear criticality safety; (3) be able to identify factors which affect nuclear criticality safety; (4) be able to identify examples of criticality controls as used at Los Alamos; (5) be able to identify examples of circumstances present during criticality accidents; (6) have participated in conducting two critical experiments

Human Factors Evaluation of Man-Machine Interface for Periodic Safety Review of Yonggwang Unit no. 1, 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Jung Woon; Park, Jae Chang

2006-01-01

This report describes the research results of human factors assessment on the MMI(Man Machine Interface) equipment as part of Periodic Safety Review(PSR) of Yonggwang Unit no. 1, 2. As MMI is a key factor among human factors to be reviewed in PSR, we reviewed the MMI components of nuclear power plants in aspect of human factors engineering. The availability, suitability, and effectiveness of the MMI devices were chosen to be reviewed. The MMI devices were investigated through the review of design documents related to the MMI, survey of control panels, evaluation of experts, and experimental assessment. Checklists were used to perform this assessment and record the review results. The items mentioned by the expert comments to review in detail in relation with task procedures were tested by experiments with operators' participation. For some questionable issues arisen during this MMI review, operator workload and possibility of errors in operator actions were analysed. The reviewed MMI devices contain MCR(Main Control Room), SPDS(Safety Parameter Display System), RSP(Remote Shutdown Panel), and the selected LCBs(Local Control Boards) importantly related to safety. As results of the assessments, any significant problem challenging the safety was not found on human factors in the MMI devices. However, several small items to be changed and improved in suitability of MMI devices were discovered. An action plan is recommended to accommodate the suggestions and review comments. It will enhance the plant safety on MMI area

Human Factors Evaluation of Man-Machine Interface for Periodic Safety Review of Yonggwang Unit no. 1, 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Jung Woon; Park, Jae Chang (and others)

2006-01-15

This report describes the research results of human factors assessment on the MMI(Man Machine Interface) equipment as part of Periodic Safety Review(PSR) of Yonggwang Unit no. 1, 2. As MMI is a key factor among human factors to be reviewed in PSR, we reviewed the MMI components of nuclear power plants in aspect of human factors engineering. The availability, suitability, and effectiveness of the MMI devices were chosen to be reviewed. The MMI devices were investigated through the review of design documents related to the MMI, survey of control panels, evaluation of experts, and experimental assessment. Checklists were used to perform this assessment and record the review results. The items mentioned by the expert comments to review in detail in relation with task procedures were tested by experiments with operators' participation. For some questionable issues arisen during this MMI review, operator workload and possibility of errors in operator actions were analysed. The reviewed MMI devices contain MCR(Main Control Room), SPDS(Safety Parameter Display System), RSP(Remote Shutdown Panel), and the selected LCBs(Local Control Boards) importantly related to safety. As results of the assessments, any significant problem challenging the safety was not found on human factors in the MMI devices. However, several small items to be changed and improved in suitability of MMI devices were discovered. An action plan is recommended to accommodate the suggestions and review comments. It will enhance the plant safety on MMI area.

Trends in safety pharmacology: posters presented at the annual meetings of the Safety Pharmacology Society 2001-2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Redfern, William S; Valentin, Jean-Pierre

2011-01-01

The inaugural meeting of the Safety Pharmacology Society (SPS) was in 2001, soon after ICH S7A had been adopted. The 10th anniversary is an appropriate milestone at which to analyse trends in the science and themes of safety pharmacology, as reflected in posters presented at the annual meetings. The source information was the poster abstract booklets from each of the first ten annual meetings. The number of posters rose steadily from 34 in 2001 to 201 in 2010. The proportion of posters containing in vitro data has remained constant throughout the decade at ~30%. In terms of organ functions, themes relating to the cardiovascular system (CVS) have always generated the majority of posters, remaining above 60% of the total for the last 9years. The dominant theme has been around 'QT liability'. This peaked in 2003 at 68% of all posters presented, around the time of the ICHS7B discussions, and has remained above 30% thereafter. Apart from 2003 (dipping to 4%), CNS-related posters have remained steady at 11-17% throughout the decade. Respiratory-related posters have remained at 5-8% over the last 5years. Gastrointestinal (GI)-related posters have contributed 2-6% throughout the decade, and renal-related posters 1-3%. Posters on combined organ assessments have appeared in recent years. The relative emphasis on the different organ functions is broadly proportional to the causes of candidate drug attrition preclinically, whereas both CNS and GI are under-represented when considering their contribution to significant adverse effects during clinical development. Trends are either regulatory-driven (e.g. increase in posters on abuse-dependence liability since EMEA/CHMP/SWP/94227/2004), technology-driven (e.g. automated hERG assay; left ventricular function; non-invasive CVS measurements; stem cells, etc.), or relate to the predictive ability of safety pharmacology data (e.g. clinical translation initiatives; concordance between in vitro and in vivo preclinical data; integrated

Improving operating room safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garrett Jill

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Despite the introduction of the Universal Protocol, patient safety in surgery remains a daily challenge in the operating room. This present study describes one community health system's efforts to improve operating room safety through human factors training and ultimately the development of a surgical checklist. Using a combination of formal training, local studies documenting operating room safety issues and peer to peer mentoring we were able to substantially change the culture of our operating room. Our efforts have prepared us for successfully implementing a standardized checklist to improve operating room safety throughout our entire system. Based on these findings we recommend a multimodal approach to improving operating room safety.

The consideration of the humane factor is essential in safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parisot, F.

2010-01-01

In most risk analysis we consider that the staff fit perfectly the tasks to do in terms of training and competence but in fact a lot of factors intervene like the level of stress of the operator, the time available to identify the trouble or to take a decision, the relevance of the procedures, or the level of coordination and communication between the members of the staff. Different methods exist to assess the human factor, most have been designed to be used in the nuclear sector for instance: THERP (Technique for Human Error Rate Prediction) or OATS (Operation Action Tree) or SHARP (Systematic Human Action Reliability Procedure). These methods apply as early as the design stage of the engineered safety systems. Virtual reality has entered these methods because it allows operators to learn by making errors since errors in virtual reality have no consequences. Learning by making errors is an efficient method to get the operator used to accidental situations and as a consequence to reduce his level of stress. Some methods incorporate human elements into system safety analysis through the definition of performance shaping factors that describe the behaviour of operators in terms of physical and psychological abilities. (A.C.)

Proceedings of the CSNI WGOE/SEGHOF workshop on modifications at nuclear power plants - Operating experience, safety significance and the role of human factors and organisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

Operating experience repeatedly shows that changes and modifications at nuclear power plants (NPPs) may lead to safety significant events. At the same time, modifications are necessary to ensure a safe and economic functioning of the NPPs. To ensure the continuing safety of NPPs it is important that processes for change and modification are given proper attention both by the NPPs and the regulators. The operability, maintainability and testability of every modification should be thoroughly assessed from different points of view to ensure that no safety problems are introduced. The OECD/NEA Committee on Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) addressed the issue of modifications at a 'Workshop on Modifications at Nuclear Power Plants - Operating Experience, Safety Significance and Role of Human Factors' held at the OECD headquarters in Paris on October 6 to 8, 2003. This workshop was undertaken as a joint effort of the Working Group on Operating Experience (WGOE) and the Special Experts Group on Human and Organisational Factors (SEGHOF). During the workshop, WGOE focused on the theme of 'Minor Modifications and their Safety Significance', while SEGHOF focused on the topic 'Human and Organisational Factors in NPP Modifications'. The workshop was attended by 55 experts from the industry, regulators and technical support organizations in 15 countries. The workshop programme consisted of plenary and parallel sessions for presentations and discussions. One important part of the workshop was to discuss findings of the WGOE and SEGHOF surveys of utility and regulatory experience from modifications at the NPPs. Modifications at the NPPs are controlled by written procedures. The process varies depending on the type of the modification. Large modifications generally lead to fewer problems, because the projects are given both a great deal of attention and resources. In contrast, minor modifications seem to represent a generic challenge because they are less likely to be

Effects of a Workplace Intervention Targeting Psychosocial Risk Factors on Safety and Health Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Hammer, Leslie B.; Truxillo, Donald M.; Bodner, Todd; Rineer, Jennifer; Pytlovany, Amy C.; Richman, Amy

2015-01-01

The goal of this study was to test the effectiveness of a workplace intervention targeting work-life stress and safety-related psychosocial risk factors on health and safety outcomes. Data were collected over time using a randomized control trial design with 264 construction workers employed in an urban municipal department. The intervention involved family- and safety-supportive supervisor behavior training (computer-based), followed by two weeks of behavior tracking and a four-hour, facilitated team effectiveness session including supervisors and employees. A significant positive intervention effect was found for an objective measure of blood pressure at the 12-month follow-up. However, no significant intervention results were found for self-reported general health, safety participation, or safety compliance. These findings suggest that an intervention focused on supervisor support training and a team effectiveness process for planning and problem solving should be further refined and utilized in order to improve employee health with additional research on the beneficial effects on worker safety. PMID:26557703

Effects of a Workplace Intervention Targeting Psychosocial Risk Factors on Safety and Health Outcomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leslie B. Hammer

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The goal of this study was to test the effectiveness of a workplace intervention targeting work-life stress and safety-related psychosocial risk factors on health and safety outcomes. Data were collected over time using a randomized control trial design with 264 construction workers employed in an urban municipal department. The intervention involved family- and safety-supportive supervisor behavior training (computer-based, followed by two weeks of behavior tracking and a four-hour, facilitated team effectiveness session including supervisors and employees. A significant positive intervention effect was found for an objective measure of blood pressure at the 12-month follow-up. However, no significant intervention results were found for self-reported general health, safety participation, or safety compliance. These findings suggest that an intervention focused on supervisor support training and a team effectiveness process for planning and problem solving should be further refined and utilized in order to improve employee health with additional research on the beneficial effects on worker safety.

Safety of modifications at nuclear power plants - the role of minor modifications and human and organisational factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

in the present report. The ultimate responsibility for plant safety lies with the licensee. Consequently, modification processes at the utilities are controlled by written procedures. The modification processes vary depending on the type and scope of the modification. Large modifications generally lead to fewer problems, because these projects are given a great deal of attention and resources together with flexibility in milestones and timing of activities. In contrast, minor modifications seem to, according to recent experience, represent a generic challenge because they are less likely to be recognised as safety significant. Similar kinds of challenges may arise during plant maintenance, when changes in the design or materials may be made without anyone recognising that the maintenance work has actually led to functional modification of plant equipment. A modification process, in which possible safety influences are assessed early, may improve nuclear safety to a significant extent and, at the same time, reduce overall modification cost. Screening of intended changes can be used to estimate design and analysis effort required in the modification process. In the screening, it should be observed that system complexity sometimes may have unexpected impacts. Screening criteria should address the safety significance of the systems and components modified. Also, the impact of the changes on tasks performed by operators and maintainers should be assessed. Major modification projects should always include an analysis of both technical and human contributions to plant operability and maintainability as a part of their comprehensive review process. It is important to create awareness and understanding of the potential safety impacts of modifications at NPPs. This awareness may be improved by collecting and disseminating information about modification-related events. Good results may only be achieved by integrating technical and human factors considerations in the safety

Operation, Safety and Human: Critical Factors for the Success of Railway Transportation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rajabali Nejad, Mohammadreza; Martinetti, Alberto; van Dongen, Leonardus Adriana Maria

2016-01-01

This paper focuses on three categories of performance indicators for railway transportation: the excellence of operation, system safety and human factors. These are among the most critical indicators for delivering high quality services. This paper discusses the main issues, challenges and future

A Methodology To Incorporate The Safety Culture Into Probabilistic Safety Assessments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Sunghyun; Kim, Namyeong; Jae, Moosung [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

In order to incorporate organizational factors into PSA, a methodology needs to be developed. Using the AHP to weigh organizational factors as well as the SLIM to rate those factors, a methodology is introduced in this study. The safety issues related to nuclear safety culture have occurred increasingly. The quantification tool has to be developed in order to include the organizational factor into Probabilistic Safety Assessments. In this study, the state-of-the-art for the organizational evaluation methodologies has been surveyed. This study includes the research for organizational factors, maintenance process, maintenance process analysis models, a quantitative methodology using Analytic Hierarchy Process, Success Likelihood Index Methodology. The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology to incorporate the safety culture into PSA for obtaining more objective risk than before. The organizational factor considered in nuclear safety culture might affect the potential risk of human error and hardware-failure. The safety culture impact index to monitor the plant safety culture can be assessed by applying the developed methodology into a nuclear power plant.

A Methodology To Incorporate The Safety Culture Into Probabilistic Safety Assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sunghyun; Kim, Namyeong; Jae, Moosung

2015-01-01

In order to incorporate organizational factors into PSA, a methodology needs to be developed. Using the AHP to weigh organizational factors as well as the SLIM to rate those factors, a methodology is introduced in this study. The safety issues related to nuclear safety culture have occurred increasingly. The quantification tool has to be developed in order to include the organizational factor into Probabilistic Safety Assessments. In this study, the state-of-the-art for the organizational evaluation methodologies has been surveyed. This study includes the research for organizational factors, maintenance process, maintenance process analysis models, a quantitative methodology using Analytic Hierarchy Process, Success Likelihood Index Methodology. The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology to incorporate the safety culture into PSA for obtaining more objective risk than before. The organizational factor considered in nuclear safety culture might affect the potential risk of human error and hardware-failure. The safety culture impact index to monitor the plant safety culture can be assessed by applying the developed methodology into a nuclear power plant

Nuclear safety guide. TID-7016, Revision 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, J.T.

1978-01-01

The Nuclear Safety Guide was first issued in 1956 as classified AEC report LA-2063 and was reprinted the next year, unclassified, as TID-7016. Revision 1, published in 1961, extended the scope and refined the guiding information. The present revision of the Guide differs significantly from its predecessor in that the latter was intentionally conservative in its recommendations. Firmly based on experimental evidence of criticality, the original Guide and the first revision were considered to be of most value to organizations whose activities with fissionable materials were not extensive and, secondarily, that it would serve as a point of departure for members of established nuclear safety teams, experienced in the field. The reader will find a significant change in the character of information presented in this version. Nuclear Criticality Safety has matured in the past twelve years. The advance of calculational capability has permitted validated calculations to extend and substitute for experimental data. The broadened data base has enabled better interpolation, extension, and understanding of available information, especially in areas previously addressed by undefined but adequate factors of safety. The content has been thereby enriched in qualitative guidance. The information inherently contains, and the user can recapture, the quantitative guidance characteristic of the formerGuides by employing appropriate safety factors. In fact, it becomes incumbent on the Criticality Safety Specialist to necessarily impose safety factors consistent with the possible normal and abnormal credible contingencies of an operation as revealed by his evaluation. In its present form the Guide easily becomes a suitable module in any compendium or handbook tailored for internal use by organizations. It is hoped the Guide will continue to serve immediate needs and will encourage continuing and more comprehensive efforts toward organizing nuclear criticality safety information

Nuclear safety guide. TID-7016, Revision 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thomas, J T [ed.

