Fusion-reactor blanket-material safety-compatibility studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeppson, D.W.; Muhlestein, L.D.; Keough, R.F.; Cohen, S.

1982-11-01

Blanket material selection for fusion reactors is strongly influenced by the desire to minimize safety and environmental concerns. Blanket material safety compatibility studies are being conducted to identify and characterize blanket-coolant-material interactions under postulated reactor accident conditions. Recently completed scoping compatibility tests indicate that : (1) ternary oxides (LiAlO 2 , Li 2 ZrO 3 , Li 2 SiO 3 , Li 4 SiO 4 and LiTiO 3 ) at postulated blanket operating temperatures are compatible with water coolant, while liquid lithium and Li 7 Pb 2 alloy reactions with water generate heat, aerosol and hydrogen; (2) lithium oxide and Li 17 Pb 83 alloy react mildly with water requiring special precautions to control hydrogen release; (3) liquid lithium reacts substantially, while Li 17 Pb 83 alloy reacts mildly with concrete to produce hydrogen; and (4) liquid lithium-air reactions present some major safety concerns

Analysing context-dependent deviations in interacting with safety-critical systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paterno, Fabio; Santoro, Carmen

2006-01-01

Mobile technology is penetrating many areas of human life. This implies that the context of use can vary in many respects. We present a method that aims to support designers in managing the complex design space when considering applications with varying contexts and help them to identify solutions that support users in performing their activities while preserving usability and safety. The method is a novel combination of an analysis of both potential deviations in task performance and most suitable information representations based on distributed cognition. The originality of the contribution is in providing a conceptual tool for better understanding the impact of context of use on user interaction in safety-critical domains. In order to present our approach we provide an example in which the implications of introducing new support through mobile devices in a safety-critical system are identified and analysed in terms of potential hazards

Safety study application guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-07-01

Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., (Energy Systems) is committed to performing and documenting safety analyses for facilities it manages for the Department of Energy (DOE). Included are analyses of existing facilities done under the aegis of the Safety Analysis Report Upgrade Program, and analyses of new and modified facilities. A graded approach is used wherein the level of analysis and documentation for each facility is commensurate with the magnitude of the hazard(s), the complexity of the facility and the stage of the facility life cycle. Safety analysis reports (SARs) for hazard Category 1 and 2 facilities are usually detailed and extensive because these categories are associated with public health and safety risk. SARs for Category 3 are normally much less extensive because the risk to public health and safety is slight. At Energy Systems, safety studies are the name given to SARs for Category 3 (formerly open-quotes lowclose quotes) facilities. Safety studies are the appropriate instrument when on-site risks are limited to irreversible consequences to a few people, and off-site consequences are limited to reversible consequences to a few people. This application guide provides detailed instructions for performing safety studies that meet the requirements of DOE Orders 5480.22, open-quotes Technical Safety Requirements,close quotes and 5480.23, open-quotes Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports.close quotes A seven-chapter format has been adopted for safety studies. This format allows for discussion of all the items required by DOE Order 5480.23 and for the discussions to be readily traceable to the listing in the order. The chapter titles are: (1) Introduction and Summary, (2) Site, (3) Facility Description, (4) Safety Basis, (5) Hazardous Material Management, (6) Management, Organization, and Institutional Safety Provisions, and (7) Accident Analysis

Interactive Safety Analysis Framework of Autonomous Intelligent Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cui You Xiang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available More than 100,000 people were killed and around 2.6 million injured in road accidents in the People’s Republic of China (PRC, that is four to eight times that of developed countries, equivalent to 6.2 mortality per 10 thousand vehicles—the highest rate in the world. There are more than 1,700 fatalities and 840,000 injuries yearly due to vehicle crashes off public highways. In this paper, we proposed a interactive safety situation and threat analysis framework based on driver behaviour and vehicle dynamics risk analysis based on ISO26262…

Future research needs on material interaction and relocation in LMFR safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niwa, H.

1994-01-01

This paper firstly classify the principles in the reactor safety area in future liquid-metal-cooled fast reactors (LMFRs) in order to clarify fundamental objectives of the reactor safety research. Further reduction of the occurrence frequency and also reduction of the consequences of core disruptive accidents should be recognized as the fundamental objectives. Secondary objectives and key R and D issues are developed under these fundamental objectives. This structure of the objectives and R and D issues is proposed as a fundamental framework of the safety researches aiming at development of commercialized large-scale LMFRs. Secondly, we will summarize future experimental research needs in the reactor safety area referring to the fundamental framework mentioned above. Our interest is focused rather on in-pile experiments. Finally, another objective is proposed, that is how to reduce or eliminate the recriticality event by design, utilizing the current knowledge on material motion and interaction which has been accumulated thus far. In this report, we will show an basic approach by means of discharging fuel out of the core. We also propose a measure for discharging fuel to eliminate the recriticality concerns. Experimental needs are also addressed. (author)

Correlation between safety assessments in the driver-car interaction design process.

Science.gov (United States)

Broström, Robert; Bengtsson, Peter; Axelsson, Jakob

2011-05-01

With the functional revolution in modern cars, evaluation methods to be used in all phases of driver-car interaction design have gained importance. It is crucial for car manufacturers to discover and solve safety issues early in the interaction design process. A current problem is thus to find a correlation between the formative methods that are used during development and the summative methods that are used when the product has reached the customer. This paper investigates the correlation between efficiency metrics from summative and formative evaluations, where the results of two studies on sound and navigation system tasks are compared. The first, an analysis of the J.D. Power and Associates APEAL survey, consists of answers given by about two thousand customers. The second, an expert evaluation study, was done by six evaluators who assessed the layouts by task completion time, TLX and Nielsen heuristics. The results show a high degree of correlation between the studies in terms of task efficiency, i.e. between customer ratings and task completion time, and customer ratings and TLX. However, no correlation was observed between Nielsen heuristics and customer ratings, task completion time or TLX. The results of the studies introduce a possibility to develop a usability evaluation framework that includes both formative and summative approaches, as the results show a high degree of consistency between the different methodologies. Hence, combining a quantitative approach with the expert evaluation method, such as task completion time, should be more useful for driver-car interaction design. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Interactive software automates personalized radiation safety plans for Na131I therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Marvin I; Ghesani, Munir

2002-11-01

NRC regulations have liberalized the criteria for release from control of patients administered radioactive materials but require written radiation safety instruction if another individual is expected to receive more than 1 mSv. This necessitates calculation of expected doses, even when the calculated maximum likely dose is well below the 5 mSv release criterion. NRC interpretations of the regulation provide the biokinetic model to be used to evaluate the release criterion for patients administered Na131I, but do not provide guidance as to either the specifics of minimizing the dose of others or the length of time restrictions should remain in effect. Interactive software has been developed to facilitate creation of radiation safety plans tailored to patients' expected interactions. Day-by-day and cumulative effective exposures at several separation distances, including sleeping, are presented in grid format in a graphic interface. In an interview session, the patient proposes daily contacts, which are entered separately for each individual by point-and-click operation. Total dose estimates are accumulated and modified while negotiating contact schedules, guided by suggested age-specific limits. The software produces printed radiation safety recommendations specific to the clinical, dosing, and social situations and reflective of the patient's choice of combinations of close contact with others. It has been used in treating more than 100 patients and has been found to be very useful and well received.

Why is patient safety so hard? A selective review of ethnographic studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon-Woods, Mary

2010-01-01

Ethnographic studies are valuable in studying patient safety. This is a narrative review of four reports of ethnographic studies of patient safety in UK hospitals conducted as part of the Patient Safety Research Programme. Three of these studies were undertaken in operating theatres and one in an A&E Department. The studies found that hospitals were rarely geared towards ensuring perfect performances. The coordination and mobilization of the large number of inter-dependent processes and resources needed to support the achievement of tasks was rarely optimal. This produced significant strain that staff learned to tolerate by developing various compensatory strategies. Teamwork and inter-professional communication did not always function sufficiently well to ensure that basic procedural information was shared or that the required sequence of events was planned. Staff did not always do the right things, for a wide range of different reasons, including contestations about what counted as the right thing. Structures of authority and accountability were not always clear or well-functioning. Patient safety incidents were usually not reported, though there were many different reasons for this. It can be concluded that securing patient safety is hard. There are multiple interacting influences on safety, and solutions need to be based on a sound understanding of the nature of the problems and which approaches are likely to be best suited to resolving them. Some solutions that appear attractive and straightforward are likely to founder. Addressing safety problems requires acknowledgement that patient safety is not simply a technical issue, but a site of organizational and professional politics.

Study on the KALIMER safety approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Eui Kwang; Han, Do Hee; Kim, Young Cheol.

1997-01-01

This study describes KALIMER's safety approach, how to establish the safety criteria and temperature limit, how to define safety evaluation events, and some safety research and development needs items. It is recommended that the KALIMER's approach to safety use seven levels of safety design and a defense-in-depth design approach with particular emphasis on inherent passive features. In order to establish as set DBEs for KALIMER safety evaluation, the procedure is explained how to define safety evaluation events. Final selection is to be determined later with the final establishment of design concepts. On the basis of preliminary studies and evaluation of the plant safety related areas, the KALIMER and PRISM have following three main difference that may require special research and development for KALIMER. (author). 7 refs., 6 tabs., 6 figs

Preliminary study for unified management of CANDU safety codes and construction of database system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, Byung Joo; Kim, Hyoung Tae

2003-03-01

It is needed to develop the Graphical User Interface(GUI) for the unified management of CANDU safety codes and to construct database system for the validation of safety codes, for which the preliminary study is done in the first stage of the present work. The input and output structures and data flow of CATHENA and PRESCON2 are investigated and the interaction of the variables between CATHENA and PRESCON2 are identified. Furthermore, PC versions of CATHENA and PRESCON2 codes are developed for the interaction of these codes and GUI(Graphic User Interface). The PC versions are assessed by comparing the calculation results with those by HP workstation or from FSAR(Final Safety Analysis Report). Preliminary study on the GUI for the safety codes in the unified management system are done. The sample of GUI programming is demonstrated preliminarily. Visual C++ is selected as the programming language for the development of GUI system. The data for Wolsong plants, reactor core, and thermal-hydraulic experiments executed in the inside and outside of the country, are collected and classified following the structure of the database system, of which two types are considered for the final web-based database system. The preliminary GUI programming for database system is demonstrated, which is updated in the future work

Individual employee's perceptions of " Group-level Safety Climate" (supervisor referenced) versus " Organization-level Safety Climate" (top management referenced): Associations with safety outcomes for lone workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; Lee, Jin; McFadden, Anna C; Rineer, Jennifer; Robertson, Michelle M

2017-01-01

Research has shown that safety climate is among the strongest predictors of safety behavior and safety outcomes in a variety of settings. Previous studies have established that safety climate is a multi-faceted construct referencing multiple levels of management within a company, most generally: the organization level (employee perceptions of top management's commitment to and prioritization of safety) and group level (employee perceptions of direct supervisor's commitment to and prioritization of safety). Yet, no research to date has examined the potential interaction between employees' organization-level safety climate (OSC) and group-level safety climate (GSC) perceptions. Furthermore, prior research has mainly focused on traditional work environments in which supervisors and workers interact in the same location throughout the day. Little research has been done to examine safety climate with regard to lone workers. The present study aims to address these gaps by examining the relationships between truck drivers' (as an example of lone workers) perceptions of OSC and GSC, both potential linear and non-linear relationships, and how these predict important safety outcomes. Participants were 8095 truck drivers from eight trucking companies in the United States with an average response rate of 44.8%. Results showed that employees' OSC and GSC perceptions are highly correlated (r= 0.78), but notable gaps between the two were observed for some truck drivers. Uniquely, both OSC and GSC scores were found to have curvilinear relationships with safe driving behavior, and both scores were equally predictive of safe driving behavior. Results also showed the two levels of climate significantly interacted with one another to predict safety behavior such that if either the OSC or GSC scores were low, the other's contribution to safety behavior became stronger. These findings suggest that OSC and GSC may function in a compensatory manner and promote safe driving behavior even

Interaction of national and foreign safety guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domaratzki, Z.

1991-01-01

A commercial contract for a nuclear power plant includes an agreement on the appropriate safety requirements with which the plant must conform. This may involve adopting the safety requirements of the exporting country, the importing country or a combination of the two sets of safety requirements. To ensure that a high level of safety is achieved it is appropriate that the regulatory authorities in the two countries should establish a co-operative arrangement which will extend for the life of the plant. The regulatory authority in the importing country will need to develop a good understanding of the design, safety analysis and operating history of the reactor type which is being purchased. The regulator in the exporting country can be of great assistance in this regard. The co-operative arrangement should extend into the commissioning and operating stage at which point there will be a two way flow of information. During the operating stage information exchange should include significant operating events, operating problems, new safety related research information, necessary design changes and the results of periodic updating of the safety analysis. In some cases the co-operation should extend to training of regulatory staff. The choice of national versus foreign safety requirements may be important. However, if the two regulatory authorities are to discharge their legal and moral safety responsibilities it is at least equally important to maintain a co-operative arrangement for the life of the plant. (author)

Evaluation of systems interactions in nuclear power plants: Technical findings related to Unresolved Safety Issue A-17

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thatcher, D.

1989-05-01

This report presents a summary of the activities related to Unresolved Safety Issue (USI)A-17, ''Systems Interactions in Nuclear Power Plants,'' and also includes the NRC staff's conclusions based on those activities. The staff's technical findings provide the framework for the final resolution of this unresolved safety issue. The final resolution will be published later as NUREG-1229. 52 refs., 4 tabs

Soil-structure interaction for transient loads due to safety relief valve discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tseng, W.S.; Tsai, N.C.

1978-01-01

Dynamic responses of BWR Mark II containment structures subjected to axisymmetric transient pressure loadings due to simultaneous safety relief valve discharges were investigated using finite element analysis, including the soil-structure interaction effect. To properly consider the soil-structure interaction effect, a simplified lumped parameter foundation model and axisymmetric finite element foundation model with viscous boundary impedance are used. Analytical results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the simplified foundation model and to exhibit the dynamic response behavior of the structure as the transient loading frequency and the foundation rigidity vary. The impact of the dynamic structural response due to this type of loading on the equipment design is also discussed. (Auth.)

Safety Culture Enhancement Project. Final Report. A Field Study on Approaches to Enhancement of Safety Culture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lowe, Andrew; Hayward, Brent (Dedale Asia Pacific, Albert Park VIC 3206 (Australia))

2006-08-15

This report documents a study with the objective of enhancing safety culture in the Swedish nuclear power industry. A primary objective of this study was to ensure that the latest thinking on human factors principles was being recognised and applied by nuclear power operators as a means of ensuring optimal safety performance. The initial phase of the project was conducted as a pilot study, involving the senior management group at one Swedish nuclear power-producing site. The pilot study enabled the project methodology to be validated after which it was repeated at other Swedish nuclear power industry sites, providing a broad-ranging analysis of opportunities across the industry to enhance safety culture. The introduction to this report contains an overview of safety culture, explains the background to the project and sets out the project rationale and objectives. The methodology used for understanding and analysing the important safety culture issues at each nuclear power site is then described. This section begins with a summary of the processes used in the information gathering and data analysis stage. The six components of the Management Workshops conducted at each site are then described. These workshops used a series of presentations, interactive events and group exercises to: (a) provide feedback to site managers on the safety culture and safety leadership issues identified at their site, and (b) stimulate further safety thinking and provide 'take-away' information and leadership strategies that could be applied to promote safety culture improvements. Section 3, project Findings, contains the main observations and output from the project. These include: - a brief overview of aspects of the local industry operating context that impinge on safety culture; - a summary of strengths or positive attributes observed within the safety culture of the Swedish nuclear industry; - a set of identified opportunities for further improvement; - the aggregated

Evaluating Otto the Auto: Does Engagement in an Interactive Website Improve Young Children's Transportation Safety?

Science.gov (United States)

Schwebel, David C; Johnston, Anna; Shen, Jiabin; Li, Peng

2017-07-19

Transportation-related injuries are a leading cause of pediatric death, and effective interventions are limited. Otto the Auto is a website offering engaging, interactive activities. We evaluated Otto among a sample of sixty-nine 4- and 5-year-old children, who participated in a randomized parallel group design study. Following baseline evaluation, children engaged with either Otto or a control website for 2 weeks and then were re-evaluated. Children who used Otto failed to show increases in transportation safety knowledge or behavior compared to the control group, although there was a dosage effect whereby children who engaged in the website more with parents gained safer behavior patterns. We conclude Otto may have some efficacy when engaged by children with their parents, but continued efforts to develop and refine engaging, effective, theory-driven strategies to teach children transportation safety, including via internet, should be pursued.

On Safety Management. A Frame of Reference for Studies of Safety Management with Examples From Non-Nuclear Contexts of Relevance for Nuclear Safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Svensson, Ola; Salo, Ilkka; Allwin, Pernilla (Risk Analysis, Social and Decision Research Unit, Dept. of Psychology, Stockholm Univ., Stockholm (Sweden))

2004-11-15

technologies. System theories could be developed to grasp both technological non-living systems and human living-systems. It is considered a strength to be able to describe both technological and human elements and their mutual relations within a common theoretical framework. In the ongoing project we have introduced a systems perspective in which both living systems and non-living systems can be described in terms of processes and structures. In the framework it is exemplified how system concepts may be related to concepts related to organizational theory. Three different areas of operations are examined in the case studies: civil aviation, petroleum production, and car manufacturing. Two of the areas are represented by authorities: the Swedish Civil Aviation Safety Authority; and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. The third study is represented by a car manufacturer, Volvo. In order to study the interaction between authority and company, a Swedish airline company was investigated. In each case study, a thorough description of the organizational structure, the activities and operations, and the safety management specific for each organization, is given. In the descriptions, safety management within each area is studied in relation to concepts central to the system theoretical framework. Structural aspects of the system studied, system regulation, information feedback, and detection and identification of threats to safety, are some examples of concepts that are related to keep the system stable, concepts that also are related to activities that are often labeled as central to safety management. Thus, the case studies generate both illustrative descriptions about the unique in the specific areas studied, both from an organizational and a safety perspective, and, furthermore, put this in relation to general system theoretical concepts that are possible to transfer across areas. Each of the case studies generated detailed descriptions of the organization studied, activities and

On Safety Management. A Frame of Reference for Studies of Safety Management with Examples From Non-Nuclear Contexts of Relevance for Nuclear Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svensson, Ola; Salo, Ilkka; Allwin, Pernilla

2004-11-01

technologies. System theories could be developed to grasp both technological non-living systems and human living-systems. It is considered a strength to be able to describe both technological and human elements and their mutual relations within a common theoretical framework. In the ongoing project we have introduced a systems perspective in which both living systems and non-living systems can be described in terms of processes and structures. In the framework it is exemplified how system concepts may be related to concepts related to organizational theory. Three different areas of operations are examined in the case studies: civil aviation, petroleum production, and car manufacturing. Two of the areas are represented by authorities: the Swedish Civil Aviation Safety Authority; and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. The third study is represented by a car manufacturer, Volvo. In order to study the interaction between authority and company, a Swedish airline company was investigated. In each case study, a thorough description of the organizational structure, the activities and operations, and the safety management specific for each organization, is given. In the descriptions, safety management within each area is studied in relation to concepts central to the system theoretical framework. Structural aspects of the system studied, system regulation, information feedback, and detection and identification of threats to safety, are some examples of concepts that are related to keep the system stable, concepts that also are related to activities that are often labeled as central to safety management. Thus, the case studies generate both illustrative descriptions about the unique in the specific areas studied, both from an organizational and a safety perspective, and, furthermore, put this in relation to general system theoretical concepts that are possible to transfer across areas. Each of the case studies generated detailed descriptions of the organization studied, activities and

Nordic studies in reactor safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pershagen, N.

1993-01-01

The Nordic Nuclear Safety Research Programme SIK programme in reactor safety is part of a major joint Nordic research effort in nuclear safety. The report summarizes the achievements of the SIK programme, which was carried out during 1990-1993 in collaboration between Nordic nuclear utilities, safety authorities, and research institutes. Three main projects were successfully completed dealing with: 1) development and application of a living PSA concept for monitoring the risk of core damage, and of safety indicators for early warning of possible safety problems; 2) review and intercomparison of severe accident codes, case studies of potential core melt accidents in nordic reactors, development of chemical models for the MAAP code, and outline of a system for computerized accident management support; 3) compilation of information about design and safety features of neighbouring reactors in Germany, Lithuania and Russia, and for naval reactors and nuclear submarines. The report reviews the state-of-the-art in each subject matter as an introduction to the individual project summaries. The main findings of each project are highlighted. The report also contains an overview of reactor safety research in the Nordic countries and a summary of fundamental reactor safety principles. (au) (69 refs.)

Interaction between systems and software engineering in safety-critical systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knight, J.

1994-01-01

There are three areas of concern: when is software to be considered safe; what, exactly, is the role of the software engineer; and how do systems, or sometimes applications, engineers and software engineers interact with each other. The author presents his perspective on these questions which he feels differ from those of many in the field. He argues for a clear definition of safety in the software arena, so the engineer knows what he is engineering toward. Software must be viewed as part of the entire system, since it does not function on its own, or isolation. He argues for the establishment of clear specifications in this area

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.

Food Safety Education Using an Interactive Multimedia Kiosk in a WIC Setting: Correlates of Client Satisfaction and Practical Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Trepka, Mary Jo; Newman, Frederick L.; Huffman, Fatma G.; Dixon, Zisca

2010-01-01

Objective: To assess acceptability of food safety education delivered by interactive multimedia (IMM) in a Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) clinic. Methods: Female clients or caregivers (n = 176) completed the food-handling survey; then an IMM food safety education program on a computer kiosk.…

Importance of Sodium Fuel Interaction in Fast Reactor Safety Evaluation - CEA Point of View

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanguy, P.

1976-01-01

The consequences of interactions between molten metal (aluminium-uranium alloy) and water have long been a subject of concern for those in charge of reactor safety, following accidents observed or induced in certain reactors (BORAX, SL1, SPERT 1 D). In such accidents, as in similar cases occurring in traditional industries (aluminium foundries, steel works, paper mills...) the contact between the hot liquid product and the coolant entails rapid vaporization of the latter with effects identical to that of an explosive. Although chemical reactions of water decomposition occur in some cases, the main phenomenon is the conversion of the thermal energy stored in the hot substance into mechanical energy. Despite the fact that a molten oxide fuel differs from an aluminium-uranium alloy, as does sodium from water, the consequences of possible contact between the molten mixed uranium and plutonium oxide and sodium must be carefully studied since such a contact may occur in accident conditions in sodium-cooled fast neutron reactors. The essential purpose of an evaluation of reactor safety in accident conditions is in fact to ensure the containment of dangerous products Consequently, any phenomenon likely to endanger containment barriers must be carefully examined. In conclusion: Whereas an accident within an assembly seems to show little likelihood of creating conditions seriously endangering fuel containment, the gravity of problems associated with an overall accident on the core is worthy of thorough and attentive study. In the case of an overall accident on the core of a fast reactor, the interaction between the molten fuel and the sodium is of consequence at two levels. The first is the retention of mechanical energy which may be considerable. The second is the recovery of fuel fragments in an overall cooled configuration but where local cooling problems may give rise to interaction. A greater effort is required in performing tests and mastering their results to

Safety Culture Enhancement Project. Final Report. A Field Study on Approaches to Enhancement of Safety Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowe, Andrew; Hayward, Brent

2006-08-01

This report documents a study with the objective of enhancing safety culture in the Swedish nuclear power industry. A primary objective of this study was to ensure that the latest thinking on human factors principles was being recognised and applied by nuclear power operators as a means of ensuring optimal safety performance. The initial phase of the project was conducted as a pilot study, involving the senior management group at one Swedish nuclear power-producing site. The pilot study enabled the project methodology to be validated after which it was repeated at other Swedish nuclear power industry sites, providing a broad-ranging analysis of opportunities across the industry to enhance safety culture. The introduction to this report contains an overview of safety culture, explains the background to the project and sets out the project rationale and objectives. The methodology used for understanding and analysing the important safety culture issues at each nuclear power site is then described. This section begins with a summary of the processes used in the information gathering and data analysis stage. The six components of the Management Workshops conducted at each site are then described. These workshops used a series of presentations, interactive events and group exercises to: (a) provide feedback to site managers on the safety culture and safety leadership issues identified at their site, and (b) stimulate further safety thinking and provide 'take-away' information and leadership strategies that could be applied to promote safety culture improvements. Section 3, project Findings, contains the main observations and output from the project. These include: - a brief overview of aspects of the local industry operating context that impinge on safety culture; - a summary of strengths or positive attributes observed within the safety culture of the Swedish nuclear industry; - a set of identified opportunities for further improvement; - the aggregated results of the

Sensemaking and the co-production of safety: a qualitative study of primary medical care patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, Penny; McDonald, Ruth; Campbell, Stephen; Daker-White, Gavin; Sanders, Caroline

2016-02-01

This study explores the ways in which patients make sense of 'safety' in the context of primary medical care. Drawing on qualitative interviews with primary care patients, we reveal patients' conceptualisation of safety as fluid, contingent, multi-dimensional, and negotiated. Participant accounts drew attention to a largely invisible and inaccessible (but taken for granted) architecture of safety, the importance of psycho-social as well as physical dimensions and the interactions between them, informal strategies for negotiating safety, and the moral dimension of safety. Participants reported being proactive in taking action to protect themselves from potential harm. The somewhat routinised and predictable nature of the primary medical care consultation, which is very different from 'one off' inpatient spells, meant that patients were not passive recipients of care. Instead they had a stock of accumulated knowledge and experience to inform their actions. In addition to highlighting the differences and similarities between hospital and primary care settings, the study suggests that a broad conceptualisation of patient safety is required, which encompasses the safety concerns of patients in primary care settings. © 2015 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for SHIL.

Consequence model of the German reactor safety study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bayer, A.; Aldrich, D.; Burkart, K.; Horsch, F.; Hubschmann, W.; Schueckler, M.; Vogt, S.

1979-01-01

The consequency model developed for phase A of the German Reactor Safety Study (RSS) is similar in many respects to its counterpart in WASH-1400. As in that previous study, the model describes the atmosphere dispersion and transport of radioactive material released from the containment during a postulated reactor accident, and predicts its interaction with and influence on man. Differences do exist between the two models however, for the following reasons: (1) to more adequately reflect central European conditions, (2) to include improved submodels, and (3) to apply additional data and knowledge that have become available since publication of WASH-1400. The consequence model as used in phase A of the German RSS is described, highlighting differences between it and the U.S. model

Human-animal interactions and safety during dairy cattle handling--Comparing moving cows to milking and hoof trimming.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindahl, C; Pinzke, S; Herlin, A; Keeling, L J

2016-03-01

Cattle handling is a dangerous activity on dairy farms, and cows are a major cause of injuries to livestock handlers. Even if dairy cows are generally tranquil and docile, when situations occur that they perceive or remember as aversive, they may become agitated and hazardous to handle. This study aimed to compare human-animal interactions, cow behavior, and handler safety when moving cows to daily milking and moving cows to more rarely occurring and possibly aversive hoof trimming. These processes were observed on 12 Swedish commercial dairy farms. The study included behavioral observations of handler and cows and cow heart rate recordings, as well as recording frequencies of situations and incidents related to an increased injury risk to the handler. At milking, cows were quite easily moved using few interactions. As expected, the cows showed no behavioral signs of stress, fear, or resistance and their heart rate only rose slightly from the baseline (i.e., the average heart rate during an undisturbed period before handling). Moving cows to hoof trimming involved more forceful and gentle interactions compared with moving cows to milking. Furthermore, the cows showed much higher frequencies of behaviors indicative of aversion and fear (e.g., freezing, balking, and resistance), as well as a higher increase in heart rate. The risk of injury to which handlers were exposed also increased when moving cows to hoof trimming rather than to routine milking. Some interactions (such as forceful tactile interactions with an object and pulling a neck strap or halter) appeared to be related to potentially dangerous incidents where the handler was being kicked, head-butted, or run over by a cow. In conclusion, moving cows to hoof trimming resulted in higher frequencies of behaviors indicating fear, more forceful interactions, and increased injury risks to the handler than moving cows to milking. Improving potentially stressful handling procedures (e.g., by better animal handling

A probabilistic safety assessment PEER review: Case study on the use of probabilistic safety assessment for safety decisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-10-01

The purpose of this case study is to illustrate, using an actual example, the organizing and carrying out of an independent peer review of a draft full-scope (level 3) probabilistic safety assessment. The specific findings of the peer review are of less importance than the approach taken, the interaction between sponsor and study team, and the technical and administrative issues that can arise during a peer review. This case study will examine the following issues: how the scope of the peer review was established, based on how it was to be used by the review sponsoring body; how the level of effort was determined, and what this determination meant for the technical quality of the review; how the team of peer reviewers was selected; how the review itself was carried out; what findings were made; what was done with these findings by both the review sponsoring body and the PSA analysis team. 9 refs, 2 figs, 1 tab

Development and Evaluation of a Multi-Institutional Case Studies-Based Course in Food Safety

Science.gov (United States)

Pleitner, Aaron M.; Chapin, Travis K.; Hammons, Susan R.; Stelten, Anna Van; Nightingale, Kendra K.; Wiedmann, Martin; Johnston, Lynette M.; Oliver, Haley F.

2015-01-01

Developing novel, engaging courses in food safety is necessary to train professionals in this discipline. Courses that are interactive and case-based encourage development of critical thinking skills necessary for identifying and preventing foodborne disease outbreaks. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of a case study…

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

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 and Nonsafety Communications and Interactions in International Nuclear Power Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kisner, Roger A [ORNL; Mullens, James Allen [ORNL; Wilson, Thomas L [ORNL; Wood, Richard Thomas [ORNL; Korsah, Kofi [ORNL; Qualls, A L [ORNL; Muhlheim, Michael David [ORNL; Holcomb, David Eugene [ORNL; Loebl, Andy [ORNL

2007-08-01

Current industry and NRC guidance documents such as IEEE 7-4.3.2, Reg. Guide 1.152, and IEEE 603 do not sufficiently define a level of detail for evaluating interdivisional communications independence. The NRC seeks to establish criteria for safety systems communications that can be uniformly applied in evaluation of a variety of safety system designs. This report focuses strictly on communication issues related to data sent between safety systems and between safety and nonsafety systems. Further, the report does not provide design guidance for communication systems nor present detailed failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) results for existing designs. This letter report describes communications between safety and nonsafety systems in nuclear power plants outside the United States. A limited study of international nuclear power plants was conducted to ascertain important communication implementations that might have bearing on systems proposed for licensing in the United States. This report provides that following information: 1.communications types and structures used in a representative set of international nuclear power reactors, and 2.communications issues derived from standards and other source documents relevant to safety and nonsafety communications. Topics that are discussed include the following: communication among redundant safety divisions, communications between safety divisions and nonsafety systems, control of safety equipment from a nonsafety workstation, and connection of nonsafety programming, maintenance, and test equipment to redundant safety divisions during operation. Information for this report was obtained through publicly available sources such as published papers and presentations. No proprietary information is represented.

Safety and Nonsafety Communications and Interactions in International Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kisner, Roger A.; Mullens, James Allen; Wilson, Thomas L.; Wood, Richard Thomas; Korsah, Kofi; Qualls, A.L.; Muhlheim, Michael David; Holcomb, David Eugene; Loebl, Andy

2007-01-01

Current industry and NRC guidance documents such as IEEE 7-4.3.2, Reg. Guide 1.152, and IEEE 603 do not sufficiently define a level of detail for evaluating interdivisional communications independence. The NRC seeks to establish criteria for safety systems communications that can be uniformly applied in evaluation of a variety of safety system designs. This report focuses strictly on communication issues related to data sent between safety systems and between safety and nonsafety systems. Further, the report does not provide design guidance for communication systems nor present detailed failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) results for existing designs. This letter report describes communications between safety and nonsafety systems in nuclear power plants outside the United States. A limited study of international nuclear power plants was conducted to ascertain important communication implementations that might have bearing on systems proposed for licensing in the United States. This report provides that following information: 1.communications types and structures used in a representative set of international nuclear power reactors, and 2.communications issues derived from standards and other source documents relevant to safety and nonsafety communications. Topics that are discussed include the following: communication among redundant safety divisions, communications between safety divisions and nonsafety systems, control of safety equipment from a nonsafety workstation, and connection of nonsafety programming, maintenance, and test equipment to redundant safety divisions during operation. Information for this report was obtained through publicly available sources such as published papers and presentations. No proprietary information is represented

Alcohol and prescription drug safety in older adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zanjani F

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Faika Zanjani,1,2 Aasha I Hoogland,1 Brian G Downer11Department of Gerontology, 2Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USABackground: The objectives of this study were to investigate older adults' knowledge of prescription drug safety and interactions with alcohol, and to identify pharmacists' willingness to disseminate prescription drug safety information to older adults.Methods: The convenience sample consisted of 48 older adults aged 54–89 years who were recruited from a local pharmacy and who completed surveys addressing their alcohol consumption, understanding of alcohol and prescription drug interactions, and willingness to change habits regarding alcohol consumption and prescription drugs. To address pharmacist willingness, 90 pharmacists from local pharmacies volunteered and answered questions regarding their willingness to convey prescription drug safety information to older adults.Results: Older adults reported low knowledge of alcohol and prescription drug safety, with women tending to be slightly more knowledgeable. More importantly, those who drank in the previous few months were less willing to talk to family and friends about how alcohol can have harmful interactions with prescription drugs, or to be an advocate for safe alcohol and prescription drug use than those who had not had a drink recently. Pharmacists reported that they were willing to convey prescription drug safety information to older adults via a variety of formats, including displaying or distributing a flyer, and directly administering a brief intervention.Conclusion: In this study, older adults were found to have inadequate knowledge of prescription drug safety and interactions with alcohol, but pharmacists who regularly come in contact with older adults indicated that they were ready and willing to talk to older adults about prescription drug safety. Future research should focus on interventions

The interplay between teamwork, clinicians' emotional exhaustion, and clinician-rated patient safety: a longitudinal study.

Science.gov (United States)

Welp, Annalena; Meier, Laurenz L; Manser, Tanja

2016-04-19

Effectively managing patient safety and clinicians' emotional exhaustion are important goals of healthcare organizations. Previous cross-sectional studies showed that teamwork is associated with both. However, causal relationships between all three constructs have not yet been investigated. Moreover, the role of different dimensions of teamwork in relation to emotional exhaustion and patient safety is unclear. The current study focused on the long-term development of teamwork, emotional exhaustion, and patient safety in interprofessional intensive care teams by exploring causal relationships between these constructs. A secondary objective was to disentangle the effects of interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral teamwork. We employed a longitudinal study design. Participants were 2100 nurses and physicians working in 55 intensive care units. They answered an online questionnaire on interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral aspects of teamwork, emotional exhaustion, and patient safety at three time points with a 3-month lag. Data were analyzed with cross-lagged structural equation modeling. We controlled for professional role. Analyses showed that emotional exhaustion had a lagged effect on interpersonal teamwork. Furthermore, interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral teamwork mutually influenced each other. Finally, cognitive-behavioral teamwork predicted clinician-rated patient safety. The current study shows that the interrelations between teamwork, clinician burnout, and clinician-rated patient safety unfold over time. Interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral teamwork play specific roles in a process leading from clinician emotional exhaustion to decreased clinician-rated patient safety. Emotionally exhausted clinicians are less able to engage in positive interpersonal teamwork, which might set in motion a vicious cycle: negative interpersonal team interactions negatively affect cognitive-behavioral teamwork and vice versa. Ultimately, ineffective cognitive

Job Demands-Control-Support model and employee safety performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Nick; Stride, Chris B; Carter, Angela J; McCaughey, Deirdre; Carroll, Anthony E

2012-03-01

The aim of this study was to explore whether work characteristics (job demands, job control, social support) comprising Karasek and Theorell's (1990) Job Demands-Control-Support framework predict employee safety performance (safety compliance and safety participation; Neal and Griffin, 2006). We used cross-sectional data of self-reported work characteristics and employee safety performance from 280 healthcare staff (doctors, nurses, and administrative staff) from Emergency Departments of seven hospitals in the United Kingdom. We analyzed these data using a structural equation model that simultaneously regressed safety compliance and safety participation on the main effects of each of the aforementioned work characteristics, their two-way interactions, and the three-way interaction among them, while controlling for demographic, occupational, and organizational characteristics. Social support was positively related to safety compliance, and both job control and the two-way interaction between job control and social support were positively related to safety participation. How work design is related to employee safety performance remains an important area for research and provides insight into how organizations can improve workplace safety. The current findings emphasize the importance of the co-worker in promoting both safety compliance and safety participation. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preliminary experimental study of liquid lithium water interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

You, X.M.; Tong, L.L.; Cao, X.W.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Explosive reaction occurs when lithium temperature is over 300 °C. • The violence of liquid lithium water interaction increases with the initial temperature of liquid lithium. • The interaction is suppressed when the initial water temperature is above 70 °C. • Steam explosion is not ignorable in the risk assessment of liquid lithium water interaction. • Explosion strength of liquid lithium water interaction is evaluated by explosive yield. - Abstract: Liquid lithium is the best candidate for a material with low Z and low activation, and is one of the important choices for plasma facing materials in magnetic fusion devices. However, liquid lithium reacts violently with water under the conditions of loss of coolant accidents. The release of large heats and hydrogen could result in the dramatic increase of temperature and pressure. The lithium–water explosion has large effect on the safety of fusion devices, which is an important content for the safety assessment of fusion devices. As a preliminary investigation of liquid lithium water interaction, the test facility has been built and experiments have been conducted under different conditions. The initial temperature of lithium droplet ranged from 200 °C to 600 °C and water temperature was varied between 20 °C and 90 °C. Lithium droplets were released into the test section with excess water. The shape of lithium droplet and steam generated around the lithium were observed by the high speed camera. At the same time, the pressure and temperature in the test section were recorded during the violent interactions. The preliminary experimental results indicate that the initial temperature of lithium and water has an effect on the violence of liquid lithium water interaction.