1978-05-01

The Nuclear Safety Guide was first issued in 1956 as classified AEC report LA-2063 and was reprinted the next year, unclassified, as TID-7016. Revision 1, published in 1961, extended the scope and refined the guiding information. The present revision of the Guide differs significantly from its predecessor in that the latter was intentionally conservative in its recommendations. Firmly based on experimental evidence of criticality, the original Guide and the first revision were considered to be of most value to organizations whose activities with fissionable materials were not extensive and, secondarily, that it would serve as a point of departure for members of established nuclear safety teams, experienced in the field. The reader will find a significant change in the character of information presented in this version. Nuclear Criticality Safety has matured in the past twelve years. The advance of calculational capability has permitted validated calculations to extend and substitute for experimental data. The broadened data base has enabled better interpolation, extension, and understanding of available information, especially in areas previously addressed by undefined but adequate factors of safety. The content has been thereby enriched in qualitative guidance. The information inherently contains, and the user can recapture, the quantitative guidance characteristic of the formerGuides by employing appropriate safety factors. In fact, it becomes incumbent on the Criticality Safety Specialist to necessarily impose safety factors consistent with the possible normal and abnormal credible contingencies of an operation as revealed by his evaluation. In its present form the Guide easily becomes a suitable module in any compendium or handbook tailored for internal use by organizations. It is hoped the Guide will continue to serve immediate needs and will encourage continuing and more comprehensive efforts toward organizing nuclear criticality safety information.

Safety through organizational learning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fahlbruch, B.; Miller, R.; Wilpert, B.

1998-01-01

Systems safety is a characteristic of a system enabling it to function under the required operating conditions with a minimum of losses and unforeseen damage to the system and its environment and without any systems breakdowns. The system is influenced by human factors as those factors which, in a general way, influence people in working with a technical system, i.e., people, technology, and organization. Different approaches to learning from events, and processes of event analysis in nuclear technology are presented. The theoretical basis of the 'Safety through Organizational Learning' event analysis technique is the sociotechnical event creation model, which postulates that events can be described as a chain of individual events arising from the joint action of factors contributing directly and indirectly. (orig.) [de

Factors influencing the microbial safety of fresh produce: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Olaimat, Amin N; Holley, Richard A

2012-10-01

Increased consumption, larger scale production and more efficient distribution of fresh produce over the past two decades have contributed to an increase in the number of illness outbreaks caused by this commodity. Pathogen contamination of fresh produce may originate before or after harvest, but once contaminated produce is difficult to sanitize. The prospect that some pathogens invade the vascular system of plants and establish "sub-clinical" infection needs to be better understood to enable estimation of its influence upon risk of human illness. Conventional surface sanitation methods can reduce the microbial load, but cannot eliminate pathogens if present. Chlorine dioxide, electrolyzed water, UV light, cold atmospheric plasma, hydrogen peroxide, organic acids and acidified sodium chlorite show promise, but irradiation at 1 kGy in high oxygen atmospheres may prove to be the most effective means to assure elimination of both surface and internal contamination of produce by pathogens. Pathogens of greatest current concern are Salmonella (tomatoes, seed sprouts and spices) and Escherichia coli O157:H7 on leafy greens (spinach and lettuce). This review considers new information on illness outbreaks caused by produce, identifies factors which influence their frequency and size and examines intervention effectiveness. Research needed to increase our understanding of the factors influencing microbial safety of fresh produce is addressed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient safety: Safety culture and patient safety ethics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Marlene Dyrløv

2006-01-01

,demonstrating significant, consistent and sometimes large differences in terms of safety culture factors across the units participating in the survey. Paper 5 is the results of a study of the relation between safety culture, occupational health andpatient safety using a safety culture questionnaire survey......Patient safety - the prevention of medical error and adverse events - and the initiative of developing safety cultures to assure patients from harm have become one of the central concerns in quality improvement in healthcare both nationally andinternationally. This subject raises numerous...... challenging issues of systemic, organisational, cultural and ethical relevance, which this dissertation seeks to address through the application of different disciplinary approaches. The main focus of researchis safety culture; through empirical and theoretical studies to comprehend the phenomenon, address...

Defining the patient safety attitudes and influencing factors of health professionals working at maternity hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Tunçer Ünver, Gamze; Harmanci Seren, Arzu Kader

2018-02-27

To determine patient safety attitudes of midwives, nurses and physicians and to examine the difference or correlation in patient safety attitudes of midwives, nurses and physicians working in maternity hospitals. It has been suggested that it is necessary to define the factors affecting patient safety attitudes of health professionals working in maternity hospitals. A descriptive and correlational design was employed.The sample comprised 58 midwives, 134 nurses and 63 physicians (255) in two maternity hospitals in Istanbul, Turkey. The data were collected using an 'information form' and a 'Patient Safety Attitude Questionnaire'. The safety attitudes of participants were generally found to be negative. However, midwives had more positive patient safety attitudes and the age, unit, adequacy of patient safety training and the importance of patient safety were the most effective variables. As health professionals working in maternity hospitals generally have negative patient safety attitudes and because patient safety training provided better attitudes among the participants, these training programmes should be developed and implemented considering the differences among age groups and units. Health professionals have different views on the patient safety culture; therefore, training needs to involve everyone to create a shared vision for patient safety. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Safety-Culture Exploration in Taiwan’s Metal Industries: Identifying the Workers’ Background Influence on Safety Climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shu-Chiang Lin

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The present study aims to assess the safety-climate level in Taiwan’s metal industries, as well as to identify the influence of workers’ backgrounds on the safety climate. An earlier report showed that a poor safety culture was related to the cause of accidents in Taiwan’s traditional manufacturing industries. This study surveyed a total of 839 workers who voluntarily participated and completed the safety-culture questionnaires. These workers were from a Taiwanese metal company and its five satellite companies. Three safety-climate factors, namely safety perception, safety communication and safety-management systems, were assessed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA was conducted by developing structural equation modeling to ensure the questionnaire’s validity. The influence of workers’ backgrounds on the safety climate was identified by using one-way ANOVA. The reliability result of the questionnaire was above the acceptable level. The overall safety-climate score was 4.22 out of a five-point scale for safety perception, 4.23 for safety-management systems and 3.97 for safety communication. The scores indicate a good level of safety climate, with room for improvement in safety communication. Additionally, the influence of workers’ backgrounds on the safety climate was confirmed. Based on the validity test, it was also found that the questionnaire could be improved by reconstructing its questions in its development process in order to increase the safety-climate model’s reliability and validity, as well as its model fit.

Application of classification algorithms for analysis of road safety risk factor dependencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Oh Hoon; Rhee, Wonjong; Yoon, Yoonjin

2015-02-01

Transportation continues to be an integral part of modern life, and the importance of road traffic safety cannot be overstated. Consequently, recent road traffic safety studies have focused on analysis of risk factors that impact fatality and injury level (severity) of traffic accidents. While some of the risk factors, such as drug use and drinking, are widely known to affect severity, an accurate modeling of their influences is still an open research topic. Furthermore, there are innumerable risk factors that are waiting to be discovered or analyzed. A promising approach is to investigate historical traffic accident data that have been collected in the past decades. This study inspects traffic accident reports that have been accumulated by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) since 1973 for which each accident report contains around 100 data fields. Among them, we investigate 25 fields between 2004 and 2010 that are most relevant to car accidents. Using two classification methods, the Naive Bayes classifier and the decision tree classifier, the relative importance of the data fields, i.e., risk factors, is revealed with respect to the resulting severity level. Performances of the classifiers are compared to each other and a binary logistic regression model is used as the basis for the comparisons. Some of the high-ranking risk factors are found to be strongly dependent on each other, and their incremental gains on estimating or modeling severity level are evaluated quantitatively. The analysis shows that only a handful of the risk factors in the data dominate the severity level and that dependency among the top risk factors is an imperative trait to consider for an accurate analysis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brief Talk about Lithium-ion Batteries’ Safety and Influencing Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Cheng

2017-12-01

A brief introduction of the development background, the concept, characteristic and advantages of lithium-ion battery was given. The typical fire accidents about lithium-ion battery in production process, the vehicle with new energy, portable electronic products were summarized. Some important factors for lithium-ion batteries’ safety were emphatically analyzed. Several constructive suggestions on improvement direction were given, meanwhile, we have a nice exception on the future of lithium-ion battery industry.

Statistics of past errors as a source of safety factors for current models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shlyakhter, A.I.

1994-01-01

Results of a comparative analysis of actual vs. estimated uncertainty in several data sets derived from natural and social sciences are presented. Data sets include: (i) time trends in the sequential measurements of the same physical quantity; (ii) environmental measurements of uranium in soil, (iii) national population projections; (iv) projections for the United States' energy sector. Probabilities of large deviations from the true values are parametrized by an exponential distribution with the slope determined by the data. One can hedge against unsuspected uncertainties by inflating reported uncertainty range by a default safety factor determined from the relevant historical data sets. This emperical approach can be used in the uncertainty analysis of the low probability/high consequence events, such as risk of global warming

Partial safety factor calibration from stochastic finite element computation of welded joint with random geometries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schoefs, Franck; Chevreuil, Mathilde; Pasqualini, Olivier; Cazuguel, Mikaël

2016-01-01

Welded joints are used in various structures and infrastructures like bridges, ships and offshore structures, and are submitted to cyclic stresses. Their fatigue behaviour is an industrial key issue to deal with and still offers original research subjects. One of the available methods relies on the computing of the stress concentration factor. Even if some studies were previously driven to evaluate this factor onto some cases of welded structures, the shape of the weld joint is generally idealized through a deterministic parametric geometry. Previous experimental works however have shown that this shape plays a key role in the lifetime assessment. We propose in this paper a methodology for computing the stress concentration factor in presence of random geometries of welded joints. In view to make the results available by engineers, this method merges stochastic computation and semi-probabilistic analysis by computing partial safety factors with a dedicated method. - Highlights: • Numerical computation of stress concentration factor with random geometry of weld. • Real data are used for probabilistic modelling. • Identification of partial safety factor from SFEM computation in case of random geometries.

Safety Culture in Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamchik, S. A.

2016-01-01

The paper presents Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation (hereinafter “Rosatom”) current activity in safety culture enhancement. After the Chernobyl accident individual commitment to safety, organizational factors influencing on safety were put under more significant attention. Safety culture (hereinafter “SC”) should be considered like a resource to provide safety in nuclear facilities. The resource potential is in minimisation of breaches by development and existing that patterns of human performance and organizational behavior which form attitude to safety as an overriding.

Safety climate and attitude as evaluation measures of organizational safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Isla Díaz, R; Díaz Cabrera, D

1997-09-01

The main aim of this research is to develop a set of evaluation measures for safety attitudes and safety climate. Specifically it is intended: (a) to test the instruments; (b) to identify the essential dimensions of the safety climate in the airport ground handling companies; (c) to assess the quality of the differences in the safety climate for each company and its relation to the accident rate; (d) to analyse the relationship between attitudes and safety climate; and (e) to evaluate the influences of situational and personal factors on both safety climate and attitude. The study sample consisted of 166 subjects from three airport companies. Specifically, this research was centered on ground handling departments. The factor analysis of the safety climate instrument resulted in six factors which explained 69.8% of the total variance. We found significant differences in safety attitudes and climate in relation to type of enterprise.

Predicting safety culture: the roles of employer, operations manager and safety professional.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Tsung-Chih; Lin, Chia-Hung; Shiau, Sen-Yu

2010-10-01

This study explores predictive factors in safety culture. In 2008, a sample 939 employees was drawn from 22 departments of a telecoms firm in five regions in central Taiwan. The sample completed a questionnaire containing four scales: the employer safety leadership scale, the operations manager safety leadership scale, the safety professional safety leadership scale, and the safety culture scale. The sample was then randomly split into two subsamples. One subsample was used for measures development, one for the empirical study. A stepwise regression analysis found four factors with a significant impact on safety culture (R²=0.337): safety informing by operations managers; safety caring by employers; and safety coordination and safety regulation by safety professionals. Safety informing by operations managers (ß=0.213) was by far the most significant predictive factor. The findings of this study provide a framework for promoting a positive safety culture at the group level. Crown Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of contributing factors associated to related patients safety incidents in Intensive Care Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Martín Delgado, M C; Merino de Cos, P; Sirgo Rodríguez, G; Álvarez Rodríguez, J; Gutiérrez Cía, I; Obón Azuara, B; Alonso Ovies, Á

2015-01-01

To explore contributing factors (CF) associated to related critical patients safety incidents. SYREC study pos hoc analysis. A total of 79 Intensive Care Departments were involved. The study sample consisted of 1.017 patients; 591 were affected by one or more incidents. The CF were categorized according to a proposed model by the National Patient Safety Agency from United Kingdom that was modified. Type, class and severity of the incidents was analyzed. A total 2,965 CF were reported (1,729 were associated to near miss and 1,236 to adverse events). The CF group more frequently reported were related patients factors. Individual factors were reported more frequently in near miss and task related CF in adverse events. CF were reported in all classes of incidents. The majority of CF were reported in the incidents classified such as less serious, even thought CF patients factors were associated to serious incidents. Individual factors were considered like avoidable and patients factors as unavoidable. The CF group more frequently reported were patient factors and was associated to more severe and unavoidable incidents. By contrast, individual factors were associated to less severe and avoidable incidents. In general, CF most frequently reported were associated to near miss. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

Nuclear Safety. 1997

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

A quick review of the nuclear safety at EDF may be summarized as follows: - the nuclear safety at EDF maintains at a rather good standard; - none of the incidents that took place has had any direct impact upon safety; - the availability remained good; - initiation of the floor 4 reactor generation (N4 unit - 1450 MW) ensued without major difficulties (the Civaux 1 NPP has been coupled to the power network at 24 december 1997); - the analysis of the incidents interesting from the safety point of view presents many similarities with earlier ones. Significant progress has been recorded in promoting actively and directly a safe operation by making visible, evident and concrete the exertion of the nuclear operation responsibility and its control by the hierarchy. The report develops the following chapters and subjects: 1. An overview on 1997; 1.1. The technical issues of the nuclear sector; 1.2. General performances in safety; 1.3. The main incidents; 1.4. Wastes and radiation protection; 2. Nuclear safety management; 2.1. Dynamics and results; 2.2. Ameliorations to be consolidated; 3. Other important issues in safety; 3.1. Probabilistic safety studies; 3.2. Approach for safety re-evaluation; 3.3. The network safety; 3.4. Crisis management; 3.5. The Lifetime program; 3.6. PWR; 3.7. Documentation; 3.8. Competence; 4. Safety management in the future; 4.1. An open future; 4.2. The fast neutron NPP at Creys-Malville; 4.3. Stabilization of the PWR reference frame; 4.4. Implementing the EURATOM directive regarding the radiation protection standards; 4.5. Development of biomedical research and epidemiological studies; 4.6. New regulations concerning the liquid and gaseous effluents; 5. Visions of an open future; 5.1. Alternative views upon safety ay EDF; 5.2. Safety authority; 5.3. International considerations; 5.4. What happens abroad; 5.5. References from non-nuclear domain. Four appendices are added referring to policy of safety management, policy of human factors in NPPs

Construction Safety And Health Factors At The Industry Level: The Case Of Singapore

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Y.J. Cheah

2007-12-01

Full Text Available The construction industry is one of the most hazardous industries due to the unique nature of its products and the processes involved. Recent occurrences of highly publicized construction site accidents in Singapore have highlighted the immediate needs for the local industry to address safety and attention at the industry level. The objective of this paper is to examine issues and critical factors affecting S&H standards in Singapore. Clearly, collective efforts should be pursued at the industry level as the country moves towards the ultimate safety management strategy of self-regulation. The findings also indicate that the challenge of making worksites safe should not be placed solely on the contractors but should be shared by all parties affecting the value chain of construction, including the developers, the consultants and the government. The factors identified through factor analysis may inform legislators and industry practitioners in terms of the sources of problems and help develop effective strategies for improvement. Some of the experiences mentioned in the paper could also be relevant to other countries facing similar circumstances.

Structural safety - Is the safety margin measurable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rintamaa, R.

1992-01-01

In ensuring the structural safety of the nuclear components one must be aware of the uncertainties related to the material deorientation, loadings and other operational conditions, geometrical dimensions as well as the service environment. Furthermore, the validation of the analysis tools and procedures is of great importance in overall safety assessment of a pressure retaining component. In order to identify and quantify the concerns and risks arising from the uncertainties in the safety related issue intensive research is being carried out all over the world, in particular, on the ageing, plant life extension and management of old nuclear power plants. The presentation includes a general survey of the factors relevant to the assessment of safe and reliable operation of a nuclear component throughout its planned service life. Certain aspects are outlined based on the research work being carried out at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT)(orig.)

Insight and Lessons Learned on Organizational Factors and Safety Culture from the Review of Human Error-related Events of NPPs in Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ji Tae; Lee, Dhong Hoon; Choi, Young Sung

2014-01-01

Event investigation is one of the key means of enhancing nuclear safety deriving effective measures and preventing recurrences. However, it is difficult to analyze organizational factors and safety culture. This paper tries to review human error-related events from perspectives of organizational factors and safety culture, and to derive insights and lessons learned in developing the regulatory infrastructure of plant oversight on safety culture

Insight and Lessons Learned on Organizational Factors and Safety Culture from the Review of Human Error-related Events of NPPs in Korea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Ji Tae; Lee, Dhong Hoon; Choi, Young Sung [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-08-15

Event investigation is one of the key means of enhancing nuclear safety deriving effective measures and preventing recurrences. However, it is difficult to analyze organizational factors and safety culture. This paper tries to review human error-related events from perspectives of organizational factors and safety culture, and to derive insights and lessons learned in developing the regulatory infrastructure of plant oversight on safety culture.

Leadership and Management for Safety. General Safety Requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

This Safety Requirements publication establishes requirements that support Principle 3 of the Fundamental Safety Principles in relation to establishing, sustaining and continuously improving leadership and management for safety and an integrated management system. It emphasizes that leadership for safety, management for safety, an effective management system and a systemic approach (i.e. an approach in which interactions between technical, human and organizational factors are duly considered) are all essential to the specification and application of adequate safety measures and to the fostering of a strong safety culture. Leadership and an effective management system will integrate safety, health, environmental, security, quality, human-and-organizational factor, societal and economic elements. The management system will ensure the fostering of a strong safety culture, regular assessment of performance and the application of lessons from experience. The publication is intended for use by regulatory bodies, operating organizations (registrants and licensees) and other organizations concerned with facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks

Analysis on Pollution Factors in Asparagus Production and Research on Safety Production Technology

OpenAIRE

Ma, Liping; Hao, Bianqing; Qiao, Xiongwu

2013-01-01

Based on the analysis on the infection degree, infection law and influencing factors of the main diseases on asparagus and the analysis on the pollution factors in asparagus production such as blind pesticide use, atmospheric pollution and acid rain, the pollution of soil and fertilizer, this article proposes asparagus safety production technologies which include the selection of disease-resistant variety and suitable planting field, scientific and reasonable disease control, balanced fertili...

Human Factors engineering criteria and design for the Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant preliminary safety analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wise, J.A.; Schur, A.; Stitzel, J.C.L.

1993-09-01

This report provides a rationale and systematic methodology for bringing Human Factors into the safety design and operations of the Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant (HWVP). Human Factors focuses on how people perform work with tools and machine systems in designed settings. When the design of machine systems and settings take into account the capabilities and limitations of the individuals who use them, human performance can be enhanced while protecting against susceptibility to human error. The inclusion of Human Factors in the safety design of the HWVP is an essential ingredient to safe operation of the facility. The HWVP is a new construction, nonreactor nuclear facility designed to process radioactive wastes held in underground storage tanks into glass logs for permanent disposal. Its design and mission offer new opposites for implementing Human Factors while requiring some means for ensuring that the Human Factors assessments are sound, comprehensive, and appropriately directed

Nuclear safety. Summary of the intermediate report of the special joint parliamentary committee on nuclear safety, present and future outlook of the nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birraux, Claude; Bataille, Christian; Sido, Bruno

2011-09-01

Following the Fukushima events, the Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment (OPECST) was officially asked at the end of March 2011 - jointly by the National Assembly Bureau and by the Senate Committee on the economy, sustainable development, territorial and regional planning - to carry out a study on nuclear safety, and the present and future outlook of the nuclear industry. To carry out this study, seven members of the National Assembly economic affairs and sustainable development committees were also involved, as well as eight members of the Senate Committee on the economy, sustainable development, territorial and regional planning. The first part of this study, devoted to nuclear safety, was completed on 30 June 2011 by the publication of an intermediate report. This report assembles and summarises the information collected during six public hearings and seven trips to nuclear sites. France is one of the nuclear countries where the management of safety is both the most demanding and the most transparent. In this respect, the independence of the Safety Authority is the best guarantee of strictness in the safety field and the existence of pluralistic bodies, such as the Local Information Committees, is the best guarantee of the transparency of safety. But no country can pride itself on being totally safe from a natural disaster of an unexpected scale. The French nuclear industry must therefore ratchet up one more notch its investment in safety and strengthen the means of university research. It must imagine events of even greater intensity, cascading accidents, with interactions between neighbouring industrial sites. Investment must be made by placing safety requirements above any economic consideration and in strict compliance with the specifications of public authorities supervising safety. (authors)

Characteristics of self-rating and rating by others of safety behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukui, Hirokazu; Yoshida, Michio; Sugiman, Toshio; Watanabe, Toshie

2002-01-01

It is known that in questionnaire surveys in general, behavior that are recognized as socially desirable are more highly rated by the actors themselves than by others. Safety behavior can be viewed as behavior closely related to social desirability. Therefore, in the present study, multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine how the self-rating and rating by others of 'safety confirmation/report', which serves as one of the rating scales of safety climate and criterion for safety behavior rating, are related to other factors of safety climate. The analysis results reveal that the self-rating of 'safety confirmation/report' tends to give better scores than rating by others and is more strongly related to individual factors than organizational environmental factors. Meanwhile, the rating by others of safety confirmation/report' is strongly related to organizational environmental factors and demonstrates little or no link with individual factors. It can be said, therefore, that the rating by others of 'safety confirmation/report' reflects more accurately the influence of the organizational environment concerned than self-rating, and hence is more appropriate as a rating scale for safety climate. (author)

Characteristics of self-rating and rating by others of safety behavior

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukui, Hirokazu [Institute of Nuclear Safety System, Inc., Mihama, Fukui (Japan); Yoshida, Michio; Sugiman, Toshio; Watanabe, Toshie [Japan Institute for Group Dynamics, Fukuoka (Japan)

2002-09-01

It is known that in questionnaire surveys in general, behavior that are recognized as socially desirable are more highly rated by the actors themselves than by others. Safety behavior can be viewed as behavior closely related to social desirability. Therefore, in the present study, multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine how the self-rating and rating by others of 'safety confirmation/report', which serves as one of the rating scales of safety climate and criterion for safety behavior rating, are related to other factors of safety climate. The analysis results reveal that the self-rating of 'safety confirmation/report' tends to give better scores than rating by others and is more strongly related to individual factors than organizational environmental factors. Meanwhile, the rating by others of safety confirmation/report' is strongly related to organizational environmental factors and demonstrates little or no link with individual factors. It can be said, therefore, that the rating by others of 'safety confirmation/report' reflects more accurately the influence of the organizational environment concerned than self-rating, and hence is more appropriate as a rating scale for safety climate. (author)

Studies of safety and critical work situations in nuclear power plants: A human factors perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobsson Kecklund, L.

1998-05-01

The purpose of this thesis was to develop and apply different approaches for analyzing safety in critical work situations in real work settings in nuclear power plants, and also to identify safety enhancing measures by using the framework of interaction between human, organizational and technical subsystems. A Cognitive Psychology as well as a Stress Psychology framework was used. All studies were related to the annual outage operational state where the need for coping with many infrequent tasks, often carried out under high time pressure, puts great strain on the staff and organisation of the plant. In three studies the natural variations in the plant state, normal operation and annual outage operation, were used to explore human performance, work-related factors as well as coping and the operators' own resources and the relationship between them. In the annual outage condition high work demands, decreased sleepiness at night shift, more errors and less satisfaction with work performance quality was reported by maintenance as well as by control room operators. A relationship between high work demands and more organizational problems and reports of more frequent human errors and lower satisfactions with work performance quality was also identified in the annual outage condition. Moreover, a relationship between increased sleepiness during night shift, more frequent use of coping strategies and a higher frequency of human errors was reported. In two studies the Event and Barrier Function Model was applied to analyze the safety of barrier function systems inserted into work process sequences to protect the systems from the negative consequences of failures and errors. The model was also used to assess safety in relation to a technical and organizational change. The last study addressed changes in work performance and work-related factors in relation to a technical and organizational change of a safety significant work process involving increased automation and new

Human Factors Evaluation of Procedures for Periodic Safety Review of Yonggwang Unit no. 1, 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Jung Woon; Park, Jae Chang (and others)

2006-01-15

This report describes the results of human factors assessment on the plant operating procedures as part of Periodic Safety Review(PSR) of Yonggwang Nuclear Power Plant Unit no. 1, 2. The suitability of item and appropriateness of format and structure in the key operating procedures of nuclear power plants were investigated by the review of plant operating experiences and procedure documents, field survey, and experimental assessment on some part of procedures. A checklist was used to perform this assessment and record the review results. The reviewed procedures include EOP(Emergency Operating Procedures), GOP(General Operating Procedures), AOP(Abnormal Operating Procedures), and management procedures of some technical departments. As results of the assessments, any significant problem challenging the safety was not found on the human factors in the operating procedures. However, several small items to be changed and improved were discovered. An action plan is recommended to accommodate the suggestions and review comments. It will enhance the plant safety on the operating procedure.

Migration Factors in West African Immigrant Parents' Perceptions of Their Children's Neighborhood Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Andrew; Cissé, Aïcha; Han, Ying; Roubeni, Sonia

2018-02-12

Immigrants make up large proportions of many low-income neighborhoods, but have been largely ignored in the neighborhood safety literature. We examined perceived safety's association with migration using a six-item, child-specific measure of parents' perceptions of school-aged (5-12 years of age) children's safety in a sample of 93 West African immigrant parents in New York City. Aims of the study were (a) to identify pre-migration correlates (e.g., trauma in home countries), (b) to identify migration-related correlates (e.g., immigration status, time spent separated from children during migration), and (c) to identify pre-migration and migration correlates that accounted for variance after controlling for non-migration-related correlates (e.g., neighborhood crime, parents' psychological distress). In a linear regression model, children's safety was associated with borough of residence, greater English ability, less emotional distress, less parenting difficulty, and a history of child separation. Parents' and children's gender, parents' immigration status, and the number of contacts in the U.S. pre-migration and pre-migration trauma were not associated with children's safety. That child separation was positively associated with safety perceptions suggests that the processes that facilitate parent-child separation might be reconceptualized as strengths for transnational families. Integrating migration-related factors into the discussion of neighborhood safety for immigrant populations allows for more nuanced views of immigrant families' well-being in host countries. © Society for Community Research and Action 2018.

Factors influencing safety in a sample of marked pedestrian crossings selected for safety inspections in the city of Oslo.

Science.gov (United States)

Elvik, Rune; Sørensen, Michael W J; Nævestad, Tor-Olav

2013-10-01

This paper reports an analysis of factors influencing safety in a sample of marked pedestrian crossings in the city of Oslo, Norway. The sample consists of 159 marked pedestrian crossings where a total of 316 accidents were recorded during a period of five years. The crossings were selected for inspection because of they were, for various reasons, regarded as sub-standard. The sample of crossings is therefore not representative of all pedestrian crossings in Oslo. Factors influencing the number of accidents were studied by means of negative binomial regression. Factors that were studied included the volume of pedestrians and vehicles, the number of traffic lanes at the crossing, the location of the crossing (midblock or junction), the type of traffic control, the share of pedestrians using the crossing and the speed of approaching vehicles. The analysis confirmed the presence of a "safety-in-numbers" effect, meaning that an increase in the number of pedestrians is associated with a lower risk of accident for each pedestrian. Crossings located in four-leg junctions or roundabouts had more accidents than crossings located in three-leg junctions or on sections between junctions. A high share of pedestrians crossing the road outside the marked crossing was associated with a high number of accidents. Increased speed was associated with an increased number of accidents. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Updating Human Factors Engineering Guidelines for Conducting Safety Reviews of Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Hara, J.M.; Higgins, J.; Fleger, Stephen

2011-01-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews the human factors engineering (HFE) programs of applicants for nuclear power plant construction permits, operating licenses, standard design certifications, and combined operating licenses. The purpose of these safety reviews is to help ensure that personnel performance and reliability are appropriately supported. Detailed design review procedures and guidance for the evaluations is provided in three key documents: the Standard Review Plan (NUREG-0800), the HFE Program Review Model (NUREG-0711), and the Human-System Interface Design Review Guidelines (NUREG-0700). These documents were last revised in 2007, 2004 and 2002, respectively. The NRC is committed to the periodic update and improvement of the guidance to ensure that it remains a state-of-the-art design evaluation tool. To this end, the NRC is updating its guidance to stay current with recent research on human performance, advances in HFE methods and tools, and new technology being employed in plant and control room design. This paper describes the role of HFE guidelines in the safety review process and the content of the key HFE guidelines used. Then we will present the methodology used to develop HFE guidance and update these documents, and describe the current status of the update program.