Preliminary experimental study of liquid lithium water interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

You, X.M.; Tong, L.L.; Cao, X.W., E-mail: caoxuewu@sjtu.edu.cn

2015-10-15

Highlights: • Explosive reaction occurs when lithium temperature is over 300 °C. • The violence of liquid lithium water interaction increases with the initial temperature of liquid lithium. • The interaction is suppressed when the initial water temperature is above 70 °C. • Steam explosion is not ignorable in the risk assessment of liquid lithium water interaction. • Explosion strength of liquid lithium water interaction is evaluated by explosive yield. - Abstract: Liquid lithium is the best candidate for a material with low Z and low activation, and is one of the important choices for plasma facing materials in magnetic fusion devices. However, liquid lithium reacts violently with water under the conditions of loss of coolant accidents. The release of large heats and hydrogen could result in the dramatic increase of temperature and pressure. The lithium–water explosion has large effect on the safety of fusion devices, which is an important content for the safety assessment of fusion devices. As a preliminary investigation of liquid lithium water interaction, the test facility has been built and experiments have been conducted under different conditions. The initial temperature of lithium droplet ranged from 200 °C to 600 °C and water temperature was varied between 20 °C and 90 °C. Lithium droplets were released into the test section with excess water. The shape of lithium droplet and steam generated around the lithium were observed by the high speed camera. At the same time, the pressure and temperature in the test section were recorded during the violent interactions. The preliminary experimental results indicate that the initial temperature of lithium and water has an effect on the violence of liquid lithium water interaction.

IRSN safety research carried out for reviewing safety cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serres, Ch.

2010-01-01

Christophe Serres from IRSN (France) described the independent role of the IRSN regarding research related to nuclear safety in the context of the French Planning Act of 28 June 2006 foreseeing a licence application to be submitted in 2015 for the creation of a deep geological repository. IRSN research programme is organised along research activities devoted to addressing independently-identified k ey safety issues . These 'key issues' should also be of prime concern for the implementer since they relate to the demonstration of the overall safety of the repository, and the level of funding that the implementer should afford to research activities of concern for safety. He explained that the quality and independency of the research programme carried out by IRSN allow building and improving a set of scientific knowledge and technical skills that serves the public mission of delivering technical appraisal and advice, e.g., on behalf of the national safety authority. In particular they contribute to improving the decisional process by making possible scientific dialogue with stakeholders independently from regulator or implementer. The current IRSN R and D programme is developed along the following lines: - Test the adequacy of experimental methods for which feedback is not sufficient. - Develop basic scientific knowledge in the fields where there is a need for better understanding of complex phenomena and interactions. - Develop and use numerical modelling tools to support studies on complex phenomena and interactions. - Perform specific experimental tests aiming at assessing the key parameters that may warrant the performances of the different components of the repository. These studies are carried out by means of experiments performed either at IRSN surface laboratories, or in the Tournemire Experimental Station (TES), an underground facility operated by IRSN in the south-east of France. Targeted actions on research related to operational safety and reversibility

The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Safety Climate and Individual Safety Behavior on Construction Sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuzhong Shen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Unsafe acts contribute dominantly to construction accidents, and increasing safety behavior is essential to reduce accidents. Previous research conceptualized safety behavior as an interaction between proximal individual differences (safety knowledge and safety motivation and distal contextual factors (leadership and safety climate. However, relatively little empirical research has examined this conceptualization in the construction sector. Given the cultural background of the sample, this study makes a slight modification to the conceptualization and views transformational leadership as an antecedent of safety climate. Accordingly, this study establishes a multiple mediator model showing the mechanisms through which transformational leadership translates into safety behavior. The multiple mediator model is estimated by the structural equation modeling (SEM technique, using individual questionnaire responses from a random sample of construction personnel based in Hong Kong. As hypothesized, transformational leadership has a significant impact on safety climate which is mediated by safety-specific leader–member exchange (LMX, and safety climate in turn impacts safety behavior through safety knowledge. The results suggest that future safety climate interventions should be more effective if supervisors exhibit transformational leadership, encourage construction personnel to voice safety concerns without fear of retaliation, and repeatedly remind them about safety on the job.

The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Safety Climate and Individual Safety Behavior on Construction Sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Yuzhong; Ju, Chuanjing; Koh, Tas Yong; Rowlinson, Steve; Bridge, Adrian J

2017-01-05

Unsafe acts contribute dominantly to construction accidents, and increasing safety behavior is essential to reduce accidents. Previous research conceptualized safety behavior as an interaction between proximal individual differences (safety knowledge and safety motivation) and distal contextual factors (leadership and safety climate). However, relatively little empirical research has examined this conceptualization in the construction sector. Given the cultural background of the sample, this study makes a slight modification to the conceptualization and views transformational leadership as an antecedent of safety climate. Accordingly, this study establishes a multiple mediator model showing the mechanisms through which transformational leadership translates into safety behavior. The multiple mediator model is estimated by the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique, using individual questionnaire responses from a random sample of construction personnel based in Hong Kong. As hypothesized, transformational leadership has a significant impact on safety climate which is mediated by safety-specific leader-member exchange (LMX), and safety climate in turn impacts safety behavior through safety knowledge. The results suggest that future safety climate interventions should be more effective if supervisors exhibit transformational leadership, encourage construction personnel to voice safety concerns without fear of retaliation, and repeatedly remind them about safety on the job.

The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Safety Climate and Individual Safety Behavior on Construction Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Yuzhong; Ju, Chuanjing; Koh, Tas Yong; Rowlinson, Steve; Bridge, Adrian J.

2017-01-01

Unsafe acts contribute dominantly to construction accidents, and increasing safety behavior is essential to reduce accidents. Previous research conceptualized safety behavior as an interaction between proximal individual differences (safety knowledge and safety motivation) and distal contextual factors (leadership and safety climate). However, relatively little empirical research has examined this conceptualization in the construction sector. Given the cultural background of the sample, this study makes a slight modification to the conceptualization and views transformational leadership as an antecedent of safety climate. Accordingly, this study establishes a multiple mediator model showing the mechanisms through which transformational leadership translates into safety behavior. The multiple mediator model is estimated by the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique, using individual questionnaire responses from a random sample of construction personnel based in Hong Kong. As hypothesized, transformational leadership has a significant impact on safety climate which is mediated by safety-specific leader–member exchange (LMX), and safety climate in turn impacts safety behavior through safety knowledge. The results suggest that future safety climate interventions should be more effective if supervisors exhibit transformational leadership, encourage construction personnel to voice safety concerns without fear of retaliation, and repeatedly remind them about safety on the job. PMID:28067775

A hybrid simulation approach for integrating safety behavior into construction planning: An earthmoving case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Goh, Yang Miang; Askar Ali, Mohamed Jawad

2016-08-01

One of the key challenges in improving construction safety and health is the management of safety behavior. From a system point of view, workers work unsafely due to system level issues such as poor safety culture, excessive production pressure, inadequate allocation of resources and time and lack of training. These systemic issues should be eradicated or minimized during planning. However, there is a lack of detailed planning tools to help managers assess the impact of their upstream decisions on worker safety behavior. Even though simulation had been used in construction planning, the review conducted in this study showed that construction safety management research had not been exploiting the potential of simulation techniques. Thus, a hybrid simulation framework is proposed to facilitate integration of safety management considerations into construction activity simulation. The hybrid framework consists of discrete event simulation (DES) as the core, but heterogeneous, interactive and intelligent (able to make decisions) agents replace traditional entities and resources. In addition, some of the cognitive processes and physiological aspects of agents are captured using system dynamics (SD) approach. The combination of DES, agent-based simulation (ABS) and SD allows a more "natural" representation of the complex dynamics in construction activities. The proposed hybrid framework was demonstrated using a hypothetical case study. In addition, due to the lack of application of factorial experiment approach in safety management simulation, the case study demonstrated sensitivity analysis and factorial experiment to guide future research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aviation Safety: Modeling and Analyzing Complex Interactions between Humans and Automated Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Rungta, Neha; Brat, Guillaume; Clancey, William J.; Linde, Charlotte; Raimondi, Franco; Seah, Chin; Shafto, Michael

2013-01-01

The on-going transformation from the current US Air Traffic System (ATS) to the Next Generation Air Traffic System (NextGen) will force the introduction of new automated systems and most likely will cause automation to migrate from ground to air. This will yield new function allocations between humans and automation and therefore change the roles and responsibilities in the ATS. Yet, safety in NextGen is required to be at least as good as in the current system. We therefore need techniques to evaluate the safety of the interactions between humans and automation. We think that current human factor studies and simulation-based techniques will fall short in front of the ATS complexity, and that we need to add more automated techniques to simulations, such as model checking, which offers exhaustive coverage of the non-deterministic behaviors in nominal and off-nominal scenarios. In this work, we present a verification approach based both on simulations and on model checking for evaluating the roles and responsibilities of humans and automation. Models are created using Brahms (a multi-agent framework) and we show that the traditional Brahms simulations can be integrated with automated exploration techniques based on model checking, thus offering a complete exploration of the behavioral space of the scenario. Our formal analysis supports the notion of beliefs and probabilities to reason about human behavior. We demonstrate the technique with the Ueberligen accident since it exemplifies authority problems when receiving conflicting advices from human and automated systems.

Checklists, safety, my culture and me.

Science.gov (United States)

Raghunathan, Karthik

2012-07-01

The world is not flat. Hierarchy is a fact of life in society and in healthcare institutions. National, specialty-specific and institutional cultures may play an important role in shaping today's patient-safety climate. The influence of power distance on safety interventions is under-studied. Checklists may make power distance-hampered negotiations easier by providing a standardised aviation-like framework for communications and by democratising the environment. By using surveys and simulation, we might discover patterns of potentially hidden yet problematic interactions that might foster maintenance of the error swamp. We need to understand how people interact as members of a group as this is crucial for the development of generalisable safety interventions.

Defining safety culture and the nexus between safety goals and safety culture. 1. An Investigation Study on Practical Points of Safety Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, Naoko; Takano, Kenichi; Hirose, Ayako

2001-01-01

In a report after the Chernobyl accident, the International Atomic Energy Agency indicated the definition and the importance of safety culture and the ideal organizational state where safety culture pervades. However, the report did not mention practical approaches to enhance safety culture. In Japan, although there had been investigations that clarified the consciousness of employees and the organizational climate in the nuclear power and railway industries, organizational factors that clarified the level of organization safety and practical methods that spread safety culture in an organization had not been studied. The Central Research Institute of the Electric Power Industry conducted surveys of organizational culture for the construction, chemical, and manufacturing industries. The aim of our study was to clarify the organizational factors that influence safety in an organization expressed in employee safety consciousness, commitment to safety activities, rate of accidents, etc. If these areas were clarified, the level of organization safety might be evaluated, and practical ways could be suggested to enhance the safety culture. Consequently, a series of investigations was conducted to clarify relationships among organizational climate, employee consciousness, safety management and activities, and rate of accidents. The questionnaire surveys were conducted in 1998-1999. The subjects were (a) managers of the safety management sections in the head offices of the construction, chemical, and manufacturing industries; (b) responsible persons in factories of the chemical and manufacturing industries; and (c) general workers in factories of the chemical and manufacturing industries. The number of collected data was (a) managers in the head office: 48 from the construction industry and 58 from the chemical and manufacturing industries, (b) responsible persons in factories: 567, and (c) general workers: from 29 factories. Items in the questionnaires were selected from

Safety culture: a comparative study of space, nuclear and oil-gas sectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morais, David; Assis, Altair Souza de

2008-01-01

Full text:We access in this paper the safety culture methodology adopted by three different industrial sectors: Nuclear, space/aeronautics and oil-gas, in Brazil. In this work, It is evaluated the planning, training, personal monitoring and the interaction between the technical personal, such as engineers and physicists, with human ones, such social workers and physiologists, key factor to understand the efficacy of the local safety culture pattern. The research is made through the analysis of the relevant manuals and interviewing the safety, human areas personal, and regulatory managers, concerned with/related to safety/working with safety culture at the specific industrial sector. It is compared the efficacies and the official regulatory vision on the issue, for the different sectors, in order to detect confluences and divergences and, so, to propose a model that better treat the safety culture as a global industrial value. (author)

To dimension safety valves. Probabilist study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noel, Robert; Couvreur, Denis

1982-01-01

The gauge of safety valves of a steam pressure apparatus is usually determined according to an operating situation envelope which it is admitted covers all that can happen in reality. For the safety of the dryer-superheaters of turbines in nuclear power stations, Electricite de France and Alsthom-Atlantique made a reliability study; its method is exposed and the results are discussed. Such a study is heavy going and complex, but in return it permits a better quantitative understanding of the various dimension and operating parameters of an installation which condition its safety. It is therefore a source of progress [fr

Studies and research relatives to the safety of the Super-Phenix project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anselin, F.; Penet, F.

1978-01-01

The analysis of safety reports concerning the Creys Malville power station (Superphenix) must be based on technical data supplied by the NERSA, responsible for the plant, and on results of research and development programme carried out in various establishments and at the CEA in particular. By virtue of the procedure laid down for the safety analysis, i.e. analysis by the barrier method, verification of reactor shut down rules at power, permanence of cooling, confinement of dangerous products in the event of hypothetical failure of the above two functions safety R and D programmes have a double aspect: accident prevention on the one hand and study of the development of accident, even the most hypothetical on the other. In the accident prevention field the studies deal with the resistance of barriers under normal and accidental working conditions, inspection systems and reactor safety functions allowing abnormal situations to be detected and the reactor shut down; whence the special emphasis placed on emergency shut-down and cooling systems. In the accident field the R and D activities cover a wide range of studies on phenomena liable to arise, independently of their probability of occurence during the lifetime of the reactor; heating in the mass or boiling of sodium, fuel, meeting, movements of fused materials, fuel-sodium thermal interaction, core deformation, resistance of confinement recovery of molten fuel, post-accident cooling, transfer of radioactivity and contamination outside the reactor, radiological consequences and means of confinement of dangerous products [fr

UO2/magnetite concrete interaction and penetration study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farhadieh, R.; Purviance, R.; Carlson, N.

1983-01-01

The concrete structure represents a line of defense in safety assessment of containment integrity and possible minimization of radiological releases following a reactor accident. The penetration study of hot UO 2 particles into limestone concrete and basalt concrete highlighted some major differences between the two concretes. These included penetration rate, melting and dissolution phenomena, released gases, pressurization of the UO 2 chamber, and characteristics of post-test concrete. The present study focuses on the phenomena associated with core debris interaction with and penetration into magnetite type concrete. The real material experiment was carried out with UO 2 particles and magnetite concrete in a test apparatus similar to the one utilized in the UO 2 /limestone experiment

Overview of OWI waste/rock interaction studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenks, G.H.

1977-01-01

A review is presented of office of waste isolation (OWI) programs which fall within the waste/rock categories. Discussions are included on salt repository design, thermal powers and radiation intensities, maximum temperatures and gamma doses, salt temperatures around high level waste cannisters, projects concerned with radiation and thermal effects, projects concerned with long term interactions, and waste isolation safety assessment tasks

Randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of an interactive multimedia food safety education program for clients of the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children.

Science.gov (United States)

Trepka, Mary Jo; Newman, Frederick L; Davila, Evelyn P; Matthew, Karen J; Dixon, Zisca; Huffman, Fatma G

2008-06-01

Pregnant women and the very young are among those most susceptible to foodborne infections and at high risk of a severe outcome from foodborne infections. To determine if interactive multimedia is a more effective method than pamphlets for delivering food safety education to Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clients. A randomized controlled trial of WIC clients was conducted. Self-reported food safety practices were compared between pre- and postintervention questionnaires completed >or=2 months after the intervention. Pregnant WIC clients or female caregivers (usually mothers) of WIC clients who were 18 years of age or older and able to speak and read English were recruited from an inner-city WIC clinic. Participants were randomized to receive food safety pamphlets or complete an interactive multimedia food safety education program on a computer kiosk. Change from pre- to postintervention food safety scores. A mean food safety score was determined for each participant for the pre- and postintervention questionnaires. The scores were used in a two-group repeated measures analysis of variance. Of the 394 participants, 255 (64.7%) completed the postintervention questionnaire. Satisfaction with the program was high especially among those with no education beyond high school. When considering a repeated measures analysis of variance model with the two fixed between-subject effects of group and age, a larger improvement in score in the interactive multimedia group than in the pamphlet group (P=0.005) was found, but the size of the group effect was small (partial eta(2)=0.033). Women aged 35 years or older in the interactive multimedia group had the largest increase in score. The interactive multimedia was well-accepted and resulted in improved self-reported food safety practices, suggesting that interactive multimedia is an effective option for food safety education in WIC clinics.

Model quality and safety studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, K.E.

1997-01-01

The paper describes the EC initiative on model quality assessment and emphasizes some of the problems encountered in the selection of data from field tests used in the evaluation process. Further, it discusses the impact of model uncertainties in safety studies of industrial plants. The model...... that most of these have never been through a procedure of evaluation, but nonetheless are used to assist in making decisions that may directly affect the safety of the public and the environment. As a major funder of European research on major industrial hazards, DGXII is conscious of the importance......-tain model is appropriate for use in solving a given problem. Further, the findings from the REDIPHEM project related to dense gas dispersion will be highlighted. Finally, the paper will discuss the need for model quality assessment in safety studies....

Health, safety, and environmental management system operation in contracting companies: A case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Nassiri, Parvin; Yarahmadi, Rasoul; Gholami, Pari Shafaei; Hamidi, Abdolamir; Mirkazemi, Roksana

2016-05-03

Systematic and cooperative interactions among parent industry and contractors are necessary for a successful health, safety, and environmental management system (HSE-MS). This study was conducted to evaluate the HSE-MS performance in contracting companies in one of the petrochemical industries in Iran during 2013. Managers of parent and contracting companies participated in this study. The data collection forms included 7 elements of an integrated HSE-MS (leadership and commitment; policy and strategic objectives; organization, resources, and documentation; evaluation and risk management; planning; implementation and monitoring; auditing and reviewing). The results showed that mean percentage of the total scores in seven elements of HSE-MS was 85.7% and 87.0% based on self-report and report of parent company, respectively. In conclusion, this study showed that HSE-MS was desirably functioning; however, improvement to ensure health and safety of workers is still required.

77 FR 27776 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-11

... Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) In... Services Office, CDC, pursuant to Public Law 92-463. Purpose: The Safety and Occupational Health Study... standard grants review and funding cycles pertaining to research issues in occupational safety and health...

76 FR 18220 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-01

... Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) In... Services Office, CDC, pursuant to Public Law 92-463. Purpose: The Safety and Occupational Health Study... standard grants review and funding cycles pertaining to research issues in occupational safety and health...

Non-linear vehicle-bridge-wind interaction model for running safety assessment of high-speed trains over a high-pier viaduct

Science.gov (United States)

Olmos, José M.; Astiz, Miguel Á.

2018-04-01

In order to properly study the high-speed traffic safety on a high-pier viaduct subject to episodes of lateral turbulent winds, an efficient dynamic interaction train-bridge-wind model has been developed and experimentally validated. This model considers the full wheel and rail profiles, the friction between these two bodies in contact, and the piers P-Delta effect. The model has been used to determine the critical train and wind velocities from which the trains cannot travel safely over the O'Eixo Bridge. The dynamic simulations carried out and the results obtained in the time domain show that traffic safety rates exceed the allowed limits for turbulent winds with mean velocities at the deck higher than 25 m/s.

Fusion reactor safety studies, FY 1977

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darby, J.B. Jr.

1978-04-01

This report reviews the technical progress in the fusion reactor safety studies performed during FY 1977 in the Fusion Power Program at the Argonne National Laboratory. The subjects reported on include safety considerations of the vacuum vessel and first-wall design for the ANL/EPR, the thermal responses of a tokamak reactor first wall, the vacuum wall electrical resistive requirements in relationship to magnet safety, and a major effort is reported on considerations and experiments on air detritiation

75 FR 26266 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-11

... Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) In...) Public Law 92-463. Purpose: The Safety and Occupational Health Study Section will review, discuss, and... cycles pertaining to research issues in occupational safety and health, and allied areas. It is the...

Systems interaction and single failure criterion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-01-01

This report documents the results of a six-month study to evaluate the ongoing research programs of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and U.S. commercial nuclear station owners which address the safety significance of systems interaction and the regulatory adequacy of the single failure criterion. The evaluation of system interactions provided is the initial phase of a more detailed study leading to the development and application of methodology for quantifying the relative safety of operating nuclear plants. (Auth.)

Nuclear safety research in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanguy, P.

1976-01-01

As a consequence of the decision of choosing light water reactors (PWR) for the French nuclear plants of the next ten years, a large safety program has been launched referring to three physical barriers against fission product release: the fuel element cladding, main primary system boundary and the containment. The parallel development of French-designed fast breeder reactors involved safety studies on: sodium boiling, accidental fuel behavior, molten fuel-sodium interaction, core accident and protection, and external containment. The rapid development of nuclear energy resulted in a corresponding development of safety studies relating to nuclear fuel facilities. French regulations also required a special program to be developed for the realistic evaluation of the consequences of external agressions, the French cooperation to multinational safety research being also intensive

Interactions between sanitizers and packaging gas compositions and their effects on the safety and quality of fresh-cut onions (Allium cepa L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Page, Natalie; González-Buesa, Jaime; Ryser, Elliot T; Harte, Janice; Almenar, Eva

2016-02-02

Onions are one of the most widely utilized vegetables worldwide, with demand for fresh-cut onions steadily increasing. Due to heightened safety concerns and consumer demand, the implications of sanitizing and packaging on fresh-cut onion safety and quality need to be better understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of produce sanitizers, in-package atmospheres, and their interactions on the growth of Salmonella Typhimurium, mesophilic aerobic bacteria, yeast and mold, and the physico-chemical quality of diced onions to determine the best sanitizer and in-package atmosphere combination for both safety and quality. Diced onions were inoculated or not with S. Typhimurium, sanitized in sodium hypochlorite, peroxyacetic acid, or liquid chlorine dioxide, and then packaged in either polylactic acid bags containing superatmospheric O2, elevated CO2/reduced O2, or air, or in polyethylene terephthalate snap-fit containers. Throughout 14 days of storage at 7 °C, packaged diced onions were assessed for their safety (S. Typhimurium), and quality (mesophilic aerobic bacteria, yeasts and molds, physico-chemical analyses, and descriptive and consumer acceptance sensory panels). While sanitizer affected (Ppackage atmosphere had a significant (Pinteractions between sanitizer and atmosphere that affected S. Typhimurium and pH were identified whereas 3-way interactions (sanitizer, atmosphere and time) were only observed for headspace CO2. Sodium hypochlorite and elevated CO2/reduced O2 was the best sanitizer and in-package atmosphere combination for enhancing the safety and quality of packaged diced onions. In addition, this combination led to diced onions acceptable for purchase after 2 weeks of storage by trained and consumer panels. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nonminimal hints for asymptotic safety

Science.gov (United States)

Eichhorn, Astrid; Lippoldt, Stefan; Skrinjar, Vedran

2018-01-01

In the asymptotic-safety scenario for gravity, nonzero interactions are present in the ultraviolet. This property should also percolate into the matter sector. Symmetry-based arguments suggest that nonminimal derivative interactions of scalars with curvature tensors should therefore be present in the ultraviolet regime. We perform a nonminimal test of the viability of the asymptotic-safety scenario by working in a truncation of the renormalization group flow, where we discover the existence of an interacting fixed point for a corresponding nonminimal coupling. The back-coupling of such nonminimal interactions could in turn destroy the asymptotically safe fixed point in the gravity sector. As a key finding, we observe nontrivial indications of stability of the fixed-point properties under the impact of nonminimal derivative interactions, further strengthening the case for asymptotic safety in gravity-matter systems.

To improve the safety of treatments in radiotherapy by developing a safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

Following the radiotherapy accidents between 2004 and 2006, the I.R.S.N. deemed necessary to lead a study on the safety of treatments in radiotherapy and on the use and the adaptation to the medical domain of safety analysis approach developed for the nuclear installations. Of this study, six mains lines of investigation appear: Endow the radiotherapy services with real referential of safety, reinforce the robustness of the organization of radiotherapy services, improve the safety of the equipment and software at the design and operating stages, improve the management of the expertise and reinforce the operating feed back on incidents and accidents. The main learning from this study is the benefit that could be gained by fitting the safety analysis concepts and methods to the specificities of radiotherapy considering the organization of it collective work, the cooperation between actors stemming from different jobs as well as the interactions between actors and technical systems in the process of the treatments, when they are put into service and during their periodic checks. (author)

An analysis of electronic health record-related patient safety incidents.

Science.gov (United States)

Palojoki, Sari; Mäkelä, Matti; Lehtonen, Lasse; Saranto, Kaija

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to analyse electronic health record-related patient safety incidents in the patient safety incident reporting database in fully digital hospitals in Finland. We compare Finnish data to similar international data and discuss their content with regard to the literature. We analysed the types of electronic health record-related patient safety incidents that occurred at 23 hospitals during a 2-year period. A procedure of taxonomy mapping served to allow comparisons. This study represents a rare examination of patient safety risks in a fully digital environment. The proportion of electronic health record-related incidents was markedly higher in our study than in previous studies with similar data. Human-computer interaction problems were the most frequently reported. The results show the possibility of error arising from the complex interaction between clinicians and computers.

Center for Maritime Safety and Health Studies

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Established in November 2015, the Center for Maritime Safety and Health Studies (CMSHS) promotes safety and health for all maritime workers, including those employed...

Sun Safety at Work Canada: a multiple case-study protocol to develop sun safety and heat protection programs and policies for outdoor workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, Desre M; Tenkate, Thomas; Strahlendorf, Peter; Kushner, Rivka; Gardner, Audrey; Holness, D Linn

2015-07-10

CAREX Canada has identified solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) as the second most prominent carcinogenic exposure in Canada, and over 75 % of Canadian outdoor workers fall within the highest exposure category. Heat stress also presents an important public health issue, particularly for outdoor workers. The most serious form of heat stress is heat stroke, which can cause irreversible damage to the heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver. Although the need for sun and heat protection has been identified, there is no Canada-wide heat and sun safety program for outdoor workers. Further, no prevention programs have addressed both skin cancer prevention and heat stress in an integrated approach. The aim of this partnered study is to evaluate whether a multi-implementation, multi-evaluation approach can help develop sustainable workplace-specific programs, policies, and procedures to increase the use of UV safety and heat protection. This 2-year study is a theory-driven, multi-site, non-randomized study design with a cross-case analysis of 13 workplaces across four provinces in Canada. The first phase of the study includes the development of workplace-specific programs with the support of the intensive engagement of knowledge brokers. There will be a three-points-in-time evaluation with process and impact components involving the occupational health and safety (OHS) director, management, and workers with the goal of measuring changes in workplace policies, procedures, and practices. It will use mixed methods involving semi-structured key informant interviews, focus groups, surveys, site observations, and UV dosimetry assessment. Using the findings from phase I, in phase 2, a web-based, interactive, intervention planning tool for workplaces will be developed, as will the intensive engagement of intermediaries such as industry decision-makers to link to policymakers about the importance of heat and sun safety for outdoor workers. Solar UV and heat are both health and safety hazards

Study on Fusion Safety Infrastructure using ISAM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, Kyemin; Kang, Myungsuk; Heo, Gyunyoung; Kim, Hyoungchan

2013-01-01

The regulation of nuclear facilities have checked and managed safety throughout the entire process from design, construction, operation and decommissioning. Also, the same meaning as the regulatory requirements and design requirements, it will be important indicators for detailed design of K-DEMO. K-DEMO has many uncertainties because it is in conceptual design phase. Also, there is no reference material because demonstration scale fusion power plants were not operated yet in overseas. So, hazard that threaten the integrity of K-DEMO have to be defined preferentially to define regulatory or design requirements. This study proposed method that educe regulatory or design requirements and introduce web-based cloud infrastructure to perform renewal and sharing of information related with safety that is required in the study rapidly as a part of the R and D program funded by National Fusion Research Institute of Korea (NFRI). We have been performing QSR and PIRT in accordance with development of fusion DEMO plant, and preparing OPT, PSA and DPA for regulation requirements. This study introduces our recent research activities about ISAM for fusion and CCI built for expert and extant safety related information. Unlike fission, nuclear fusion's safety goal is non-evacuation of the public during an accident. To satisfy this goal not only various safety issues should be analyzed, but safety objectives, regulatory requirements, and design variables should also be established in detailed design phase. The web-based cloud infrastructure proposed in this paper will be able to offer input data of future studies and, it is expected to contribute on general and technical safety principles for national fusion power plant technology plan

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.)

Safety : the challenge of today for transportation safety in the future. General report on theme -V "Safety" at the 14th International Study Week on Traffic Engineering and Safety, Strasbourg, September 7-10, 1982.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asmussen, E.

1982-01-01

Transportation (un)safety is the result of a complex process in the transportation system. A large number of variables (characteristics of the system elements) with many interactions, produce a complex network of relationships expressed in "system behaviour". In this network of relationships, man as

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

Lessons learned from measuring safety culture: an Australian case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Suellen; Chiarella, Mary; Homer, Caroline S E

2010-10-01

adverse events in maternity care are relatively common but often avoidable. International patient safety strategies advocate measuring safety culture as a strategy to improve patient safety. Evidence suggests it is necessary to fully understand the safety culture of an organisation to make improvements to patient safety. this paper reports a case study examining the safety culture in one maternity service in Australia and considers the benefits of using surveys and interviews to understand safety culture as an approach to identify possible strategies to improve patient safety in this setting. the study took place in one maternity service in two public hospitals in NSW, Australia. Concurrently, both hospitals were undergoing an organisational restructure which was part of a major health reform agenda. The priorities of the reform included improving the quality of care and patient safety; and, creating a more efficient health system by reducing administration inefficiencies and duplication. a descriptive case study using three approaches: the safety culture was identified to warrant improvement across all six safety culture domains. There was reduced infrastructure and capacity to support incident management activities required to improve safety, which was influenced by instability from the organisational restructure. There was a perceived lack of leadership at all levels to drive safety and quality and improving the safety culture was neither a key priority nor was it valued by the organisation. the safety culture was complex as was undertaking this study. We were unable to achieve a desired 60% response rate highlighting the limitations of using safety culture surveys in isolation as a strategy to improve safety culture. Qualitative interviews provided greater insight into the factors influencing the safety culture. The findings of this study provide evidence of the benefits of including qualitative methods with quantitative surveys when examining safety culture

Test process for the safety-critical embedded software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sung, Ahyoung; Choi, Byoungju; Lee, Jangsoo

2004-01-01

Digitalization of nuclear Instrumentation and Control (I and C) system requires high reliability of not only hardware but also software. Verification and Validation (V and V) process is recommended for software reliability. But a more quantitative method is necessary such as software testing. Most of software in the nuclear I and C system is safety-critical embedded software. Safety-critical embedded software is specified, verified and developed according to V and V process. Hence two types of software testing techniques are necessary for the developed code. First, code-based software testing is required to examine the developed code. Second, after code-based software testing, software testing affected by hardware is required to reveal the interaction fault that may cause unexpected results. We call the testing of hardware's influence on software, an interaction testing. In case of safety-critical embedded software, it is also important to consider the interaction between hardware and software. Even if no faults are detected when testing either hardware or software alone, combining these components may lead to unexpected results due to the interaction. In this paper, we propose a software test process that embraces test levels, test techniques, required test tasks and documents for safety-critical embedded software. We apply the proposed test process to safety-critical embedded software as a case study, and show the effectiveness of it. (author)

Study of the chemical interaction between the beryllium powders of different particles size and the air in the temperature range 500-1000degC form the viewpoint of ITER safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davydov, D.A. [State Scientific Center of Russian Federation, Moscow (Russian Federation); Konovalov, Y.V.; Gorokhov, V.A.; Levin, V.B.; Chekhlatov, G.M.; Khomutov, A.M.

1998-01-01

Under an effect of some factors characteristic for the ITER- operating condition a dense beryllium facing plasma can transit into various forms, changing its structural states. As a result of the bombardment of beryllium plasma facing components by ion fluxes, the production of a dust including the particles from a few micrometers to a few millimeters in size is possible. The specific features in the behaviour of various beryllium forms under emergency conditions are of an essential interest from the viewpoint of ITER safety. Some grades of powders of different average particles size (14-31 micron) have been produced in a given study, and their chemical interaction at high temperatures with air (500-1100degC), test duration effects simulating the emergency situation at ITER in the first approximation have been studied. The temperature dependence of beryllium powders (different particles size after disc abrased) interaction with air in the temperature range 500-1000degC at the exposure of 5 hours long for each temperature and kinetic dependence of interaction of these powders with air at 800degC for the exposure from half an hour to 7 hours long were studied. An analysis of granulometric weight fraction in the metallic and oxidized beryllium powders with different particles size has been done by the photosedimentational technique with the instrument `Analysette-20`. Construction of a mathematical model for the chemical interaction of beryllium powders with air at high temperatures have been carried out. (author)

Studies of the role of molten materials in interactions with UO2 and graphite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fink, J.K.; Heiberger, J.J.; Leibowitz, L.

1979-01-01

Graphite, which is being considered as a lower reactor shield in gas-cooled fast reactors, would be contacted by core debris during a core disruptive accident. Information on the interaction of graphite, UO 2 , and stainless steel is needed in assessing the safety of the GCFR. In an ongoing study of the interaction of graphite, UO 2 , and stainless steel, the effects of the steel components have been investigated by electron microprobe scans, x-ray diffraction, and reaction-rate measurements. Experiments to study the role of the reaction product, FeUC 2 , in the interaction suggested that FeUC 2 promotes the interaction by acting as a carrier to bring graphite to the reaction site. Additional experiments using pyrolytic graphite show that while the reaction rate is decreased at 2400 K, at higher temperatures the rate is similar to that using other grades of graphite

Angra-1 probabilistic safety study-phase B

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandes Filho, T.L.; Gibelli, S.M.O.

1988-05-01

This study represents the Phase B of the Angra-1 Probabilistic Safety Study and is the the final report prepared for the IAEA under Research Contract No. 3423/R2/RB. The three main items covered in this report are the establishment of interim safety goals, analysis of Angra-1 operational experience and development of emergency procedures to address severe accidents. For establishment of interim safety goals a methodology for calculating consequences and risks associated to the Angra-1 operation was developed based on the available data and codes. The proposed safety goals refer to the individual risk of early fatality for people living in the vicinity of the plant, colective risk of cancer fatalities for people living near the plant, the propobability of core melt occurrence and the probability of dominant accident sequences. (author) [pt

Behavioral integrity for safety, priority of safety, psychological safety, and patient safety : a team-level study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leroy, H.; Dierynck, B.; Anseel, F.; Simons, T.; Halbesleben, J.R.; McCaughey, D.; Savage, G.T.; Sels, L.

2012-01-01

This article clarifies how leader behavioral integrity for safety helps solve follower's double bind between adhering to safety protocols and speaking up about mistakes against protocols. Path modeling of survey data in 54 nursing teams showed that head nurse behavioral integrity for safety

A study on safety climate at nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukui, Hirokazu; Yoshida, Michio; Yoshiyama, Naohiro

2001-01-01

In the current study, we define safety climate as an organizational environment that induces members of the organization to give consideration to safety or take safety actions. It is of utmost importance that people holding managerial positions in an organization have a good understanding of the characteristics of the safety climate of the organization and implement safety promotion activities effectively. In the current research, we studied the rating scales and the characteristics of a safety climate. A survey was conducted, targeting technical engineers who belong to the three power stations of Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. The questionnaire mainly consisted of questions concerning safety measures taken by individuals and questions concerning safety measures taken by the organization, to which the individuals belong. As a result of a factor analysis of the responses, we extracted five factors, namely, 'confidence in knowledge and skill', attitude of supervisors,' 'safety education in workplace', 'clarity of tasks' and 'safety confirmation/report'. In studying the rating scales of the safety climate, we selected five items from each of the above five factors, and used the total scores of the ratings of the five items as scores of each factor. Then, we examined the correlation between scores of personal factors and scores of organizational environment factors. We treated the scores of safety confirmation/report' and 'confidence in knowledge and skill', which are personal factors, as criterion variables, and the scores of 'attitude of supervisors', 'safety education in workplace' and 'clarity of tasks', which are organizational environment factors, as predictor variables. As a result, we found that levels of 'safety confirmation/report' and 'confidence in knowledge and skill' can be deduced from the scores of 'attitude of supervisors', 'safety education in workplace' and 'clarity of tasks.' Hence, we have decided to use these three organizational environment

Criticality safety basics, a study guide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

V. L. Putman

1999-09-01

This document is a self-study and classroom guide, for criticality safety of activities with fissile materials outside nuclear reactors. This guide provides a basic overview of criticality safety and criticality accident prevention methods divided into three parts: theory, application, and history. Except for topic emphasis, theory and history information is general, while application information is specific to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Information presented here should be useful to personnel who must know criticality safety basics to perform their assignments safely or to design critically safe equipment or operations. However, the guide's primary target audience is fissile material handler candidates.