Laser safety at high profile laser facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barat, K.

2010-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. Laser safety has been an active concern of laser users since the invention of the laser. Formal standards were developed in the early 1970's and still continue to be developed and refined. The goal of these standards is to give users guidance on the use of laser and consistent safety guidance and requirements for laser manufacturers. Laser safety in the typical research setting (government laboratory or university) is the greatest challenge to the laser user and laser safety officer. This is due to two factors. First, the very nature of research can put the user at risk; consider active manipulation of laser optics and beam paths, and user work with energized systems. Second, a laser safety culture that seems to accept laser injuries as part of the graduate student educational process. The fact is, laser safety at research settings, laboratories and universities still has long way to go. Major laser facilities have taken a more rigid and serious view of laser safety, its controls and procedures. Part of the rationale for this is that these facilities draw users from all around the world presenting the facility with a work force of users coming from a wide mix of laser safety cultures. Another factor is funding sources do not like bad publicity which can come from laser accidents and a poor safety record. The fact is that injuries, equipment damage and lost staff time slow down progress. Hence high profile/large laser projects need to adapt a higher safety regimen both from an engineering and administrative point of view. This presentation will discuss all these points and present examples. Acknowledgement. This work has been supported by the University of California, Director, Office of Science.

Safety climate and self-reported injury: assessing the mediating role of employee safety control.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; Ho, Michael; Smith, Gordon S; Chen, Peter Y

2006-05-01

To further reduce injuries in the workplace, companies have begun focusing on organizational factors which may contribute to workplace safety. Safety climate is an organizational factor commonly cited as a predictor of injury occurrence. Characterized by the shared perceptions of employees, safety climate can be viewed as a snapshot of the prevailing state of safety in the organization at a discrete point in time. However, few studies have elaborated plausible mechanisms through which safety climate likely influences injury occurrence. A mediating model is proposed to link safety climate (i.e., management commitment to safety, return-to-work policies, post-injury administration, and safety training) with self-reported injury through employees' perceived control on safety. Factorial evidence substantiated that management commitment to safety, return-to-work policies, post-injury administration, and safety training are important dimensions of safety climate. In addition, the data support that safety climate is a critical factor predicting the history of a self-reported occupational injury, and that employee safety control mediates the relationship between safety climate and occupational injury. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating organizational factors and workers' characteristics in efforts to improve organizational safety performance.

Identification and comparative analysis of factors influencing road safety in US regions and in Polish voivodeships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanna WACHNICKA

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Analyses of road safety at national level have been run for many years and large number of publications concerning them appeared so far. How interdisciplinary the issue is, has been shown by literature studies done by the author of the paper. It appears that economists, mathematicians, doctors as well as engineers have studied the issue. It is not an easy one, as results of many analyses lead to conflicting conclusions and often fail to provide straightforward answers to questions asked. The administrative actions taken to improve road safety, uniform for the whole country, frequently fail to give expected results, including Poland’s case. Therefore there is a need to analyse what makes some provinces, and not the others, report improvement in road safety. This paper presents part of the work on author’s doctoral thesis, which analyses how regional characteristics may impact road safety in respective regions. However, during collection of data for the purpose of the doctoral thesis it turned out that many variables mentioned in literature as significant had not been collected on regional level in Europe, including Poland. There are, though, available data on respective American states, so the search for the best describing independent variables started from the analyses of US data. The analyses showed the impact of factors such as annual income per capita, transport activity, density of population, seatbelt rates, road and vehicle density, rate of doctors.

Measuring Safety Culture on Ships Using Safety Climate: A Study among Indian Officers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yogendra Bhattacharya

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Workplace safety continues to be an area of concern in the maritime industry due to the international nature of the operations. The effectiveness of extensive legislation to manage shipboard safety remains in doubt. The focus must therefore shift towards the human element - seafarers and their perceptions of safety. The study aims to understand the alignment that exists between safety culture and safety climate on board ships as perceived by seafarers. The underlying factors of safety climate were identified using factor analysis which isolated seven factors - Support on Safety, Organizational Support, Resource Availability, Work Environment, Job Demands, ‘Just’ Culture, and Safety Compliance. The perception of safety level of seafarers was found to be low indicating the existence of misalignments between safety culture values and the actual safety climate. The study also reveals that the safety perceptions of officers employed directly by ship owners and those by managers do not differ significantly, nor do they differ between senior and junior officers. A shift in perspective towards how seafarers themselves feel towards safety might provide more effective solutions – instead of relying on regulations - and indeed aid in reducing incidents on board. This paper details practical suggestions on how to identify the factors that contribute towards a better safety climate on board ships.

Main factors determining the KNP units 5 and 6 safety level according to the PSA level 1 result

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manchev, B.; Marinova, B.; Nenkova, B.

2004-01-01

The Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) is a powerful tool for ascertainment of the safety level reached at nuclear power plants operation. The results of PSA determine very clearly the functions, systems, equipment or operator actions that have to be improved in order to increase the plant safety level as a whole. The present report presents the main results of the last upgraded revision of PSA level 1 of units 5 and 6 of KNPP. The objective of the report is to lay emphasis on the factors determining the result obtained, i.e. to demonstrate the scopes whose improvement leads to an increase of the safety level reached at the units power operation. In the frame of the study presented the following categories of initiating events are included: Internal initiating events; Initiating events result of internal fires; Initiating events result of seismic action; Floods. Only the reactor core is considered as a source of radioactive contamination. Only initiating events related to the reactor work on power are analyzed. Unit 5 of KNPP is accepted as a basic unit for the study. All modifications and design changes implemented up to year 2000 are taken into account. The results of PSA level 1 for units 5 and 6 of KNPP covering the risk of internal initiators are presented. The assessment of the core damage due to internal initiators is based on the analysis of 18 groups of initiating events. 932 consequences and two groups of initial events are identified, leading to core damage. As a result of the quantitative calculation, over 15000 minimal cuts for the core damage are obtained. The first 80 cuts bear over 75% of the frequency obtained, and the first 700 cuts bear over 90%. Distribution of the core damage frequency by different groups of initiators is presented in tables and diagrams. A comparison of the result obtained for the reactor core damage of KNPP units 5 and 6 with assessment obtained for similar power plants is presented. The data for different NPPs are taken

The first symposium of Research Center for Radiation Safety, NIRS. Perspective of future studies of radiation safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimo, Michikuni

2002-03-01

This paper summarizes presentations given in the title symposium, held at the Conference Room of National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) on November 29 and 30, 2001. Contained are Introductory remarks: Basic presentations concerning exposure dose in man; Environmental levels of radiation and radioactivity, environmental radon level and exposure dose, and radiation levels in the specific environment (like in the aircraft): Special lecture (biological effects given by space environment) concerning various needs for studies of radiation safety; Requirement for open investigations, from the view of utilization, research and development of atomic energy, from the clinical aspect, and from the epidemiological aspect: Special lecture (safety in utilization of atomic energy and radiation-Activities of Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan) concerning present state and perspective of studies of radiation safety; Safety of radiation and studies of biological effects of radiation-perspective, and radiation protection and radiation safety studies: Studies in the Research Center for Radiation Safety; Summary of studies in the center, studies of the biological effects of neutron beam, carcinogenesis by radiation and living environmental factors-complicated effects, and studies of hereditary effects: Panel discussion (future direction of studies of radiation safety for the purpose of the center's direction): and concluding remarks. (N.I.)

A study of software safety analysis system for safety-critical software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, H. S.; Shin, H. K.; Chang, Y. W.; Jung, J. C.; Kim, J. H.; Han, H. H.; Son, H. S.

2004-01-01

The core factors and requirements for the safety-critical software traced and the methodology adopted in each stage of software life cycle are presented. In concept phase, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) for the system has been performed. The feasibility evaluation of selected safety parameter was performed and Preliminary Hazards Analysis list was prepared using HAZOP(Hazard and Operability) technique. And the check list for management control has been produced via walk-through technique. Based on the evaluation of the check list, activities to be performed in requirement phase have been determined. In the design phase, hazard analysis has been performed to check the safety capability of the system with regard to safety software algorithm using Fault Tree Analysis (FTA). In the test phase, the test items based on FMEA have been checked for fitness guided by an accident scenario. The pressurizer low pressure trip algorithm has been selected to apply FTA method to software safety analysis as a sample. By applying CASE tool, the requirements traceability of safety critical system has been enhanced during all of software life cycle phases

Safety analysis SFR 1. Long-term safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2008-12-15

authorities' previous review comments. Furthermore, definitions are given of terms and abbreviations used in SAR- 08, General Part 2, 'Long-term safety'. Chapter 2 Method. The chapter provides an overall description of the method used for the safety assessment and some aspects of the methodology are presented, such as time periods, safety principles, management of uncertainties, quality assurance and risk management. Chapter 3 Identification, ranking and handling of FEPs. The chapter systematically describes the factors to be taken into account in the assessment in the form of features, events and processes (FEPs). Interaction matrices are used to structure the information. Chapter 4 Initial state in the repository and its environs. The chapter describes the initial state, defined as the expected state of the repository and its environs, at closure in 2040. The description of the initial state is based on the technical design of the repository, present-day knowledge concerning conditions in the repository and its environs, and the expected evolution of the repository up until 2040. Chapter 5 Safety functions and safety performance indicators. Safety functions and safety performance indicators are identified and described in this chapter. A safety function is a role by means of which a repository component contributes to safety. Chapter 6 Reference evolution for the repository and its environs. This chapter describes the reference evolution of the repository and its environs and how the safety functions of the repository can be affected by this evolution up until 100,000 years after closure. Chapter 7 Selection of scenarios. This chapter describes how scenarios are selected based on safety performance indicators and interaction matrices. The selected scenarios illustrate the most important processes leading to the migration of radionuclides in the repository and to exposure of man and environment. The description of the processes is based on the evolution of the repository

Safety analysis SFR 1. Long-term safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-12-01

authorities' previous review comments. Furthermore, definitions are given of terms and abbreviations used in SAR- 08, General Part 2, 'Long-term safety'. Chapter 2 Method. The chapter provides an overall description of the method used for the safety assessment and some aspects of the methodology are presented, such as time periods, safety principles, management of uncertainties, quality assurance and risk management. Chapter 3 Identification, ranking and handling of FEPs. The chapter systematically describes the factors to be taken into account in the assessment in the form of features, events and processes (FEPs). Interaction matrices are used to structure the information. Chapter 4 Initial state in the repository and its environs. The chapter describes the initial state, defined as the expected state of the repository and its environs, at closure in 2040. The description of the initial state is based on the technical design of the repository, present-day knowledge concerning conditions in the repository and its environs, and the expected evolution of the repository up until 2040. Chapter 5 Safety functions and safety performance indicators. Safety functions and safety performance indicators are identified and described in this chapter. A safety function is a role by means of which a repository component contributes to safety. Chapter 6 Reference evolution for the repository and its environs. This chapter describes the reference evolution of the repository and its environs and how the safety functions of the repository can be affected by this evolution up until 100,000 years after closure. Chapter 7 Selection of scenarios. This chapter describes how scenarios are selected based on safety performance indicators and interaction matrices. The selected scenarios illustrate the most important processes leading to the migration of radionuclides in the repository and to exposure of man and environment. The description of the processes is based on the evolution of the repository

Safety analysis SFR 1. Long-term safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2008-12-15

regulatory authorities' previous review comments. Furthermore, definitions are given of terms and abbreviations used in SAR- 08, General Part 2, 'Long-term safety'. Chapter 2 Method. The chapter provides an overall description of the method used for the safety assessment and some aspects of the methodology are presented, such as time periods, safety principles, management of uncertainties, quality assurance and risk management. Chapter 3 Identification, ranking and handling of FEPs. The chapter systematically describes the factors to be taken into account in the assessment in the form of features, events and processes (FEPs). Interaction matrices are used to structure the information. Chapter 4 Initial state in the repository and its environs. The chapter describes the initial state, defined as the expected state of the repository and its environs, at closure in 2040. The description of the initial state is based on the technical design of the repository, present-day knowledge concerning conditions in the repository and its environs, and the expected evolution of the repository up until 2040. Chapter 5 Safety functions and safety performance indicators. Safety functions and safety performance indicators are identified and described in this chapter. A safety function is a role by means of which a repository component contributes to safety. Chapter 6 Reference evolution for the repository and its environs. This chapter describes the reference evolution of the repository and its environs and how the safety functions of the repository can be affected by this evolution up until 100,000 years after closure. Chapter 7 Selection of scenarios. This chapter describes how scenarios are selected based on safety performance indicators and interaction matrices. The selected scenarios illustrate the most important processes leading to the migration of radionuclides in the repository and to exposure of man and environment. The description of the processes is based on the

Safety Culture: Lessons Learned from the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigations Board

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffon, M.