Criticality safety basics, a study guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Putman, V.L.

1999-01-01

This document is a self-study and classroom guide, for criticality safety of activities with fissile materials outside nuclear reactors. This guide provides a basic overview of criticality safety and criticality accident prevention methods divided into three parts: theory, application, and history. Except for topic emphasis, theory and history information is general, while application information is specific to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Information presented here should be useful to personnel who must know criticality safety basics to perform their assignments safely or to design critically safe equipment or operations. However, the guide's primary target audience is fissile material handler candidates

Safety certification of airborne software: An empirical study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodd, Ian; Habli, Ibrahim

2012-01-01

Many safety-critical aircraft functions are software-enabled. Airborne software must be audited and approved by the aerospace certification authorities prior to deployment. The auditing process is time-consuming, and its outcome is unpredictable, due to the criticality and complex nature of airborne software. To ensure that the engineering of airborne software is systematically regulated and is auditable, certification authorities mandate compliance with safety standards that detail industrial best practice. This paper reviews existing practices in software safety certification. It also explores how software safety audits are performed in the civil aerospace domain. The paper then proposes a statistical method for supporting software safety audits by collecting and analysing data about the software throughout its lifecycle. This method is then empirically evaluated through an industrial case study based on data collected from 9 aerospace projects covering 58 software releases. The results of this case study show that our proposed method can help the certification authorities and the software and safety engineers to gain confidence in the certification readiness of airborne software and predict the likely outcome of the audits. The results also highlight some confidentiality issues concerning the management and retention of sensitive data generated from safety-critical projects.

The effects of organizational commitment and structural empowerment on patient safety culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Horwitz, Sujin K; Horwitz, Irwin B

2017-03-20

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between patient safety culture and two attitudinal constructs: affective organizational commitment and structural empowerment. In doing so, the main and interaction effects of the two constructs on the perception of patient safety culture were assessed using a cohort of physicians. Design/methodology/approach Affective commitment was measured with the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, whereas structural empowerment was assessed with the Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II. The abbreviated versions of these surveys were administered to a cohort of 71 post-doctoral medical residents. For the data analysis, hierarchical regression analyses were performed for the main and interaction effects of affective commitment and structural empowerment on the perception of patient safety culture. Findings A total of 63 surveys were analyzed. The results revealed that both affective commitment and structural empowerment were positively related to patient safety culture. A potential interaction effect of the two attitudinal constructs on patient safety culture was tested but no such effect was detected. Research limitations/implications This study suggests that there are potential benefits of promoting affective commitment and structural empowerment for patient safety culture in health care organizations. By identifying the positive associations between the two constructs and patient safety culture, this study provides additional empirical support for Kanter's theoretical tenet that structural and organizational support together helps to shape the perceptions of patient safety culture. Originality/value Despite the wide recognition of employee empowerment and commitment in organizational research, there has still been a paucity of empirical studies specifically assessing their effects on patient safety culture in health care organizations. To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first

Quality management of pharmacology and safety pharmacology studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spindler, Per; Seiler, Jürg P

2002-01-01

to safety pharmacology studies, and, when indicated, to secondary pharmacodynamic studies, does not influence the scientific standards of studies. However, applying formal GLP standards will ensure the quality, reliability and integrity of studies, which reflect sound study management. It is important...... to encourage a positive attitude among researchers and academics towards these lines, whenever possible. GLP principles applied to the management of non-clinical safety studies are appropriate quality standards when studies are used in the context of protecting public health, and these quality standards...... of pharmacology studies (ICH S7A): primary pharmacodynamic, secondary pharmacodynamic and safety pharmacology studies, and guidance on the quality standards (expectations for GLP conformity) for these study types have been provided. Primary pharmacodynamic studies are the only study types that are fully exempt...

A study on safety climate at nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukui, Hirokazu [Institute of Nuclear Safety System Inc., Mihama, Fukui (Japan); Yoshida, Michio; Yoshiyama, Naohiro [Japan Institute for Group Dynamics, Fukuoka (Japan)

2001-09-01

In the current study, we define safety climate as an organizational environment that induces members of the organization to give consideration to safety or take safety actions. It is of utmost importance that people holding managerial positions in an organization have a good understanding of the characteristics of the safety climate of the organization and implement safety promotion activities effectively. In the current research, we studied the rating scales and the characteristics of a safety climate. A survey was conducted, targeting technical engineers who belong to the three power stations of Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. The questionnaire mainly consisted of questions concerning safety measures taken by individuals and questions concerning safety measures taken by the organization, to which the individuals belong. As a result of a factor analysis of the responses, we extracted five factors, namely, 'confidence in knowledge and skill', attitude of supervisors,' 'safety education in workplace', 'clarity of tasks' and 'safety confirmation/report'. In studying the rating scales of the safety climate, we selected five items from each of the above five factors, and used the total scores of the ratings of the five items as scores of each factor. Then, we examined the correlation between scores of personal factors and scores of organizational environment factors. We treated the scores of safety confirmation/report' and 'confidence in knowledge and skill', which are personal factors, as criterion variables, and the scores of 'attitude of supervisors', 'safety education in workplace' and 'clarity of tasks', which are organizational environment factors, as predictor variables. As a result, we found that levels of 'safety confirmation/report' and 'confidence in knowledge and skill' can be deduced from the scores of 'attitude of supervisors', 'safety

Structure soil structure interaction effects: Seismic analysis of safety related collocated concrete structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joshi, J.R.

2000-01-01

The Process, Purification and Stack Buildings are collocated safety related concrete shear wall structures with plan dimensions in excess of 100 feet. An important aspect of their seismic analysis was the determination of structure soil structure interaction (SSSI) effects, if any. The SSSI analysis of the Process Building, with one other building at a time, was performed with the SASSI computer code for up to 50 frequencies. Each combined model had about 1500 interaction nodes. Results of the SSSI analysis were compared with those from soil structure interaction (SSI) analysis of the individual buildings, done with ABAQUS and SASSI codes, for three parameters: peak accelerations, seismic forces and the in-structure floor response spectra (FRS). The results may be of wider interest due to the model size and the potential applicability to other deep soil layered sites. Results obtained from the ABAQUS analysis were consistently higher, as expected, than those from the SSI and SSSI analyses using the SASSI. The SSSI effect between the Process and Purification Buildings was not significant. The Process and Stack Building results demonstrated that under certain conditions a massive structure can have an observable effect on the seismic response of a smaller and less stiff structure

Study on 'Safety qualification of process computers used in safety systems of nuclear power plants'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertsche, K.; Hoermann, E.

1991-01-01

The study aims at developing safety standards for hardware and software of computer systems which are increasingly used also for important safety systems in nuclear power plants. The survey of the present state-of-the-art of safety requirements and specifications for safety-relevant systems and, additionally, for process computer systems has been compiled from national and foreign rules. In the Federal Republic of Germany the KTA safety guides and the BMI/BMU safety criteria have to be observed. For the design of future computer-aided systems in nuclear power plants it will be necessary to apply the guidelines in [DIN-880] and [DKE-714] together with [DIN-192]. With the aid of a risk graph the various functions of a system, or of a subsystem, can be evaluated with regard to their significance for safety engineering. (orig./HP) [de

Cross-comparison of three surrogate safety methods to diagnose cyclist safety problems at intersections in Norway.

Science.gov (United States)

Laureshyn, Aliaksei; Goede, Maartje de; Saunier, Nicolas; Fyhri, Aslak

2017-08-01

Relying on accident records as the main data source for studying cyclists' safety has many drawbacks, such as high degree of under-reporting, the lack of accident details and particularly of information about the interaction processes that led to the accident. It is also an ethical problem as one has to wait for accidents to happen in order to make a statement about cyclists' (un-)safety. In this perspective, the use of surrogate safety measures based on actual observations in traffic is very promising. In this study we used video data from three intersections in Norway that were all independently analysed using three methods: the Swedish traffic conflict technique (Swedish TCT), the Dutch conflict technique (DOCTOR) and the probabilistic surrogate measures of safety (PSMS) technique developed in Canada. The first two methods are based on manual detection and counting of critical events in traffic (traffic conflicts), while the third considers probabilities of multiple trajectories for each interaction and delivers a density map of potential collision points per site. Due to extensive use of microscopic data, PSMS technique relies heavily on automated tracking of the road users in video. Across the three sites, the methods show similarities or are at least "compatible" with the accident records. The two conflict techniques agree quite well for the number, type and location of conflicts, but some differences with no obvious explanation are also found. PSMS reports many more safety-relevant interactions including less severe events. The location of the potential collision points is compatible with what the conflict techniques suggest, but the possibly significant share of false alarms due to inaccurate trajectories extracted from video complicates the comparison. The tested techniques still require enhancement, with respect to better adjustment to analysis of the situations involving cyclists (and vulnerable road users in general) and further validation. However, we

Interactive computer codes for education and training on nuclear safety and radioprotection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leszczynski, Francisco

2008-01-01

Two interactive computer codes for education and training on nuclear safety and radioprotection developed at RA6 Reactor Division-Bariloche Atomic Center-CNEA are presented on this paper. The first code named SIMREACT has been developed in order to simulate the control of a research nuclear reactor in real time with a simple but accurate approach. The code solves the equations of neutron punctual kinetics with time variable reactivity. Utilizing the timer of the computer and the controls of a PC keyboard, with an adequate graphic interface, a simulation in real time of the temporal behavior of a research reactor is obtained. The reactivity can be changed by means of the extraction or insertion of control rods. It was implemented also the simulation of automatic pilot and scram. The use of this code is focalized on practices of nuclear reactor control like start-up from the subcritical state with external source up to power to a desired level, change of power level, calibration of a control rod with different methods, and approach to critical condition by interpolation of the answer in function of reactivity. The second code named LICEN has been developed in order to help the studies of all the topics included in examination programs for obtaining licenses for research reactor operators and radioprotection officials. Using the PC mouse, with an adequate graphic interface, the student can gradually learn the topics related with general and special licenses. The general option includes nuclear reactor engineering, radioprotection, nuclear safety, documentation and normative. The specific option includes mandatory documentation, description of the installation and task on normal and emergency situations. For each of these topics there are sub-items with all the relevant information. The objective of this code is to joint in one electronic place a large amount of information which usually it is disseminated on difficult to find separated papers. (author)

Environmental Regulation and Food Safety: Studies of Protection ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Environmental Regulation and Food Safety: Studies of Protection and Protectionism. Book cover Environmental Regulation and Food Safety: Studies of Protection and Protectionism. Directeur(s) : Veena Jha. Maison(s) d'édition : Edward Elgar, IDRC. 1 janvier 2006. ISBN : 184542512X. 250 pages. e-ISBN : 155250185X.

Experimental and analytical studies of melt jet-coolant interactions: a synthesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dinh, T.N.; Bui, V.A.; Nourgaliev, R.R.; Green, J.A.; Sehgal, B.R. [Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Div. of Nuclear Power Safety

1998-01-01

Instability and fragmentation of a core melt jet in water have been actively studied during the past ten years. Several models, and a few computer codes, have been developed. However, there are, still, large uncertainties, both, in interpreting experimental results and in predicting reactor-scale processes. Steam explosion and debris coolability, as reactor safety issues, are related to the jet fragmentation process. A better understanding of the physics of jet instability and fragmentation is crucial for assessments of fuel-coolant interactions (FCIs). This paper presents research, conducted at the Division of Nuclear Power Safety, Royal Institute of Technology (RIT/NPS), Stockholm, concerning molten jet-coolant interactions, as a precursor for premixing. First, observations were obtained from scoping experiments with simulant fluids. Second, the linear perturbation method was extended and applied to analyze the interfacial-instability characteristics. Third, two innovative approachs to CFD modeling of jet fragmentation were developed and employed for analysis. The focus of the studies was placed on (a) identifying potential factors, which may affect the jet instability, (b) determining the scaling laws, and (c) predicting the jet behavior for severe accidents conditions. In particular, the effects of melt physical properties, and the thermal hydraulics of the mixing zone, on jet fragmentation were investigated. Finally, with the insights gained from a synthesis of the experimental results and analysis results, a new phenomenological concept, named `macrointeractions concept of jet fragmentation` is proposed. (author)

Experimental and analytical studies of melt jet-coolant interactions: a synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dinh, T.N.; Bui, V.A.; Nourgaliev, R.R.; Green, J.A.; Sehgal, B.R.

1999-01-01

Instability and fragmentation of a core melt jet in water have been actively studied during the past 10 years. Several models, and a few computer codes, have been developed. However, there are, still, large uncertainties, both, in interpreting experimental results and in predicting reactor-scale processes. Steam explosion and debris coolability, as reactor safety issues, are related to the jet fragmentation process. A better understanding of the physics of jet instability and fragmentation is crucial for assessments of fuel-coolant interactions (FCIs). This paper presents research, conducted at the Division of Nuclear Power Safety, Royal Institute of Technology (RIT/NPS), Stockholm, concerning molten jet-coolant interactions, as a precursor for premixing. First, observations were obtained from scoping experiments with simulant fluids. Second, the linear perturbation method was extended and applied to analyze the interfacial-instability characteristics. Third, two innovative approaches to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of jet fragmentation were developed and employed for analysis. The focus of the studies was placed on (a) identifying potential factors, which may affect the jet instability, (b) determining the scaling laws, and (c) predicting the jet behavior for severe accident conditions. In particular, the effects of melt physical properties, and the thermal hydraulics of the mixing zone, on jet fragmentation were investigated. Finally, with the insights gained from a synthesis of the experimental results and analysis results, a new phenomenological concept, named 'macrointeractions concept of jet fragmentation' is proposed. (orig.)

Nitrogen-system safety study: Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-07-01

The Department of Energy has primary responsibility for the safety of operations at DOE-owned nuclear facilities. The guidelines for the analysis of credible accidents are outlined in DOE Order 5481.1. DOE has requested that existing plant facilities and operations be reviewed for potential safety problems not covered by standard industrial safety procedures. This review is being conducted by investigating individual facilities and documenting the results in Safety Study Reports which will be compiled to form the Existing Plant Final Safety Analysis Report which is scheduled for completion in September, 1984. This Safety Study documents the review of the Plant Nitrogen System facilities and operations and consists of Section 4.0, Facility and Process Description, and Section 5.0, Accident Analysis, of the Final Safety Analysis Report format. The existing nitrogen system consists of a Superior Air Products Company Type D Nitrogen Plant, nitrogen storage facilities, vaporization facilities and a distribution system. The system is designed to generate and distribute nitrogen gas used in the cascade for seal feed, buffer systems, and for servicing equipment when exceptionally low dew points are required. Gaseous nitrogen is also distributed to various process auxiliary buildings. The average usage is approximately 130,000 standard cubic feet per day

Patient Safety Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Solvejg

of health care professional’s behaviour, habits, norms, values, and basic assumptions related to patient care; it is the way things are done. The patient safety culture guides the motivation, commitment to and know-how of the safety management, and how all members of a work place interact. This thesis......Patient safety is highly prioritised in the Danish health care system, never the less, patients are still exposed to risk and harmed every day. Implementation of a patient safety culture has been suggested an effective mean to protect patients against adverse events. Working strategically...

Language barriers and patient safety risks in hospital care. A mixed methods study.

Science.gov (United States)

van Rosse, Floor; de Bruijne, Martine; Suurmond, Jeanine; Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise; Wagner, Cordula

2016-02-01

A language barrier has been shown to be a threat for quality of hospital care. International studies highlighted a lack of adequate noticing, reporting, and bridging of a language barrier. However, studies on the link between language proficiency and patient safety are scarce, especially in Europe. The present study investigates patient safety risks due to language barriers during hospitalization, and the way language barriers are detected, reported, and bridged in Dutch hospital care. We combined quantitative and qualitative methods in a sample of 576 ethnic minority patients who were hospitalized on 30 wards within four urban hospitals. The nursing and medical records of 17 hospital admissions of patients with language barriers were qualitatively analyzed, and complemented by 12 in-depth interviews with care providers and patients and/or their relatives to identify patient safety risks during hospitalization. The medical records of all 576 patients were screened for language barrier reports. The results were compared to patients' self-reported Dutch language proficiency. The policies of wards regarding bridging language barriers were compared with the reported use of interpreters in the medical records. Situations in hospital care where a language barrier threatened patient safety included daily nursing tasks (i.e. medication administration, pain management, fluid balance management) and patient-physician interaction concerning diagnosis, risk communication and acute situations. In 30% of the patients that reported a low Dutch proficiency, no language barrier was documented in the patient record. Relatives of patients often functioned as interpreter for them and professional interpreters were hardly used. The present study showed a wide variety of risky situations in hospital care for patients with language barriers. These risks can be reduced by adequately bridging the language barrier, which, in the first place, demands adequate detecting and reporting of a

Characteristics of the safety climate in teams with world-class safety ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

interact to deliver a project successfully in terms of cost .... small-scale accidents occurring at high frequency and from diverse ... the team dynamics of role players in a construction project and .... modified safety pyramid to measure the impact of the safety climate ...... Methodological Centre for Vocational Education and.

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.

Cementitious Materials in Safety Cases for Geological Repositories for Radioactive Waste: Role, Evolution and Interactions. A Workshop organised by the OECD/NEA Integration Group for the Safety Case and hosted by ONDRAF/NIRAS. Cementitious materials in safety cases for radioactive waste: role, evolution and interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Integration Group for the Safety Case (IGSC) organised a workshop to assess current understanding on the use of cementitious materials in radioactive waste disposal. The workshop was hosted by the Belgian Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials (Ondraf/Niras), in Brussels, Belgium on 17-19 November 2009. The workshop brought together a wide range of people involved in supporting safety case development and having an interest in cementitious materials: namely, cement and concrete experts, repository designers, scientists, safety assessors, disposal programme managers and regulators. The workshop was designed primarily to consider issues relevant to the post-closure safety of radioactive waste disposal, but also addressed some related operational issues, such as cementitious barrier emplacement. Where relevant, information on cementitious materials from analogous natural and anthropogenic systems was also considered. This report provides a synthesis of the workshop, and summarises its main results and findings. The structure of this report follows the workshop agenda: - Section 2 summarises plenary and working group discussions on the uses, functions and evolution of cementitious materials in geological disposal, and highlights key aspects and discussions points. - Section 3 summarises plenary and working group discussions on interactions of cementitious materials with other disposal system components, and highlights key aspects and discussions points. - Section 4 summarises the workshop session on the integration of issues related to cementitious materials using the safety case. - Section 5 presents the main conclusions from the workshop. - Section 6 contains a list of references. - Appendix A presents the workshop agenda. - Appendix B contains the abstracts and, where provided, technical papers supporting oral presentations at the workshop. - Appendix C contains the abstracts and, where provided, technical

Studying the Safety Impact of Autonomous Vehicles Using Simulation-Based Surrogate Safety Measures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Mario Morando

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Autonomous vehicle (AV technology has advanced rapidly in recent years with some automated features already available in vehicles on the market. AVs are expected to reduce traffic crashes as the majority of crashes are related to driver errors, fatigue, alcohol, or drugs. However, very little research has been conducted to estimate the safety impact of AVs. This paper aims to investigate the safety impacts of AVs using a simulation-based surrogate safety measure approach. To this end, safety impacts are explored through the number of conflicts extracted from the VISSIM traffic microsimulator using the Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM. Behaviours of human-driven vehicles (HVs and AVs (level 4 automation are modelled within the VISSIM’s car-following model. The safety investigation is conducted for two case studies, that is, a signalised intersection and a roundabout, under various AV penetration rates. Results suggest that AVs improve safety significantly with high penetration rates, even when they travel with shorter headways to improve road capacity and reduce delay. For the signalised intersection, AVs reduce the number of conflicts by 20% to 65% with the AV penetration rates of between 50% and 100% (statistically significant at p<0.05. For the roundabout, the number of conflicts is reduced by 29% to 64% with the 100% AV penetration rate (statistically significant at p<0.05.

Contribution of operating feedback to probabilistic safety studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guio, J.M. de; Lannoy, A.

1992-03-01

This paper presents the method used for PWR unit operation feedback analysis and its contribution to probabilistic safety studies. The targets were as follows: - use of failure data banks to assess reliability parameters, - use of event data banks to identify and quantify main system initiating events, - determination of a standard operating profile. These studies, performed in the context of nuclear power plant safety programs, prove useful not only to safety engineers but also to equipment experts, designers, operators and maintenance specialists. They constitute basic data for studies in all these areas or the departure point for new investigations. (authors). 3 figs., 3 tabs., 3 refs

Criticality safety studies at VTT Energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roine, T.; Anttila, M.

1995-01-01

At VTT Energy a compact reactor physics calculation system is applied in many kind of problems. Generation of group constants for static and dynamic core calculations, flux and dose rate calculations as well as criticality safety studies are performed basically with the same codes. In the presentation a short overview of the wide variety of criticality safety problems analyzed at VTT Energy is given. The calculation system with some illustrative examples is also described. (12 refs., 1 tab.)

The German nuclear power plant safety study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-01-01

With this study a new approach has been chosen, taking nuclear power plants as an example to assess and to describe the risks arising from the use of modern technology, including those hazards emanating from the rather hypothetical possibility of occurrence of very serious accidents. Following the definition of basic concepts and methods to be applied in risk assessment studied, as well as a brief account of the design and operating mode of nuclear power plants with PWRs', accidents and failures to be considered in a safety study are described. Using the course-of-event and fault tree analysis, the probability of fission product release as a consequence of failures in safety systems or of core meltdown is evaluated. Subsequently, the theoretical model for assessment of reactor accident consequences is presented, discussing such aspects as the dispersion of radioactivity in the atmosphere, the radiation dose model, safety and countermeasures, the model for the evaluation of health hazards as well as methods and calculations for estimating the reliability of risk assessments together with the remaining uncertainties. In an appendix to this study, the analyses presented in the study are discussed in the light of the TMI-2 event. This safety study showing the possibilities of detecting, keeping in check and minimizing harmful effects, can be regarded as a contribution to a better understanding of our modern, highly industrialised society, and eventually to an improvement of the quality of life. (GL) 891 GL/GL 892 MB [de

Preliminary systems-interaction results from the Digraph Matrix Analysis of the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant safety-injection systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sacks, I.J.; Ashmore, B.C.; Champney, J.M.; Alesso, H.P.

1983-06-01

This report provides preliminary results generated by a Digraph Matrix Analysis (DMA) for a Systems Interaction analysis performed on the Safety Injection System of the Tennessee Valley Authority Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant. An overview of DMA is provided along with a brief description of the computer codes used in DMA

Preliminary study on improving safety culture in Malaysian nuclear industries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ibrahim, Sabariah Kader; Lee, Y. E.

2012-01-01

This paper presents preliminary study on safety culture and its implementation in Malaysian nuclear industries by realizing the importance of safety culture; identification of important safety culture attributes; safety culture assessment and the practices to incorporate the identified safety culture attributes in organization. The first section of this paper explains the terms and definitions related to safety culture. Second, for the realization of importance of safety culture in organization, the international operational experiences emphasizing the importance of safety culture are described. Third, important safety culture attributes which are frequently cited in literature are provided. Fourth, methods to assess safety culture in operating organization are described. Finally, the practices to enhance the safety culture in an organization are discussed

Preliminary study on improving safety culture in Malaysian nuclear industries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ibrahim, Sabariah Kader [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Y. E. [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2012-10-15

This paper presents preliminary study on safety culture and its implementation in Malaysian nuclear industries by realizing the importance of safety culture; identification of important safety culture attributes; safety culture assessment and the practices to incorporate the identified safety culture attributes in organization. The first section of this paper explains the terms and definitions related to safety culture. Second, for the realization of importance of safety culture in organization, the international operational experiences emphasizing the importance of safety culture are described. Third, important safety culture attributes which are frequently cited in literature are provided. Fourth, methods to assess safety culture in operating organization are described. Finally, the practices to enhance the safety culture in an organization are discussed.

The selection of field component reliability data for use in nuclear safety studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coxson, B.A.; Tabaie, Mansour

1990-01-01

The paper reviews the user requirements for field component failure data in nuclear safety studies, and the capability of various data sources to satisfy these requirements. Aspects such as estimating the population of items exposed to failure, incompleteness, and under-reporting problems are discussed. The paper takes as an example the selection of component reliability data for use in the Pre-Operational Safety Report (POSR) for Sizewell 'B' Power Station, where field data has in many cases been derived from equipment other than that to be procured and operated on site. The paper concludes that the main quality sought in the available data sources for such studies is the ability to examine failure narratives in component reliability data systems for equipment performing comparable duties to the intended plant application. The main benefit brought about in the last decade is the interactive access to data systems which are adequately structured with regard to the equipment covered, and also provide a text-searching capability of quality-controlled event narratives. (author)

Review of studies on criticality safety evaluation and criticality experiment methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naito, Yoshitaka; Yamamoto, Toshihiro; Misawa, Tsuyoshi; Yamane, Yuichi

2013-01-01

Since the early 1960s, many studies on criticality safety evaluation have been conducted in Japan. Computer code systems were developed initially by employing finite difference methods, and more recently by using Monte Carlo methods. Criticality experiments have also been carried out in many laboratories in Japan as well as overseas. By effectively using these study results, the Japanese Criticality Safety Handbook was published in 1988, almost the intermediate point of the last 50 years. An increased interest has been shown in criticality safety studies, and a Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS) was set up by the Nuclear Science Committee of Organisation Economic Co-operation and Development in 1997. WPNCS has several task forces in charge of each of the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Program (ICSBEP), Subcritical Measurement, Experimental Needs, Burn-up Credit Studies and Minimum Critical Values. Criticality safety studies in Japan have been carried out in cooperation with WPNCS. This paper describes criticality safety study activities in Japan along with the contents of the Japanese Criticality Safety Handbook and the tasks of WPNCS. (author)

Design for sustainable development : environmental management and safety and health

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zwetsloot, G.; Bos, J.

1998-01-01

This is a report on the EU's environmental management and audit scheme and its interaction with the management of safety and health. The focus is on the interactions at company and at policy level. To illustrate the relevance of the interactions at company level, the Annex includes five case studies

Aviation Safety Concerns for the Future

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Brian E.; Roelen, Alfred L. C.; den Hertog, Rudi

2016-01-01

The Future Aviation Safety Team (FAST) is a multidisciplinary international group of aviation professionals that was established to identify possible future aviation safety hazards. The principle was adopted that future hazards are undesirable consequences of changes, and a primary activity of FAST became identification and prioritization of possible future changes affecting aviation. Since 2004, FAST has been maintaining a catalogue of "Areas of Change" (AoC) that could potentially influence aviation safety. The horizon for such changes is between 5 to 20 years. In this context, changes must be understood as broadly as possible. An AoC is a description of the change, not an identification of the hazards that result from the change. An ex-post analysis of the AoCs identified in 2004 demonstrates that changes catalogued many years previous were directly implicated in the majority of fatal aviation accidents over the past ten years. This paper presents an overview of the current content of the AoC catalogue and a subsequent discussion of aviation safety concerns related to these possible changes. Interactions among these future changes may weaken critical functions that must be maintained to ensure safe operations. Safety assessments that do not appreciate or reflect the consequences of significant interaction complexity will not be fully informative and can lead to inappropriate trade-offs and increases in other risks. The FAST strongly encourages a system-wide approach to safety risk assessment across the global aviation system, not just within the domain for which future technologies or operational concepts are being considered. The FAST advocates the use of the "Areas of Change" concept, considering that several possible future phenomena may interact with a technology or operational concept under study producing unanticipated hazards.

On safety management and nuclear safety - A frame of reference for studies of safety management with examples from non-nuclear contects of relevance for nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svenson, O.; Allwin, P.; Salo, I.

2004-03-01

The report includes three case studies of safety management. The studies are presented as chapters, but are written in a format that makes them easy to read separately. Two of the studies cover regulators (the Swedish Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Luftfartsinspektionen) and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate) and one a regulated activity/industry (a car manufacturer, Volvo Car). The introduction outlines a living system framework and relates this to concepts used in organizational management. The report concludes with some findings with potential relevance for safety management in the nuclear power domain. In the next phase of the work, the regulated counterparts of the regulators here will be investigated in addition to a fourth case study of a regulated activity/industry. (au)

A study of passive safety conditions for fast reactor core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Akinao

1991-01-01

A study has been made for passive safety conditions of fast reactor cores. Objective of the study is to develop a concept of a core with passive safety as well as a simple safety philosophy. A simple safety philosophy, which is wore easy to explain to the public, is needed to enhance the public acceptance for nuclear reactors. The present paper describes a conceptual plan of the study including the definition of the problem a method of approach and identification of tasks to be solved

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.

Study of industry safety management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Pil Su

1987-06-01

This book deals with general remarks, industrial accidents, statistics of industrial accidents, unsafe actions, making machinery and facilities safe, safe activities, having working environment safe, survey of industrial accidents and analysis of causes, system of safety management and operations, safety management planning, safety education, human engineering such as human-machines system, system safety, and costs of disaster losses. It lastly adds individual protective equipment and working clothes including protect equipment for eyes, face, hands, arms and feet.

Study on team characteristics influencing on nuclear safety culture in Korea based on Bayesian networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young-gab, K.; Chan-ho, S.; Jeong-jin, P.

2014-01-01

The safety culture of Korean nuclear power plants has been settled down as an organizational culture since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Reason (1997) proposed that safety culture is a sub-culture of corporate culture and sub-culture is a term that can be used interchangeably to a sub-group of people (i.e., department, workgroup). Therefore, the safety culture of organization comprised of various teams can be told as a culture to reflect team characteristics and interact with each other. Team characteristics have something to do with a successful task performance and task efficiency. However, the team characteristics in nuclear power plant have to consider safety preferentially rather than performance. Team characteristics for a safety are necessary to ensure and enhance the safety of safety-critical system. This paper proposed team characteristics for a safety which influence on the strong and vulnerable area of safety culture. These characteristics were analyzed on the basis of the safety culture evaluation which was performed to measure the level of plant workers' safety culture in 2013. The model of team characteristics was constructed considering Bayesian inference and the result was proposed according to workers' awareness. Safety team characteristics have a direct or indirect effect on the safety of nuclear power plants. Therefore, if they are improved and trained continuously, the safety of nuclear power plants might be enhanced. (author)

Study on team characteristics influencing on nuclear safety culture in Korea based on Bayesian networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Young-gab, K.; Chan-ho, S.; Jeong-jin, P., E-mail: iamkyg@khnp.co.kr, E-mail: chsung@khnp.co.kr, E-mail: jjpark82@khnp.co.kr [Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Central Research Inst., Yuseong-gu, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-07-01

The safety culture of Korean nuclear power plants has been settled down as an organizational culture since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Reason (1997) proposed that safety culture is a sub-culture of corporate culture and sub-culture is a term that can be used interchangeably to a sub-group of people (i.e., department, workgroup). Therefore, the safety culture of organization comprised of various teams can be told as a culture to reflect team characteristics and interact with each other. Team characteristics have something to do with a successful task performance and task efficiency. However, the team characteristics in nuclear power plant have to consider safety preferentially rather than performance. Team characteristics for a safety are necessary to ensure and enhance the safety of safety-critical system. This paper proposed team characteristics for a safety which influence on the strong and vulnerable area of safety culture. These characteristics were analyzed on the basis of the safety culture evaluation which was performed to measure the level of plant workers' safety culture in 2013. The model of team characteristics was constructed considering Bayesian inference and the result was proposed according to workers' awareness. Safety team characteristics have a direct or indirect effect on the safety of nuclear power plants. Therefore, if they are improved and trained continuously, the safety of nuclear power plants might be enhanced. (author)

Experimental studies of thermo-hydraulic processes during passive safety systems operation in new WWER NPP projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morozov, A.V.; Remizov, O.V.; Kalyakin, D.S.

2014-01-01

The results of experimental study of thermal-hydraulic processes during operation of the passive safety systems of WWER reactors of new generation are given. The interaction processes of counter flows of saturated steam and cold water in vertical steam-line of the auxiliary passive core reflood system from secondary hydraulic accumulator are studied. The peculiarities of undeveloped boiling on single horizontal tube heating by steam and steam-gas mixture, which is character for WWER steam generator condensing mode, are investigated [ru

Probabilistic studies for a safety assurance program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iyer, S.S.; Davis, J.F.

1985-01-01

The adequate supply of energy is always a matter of concern for any country. Nuclear power has played, and will continue to play an important role in supplying this energy. However, safety in nuclear power production is a fundamental prerequisite in fulfilling this role. This paper outlines a program to ensure safe operation of a nuclear power plant utilizing the Probabilistic Safety Studies

Activities on safety culture study. Study status in public and private sectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makino, Maomi; Takano, Kenichi

2004-01-01

Around after entering in the 21st century, organizational accidents had occurred in Japan at various industries including nuclear industry, which were caused directly by unsafe action, human error and illegal conduct of personnel but there were problems in safety culture of organization such as slow retreat of safety system stimulated by management, schedule control and procedure management becoming a dead letter, lack of safety education, and workplace climate of schedule priority. This article referred to organizational factors common to many severe accidents and introduced safety culture study in public and private sectors to overcome those factors. Safety Culture Evaluation Support Tool (SCEST) was developed for self-evaluation of safety culture of organization as well as Organizational Reliability model (OR model) for analysis of initiation and propagation process of risk event. Safety diagnosis system and feedback type risk assessment system for promoting safe organizational climate and culture were also developed. (T. Tanaka)

Safety assessment of pipes with multiple local wall thinning defects under pressure and bending moment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng Jian; Zhou Changyu; Xue Jilin; Dai Qiao; He Xiaohua

2011-01-01

The safety assessment of pipes with local wall thinning defects is highly important in engineering. Most attention has been paid on the safety assessment of pipe with single local wall thinning defect, while the studies about multiple local wall thinning defects are not nearly enough. However, the interaction of multiple local wall thinning defects in some conditions is great, and may have a great impact on the safety assessment. In the present standard API 579/ASME FFS, the safety assessment of pipes with multiple local wall thinning defects is given, while as well as the influence of load condition, the influences of arrangement and relative depth of defects are ignored, which may influence the safety assessment considerably. In this paper, the influence of the interaction between multiple local wall thinning defects on the remaining strength of pipes at different arrangements and depths of defects under different load conditions (pressure, tension-bending moment and compression-bending moment) are studied. A quantified index is defined to describe the interaction between defects quantitatively. For different arrangements and relative depths of defects, based on a limit value 0.05 of the quantified index of the interaction between defects, a relatively systematic safety assessment of pipes with multiple local wall thinning defects under different load conditions has been proposed.

Fuel-coolant interaction (FCI) phenomena in reactor safety. Current understanding and future research needs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Speis, T.P. [Maryland Univ., College Park, MD (United States); Basu, S.

1998-01-01

This paper gives an account of the current understanding of fuel-coolant interaction (FCI) phenomena in the context of reactor safety. With increased emphasis on accident management and with emerging in-vessel core melt retention strategies for advanced light water reactor (ALWR) designs, recent interest in FCI has broadened to include an evaluation of potential threats to the integrity of reactor vessel lower head and ex-vessel structural support, as well as the role of FCI in debris quenching and coolability. The current understanding of FCI with regard to these issues is discussed, and future research needs to address the issues from a risk perspective are identified. (author)

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.

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.

Safety Behaviors and Stuttering

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, Robyn; Helgadottir, Fjola; Menzies, Ross; Heard, Rob; O'Brian, Sue; Packman, Ann; Onslow, Mark

2017-01-01

Purpose: Those who are socially anxious may use safety behaviors during feared social interactions to prevent negative outcomes. Safety behaviors are associated with anxiety maintenance and poorer treatment outcomes because they prevent fear extinction. Social anxiety disorder is often comorbid with stuttering. Speech pathologists reported in a…

Safety Cultures in Water-Based Outdoor Activities in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andkjær, Søren; Arvidsen, Jan

2015-01-01

In this paper, we report on the study Safe in Nature (Tryg i naturen) in which the aim was to analyze and discuss risk and safety related to outdoor recreation in the coastal regions of Denmark. A cultural perspective is applied to risk management and the safety cultures related to three selected...... water-based outdoor activities: small boat fishing, sea kayaking, and kite surfing. The theoretical framework used was cultural analysis and the methodological approach was mixed methods using case studies with survey and qualitative interviews. The study indicates that safety is a complex matter...... and that safety culture can be understood as the sum and interaction among six categories. The safety culture is closely related to the activity and differs widely among activities. We suggest a broad perspective be taken on risk management wherein risk and safety can be managed at different levels. Small boat...

Nanotechnology Safety Self-Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grogin, Phillip W. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2016-03-29

Nanoparticles are near-atomic scale structures between 1 and 100 nanometers (one billionth of a meter). Engineered nanoparticles are intentionally created and are used in research and development at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This course, Nanotechnology Safety Self-Study, presents an overview of the hazards, controls, and uncertainties associated with the use of unbound engineered nanoscale particles (UNP) in a laboratory environment.

Modelling operator cognitive interactions in nuclear power plant safety evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Senders, J.W.; Moray, N.; Smiley, A.; Sellen, A.

1985-08-01

The overall objectives of the study were to review methods which are applicable to the analysis of control room operator cognitive interactions in nuclear plant safety evaluations and to indicate where future research effort in this area should be directed. This report is based on an exhaustive search and review of the literature on NPP (Nuclear Power Plant) operator error, human error, human cognitive function, and on human performance. A number of methods which have been proposed for the estimation of data for probabilistic risk analysis have been examined and have been found wanting. None addresses the problem of diagnosis error per se. Virtually all are concerned with the more easily detected and identified errors of action. None addresses underlying cause and mechanism. It is these mechanisms which must be understood if diagnosis errors and other cognitive errors are to be controlled and predicted. We have attempted to overcome the deficiencies of earlier work and have constructed a model/taxonomy, EXHUME, which we consider to be exhaustive. This construct has proved to be fruitful in organizing our thinking about the kinds of error that can occur and the nature of self-correcting mechanisms, and has guided our thinking in suggesting a research program which can provide the data needed for quantification of cognitive error rates and of the effects of mitigating efforts. In addition a preliminary outline of EMBED, a causal model of error, is given based on general behavioural research into perception, attention, memory, and decision making. 184 refs

78 FR 64504 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-29

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH or..., Number 177, Pages 56235-56236. Contact Person for More Information: Price Connor, Ph.D., NIOSH Health...

The link between leadership and safety outcomes in hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Squires, Mae; Tourangeau, Ann; Spence Laschinger, Heather K; Doran, Diane

2010-11-01

To test and refine a model examining relationships among leadership, interactional justice, quality of the nursing work environment, safety climate and patient and nurse safety outcomes. The quality of nursing work environments may pose serious threats to patient and nurse safety. Justice is an important element in work environments that support safety initiatives yet little research has been done that looks at how leader interactional justice influences safety outcomes. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 600 acute care registered nurses (RNs) to test and refine a model linking interactional justice, the quality of nurse leader-nurse relationships, work environment and safety climate with patient and nurse outcomes. In general the hypothesized model was supported. Resonant leadership and interactional justice influenced the quality of the leader-nurse relationship which in turn affected the quality of the work environment and safety climate. This ultimately was associated with decreased reported medication errors, intentions to leave and emotional exhaustion. Quality relationships based on fairness and empathy play a pivotal role in creating positive safety climates and work environments. To advocate for safe work environments, managers must strive to develop high-quality relationships through just leadership practices. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Canadian Consumer Food Safety Practices and Knowledge: Foodbook Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Regan; Glass-Kaastra, Shiona; Gardhouse, Christine; Marshall, Barbara; Ciampa, Nadia; Franklin, Kristyn; Hurst, Matt; Thomas, M Kate; Nesbitt, Andrea

2017-10-01

Understanding consumers' food safety practices and knowledge supports food safety education for the prevention of foodborne illness. The objective of this study was to describe Canadian consumer food safety practices and knowledge. This study identifies demographic groups for targeted food safety education messaging and establishes a baseline measurement to assess the effectiveness of food safety interventions over time. Questions regarding consumer food safety practices and knowledge were included in a population-based telephone survey, Foodbook, conducted from November 2014 to March 2015. The results were analyzed nationally by age group and by gender. The results showed that approximately 90% of Canadians reported taking the recommended cleaning and separating precautions when handling raw meat to prevent foodborne illness. Only 29% of respondents reported using a food thermometer when cooking any meat, and even fewer (12%) reported using a food thermometer for small cuts of meat such as chicken pieces. The majority (>80%) of Canadians were aware of the foodborne illness risks related to chicken and hamburger, but fewer (poultry.

Flammable Gas Safety Self-Study 52827

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glass, George [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2016-03-17

This course, Flammable Gas Safety Self-Study (COURSE 52827), presents an overview of the hazards and controls associated with commonly used, compressed flammable gases at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

Disposal safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartlett, J.W.

International consensus does not seem to be necessary or appropriate for many of the issues concerned with the safety of nuclear waste disposal. International interaction on the technical aspects of disposal has been extensive, and this interaction has contributed greatly to development of a consensus technical infrastructure for disposal. This infrastructure provides a common and firm base for regulatory, political, and social actions in each nation

Modeling the Relationship between Safety Climate and Safety Performance in a Developing Construction Industry: A Cross-Cultural Validation Study.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-03-28

This study attempts to validate a safety performance (SP) measurement model in the cross-cultural setting of a developing country. In addition, it highlights the variations in investigating the relationship between safety climate (SC) factors and SP indicators. The data were collected from forty under-construction multi-storey building projects in Pakistan. Based on the results of exploratory factor analysis, a SP measurement model was hypothesized. It was tested and validated by conducting confirmatory factor analysis on calibration and validation sub-samples respectively. The study confirmed the significant positive impact of SC on safety compliance and safety participation , and negative impact on number of self-reported accidents/injuries . However, number of near-misses could not be retained in the final SP model because it attained a lower standardized path coefficient value. Moreover, instead of safety participation , safety compliance established a stronger impact on SP. The study uncovered safety enforcement and promotion as a novel SC factor, whereas safety rules and work practices was identified as the most neglected factor. The study contributed to the body of knowledge by unveiling the deviations in existing dimensions of SC and SP. The refined model is expected to concisely measure the SP in the Pakistani construction industry, however, caution must be exercised while generalizing the study results to other developing countries.

Patient Involvement in Patient Safety: A Qualitative Study of Nursing Staff and Patient Perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Andrea C; Macdonald, Marilyn

2017-06-01

The risk associated with receiving health care has called for an increased focus on the role of patients in helping to improve safety. Recent research has highlighted that patient involvement in patient safety practices may be influenced by patient perceptions of patient safety practices and the perceptions of their health care providers. The objective of this research was to describe patient involvement in patient safety practices by exploring patient and nursing staff perceptions of safety. Qualitative focus groups were conducted with a convenience sample of nursing staff and patients who had previously completed a patient safety survey in 2 tertiary hospital sites in Eastern Canada. Six focus groups (June 2011 to January 2012) were conducted and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: (1) wanting control, (2) feeling connected, (3) encountering roadblocks, and (4) sharing responsibility for safety. Both patient and nursing staff participants highlighted the importance of building a personal connection as a precursor to ensuring that patients are involved in their care and safety. However, perceptions of provider stress and nursing staff workload often reduced the ability of the nursing staff and patient participants to connect with one another and promote involvement. Current strategies aimed at increasing patient awareness of patient safety may not be enough. The findings suggest that providing the context for interaction to occur between nursing staff and patients as well as targeted interventions aimed at increasing patient control may be needed to ensure patient involvement in patient safety.

Advanced fuels safety comparisons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grolmes, M.A.

1977-01-01

The safety considerations of advanced fuels are described relative to the present understanding of the safety of oxide fueled Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBR). Safety considerations important for the successful implementation of advanced fueled reactors must early on focus on the accident energetics issues of fuel coolant interactions and recriticality associated with core disruptive accidents. It is in these areas where the thermal physical property differences of the advanced fuel have the greatest significance

Public safety around dams : Ontario Power Generation's approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bennett, T; Rowat, L [Ontario Power Generation Inc., Toronto, ON (Canada)

2009-04-01

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has developed a Waterways Public Safety Program that includes elements such as integrating public safety considerations into normal business practices and decisions; applying conservative decision making principles regarding operations where there are issues of public safety; and seeking partnership opportunities that enhance public safety awareness. The key steps to the public safety risk assessment process include identifying each type of known public interaction at a facility; identifying the hazards associated with those interactions; assigning a rating of likelihood and consequence for each separate public interaction at a facility; and assigning a risk rating, with a risk matrix for each public interaction. OPG now requires that a new public safety risk assessment be completed every 3 years. The risk assessment is a guide to implementing control measures to lower the risk of injury at dam facilities. OPG has adopted the model that every water conveyance structure will have an established hazardous area, typically adjacent to the structure. These areas are delineated with red danger signs and other control measures installed as needed. Yellow signs are used to delineate warning areas where there is a reasonable likelihood of minor injury or where the public may become stranded. As a minimum, OPG uses signage, sluicegate audible alarms, a stepped approach to sluicegate openings and public education. Safety booms and buoys as well as fencing and barricades may be used as additional control measures along with security patrols and video surveillance to target specific public interactions. 6 figs.

Safety inspections in construction sites: A systems thinking perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Saurin, Tarcisio Abreu

2016-08-01

Although safety inspections carried out by government officers are important for the prevention of accidents, there is little in-depth knowledge on their outcomes and processes leading to these. This research deals with this gap by using systems thinking (ST) as a lens for obtaining insights into safety inspections in construction sites. Thirteen case studies of sites with prohibited works were carried out, discussing how four attributes of ST were used in the inspections. The studies were undertaken over 6 years, and sources of evidence involved participant observation, direct observations, analysis of documents and interviews. Two complementary ways for obtaining insights into inspections, based on ST, were identified: (i) the design of the study itself needs to be in line with ST; and (ii) data collection and analysis should focus on the agents involved in the inspections, the interactions between agents, the constraints and opportunities faced by agents, the outcomes of interactions, and the recommendations for influencing interactions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Case study: the Argentina Road Safety Project: lessons learned for the decade of action for road safety, 2011-2020.

Science.gov (United States)

Raffo, Veronica; Bliss, Tony; Shotten, Marc; Sleet, David; Blanchard, Claire

2013-12-01

This case study of the Argentina Road Safety Project demonstrates how the application of World Bank road safety project guidelines focused on institution building can accelerate knowledge transfer, scale up investment and improve the focus on results. The case study highlights road safety as a development priority and outlines World Bank initiatives addressing the implementation of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury's recommendations and the subsequent launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety, from 2011-2020. The case study emphasizes the vital role played by the lead agency in ensuring sustainable road safety improvements and promoting the shift to a 'Safe System' approach, which necessitated the strengthening of all elements of the road safety management system. It summarizes road safety performance and institutional initiatives in Argentina leading up to the preparation and implementation of the project. We describe the project's development objectives, financing arrangements, specific components and investment staging. Finally, we discuss its innovative features and lessons learned, and present a set of supplementary guidelines, both to assist multilateral development banks and their clients with future road safety initiatives, and to encourage better linkages between the health and transportation sectors supporting them.

Safety analysis and related studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lelievre, J.

1979-12-01

Several examples of reactor safety studies are given. For light water reactors, the consequences of loss of coolant, the disposition of the fuel elements and the behaviour under irradiation of the steels used for containment are described. For fast reactors, the disposition of fuel elements in the case of cooling accidents and sodium fies are described. Examples given of studies not specific to a particular reactor type include studies of non-destructive testing and those of reliability

"FIND Technology": investigating the feasibility, efficacy and safety of controller-free interactive digital rehabilitation technology in an inpatient stroke population: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Bird, M L; Cannell, J; Callisaya, M L; Moles, E; Rathjen, A; Lane, K; Tyson, A; Smith, S

2016-04-16

Stroke results in significant disability, which can be reduced by physical rehabilitation. High levels of repetition and activity are required in rehabilitation, but patients are typically sedentary. Using clinically relevant and fun computer games may be one way to achieve increased activity in rehabilitation. A single-blind randomized controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate the feasibility, efficacy and safety of novel stroke-specific rehabilitation software. This software uses controller-free client interaction and inertial motion sensors. Elements of feasibility include recruitment into the trial, ongoing participation (adherence and dropout), perceived benefit, enjoyment and ease of use of the games. Efficacy will be determined by measuring activity and using upper-limb tasks as well as measures of balance and mobility. The hypothesis that the intervention group will have increased levels of physical activity within rehabilitation and improved physical outcomes compared with the control group will be tested. Results from this study will provide a basis for discussion of feasibility of this interactive video technological solution in an inpatient situation. Differences in activity levels between groups will be the primary measure of efficacy. It will also provide data on measures of upper-limb function, balance and mobility. ACTRN12614000427673 . Prospectively registered 17 April 2014.

Bayesian Safety Risk Modeling of Human-Flightdeck Automation Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Ancel, Ersin; Shih, Ann T.

2015-01-01

Usage of automatic systems in airliners has increased fuel efficiency, added extra capabilities, enhanced safety and reliability, as well as provide improved passenger comfort since its introduction in the late 80's. However, original automation benefits, including reduced flight crew workload, human errors or training requirements, were not achieved as originally expected. Instead, automation introduced new failure modes, redistributed, and sometimes increased workload, brought in new cognitive and attention demands, and increased training requirements. Modern airliners have numerous flight modes, providing more flexibility (and inherently more complexity) to the flight crew. However, the price to pay for the increased flexibility is the need for increased mode awareness, as well as the need to supervise, understand, and predict automated system behavior. Also, over-reliance on automation is linked to manual flight skill degradation and complacency in commercial pilots. As a result, recent accidents involving human errors are often caused by the interactions between humans and the automated systems (e.g., the breakdown in man-machine coordination), deteriorated manual flying skills, and/or loss of situational awareness due to heavy dependence on automated systems. This paper describes the development of the increased complexity and reliance on automation baseline model, named FLAP for FLightdeck Automation Problems. The model development process starts with a comprehensive literature review followed by the construction of a framework comprised of high-level causal factors leading to an automation-related flight anomaly. The framework was then converted into a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) using the Hugin Software v7.8. The effects of automation on flight crew are incorporated into the model, including flight skill degradation, increased cognitive demand and training requirements along with their interactions. Besides flight crew deficiencies, automation system

The advanced neutron source facility: Safety philosophy and studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greene, S.R.; Harrington, R.M.

1988-01-01

The Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) is currently the only new civilian nuclear reactor facility proposed for construction in the United States. Even though the thermal power of this research-oriented reactor is a relatively low 300 MW, the design will undoubtedly receive intense scrutiny before construction is allowed to proceed. Safety studies are already under way to ensure that the maximum degree of safety in incorporated into the design and that the design is acceptable to the Department of Energy (DOE) and can meet the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations. This document discusses these safety studies

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...

Learning health 'safety' within non-technical skills interprofessional simulation education: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Morris; Fell, Christopher W R; Box, Helen; Farrell, Michael; Stewart, Alison

2017-01-01

Healthcare increasingly recognises and focusses on the phenomena of 'safe practice' and 'patient safety.' Success with non-technical skills (NTS) training in other industries has led to widespread transposition to healthcare education, with communication and teamwork skills central to NTS frameworks. This study set out to identify how the context of interprofessional simulation learning influences NTS acquisition and development of 'safety' amongst learners. Participants receiving a non-technical skills (NTS) safety focussed training package were invited to take part in a focus group interview which set out to explore communication, teamwork, and the phenomenon of safety in the context of the learning experiences they had within the training programme. The analysis was aligned with a constructivist paradigm and took an interactive methodological approach. The analysis proceeded through three stages, consisting of open, axial, and selective coding, with constant comparisons taking place throughout each phase. Each stage provided categories that could be used to explore the themes of the data. Additionally, to ensure thematic saturation, transcripts of observed simulated learning encounters were then analysed. Six themes were established at the axial coding level, i.e., analytical skills, personal behaviours, communication, teamwork, context, and pedagogy. Underlying these themes, two principal concepts emerged, namely: intergroup contact anxiety - as both a result of and determinant of communication - and teamwork, both of which must be considered in relation to context. These concepts have subsequently been used to propose a framework for NTS learning. This study highlights the role of intergroup contact anxiety and teamwork as factors in NTS behaviour and its dissipation through interprofessional simulation learning. Therefore, this should be a key consideration in NTS education. Future research is needed to consider the role of the affective non

Preliminary Study on the Revision of Nuclear Safety Policy Statement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Y. E.; Lee, S. H.; Chang, H. S.; Choi, K. S.; Jung, S. J.

2011-01-01

Nuclear safety policy in Korea is currently declared in the Nuclear Safety Charter as the highest tier document and safety principles and directions are announced in the Nuclear Safety Policy Statement. As the circumstances affecting on the nuclear safety policy change, it needs to revise the Statement. This study aims to develop the revised Nuclear Safety Policy Statement to declare that securing safety is a prerequisite to the utilization of nuclear energy, and that all workers in nuclear industry and regulatory body must adhere to the principle of priority to safety. As a result, two different types of revision are being prepared as of August. One is based on the spirit of Nuclear Safety Charter as well as the direction of future-oriented safety policies including the changes in the environment after declaration of the Statement. The other is to declare the fundamental safety objective and safety principles as the top philosophy of national nuclear safety policy by adopting the '10 Safety Principles in IAEA Safety Fundamental' instead of the current Charter. Both versions of revision are subject to further in-depth discussion. However once the revision is finalized and declared, it would be useful to accomplish effectively the organizational responsibilities and to enhance the public confidence in nuclear safety by performing the regulatory activities in a planned and systematic manner and promulgating the government's dedication to priority to safety

Progress in the development of methodology for fusion safety systems studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ho, S.K.; Cambi, G.; Ciattaglia, S.; Fujii-e, Y.; Seki, Y.

1994-01-01

The development of fusion safety systems-study methodology, including the aspects of schematic classification of overall fusion safety system, qualitative assessment of fusion system for identification of critical accident scenarios, quantitative analysis of accident consequences and risk for safety design evaluation, and system-level analysis of accident consequences and risk for design optimization, by a consortium of international efforts is presented. The potential application of this methodology into reactor design studies will facilitate the systematic assessment of safety performance of reactor designs and enhance the impacts of safety considerations on the selection of design configurations

Blame the Patient, Blame the Doctor or Blame the System? A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Studies of Patient Safety in Primary Care

Science.gov (United States)

Daker-White, Gavin; Hays, Rebecca; McSharry, Jennifer; Giles, Sally; Cheraghi-Sohi, Sudeh; Rhodes, Penny; Sanders, Caroline

2015-01-01

Objective Studies of patient safety in health care have traditionally focused on hospital medicine. However, recent years have seen more research located in primary care settings which have different features compared to secondary care. This study set out to synthesize published qualitative research concerning patient safety in primary care in order to build a conceptual model. Method Meta-ethnography, an interpretive synthesis method whereby third order interpretations are produced that best describe the groups of findings contained in the reports of primary studies. Results Forty-eight studies were included as 5 discrete subsets where the findings were translated into one another: patients’ perspectives of safety, staff perspectives of safety, medication safety, systems or organisational issues and the primary/secondary care interface. The studies were focused predominantly on issues seen to either improve or compromise patient safety. These issues related to the characteristics or behaviour of patients, staff or clinical systems and interactions between staff, patients and staff, or people and systems. Electronic health records, protocols and guidelines could be seen to both degrade and improve patient safety in different circumstances. A conceptual reading of the studies pointed to patient safety as a subjective feeling or judgement grounded in moral views and with potentially hidden psychological consequences affecting care processes and relationships. The main threats to safety appeared to derive from ‘grand’ systems issues, for example involving service accessibility, resources or working hours which may not be amenable to effective intervention by individual practices or health workers, especially in the context of a public health system. Conclusion Overall, the findings underline the human elements in patient safety primary health care. The key to patient safety lies in effective face-to-face communication between patients and health care staff or

Project safety studies - nuclear waste management (PSE)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-10-01

The project 'Safety Studies-Nuclear Waste Management' (PSE) is a research project performed by order of the Federal Minister for Research and Technology, the general purpose of which is to deepen and ensure the understanding of the safety aspects of the nuclear waste management and to prepare a risk analysis which will have to be established in the future. Owing to this the project is part of a series of projects which serve the further development of the concept of nuclear waste management and its safety, and which are set up in such a way as to accompany the realization of that concept. This report contains the results of the first stage of the project from 1978 to mid-1981. (orig./RW) [de

A study on optimization of the nuclear safety system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Hoon; Koh, Byung Joon; Kim, Jin Soo; Kim, Byoung Do; Cho, Seong Won; Kwon, Seog Kwon; Choi, Kwang Sik

1986-12-01

The number of nuclear facilities (nuclear power plants, research reactors, nuclear fuel facilities) under construction or in operation in Korea continues to increase and this has brought about increased importance and concerns toward nuclear safety in Korea. Also, domestic nuclear related organizations are increasingly carrying out the design/construction of nuclear power plants and the development /supply of nuclear fuels. In order to flexibly respond to these changes and to suggest direction to take, it is necessary to re-examine the current nuclear safety regulation system. This study is carried out in two stages and this report describes the results of the analysis and the assessment of the nuclear licencing system of such foreign countries as sweden and German, as the first of the two. In this regard, this study includes the analysis on the backgrounds on the choice of nuclear licensing system, the analysis on the licensing procedures, the analysis on the safety inspection system and the enforcement laws, the analysis on the structure and function of the regulatory, business and research organizations as well as the analysis on the relationship between the safety research and the regulatory duties. In this study, the German safety inspection system and the enforcement procedures and the Swedish nuclear licensing system are analyzed in detail. By comparing and assessing the finding with the current Korea Nuclear Licensing System, this study points out some reform measures of the Korean system that needs to improved. With the changing situations in mind, this study aims to develop the nuclear safety regulation system optimized for Korean situation by re-examining the current regulation system. (Author)

Study on some safety-related aspects of tyre use

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen, S.T.H.; Schmeitz, A.J.C.; Maas, S.; Rodarius, C.; Akkermans, L.

2014-01-01

The tyre is a key component that affects road safety. The European commission has posted a tender aimed to study what measures on a European level can be taken in relation to the use of tyres to improve road safety. The results of this study, supported by a cost benefit analyses and carried out by

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

COLD-SAT feasibility study safety analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Mchenry, Steven T.; Yost, James M.

1991-01-01

The Cryogenic On-orbit Liquid Depot-Storage, Acquisition, and Transfer (COLD-SAT) satellite presents some unique safety issues. The feasibility study conducted at NASA-Lewis desired a systems safety program that would be involved from the initial design in order to eliminate and/or control the inherent hazards. Because of this, a hazards analysis method was needed that: (1) identified issues that needed to be addressed for a feasibility assessment; and (2) identified all potential hazards that would need to be controlled and/or eliminated during the detailed design phases. The developed analysis method is presented as well as the results generated for the COLD-SAT system.

Prescribing safety, negotiating expertise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rolina, Gregory

2010-01-01

Owing to their presumed impact on the safety of high-risk installations, the interactions between regulators and the regulated are a major but seldom explored subject of research in risk management. A study by experts on human and organizational factors in nuclear safety sheds light on the various phases (and their effects) of the process whereby experts produce assessments. Light is shed on a 'negotiated expertise' typical of the French style of safety regulations in nuclear installations. It is based on an ongoing technical dialog between experts and operators ('French cooking' for Anglo-Saxons). This analysis of 'expertise' and thus of the 'logics of action' implemented by experts proposes a typology of actions that can be transposed to other sorts of risk or other fields of activity. It hands us the keys for understanding a very contemporary activity. (author)

PERANCANGAN PURWARUPA KOMIK INTERAKTIF SAFETY RIDING BERKONSEP DIGITAL STORYTELLING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Godham Eko Saputro

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Abstrak Di Indonesia khususnya kota besar, kecelakaan yang disebabkan kendaraan bermotor menjadi persoalan yang serius. Salah satunya disebabkan kurangnya pemahaman tentang safety riding. Berbagai upaya kampanye safety riding pun telah dilaksanakan oleh polisi lalu lintas melalui talkshow, siaran radio, serta media leaflet bagi masyarakat yang dilakukan berulang-ulang. Hal itu mendorong peneliti dalam upaya menemukan strategi baru, salah satunya memanfaatkan perkembangan teknologi yang sangat pesat guna mengembangkan media pendukung kampanye safety riding yang tidak hanya dapat menyampaikan pesan, tetapi juga disukai dan bersifat menghibur. Data diperoleh melalui wawancara, observasi, serta studi literatur sebagai sumber konten purwarupa komik interaktif. Melalui pendekatan digital storytelling dan model komunikasi SMCR serta mengacu pada Penelitian Pengembangan, konsep purwarupa komik interaktif bisa dijabarkan lebih detail serta dapat diimplementasikan dalam perangkat mobile khususnya tablet PC. Diharapkan purwarupa ini dapat dikembangkan lebih lanjut sehingga benar-benar dapat dipublish secara umum sebagai media pendukung kampanye safety riding. Kata Kunci: komik, interaktif, safety riding, digital storytelling Abstract In Indonesia especially in big cities, the accident which caused by rider is still become serious issue. One factor which cause accident is the lack of knowledge about safety riding. A lot of efforts which have been carried by traffic policeman are talkshow, radio broadcast, and leaflet media for public society. On the other hand, it courage the researchers in effort to find new startegy, one of them is using the advance of technology to develop another media campaign which not only can deliver the messages, but also can entertain user. This research is an effort to find unconventional media for safety riding campaign. Data was obtained through interview, observation, and study of literature as sources of content for

Quantification of human reliability in probabilistic safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirschberg, S.; Dankg, Vinh N.

1996-01-01

Human performance may substantially influence the reliability and safety of complex technical systems. For this reason, Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) constitutes an important part of Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSAs) or Quantitative Risk Analyses (QRAs). The results of these studies as well as analyses of past accidents and incidents clearly demonstrate the importance of human interactions. The contribution of human errors to the core damage frequency (CDF), as estimated in the Swedish nuclear PSAs, are between 15 and 88%. A survey of the FRAs in the Swiss PSAs shows that also for the Swiss nuclear power plants the estimated HE contributions are substantial (49% of the CDF due to internal events in the case of Beznau and 70% in the case of Muehleberg; for the total CDF, including external events, 25% respectively 20%). Similar results can be extracted from the PSAs carried out for French, German, and US plants. In PSAs or QRAs, the adequate treatment of the human interactions with the system is a key to the understanding of accident sequences and their relative importance to overall risk. The main objectives of HRA are: first, to ensure that the key human interactions are systematically identified and incorporated into the safety analysis in a traceable manner, and second, to quantify the probabilities of their success and failure. Adopting a structured and systematic approach to the assessment of human performance makes it possible to provide greater confidence that the safety and availability of human-machine systems is not unduly jeopardized by human performance problems. Section 2 discusses the different types of human interactions analysed in PSAs. More generally, the section presents how HRA fits in the overall safety analysis, that is, how the human interactions to be quantified are identified. Section 3 addresses the methods for quantification. Section 4 concludes the paper by presenting some recommendations and pointing out the limitations of the

Safe physical human robot interaction- past, present and future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pervez, Aslam; Ryu, Jeha

2008-01-01

When a robot physically interacts with a human user, the requirements should be drastically changed. The most important requirement is the safety of the human user in the sense that robot should not harm the human in any situation. During the last few years, research has been focused on various aspects of safe physical human robot interaction. This paper provides a review of the work on safe physical interaction of robotic systems sharing their workspace with human users (especially elderly people). Three distinct areas of research are identified: interaction safety assessment, interaction safety through design, and interaction safety through planning and control. The paper then highlights the current challenges and available technologies and points out future research directions for realization of a safe and dependable robotic system for human users

Behavior-based safety on construction sites: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Choudhry, Rafiq M

2014-09-01

This work presents the results of a case study and describes an important area within the field of construction safety management, namely behavior-based safety (BBS). This paper adopts and develops a management approach for safety improvements in construction site environments. A rigorous behavioral safety system and its intervention program was implemented and deployed on target construction sites. After taking a few weeks of safety behavior measurements, the project management team implemented the designed intervention and measurements were taken. Goal-setting sessions were arranged on-site with workers' participation to set realistic and attainable targets of performance. Safety performance measurements continued and the levels of performance and the targets were presented on feedback charts. Supervisors were asked to give workers recognition and praise when they acted safely or improved critical behaviors. Observers were requested to have discussions with workers, visit the site, distribute training materials to workers, and provide feedback to crews and display charts. They were required to talk to operatives in the presence of line managers. It was necessary to develop awareness and understanding of what was being measured. In the process, operatives learned how to act safely when conducting site tasks using the designed checklists. Current weekly scores were discussed in the weekly safety meetings and other operational site meetings with emphasis on how to achieve set targets. The reliability of the safety performance measures taken by the company's observers was monitored. A clear increase in safety performance level was achieved across all categories: personal protective equipment; housekeeping; access to heights; plant and equipment, and scaffolding. The research reveals that scores of safety performance at one project improved from 86% (at the end of 3rd week) to 92.9% during the 9th week. The results of intervention demonstrated large decreases in

Age and workers' perceptions of workplace safety: a comparative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gyekye, Seth Ayim; Salminen, Simo

2009-01-01

The study examined the relationship between age and (i) safety perception; (ii) job satisfaction; (iii) compliance with safety management policies; and (iv) accident frequency. Participants were Ghanaian industrial workers (N=320) categorized into 4 age groups: 19-29 years; 30-39 years; 40-50 years; and 51 years and above. Workplace safety perception was assessed with Hayes, Perander, Smecko, and Trask's (1998) 50-item Work Safety Scale (WSS): a scale that effectively captures the dimensions identified by safety experts to influence perceptions of workplace safety. ANOVA was used to test for differences in the mean scores of the 4 groups. Post Hoc analysis revealed differences of statistical significance between the 2 younger cohorts and the 2 older cohorts. The results indicated a positive association between age and safety perception. Older workers had the best perceptions on safety, indicated the highest level of job satisfaction, were the most compliant with safety procedures, and recorded the lowest accident involvement rate. From a practical perspective, understanding age-related perceptions of workplace safety would benefit management's decisions regarding workers' adaptability, general work effectiveness, accident frequency, implementation of safety management policies, and handling of age-related accident characteristics.

Main lessons for FBR safety study from the CABRI experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Ikken

2006-01-01

CABRI project has been carried out FBR safety study with international cooperation of five nations since 1978. The project consists of four periods such as CABRI-1, CABRI-2, CABRI-FAST and CABRI-RAFT. The objects and the main information for hypothetical core decay accident and safety study of fuel are described. The behavior of core decay accident was studied in the first period (CABRI-1), the safety study of fuel was investigated after the second period (CABRI-2). Change of phenomena at the initial process of core decay accident, comparison between analysis and data of fuel diffusion behavior of neutron horoscope by CABRI-2 experiment, representative in-core experiment under slow TOP conditions, the damaged and undamaged pin under slow TOP conditions, the exterior of CABRI and TREAT and the upper part of CABRI and TREAT reactor are shown. CABRI experiments changed to LWR safety study and a part of TREAT is stated. (S.Y.)

[Operating Room Nurses' Experiences of Securing for Patient Safety].

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Kwang Ok; Kim, Jong Kyung; Kim, Myoung Sook

2015-10-01

This study was done to evaluate the experience of securing patient safety in hospital operating rooms. Experiential data were collected from 15 operating room nurses through in-depth interviews. The main question was "Could you describe your experience with patient safety in the operating room?". Qualitative data from the field and transcribed notes were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory methodology. The core category of experience with patient safety in the operating room was 'trying to maintain principles of patient safety during high-risk surgical procedures'. The participants used two interactional strategies: 'attempt continuous improvement', 'immersion in operation with sharing issues of patient safety'. The results indicate that the important factors for ensuring the safety of patients in the operating room are manpower, education, and a system for patient safety. Successful and safe surgery requires communication, teamwork and recognition of the importance of patient safety by the surgical team.

An Investigation into Risks Awareness and E-Safety Needs of Children on the Internet: A Study of Devon, UK

Science.gov (United States)

Annansingh, Fenio; Veli, Thomas

2016-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate children interaction in cyberspace and their use of Web 2.0 technologies. It sought their perception of internet risks as well as their knowledge and experience with electronic safety (e-safety) measures. It also considered parents', teachers' and other stakeholders' perception of internet risks, e-safety…

More asymptotic safety guaranteed

Science.gov (United States)

Bond, Andrew D.; Litim, Daniel F.

2018-04-01

We study interacting fixed points and phase diagrams of simple and semisimple quantum field theories in four dimensions involving non-Abelian gauge fields, fermions and scalars in the Veneziano limit. Particular emphasis is put on new phenomena which arise due to the semisimple nature of the theory. Using matter field multiplicities as free parameters, we find a large variety of interacting conformal fixed points with stable vacua and crossovers inbetween. Highlights include semisimple gauge theories with exact asymptotic safety, theories with one or several interacting fixed points in the IR, theories where one of the gauge sectors is both UV free and IR free, and theories with weakly interacting fixed points in the UV and the IR limits. The phase diagrams for various simple and semisimple settings are also given. Further aspects such as perturbativity beyond the Veneziano limit, conformal windows, and implications for model building are discussed.

Applying interprofessional Team-Based Learning in patient safety: a pilot evaluation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lochner, Lukas; Girardi, Sandra; Pavcovich, Alessandra; Meier, Horand; Mantovan, Franco; Ausserhofer, Dietmar

2018-03-27

Interprofessional education (IPE) interventions are not always successful in achieving learning outcomes. Team-Based Learning (TBL) would appear to be a suitable pedagogical method for IPE, as it focuses on team performance; however, little is known about interprofessional TBL as an instructional framework for patient safety. In this pilot-study, we aimed to (1) describe participants' reactions to TBL, (2) observe their achievement with respect to interprofessional education learning objectives, and (3) document their attitudinal shifts with regard to patient safety behaviours. We developed and implemented a three-day course for pre-qualifying, non-medical healthcare students to give instruction on non-technical skills related to 'learning from errors'. The course consisted of three sequential modules: 'Recognizing Errors', 'Analysing Errors', and 'Reporting Errors'. The evaluation took place within a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test study design. Participants completed self-assessments through valid and reliable instruments such as the Mennenga's TBL Student Assessment Instrument and the University of the West of England's Interprofessional Questionnaire. The mean scores of the individual readiness assurance tests were compared with the scores of the group readiness assurance test in order to explore if students learned from each other during group discussions. Data was analysed using descriptive (i.e. mean, standard deviation), parametric (i.e. paired t-test), and non-parametric (i.e. Wilcoxon signed-rank test) methods. Thirty-nine students from five different bachelor's programs attended the course. The participants positively rated TBL as an instructional approach. All teams outperformed the mean score of their individual members during the readiness assurance process. We observed significant improvements in 'communication and teamwork' and 'interprofessional learning' but not in 'interprofessional interaction' and 'interprofessional relationships

Status of conceptual safety design study of Japanese sodium-cooled fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubo, Shigenobu; Kurisaka, Kenichi; Niwa, Hajime; Shimakawa, Yoshio

2005-01-01

In this paper, the current conceptual safety design and related evaluation of Japanese Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor which is studied in the framework of the Feasibility Study (FS) on commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle Systems in Japan are described. The purpose of the safety design is to establish a feasible safety concept of FBR which aims at a sustainable energy source of the next generations. The safety targets and the safety design principle are set aiming at realizing worldwide acceptability of the safety level. The basic safety design concept, which can meet the safety targets, was formulated taking along with the defense-in-depth philosophy as the basic safety design principle. In order to cope with wide range of energy and resource demands, there are some various designs both of oxide and metal fuel for JSFR. Some analytical results of typical design basis events, design extension conditions and core damage frequency estimation show the feasibility of the safety design concept for them. (author)

Patient safety culture in Norwegian nursing homes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bondevik, Gunnar Tschudi; Hofoss, Dag; Husebø, Bettina Sandgathe; Deilkås, Ellen Catharina Tveter

2017-06-20

Patient safety culture concerns leader and staff interaction, attitudes, routines, awareness and practices that impinge on the risk of patient-adverse events. Due to their complex multiple diseases, nursing home patients are at particularly high risk of adverse events. Studies have found an association between patient safety culture and the risk of adverse events. This study aimed to investigate safety attitudes among healthcare providers in Norwegian nursing homes, using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire - Ambulatory Version (SAQ-AV). We studied whether variations in safety attitudes were related to professional background, age, work experience and mother tongue. In February 2016, 463 healthcare providers working in five nursing homes in Tønsberg, Norway, were invited to answer the SAQ-AV, translated and adapted to the Norwegian nursing home setting. Previous validation of the Norwegian SAQ-AV for nursing homes identified five patient safety factors: teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, working conditions and stress recognition. SPSS v.22 was used for statistical analysis, which included estimations of mean values, standard deviations and multiple linear regressions. P-values safety factors teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction and working conditions. Not being a Norwegian native speaker was associated with a significantly higher mean score for job satisfaction and a significantly lower mean score for stress recognition. Neither professional background nor work experience were significantly associated with mean scores for any patient safety factor. Patient safety factor scores in nursing homes were poorer than previously found in Norwegian general practices, but similar to findings in out-of-hours primary care clinics. Patient safety culture assessment may help nursing home leaders to initiate targeted quality improvement interventions. Further research should investigate associations between patient safety culture and the occurrence

Safety effectiveness of pavement design treatment at intersections: Left turning vehicles and pedestrians on crosswalks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasina Iasmin

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users as they are more exposed than other road users. Pedestrian safety at road intersections still remains the most vital and yet unsolved issue. One of the critical points in pedestrian safety is the occurrence of accidents between left-turning vehicle and pedestrians on crosswalks at signalized intersections. A crosswalk is a place designated for pedestrians and cyclists to cross vehicular roads safely. Drivers are expected to give priority to pedestrians or cyclists during interactions between them on the crosswalk. If a driver exhibits non-yielding behavior, the interaction will turn into a collision. This study examined the safety effect of three crosswalks designed with different materials such as red-colored material or brick pavement based on a safety performance study. The safety performance study considered left-turning driver's gap acceptance behavior and the severity of traffic conflict events between left-turning vehicles and pedestrians. The results of the study indicates that using brick pavement on a crosswalk increases the safety level of the crosswalk. Drivers at such crosswalks are more acquiescent to the priority rule.