2016-01-01

investigate the Macondo incident, it became clear that there were similarities with the BP Texas City situation. In 2014 the CSB released two other investigation reports, Tesoro, Anacortes,WA and Chevron, Richmond, CA, which noted deficient safety cultures as contributing to the incidents. The on-going trend of a great deal of focus on personal safety and a lack of adequate focus on process safety was recently discussed in a DNV-GL report. DNV-GL, an international oil and gas technical consulting group, concluded that personal injury rates in offshore oil and gas operations have shown a ten-fold magnitude of improvement. The report concluded that the available data for looking at process safety in the last five years shows no unified global trend toward improved performance. This presentation will examine the lessons learned from the CSBs investigations regarding safety management systems and safety culture as contributing factors to some major incidents in the oil and gas and chemical industrial sectors. (author)

An Analysis of Trainers' Perspectives within an Ecological Framework: Factors that Influence Mine Safety Training Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Haas, Emily J; Hoebbel, Cassandra L; Rost, Kristen A

2014-09-01

Satisfactory completion of mine safety training is a prerequisite for being hired and for continued employment in the coal industry. Although training includes content to develop skills in a variety of mineworker competencies, research and recommendations continue to specify that specific limitations in the self-escape portion of training still exist and that mineworkers need to be better prepared to respond to emergencies that could occur in their mine. Ecological models are often used to inform the development of health promotion programs but have not been widely applied to occupational health and safety training programs. Nine mine safety trainers participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews. A theoretical analysis of the interviews was completed via an ecological lens. Each level of the social ecological model was used to examine factors that could be addressed both during and after mine safety training. The analysis suggests that problems surrounding communication and collaboration, leadership development, and responsibility and accountability at different levels within the mining industry contribute to deficiencies in mineworkers' mastery and maintenance of skills. This study offers a new technique to identify limitations in safety training systems and processes. The analysis suggests that training should be developed and disseminated with consideration of various levels-individual, interpersonal, organizational, and community-to promote skills. If factors identified within and between levels are addressed, it may be easier to sustain mineworker competencies that are established during safety training.

Safety and Efficacy of BAY 94-9027, a Prolonged-Half-Life Factor VIII

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reding, M T; Ng, H J; Poulsen, Lone Hvitfeldt

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: BAY 94-9027 is a B-domain-deleted prolonged-half-life recombinant factor VIII (FVIII) conjugates in a site-specific manner with polyethylene glycol. OBJECTIVE: Assess efficacy and safety of BAY 94-9027 for prophylaxis and treatment of bleeds in patients with severe hemophilia A PATIEN...

Safety assessment of human and organizational factors in French fuel cycle facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menuet, Lise; Beauquier, Sophie

2013-01-01

According to the French law, each nuclear facility has to provide a safety demonstration every ten years. The assessment of this demonstration supports the decision of the French Safety Authority regarding the authorisation of operating for the ten years to come. In addition, transversal topics, which are linked with safety performance, such as safety management, management of competencies, maintenance's policy are periodically evaluated. One aspect of these assessments relates to Human and Organizational Factors (HOF) and their contribution to safety. Our communication will describe the assessment of the HOF-related part, performed by the Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute (IRSN) the Technical Support Organisation of the French Safety Authority). It will focus on the methodological framework, the tools which are developed and used for assessing the integration of HOF in safety demonstration, and the main difficulties of this kind of assessment. Each situation will be illustrated by concrete examples coming from safety assessments concerning fuel cycle's plants: Areva's plants dedicated to uranium conversion, uranium enrichment, fuel manufacturing, spent fuel reprocessing, treatment facilities and CEA's laboratories dedicated to research and development and to interim spent fuel storage. The methodological framework for assessing HOF currently implements three main steps which will be precisely described: - checking that the nuclear plant has made an exhaustive analysis of the risks linked with HOF. Regarding to HOF, the Licensee safety demonstration is based on the description of the main human activities which are considered as hazardous regarding safety. These activities are accomplished with a human contribution and they require a safe realisation. - assessing the human, organisational and technical barriers that the nuclear plant have planed in order to make the operations safe, to avoid, prevent or detect an

Calibration of partial safety factors for wind turbine rotor blades against fatigue failure; Kalibrering af partielle sikkerhedsfaktorer for udmattelse af vindmoellerotorer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christensen, C.J.; Ronold, K.O.; Thoegersen, M.L.

2000-08-01

The report describes a calibration of partial safety factors for wind turbine rotor blades subjected to fatigue loading in flapwise and edgewise bending. While earlier models - developed by the authors - dealt with such calibrations for site-specific individual turbines only, the calibration model applied herein covers an integrated analysis with different turbines on different sites and with different blade materials. The result is an optimized set of partial safety factors, i.e. a set of safety factors that lead to minimum deviation from the target reliability of the achieved reliabilities over the selected scope of turbines, sites and materials. The turbines included in the study cover rated powers of 450-600 kW. The result from the calibration are discussed in relation to the partial safety factors that are given in the Danish codes for design of glass fibre reinforced rotor blades (DS472 and DS456). (au)

Portal vein thrombosis; risk factors, clinical presentation and treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sogaard, Kirstine K; Astrup, Lone B; Vilstrup, Hendrik

2007-01-01

and treatment of portal vein thrombosis in a single-centre. METHODS: Sixty-seven patients were identified in the electronic records from 1992 to 2005. All data were obtained from the patient records. RESULTS: One or more risk factors (e.g. prothrombotic disorder or abdominal inflammation) were present in 87......BACKGROUND: Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is increasingly frequently being diagnosed, but systematic descriptions of the natural history and clinical handling of the condition are sparse. The aim of this retrospective study was to describe risk factors, clinical presentation, complications...

Nuclear safety: an international approach: the convention on nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosen, M.

1994-01-01

This paper is a general presentation of the IAEA Convention on Nuclear Safety which has already be signed by 50 countries and which is the first legal instrument that directly addresses the safety of nuclear power plants worldwide. The paper gives a review of its development and some key provisions for a better understanding of how this agreement will operate in practice. The Convention consists of an introductory preamble and four chapters consisting of 35 articles dealing with: the principal objectives, definitions and scope of application; the various obligations (general provisions, legislation, responsibility and regulation, general safety considerations taking into account: the financial and human resources, the human factors, the quality assurance, the assessment and verification of safety, the radiation protection and the emergency preparedness; the safety of installations: sitting, design and construction, operation); the periodic meetings of the contracting parties to review national reports on the measures taken to implement each of the obligations, and the final clauses and other judicial provisions common to international agreements. (J.S.). 1 append

An Analysis of Trainers' Perspectives within an Ecological Framework: Factors that Influence Mine Safety Training Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily J. Haas

2014-09-01

Conclusion: This study offers a new technique to identify limitations in safety training systems and processes. The analysis suggests that training should be developed and disseminated with consideration of various levels—individual, interpersonal, organizational, and community—to promote skills. If factors identified within and between levels are addressed, it may be easier to sustain mineworker competencies that are established during safety training.

Multilevel Safety Climate and Safety Performance in the Construction Industry: Development and Validation of a Top-Down Mechanism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ran Gao

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The character of construction projects exposes front-line workers to dangers and accidents. Safety climate has been confirmed to be a predictor of safety performance in the construction industry. This study aims to explore the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between multilevel safety climate and safety performance. An integrated model was developed to study how particular safety climate factors of one level affect those of other levels, and then affect safety performance from the top down. A questionnaire survey was administered on six construction sites in Vietnam. A total of 1030 valid questionnaires were collected from this survey. Approximately half of the data were used to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA and the remaining data were submitted to structural equation modeling (SEM. Top management commitment (TMC and supervisors’ expectation (SE were identified as factors to represent organizational safety climate (OSC and supervisor safety climate (SSC, respectively, and coworkers’ caring and communication (CCC and coworkers’ role models (CRM were identified as factors to denote coworker safety climate (CSC. SEM results show that OSC factor is positively related to SSC factor and CSC factors significantly. SSC factor could partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and CSC factors, as well as the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance. CSC factors partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance, and the relationship between SSC factor and safety performance. The findings imply that a positive safety culture should be established both at the organizational level and the group level. Efforts from all top management, supervisors, and coworkers should be provided to improve safety performance in the construction industry.

Multilevel Safety Climate and Safety Performance in the Construction Industry: Development and Validation of a Top-Down Mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Ran; Chan, Albert P C; Utama, Wahyudi P; Zahoor, Hafiz

2016-11-08

The character of construction projects exposes front-line workers to dangers and accidents. Safety climate has been confirmed to be a predictor of safety performance in the construction industry. This study aims to explore the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between multilevel safety climate and safety performance. An integrated model was developed to study how particular safety climate factors of one level affect those of other levels, and then affect safety performance from the top down. A questionnaire survey was administered on six construction sites in Vietnam. A total of 1030 valid questionnaires were collected from this survey. Approximately half of the data were used to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the remaining data were submitted to structural equation modeling (SEM). Top management commitment (TMC) and supervisors' expectation (SE) were identified as factors to represent organizational safety climate (OSC) and supervisor safety climate (SSC), respectively, and coworkers' caring and communication (CCC) and coworkers' role models (CRM) were identified as factors to denote coworker safety climate (CSC). SEM results show that OSC factor is positively related to SSC factor and CSC factors significantly. SSC factor could partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and CSC factors, as well as the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance. CSC factors partially mediate the relationship between OSC factor and safety performance, and the relationship between SSC factor and safety performance. The findings imply that a positive safety culture should be established both at the organizational level and the group level. Efforts from all top management, supervisors, and coworkers should be provided to improve safety performance in the construction industry.

State-of-the-art report on systematic approaches to safety management - Special Expert Group on Human and Organisational Factors (SEGHOF)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van den Berghe, Yves; Frischknecht, Albert; Gil, Benito; Martin, Anibal; McRobbie, Helen; Reiersen, Craig; Tasset, Daniel; Aastrand, Kaisa; Dahlgren-Persson, Kerstin; Pyy, Pekka; Mauny, Elisabeth

2006-02-01

There is a growing awareness of the significant contribution which human and organisational factors (HOF) make to nuclear safety. Within the HOF area, attention is increasingly focused on addressing management and organisational issues. This reflects an evolving recognition that the members of a nuclear licensee form part of a socio-technological system, and that their performance is influenced by the organisation and the culture within that organisation. A series of events across the nuclear industry and other sectors has reinforced the appreciation of the importance of robust safety management. Also, the management and organisation of nuclear installations is impacted by a number of current challenges such as deregulation, change in institutional ownership of the industry, contractorization and an ageing plant and workforce. It is in this context that the CSNI (Committee on Safety of Nuclear Installations) Special Experts' Group on Human and Organisational Factors (SEGHOF) was requested by the CNRA (Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Actions) to examine the role and influence of safety management in nuclear plant operations in 2000. A workshop on 'systematic approaches to safety management' was held in spring 2002 and this was followed by a survey in 2003-4 of relevant practices and developments across licensees and regulators. This report provides a brief explanation of the relationship between safety management and safety culture. It reinforces the need for nuclear licensees and regulators to take positive steps to ensure that licensees develop and sustain a robust safety management system as a part of their management systems as a whole. The report draws out the main findings of the workshop and presents the results of the survey in more detail. It seeks to identify current issues and areas warranting further consideration. The workshop explored the development of current organisational theories and their application to nuclear plant safety management. It

Safety climate and safety behaviors in the construction industry: The importance of co-workers commitment to safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwatka, Natalie V; Rosecrance, John C

2016-06-16

There is growing empirical evidence that as safety climate improves work site safety practice improve. Safety climate is often measured by asking workers about their perceptions of management commitment to safety. However, it is less common to include perceptions of their co-workers commitment to safety. While the involvement of management in safety is essential, working with co-workers who value and prioritize safety may be just as important. To evaluate a concept of safety climate that focuses on top management, supervisors and co-workers commitment to safety, which is relatively new and untested in the United States construction industry. Survey data was collected from a cohort of 300 unionized construction workers in the United States. The significance of direct and indirect (mediation) effects among safety climate and safety behavior factors were evaluated via structural equation modeling. Results indicated that safety climate was associated with safety behaviors on the job. More specifically, perceptions of co-workers commitment to safety was a mediator between both management commitment to safety climate factors and safety behaviors. These results support workplace health and safety interventions that build and sustain safety climate and a commitment to safety amongst work teams.

BP's driving safety strategy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herman, B. [BP Canada Energy Company, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2006-07-01

This presentation focused on why it is important to drive safely. It addressed driver fatigue as well as BP's global driving standard. The Standard applies to all BP employees and contractors that drive any vehicle on BP business and consists of 10 mandatory elements focusing on safety of the driver, the safety of the journey, and the safety of the vehicle. The driving standards focus on several themes, including skill and competency of the driver, safety of the journey, and safety of the vehicle. Fatigue causes more than 20 per cent of motorway accidents and is the most frequent cause of accidental death of truck drivers. The presentation also discussed vehicle data recorders, driving immersion, and Driving Safety Program results. Journey management, driver training, vehicle inspections and policies, and statistics on vehicle incidents were also provided. The presentation revealed that a lack of pre-trip journey management, inadequate training or recall of training, and not following safe driving practices were major contributors to incident occurrences. It also revealed that traveling on gravel or ice and avoiding wildlife were factors in many vehicle incidents. 1 tab., 1 fig.

Assessment of safety culture at INPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesin, S.

2002-01-01

Safety Culture covers all main directions of plant activities and the plant departments involved through integration into the INPP Quality Assurance System. Safety Culture is represented by three components. The first is the clear INPP Safety and Quality Assurance Policy. Based on the Policy INPP is safely operated and managers' actions firstly aim at safety assurance. The second component is based on personal responsibility for safety and attitude of each employee of the plant. The third component is based on commitment to safety and competence of managers and employees of the plant. This component links the first two to ensure efficient management of safety at the plant. The above mentioned components including the elements which may significantly affect Safety Culture are also presented in the attachment. The concept of such model implies understanding of effect of different factors on the level of Safety Culture in the organization. In order to continuously correct safety problems, self-assessment of the Safety Culture level is performed at regular intervals. (author)

Analysis of human factors effects on the safety of transporting radioactive waste materials: Technical report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abkowitz, M.D.; Abkowitz, S.B.; Lepofsky, M.

1989-04-01

This report examines the extent of human factors effects on the safety of transporting radioactive waste materials. It is seen principally as a scoping effort, to establish whether there is a need for DOE to undertake a more formal approach to studying human factors in radioactive waste transport, and if so, logical directions for that program to follow. Human factors effects are evaluated on driving and loading/transfer operations only. Particular emphasis is placed on the driving function, examining the relationship between human error and safety as it relates to the impairment of driver performance. Although multi-modal in focus, the widespread availability of data and previous literature on truck operations resulted in a primary study focus on the trucking mode from the standpoint of policy development. In addition to the analysis of human factors accident statistics, the report provides relevant background material on several policies that have been instituted or are under consideration, directed at improving human reliability in the transport sector. On the basis of reported findings, preliminary policy areas are identified. 71 refs., 26 figs., 5 tabs.

The safety leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

Lees, Howard; Faulkner, Bruce

2010-01-01

In this paper the authors present a careful consideration about the role of leadership, the fundamental element for the success of Behavior-Based Safety (B-BS) programs within companies. Lees and Faulkner have been training, coaching and writing about Behavior-Based Safety for the last ten years. Considerable data has been gathered during this process and the paramount factor in its success is leadership. An effective leader can create many spectacular successes. The success stories are all predicated on good leadership, without that a good product, great processes and quality people are all wasted and often find themselves on the rocks of frustration.