The social context moderates the relationships between neighborhood safety and adolescents’ physical activities

Science.gov (United States)

Background. Previous studies of neighborhood safety and physical (in)activity have typically neglected to consider the youth’s peer context as a modifier of these relationships. Objective. Test the independent and interactive effects of perceived neighborhood safety and time spent with friends and p...

Studies on Labour Safety in Construction Sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Kanchana

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Construction industry has accomplished extensive growth worldwide particularly in past few decades. For a construction project to be successful, safety of the structures as well as that of the personnel is of utmost importance. The safety issues are to be considered right from the design stage till the completion and handing over of the structure. Construction industry employs skilled and unskilled labourers subject to construction site accidents and health risks. A proper coordination between contractors, clients, and workforce is needed for safe work conditions which are very much lacking in Indian construction companies. Though labour safety laws are available, the numerous accidents taking place at construction sites are continuing. Management commitment towards health and safety of the workers is also lagging. A detailed literature study was carried out to understand the causes of accidents, preventive measures, and development of safe work environment. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey, which was distributed among various categories of construction workers in Kerala region. The paper examines and discusses in detail the total working hours, work shifts, nativity of the workers, number of accidents, and type of injuries taking place in small and large construction sites.

Studies on Labour Safety in Construction Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Kanchana, S.; Sivaprakash, P.; Joseph, Sebastian

2015-01-01

Construction industry has accomplished extensive growth worldwide particularly in past few decades. For a construction project to be successful, safety of the structures as well as that of the personnel is of utmost importance. The safety issues are to be considered right from the design stage till the completion and handing over of the structure. Construction industry employs skilled and unskilled labourers subject to construction site accidents and health risks. A proper coordination between contractors, clients, and workforce is needed for safe work conditions which are very much lacking in Indian construction companies. Though labour safety laws are available, the numerous accidents taking place at construction sites are continuing. Management commitment towards health and safety of the workers is also lagging. A detailed literature study was carried out to understand the causes of accidents, preventive measures, and development of safe work environment. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey, which was distributed among various categories of construction workers in Kerala region. The paper examines and discusses in detail the total working hours, work shifts, nativity of the workers, number of accidents, and type of injuries taking place in small and large construction sites. PMID:26839916

Public safety around dams guidelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bennett, T [Canadian Dam Association, Edmonton, AB (Canada)

2010-07-01

This presentation discussed Canadian and international initiatives for improving dam safety and described some of the drivers for the development of new Canadian Dam Association (CDA) public safety guidelines for dams. The CDA guidelines were divided into the following 3 principal sections: (1) managed system elements, (2) risk assessment and management, and (3) technical bulletins. Public and media responses to the drownings have called for improved safety guidelines. While the public remains unaware of the hazards of dams, public interaction with dams is increasing as a result of interest in extreme sports and perceived rights of access. Guidelines are needed for dam owners in order to provide due diligence. Various organizations in Canada are preparing technical and public safety dam guidelines. CDA guidelines have also been prepared for signage, booms and buoys, and audible and visual alerts bulletins. Working groups are also discussing recommended practices for spill procedures, spillways and the role of professional engineers in ensuring public safety. Methods of assessing risk were also reviewed. Managed system elements for risk assessment and public interactions were also discussed, and stepped control measures were presented. tabs., figs.

Space station pressurized laboratory safety guidelines

Science.gov (United States)

Mcgonigal, Les

1990-01-01

Before technical safety guidelines and requirements are established, a common understanding of their origin and importance must be shared between Space Station Program Management, the User Community, and the Safety organizations involved. Safety guidelines and requirements are driven by the nature of the experiments, and the degree of crew interaction. Hazard identification; development of technical safety requirements; operating procedures and constraints; provision of training and education; conduct of reviews and evaluations; and emergency preplanning are briefly discussed.

Two sides of the safety coin?: How patient engagement and safety climate jointly affect error occurrence in hospital units.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiffinger, Michael; Latzke, Markus; Steyrer, Johannes

2016-01-01

Safety climate (SC) and more recently patient engagement (PE) have been identified as potential determinants of patient safety, but conceptual and empirical studies combining both are lacking. On the basis of extant theories and concepts in safety research, this study investigates the effect of PE in conjunction with SC on perceived error occurrence (pEO) in hospitals, controlling for various staff-, patient-, and hospital-related variables as well as the amount of stress and (lack of) organizational support experienced by staff. Besides the main effects of PE and SC on error occurrence, their interaction is examined, too. In 66 hospital units, 4,345 patients assessed the degree of PE, and 811 staff assessed SC and pEO. PE was measured with a new instrument, capturing its core elements according to a recent literature review: Information Provision (both active and passive) and Activation and Collaboration. SC and pEO were measured with validated German-language questionnaires. Besides standard regression and correlational analyses, partial least squares analysis was employed to model the main and interaction effects of PE and SC on pEO, also controlling for stress and (lack of) support perceived by staff, various staff and patient attributes, and potential single-source bias. Both PE and SC are associated with lower pEO, to a similar extent. The joint effect of these predictors suggests a substitution rather than mutually reinforcing interaction. Accounting for control variables and/or potential single-source bias slightly attenuates some effects without altering the results. Ignoring PE potentially amounts to forgoing a potential source of additional safety. On the other hand, despite the abovementioned substitution effect and conjectures of SC being inert, PE should not be considered as a replacement for SC.

Analytical study on model tests of soil-structure interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Odajima, M.; Suzuki, S.; Akino, K.

1987-01-01

Since nuclear power plant (NPP) structures are stiff, heavy and partly-embedded, the behavior of those structures during an earthquake depends on the vibrational characteristics of not only the structure but also the soil. Accordingly, seismic response analyses considering the effects of soil-structure interaction (SSI) are extremely important for seismic design of NPP structures. Many studies have been conducted on analytical techniques concerning SSI and various analytical models and approaches have been proposed. Based on the studies, SSI analytical codes (computer programs) for NPP structures have been improved at JINS (Japan Institute of Nuclear Safety), one of the departments of NUPEC (Nuclear Power Engineering Test Center) in Japan. These codes are soil-spring lumped-mass code (SANLUM), finite element code (SANSSI), thin layered element code (SANSOL). In proceeding with the improvement of the analytical codes, in-situ large-scale forced vibration SSI tests were performed using models simulating light water reactor buildings, and simulation analyses were performed to verify the codes. This paper presents an analytical study to demonstrate the usefulness of the codes

Using the Job Demands-Resources model to investigate risk perception, safety climate and job satisfaction in safety critical organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Morten Birkeland; Mearns, Kathryn; Matthiesen, Stig Berge; Eid, Jarle

2011-10-01

Using the Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R) as a theoretical framework, this study investigated the relationship between risk perception as a job demand and psychological safety climate as a job resource with regard to job satisfaction in safety critical organizations. In line with the JD-R model, it was hypothesized that high levels of risk perception is related to low job satisfaction and that a positive perception of safety climate is related to high job satisfaction. In addition, it was hypothesized that safety climate moderates the relationship between risk perception and job satisfaction. Using a sample of Norwegian offshore workers (N = 986), all three hypotheses were supported. In summary, workers who perceived high levels of risk reported lower levels of job satisfaction, whereas this effect diminished when workers perceived their safety climate as positive. Follow-up analyses revealed that this interaction was dependent on the type of risks in question. The results of this study supports the JD-R model, and provides further evidence for relationships between safety-related concepts and work-related outcomes indicating that organizations should not only develop and implement sound safety procedures to reduce the effects of risks and hazards on workers, but can also enhance other areas of organizational life through a focus on safety. © 2011 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2011 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Review of light--water reactor safety studies. Volume 3 of health and safety impacts of nuclear, geothermal, and fossil-fuel electric generation in California

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nero, A.V.; Farnaam, M.R.K.

1977-01-01

This report summarizes and compares important studies of light-water nuclear reactor safety, emphasizing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Reactor Safety Study, work on risk assessment funded by the Electric Power Research Institute, and the Report of the American Physical Society study group on light-water reactor safety. These reports treat risk assessment for nuclear power plants and provide an introduction to the basic issues in reactor safety and the needs of the reactor safety research program. Earlier studies are treated more briefly. The report includes comments on the Reactor Safety Study. The manner in which these studies may be used and alterations which would increase their utility are discussed

Formalizing Probabilistic Safety Claims

Science.gov (United States)

Herencia-Zapana, Heber; Hagen, George E.; Narkawicz, Anthony J.

2011-01-01

A safety claim for a system is a statement that the system, which is subject to hazardous conditions, satisfies a given set of properties. Following work by John Rushby and Bev Littlewood, this paper presents a mathematical framework that can be used to state and formally prove probabilistic safety claims. It also enables hazardous conditions, their uncertainties, and their interactions to be integrated into the safety claim. This framework provides a formal description of the probabilistic composition of an arbitrary number of hazardous conditions and their effects on system behavior. An example is given of a probabilistic safety claim for a conflict detection algorithm for aircraft in a 2D airspace. The motivation for developing this mathematical framework is that it can be used in an automated theorem prover to formally verify safety claims.

Preliminary Study on the Development of Quantitative Safety Culture Index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Young Eal; Kim, Hun Sil; Ahn, Nam Sung

2005-01-01

Safety culture is that assembly of characteristics and attitudes in organizations and individuals which establishes that, as an overriding priority, nuclear plant safety issues receive the attention warranted by their significance. Because it needs to be recognized as the most significant consciousness to achieve the nuclear safety performance, Korean government and nuclear power generation company have tried to develop the practical method to improve the safety culture from the long term point view. In this study, based on the site interviews to define the potential issues on organizational behavior for the safe operation and the survey on the level of safety culture of occupied workers are conducted. Survey results are quantified as a few indicators of nuclear safety by the statistical method and it can be simulated by the dynamic modeling as time goes on. Currently index and dynamic modeling are still being developed, however, results can be used to suggest the long term strategy which safety is clearly integrated into all activities in the nuclear organization

Study Of Safety Management By Using Gis In Coimbatore

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Kanchana

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The safety management is very important in the process of construction .The traditional methods of construction safety control cannot meet the construction of big project. To ensure the safety of construction and reduce accidents in the process of construction the current situation and problems we face in construction safety management should be studied first. And then the project risk warning mechanism based on the GIS is constructed according to the problems we faced to achieve visual monitoring and warning of construction safety risk management and to provide decision support for construction. This project aims to develop a web-based spatial decision support system model for proactive health and safety management in linear construction projects. 5 Currently health and safety management is usually performed reactively instead of proactive management since hazard identification and risk assessment is mostly performed on paper based documents that are not effectively used at site. An information system relates to a chain of operations lead to planning the observation and collection of data to storage and analysis of data to the use of derived information in decision-making processes. To create a web-based free and open sourced GIS that can work with different data formats by exchanging and presenting data as a real-time map on web.

IT-CARES: an interactive tool for case-crossover analyses of electronic medical records for patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Caron, Alexandre; Chazard, Emmanuel; Muller, Joris; Perichon, Renaud; Ferret, Laurie; Koutkias, Vassilis; Beuscart, Régis; Beuscart, Jean-Baptiste; Ficheur, Grégoire

2017-03-01

The significant risk of adverse events following medical procedures supports a clinical epidemiological approach based on the analyses of collections of electronic medical records. Data analytical tools might help clinical epidemiologists develop more appropriate case-crossover designs for monitoring patient safety. To develop and assess the methodological quality of an interactive tool for use by clinical epidemiologists to systematically design case-crossover analyses of large electronic medical records databases. We developed IT-CARES, an analytical tool implementing case-crossover design, to explore the association between exposures and outcomes. The exposures and outcomes are defined by clinical epidemiologists via lists of codes entered via a user interface screen. We tested IT-CARES on data from the French national inpatient stay database, which documents diagnoses and medical procedures for 170 million inpatient stays between 2007 and 2013. We compared the results of our analysis with reference data from the literature on thromboembolic risk after delivery and bleeding risk after total hip replacement. IT-CARES provides a user interface with 3 columns: (i) the outcome criteria in the left-hand column, (ii) the exposure criteria in the right-hand column, and (iii) the estimated risk (odds ratios, presented in both graphical and tabular formats) in the middle column. The estimated odds ratios were consistent with the reference literature data. IT-CARES may enhance patient safety by facilitating clinical epidemiological studies of adverse events following medical procedures. The tool's usability must be evaluated and improved in further research. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

Waste/Rock Interactions Technology Program: the status of radionuclide sorption-desorption studies performed by the WRIT program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serne, R.J.; Relyea, J.F.

1982-04-01

The most credible means for radionuclides disposed as solid wastes in deep-geologic repositories to reach the biosphere is through dissolution of the solid waste and subsequent radionuclide transport by circulating ground water. Thus safety assessment activities must consider the physicochemical interactions between radionculides present in ground water with package components, rocks and sediments since these processes can significantly delay or constrain the mass transport of radionuclides in comparison to ground-water movement. This paper focuses on interactions between dissolved radiouclides in ground water and rocks and sediments away from the near-field repository. The primary mechanism discussed is adsorption-desorption, which has been studied using two approaches. Empirical studies of adsorption-desorption rely on distribution coefficient measurements while mechanism studies strive to identify, differentiate and quantify the processes that control nuclide retardation

Relationship of safety culture and process safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olive, Claire; O'Connor, T. Michael; Mannan, M. Sam

2006-01-01

Throughout history, humans have gathered in groups for social, religious, and industrial purposes. As the conglomeration of people interact, a set of underlying values, beliefs, and principles begins to develop that serve to guide behavior within the group. These 'guidelines' are commonly referred to as the group culture. Modern-day organizations, including corporations, have developed their own unique cultures derived from the diversity of the organizational interests and the background of the employees. Safety culture, a sub-set of organizational culture, has been a major focus in recent years. This is especially true in the chemical industry due to the series of preventable, safety-related disasters that occurred in the late seventies and eighties. Some of the most notable disasters, during this time period, occurred at Bhopal, Flixborough, and Seveso. However, current events, like the September 11th terrorist attacks and the disintegration of the Columbia shuttle, have caused an assessment of safety culture in a variety of other organizations

Safety of pressurized water reactors: problems and corresponding studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cogne, F.

1976-01-01

The author recalls the safety problems subject to researches in the CEA, either because of their importance or because studies made abroad were not sufficiently developed or were classified or in order to acquire an independent judgement when safety is concerned. Those problems and studies are submitted referring to the 3 existing shields between man and dangerous materials: fuel element can, thermal shield, (pressure vessel and pipes), biological shield of which the behaviour is studied in connection with outside aggressions such as earthquakes, plane crashes, chemical explosions.. [fr

75 FR 5333 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-02

...) Place: Embassy Suites Hotel, 1900 Diagonal Road, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, Telephone (703) 684-5900... matters related to the conduct of Study Section business and for the study section to consider safety and...

Abstract of results of safety study. Nuclear fuel cycle field in fiscal 2003

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-11-01

This report descried the results of studies of nuclear fuel cycle field (nuclear fuel facilities, seismic design, all subjects of environmental radiation and waste disposal, and subjects on nuclear fuel cycle in probabilistic safety assessment) in fiscal 2003 on the basis of the principle project of safety study (from fiscal 2001 to 2005). It consists of four chapters; the first chapter is outline of the principle of project, the second is objects and subjects of safety study in the nuclear fuel cycle field, the third list of questionnaire of results of safety study and the forth investigation of results of safety study in fiscal 2003. There are 49 lists, which include 22 reports on the nuclear fuel facility, one on the seismic design, 4 on the probabilistic safety assessment, 7 on the environmental radiation and 15 on the waste disposal. (S.Y.)

Supra-Additive Interaction of Docosahexaenoic Acid and Naproxen and Gastric Safety on the Formalin Test in Rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Arroyo-Lira, Arlette Guadalupe; Rodríguez-Ramos, Fernando; Ortiz, Mario I; Castañeda-Hernández, Gilberto; Chávez-Piña, Aracely Evangelina

2017-11-01

Preclinical Research The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics-nociception-of naproxen in rats, as well as to determine the gastric safety resulting from this combination versus naproxen alone. Female Wistar rats were orally administered DHA, naproxen or the DHA-naproxen mixture at fixed-ratio combination of 1:3. The antinociceptive effect was evaluated using the formalin test. The gastric injury was determined 3 h after naproxen administration. An isobolographic analysis was performed to characterize the antinociceptive interaction between DHA and naproxen. To determine the possibility of pharmacokinetic interactions, the oral bioavailability of naproxen was evaluated in presence and absence of oral DHA. The experimental effective dose ED 30 values (Zexp) were decreased from theoretical additive dose values (Zadd; P supra-additive interaction. The oral administration of DHA increased the pharmacokinetic parameter AUC 0- t of naproxen (P supra-additive antinociceptive effect in the formalin test so that this combination could be useful to management of inflammatory pain. Drug Dev Res 78 : 332-339, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A feasibility study for Arizona's roadway safety management process using the Highway Safety Manual and SafetyAnalyst : final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-07-01

To enable implementation of the American Association of State Highway Transportation (AASHTO) Highway Safety Manual using : SaftetyAnalyst (an AASHTOWare software product), the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) studied the data assessment :...

Safety study of PCC 2140 and ALILOG 21 used as part of safety measurement systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meriaux, Pierre; Adnot, Serge; Rayrolles, Catherine.

1978-03-01

The PCC 2140 and ALILOG 21 equipment may be used at C.E.A. or E.D.F., as part of safety measurement systems. In a study of a similar, but earlier equipment, it was noticed that certain types of failures caused the system to switch to the least sensitive measurement range, which was detrimental to safety. This report analyses failure modes leading to unsafe failures and evaluates the risks ran into taking in account tests during use [fr

Nuclear safety after Three Mile Island and Chernobyl

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballard, G.M.

1988-01-01

This book contains the proceedings on nuclear safety after Three Mile island and Chernobyl. Topics covered include: Design for safety; Man-machine interaction; Source terms and consequence; and accident response

Empirical Analysis of Construction Safety Climate - A Study

OpenAIRE

S.V.S.RAJA PRASAD; K.P.REGHUNATH

2010-01-01

Safety in the construction industry has always been a major issue. Though much improvement in construction safety has been achieved, the industry still continues to lag behind most other industries with regard to safety. The safety climate of any organization consists of employee’s attitudes towards and perceptions of, health and safety behavior. Construction workers attitudes towards safety are influenced by their perceptions of risk, management, safety rulesand procedures. A measure of safe...

Interaction analysis method for the Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grant, P.R.; Deshotels, R.L.; Van Katwijk, C.

1993-01-01

In order to anticipate potential problems as early as possible during the design effort, a method for interaction analysis was developed to meet the specific hazards of the Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant (HWVP). The requirement for interaction analysis is given in DOE Order 6430.1B and DOE-STD-1021-92. The purpose of the interaction analysis is to ensure that non-safety class items will not fail in a manner that will adversely affect the ability of any safety class item to perform its safety function. In the HWVP there are few structures, equipment, or controls that are safety class (those with a direct safety function, i.e., confinement of waste). In addition to damage due to failure of non-safety class items as a result of natural phenomena, threats to HWVP safety class items include the following: room flooding from firewater, leakage of chemically reactive liquids, high-pressure gas impingement from leaking piping, rocket-type impact from broken pressurized gas cylinders, loss of control of mobile equipment, cryogenic liquid spill, fire, and smoke. The time needed to perform the interaction analysis is minimized by consolidating safety class items into segregated areas. Each area containing safety class items is evaluated, and any potential threat to the safety functions is noted. After relocation of safety class items is considered, items that pose a threat are generally upgraded to eliminate the threat to the safety class items. Upgraded items are designed to not fail under the conditions being evaluated. Upgrading is the preferred option when relocation is not possible. Other options are to provide barriers, design the safety class item not to be damaged by failed items, or rely on redundancy and isolation from local threats. The upgraded features of non-safety class items are designed to the same quality standards as the safety class items

The relationship between organizational leadership for safety and learning from patient safety events.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginsburg, Liane R; Chuang, You-Ta; Berta, Whitney Blair; Norton, Peter G; Ng, Peggy; Tregunno, Deborah; Richardson, Julia

2010-06-01

To examine the relationship between organizational leadership for patient safety and five types of learning from patient safety events (PSEs). Forty-nine general acute care hospitals in Ontario, Canada. A nonexperimental design using cross-sectional surveys of hospital patient safety officers (PSOs) and patient care managers (PCMs). PSOs provided data on organization-level learning from (a) minor events, (b) moderate events, (c) major near misses, (d) major event analysis, and (e) major event dissemination/communication. PCMs provided data on organizational leadership (formal and informal) for patient safety. Hospitals were the unit of analysis. Seemingly unrelated regression was used to examine the influence of formal and informal leadership for safety on the five types of learning from PSEs. The interaction between leadership and hospital size was also examined. Formal organizational leadership for patient safety is an important predictor of learning from minor, moderate, and major near-miss events, and major event dissemination. This relationship is significantly stronger for small hospitals (learning from safety events. Formal leadership support for safety is of particular importance in small organizations where the economic burden of safety programs is disproportionately large and formal leadership is closer to the front lines.

Contractors’ Attitude towards Enhancing Safety Performance: Case Study on Construction Firms in Penang

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulang N. Md

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A qualitative study was conducted to investigate the contractors’ attitude towards enhancing the safety performance in construction site. Despite the fact that there are many safety initiatives established by the government, the rates of accidents are still in a critically high condition. Thus the purpose of this research is to study the contractors’ attitude towards enhancing the implementation of safety management system in construction site in order to increase the safety awareness of construction practitioners in construction site and improve the safety condition of construction sites. This study is conducted through oral interviews with the construction practitioners, and visual inspection of construction sites. The attitudes of contractors are evaluated from 3 aspects: Contractors’ efforts in implement and enforce the safety rules, Contractors efforts in overcoming the rate of accidents, and Reasons given by the contractors for not implement safety law.

Safety analysis of passing maneuvers using extreme value theory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Farah, H.; Azevedo, C.L.

2015-01-01

The increased availability of detailed trajectory data sets from naturalistic, observational and simulation-based studies are a key source for potential improvements in the development of detailed safety models that explicitly account for vehicle conflict interactions and the various driving

Safety analysis of passing maneuvers using extreme value theory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Farah, H.; Azevedo, Carlos Lima

2017-01-01

The increased availability of detailed trajectory data sets from naturalistic, observational, and simulation-based studies, is a key source for potential improvements in the development of detailed safety models that explicitly account for vehicle conflict interactions and various driving

Studying the Safety Impact of Autonomous Vehicles Using Simulation-Based Surrogate Safety Measures

OpenAIRE

Morando, Mark Mario; Tian, Qingyun; Truong, Long T.; Vu, Hai L.

2018-01-01

Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology has advanced rapidly in recent years with some automated features already available in vehicles on the market. AVs are expected to reduce traffic crashes as the majority of crashes are related to driver errors, fatigue, alcohol, or drugs. However, very little research has been conducted to estimate the safety impact of AVs. This paper aims to investigate the safety impacts of AVs using a simulation-based surrogate safety measure approach. To this end, safety...

A Network Diffusion Model of Food Safety Scare Behavior considering Information Transparency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tingqiang Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study constructs the network diffusion model of food safety scare behavior under the effect of information transparency and examines the network topology and evolution characteristics of food safety scare behavior in a numerical simulation. The main conclusions of this study are as follows. (1 Under the effect of information transparency, the network degree distribution of food safety scare behavior diffusion demonstrates the decreasing characteristics of diminishing margins. (2 Food safety scare behavior diffusion increases with the information dissemination rate and consumer concern about food safety incidents and shows the characteristics of monotone increasing. And with the increasing of the government food safety supervision information transparency and media food safety supervision information transparency, the whole is declining characteristic of diminishing marginal. In addition, the extinction of food safety scare behavior cannot be achieved gradually given a single regulation of government food safety supervision information transparency and media food safety supervision information transparency. (3 The interaction effects between improving government food safety supervision information transparency or media food safety supervision information transparency and declining consumer concerns about food safety incidents or information transmission rate can engender the suppression of food safety scare behavior diffusion.

A comprehensive conceptual framework for road safety strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, B P; Anund, A; Falkmer, T

2016-05-01

Road safety strategies (generally called Strategic Highway Safety Plans in the USA) provide essential guidance for actions to improve road safety, but often lack a conceptual framework that is comprehensive, systems theory based, and underpinned by evidence from research and practice. This paper aims to incorporate all components, policy tools by which they are changed, and the general interactions between them. A framework of nine mutually interacting components that contribute to crashes and ten generic policy tools which can be applied to reduce the outcomes of these crashes was developed and used to assess 58 road safety strategies from 22 countries across 15 years. The work identifies the policy tools that are most and least widely applied to components, highlighting the potential for improvements to any individual road safety strategy, and the potential strengths and weaknesses of road safety strategies in general. The framework also provides guidance for the development of new road safety strategies, identifying potential consequences of policy tool based measures with regard to exposure and risk, useful for both mobility and safety objectives. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interaction of Induced Anxiety and Verbal Working Memory: Influence of Trait Anxiety

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Nilam; Stoodley, Catherine; Pine, Daniel S.; Grillon, Christian; Ernst, Monique

2017-01-01

This study examines the influence of trait anxiety on working memory (WM) in safety and threat. Interactions between experimentally induced anxiety and WM performance (on different cognitive loads) have been reported in healthy, nonanxious subjects. Differences in trait anxiety may moderate these interactions. Accordingly, these interactions may…

77 FR 75633 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-21

... (Closed). 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., February 22, 2013 (Closed). Place: Embassy Suites, 1900 Diagonal Road... conduct of Study Section business and for the study section to consider safety and occupational health...

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

Advances made in French safety studies on pressurized water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pelce, J.

1979-01-01

The programme of French safety studies on reactors is supposed to be known in its main outlines. A few recent results, obtained in different fields are presented. They concern the safety margins evaluation, the contamination transfer and the effect of external aggressions

Learning from Science and Sport - How we, Safety, "Engage with Rigor"

Science.gov (United States)

Herd, A.

2012-01-01

As the world of spaceflight safety is relatively small and potentially inward-looking, we need to be aware of the "outside world". We should then try to remind ourselves to be open to the possibility that data, knowledge or experience from outside of the spaceflight community may provide some constructive alternate perspectives. This paper will assess aspects from two seemingly tangential fields, science and sport, and align these with the world of safety. In doing so some useful insights will be given to the challenges we face and may provide solutions relevant in our everyday (of safety engineering). Sport, particularly a contact sport such as rugby union, requires direct interaction between members of two (opposing) teams. Professional, accurately timed and positioned interaction for a desired outcome. These interactions, whilst an essential part of the game, are however not without their constraints. The rugby scrum has constraints as to the formation and engagement of the two teams. The controlled engagement provides for an interaction between the two teams in a safe manner. The constraints arising from the reality that an incorrect engagement could cause serious injury to members of either team. In academia, scientific rigor is applied to assure that the arguments provided and the conclusions drawn in academic papers presented for publication are valid, legitimate and credible. The scientific goal of the need for rigor may be expressed in the example of achieving a statistically relevant sample size, n, in order to assure analysis validity of the data pool. A failure to apply rigor could then place the entire study at risk of failing to have the respective paper published. This paper will consider the merits of these two different aspects, scientific rigor and sports engagement, and offer a reflective look at how this may provide a "modus operandi" for safety engineers at any level whether at their desks (creating or reviewing safety assessments) or in a

Applying Sensor-Based Technology to Improve Construction Safety Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Mingyuan; Cao, Tianzhuo; Zhao, Xuefeng

2017-08-11

Construction sites are dynamic and complicated systems. The movement and interaction of people, goods and energy make construction safety management extremely difficult. Due to the ever-increasing amount of information, traditional construction safety management has operated under difficult circumstances. As an effective way to collect, identify and process information, sensor-based technology is deemed to provide new generation of methods for advancing construction safety management. It makes the real-time construction safety management with high efficiency and accuracy a reality and provides a solid foundation for facilitating its modernization, and informatization. Nowadays, various sensor-based technologies have been adopted for construction safety management, including locating sensor-based technology, vision-based sensing and wireless sensor networks. This paper provides a systematic and comprehensive review of previous studies in this field to acknowledge useful findings, identify the research gaps and point out future research directions.

Integrated framework for dynamic safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Tae Wan; Karanki, Durga R.

2012-01-01

In the conventional PSA (Probabilistic Safety Assessment), detailed plant simulations by independent thermal hydraulic (TH) codes are used in the development of accident sequence models. Typical accidents in a NPP involve complex interactions among process, safety systems, and operator actions. As independent TH codes do not have the models of operator actions and full safety systems, they cannot literally simulate the integrated and dynamic interactions of process, safety systems, and operator responses. Offline simulation with pre decided states and time delays may not model the accident sequences properly. Moreover, when stochastic variability in responses of accident models is considered, defining all the combinations for simulations will be cumbersome task. To overcome some of these limitations of conventional safety analysis approach, TH models are coupled with the stochastic models in the dynamic event tree (DET) framework, which provides flexibility to model the integrated response due to better communication as all the accident elements are in the same model. The advantages of this framework also include: Realistic modeling in dynamic scenarios, comprehensive results, integrated approach (both deterministic and probabilistic models), and support for HRA (Human Reliability Analysis)

Safety design study of fast breeder reactors in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miura, M.; Inagaki, T.

1992-01-01

This paper reports on two fast breeder reactor (FBR) concepts, the tank type and the loop type, that have been studied as possible reactor designs to be used for a demonstration FBR (DFBR). The basic principle fo the DFBR design is to ensure plant safety through a defense-in-depth methodology. Improvements in the seismic and thermal stress designs have been attempted for both reactor concepts. The system design study strives to maximize the reliability of the safety-related systems and to rationalize commercialization of the plant

Study on safety subsidiary objective of nuclear power plant in USA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yan; Zhang Chunming; Fu Zhiwei; Song Wei; Li Chaojun; Wang Zhe; Zuo Jiaxu

2013-01-01

This paper reviewed the development of the quantitative safety objective and subsidiary objective in USA. The expressions of CDF and LERF were obtained according to NUREG-1150. The relationship between the subsidiary objective and the quantitative safety objective was derived. The method was compared with that used in NUREG-1860. The requirements of safety objective for the future nuclear power plant and the development of probabilistic safety analysis (PSA) technology in USA were studied and can be used as reference in China. (authors)

Nurses' Views Highlight a Need for the Systematic Development of Patient Safety Culture in Forensic Psychiatry Nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuosmanen, Anssi; Tiihonen, Jari; Repo-Tiihonen, Eila; Eronen, Markku; Turunen, Hannele

2017-11-04

Although forensic nurses work with the most challenging psychiatric patients and manifest a safety culture in their interactions with patients, there have been few studies on patient safety culture in forensic psychiatric nursing. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe nurses' views of patient safety culture in their working unit and daily hospital work in 2 forensic hospitals in Finland. Data were collected over a period of 1 month by inviting nurses to answer an open-ended question in an anonymous Web-based questionnaire. A qualitative inductive analysis was performed on nurses' (n = 72) written descriptions of patient safety culture in state-owned forensic hospitals where most Finnish forensic patients are treated. Six main themes were identified: "systematization of an open and trusting communication culture," "visible and close interaction between managers and staff," "nonpunitive responses to errors, learning and developing," "balancing staff and patient perspectives on safety culture," "operational safety guidelines," and "adequate human resources to ensure safety." The findings highlight the influence of the prevailing culture on safety behaviors and outcomes for both healthcare workers and patients. Additionally, they underline the importance of an open culture with open communication and protocols.

Patient safety challenges in a case study hospital--of relevance for transfusion processes?

Science.gov (United States)

Aase, Karina; Høyland, Sindre; Olsen, Espen; Wiig, Siri; Nilsen, Stein Tore

2008-10-01

The paper reports results from a research project with the objective of studying patient safety, and relates the finding to safety issues within transfusion medicine. The background is an increased focus on undesired events related to diagnosis, medication, and patient treatment in general in the healthcare sector. The study is designed as a case study within a regional Norwegian hospital conducting specialised health care services. The study includes multiple methods such as interviews, document analysis, analysis of error reports, and a questionnaire survey. Results show that the challenges for improved patient safety, based on employees' perceptions, are hospital management support, reporting of accidents/incidents, and collaboration across hospital units. Several of these generic safety challenges are also found to be of relevance for a hospital's transfusion service. Positive patient safety factors are identified as teamwork within hospital units, a non-punitive response to errors, and unit manager's actions promoting safety.

The reactor safety study of experimental multi-purpose VHTR design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yasuno, T.; Mitake, S.; Ezaki, M.; Suzuki, K.

1981-01-01

Over the past years, the design works of the Experimental Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) plant have been conducted at Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. The conceptual design has been completed and the more detailed design works and the safety analysis of the experimental VHTR plant are continued. The purposes of design studies are to show the feasibility of the experimental VHTR program, to specify the characteristics and functions of the plant components, to point out the R and D items necessary for the experimental VHTR plant construction, and to analyze the feature of the plant safety. In this paper the summary of system design and safety features of the experimental reactor are indicated. Main issues are the safety philosophy for the design basis accident, the accidents assumed and the engineered safety systems adopted in the design works

An Innovative Multimedia Approach to Laboratory Safety

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, M. B.; Constant, K. P.

1996-01-01

A new approach for teaching safe laboratory practices has been developed for materials science laboratories at Iowa State university. Students are required to complete a computerized safety tutorial and pass an exam before working in the laboratory. The safety tutorial includes sections on chemical, electrical, radiation, and high temperature safety. The tutorial makes use of a variety of interactions, including 'assembly' interactions where a student is asked to drag and drop items with the mouse (either labels or pictures) to an appropriate place on the screen (sometimes in a specific order). This is extremely useful for demonstrating safe lab practices and disaster scenarios. Built into the software is a record tracking scheme so that a professor can access a file that records which students have completed the tutorial and their scores on the exam. This paper will describe the development and assessment of the safety tutorials.

A study of RFID application impacts on medical safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, She-I; Ou, Chin-Shyh; Ku, Cheng-Yuan; Yang, Morris

2008-01-01

With the international reform in medical management systems gaining ground worldwide, hospital management has gradually begun to shift its focus from providing expensive medical treatment to improving medical service quality and patient safety. In this study, we discuss the application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and data integrating technology with the medical service, and examine whether or not this technology can enhance medical safety. We also discuss the possible benefits following the application of the RFID system. The findings show that the application of RFID to hospitals can actually generate benefits, which can be further divided into operational structure benefits, users' structure benefits, and organisational and environmental benefits. However, not all these benefits can achieve medical safety. Among them, only the operator and environmental benefits can play such roles. Nevertheless, the application of RFID can bring hospitals towards the integration of technology benefits and improved medical safety.

Bus safety study : a report to Congress.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-01

Section 20021(b) of the Moving Ahead for Progress for the 21st Century (MAP-21) legislation requires the Secretary of Transportation : to submit a report of the results of a Bus Safety Study to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affai...

Archetypes for Organisational Safety

Science.gov (United States)

Marais, Karen; Leveson, Nancy G.

2003-01-01

We propose a framework using system dynamics to model the dynamic behavior of organizations in accident analysis. Most current accident analysis techniques are event-based and do not adequately capture the dynamic complexity and non-linear interactions that characterize accidents in complex systems. In this paper we propose a set of system safety archetypes that model common safety culture flaws in organizations, i.e., the dynamic behaviour of organizations that often leads to accidents. As accident analysis and investigation tools, the archetypes can be used to develop dynamic models that describe the systemic and organizational factors contributing to the accident. The archetypes help clarify why safety-related decisions do not always result in the desired behavior, and how independent decisions in different parts of the organization can combine to impact safety.

Biomembrane models and drug-biomembrane interaction studies: Involvement in drug design and development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R Pignatello

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Contact with many different biological membranes goes along the destiny of a drug after its systemic administration. From the circulating macrophage cells to the vessel endothelium, to more complex absorption barriers, the interaction of a biomolecule with these membranes largely affects its rate and time of biodistribution in the body and at the target sites. Therefore, investigating the phenomena occurring on the cell membranes, as well as their different interaction with drugs in the physiological or pathological conditions, is important to exploit the molecular basis of many diseases and to identify new potential therapeutic strategies. Of course, the complexity of the structure and functions of biological and cell membranes, has pushed researchers toward the proposition and validation of simpler two- and three-dimensional membrane models, whose utility and drawbacks will be discussed. This review also describes the analytical methods used to look at the interactions among bioactive compounds with biological membrane models, with a particular accent on the calorimetric techniques. These studies can be considered as a powerful tool for medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical technology, in the steps of designing new drugs and optimizing the activity and safety profile of compounds already used in the therapy.

Contribution of the study of thermal interaction: modelling of a thermal blast in a multi-phase medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, Edouard

1978-01-01

This research thesis aims at being a contribution to the safety of nuclear facilities by reporting the study of the interaction between nuclear fuel and coolant in simplified conditions. It focuses on the thermal aspect of this interaction between a very hot body and an easily vaporized cold body, which could produce a blast. Thus, this author addresses the field of existence of a thermal blast, and reports the development of a hydrodynamic model which takes the heterogeneous nature of the interacting medium into account, in order to precisely describe the conditions of fuel fragmentation. This model includes the propagation of a shock in a mixture, and the calculation of a multi-phase flow in the reaction zone, and proposes criteria for a self-sustained shock wave propagation in the reactive medium. Results are compared with those obtained with the Bankoff model [fr

Safety in the ARIES Tokamak Design Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herring, J.S.; Wong, C.P.-C.; Cheng, E.T.; Grotz, S.

1989-01-01

Safety is one of the primary goals of the ARIES Tokamak Design Study. Public safety goals are the achievement passive safety which is demonstrable in tests that could precede operation and the assurance that releases from accidents be passively limited such that no evacuation plan in necessary. Strategies for safety of the plant investment are factory fabrication, short construction times and a design such that no off-normal operational transient results in damage which could not be repaired in routine maintenance. ARIES-I, the first of three 'visions' of potential tokamak reactors, will use He at 5 MPa as a blanket coolant and SiC/composite ceramic for the first wall and blanket materials. Both the coolant and the structural material were chosen for their low activation, both in the short term after accidents and for long term waste management. The breeder, Li 4 SiO 4 , was also chosen for low activation. Contemporary plasma physics and aggressive technology are used in ARIES-I, which results in very high toroidal fields (24 T maximum at the coil). The stored TF energy will be about 130 GJ. A central concern is the safe discharge of this stored energy under electrical fault conditions and prevention of a failure in the magnet set from propagating into systems containing radioactive inventories. The TF coil system consists of 16 coils, each containing two separate windings powered by two independent power supplies. Arcs and shorts between the two power supply systems and across individual windings have been modeled. In addition, delay or failure in circuit breaker opening has been modeled. The safety impacts of LOCA, LOFA and disruptive events have also been evaluated. 8 refs., 4 figs., 7 tabs

77 FR 43090 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section: Notice of Charter Renewal

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-23

... Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463) of October 6, 1972, that the Safety and Occupational Health Study Section... Secretary, Safety and Occupational Health Study Section, Department of Health and Human Services, 1600... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Safety and...

75 FR 42455 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section: Notice of Charter Renewal

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-21

... Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463) of October 6, 1972, that the Safety and Occupational Health Study Section... Secretary, Safety and Occupational Health Study Section, Department of Health and Human Services, 1600... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Safety and...

EPR safety. Consideration of the internal and external hazards in the safety studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gueguin, H.

2008-04-01

The author presents the main points of the Preliminary Safety Report of EDF on the EPR reactor safety. It concerns the considerations of the internal (fire, flood, explosions, pipes failures) and external (earthquakes, airplane falls, explosions, exceptional natural disasters, extreme meteorological conditions) damages. It presents how the safety report takes into account the aggression. (A.L.B.)

Trust, temporality and systems: how do patients understand patient safety in primary care? A qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, Penny; Campbell, Stephen; Sanders, Caroline

2016-04-01

Patient safety research has tended to focus on hospital settings, although most clinical encounters occur in primary care, and to emphasize practitioner errors, rather than patients' own understandings of safety. To explore patients' understandings of safety in primary care. Qualitative interviews were conducted with patients recruited from general practices in northwest England. Participants were asked basic socio-demographic information; thereafter, topics were largely introduced by interviewees themselves. Transcripts were coded and analysed using NVivo10 (qualitative data software), following a process of constant comparison. Thirty-eight people (14 men, 24 women) from 19 general practices in rural, small town and city locations were interviewed. Many of their concerns (about access, length of consultation, relationship continuity) have been discussed in terms of quality, but, in the interviews, were raised as matters of safety. Three broad themes were identified: (i) trust and psycho-social aspects of professional-patient relationships; (ii) choice, continuity, access, and the temporal underpinnings of safety; and (iii) organizational and systems-level tensions constraining safety. Conceptualizations of safety included common reliance on a bureaucratic framework of accreditation, accountability, procedural rules and regulation, but were also individual and context-dependent. For patients, safety is not just a property of systems, but personal and contingent and is realized in the interaction between doctor and patient. However, it is the systems approach that has dominated safety thinking, and patients' individualistic and relational conceptualizations are poorly accommodated within current service organization. © 2015 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Fire safety study of Dodewaard and Borssele nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-03-01

From the nuclear and conventional fire safety audits of both Dutch nuclear power plants performed under supervision of the Nuclear Safety Inspectorate and the Inspectorate for the Fire Services it turns out that the fire safety is sufficient however amenable for improvement. Besides a detailed description of the method of examination, the study 'Fire Safety' contains the results of the audit and 14 respectively 15 recommendations for improvement of the fire safety in Dodewaard and Borssele. The suggested recommendations which are applicable to both power plants are the following: fire fighting training for operators and guards, a complete emergency ventilation system of the control room, increase in the number of detectors and alarms, an increase in the quantity of water available for high-pressure fire fighting, improvement of fire barriers between several redundancies of nuclear safety systems, an investigation and possible improvement of the heat and radiation protection offered by presently used fire fighting suits. For Dodewaard a closed emergency staircase in the reactor building (secondary containment) is deemed necessary for personnel emergency escape routes and continued fire fighting if required

78 FR 24751 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-26

... 14, 2013 (Closed) Place: Embassy Suites, 1900 Diagonal Road, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, Telephone... business and for the study section to consider safety and occupational health-related grant applications...

Exploring the role of emotional intelligence in behavior-based safety coaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiegand, Douglas M

2007-01-01

Safety coaching is an applied behavior analysis technique that involves interpersonal interaction to understand and manipulate environmental conditions that are directing (i.e., antecedent to) and motivating (i.e., consequences of) safety-related behavior. A safety coach must be skilled in interacting with others so as to understand their perspectives, communicate a point clearly, and be persuasive with behavior-based feedback. This article discusses the evidence-based "ability model" of emotional intelligence and its relevance to the interpersonal aspect of the safety coaching process. Emotional intelligence has potential for improving safety-related efforts and other aspects of individuals' work and personal lives. Safety researchers and practitioners are therefore encouraged to gain an understanding of emotional intelligence and conduct and support research applying this construct toward injury prevention.

Seismic qualification of non-safety class equipment whose failure would damage safety class equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LaSalle, F.R.

1991-01-01

Both Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Part 50, and US Department of Energy Order 6340.1A have requirements to assess the interaction of non-safety and safety class structures and equipment during a seismic event to maintain the safety function. At the Hanford Site, a cost effective program has been developed to perform the evaluation of non-safety class equipment. Seismic qualification is performed by analysis, test, or upgrading of the equipment to ensure the integrity of safety class structures and equipment. This paper gives a brief overview and synopsis that address design analysis guidelines including applied loading, damping values, component anchorage, allowable loads, and stresses. Test qualification of equipment and walkdown acceptance criteria for heating ampersand ventilation (H ampersand V) ducting, conduit, cable tray, missile zone of influence, as well as energy criteria are presented

Organizational safety climate and supervisor safety enforcement: Multilevel explorations of the causes of accident underreporting.

Science.gov (United States)

Probst, Tahira M

2015-11-01

According to national surveillance statistics, over 3 million employees are injured each year; yet, research indicates that these may be substantial underestimates of the true prevalence. The purpose of the current project was to empirically test the hypothesis that organizational safety climate and transactional supervisor safety leadership would predict the extent to which accidents go unreported by employees. Using hierarchical linear modeling and survey data collected from 1,238 employees in 33 organizations, employee-level supervisor safety enforcement behaviors (and to a less consistent extent, organizational-level safety climate) predicted employee accident underreporting. There was also a significant cross-level interaction, such that the effect of supervisor enforcement on underreporting was attenuated in organizations with a positive safety climate. These results may benefit human resources and safety professionals by pinpointing methods of increasing the accuracy of accident reporting, reducing actual safety incidents, and reducing the costs to individuals and organizations that result from underreporting. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Simulation study of coal mine safety investment based on system dynamics

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Tong Lei; Dou Yuanyuan

2014-01-01

To generate dynamic planning for coal mine safety investment, this study applies system dynamics to decision-making, classifying safety investments by accident type. It validates the relationship between safety investments and accident cost, by structurally analyzing the causality between safety investments and their influence factors. Our simulation model, based on Vensim software, conducts simulation anal-ysis on a series of actual data from a coalmine in Shanxi Province. Our results indicate a lag phase in safety investments, and that increasing pre-phase safety investment reduces accident costs. We found that a 24%increase in initial safety investment could help reach the target accident costs level 14 months earlier. Our simulation test included nine kinds of variation trends of accident costs brought by different investment ratios on accident prevention. We found an optimized ratio of accident prevention invest-ments allowing a mine to reach accident cost goals 4 months earlier, without changing its total investment.

Pharmacokinetic Interactions between Drugs and Botanical Dietary Supplements

Science.gov (United States)

Sprouse, Alyssa A.

2016-01-01

The use of botanical dietary supplements has grown steadily over the last 20 years despite incomplete information regarding active constituents, mechanisms of action, efficacy, and safety. An important but underinvestigated safety concern is the potential for popular botanical dietary supplements to interfere with the absorption, transport, and/or metabolism of pharmaceutical agents. Clinical trials of drug–botanical interactions are the gold standard and are usually carried out only when indicated by unexpected consumer side effects or, preferably, by predictive preclinical studies. For example, phase 1 clinical trials have confirmed preclinical studies and clinical case reports that St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) induces CYP3A4/CYP3A5. However, clinical studies of most botanicals that were predicted to interact with drugs have shown no clinically significant effects. For example, clinical trials did not substantiate preclinical predictions that milk thistle (Silybum marianum) would inhibit CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, and/or CYP3A4. Here, we highlight discrepancies between preclinical and clinical data concerning drug–botanical interactions and critically evaluate why some preclinical models perform better than others in predicting the potential for drug–botanical interactions. Gaps in knowledge are also highlighted for the potential of some popular botanical dietary supplements to interact with therapeutic agents with respect to absorption, transport, and metabolism. PMID:26438626

Issues affecting advanced passive light-water reactor safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beelman, R.J.; Fletcher, C.D.; Modro, S.M.

1992-01-01

Next generation commercial reactor designs emphasize enhanced safety through improved safety system reliability and performance by means of system simplification and reliance on immutable natural forces for system operation. Simulating the performance of these safety systems will be central to analytical safety evaluation of advanced passive reactor designs. Yet the characteristically small driving forces of these safety systems pose challenging computational problems to current thermal-hydraulic systems analysis codes. Additionally, the safety systems generally interact closely with one another, requiring accurate, integrated simulation of the nuclear steam supply system, engineered safeguards and containment. Furthermore, numerical safety analysis of these advanced passive reactor designs wig necessitate simulation of long-duration, slowly-developing transients compared with current reactor designs. The composite effects of small computational inaccuracies on induced system interactions and perturbations over long periods may well lead to predicted results which are significantly different than would otherwise be expected or might actually occur. Comparisons between the engineered safety features of competing US advanced light water reactor designs and analogous present day reactor designs are examined relative to the adequacy of existing thermal-hydraulic safety codes in predicting the mechanisms of passive safety. Areas where existing codes might require modification, extension or assessment relative to passive safety designs are identified. Conclusions concerning the applicability of these codes to advanced passive light water reactor safety analysis are presented

Pilot Study on Harmonisation of Reactor Safety in WENRA Countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-03-01

Most of the objectives, set for the Pilot Study, were met. It can be concluded that the methodology was adequate for its purpose. National requirements on selected safety issues have been systematically compared and the major gaps and differences have been identified. Convenient overviews have been provided of differences and similarities between the countries. Furthermore, the conclusions are based on a safety justification and are detailed enough to provide input to a further more detailed analysis on the national level. It was not possible, however, to provide fully verified conclusions about the implementation of the reference levels in the different countries. This has to do with the following constraints on the study: In line with the Terms of Reference, the comparison of formal requirements did not address the more detailed use of criteria and methods to verify compliance. The same requirement could be enforced differently in different regulatory systems, and hence lead to different implementation. The Pilot Study also assessed the implementation, but it was not possible to do this in sufficient detail to identify such differences. The implementation was assessed on the basis of current knowledge of the respective regulatory body, but it was not possible to provide the panels with evidence of the implementation. For these reasons, conclusions about implemented safety provisions in the different countries should be drawn with precaution. The introduction of the panel assessments greatly improved the quality and consistency of the comparison assessments. Uncertainties in the assessments are mainly connected with lack of time to make a detailed analysis in some cases. The reliability of the assessments seems to be sufficient for the objectives of the Pilot Study. The introduction of the IAEA safety standards in the study proved to be helpful and provided confidence in the scope and strictness of the reference levels. This Pilot Study has contributed to

OPG waterways public safety program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bennett, T [Ontario Power Generation Inc., Niagara Falls, ON (Canada)

2009-07-01

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has 64 hydroelectric generating stations, 241 dams, and 109 dams in Ontario's registry with the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD). In 1986, it launched a formal dam safety program. This presentation addressed the importance of public safety around dams. The safety measures are timely because of increasing public interaction around dams; the public's unawareness of hazards; public interest in extreme sports; easier access by recreational vehicles; the perceived right of public to access sites; and the remote operation of hydroelectric stations. The presentation outlined the OPG managed system approach, with particular reference to governance; principles; standards and procedures; and aspects of implementation. Specific guidelines and governing documents for public safety around dams were identified, including guidelines for public safety of waterways; booms and buoys; audible warning devices and lights; public safety signage; fencing and barricades; and risk assessment for public safety around waterways. The presentation concluded with a discussion of audits and management reviews to determine if safety objectives and targets have been met. figs.

Study on operational safety issues in the Japanese disposal concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Satoru; Kitagawa, Yoshito; Hyodo, Hideaki; Kubota, Shigeru; Iijima, Masayoshi; Tamura, Akio; Ishiguro, Katsuhiko; Fujihara, Hiroshi

2014-01-01

In Japan, vitrified high-level radioactive waste (HLW) and certain types of low-level radioactive waste that results from the reprocessing of spent fuel and classified as TRU waste will be disposed of in deep geological formations. NUMO aims to ensure the safety of local residents and workers during the operational phase and after repository closure and will therefore establish a safety case for the geological disposal programme at the end of each stage of the stepwise siting process. Although the Japanese programme is still in the stage before initiation of the siting process, updating the generic (non-site-specific) safety case is required for building confidence among stakeholders. This study focuses on operational safety issues for the Japanese HLW disposal concept. (authors)

Preliminary study on functional performance of compound type multistage safety injection tank

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, Youngmin; Kim, Young In; Kim, Keung Koo

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Functional performance of compound type multistage safety injection tanks is studied. • Effects of key design parameters are scrutinized. • Distinctive flow features in compound type safety injection tanks are explored. - Abstract: A parametric study is carried out to evaluate the functional performance of a compound type multistage safety injection tank that would be considered one of the components for the passive safety injection systems in nuclear power plants. The effects of key design parameters such as the initial volume fraction and charging pressure of gas, tank elevation, vertical location of a sparger, resistance coefficient, and operating condition on the injection flow rate are scrutinized along with a discussion of the relevant flow features. The obtained results indicate that the compound type multistage safety injection tank can effectively control the injection flow rate in a passive manner, by switching the driving force for the safety injection from gas pressure to gravity during the refill and reflood phases, respectively

Tritium-surface interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirkaldy, J.S.

1983-06-01

The report deals broadly with tritium-surface interactions as they relate to a fusion power reactor enterprise, viz., the vacuum chamber, first wall, peripherals, pumping, fuel recycling, isotope separation, repair and maintenance, decontamination and safety. The main emphasis is on plasma-surface interactions and the selection of materials for fusion chamber duty. A comprehensive review of the international (particularly U.S.) research and development is presented based upon a literature review (about 1 000 reports and papers) and upon visits to key laboratories, Sandia, Albuquerque, Sandia, Livermore and EGβG Idaho. An inventory of Canadian expertise and facilities for RβD on tritium-surface interactions is also presented. A number of proposals are made for the direction of an optimal Canadian RβD program, emphasizing the importance of building on strength in both the technological and fundamental areas. A compendium of specific projects and project areas is presented dealing primarily with plasma-wall interactions and permeation, anti-permeation materials and surfaces and health, safety and environmental considerations. Potential areas of industrial spinoff are identified

Tritium safety study using Caisson Assembly (CATS) at TPL/JAEA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, T.; Kobayashi, K.; Iwai, Y.; Isobe, K.; Nakamura, H.; Kawamura, Y.; Shu, W.; Suzuki, T.; Yamada, M.; Yamanishi, T.

2008-01-01

Tritium confinement is required as the most important safety Junction for a fusion reactor. In order to demonstrate the confinement performance experimentally, an unique equipment, called CATS: Caisson Assembly for Tritium Safety study, was installed in Tritium Process Laboratory of Japan Atomic Energy Agency and operated for about 10 years. Tritium confinement and migration data in CATS have been accumulated and dynamic simulation code was accumulated using these data. Contamination and decontamination behavior on various materials and new safety equipment functions have been investigated under collaborations with a lot of laboratories and universities. (authors)

The Limits of Logic-Based Inherent Safety of Social Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bentzen, Martin Mose

2017-01-01

Social robots can reason and act while taking into accountsocial and cultural structures, for instance by complying withsocial or ethical norms or values. As social robots are likely to becomemore common and advanced and thus likely to interact withhuman beings in increasingly complex situations......-based safety for ethical robots is shown. Afterwards,an empirical study is used to show that there is a clash betweendeontic reasoning and most formal deontic logics. I give anexample as to how this clash can cause problems in human-robot interaction.I conclude that deontic logics closer to natural...... languagereasoning are needed and that logic only should play a limited partin the overall safety architecture of a social robot, which should alsobe based on other principles of safe design....

Meeting on reactor safety research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-09-01

The meeting 'Reactor Safety Research' organized for the second time by the GRS by order of the BMFT gave a review of research activities on the safety of light water reactors in the Federal Repulbic of Germany, international co-operation in this field and latest results of this research institution. The central fields of interest were subjects of man/machine-interaction, operational reliability accident sequences, and risk. (orig.) [de

Safety benefits from CANDU reactor replacement - a case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mottram, R.; Millard, J.W.F.; Purdy, P.

2011-01-01

Both total core replacement and core retubing have been used in the CANDU industry. For future plant refurbishments, based on experience both in new construction and in recent refurbishments, the concept of total core replacement has been revisited. This builds on practices for replacement of other large plant equipment like boilers. The Bruce CANDU reactors, with their local shield tanks built around the Calandria and containment closely located around that Calandria Shield Tank Assembly (CSTA), are believed to be good candidates for core replacement. A structured process was used to design a replacement CSTA suitable for Bruce A use. The work started with a study of opportunities for safety enhancements in the core. This progressed into design studies and related design assist safety analysis on the reactor. A key element of the work involved consideration of how verified features from later CANDU designs, and from our new reactor design work, could be tailored to fit this replacement core. The replacement reactor core brings in structural improvements in both calandria and end shield, and safety improvements like the natural circulation enhancing moderator cooling layout and further optimized reactivity layouts to improve shutdown system performance. Bruce Power are currently studying the business implications of this and retube techniques as part of preparation for future refurbishments. The work explained in this paper is in the context of the safety related changes and the work to choose and quantify them. (author)

Safety benefits from CANDU reactor replacement. A case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mottram, R.; Millard, J.W.F.; Purdy, P.

2011-01-01

Both total core replacement and core retubing have been used in the CANDU industry. For future plant refurbishments, based on experience both in new construction and in recent refurbishments, the concept of total core replacement has been revisited. This builds on practices for replacement of other large plant equipment like boilers. The Bruce CANDU reactors, with their local shield tanks built around the Calandria and containment closely located around that Calandria Shield Tank Assembly (CSTA), are believed to be good candidates for core replacement. A structured process was used to design a replacement CSTA suitable for Bruce A use. The work started with a study of opportunities for safety enhancements in the core. This progressed into design studies and related design assist safety analysis on the reactor. A key element of the work involved consideration of how verified features from later CANDU designs, and from our new reactor design work, could be tailored to fit this replacement core. The replacement reactor core brings in structural improvements in both calandria and end shield, and safety improvements like the natural circulation enhancing moderator cooling layout and further optimized reactivity layouts to improve shutdown system performance. Bruce Power are currently studying the business implications of this and retube techniques as part of preparation for future refurbishments. The work explained in this paper is in the context of the safety related changes and the work to choose and quantify them. (author)

Safety and interlock system for Tristan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, S.; Kudo, K.; Katoh, T.; Akiyama, A.

1987-01-01

This report describes alarm and interlock system of TRISTAN, concentrating on personnel safety. The basis of TRISTAN machine-control system (TMS) is an N-to-N computer network and KEK NODAL which offers high software productivity. TMC achieves high flexibility of operation both for normal operation and for the fast commissioning. However, to assure the safety of personnel and the TRISTAN machine operation, the safety system has to continue functioning during TMC failure as well. A distributed safety and interlock system (DSIS) is used for diversification of risks in TRISTAN system. DSIS is functionally subdivided along local system lines and has a hierarchical structure of 12 programmable sequence controllers (PSCs). Optical fiber links connect the PSCs at subsystem level and a PSC at the supervisory level of TRISTAN central control room (TCCR). The subsystem PSCs provide the interlock functions between their local devices. The local PSCs interact with the central system through a limited number of summarized signals. The central PSC provides the interlock functions between the subsystems and interacts with an operator's panel. Personnel safety is based on a system of electrical interlock keys, emergency push-buttons around the tunnel, at the entrance gates or in the control room

Ferrocyanide safety project ferrocyanide aging studies. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lilga, M.A.; Hallen, R.T.; Alderson, E.V.

1996-06-01

This final report gives the results of the work conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) from FY 1992 to FY 1996 on the Ferrocyanide Aging Studies, part of the Ferrocyanide Safety Project. The Ferrocyanide Safety Project was initiated as a result of concern raised about the safe storage of ferrocyanide waste intermixed with oxidants, such as nitrate and nitrite salts, in Hanford Site single-shell tanks (SSTs). In the laboratory, such mixtures can be made to undergo uncontrolled or explosive reactions by heating dry reagents to over 200 degrees C. In 1987, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), published by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Final Environmental Impact Statement, Disposal of Hanford Defense High-Level Transuranic and Tank Waste, Hanford Site, Richland, Washington, included an environmental impact analysis of potential explosions involving ferrocyanide-nitrate mixtures. The EIS postulated that an explosion could occur during mechanical retrieval of saltcake or sludge from a ferrocyanide waste tank, and concluded that this worst-case accident could create enough energy to release radioactive material to the atmosphere through ventilation openings, exposing persons offsite to a short-term radiation dose of approximately 200 mrem. Later, in a separate study (1990), the General Accounting Office postulated a worst-case accident of one to two orders of magnitude greater than that postulated in the DOE EIS. The uncertainties regarding the safety envelope of the Hanford Site ferrocyanide waste tanks led to the declaration of the Ferrocyanide Unreviewed Safety Question (USQ) in October 1990

An isotope-aided study on the interaction of surface water and groundwater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, Jong Sung; Kim, Jong Hoon; Yun, Si Tae; Jeong, Chan Ho; Kim, Kae Nam

1987-12-01

The interaction between surface water and groundwater was studied by isotope-aided techniques in the vicinity of the KAERI area. The understanding of surface water and groundwater flow systems and the analysis of geomaterials which provide the pathway of groundwater is important for the hydrogeological safety assessment of the radioactive waste disposal. The results of the analyses of environmental isotopes have shown that the shallow groundwater in this area was originated from the meteoric water which is infiltrated rapidly into the subsurface materials. The higher content of the environmental isotopes in some groundwater samples indicate that this anomalous values is attributed to impermeable, fine-grained materials. Also, the results of hydrochemical analyses of water samples indicate that shallow groundwater and precipitation are well mixed. (Author)

Calculational study for criticality safety data of fissionable actinides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nojiri, Ichiro; Fukasaku, Yasuhiro.

1997-01-01

This study has been carried out to obtain basic criticality safety characteristics of minor actinides nuclides. Criticality safety data of minor actinides nuclides have been surveyed through public literatures. Critical mass of seven nuclides, Np-237, Am-241, Am-242m, Am-243, Cm-243, Cm-244 and Cm-245, have been calculated by using two code systems of criticality safety analysis, SCALE-4 and MCNP4A, under some material and reflector conditions. Some applicable cross-section libraries have been used for each code systems. Calculated data have been compared with each other and with published data. The results of this comparison shows that there is no discrepancy within the computational codes and the calculated data is strongly depend on the cross-section library. (author)

New Paradigm in Nuclear Safety from Quality Assurance to Safety Management System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, Nam-Jin; Park, Chan-Gook; Nam, Ji-Hee; Kim, Kwan-Hyun; Kwon, Hyuk-il; Lee, Young-Gun Lee

2006-01-01

The initial concept of Quality Control (QC) controlling the quality of products is now evolving toward the Management System (MS) achieving safety, through Quality Assurance (QA) ensuring the quality of products and Quality Management (QM) managing the quality by a systematic approach. Nuclear safety can be achieved through an integrated MS that ensures the health, environmental, security, quality and economic requirements being considered together with nuclear safety requirements. MS approach is developed through realizing that most of nuclear accidents had occurred not by the malfunction of hardware or equipment, but by the human error. The MS is a set of inter-related or interacting elements (system) that establishes policies and objectives and which enables those objectives to be achieved in an efficient and effective way

Safety training parks – A case study on the effectiveness of the trainings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Räsänen, Tuula; Sormunen, E.; Reiman, Arto

The Safety Training Park (STP) concept is a unique Finnish safety training innovation. The STP provides different actors of the construction industry and other branches a practical occupational safety and health (OSH) training area. To the authors’ knowledge, no such parks exist in Europe besides...... Finland. Objec-tive was to study the effectiveness of the STP trainings at a large case company which participated in this study and which has actively trained its personnel in the park. The study was conducted from February 2015 to Feb-ruary 2017. Several key success factors were identified...... in the interviews of this case study. In addition, the company OSH statistics (2010 – 2016) showed a positive development at safety level. However, The Nordic Safety Climate Questionnaire did not show any significant change of results in a one year period. According to the results of the group interviews...

A study on the assessment of safety culture impacts on risk of nuclear power plants using common uncertainty source model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yong Suk; Bang, Young Suk; Chung, Chang Hyun; Jeong, Ji Hwan

2004-01-01

Since International Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) introduced term 'safety culture', it has been widely recognized that safety culture has an important role in safety of nuclear power plants. Research on the safety culture can be divided in the following two parts. 1) Assessment of safety culture (by interview, questionnaire, etc.) 2) Assessment of link between safety culture and safety of nuclear power plants. There is a substantial body of literature that addresses the first part, but there is much less work that addresses the second part. To address the second part, most work focused on the development of model incorporating safety culture into Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). One of the most advanced methodology in the area of incorporating safety culture quantitatively into PSA is System Dynamics (SD) model developed by Kwak et al. It can show interactions among various factors which affect employees' productivity and job quality. Also various situations in nuclear power plant can be simulated and time-dependent risk can be recalculated with this model. But this model does not consider minimal cut set (MCS) dependency and uncertainty of risk. Another well-known methodology is Work Process Analysis Model (WPAM) developed by Davoudian. It considers MCS dependency by modifying conditional probability values using SLI methodology. But we found that the modified conditional probability values in WPAM are somewhat artificial and have no sound basis. WPAM tend to overestimate conditional probability of hardware failure, because it uses SLI methodology which is normally used in Human Reliability Analysis (HRA). WPAM also does not consider uncertainty of risk. In this study, we proposed methodology to incorporate safety culture into PSA quantitatively that can deal with MCS dependency and uncertainty of risk by applying the Common Uncertainty Source (CUS) model developed by Zhang. CUS is uncertainty source that is common to basic events, and this can be physical

Studying Patient Safety Culture from the Viewpoint of Nurse in educational hospitals Ilam City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milad Borji

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Patient safety culture is the first necessary step to reduce medical errors and improve patient's condition. In this context, this article aims at studying the condition of patient safety culture in hospitals in Elam in 2016. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 150 nurses in Ilam were randomly selected. The Culture Hospital Survey on Patient Safety (HSOPSC was used and its reliability and validity had been confirmed by the previous studies. The data were analyzed by SPSS17. Results: The results showed that the nurses' safety was at positive(62.37± 8.70 and there could be found no significant difference in patient safety among the studied hospitals in this article (P<.05. Extra-organizational teamwork and non-punitive response, among the aspects of patient safety, had the lowest means and organizational learning and general understanding had the highest. Conclusion: Considering the importance of patient safety, the interventions need to be performed in order to improve the patient safety condition among nurses, especially in two aspects of extra-organizational teamwork and non-punitive response that had the lowest means.

Overview of the reactor safety study consequence model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wall, I.B.; Yaniv, S.S.; Blond, R.M.; McGrath, P.E.; Church, H.W.; Wayland, J.R.

1977-01-01

The Reactor Safety Study (WASH-1400) is a comprehensive assessment of the potential risk to the public from accidents in light water power reactors. The engineering analysis of the plants is described in detail in the Reactor Safety Study: it provides an estimate of the probability versus magnitude of the release of radioactive material. The consequence model, which is the subject of this paper, describes the progression of the postulated accident after the release of the radioactive material from the containment. A brief discussion of the manner in which the consequence calculations are performed is presented. The emphasis in the description is on the models and data that differ significantly from those previously used for these types of assessments. The results of the risk calculations for 100 light water power reactors are summarized

Receptionist input to quality and safety in repeat prescribing in UK general practice: ethnographic case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Swinglehurst, Deborah; Greenhalgh, Trisha; Russell, Jill; Myall, Michelle

2011-11-03

To describe, explore, and compare organisational routines for repeat prescribing in general practice to identify contributors and barriers to safety and quality. Ethnographic case study. Four urban UK general practices with diverse organisational characteristics using electronic patient records that supported semi-automation of repeat prescribing. 395 hours of ethnographic observation of staff (25 doctors, 16 nurses, 4 healthcare assistants, 6 managers, and 56 reception or administrative staff), and 28 documents and other artefacts relating to repeat prescribing locally and nationally. Potential threats to patient safety and characteristics of good practice. Observation of how doctors, receptionists, and other administrative staff contributed to, and collaborated on, the repeat prescribing routine. Analysis included mapping prescribing routines, building a rich description of organisational practices, and drawing these together through narrative synthesis. This was informed by a sociological model of how organisational routines shape and are shaped by information and communications technologies. Results Repeat prescribing was a complex, technology-supported social practice requiring collaboration between clinical and administrative staff, with important implications for patient safety. More than half of requests for repeat prescriptions were classed as "exceptions" by receptionists (most commonly because the drug, dose, or timing differed from what was on the electronic repeat list). They managed these exceptions by making situated judgments that enabled them (sometimes but not always) to bridge the gap between the idealised assumptions about tasks, roles, and interactions that were built into the electronic patient record and formal protocols, and the actual repeat prescribing routine as it played out in practice. This work was creative and demanded both explicit and tacit knowledge. Clinicians were often unaware of this input and it did not feature in policy

[Validation of interaction databases in psychopharmacotherapy].

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, M; Roll, S C

2018-03-01

Drug-drug interaction databases are an important tool to increase drug safety in polypharmacy. There are several drug interaction databases available but it is unclear which one shows the best results and therefore increases safety for the user of the databases and the patients. So far, there has been no validation of German drug interaction databases. Validation of German drug interaction databases regarding the number of hits, mechanisms of drug interaction, references, clinical advice, and severity of the interaction. A total of 36 drug interactions which were published in the last 3-5 years were checked in 5 different databases. Besides the number of hits, it was also documented if the mechanism was correct, clinical advice was given, primary literature was cited, and the severity level of the drug-drug interaction was given. All databases showed weaknesses regarding the hit rate of the tested drug interactions, with a maximum of 67.7% hits. The highest score in this validation was achieved by MediQ with 104 out of 180 points. PsiacOnline achieved 83 points, arznei-telegramm® 58, ifap index® 54 and the ABDA-database 49 points. Based on this validation MediQ seems to be the most suitable databank for the field of psychopharmacotherapy. The best results in this comparison were achieved by MediQ but this database also needs improvement with respect to the hit rate so that the users can rely on the results and therefore increase drug therapy safety.

Melt/concrete interactions: the Sandia experimental program, model development, and code comparison test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powers, D.A.; Muir, J.F.

1979-01-01

High temperature melt/concrete interactions have been studied both experimentally and analytically at Sandia under sponsorship of Reactor Safety Research of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The purpose of these studies has been to develop an understanding of these interactions suitable for risk assessment. Results of the experimental program are summarized and a computer model of melt/concrete interactions is described. A melt/concrete interaction test that will allow this and other models of the interaction to be compared is also described

Heat transfer and friction correlations required to describe steam--water behavior in nuclear safety studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solbrig, C.W.; McFadden, J.H.; Lyczkowski, R.W.; Hughes, E.D.

1975-01-01

The description of two-phase flow is important in nuclear safety studies. Recent two-phase flow descriptions are based upon unequal phase velocities and unequal phase temperatures (UVUT) theories with interphase interaction terms. These theories are more mechanistic than homogeneous theories and require more and different types of correlations than homogeneous theories. The UVUT theories require correlations (or models) which describe wall and interphase mass transfer, friction, momentum transfer, and heat transfer for all flow regimes and heat transfer regimes. A set of correlations is presented in this paper which can be used with UVUT theories. These correlations cover the complete range of parameters needed and in all cases are expected to yield reasonable numbers. (U.S.)

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)

Nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tarride, Bruno

2015-10-01

The author proposes an overview of methods and concepts used in the nuclear industry, at the design level as well as at the exploitation level, to ensure an acceptable safety level, notably in the case of nuclear reactors. He first addresses the general objectives of nuclear safety and the notion of acceptable risk: definition and organisation of nuclear safety (relationships between safety authorities and operators), notion of acceptable risk, deterministic safety approach and main safety principles (safety functions and confinement barriers, concept of defence in depth). Then, the author addresses the safety approach at the design level: studies of operational situations, studies of internal and external aggressions, safety report, design principles for important-for-safety systems (failure criterion, redundancy, failure prevention, safety classification). The next part addresses safety during exploitation and general exploitation rules: definition of the operation domain and of its limits, periodic controls and tests, management in case of incidents, accidents or aggressions

Environmental Regulation and Food Safety: Studies of Protection ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2006-01-01

Jan 1, 2006 ... Book cover Environmental Regulation and Food Safety: Studies of ... are sometimes perceived in developing countries as nontariff barriers to trade. ... In some cases, products that had initially been refused access to a ...

Non-clinical models: validation, study design and statistical consideration in safety pharmacology.

Science.gov (United States)

Pugsley, M K; Towart, R; Authier, S; Gallacher, D J; Curtis, M J

2010-01-01

The current issue of the Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods (JPTM) focuses exclusively on safety pharmacology methods. This is the 7th year the Journal has published on this topic. Methods and models that specifically relate to methods relating to the assessment of the safety profile of a new chemical entity (NCE) prior to first in human (FIH) studies are described. Since the Journal started publishing on this topic there has been a major effort by safety pharmacologists, toxicologists and regulatory scientists within Industry (both large and small Pharma as well as Biotechnology companies) and also from Contract Research Organizations (CRO) to publish the surgical details of the non-clinical methods utilized but also provide important details related to standard and non-standard (or integrated) study models and designs. These details from core battery and secondary (or ancillary) drug safety assessment methods used in drug development programs have been the focus of these special issues and have been an attempt to provide validation of methods. Similarly, the safety pharmacology issues of the Journal provide the most relevant forum for scientists to present novel and modified methods with direct applicability to determination of drug safety-directly to the safety pharmacology scientific community. The content of the manuscripts in this issue includes the introduction of additional important surgical methods, novel data capture and data analysis methods, improved study design and effects of positive control compounds with known activity in the model. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The 4th Missing Element of the ITO Systemic Approach to Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smetnik, A.; Murlis, D.

2016-01-01

According to the IAEA Report the Fukushima Daiichi accident was a wake-up call for the nuclear community to recognise the complexity of safety and to respect the entire systems interaction of ITOs. The complexity of nuclear organizations is increasing, and different and more unique approaches are needed to ensure that safety is maintained. The Fukushima Daiichi accident was avoidable, according to the presentations of experts from Japan. Taking into account the ongoing interaction between all the individual, technical and organizational (ITO) factors reveals the complexity and non-linearity of the operations at a nuclear power plant. It is necessary to better examine how the weaknesses and strengths of all these factors influence one another and to facilitate the proactive elimination of risks. The International Experts Meeting (IEM) participants emphasised that an integrated approach to safety through consideration of the interaction of ITO systems is needed to complement the more traditional approach to safety. The concept of a systemic approach to safety represents a new way of thinking about safety for some Member States and even for some IAEA activities and services.

Alberta Environment's weir safety program : options for rehabilitation to improve public safety : a case study of the Calgary weir

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blakely, D [Alberta Environment, Edmonton, AB (Canada)

2009-07-01

Alberta Environment Water Management Operations (WMO) owns and operates 46 dams and 800 kilometres of canals in Alberta. The WMO consists of 120 staff and several contract operators to take care of this infrastructure. Most of the infrastructure supplies water for irrigation use, which adds 5 billion dollars to the provincial economy annually. Other water uses include stock watering, domestic use, municipal use, recreational use and habitat. Alberta Environment's weir safety program was also discussed along with options for rehabilitation to improve public safety. A case study of Calgary's Weir Dam on the Bow River was highlighted. A brief history of the dam was offered and safety programs around provincially-owned weirs were discussed. Photographs were included to illustrate some of the additional safety measures at the Calgary weir, such as suspended safety buoys upstream of the boom directing paddlers to the portage trail, and signage on the river that can be activated when the boom is out. Typical river users on the Calgary Bow River and safety history at the Calgary Weir were discussed along with other topics such as the Calgary Bow River weir project criteria; project design progress; pre-feasibility options; scale modelling; final design analysis; construction funding; and proposed changes to the safety program for the new weir configuration. figs.