Consideration of the FQPA Safety Factor and Other Uncertainty Factors in Cumulative Risk Assessment of Chemicals Sharing a Common Mechanism of Toxicity

Science.gov (United States)

This guidance document provides OPP's current thinking on application of the provision in FFDCA about an additional safety factor for the protection of infants and children in the context of cumulative risk assessments.

Time evolution of the energy confinement time, internal inductance and effective edge safety factor on IR-T1 tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salar Elahi, A; Ghoranneviss, M

2010-01-01

An attempt is made to investigate the time evolution of the energy confinement time, internal inductance and effective edge safety factor on IR-T1 tokamak. For this purpose, four magnetic pickup coils were designed, constructed and installed on the outer surface of the IR-T1 and then the Shafranov parameter (asymmetry factor) was obtained from them. On the other hand, also a diamagnetic loop was designed and installed on IR-T1 and poloidal beta was determined from it. Therefore, the internal inductance and effective edge safety factor were measured. Also, the time evolution of the energy confinement time was measured using the diamagnetic loop. Experimental results on IR-T1 show that the maximum energy confinement time (which corresponds to minimum collisions, minimum microinstabilities and minimum transport) is at low values of the effective edge safety factor (2.5 eff (a) i <0.72). The results obtained are in agreement with those obtained with the theoretical approach [1-5].

The safety evaluation guide for laboratories and plants a tool for enhancing safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lhomme, Veronique; Daubard, Jean-Paul

2013-01-01

The Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) acts as technical support for the French government Authorities competent in nuclear safety and radiation protection for civil and defence activities. In this frame, the Institute's performs safety assessments of the safety cases submitted by operators to these Authorities for each stage in the life cycle of a nuclear facility, including dismantling operations, which is subjected to a licensing procedure. In the fuel cycle field, this concerns a large variety of facilities. Very often, depending on facilities and on safety cases, safety assessment to be performed is multidisciplinary and involves the supervisor in charge of the facility and several safety experts, particularly to cover the whole set of risks (criticality, exposure to radiation, fire, handling, containment, human and organisational factors...) encountered during facility's operations. Taking these into account, and in order to formalize the assessment process of the fuel cycle facilities, laboratories, irradiators, particle accelerators, under-decommissioning reactors and radioactive waste management, the 'Plants, Laboratories, Transports and Waste Safety' Division of IRSN has developed an internal guide, as a tool: - To present the methodological framework, and possible specificities, for the assessment according to the 'Defence in Depth Concept' (Part 1); - To provide key questions associated to the necessary contradictory technical review of the safety cases (Part 2); - To capitalise on experience on the basis of technical examples (coming from incident reports, previous safety assessments...) demonstrating the questioning (Part 3). The guide is divided in chapters, each dedicated to a type of risk (dissemination of radioactive material, external or internal exposure from ionising radiation, criticality, radiolysis mechanisms, handling operations, earthquake, human or organisational factors...) or to a type

Refresher training as an important factor affecting safety of atomic energy utilization facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kapralov, E.

2005-01-01

Refresher training appears to be one of the most important factors, affecting safety of atomic energy utilization facilities. To provide up-to-date refresher training programs and courses TC NRS implements best training practice based on the actual and perspective Russian national and international norms, regulations, standards and recommendations. (author)

Method of safety evaluation in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuraszkiewicz, P.; Zahn, P.

1988-01-01

A novel quantitative technique for evaluating safety of subsystems of nuclear power plants based on expert estimations is presented. It includes methods of mathematical psychology recognizing the effect of subjective factors in the expert estimates and, consequently, contributes to further objectification of evaluation. It may be applied to complementing probabilistic safety assessment. As a result of such evaluations a characteristic 'safety of nuclear power plants' is obtained. (author)

Training Presentation for NASA Civil Helicopter Safety Website

Science.gov (United States)

Iseler, Laura

2002-01-01

NASA civil helicopter safety News & Updates include the following: Mar. 2002. The Air Medical Operations Survey has been completed! Check it out! Also accessible via the Mission pages under Air Medical Mission. Air Medical and Law Enforcement Mission pages have been added. They are accessible via the Mission pages. The Public Use, Personal, Offshore, Law Enforcement, External Load, Business and Gyro accident pages (accessable via the Mission page) have been updated. Feb. 2002. A Words of Wisdom section has been added. You can access it by clicking the Library button. A link to a Corporate Accident Response Plan has been added to the Accident page. The AMs, Aerial Application and Instruction accident pages (accessable via the Mission page) have been updated. Jan. 2002. A new searchable safety article database has been added. You can access it by clicking the Library button. The 2001 accident summaries have been updated and the statistics have been compiled - check it out by clicking the accident tab to the left. Dec. 2001. Please read the FAA Administrator's memo regarding the latest FBI warning. 3ee the FAA column - Fall 2001 Read it now!

75 FR 35093 - Civil Service Retirement System; Present Value Factors

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-21

... present value factors to changes in demographic factors adopted by the Board of Actuaries of the Civil... actuarial assumptions and data to the Board of Actuaries, care of Gregory Kissel, Actuary, Office of... 1986, Public Law 99- 335, based on changed demographic factors adopted by the Board of Actuaries of the...

Safety guides development process in Spain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butragueno, J.L.; Perello, M.

1979-01-01

Safety guides have become a major factor in the licensing process of nuclear power plants and related nuclear facilities of the fuel cycle. As far as the experience corroborates better and better engineering methodologies and procedures, the results of these are settled down in form of standards, guides, and similar issues. This paper presents the actual Spanish experience in nuclear standards and safety guides development. The process to develop a standard or safety guide is shown. Up to date list of issued and on development nuclear safety guides is included and comments on the future role of nuclear standards in the licensing process are made. (author)

A development of an evaluation flow chart for seismic stability of rock slopes based on relations between safety factor and sliding failure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawai, Tadashi; Ishimaru, Makoto

2010-01-01

Recently, it is necessary to assess quantitatively seismic safety of critical facilities against the earthquake- induced rock slope failure from the viewpoint of seismic PSA. Under these circumstances, it is needed to evaluate the seismic stability of surrounding slopes against extremely strong ground motions. In order to evaluate the seismic stability of surrounding slopes, the most conventional method is to compare safety factors on an expected sliding surface, which is calculated from the stability analysis based on the limit equilibrium concept, to a critical value which judges stability or instability. The method is very effective to examine whether or not the sliding surface is safe. However, it does not mean that the sliding surface falls whenever the safety factor becomes smaller than the critical value during an earthquake. Therefore the authors develop a new evaluation flow chart for the seismic stability of rock slopes based on relations between safety factor and sliding failure. Furthermore, the developed flow chart was validated by comparing two kinds of safety factors calculated from a centrifuge test result concerned with a rock slope. (author)

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AS ONE OF THE MAIN FACTORS FOR THE SUCCESSFUL SAFETY MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Snežana Živković

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The goal of this research is to establish the influence of organizational culture on the system of safety and health at work. The research sample included 556 respondents of various activities in Russia. Based on the results, it can be concluded that there is a statistically significant connection of the Attitude towards occupational safety with 5 out of 7 aspects of organizational culture, as well as with the general factor of Usefulness of the manner of management. In addition, there is a statistically significant connection to age, total years of service and qualifications. Through a comparative analysis of results acquired in the Republic of Serbia and Russia, differences in attitudes towards safety and health activities at work were acquired i.e. there is a difference between the average answers of respondents from Serbia and Russia in the Attitude towards occupational safety which is on average slightly more prominent in respondents from Serbia. In relation to organizational culture aspects, there are differences in Vision, Credibility, Feedback and recognition as well as Responsibility. Respondents from Serbia have higher average values on all these measures, but all the differences are small (all effect sizes are below 0.2.

Synergistic effects of the safety factor and shear flows on development of internal transport barriers in reversed shear plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, A.K.; Dong, J.Q.; Qu, W.X.; Qiu, X.M.

2002-01-01

A new suppression mechanism of turbulent transport, characteristic of the synergism between safety factor and shear flows, is proposed to explain the internal transport barriers (ITBs) observed in neutral-beam-heated tokamak discharges with reversed magnetic shear. It is shown that the evolution of turbulent transport with the strength of the suppression mechanism reproduces the basic features of the formation and development of ITBs observed in experiments. In addition, the present analyses predict the possibility of global ion and electron heat transport barriers

Leadership and Management for Safety. General Safety Requirements (Arabic Edition)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

This Safety Requirements publication establishes requirements that support Principle 3 of the Fundamental Safety Principles in relation to establishing, sustaining and continuously improving leadership and management for safety and an integrated management system. It emphasizes that leadership for safety, management for safety, an effective management system and a systemic approach (i.e. an approach in which interactions between technical, human and organizational factors are duly considered) are all essential to the specification and application of adequate safety measures and to the fostering of a strong safety culture. Leadership and an effective management system will integrate safety, health, environmental, security, quality, human-and-organizational factors, societal and economic elements. The management system will ensure the fostering of a strong safety culture, regular assessment of performance and the application of lessons from experience. The publication is intended for use by regulatory bodies, operating organizations and other organizations concerned with facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks.

Leadership and Management for Safety. General Safety Requirements (Chinese Edition)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

This Safety Requirements publication establishes requirements that support Principle 3 of the Fundamental Safety Principles in relation to establishing, sustaining and continuously improving leadership and management for safety and an integrated management system. It emphasizes that leadership for safety, management for safety, an effective management system and a systemic approach (i.e. an approach in which interactions between technical, human and organizational factors are duly considered) are all essential to the specification and application of adequate safety measures and to the fostering of a strong safety culture. Leadership and an effective management system will integrate safety, health, environmental, security, quality, human-and-organizational factors, societal and economic elements. The management system will ensure the fostering of a strong safety culture, regular assessment of performance and the application of lessons from experience. The publication is intended for use by regulatory bodies, operating organizations and other organizations concerned with facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks.

Leadership and Management for Safety. General Safety Requirements (French Edition)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

This Safety Requirements publication establishes requirements that support Principle 3 of the Fundamental Safety Principles in relation to establishing, sustaining and continuously improving leadership and management for safety and an integrated management system. It emphasizes that leadership for safety, management for safety, an effective management system and a systemic approach (i.e. an approach in which interactions between technical, human and organizational factors are duly considered) are all essential to the specification and application of adequate safety measures and to the fostering of a strong safety culture. Leadership and an effective management system will integrate safety, health, environmental, security, quality, human-and-organizational factors, societal and economic elements. The management system will ensure the fostering of a strong safety culture, regular assessment of performance and the application of lessons from experience. The publication is intended for use by regulatory bodies, operating organizations and other organizations concerned with facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks.

Leadership and Management for Safety. General Safety Requirements (Spanish Edition)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

his Safety Requirements publication establishes requirements that support Principle 3 of the Fundamental Safety Principles in relation to establishing, sustaining and continuously improving leadership and management for safety and an integrated management system. It emphasizes that leadership for safety, management for safety, an effective management system and a systemic approach (i.e. an approach in which interactions between technical, human and organizational factors are duly considered) are all essential to the specification and application of adequate safety measures and to the fostering of a strong safety culture. Leadership and an effective management system will integrate safety, health, environmental, security, quality, human-and-organizational factors, societal and economic elements. The management system will ensure the fostering of a strong safety culture, regular assessment of performance and the application of lessons from experience. The publication is intended for use by regulatory bodies, operating organizations and other organizations concerned with facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks.

Decommissioning: Regulatory activities and identification of key organizational and human factors safety issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durbin, N.E.; Melber, B.D.; Lekberg, A.

2001-12-01

In the late 1990's the Swedish government decided to shut down Unit 1 of the Barsebaeck nuclear power plant. This report documents some of the efforts made by the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) to address human factors and organizational issues in nuclear safety during decommissioning of a nuclear facility. This report gives a brief review of the background to the decommissioning of Barsebaeck 1 and points out key safety issues that can arise during decommissioning. The main regulatory activities that were undertaken were requirements that the plant provide special safety reports on decommissioning focusing on first, the operation of both units until closure of Unit 1 and second, the operation of Unit 2 when Unit 1 was closed. In addition, SKI identified areas that might be affected by decommissioning and called these areas out for special attention. With regard to these areas of special attention, SKI required that the plant provide monthly reports on changing and emerging issues as well as self-assessments of the areas to be addressed in the special safety reports. Ten key safety issues were identified and evaluated with regard to different stages of decommissioning and with regard to the actions taken by Barsebaeck. Some key conclusions from SKI's experience in regulating a decommissioning nuclear power plant conclude the report

Safety culture management: The importance of organizational factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haber, S.B.; Shurberg, D.A.; Jacobs, R.; Hofmann, D.

1995-01-01

The concept of safety culture has been used extensively to explain the underlying causes of performance based events, both positive and negative, across the nuclear industry. The work described in this paper represents several years of effort to identify, define and assess the organizational factors important to safe performance in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The research discussed in this paper is primarily conducted in support of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) efforts in understanding the impact of organizational performance on safety. As a result of a series of research activities undertaken by numerous NRC contractors, a collection of organizational dimensions has been identified and defined. These dimensions represent what is believed to be a comprehensive taxonomy of organizational elements that relate to the safe operation of nuclear power plants. Techniques were also developed by which to measure these organizational dimensions, and include structured interview protocols, behavioral checklists, and behavioral anchored rating scales (BARS). Recent efforts have focused on devising a methodology for the extraction of information related to the identified organizational dimensions from existing NRC documentation. This type of effort would assess the applicability of the organizational dimensions to existing NRC inspection and evaluation reports, refine the organizational dimensions previously developed so they are more relevant to the task of retrospective analysis, and attempt to rate plants based on the review of existing NRC documentation using the techniques previously developed for the assessment of organizational dimensions

Human factors and safe patient care.

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Beverley

2009-03-01

This paper aims to introduce the topic of human factors to nursing management and to identify areas where it can be applied to patient safety. Human factors is a discipline established in most safety critical industries and uses knowledge about human behaviour in the analysis and design of complex systems, yet it is relatively new to many in healthcare. Most safety critical industries have developed tools and techniques to apply human factors to system design, and these have been reviewed together with those resources already available for use in healthcare. Models of human behaviour such as the nature and patterns of human error, information processing, decision-making and team work have clear applications to healthcare. Human factors focus on a system view of safety, and propose that safety should, where possible, be 'designed in'. Other interventions such as building defences, mitigating hazards and education and training should only be used where design solutions cannot be found. Simple human factors principles such as: designing for standardization; the involvement of users and staff in designing services and procuring equipment; understanding how errors occur; and the workarounds that staff will inevitably take are vital considerations in improving patient safety. Opportunities for the application of human factors to healthcare and improved patient safety are discussed. Some existing tools and techniques for applying human factors in nursing management are also presented.