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)

Characteristics of the safety climate in teams with world-class safety ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Accidents and incidents in the construction environment are not reduced or eliminated effectively, despite numerous efforts made to improve health and safety in the industry. An extensive field of research has been conducted on how teams in the construction environment interact to deliver a project successfully in terms of ...

Classifying Secondary Task Driving Safety Using Method of F-ANP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisheng Jin

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This study was designed to build an evaluation system for secondary task driving safety by using method of Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (F-ANP. Forty drivers completed driving on driving simulator while interacting with or without a secondary task. Measures of fixations, saccades, and vehicle running status were analyzed. According to five experts' opinions, a hierarchical model for secondary task driving safety evaluation was built. The hierarchical model was divided into three levels: goal, assessment dimension, and criteria. Seven indexes make up the level of criteria, and the assessment dimension includes two clusters: vehicle control risk and driver eye movement risk. By method of F-ANP, the priorities of the criteria and the subcriteria were determined. Furthermore, to rank the driving safety, an approach based on the principle of maximum membership degree was adopted. At last, a case study of secondary task driving safety evaluation by forty drivers using the proposed method was done. The results indicated that the application of the proposed method is practically feasible and adoptable for secondary task driving safety evaluation.

Safety-related topics from the Nuclear Power Options Viability Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trauger, D.B.; White, J.D.

1986-01-01

The Nuclear Power Options Viability Study (NPOVS) evaluated innovative reactor concepts, and this article reviews NPOVS findings, with emphasis on safety and licensing. The reactors studied were of light-water, liquid-metal, and helium-cooled concepts, and most were of modular design. Prelicensed standard plants offer an important step toward regulatory stability and early licensing approvals with public participation before major expenditures. Advanced reactors with passive safety features offer the possibility of performance-based regulation. The concepts studied appear to be potentially viable, but more complete designs will be required before economic evaluations can be definitive

A Study on Drug Safety Monitoring Program in India

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, A.; Patel, Isha; Sanyal, Sudeepa; Balkrishnan, R.; Mohanta, G. P.

2014-01-01

Pharmacovigilance is useful in assuring the safety of medicines and protecting the consumers from their harmful effects. A number of single drugs as well as fixed dose combinations have been banned from manufacturing, marketing and distribution in India. An important issue about the availability of banned drugs over the counter in India is that sufficient adverse drug reactions data about these drugs have not been reported. The most common categories of drugs withdrawn in the last decade were nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (28%), antidiabetics (14.28%), antiobesity (14.28%), antihistamines (14.28%), gastroprokinetic drugs (7.14%), breast cancer and infertility drugs (7.14%), irritable bowel syndrome and constipation drugs (7.14%) and antibiotics (7.14%). Drug withdrawals from market were made mainly due to safety issues involving cardiovascular events (57.14%) and liver damage (14.28%). Majority of drugs have been banned since 3-5 years in other countries but are still available for sale in India. The present study compares the drug safety monitoring systems in the developed countries such as the USA and UK and provides implications for developing a system that can ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs in India. Absence of a gold standard for a drug safety surveillance system, variations in culture and clinical practice across countries makes it difficult for India to completely adopt another country's practices. There should be a multidisciplinary approach towards drug safety that should be implemented throughout the entire duration spanning from drug discovery to usage by consumers. PMID:25425751

Botanical-drug interactions: a scientific perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

de Lima Toccafondo Vieira, Manuela; Huang, Shiew-Mei

2012-09-01

There is a continued predisposition of concurrent use of drugs and botanical products. A general lack of knowledge of the interaction potential together with an under-reporting of botanical use poses a challenge for the health care providers and a safety concern for patients. Botanical-drug interactions increase the patient risk, especially with regard to drugs with a narrow therapeutic index (e.g., warfarin, cyclosporine, and digoxin). Examples of case reports and clinical studies evaluating botanical-drug interactions of commonly used botanicals in the US are presented. The potential pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic bases of such interactions are discussed, as well as the challenges associated with the interpretation of the available data and prediction of botanical-drug interactions. Recent FDA experiences with botanical products and interactions including labeling implications as a risk management strategy are highlighted. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Safety aspects in high-field magnetic resonance imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muehlenweg, M.; Trattnig, S.; Schaefers, G.

2008-01-01

With more and more 3 Tesla high-field magnetic resonance (MR) scanners entering clinical routine, the safety notion in MR imaging has also reached a new dimension. The first part of this paper deals with the three most important sources of physical interaction (static magnetic field, gradient and HF fields). The paper discusses the differences compared with the traditional clinical 1.5 T standard scanners, the impact on human beings, the interactions with metallic objects and the relevant safety standards. The second part of the paper examines the issue of MR safety as seen in clinical practice and tries to demonstrate optimization potentials. This includes structural optimization in information distribution and hospital organization as well as test standards and labeling guidelines. (orig.) [de

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.

Theoretical aspects and experimental of neutronic interaction of multiplying media; Aspects theoriques et experimentaux de l'interaction neutronique entre milieux multiplicateurs de neutrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mougniot, J C [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1965-07-01

A theoretical study of neutronic interaction of multiplying media is presented. The use of the surface multiplication constant and of the effective multiplication constant is considered. Three classical methods of interaction calculations are studied in parallel and the application of the Keff method to problems of nuclear safety is discussed. (authors) [French] Une etude theorique de l'interaction neutronique entre milieux multiplicateurs de neutrons est presentee. L'utilisation du coefficient de multiplication de surface et du coefficient de multiplication effectif est envisagee. Trois methodes classiques de calcul d'interaction sont etudiees parallelement et l'adaptation de la methode du Keff, aux problemes de securite nucleaire est ensuite discutee. (auteurs)

Pharmacokinetic Interactions between Drugs and Botanical Dietary Supplements.

Science.gov (United States)

Sprouse, Alyssa A; van Breemen, Richard B

2016-02-01

The use of botanical dietary supplements has grown steadily over the last 20 years despite incomplete information regarding active constituents, mechanisms of action, efficacy, and safety. An important but underinvestigated safety concern is the potential for popular botanical dietary supplements to interfere with the absorption, transport, and/or metabolism of pharmaceutical agents. Clinical trials of drug-botanical interactions are the gold standard and are usually carried out only when indicated by unexpected consumer side effects or, preferably, by predictive preclinical studies. For example, phase 1 clinical trials have confirmed preclinical studies and clinical case reports that St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) induces CYP3A4/CYP3A5. However, clinical studies of most botanicals that were predicted to interact with drugs have shown no clinically significant effects. For example, clinical trials did not substantiate preclinical predictions that milk thistle (Silybum marianum) would inhibit CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, and/or CYP3A4. Here, we highlight discrepancies between preclinical and clinical data concerning drug-botanical interactions and critically evaluate why some preclinical models perform better than others in predicting the potential for drug-botanical interactions. Gaps in knowledge are also highlighted for the potential of some popular botanical dietary supplements to interact with therapeutic agents with respect to absorption, transport, and metabolism. Copyright © 2016 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Example of a SWOV (Institute for Road Safety Research) safety study : "Avenida Marginal", Lisbon 1989.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, S.T.M.C.

1991-01-01

This paper describes the accident study on the Marginal Road between Alges and Cascais in Portugal. The aim of this study was to produce a philosophy for a strategy to select the best safety measures out of several which had already been proposed. The general point of departure in this philosophy is

Assessment of Safety Condition in One of the Teaching Hospitals in Kermanshah (2015: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masod Ghanbari Kakavand

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background & Aims of the Study: Many working conditions-related stress factors that can produce injuries and illnesses are important in hospital environments. So, the health and safety of nurses and patients from workplace-induced injuries and illnesses is important. In this study, we have assessed the safety condition of one of the teaching hospitals in Kermanshah (2015. Materials and Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in one of the teaching hospital of Kermanshah University of medical sciences. For this aim a checklist was prepared based on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's standards and Part 3 of the manual of National Building Regulations. These checklists comprised (The final checklist had 239 questions of 9 dimensions various sections of safety including; fire safety, building safety, electrical safety, emergency exit routes safety, heating and cooling equipment safety, operating room and laundry room and salty home safety. Eventually, using SPSS 16 and descriptive statistics, data were analyzed. Results: According to the results of this study, 66.6% of the units had poor safety and 33.4% of them were moderately safe. As well as, only ICU and CCU unit, heating and cooling equipment and operational room showed moderate compliance with safety requirements and other sections were poorly complied. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that safety conditions of hospital were not at favorable level. These poor safety statues can jeopardize patients and hospital personnel. Thus some interventions such as improvement of working conditions, compliance with safety acts and implementation of health, safety and environmental management system would be necessary.

Safety analysis and environmental effects of fusion concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1976-01-01

Fusion reactor concepts have been analyzed to determine the probable interactions with the environment and the resultant environmental effects. Two research projects on tritium oxidation in the atmosphere and carbon-14 formation in fusion reactors are briefly described. A study and report were completed, investigating the potential public safety impact of accidents in fusion power plants. After reviewing the existing information on conceptual fusion reactor designs, PNL identified areas of safety concern, making recommendations on how development of safety information might be best accomplished. Inventories of potentially dispersible toxic materials were classified, and general conclusions were made about their relative importance. The report specifies energy sources with a potential to initiate or propagate an accident. An important product of the study was an assessment logic developed to identify potential accident scenarios that could lead to the release of contaminants to the environment. Though the limited amount of fusion design information allows only a general assessment of accident-initiating events, the logic provides a method for making more detailed safety analyses as more design information becomes available. The same logic was used to identify technological areas where an R and D investment would enhance the technical bases for fusion designs as well as the understanding of safety implications in fusion systems

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

The Role of Hospital Inpatients in Supporting Medication Safety: A Qualitative Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Garfield

Full Text Available Inpatient medication errors are a significant concern. An approach not yet widely studied is to facilitate greater involvement of inpatients with their medication. At the same time, electronic prescribing is becoming increasingly prevalent in the hospital setting. In this study we aimed to explore hospital inpatients' involvement with medication safety-related behaviours, facilitators and barriers to this involvement, and the impact of electronic prescribing.We conducted ethnographic observations and interviews in two UK hospital organisations, one with established electronic prescribing and one that changed from paper to electronic prescribing during our study. Researchers and lay volunteers observed nurses' medication administration rounds, pharmacists' ward rounds, doctor-led ward rounds and drug history taking. We also conducted interviews with healthcare professionals, patients and carers. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Observation notes and transcripts were coded thematically.Paper or electronic medication records were shown to patients in only 4 (2% of 247 cases. However, where they were available during patient-healthcare professional interactions, healthcare professionals often viewed them in order to inform patients about their medicines and answer any questions. Interprofessional discussions about medicines seemed more likely to happen in front of the patient where paper or electronic drug charts were available near the bedside. Patients and carers had more access to paper-based drug charts than electronic equivalents. However, interviews and observations suggest there are potentially more significant factors that affect patient involvement with their inpatient medication. These include patient and healthcare professional beliefs concerning patient involvement, the way in which healthcare professionals operate as a team, and the underlying culture.Patients appear to have more access to paper-based records than

Migration, violence, and safety among migrant sex workers: a qualitative study in two Guatemalan communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocha-Jiménez, Teresita; Brouwer, Kimberly C; Silverman, Jay G; Morales-Miranda, Sonia; Goldenberg, Shira M

2016-09-01

Despite reports of high levels of violence among women migrants in Central America, limited evidence exists regarding the health and safety of migrant sex workers in Central America. This study is based on 16 months of field research (November 2012-February 2014), including ethnographic fieldwork, in-depth interviews, and focus groups conducted with 52 internal and international migrant female sex workers in Tecún Umán and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, key transit and destination communities for both international and internal migrants. The analysis explored migration-related determinants of susceptibility to violence experienced by migrant sex workers across different phases of migration. Violence in home communities and economic considerations were key drivers of migration. Unsafe transit experiences (eg undocumented border crossings) and negative interactions with authorities in destination settings (eg extortion) contributed to migrant sex workers' susceptibility to violence, while enhanced access to information on immigration policies and greater migration and sex work experience were found to enhance agency and resilience. Findings suggest the urgent need for actions that promote migrant sex workers' safety in communities of origin, transit, and destination, and programmes aimed at preventing and addressing human rights violations within the context of migration and sex work.

An integrative review of patient safety in studies on the care and safety of patients with communication disabilities in hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Hemsley, Bronwyn; Georgiou, Andrew; Hill, Sophie; Rollo, Megan; Steel, Joanne; Balandin, Susan

2016-04-01

To review the research literature on the experiences of patients with communication disabilities in hospital according to the Generic Model of patient safety. In 2014 and 2015, we searched four scientific databases for studies with an aim or result relevant to safety of hospital patients with communication disabilities. The review included 27 studies. A range of adverse event types were outlined in qualitative research. Little detail was provided about contributing or protective factors for safety incidents in hospital for these patients or the impact of the incidents on the patient or organisations involved. Further research addressing the safety of patients with communication disabilities is needed. Sufficient detail is required to identify the nature, timing, and detection of incidents; factors that contribute to or prevent adverse events; and detail the impact of the adverse events. In order to provide safe and effective care to people with communication disabilities in hospital, a priority for health and disability services must be the design and evaluation of ecologically appropriate and evidence-based interventions to improve patient care, communication, and reduce the risk of costly and harmful patient safety incidents. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Curriculum: Integrating Health and Safety Into Engineering Curricula.

Science.gov (United States)

Talty, John T.

1985-01-01

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health instituted a project in 1980 to encourage engineering educators to focus on occupational safety and health issues in engineering curricula. Progress to date is outlined, considering specific results in curriculum development, engineering society interaction, and formation of a teaching…

Development of a railway wagon-track interaction model: Case studies on excited tracks

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Lei; Chen, Xianmai; Li, Xuwei; He, Xianglin

2018-02-01

In this paper, a theoretical framework for modeling the railway wagon-ballast track interactions is presented, in which the dynamic equations of motion of wagon-track systems are constructed by effectively coupling the linear and nonlinear dynamic characteristics of system components. For the linear components, the energy-variational principle is directly used to derive their dynamic matrices, while for the nonlinear components, the dynamic equilibrium method is implemented to deduce the load vectors, based on which a novel railway wagon-ballast track interaction model is developed, and being validated by comparing with the experimental data measured from a heavy haul railway and another advanced model. With this study, extensive contributions in figuring out the critical speed of instability, limits and localizations of track irregularities over derailment accidents are presented by effectively integrating the dynamic simulation model, the track irregularity probabilistic model and time-frequency analysis method. The proposed approaches can provide crucial information to guarantee the running safety and stability of the wagon-track system when considering track geometries and various running speeds.

Study of system safety evaluation on LTO of national project. NISA safety research project on system safety of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takizawa, Masayuki; Sekimura, Naoto; Miyano, Hiroshi; Aoyama, Katsunobu

2012-01-01

Japanese safety regulatory body, that is, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) started a 5-year national safety research project as 'the first stage' from 2006 FY to 2010 FY whose objective is 'Improve the technical information basis in order to utilize knowledge as well as information related to ageing management and maintenance of NPPs. Fukushima disaster happened in March 2011, and the priority of research needs for ageing management dramatically changed in Japan. The second-stage national project started in October 2011 with the concept of 'system safety' of NNPs where not only ageing management on degradation phenomena of important components but also safety management on total plant systems are paid attention to. The second-stage project is so called 'Japanese Ageing Management Program for System Safety (JAMPSS)'. (author)

Pressure Safety: Advanced Self-Study 30120

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glass, George [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-02-29

Pressure Safety Advance Self-Study (Course 30120) consists of an introduction, five modules, and a quiz. To receive credit in UTrain for completing this course, you must score 80% or better on the 15-question quiz (check UTrain). Directions for initiating the quiz are appended to the end of this training manual. This course contains several links to LANL websites. UTrain might not support active links, so please copy links into the address line in your browser.

A Quantitative Feasibility Study on Potential Safety Improvement Effects of Advanced Safety Features in APR-1400 when Applied to OPR-1000

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ualikhan Zhiyenbayev [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Chung, Dae Wook [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

This study aims to test the feasibility of the applications using Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). Particularly, three of those advanced safety features are selected as follows: 1. Providing an additional Emergency Diesel Generator (EDG); 2. Increasing the capacity of Class 1E batteries; 3. Placing a Refueling Water Storage Tank (RWST) inside containment, i.e., change from RWST to IRWST. The Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR-1400) adopts several advanced safety features compared to its predecessor, the Optimized Power Reactor 1000 (OPR-1000), which includes an additional Emergency Diesel Generator, increase in battery capacity, in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST), and so on. Considering the remarkable advantages of these safety features in safety improvement and the design similarities between APR-1400 and OPR-1000, it is feasible to apply key advanced safety features of APR-1400 to OPR-1000 to enhance the safety. The selected safety features are incorporated into OPR-1000 PSA model using the Advanced Information Management System (AIMS) for PSA and CDFs are re-evaluated for each application and combination of three applications. Based on current results, it is concluded that three of key advanced safety features of APR-1400 can be effectively applied to OPR-1000, resulting in considerable safety improvement. In aggregate, three advanced safety features, which are an additional EDG, increased battery capacity and IRWST, can reduce the CDF of OPR-1000 by more than 15% when applied altogether.

A Quantitative Feasibility Study on Potential Safety Improvement Effects of Advanced Safety Features in APR-1400 when Applied to OPR-1000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ualikhan Zhiyenbayev; Chung, Dae Wook

2015-01-01

This study aims to test the feasibility of the applications using Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). Particularly, three of those advanced safety features are selected as follows: 1. Providing an additional Emergency Diesel Generator (EDG); 2. Increasing the capacity of Class 1E batteries; 3. Placing a Refueling Water Storage Tank (RWST) inside containment, i.e., change from RWST to IRWST. The Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR-1400) adopts several advanced safety features compared to its predecessor, the Optimized Power Reactor 1000 (OPR-1000), which includes an additional Emergency Diesel Generator, increase in battery capacity, in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST), and so on. Considering the remarkable advantages of these safety features in safety improvement and the design similarities between APR-1400 and OPR-1000, it is feasible to apply key advanced safety features of APR-1400 to OPR-1000 to enhance the safety. The selected safety features are incorporated into OPR-1000 PSA model using the Advanced Information Management System (AIMS) for PSA and CDFs are re-evaluated for each application and combination of three applications. Based on current results, it is concluded that three of key advanced safety features of APR-1400 can be effectively applied to OPR-1000, resulting in considerable safety improvement. In aggregate, three advanced safety features, which are an additional EDG, increased battery capacity and IRWST, can reduce the CDF of OPR-1000 by more than 15% when applied altogether

Safety culture assessment in petrochemical industry: a comparative study of two algerian plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Boughaba, Assia; Hassane, Chabane; Roukia, Ouddai

2014-06-01

To elucidate the relationship between safety culture maturity and safety performance of a particular company. To identify the factors that contribute to a safety culture, a survey questionnaire was created based mainly on the studies of Fernández-Muñiz et al. The survey was randomly distributed to 1000 employees of two oil companies and realized a rate of valid answer of 51%. Minitab 16 software was used and diverse tests, including the descriptive statistical analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, mean analysis, and correlation, were used for the analysis of data. Ten factors were extracted using the analysis of factor to represent safety culture and safety performance. The results of this study showed that the managers' commitment, training, incentives, communication, and employee involvement are the priority domains on which it is necessary to stress the effort of improvement, where they had all the descriptive average values lower than 3.0 at the level of Company B. Furthermore, the results also showed that the safety culture influences the safety performance of the company. Therefore, Company A with a good safety culture (the descriptive average values more than 4.0), is more successful than Company B in terms of accident rates. The comparison between the two petrochemical plants of the group Sonatrach confirms these results in which Company A, the managers of which are English and Norwegian, distinguishes itself by the maturity of their safety culture has significantly higher evaluations than the company B, who is constituted of Algerian staff, in terms of safety management practices and safety performance.

Development of Network Protocol for the Integrated Safety System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, S. W.; Baek, J. I.; Lee, S. H.; Park, C. S.; Park, K. H.; Shin, J. M. [Hannam Univ., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2007-06-15

Communication devices in the safety system of nuclear power plants are distinguished from those developed for commercial purposes in terms of a strict requirement of safety. The concept of safety covers the determinability, the reliability, and the separation/isolation to prevent the undesirable interactions among devices. The safety also requires that these properties be never proof less. Most of the current commercialized communication products rarely have the safety properties. Moreover, they can be neither verified nor validated to satisfy the safety property of implementation process. This research proposes the novel architecture and protocol of a data communication network for the safety system in nuclear power plants.

Development of Network Protocol for the Integrated Safety System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, S. W.; Baek, J. I.; Lee, S. H.; Park, C. S.; Park, K. H.; Shin, J. M.

2007-06-01

Communication devices in the safety system of nuclear power plants are distinguished from those developed for commercial purposes in terms of a strict requirement of safety. The concept of safety covers the determinability, the reliability, and the separation/isolation to prevent the undesirable interactions among devices. The safety also requires that these properties be never proof less. Most of the current commercialized communication products rarely have the safety properties. Moreover, they can be neither verified nor validated to satisfy the safety property of implementation process. This research proposes the novel architecture and protocol of a data communication network for the safety system in nuclear power plants

Key aspects in managing safety when working with multiple contractors: A case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drupsteen, L.; Rasmussen, H.B.; Ustailieva, E.; Kampen, J. van

2015-01-01

Working with multiple contractors in a shared workplace can introduce and increase safety risks due to complexity. The aim of this study was to explore how safety issues are recognized in a specific case and to identify whether clients and contractors perceive problems similarly. The safety issues

Preliminary report of radiological safety to hydrology 1993 campaign

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badano, A.; Suarez Antola, R.; Dellepere, A.; Barreiro, M.

1993-01-01

This report has been prepared based on the interaction between project managers and division radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety. In seeking to establish a basis for approval from the point of view of radiation safety practices . The idea for the audit has been provided at all times because the interest was the exchange of ideas and the use of common sense to improve the safety of radioactive substances, security of operators and public safety and environment.The above shows that in the planned radiation safety condition described in this report,the practice can be carried out according to the criteria of safety accepted .

Why does Safety Culture Matter?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dahlgren-Persson, Kerstin

2008-01-01

Dr. Kerstin Dahlgren-Persson, from the IAEA presented a plenary paper on 'Why does safety culture matter?'. The paper discussed the main conclusions of a 1998 IAEA conference on shortcomings in safety management. The conference included case studies of TVA, Cooper, Peach Bottom, Millstone, Ontario Hydro, Barsebaeck and Oskarshamn. Common symptoms included insularity; disproportionate focus on technical issues, high initial performance, lack of corporate oversight, changing management direction and cost cutting, repeat problems, and regulatory dissatisfaction. Behind these symptoms was lack of senior utility leadership with the insight, knowledge and ability to manage the unique interaction between the technology, economics, human factors and safety in a changing nuclear environment. Shortcomings relating to the regulator included lack of criteria for when regulatory actions should be taken in response to degradations in safety management, and the inability of some regulators to influence at the senior utility management level. The paper also made the following key points: - Human error is not always symptomatic of a poor safety culture. Effective root cause analysis (such as that carried out for the Columbia accident investigation) is essential to correctly differentiate between situational issues at a point in time and those rooted in organizational culture. - Leaders change culture by holding different assumptions and by making them visible through their words and action. - Regulators should consider how their regulatory strategy influences licensees. For example, a prescriptive strategy can foster a compliance based approach

System and safety studies of accelerator driven systems for transmutation. Annual report 2007

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arzhanov, Vasily; Fokau, Andrei; Persson, Calle; Runevall, Odd; Sandberg, Nils; Tesinsky, Milan; Wallenius, Janne; Youpeng Zhang

2008-05-01

Within the project 'System and safety studies of accelerator driven systems for transmutation', research on design and safety of sub-critical reactors for recycling of minor actinides is performed. During 2007, the reactor physics division at KTH has calculated safety parameters for EFIT-400 with cermet fuel, permitting to start the transient safety analysis. The accuracy of different reactivity meters applied to the YALINA facility was assessed and neutron detection studies were performed. A model to address deviations from point kinetic behaviour was developed. Studies of basic radiation damage physics included calculations of vacancy formation and activation enthalpies in bcc niobium. In order to predict the oxygen potential of inert matrix fuels, a thermo-chemical model for mixed actinide oxides was implemented in a phase equilibrium code

Valerian: No Evidence for Clinically Relevant Interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olaf Kelber

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In recent popular publications as well as in widely used information websites directed to cancer patients, valerian is claimed to have a potential of adverse interactions with anticancer drugs. This questions its use as a safe replacement for, for example, benzodiazepines. A review on the interaction potential of preparations from valerian root (Valeriana officinalis L. root was therefore conducted. A data base search and search in a clinical drug interaction data base were conducted. Thereafter, a systematic assessment of publications was performed. Seven in vitro studies on six CYP 450 isoenzymes, on p-glycoprotein, and on two UGT isoenzymes were identified. However, the methodological assessment of these studies did not support their suitability for the prediction of clinically relevant interactions. In addition, clinical studies on various valerian preparations did not reveal any relevant interaction potential concerning CYP 1A2, 2D6, 2E1, and 3A4. Available animal and human pharmacodynamic studies did not verify any interaction potential. The interaction potential of valerian preparations therefore seems to be low and thereby without clinical relevance. We conclude that there is no specific evidence questioning their safety, also in cancer patients.

The DYLAM approach to systems safety and reliability assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amendola, A.

1988-01-01

A survey of the principal features and applications of DYLAM (Dynamic Logical Analytical Methodology) is presented, whose basic principles can be summarized as follows: after a particular modelling of the component states, computerized heuristical procedures generate stochastic configurations of the system, whereas the resulting physical processes are simultaneously simulated to give account of the possible interactions between physics and states and, on the other hand, to search for system dangerous configurations and related probabilities. The association of probabilistic techniques for describing the states with physical equations for describing the process results in a very powerful tool for safety and reliability assessment of systems potentially subjected to dangerous incidental transients. A comprehensive picture of DYLAM capability for manifold applications can be obtained by the review of the study cases analyzed (LMFBR core accident, systems reliability assessment, accident simulation, man-machine interaction analysis, chemical reactors safety, etc.)

The Dread Factor: How Hazards and Safety Training Influence Learning and Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Michael J.; Salvador, Rommel O.; Smith-Crowe, Kristin; Chan-Serafin, Suzanne; Smith, Alexis; Sonesh, Shirley

2011-01-01

On the basis of hypotheses derived from social and experiential learning theories, we meta-analytically investigated how safety training and workplace hazards impact the development of safety knowledge and safety performance. The results were consistent with an expected interaction between the level of engagement of safety training and hazardous…

Proceedings of the Nuclear Criticality Technology Safety Workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rene G. Sanchez

1998-04-01

This document contains summaries of most of the papers presented at the 1995 Nuclear Criticality Technology Safety Project (NCTSP) meeting, which was held May 16 and 17 at San Diego, Ca. The meeting was broken up into seven sessions, which covered the following topics: (1) Criticality Safety of Project Sapphire; (2) Relevant Experiments For Criticality Safety; (3) Interactions with the Former Soviet Union; (4) Misapplications and Limitations of Monte Carlo Methods Directed Toward Criticality Safety Analyses; (5) Monte Carlo Vulnerabilities of Execution and Interpretation; (6) Monte Carlo Vulnerabilities of Representation; and (7) Benchmark Comparisons.

Radiation protection and the safety of radiation sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

These Safety Fundamentals cover the protection of human beings against ionizing radiation (gamma and X rays and alpha, beta and other particles that can induce ionization as they interact with biological materials), referred to herein subsequently as radiation, and the safety of sources that produce ionizing radiation. The Fundamentals do not apply to non-ionizing radiation such as microwave, ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation. They do not apply either to the control of non-radiological aspects of health and safety. They are, however, part of the overall framework of health and safety

Interactive social neuroscience to study autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Rolison, Max J; Naples, Adam J; McPartland, James C

2015-03-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate difficulty with social interactions and relationships, but the neural mechanisms underlying these difficulties remain largely unknown. While social difficulties in ASD are most apparent in the context of interactions with other people, most neuroscience research investigating ASD have provided limited insight into the complex dynamics of these interactions. The development of novel, innovative "interactive social neuroscience" methods to study the brain in contexts with two interacting humans is a necessary advance for ASD research. Studies applying an interactive neuroscience approach to study two brains engaging with one another have revealed significant differences in neural processes during interaction compared to observation in brain regions that are implicated in the neuropathology of ASD. Interactive social neuroscience methods are crucial in clarifying the mechanisms underlying the social and communication deficits that characterize ASD.

Consumer food handling in the home: a review of food safety studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Redmond, Elizabeth C; Griffith, Christopher J

2003-01-01

Epidemiological data from Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand indicate that a substantial proportion of foodborne disease is attributable to improper food preparation practices in consumers' homes. International concern about consumer food safety has prompted considerable research to evaluate domestic food-handling practices. The majority of consumer food safety studies in the last decade have been conducted in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland (48%) and in the United States (42%). Surveys (questionnaires and interviews), the most frequent means of data collection, were used in 75% of the reviewed studies. Focus groups and observational studies have also been used. One consumer food safety study examined the relationship between pathogenic microbial contamination from raw chicken and observed food-handling behaviors, and the results of this study indicated extensive Campylobacter cross-contamination during food preparation sessions. Limited information about consumers' attitudes and intentions with regard to safe food-handling behaviors has been obtained, although a substantial amount of information about consumer knowledge and self-reported practices is available. Observation studies suggest that substantial numbers of consumers frequently implement unsafe food-handling practices. Knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and self-reported practices did not correspond to observed behaviors, suggesting that observational studies provide a more realistic indication of the food hygiene actions actually used in domestic food preparation. An improvement in consumer food-handling behavior is likely to reduce the risk and incidence of foodborne disease. The need for the development and implementation of food safety education strategies to improve specific food safety behaviors is reviewed in this paper.

The safety designs for the TITAN reversed-field pinch reactor study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, C.P.C.; Cheng, E.T.; Creedon, R.L.; Hoot, C.G.; Schultz, K.R.; Grotz, S.P.; Blanchard, J.; Sharafat, S.; Najmabadi, F.

1989-01-01

TITAN is a study to investigate the potential of the reversed-field pinch concept as a compact, high-power density energy system. Two reactor concepts were developed, a self-cooled lithium design with vanadium structure and an aqueous solution loop-in-pool design, both operating at 18 MW/m 2 . The key safety features of the TITAN-I lithium-vanadium blanket design are in material selection, fusion power core configuration selection, lithium piping connections, and passive lithium drain tank system. Based on these safety features and results from accident evaluation, TITAN-I can at least be rated at a level 3 of safety assurance. For the TITAN-II aqueous loop-in-pool design, the key passive feature is the complete submersion of the fusion power core and the corresponding primary coolant loop system into a pool of low temperature water. Based on this key safety design feature, the TITAN-II design can be rated at a level 2 of safety assurance. (orig.)

A study on quantitative V and V of safety-critical software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eom, H. S.; Kang, H. G.; Chang, S. C.; Ha, J. J.; Son, H. S.

2004-03-01

Recently practical needs have required quantitative features for the software reliability for Probabilistic Safety Assessment which is one of the important methods being used in assessing the overall safety of nuclear power plant. But the conventional assessment methods of software reliability could not provide enough information for PSA of NPP, therefore current assessments of a digital system which includes safety-critical software usually exclude the software part or use arbitrary values. This paper describes a Bayesian Belief Networks based method that models the rule-based qualitative software assessment method for a practical use and can produce quantitative results for PSA. The framework was constructed by utilizing BBN that can combine the qualitative and quantitative evidence relevant to the reliability of safety-critical software and can infer a conclusion in a formal and a quantitative way. The case study was performed by applying the method for assessing the quality of software requirement specification of safety-critical software that will be embedded in reactor protection system

The safety designs for the TITAN reversed-field pinch reactor study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, C.P.C.; Cheng, E.T.; Creedon, R.L.; Hoot, C.G.; Schultz, K.R.; Grotz, S.P.; Blanchard, J.P.; Sharafat, S.; Najmabadi, F.

1988-01-01

TITAN is a study to investigate the potential of the reversed-field pinch concept as a compact, high-power density energy system. Two reactor concepts were developed, a self-cooled lithium design with vanadium structure and an aqueous solution loop-in-pool design, both operating at 18 MW/m 2 . The key safety features of the TITAN-I lithium-vanadium blanket design are in material selection, fusion power core configuration selection, lithium piping connections and passive lithium drain tank system. Based on these safety features and results from accident evaluation, TITAN-I can at least be rated as level 3 of safety assurance. For the TITAN-II aqueous loop-in-pool design, the key passive feature is the complete submersion of the fusion power core and the corresponding primary coolant loop system into a pool of low temperature water. Based on this key safety design feature, the TITAN-II design can be rated as level 2 of safety assurance. 7 refs., 2 figs

A study for safety and health management problem of semiconductor industry in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Chao, Chin-Jung; Wang, Hui-Ming; Feng, Wen-Yang; Tseng, Feng-Yi

2008-12-01

The main purpose of this study is to discuss and explore the safety and health management in semiconductor industry. The researcher practically investigates and interviews the input, process and output of the safety and health management of semiconductor industry by using the questionnaires and the interview method which is developed according to the framework of the OHSAS 18001. The result shows that there are six important factors for the safety and health management in Taiwan semiconductor industry. 1. The company should make employee clearly understand the safety and health laws and standards. 2. The company should make the safety and health management policy known to the public. 3. The company should put emphasis on the pursuance of the safety and health management laws. 4. The company should prevent the accidents. 5. The safety and health message should be communicated sufficiently. 6. The company should consider safety and health norm completely.

A multi-tiered approach to safety education.

Science.gov (United States)

Oates, Kim; Sammut, John; Kennedy, Peter

2013-08-01

The World Health Organization has recognised that patient safety education should begin at the undergraduate level. This should not just be for medical students, but for all students in the health professions. Although all students in the health professions should receive a basic grounding in patient safety, there is also a need to develop future leaders in this field. As a result of widespread early student exposure, some students may become interested in learning more. It follows that a postgraduate approach is also needed. The New South Wales Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC) has initiated a tiered approach to patient safety education by providing patient safety teaching in medical, nursing and allied health schools. Teaching is provided in cooperation with the host university, and is interactive, using a mixture of interactive lectures, video clips, films and break-out groups to discuss scenarios and feedback from students to their peers about the concepts they have discussed. For medical graduates, the CEC has initiated patient safety teaching in the early postgraduate years, and provides an elective in patient safety for trainee doctor specialists as part of their accredited training. This process helps to identify and mentor future medical leaders in this field. In addition to teaching the core principles of patient safety to a wide range of students in the health professions, an approach for developing future leaders will provide additional opportunities for motivated students and create opportunities for continuing development in the early postgraduate years and beyond. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

System and safety studies of accelerator driven systems for transmutation. Annual report 2007

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arzhanov, Vasily; Fokau, Andrei; Persson, Calle; Runevall, Odd; Sandberg, Nils; Tesinsky, Milan; Wallenius, Janne; Youpeng Zhang (Div. of Reactor Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden))

2008-05-15

Within the project 'System and safety studies of accelerator driven systems for transmutation', research on design and safety of sub-critical reactors for recycling of minor actinides is performed. During 2007, the reactor physics division at KTH has calculated safety parameters for EFIT-400 with cermet fuel, permitting to start the transient safety analysis. The accuracy of different reactivity meters applied to the YALINA facility was assessed and neutron detection studies were performed. A model to address deviations from point kinetic behaviour was developed. Studies of basic radiation damage physics included calculations of vacancy formation and activation enthalpies in bcc niobium. In order to predict the oxygen potential of inert matrix fuels, a thermo-chemical model for mixed actinide oxides was implemented in a phase equilibrium code

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...

Survey of the state of the German safety study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heuser, F.W.; Kotthoff, K.

1977-01-01

In spring 1976 the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology has ordered a safety study to assess the risk for a nuclear power plant with a PWR. Giving first a survey on the main subtasks of the study the present state of work and some first results are discussed. Assuming a failure of safety systems a core melt event and a subsequent failure of the containment could occur. Corresponding accident sequences are discussed in some detail. Related hereto the results of some calculations for fission product release with respect to different containment failure modes are given. According to the results obtained so far the consequences of a core melt event can essentially be restricted by the retention function of the containment. (orig.) [de

Nuclear Criticality Technology and Safety Project parameter study database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toffer, H.; Erickson, D.G.; Samuel, T.J.; Pearson, J.S.

1993-03-01

A computerized, knowledge-screened, comprehensive database of the nuclear criticality safety documentation has been assembled as part of the Nuclear Criticality Technology and Safety (NCTS) Project. The database is focused on nuclear criticality parameter studies. The database has been computerized using dBASE III Plus and can be used on a personal computer or a workstation. More than 1300 documents have been reviewed by nuclear criticality specialists over the last 5 years to produce over 800 database entries. Nuclear criticality specialists will be able to access the database and retrieve information about topical parameter studies, authors, and chronology. The database places the accumulated knowledge in the nuclear criticality area over the last 50 years at the fingertips of a criticality analyst

Perceived organizational support for safety and employee safety voice: the mediating role of coworker support for safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Sean; Chmiel, Nik; Turner, Nick; Hershcovis, M Sandy; Stride, Chris B

2008-10-01

In the present study, we modeled 2 sources of safety support (perceived organizational support for safety and perceived coworker support for safety) as predictors of employee safety voice, that is, speaking out in an attempt to change unsafe working conditions. Drawing on social exchange and social impact theories, we hypothesized and tested a mediated model predicting employee safety voice using a cross-sectional survey of urban bus drivers (n = 213) in the United Kingdom. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that perceived coworker support for safety fully mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support for safety and employee safety voice. This study adds to the employee voice literature by evaluating the important role that coworkers can play in encouraging others to speak out about safety issues. Implications for research and practice related to change-oriented safety communication are discussed.