Human factor as nuclear safety element

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valeca, S.C.; Preda, M.; Valeca, M.; Ana, E. M.; Popescu, D.

2008-01-01

National nuclear power system is based on western technology, it covers almost 20% from national need and could be briefly described by: - Safety and economic performances of Cernavoda NPP Unit 1; - Reduced influence on environment, population and workers; - Excellent ranking (place 4) among CANDU units from all over the world. Also, the national nuclear power system plays a major role in Romanian power policy accomplishment: - Energy safety and independence assurance; - Decrease of production of greenhouse effect gases; - Preserve the stability and adequacy of energy cost. 'Nuclear Safety' concept covers all the activities resulting from nuclear fuel cycle. By taking into account the international experience, the related activities are estimated to last around 70 years in Romania: - 10 years for site description and selection, design, manufacturing and commissioning activities; - 40 years for Nuclear Power Plant operation, maintenance and modernization activities; - 20 years for preservation and decommissioning activities. The above mentioned activities requires human resources, qualified and specialized in the following areas: - research and development; - equipment design, manufacturing and operation; - components construction and assembly, operation and maintenance. (authors)

Maintaining and Researching Port Safety: A Case Study of the Port of Kaohsiung

OpenAIRE

Tseng, Po-Hsing.; Pilcher, Nick.

2017-01-01

Maintaining port safety in full conformity with IMO standards is a requisite for every port and country. To do this, understanding the challenges and human factors involved is key. To date, much research has shed valuable light on these factors and considered how to address them. One aspect that is often noted is that both maintaining port safety and researching port safety presents numerous challenges. This paper considers both these aspects in the context of a case study of port safety in K...

Radioactive materials transport: worldwide excellence in safety, past, present and future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heywood, J.D.; Blenkin, J.J.; Wilkinson, H.L.; Murray, M.

1997-01-01

The safety record of the transport of radioactive material (RAM) is excellent. This level of safety has been achieved on a global scale principally through the adoption into national legislation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Transport Regulations by all countries which participate in the movement of RAM. The engineered and operational controls address containment of the RAM, radiation emitted from the package, dissipation of heat and prevention of criticality. The nuclear industry and its regulators have constantly sought to improve the safety of RAM transport operations, and also to measure the degree of safety compared with other industries and with generic safety criteria. Because of the extremely low incident rate and the consequent absence of direct historical data, probabilistic methods have been applied to provide a conservative assessment of the risks associated with specific transport operations. This paper illustrates the effectiveness of the IAEA Regulations in ensuring safety by reference to UK and worldwide experience, the results of quantified risk assessments and the mechanisms in place for continued review and improvement of the Regulations. The following topics are explored: (1) The controls controls embodied in the IAEA Regulations and how they minimise the consequences of accidents. (2) A review of quantified risk assessments carried out in this country and abroad. (3) A summary of the RAM transport incident record and a brief review of the results of surveys of RAM transport operations in the UK and worldwide. (4) Discussion of the risks associated with RAM transport compared with other industries. The paper concludes that the IAEA Regulations provide a robust and effective framework for the safe transport of RAM, ensuring that risks are kept at very low levels compared to relevant accepted criteria and other dangerous goods transport operations. The provisions for review and revision of the IAEA Regulations ensure that they

Views on safety culture at Swedish and Finnish nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammar, L.; Wahlstroem, B.; Kettunen, J.

2000-02-01

The report presents the results of interviews about safety culture at Swedish and Finnish nuclear power plants. The aim is to promote the safety work and increase the debate about safety in nuclear power plants, by showing that the safety culture is an important safety factor. The interviews point out different threats, which may become real. It is therefor necessary that the safety aspects get support from of the society and the power plant owners. (EHS)

Investigation and identification of factors affecting migrating peasant workers' usage of safety footwear in the Chinese construction industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Suo, Qinghui; Zhang, Daming

2017-09-01

A sample of 300 migrating peasant workers from 15 Chinese building construction sites completed a demographic questionnaire to investigate the usage of safety footwear. The survey form was constructed based on the theory of planned behaviour, and a total of 12 questions focusing on the workers' past experience, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control were included in the survey. It was found that 92% of the participants did not wear safety footwear while working on construction sites, although more than 91% of them believed that safety footwear would protect the foot from injury; none of the participants had been provided free safety footwear by their employer. Regression analysis shows that employers' attitude is the most important factor affecting their usage of safety footwear, 'providing free safety footwear' and 'comfortability of the safety footwear' ranking second and third respectively.

The influence of organisational and management factors on safety performance in NNPPS. Rand D project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cal, C. de la; Gil, B.; Sola, R.; Vaquero, C.; Garces, M. I.

2002-01-01

The direct influence of organisational and managerial factors on safety performance in nuclear power plants has been widely proved by two findings, the analysis of their operating experience and the differences in safety levels reached by similar installations. Specially, the study of majors accidents such as TMI-2 and Chernobyl have demonstrated that the technical deficiencies are not the only root causes, but there are a whole set of human, organisational, managerial and social factors which are the origin from most of these deficiencies. In recent years, this fact is emphasised with the nuclear industry involved a process of change. The deregulation of the electricity market, which has increased the economic pressures to the companies and has driven in many cases to restructures in ownership (mergers, acquisitions), downsizing processes and outsourcing parts of the work, jointly with the development of information technologies and computer networks and with a change in the regulatory and social climates are some of the nre factors affecting the performance of nuclear power plants that have addressed, even more, to the need of re-viewing and assessing the impact of organisational aspects on their safe performance. There have been international efforts to analyse the influence of organisational factors in the safety of nuclear power plants following different approaches. Research institutions, utilities and regulatory bodies. individually or in co-operation, have tried to develop practical tools for taking into account the organisation. According to these international efforts the Association of Spanish Utilities, UNESA, and the Spanish Nuclear Regulatory Body, CSN, have included in 1998, for the first time in their Co-ordinated Plan for Research, an innovative five years R and D project entitled Development of methods to evaluate and model the impact of organisation on nuclear poer plants safety whose main objectives are to analyse the impact of organisation and

Calibration of partial safety factors for wind turbine rotor blades against fatigue; Kalibrering af partielle sikkerhedsfaktorer for udmattelse af vindmoellerotorer. Bilagsrapport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christensen, C.J.; Ronold, K.O.; Thoegersen, M.L.

2000-08-01

The report describes a calibration of partial safety factors for wind turbine rotor blades subjected to fatigue loading in flapwise and edgewise bending. While earlier models - developed by the authors - dealt with such calibrations for site-specific individual turbines only, the calibration model applied herein covers an integrated analysis with different turbines on different sites and with different blade materials. The result is an optimized set of partial safety factors, i.e. a set of safety factors that lead to minimum deviation from the target reliability of the achieved reliabilities over the selected scope of turbines, sites and materials. The turbines included in the study cover rated powers of 450-600 kW. (au)

Safety balance: Analysis of safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delage, M.; Giroux, C.

1990-12-01

Safety analysis, and particularly analysis of exploitation of NPPs is constantly affected by EDF and by the safety authorities and their methodologies. Periodic safety reports ensure that important issues are not missed on daily basis, that incidents are identified and that relevant actions are undertaken. French safety analysis method consists of three principal steps. First type of safety balance is analyzed at the normal start-up phase for each unit including the final safety report. This enables analysis of behaviour of units ten years after their licensing. Second type is periodic operational safety analysis performed during a few years. Finally, the third step consists of safety analysis of the oldest units with the aim to improve the safety standards. The three steps of safety analysis are described in this presentation in detail with the aim to present the objectives and principles. Examples of most recent exercises are included in order to illustrate the importance of such analyses

The likelihood of achieving quantified road safety targets: a binary logistic regression model for possible factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Sze, N N; Wong, S C; Lee, C Y

2014-12-01

In past several decades, many countries have set quantified road safety targets to motivate transport authorities to develop systematic road safety strategies and measures and facilitate the achievement of continuous road safety improvement. Studies have been conducted to evaluate the association between the setting of quantified road safety targets and road fatality reduction, in both the short and long run, by comparing road fatalities before and after the implementation of a quantified road safety target. However, not much work has been done to evaluate whether the quantified road safety targets are actually achieved. In this study, we used a binary logistic regression model to examine the factors - including vehicle ownership, fatality rate, and national income, in addition to level of ambition and duration of target - that contribute to a target's success. We analyzed 55 quantified road safety targets set by 29 countries from 1981 to 2009, and the results indicate that targets that are in progress and with lower level of ambitions had a higher likelihood of eventually being achieved. Moreover, possible interaction effects on the association between level of ambition and the likelihood of success are also revealed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organization and methodology approach for the safety assessment of the present situation and the future works on Chernobyl-4 and the site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bachner, D.; Benoist, E.; Duco, J.; Jahns, A.

1995-01-01

This work deals with the organization and methodology approach for the safety assessment of the present situation and the future works on Chernobyl 4 and the site. It presents the results of a common preliminary discussion in order to formulate advices on the basic management of the Chernobyl safety assessment process. (O.L.)

Twenty-third water reactor safety information meeting: Volume 2, Human factors research; Advanced I and C hardware and software; Severe accident research; Probabilistic risk assessment topics; Individual plant examination: Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Monteleone, S. [comp.] [Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)

1996-03-01

This three-volume report contains papers presented at the Twenty- Third Water Reactor Safety Information Meeting held at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel, Bethesda, Maryland, October 23-25, 1995. The papers are printed in the order of their presentation in each session and describe progress and results of programs in nuclear safety research conducted in this country and abroad. Foreign participation in the meeting included papers presented by researchers from France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland. This document, Volume 2, present topics in human factors research, advanced instrumentation and control hardware and software, severe accident research, probabilistic risk assessment, and individual plant examination. Individual papers have been cataloged separately.

On dependence of thermal transport on the safety factor q in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirose, A.; Singh, A.; Livingstone, S.; Liu, D.

2005-01-01

Mixing length estimates of the anomalous ion and electron thermal diffusivities caused by the ITG and ETG mode, respectively, have revealed that both diffusivities are proportional to the safety factor q. In the case of ITG mode, the maximum χ i occurs at long wavelengths where coupling to the ion acoustic mode is dominant while ETG driven χ e peaks at wavelengths comparable to the electron skin depth. (author)

Monitoring human and organizational factors influencing common-cause failures of safety-instrumented system during the operational phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahimi, Maryam; Rausand, Marvin

2013-01-01

Safety-instrumented systems (SISs) are important safety barriers in many technical systems in the process industry. Reliability requirements for SISs are specified as a safety integrity level (SIL) with reference to the standard IEC 61508. The SIS reliability is often threatened by common-cause failures (CCFs), and the beta-factor model is the most commonly used model for incorporating the effects of CCFs. In the design phase, the beta-factor, β, is determined by answering a set of questions that is given in part 6 of IEC 61508. During the operational phase, there are several factors that influence β, such that the actual β differs from what was predicted in the design phase, and therefore the required reliability may not be maintained. Among the factors influencing β in the operational phase are human and organizational factors (HOFs). A number of studies within industries that require highly reliable products have shown that HOFs have significant influence on CCFs and therefore on β in the operational phase, but this has been neglected in the process industry. HOFs are difficult to predict, and susceptible to be changed during the operational phase. Without proper management, changing HOFs may cause the SIS reliability to drift out of its required value. The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of HOFs in estimation of β for SISs, and also to propose a framework to follow the HOFs effects and to manage them such that the reliability requirement can be maintained

Present status and improvement approach of atomic energy laws and safety standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, B. J.; An, H. J.; Kim, S. W.; Kim, C. B.; Kang, S. C.; Lee, J. I.

2000-01-01

Major revision to the atomic energy act, which is currently undergoing are introduced: increase of members of nuclear safety commission, adoption of standard design certification, periodic safety review, production license system of radioactive isotope facilities, preparation for implementation of IAEA convention. Improvement of the notice of ministry of science and technology are discussed in accordance with the new atomic energy act, enforcement detect, and enforcement regulations, whose revision were completed in May 2000. Allocation of the code number to the notice, development procedures for the safety and regulatory guides are also introduced

1981 NRC/BNL/IEEE standards workshop on human factors and nuclear safety. The man-machine interface and human reliability: an assessment and projection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, R.E.; Fragola, J.R.; Luckas, W.J. Jr.

1981-09-01

The role of the human in the safety of nuclear power plant operations was addressed in a meeting held in Myrtle Beach, SC in August 1981. Presentation were made on Control Room reviews, safety parameter display systems, the integration of human factors in the entire design process, and the use of automated control features. A need was shown for the development of a taxonomy or model to structure future data gathering and the need for models and data to address the issue of cognitive behavior. The primary effect of this behavior on risk was identified. Discussion sessions on the human impact on reliability, and control room design and evaluation were included

Human factors in RBNK plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demitrack, T.

1995-01-01

The Safety of RBMK nuclear power plants in the Russian Federation, The Ukraine and Lithuanian is a topic of concern to the European Union and other Western European countries. The European Commission, Sweden, Finland and Canada financed the project Safety Design Solutions and Operation of NPP with RBMK Reactors. The project examined nine issues and recommended safety improvements which will form the basis of future European Commission spending on these power plants. During its year of work, the project examined these issues: 1. Systems Engineering and progression of accidents 2. Protection System 3. Core Physics 4. External Events 5. Engineering Quality 6. Operating Experience 7. Human Factors 8. Regulatory Interface 9. Probabilistic Safety analysis Empresarios Agrupados, in collaboration with other western European firms, the Russian Federation and Lithuanian took part in two of these groups, Human Factors and Probabilistic Safety Analysis. This presentation gives a brief description of the most important aspects of human factors in RBMK plants, focusing on operations organization, training and education

Railway safety climate: a study on organizational development.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Yung-Hsiang

2017-09-07

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.

Safety culture in nuclear installations. Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carnino, A [ed.; International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria); Weimann, G [ed.; Oesterreichisches Forschungszentrum Seibersdorf GmbH (Austria)

1995-04-01

These proceedings of the International Topical Meeting on Safety Culture in Nuclear Installations held in Vienna, Austria from 24 to 28 April 1995 provide a wide forum of information exchange and discussions on the topic safety culture in nuclear power plants. Safety culture deals with human factors since it deals with attitudes, organization and management. It then means that it has a natural component in it which is linked to the national culture and education. There are about 95 contributions, some of them presented by title and abstract only. All of them are in the subject scope of INIS. (Botek).

Safety culture in nuclear installations. Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carnino, A.; Weimann, G.

1995-04-01

These proceedings of the International Topical Meeting on Safety Culture in Nuclear Installations held in Vienna, Austria from 24 to 28 April 1995 provide a wide forum of information exchange and discussions on the topic safety culture in nuclear power plants. Safety culture deals with human factors since it deals with attitudes, organization and management. It then means that it has a natural component in it which is linked to the national culture and education. There are about 95 contributions, some of them presented by title and abstract only. All of them are in the subject scope of INIS. (Botek)

The use of GIS tools for road infrastructure safety management

Science.gov (United States)

Budzyński, Marcin; Kustra, Wojciech; Okraszewska, Romanika; Jamroz, Kazimierz; Pyrchla, Jerzy

2018-01-01

There are many factors that influence accidents and their severity. They can be grouped within the system of man, vehicle and environment. The article focuses on how GIS tools can be used to manage road infrastructure safety. To ensure a better understanding and identification of road factors, GIS tools help with the acquisition of road parameter data. Their other role is helping with a clear and effective presentation of risk ranking. GIS is key to identifying high-risk sections and supports the effective communication of safety levels. This makes it a vital element of safety management. The article describes the use of GIS for the collection and visualisation of road parameter data which are not available in any of the existing databases, i.e. horizontal curve parameters. As we know from research and statistics, they are important factors that determine the safety of road infrastructure. Finally, new research is proposed as well as the possibilities for applying GIS tools for the purposes of road safety inspection.

Research study about the establishment of safety culture. Effects of organizational factors in construction industry's safety indices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kojima, Mitsuhiro; Hirose, Humiko; Takano, Kenichi; Hasegawa, Naoko

1999-01-01

To find the relationships between safety related activities (such as safety patrol' or '4s/5s activities') and accidents rate in the workplace, questionnaires were sent to 965 construction companies and 120 answers were returned. In this questionnaire, safety activities, safety regulations and safety policies of the companies were asked and organizational climates, company policies, philosophies and the number of accidents in workplace were also asked. There seems some relationships between accidents rate and safety activities, safety regulations and safety policies in the companies, but the deviations between estimate values and observed values are so great that it seems impossible to estimate the accidents rate in the working place from the safety activities, safety regulations and safety policies of the companies. On the other hand, some characteristics of safety activities and organizational climates in the construction industry were identified using multi variants analysis. More detailed researches using sophisticated questionnaire will be conducted in the construction industry and petrochemical industry and relationships between the accidents rate and the safety activities will be compared between different industries. (author)

Case Study on Influence Factor Trend Analysis of the Accidents and Events of Nuclear Power Plants by applying Nuclear Safety Culture Framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, J. Y.; Park, Y. W.; Park, H.G.

2016-01-01

This study 1) established the standard based on frameworks of safety culture principles that show safety culture promotion goals, 2) analyzed the linkages with the frameworks that were established by analyzing each incident cause and weak point from selected 268 cases(rating over INES grade 1) among 4,088 cases (as of April 1, 2015). The 4,088 cases were selected as a result of database analysis from 702 accidents recorded in accident and rating evaluation reports that were published in the National Nuclear Safety Commission and overseas IRS (International Reporting System for operating Experience), and 3) finally conducted a trend analysis studies with these comprehensive results. From the investigations, followings were concluded. 1) In order to analyze the safety culture, analysis methodology is required. 2) Analytical methodology for building sustainable safety culture promoting a virtuous cycle system was developed 3) Among variety of process input data, 970 domestic and overseas incidents were selected as targets and 502 accidents were classified as safety culture related events by utilizing screen filter of IAEA GS-G-3.5 Appendix I and Framework (Nuclear Safety Culture Base Frame) developed by BEES, Inc. for safety culture analysis method. 4) As a result, complex safety culture influence factors for the one reason which was difficult to separate by conventional methods was able to be analyzed. 5) The cumulative data through the system was results of virtuous trend analysis rather than temporary results. Thus, it could be unique cultural factors of the domestic industry and could derive trend differences for domestic safety culture factors accordingly

Case Study on Influence Factor Trend Analysis of the Accidents and Events of Nuclear Power Plants by applying Nuclear Safety Culture Framework

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, J. Y.; Park, Y. W.; Park, H.G. [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

This study 1) established the standard based on frameworks of safety culture principles that show safety culture promotion goals, 2) analyzed the linkages with the frameworks that were established by analyzing each incident cause and weak point from selected 268 cases(rating over INES grade 1) among 4,088 cases (as of April 1, 2015). The 4,088 cases were selected as a result of database analysis from 702 accidents recorded in accident and rating evaluation reports that were published in the National Nuclear Safety Commission and overseas IRS (International Reporting System for operating Experience), and 3) finally conducted a trend analysis studies with these comprehensive results. From the investigations, followings were concluded. 1) In order to analyze the safety culture, analysis methodology is required. 2) Analytical methodology for building sustainable safety culture promoting a virtuous cycle system was developed 3) Among variety of process input data, 970 domestic and overseas incidents were selected as targets and 502 accidents were classified as safety culture related events by utilizing screen filter of IAEA GS-G-3.5 Appendix I and Framework (Nuclear Safety Culture Base Frame) developed by BEES, Inc. for safety culture analysis method. 4) As a result, complex safety culture influence factors for the one reason which was difficult to separate by conventional methods was able to be analyzed. 5) The cumulative data through the system was results of virtuous trend analysis rather than temporary results. Thus, it could be unique cultural factors of the domestic industry and could derive trend differences for domestic safety culture factors accordingly.

Unraveling the organizational mechanism at the root of safety compliance in an Italian manufacturing firm.

Science.gov (United States)

Avanzi, Lorenzo; Savadori, Lucia; Fraccaroli, Franco

2018-03-01

Safety performance is recognized as the more proximal and effective precursor of safety outcomes. In particular, safety compliance significantly reduces workplace accidents and injuries. However, it is not entirely clear what role organizational factors play in determining workers' safety. The present study contributes to defining which organizational factors increase safety compliance by testing a mediational model in which supervisor support is related to safety climate, which in turn is related to organizational identification that finally is related to safety compliance. We tested our hypotheses in a sample of 186 production workers of an Italian manufacturing firm using a cross-sectional design. Findings confirm our hypotheses. Management should consider these organizational factors in order to implement primary prevention practices against work accidents.

Safety culture in design. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macchi, L.; Pietikaeinen, E.; Liinasuo, M.; Savioja, P.; Reiman, T.; Wahlstroem, M.; Kahlbom, U.; Rollenhagen, C.

2013-04-01

In this report we approach design from a safety culture approach As this research area is new and understudied, we take a wide scope on the issue. Different theoretical perspectives that can be taken when improving safety of the design process are considered in this report. We suggest that in the design context the concept of safety culture should be expanded from an organizational level to the level of the network of organizations involved in the design activity. The implication of approaching the design process from a safety culture perspective are discussed and the results of the empirical part of the research are presented. In the interview study in Finland and Sweden we identified challenges and opportunities in the design process from safety culture perspective. Also, a small part of the interview study concentrated on state of the art human factors engineering (HFE) practices in Finland and the results relating to that are presented. This report provide a basis for future development of systematic good design practices and for providing guidelines that can lead to safe and robust technical solutions. (Author)

Safety culture in design. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macchi, L.; Pietikaeinen, E.; Liinasuo, M.; Savioja, P.; Reiman, T.; Wahlstroem, M. [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland); Kahlbom, U. [Risk Pilot AB, Stockholm (Sweden); Rollenhagen, C. [Vattenfall, Stockholm, (Sweden)

2013-04-15

In this report we approach design from a safety culture approach As this research area is new and understudied, we take a wide scope on the issue. Different theoretical perspectives that can be taken when improving safety of the design process are considered in this report. We suggest that in the design context the concept of safety culture should be expanded from an organizational level to the level of the network of organizations involved in the design activity. The implication of approaching the design process from a safety culture perspective are discussed and the results of the empirical part of the research are presented. In the interview study in Finland and Sweden we identified challenges and opportunities in the design process from safety culture perspective. Also, a small part of the interview study concentrated on state of the art human factors engineering (HFE) practices in Finland and the results relating to that are presented. This report provide a basis for future development of systematic good design practices and for providing guidelines that can lead to safe and robust technical solutions. (Author)

The socio-technical system and nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefanescu, Petre; Mihailescu, Nicolae; Dragusin, Octavian

1999-01-01

In the field of nuclear safety there have been defined notions like 'technical factors' and 'human factors'. The technical factors depend on designing and manufacturing of components/equipment, actually depend on the people's work. The study of human factors consists in analyzing and recommending the terms that allow an individual to be a reliable and safety agent. Accordingly, he/she is placed in working conditions corresponding to human abilities, associating the means of three levels: - designing, i.e. the action upon the technical system and upon work organization; - correction, i.e. the action upon the evolution of the technical system and organizing; - formation/training, i.e. action upon operators. The paper presents a characterization of the socio-technical system and on this basis discusses the issue of individual adjustment to the socio-technical system and reciprocally, the issue of the socio-technical system adjustment to the individual. Concepts as: ergonomics, physical medium, man/machine interface and support of the operator, man/machine task sharing, the work organizing are put in relation with the central subject, the nuclear safety

Human factors experts beginning to focus on organizational factors in safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Westrum, R

1996-10-01

The role of organizational culture in aviation safety is explored. Information flow is used to demonstrate three ranges of climate within an organization. Organizations may be pathological in which information is hidden, bureaucratic in which information is ignored, or generative in which information is actively sought. The effects of organizational change on personnel are explored with emphasis on mergers between air carriers. The relationship between safety measures and economic pressures is discussed.

Safety leadership in the teaching laboratories of electrical and electronic engineering departments at Taiwanese Universities.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Tsung-Chih

2008-01-01

Safety has always been one of the principal goals in teaching laboratories. Laboratories cannot serve their educational purpose when accidents occur. The leadership of department heads has a major impact on laboratory safety, so this study discusses the factors affecting safety leadership in teaching laboratories. This study uses a mail survey to explore the perceived safety leadership in electrical and electronic engineering departments at Taiwanese universities. An exploratory factor analysis shows that there are three main components of safety leadership, as measured on a safety leadership scale: safety controlling, safety coaching, and safety caring. The descriptive statistics also reveals that among faculty, the perception of department heads' safety leadership is in general positive. A two-way MANOVA shows that there are interaction effects on safety leadership between university size and instructor age; there are also interaction effects between presence of a safety committee and faculty gender and faculty age. It is therefore necessary to assess organizational factors when determining whether individual factors are the cause of differing perceptions among faculty members. The author also presents advice on improving safety leadership for department heads at small universities and at universities without safety committees.

Psychosocial factors and safety behaviour as predictors of accidental work injuries in farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Glasscock, David John; Rasmussen, Kurt; Carstensen, Ole

2006-01-01

be a problem faced by farmers, there is a particular need to investigate the associations between farm accidents and work stressors and stress reactions. Using multivariate logistic regression analyses, this study aimed to uncover the best psychosocial predictors of injury, while controlling for exposure-related......, the relation with accidents occurred via an interaction with safety behaviour. The combination of high levels of stress symptoms and poor safety behaviour was associated with a particularly high accident risk.......Farming is one of the most hazardous occupations in terms of the incidence and seriousness of accidental injuries. Research with other occupational groups has drawn attention to the role of psychosocial factors and stress. Such research needs to be extended to agriculture. Since stress may...

Revised health and safety compliance model for the Ghanaian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The construction industry in Ghana is faced with employees' negligence in obeying rules and regulations, and acts that conflict with health and safety. The purpose of the paper was to present the revised health and safety (H&S) compliance model for the construction industry based on a developed theoretical six factor ...

Relationship between organizational justice and organizational safety climate: do fairness perceptions influence employee safety behaviour?

Science.gov (United States)

Gyekye, Seth Ayim; Haybatollahi, Mohammad

2014-01-01

This study investigated the relationships between organizational justice, organizational safety climate, job satisfaction, safety compliance and accident frequency. Ghanaian industrial workers participated in the study (N = 320). Safety climate and justice perceptions were assessed with Hayes, Parender, Smecko, et al.'s (1998) and Blader and Tyler's (2003) scales respectively. A median split was performed to dichotomize participants into 2 categories: workers with positive and workers with negative justice perceptions. Confirmatory factors analysis confirmed the 5-factor structure of the safety scale. Regression analyses and t tests indicated that workers with positive fairness perceptions had constructive perspectives regarding workplace safety, expressed greater job satisfaction, were more compliant with safety policies and registered lower accident rates. These findings provide evidence that the perceived level of fairness in an organization is closely associated with workplace safety perception and other organizational factors which are important for safety. The implications for safety research are discussed.

What is the minimum value of the safety factor on the magnetic axis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bussac, M.N.; Pellat, R.; Edery, D.; Soule, J.L.

This paper is presented in the following way: in chapter 2 the main stability properties in the vicinity of the magnetic axis with respect to the localized modes is recalled. The possibility of decreasing the minimum value of the safety factor q below unity, without violating Mercier's criterion is emphasized. In chapter 3 the ideal internal kink in cylindrical geometry for non-circular cross-sections is studied. The main findings are the small destabilizing effect of an elliptical deformation and the larger stabilizing effect of a triangular deformation. In chapter 4 the previous analysis is completed by toroidal corrections and the complete result for the ideal internal kink for circular magnetic surfaces is given. This mode may be stable in toroidal geometry provided the minimum value of q remains larger than 1/2. In chapter 5 the resistive internal kink and its collisionless high temperature limit is discussed. Toroidal effects and non-linear effects in the non-linear development of the tearing modes are compared

Time Based Workload Analysis Method for Safety-Related Operator Actions in Safety Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Yun Goo; Oh, Eung Se [Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

During the design basis event, the safety system performs safety functions to mitigate the event. The most of safety system is actuated by automatic system however, there are operator manual actions that are needed for the plant safety. These operator actions are classified as important human actions in human factors engineering design. The human factors engineering analysis and evaluation is needed for these important human actions to assure that operator successfully perform their tasks for plant safety and operational goals. The work load analysis is one of the required analysis for the important human actions.

Time Based Workload Analysis Method for Safety-Related Operator Actions in Safety Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yun Goo; Oh, Eung Se

2016-01-01

During the design basis event, the safety system performs safety functions to mitigate the event. The most of safety system is actuated by automatic system however, there are operator manual actions that are needed for the plant safety. These operator actions are classified as important human actions in human factors engineering design. The human factors engineering analysis and evaluation is needed for these important human actions to assure that operator successfully perform their tasks for plant safety and operational goals. The work load analysis is one of the required analysis for the important human actions.