Safety in home care: A research protocol for studying medication management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Easty Anthony

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patient safety is an ongoing global priority, with medication safety considered a prevalent, high-risk area of concern. Yet, we have little understanding of the supports and barriers to safe medication management in the Canadian home care environment. There is a clear need to engage the providers and recipients of care in studying and improving medication safety with collaborative approaches to exploring the nature and safety of medication management in home care. Methods A socio-ecological perspective on health and health systems drives our iterative qualitative study on medication safety with elderly home care clients, family members and other informal caregivers, and home care providers. As we purposively sample across four Canadian provinces: Alberta (AB, Ontario (ON, Quebec (QC and Nova Scotia (NS, we will collect textual and visual data through home-based interviews, participant-led photo walkabouts of the home, and photo elicitation sessions at clients' kitchen tables. Using successive rounds of interpretive description and human factors engineering analyses, we will generate robust descriptions of managing medication at home within each provincial sample and across the four-province group. We will validate our initial interpretations through photo elicitation focus groups with home care providers in each province to develop a refined description of the phenomenon that can inform future decision-making, quality improvement efforts, and research. Discussion The application of interpretive and human factors lenses to the visual and textual data is expected to yield findings that advance our understanding of the issues, challenges, and risk-mitigating strategies related to medication safety in home care. The images are powerful knowledge translation tools for sharing what we learn with participants, decision makers, other healthcare audiences, and the public. In addition, participants engage in knowledge exchange

Patient Safety Culture and the Second Victim Phenomenon: Connecting Culture to Staff Distress in Nurses

Science.gov (United States)

Quillivan, Rebecca R.; Burlison, Jonathan D.; Browne, Emily K.; Scott, Susan D.; Hoffman, James M.

2017-01-01

Background Second victim experiences can affect the well-being of healthcare providers and compromise patient safety. Many factors associated with improved coping afer patient safety event involvement are also components of a strong patient safety culture, so that supportive patient safety cultures may reduce second victim–related trauma. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted to assess the influence of patient safety culture on second victim–related distress, in which associations among patient safety culture dimensions, organizational support, and second victim distress were investigated. Methods The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) and the Second Victim Experience and Support Tool (SVEST), which was developed to assess organizational support and personal and professional distress after involvement in a patient safety event, were administered to nurses involved in direct patient care. Results Of 358 nurses, 155 (41%) responded, of whom 144 completed both surveys. Hierarchical linear regression demonstrated that the patient safety culture survey dimension nonpunitive response to errors was significantly associated with reductions in the second victim survey dimensions psychological, physical, and professional distress (p patient safety event by encouraging supportive interactions. Also, perceptions of second victim–related distress may be less severe when hospital cultures are characterized by nonpunitive response to errors. Reducing punitive response to error and encouraging supportive coworker, supervisor, and institutional interactions may be useful strategies to manage the severity of second victim experiences. PMID:27456420

Safety studies concerning nuclear power reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailly, Jean; Pelce, Jacques

1980-01-01

The safety of nuclear installations poses different technical problems, whether concerning pressurized water reactors or fast reactors. But investigating methods are closely related and concern, on the one hand, the behavior of shields placed between fuel and outside and, on the other, analysis of accidents. The article is therefore in two parts based on the same plan. Concerning light water reactors, the programme of studies undertaken in France accounts for the research carried out in countries where collaboration agreements exist. Concerning fast reactors, France has the initiative of their studies owing to her technical advance, which explains the great importance of the programmes under way [fr

The role of the safety authority

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gelder, P. de

2004-01-01

The original programme of the Belgium Workshop did not include a scheduled talk by a representative of the safety authority. However, because of the interest expressed by FSC delegates in this player, a speaker stepped forward. Pieter De Gelder, division head of AVN spoke of the role of the safety authority in the local dialogue. He recalled that in Belgium a safety authority in the modern sense of the word was founded only in the mid 1990's. The safety authority is a federal agency (FANC), while AVN is a private company, a contractor to FANC. Mr. De Gelder highlighted that the regulators are not formal members of the partnerships and do not attend each meeting. However, from time to time, partnerships invite experts from FANC and AVN to give presentations on specific topics. In particular, these experts have provided information on their roles and activities in the process, on legal and authorization procedures, and on the evaluation of ONDRAF/NIRAS dossiers. Mr. De Gelder observed that they found a very motivated local audience and they have committed themselves to continued interaction with the partnerships. Finally, he stressed that this type of public interaction around the repository issue is new to the regulator. (author)

Nurses' Perceptions of Patient Safety Culture in Three Hospitals in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Alquwez, Nahed; Cruz, Jonas Preposi; Almoghairi, Ahmed Mohammed; Al-Otaibi, Raid Salman; Almutairi, Khalid Obaid; Alicante, Jerico G; Colet, Paolo C

2018-05-14

To assess the present patient safety culture of three general hospitals in Saudi Arabia, as perceived by nurses. This study utilized a descriptive, cross-sectional design. A convenience sample of 351 nurses working in three general hospitals in the central region of Saudi Arabia was surveyed in this study using the Hospital Survey of Patients' Safety Culture (HSOPSC) from October 2016 to April 2017. From the 12 composites of the HSOPSC, the nurses perceived only the following two patient safety areas as strengths: teamwork within units and organizational learning-continuous improvement. Six areas of patient safety were identified as weaknesses, namely overall perception of patient safety, handoffs and transitions, communication openness, staffing, frequency of events reported, and nonpunitive response to errors. Nationality, educational attainment, hospital, length of service in the hospital, work area or unit, length of service in the current work area or unit, current position, and direct patient contact or interaction were significant predictors of the nurses' perceived patient safety culture. The findings in this study clarify the current status of patient safety culture in three hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The present findings should be considered by policymakers, hospital leaders, and nurse executives in creating interventions aimed at improving the patient safety culture in hospitals. A multidimensional network intervention targeting the different dimensions of patient safety culture and involving different organizational levels should be implemented to improve patient safety. © 2018 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Immunogenicity of biologically-derived therapeutics: assessment and interpretation of nonclinical safety studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ponce, Rafael; Abad, Leslie; Amaravadi, Lakshmi; Gelzleichter, Thomas; Gore, Elizabeth; Green, James; Gupta, Shalini; Herzyk, Danuta; Hurst, Christopher; Ivens, Inge A; Kawabata, Thomas; Maier, Curtis; Mounho, Barbara; Rup, Bonita; Shankar, Gopi; Smith, Holly; Thomas, Peter; Wierda, Dan

2009-07-01

An evaluation of potential antibody formation to biologic therapeutics during the course of nonclinical safety studies and its impact on the toxicity profile is expected under current regulatory guidance and is accepted standard practice. However, approaches for incorporating this information in the interpretation of nonclinical safety studies are not clearly established. Described here are the immunological basis of anti-drug antibody formation to biopharmaceuticals (immunogenicity) in laboratory animals, and approaches for generating and interpreting immunogenicity data from nonclinical safety studies of biotechnology-derived therapeutics to support their progression to clinical evaluation. We subscribe that immunogenicity testing strategies should be adapted to the specific needs of each therapeutic development program, and data generated from such analyses should be integrated with available clinical and anatomic pathology, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic data to properly interpret nonclinical studies.

Criticality safety (prospect of study in NUCEF)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itagaki, Masafumi

1996-01-01

Experimental studies of criticality safety are under way using STACY and TRACY in NUCEF. Collection of fundamental data on criticality in a solution system is undergoing with STACY to confirm that the likelihood of criticality safety in the system constructed on the assumption of apparatuses in a reprocessing plant is enough large. Whereas some experiments simulating criticality accidents in a reprocessing plant using TRACY were designed to investigate the behaviors of fuel solution and radioactive matters in order to clarify whether it is possible to safely shut them in the facility even if a critical accident occurs. Both STACY and TRACY reached the criticality in 1995. Up to now a series of criticality experiments have been done using STACY with a core tank φ60 cm and the first periodical examination is now under way. On the other hand, we have a plan using TRACY to investigate the behaviors of nuclear heat solution at a criticality accident, and the releasing, transfer and deposition of radioactive materials. After reaching the criticality for the first, the performance verification test has been conducted. The full-scale study using TRACY is planned to begin in the second half of 1996. (M.N.)

An evaluation of The Great Escape: can an interactive computer game improve young children's fire safety knowledge and behaviors?

Science.gov (United States)

Morrongiello, Barbara A; Schwebel, David C; Bell, Melissa; Stewart, Julia; Davis, Aaron L

2012-07-01

Fire is a leading cause of unintentional injury and, although young children are at particularly increased risk, there are very few evidence-based resources available to teach them fire safety knowledge and behaviors. Using a pre-post randomized design, the current study evaluated the effectiveness of a computer game (The Great Escape) for teaching fire safety information to young children (3.5-6 years). Using behavioral enactment procedures, children's knowledge and behaviors related to fire safety were compared to a control group of children before and after receiving the intervention. The results indicated significant improvements in knowledge and fire safety behaviors in the intervention group but not the control. Using computer games can be an effective way to promote young children's understanding of safety and how to react in different hazardous situations.

'BeSAFE', effect-evaluation of internet-based, tailored safety information combined with personal counselling on parents' child safety behaviours: study design of a randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van Beeck Eduard F

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Injuries in or around the home are the most important cause of death among children aged 0-4 years old. It is also a major source of morbidity and loss of quality of life. In order to reduce the number of injuries, the Consumer Safety Institute introduced the use of Safety Information Leaflets in the Netherlands to provide safety education to parents of children aged 0-4 years. Despite current safety education, necessary safety behaviours are still not taken by a large number of parents, causing unnecessary risk of injury among young children. In an earlier study an E-health module with internet-based, tailored safety information was developed and applied. It concerns an advice for parents on safety behaviours in their homes regarding their child. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of this safety information combined with personal counselling on parents' child safety behaviours. Methods/Design Parents who are eligible for the regular well-child visit with their child at child age 5-8 months are invited to participate in this study. Participating parents are randomized into one of two groups: 1 internet-based, tailored safety information combined with personal counselling (intervention group, or 2 personal counselling using the Safety Information Leaflets of the Consumer Safety Institute in the Netherlands for children aged 12 to 24 months (control group. All parents receive safety information on safety topics regarding the prevention of falling, poisoning, drowning and burning. Parents of the intervention group will access the internet-based, tailored safety information module when their child is approximately 10 months old. After completion of the assessment questions, the program compiles a tailored safety advice. The parents are asked to devise and inscribe a personal implementation intention. During the next well-child visit, the Child Health Clinic professional will discuss this tailored safety information

Can Leader–Member Exchange Contribute to Safety Performance in An Italian Warehouse?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco G. Mariani

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The research considers safety climate in a warehouse and wants to analyze the Leader–Member Exchange (LMX role in respect to safety performance. Griffin and Neal’s safety model was adopted and Leader-Member Exchange was inserted as moderator in the relationships between safety climate and proximal antecedents (motivation and knowledge of safety performance constructs (compliance and participation.Materials and Methods: Survey data were collected from a sample of 133 full-time employees in an Italian warehouse. The statistical framework of Hayes (2013 was adopted for moderated mediation analysis.Results: Proximal antecedents partially mediated the relationship between Safety climate and safety participation, but not safety compliance. Moreover, the results from the moderation analysis showed that the Leader–Member Exchange moderated the influence of safety climate on proximal antecedents and the mediation exist only at the higher level of LMX.Conclusion: The study shows that the different aspects of leadership processes interact in explaining individual proficiency in safety practices.Practical Implications: Organizations as warehouses should improve the quality of the relationship between a leader and a subordinate based upon the dimensions of respect, trust, and obligation for high level of safety performance.

Neural Signatures of Trust During Human-Automation Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-01

also automated devices such as a Global Positioning System. For instance, to provide advanced safety measures, the Transportation Safety...AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0160 Neural Signatures of Trust during Human- Automation Interactions Frank Krueger GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY Final Report 04/01...SUBTITLE Neural Signatures of Trust during Human- Automation Interactions 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER FA9550-13-1-0017 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT

Towards a Usability and Error "Safety Net": A Multi-Phased Multi-Method Approach to Ensuring System Usability and Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Kushniruk, Andre; Senathirajah, Yalini; Borycki, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

The usability and safety of health information systems have become major issues in the design and implementation of useful healthcare IT. In this paper we describe a multi-phased multi-method approach to integrating usability engineering methods into system testing to ensure both usability and safety of healthcare IT upon widespread deployment. The approach involves usability testing followed by clinical simulation (conducted in-situ) and "near-live" recording of user interactions with systems. At key stages in this process, usability problems are identified and rectified forming a usability and technology-induced error "safety net" that catches different types of usability and safety problems prior to releasing systems widely in healthcare settings.

Physical design correlates of efficiency and safety in emergency departments: a qualitative examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Pati, Debajyoti; Harvey, Thomas E; Pati, Sipra

2014-01-01

The objective of this study was to explore and identify physical design correlates of safety and efficiency in emergency department (ED) operations. This study adopted an exploratory, multimeasure approach to (1) examine the interactions between ED operations and physical design at 4 sites and (2) identify domains of physical design decision-making that potentially influence efficiency and safety. Multidisciplinary gaming and semistructured interviews were conducted with stakeholders at each site. Study data suggest that 16 domains of physical design decisions influence safety, efficiency, or both. These include (1) entrance and patient waiting, (2) traffic management, (3) subwaiting or internal waiting areas, (4) triage, (5) examination/treatment area configuration, (6) examination/treatment area centralization versus decentralization, (7) examination/treatment room standardization, (8) adequate space, (9) nurse work space, (10) physician work space, (11) adjacencies and access, (12) equipment room, (13) psych room, (14) staff de-stressing room, (15) hallway width, and (16) results waiting area. Safety and efficiency from a physical environment perspective in ED design are mutually reinforcing concepts--enhancing efficiency bears positive implications for safety. Furthermore, safety and security emerged as correlated concepts, with security issues bearing implications for safety, thereby suggesting important associations between safety, security, and efficiency.

Multi-sectoral action for child safety-a European study exploring implicated sectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Scholtes, Beatrice; Schröder-Bäck, Peter; Förster, Katharina; MacKay, Morag; Vincenten, Joanne; Brand, Helmut

2017-06-01

Injury to children in Europe, resulting in both death and disability, constitutes a significant burden on individuals, families and society. Inequalities between high and low-income countries are growing. The World Health Organisation Health 2020 strategy calls for inter-sectoral collaboration to address injury in Europe and advocates the whole of government and whole of society approaches to wicked problems. In this study we explore which sectors (e.g. health, transport, education) are relevant for four domains of child safety (intentional injury, water, road and home safety). We used the organigraph methodology, originally developed to demonstrate how organizations work, to describe the governance of child safety interventions. Members of the European Child Safety Alliance, working in the field of child safety in 24 European countries, drew organigraphs of evidence-based interventions. They included the different actors involved and the processes between them. We analyzed the organigraphs by counting the actors presented and categorizing them into sectors using a pre-defined analysis framework. We received 44 organigraphs from participants in 24 countries. Twenty-seven sectors were identified across the four domains. Nine of the 27 identified sectors were classified as 'core sectors' (education, health, home affairs, justice, media, recreation, research, social/welfare services and consumers). This study reveals the multi-sectoral nature of child safety in practice. It provides information for stakeholders working in child safety to help them implement inter-sectoral child safety interventions taking a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to health governance. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

A Study on Enhancement of Understanding of Radiation and Safety Management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoo, Dong Han; Park, Ji Young; Lee, Jae Uk; Bae, Jun Woo; Kim, Hee Reyoung [Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

Concerns for radiation exposure have been increased from small and big radiation works or experiments with radiation generator (RG) or radiation isotopes (RI) at institutions using radiation in Korea. Actually, due to radiation exposure occurred on the process of handling RI, etc., The exposure should be maintained as low as reasonably possible. To do this, above all, suitable training and establishment of safety culture have to be preceded. In this respect, an education institution is a place where people learn first about handling radiations in various specialties with purposes including academic research, and the first learned habits and practices acts as the basis for safety management of radiation when they continue to do radiation work after going into the society. Hereford, it is needed to establish the right safety culture on radiation for its safe managing. In the present study, the direction for the right understandings and safety improvement are suggested through the radiation survey on education institutions and preparation of safety guidances for users. The basic guidance at the radiation experiment was prepared for the right understanding of the radiation to prevent radiation accidents from careless handling by workers based on the surveyed results for education institutions. It is expected to be used as fundamentals for improvement for radiation safety management of workers and researchers and, further, safety policy for national nuclear energy and radiations.

A Study on Enhancement of Understanding of Radiation and Safety Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, Dong Han; Park, Ji Young; Lee, Jae Uk; Bae, Jun Woo; Kim, Hee Reyoung

2014-01-01

Concerns for radiation exposure have been increased from small and big radiation works or experiments with radiation generator (RG) or radiation isotopes (RI) at institutions using radiation in Korea. Actually, due to radiation exposure occurred on the process of handling RI, etc., The exposure should be maintained as low as reasonably possible. To do this, above all, suitable training and establishment of safety culture have to be preceded. In this respect, an education institution is a place where people learn first about handling radiations in various specialties with purposes including academic research, and the first learned habits and practices acts as the basis for safety management of radiation when they continue to do radiation work after going into the society. Hereford, it is needed to establish the right safety culture on radiation for its safe managing. In the present study, the direction for the right understandings and safety improvement are suggested through the radiation survey on education institutions and preparation of safety guidances for users. The basic guidance at the radiation experiment was prepared for the right understanding of the radiation to prevent radiation accidents from careless handling by workers based on the surveyed results for education institutions. It is expected to be used as fundamentals for improvement for radiation safety management of workers and researchers and, further, safety policy for national nuclear energy and radiations

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.

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...

Innovative Patient Safety Curriculum Using iPAD Game (PASSED) Improved Patient Safety Concepts in Undergraduate Medical Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Kow, A W C; Ang, B L S; Chong, C S; Tan, W B; Menon, K R

2016-11-01

While healthcare outcomes have improved significantly, the complex management of diseases in the hospitals has also escalated the risks in patient safety. Therefore, in the process of training medical students to be proficient in medical knowledge and skills, the importance of patient safety cannot be neglected. A new innovation using mobile apps gaming system (PAtient Safety in Surgical EDucation-PASSED) to teach medical students on patient safety was created. Students were taught concepts of patient safety followed by a gaming session using iPad games created by us. This study aims to evaluate the outcome of patient safety perception using the PASSED games created. An interactive iPad game focusing on patient safety issues was created by the undergraduate education team in the Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore. The game employed the unique touched-screen feature with clinical scenarios extracted from the hospital sentinel events. Some of the questions were time sensitive, with extra bonus marks awarded if the student provided the correct answer within 10 s. Students could reattempt the questions if the initial answer was wrong. However, this entailed demerit points. Third-year medical students posted to the Department of Surgery experienced this gaming system in a cohort of 55-60 students. Baseline understanding of the students on patient safety was evaluated using Attitudes to Patient Safety Questionnaire III (APSQ-III) prior to the game. A 20 min talk on concept of patient safety using the WHO Patient Safety Guidelines was conducted. Following this, students downloaded the apps from ITune store and played with the game for 20-30 min. The session ended with the students completing the postintervention questionnaire. A total of 221 3rd year medical students responded to the survey during the PASSED session. Majority of the students felt that the PASSED game had trained them to understand the

Nuclear power and the public safety: a study in regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rolph, E.S.

1979-01-01

The large-scale introduction of new substances and new technologies into our habitat has been cause for growing alarm. Over the past decade we have come to rely more and more on government regulation to protect us from the hidden dangers of these new products. But how can a regulatory authority set standards when there are enormous uncertainties about consequences of use. How can it satisfy a large, pluralistic society where some take risks easily and others do not. How can it provide the stability needed by industrial decision makers, yet maintain the flexibility to change as information or circumstances change. As the history of the Atomic Energy Commission dramatically illustrates, these are very real problems. And this study of the evolution of AEC's policies, practices, and effectiveness from its creation in 1954 to its demise in 1974 provides an illuminating exploration of the interaction of technical development, economic imperatives, and regulatory mandate. In conclusions drawn from her incisive analysis of the AEC experience, Rolph notes that regulatory bodies must: recognize their political identity; they must be open and responsive; have strong, aggressive information gathering capabilities; and be prepared to pace the evolution and commercial use of the technology they control. Although this study concentrates on a single agency, it explores issues and draws lessons probably common to most regulatory authorities responsible for public safety

Plant air systems safety study: Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-05-01

The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Air System facilities and operations are reviewed for potential safety problems not covered by standard industrial safety procedures. Information is presented under the following section headings: facility and process description (general); air plant equipment; air distribution system; safety systems; accident analysis; plant air system safety overview; and conclusion

The impact of health and safety committees. A study based on survey, interview, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration data.

Science.gov (United States)

Boden, L I; Hall, J A; Levenstein, C; Punnett, L

1984-11-01

In a study conducted to determine if the existence of a joint labor-management health and safety committee (HSC) was correlated with either the number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) complaints or hazardousness, as measured by OSHA serious citations, virtually no effect could be detected in a sample of 127 Massachusetts manufacturing firms. At a sample of 13 firms, interviews of HSC members were conducted. Committee attributes and perceptions about committee effectiveness were compared with the number of OSHA complaints and serious citations. There were fewer complaints and fewer serious citations at firms with HSCs that were perceived as effective. Results of the study suggest that the objective attributes of the committee may be less important to its success than the commitment of management and labor to solving workplace safety problems.

Labor unions and safety climate: perceived union safety values and retail employee safety outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinclair, Robert R; Martin, James E; Sears, Lindsay E

2010-09-01

Although trade unions have long been recognized as a critical advocate for employee safety and health, safety climate research has not paid much attention to the role unions play in workplace safety. We proposed a multiple constituency model of workplace safety which focused on three central safety stakeholders: top management, ones' immediate supervisor, and the labor union. Safety climate research focuses on management and supervisors as key stakeholders, but has not considered whether employee perceptions about the priority their union places on safety contributes contribute to safety outcomes. We addressed this gap in the literature by investigating unionized retail employee (N=535) perceptions about the extent to which their top management, immediate supervisors, and union valued safety. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that perceived union safety values could be distinguished from measures of safety training, workplace hazards, top management safety values, and supervisor values. Structural equation analyses indicated that union safety values influenced safety outcomes through its association with higher safety motivation, showing a similar effect as that of supervisor safety values. These findings highlight the need for further attention to union-focused measures related to workplace safety as well as further study of retail employees in general. We discuss the practical implications of our findings and identify several directions for future safety research. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of radiation safety awareness among nuclear medicine nurses: a pilot study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yunus, N A; Abdullah, M H R O; Said, M A; Ch'ng, P E

2014-01-01

All nuclear medicine nurses need to have some knowledge and awareness on radiation safety. At present, there is no study to address this issue in Malaysia. The aims of this study were (1) to determine the level of knowledge and awareness on radiation safety among nuclear medicine nurses at Putrajaya Hospital in Malaysia and (2) to assess the effectiveness of a training program provided by the hospital to increase the knowledge and awareness of the nuclear medicine nurses. A total of 27 respondents attending a training program on radiation safety were asked to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists 16 items and were categorized into two main areas, namely general radiation knowledge and radiation safety. Survey data were collected before and after the training and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired sample t-test. Respondents were scored out of a total of 16 marks with 8 marks for each area. The findings showed that the range of total scores obtained by the nuclear medicine nurses before and after the training were 6-14 (with a mean score of 11.19) and 13-16 marks (with a mean score of 14.85), respectively. Findings also revealed that the mean score for the area of general radiation knowledge (7.59) was higher than that of the radiation safety (7.26). Currently, the knowledge and awareness on radiation safety among the nuclear medicine nurses are at the moderate level. It is recommended that a national study be conducted to assess and increase the level of knowledge and awareness among all nuclear medicine nurses in Malaysia

Assessment of radiation safety awareness among nuclear medicine nurses: a pilot study

Science.gov (United States)

Yunus, N. A.; Abdullah, M. H. R. O.; Said, M. A.; Ch'ng, P. E.

2014-11-01

All nuclear medicine nurses need to have some knowledge and awareness on radiation safety. At present, there is no study to address this issue in Malaysia. The aims of this study were (1) to determine the level of knowledge and awareness on radiation safety among nuclear medicine nurses at Putrajaya Hospital in Malaysia and (2) to assess the effectiveness of a training program provided by the hospital to increase the knowledge and awareness of the nuclear medicine nurses. A total of 27 respondents attending a training program on radiation safety were asked to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists 16 items and were categorized into two main areas, namely general radiation knowledge and radiation safety. Survey data were collected before and after the training and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired sample t-test. Respondents were scored out of a total of 16 marks with 8 marks for each area. The findings showed that the range of total scores obtained by the nuclear medicine nurses before and after the training were 6-14 (with a mean score of 11.19) and 13-16 marks (with a mean score of 14.85), respectively. Findings also revealed that the mean score for the area of general radiation knowledge (7.59) was higher than that of the radiation safety (7.26). Currently, the knowledge and awareness on radiation safety among the nuclear medicine nurses are at the moderate level. It is recommended that a national study be conducted to assess and increase the level of knowledge and awareness among all nuclear medicine nurses in Malaysia.

Road safety effects of porous asphalt: a systematic review of evaluation studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elvik, R.; Greibe, Poul

2005-01-01

of eighteen estimates of the effect of porous asphalt on accident rates. No clear effect on road safety of porous asphalt was found. All summary estimates of effect indicated very small changes in accident rates and very few were statistically significant at conventional levels. Studies that have evaluated...... of these changes in risk factors on accident occurrence cannot be predicted. On the whole, the research that has been reported so far regarding road safety effects of porous asphalt is inconclusive. The studies are not of high quality and the findings are inconsistent.......This paper presents a systematic review of studies that have evaluated the effects on road safety of porous asphalt. Porous asphalt is widely used on motorways in Europe, mainly in order to reduce traffic noise and increase road capacity. A meta-analysis was made of six studies, containing a total...

Safety Management. An Introduction to a Frame of Reference Exemplified with Case Studies from Non-Nuclear Contexts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Svensson, Ola (Risk Analysis, Social and Decision Research Unit, Dept. of Psychology, Stockholm Univ., Stockholm (Sweden)); Salo, Ilkka (Dept. of Psychology, Lund Univ., Lund (Sweden))

2004-11-15

A systems perspective on safety management is introduced followed by two briefly presented case studies of safety management in non-nuclear contexts. The first study concerns a car manufacturer and the second study a road traffic tunnel system. The risks of a car accident in the first case study are evident. The great exposure generates many incidents and accidents. In the second study, the rather low traffic intensity through the tunnel produces few incidents and accidents and only a few fatal accidents over the years. Yet, the risk of the individual traveler is much greater in the tunnel than on the average road. The case studies are presented in a systems perspective with emphasis on information feedback about the risks of the systems. The first case study illustrates high quality safety management, while the second case study shows many weaknesses of the safety management in the tunnel system. Some differences in safety management between the case studies are noted. The last part of the study presents an organizational perspective on safety management and offers alternative theoretical perspectives on the concept of safety management. The report shows that further studies are needed both (1) to develop a frame of reference for describing safety management across industries and activities and (2) to collect data illustrating of good and poor safety management. Then, the results can be used to strengthen and/or improving safety management in the nuclear power industry and its regulators

Safety Management. An Introduction to a Frame of Reference Exemplified with Case Studies from Non-Nuclear Contexts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svensson, Ola; Salo, Ilkka

2004-11-01

A systems perspective on safety management is introduced followed by two briefly presented case studies of safety management in non-nuclear contexts. The first study concerns a car manufacturer and the second study a road traffic tunnel system. The risks of a car accident in the first case study are evident. The great exposure generates many incidents and accidents. In the second study, the rather low traffic intensity through the tunnel produces few incidents and accidents and only a few fatal accidents over the years. Yet, the risk of the individual traveler is much greater in the tunnel than on the average road. The case studies are presented in a systems perspective with emphasis on information feedback about the risks of the systems. The first case study illustrates high quality safety management, while the second case study shows many weaknesses of the safety management in the tunnel system. Some differences in safety management between the case studies are noted. The last part of the study presents an organizational perspective on safety management and offers alternative theoretical perspectives on the concept of safety management. The report shows that further studies are needed both (1) to develop a frame of reference for describing safety management across industries and activities and (2) to collect data illustrating of good and poor safety management. Then, the results can be used to strengthen and/or improving safety management in the nuclear power industry and its regulators

A Study on the Main Steam Safety Valve Opening Mechanism by Flashing on NPPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Bae Joo

2009-01-01

A safety injection event happened by opening of the Main Steam Safety Valve at Kori unit 1 on April 16, 2005. The safety valves were opened at the lower system pressure than the valve opening set point due to rapid system pressure drop by opening of the Power Operated Relief Valve installed at the upstream of the Main Steam System. But the opening mechanism of safety valve at the lower set point pressure was not explained exactly. So, it needs to be understood about the safety valve opening mechanism to prevent a recurrence of this kind of event at a similar system of Nuclear Power Plant. This study is aimed to suggest the hydrodynamic mechanism for the safety valve opening at the lower set point pressure and the possibility of the recurrence at similar system conditions through document reviewing for the related previous studies and Kori unit 1 event

Collaboration and patient safety at an emergency department - a qualitative case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, Anna Helene Meldgaard; Rasmussen, Kurt; Grytnes, Regine; Nielsen, Kent Jacob

2018-03-19

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how conflicts about collaboration between staff at different departments arose during the establishment of a new emergency department and how these conflicts affected the daily work and ultimately patient safety at the emergency department. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative single case study draws on qualitative semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The theoretical concepts "availability" and "receptiveness" as antecedents for collaboration will be applied in the analysis. Findings Close collaboration between departments was an essential precondition for the functioning of the new emergency department. The study shows how a lack of antecedents for collaboration affected the working relation and communication between employees and departments, which spurred negative feelings and reproduced conflicts. This situation was seen as a potential threat for the safety of the emergency patients. Research limitations/implications This study presents a single case study, at a specific point in time, and should be used as an illustrative example of how contextual and situational factors affect the working environment and through that patient safety. Originality/value Few studies provide an in-depth investigation of what actually takes place when collaboration between professional groups goes wrong and escalates, and how problems in collaboration may affect patient safety.

Nurses' experiences and perspectives on medication safety practices: an explorative qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Smeulers, Marian; Onderwater, Astrid T; van Zwieten, Myra C B; Vermeulen, Hester

2014-04-01

To explore nurses' experiences with and perspectives on preventing medication administration errors. Insight into nurses' experiences with and perspectives on preventing medication administration errors is important and can be utilised to tailor and implement safety practices. A qualitative interview study of 20 nurses in an academic medical centre was conducted between March and December of 2011. Three themes emerged from this study: (1) nurses' roles and responsibilities in medication safety: aside from safe preparation and administration, the clinical reasoning of nurses is essential for medication safety; (2) nurses' ability to work safely: knowledge of risks and nurses' work circumstances influence their ability to work safely; and (3) nurses' acceptance of safety practices: advantages, feasibility and appropriateness are important incentives for acceptance of a safety practice. Nurses' experiences coincide with the assumption that they are in a pre-eminent position to enable safe medication management; however, their ability to adequately perform this role depends on sufficient knowledge to assess the risks of medication administration and on the circumstances in which they work. Safe medication management requires a learning climate and professional practice environment that enables further development of professional nursing skills and knowledge. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Work Practice, Safety and Heedfulness. Studies of Organizational Reliability in Hospitals and Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gauthereau, Vincent

2003-01-01

The study of safety in complex systems has focused on different issues over the past decades. This focus was often linked to the conclusions of previous accidents'/incidents' analyses. When accidents were attributed to technical causes, safety research focused on technical developments. When they were later attributed to 'human errors', safety research focused on this 'component'. And when, since the mid-eighties accidents have been attributed to 'organizational factors', safety research has focused on these very same 'organizational factors'. The present thesis argues for a 'practice view' over safety to be taken. This view is mainly drawn from the field of research on High Reliability Organizations (HRO). HRO theorists' point of view on safety is that we can operate complex systems safely despite the fact that we have made them so complex that they are prone to 'normal accidents'. Humans involved in the operation of our systems actually create safety. Safety is formed through the adaptation of work practice to local conditions, and this adaptation is part of safe operation. Safety is not only a substantial quality of our socio-technical systems: the discursive dimension of safety actually seems to be a central component of safety creation. However, the adaptive ability of HRO can sometimes become their downfall. Adaptation, which is the backbone of safety, can sometimes be a drawback as well. Consequently, the practice view of safety, proposed in the present work, argues that we need to further comprehend how work practice evolves over time, and more specifically what are the inherent characteristics of work practice that create this evolution. Empirical studies from health-care and nuclear power generation highlight different details about organizational reliability. For instance, one study of planning at a nuclear power plant draws our attention to the different roles of planning in the organization. Another study, within heath-care, underlines the evolution of

Patients for patient safety in China: a cross sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qiongwen; Li, Yulin; Li, Jing; Mao, Xuanyue; Zhang, Lijuan; Ying, Qinghua; Wei, Xin; Shang, Lili; Zhang, Mingming

2012-02-01

To investigate the baseline status of patients' awareness, knowledge, and attitudes to patient safety in China, and to determine the factors that influence patients' involvement in patient safety. We conducted a cross sectional survey using questionnaires adapted from recent studies on patient safety from outside China. The items included medical errors, infection, medication safety, and other aspects of patient safety. The questionnaire included 17 items and 5 domains. The survey was conducted between Jan. 2009 and Dec. 2010 involving 1000 patients from ten grade-A hospitals in seven provinces or cities in China. Most patients from the surgery departments completed the questionnaires voluntarily and anonymously. Five reviewers independently input the data into Microsoft Excel 2003, and the data were double-checked. Data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0 software for differences in the perceptions and attitudes of patients toward patient safety among different genders, ages, and regions. We distributed 1000 questionnaires and collected 959 completed questionnaires (response rate: 96%). Among the respondents, 58% of patients did not know what medical error is. Sixty-five percent of patients wanted disclosure of all medical errors. After errors occurred, 58% of patients wanted explanations of all possible harms that had resulted. Among 187 patients who had experienced medical errors, 83% of patients had sought appropriate legal action. About 52% of patients understood hospital infection, but 28% patients did not know that infections could occur in hospital. Seventy-eight percent of patients thought that medical staff should wash their hands before examining patients. More than half of the patients (68%) were willing to remind the staff of hygiene if they saw unsanitary conditions in a health clinic. Only 14% of patients knew the side effects of medications that they took. The majority of patients surveyed expressed willingness to contribute to patient safety, but their

Integrated Deterministic-Probabilistic Safety Assessment Methodologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kudinov, P.; Vorobyev, Y.; Sanchez-Perea, M.; Queral, C.; Jimenez Varas, G.; Rebollo, M. J.; Mena, L.; Gomez-Magin, J.

2014-02-01

IDPSA (Integrated Deterministic-Probabilistic Safety Assessment) is a family of methods which use tightly coupled probabilistic and deterministic approaches to address respective sources of uncertainties, enabling Risk informed decision making in a consistent manner. The starting point of the IDPSA framework is that safety justification must be based on the coupling of deterministic (consequences) and probabilistic (frequency) considerations to address the mutual interactions between stochastic disturbances (e.g. failures of the equipment, human actions, stochastic physical phenomena) and deterministic response of the plant (i.e. transients). This paper gives a general overview of some IDPSA methods as well as some possible applications to PWR safety analyses. (Author)

Fuel-coolant interactions in a jet contact mode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konishi, K.; Isozaki, M.; Imahori, S.; Kondo, S.; Furutani, A.; Brear, D.J.

1994-01-01

Molten fuel-coolant interactions in a jet contact mode was studied with respect to the safety of liquid-metal-cooled fast reactors (LMFRs). From a series of molten Wood's metal (melting point: 79 deg. C, density: -8400 kg/m 3 ) jet-water interaction experiments, several distinct modes of interaction behaviors were observed for various combinations of initial temperature conditions of the two fluids. A semi-empirical model for a minimum film boiling temperature criterion was developed and used to reasonably explain the different interaction modes. It was concluded that energetic jet-water interactions are only possible under relatively narrow initial thermal conditions. Preliminary extrapolation of the present results in an oxide fuel-sodium system suggests that mild interactions with short breakup length and coolable debris formation should be most likely in LMFRs. (author)

Hospital safety climate and safety behavior: A social exchange perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Ancarani, Alessandro; Di Mauro, Carmela; Giammanco, Maria D

Safety climate is considered beneficial to the improvement of hospital safety outcomes. Nevertheless, the relations between two of its key constituents, namely those stemming from leader-subordinate relations and coworker support for safety, are still to be fully ascertained. This article uses the theoretical lens of Social Exchange Theory to study the joint impact of leader-member exchange in the safety sphere and coworker support for safety on safety-related behavior at the hospital ward level. Social exchange constructs are further related to the existence of a shame-/blame-free environment, seen as a potential antecedent of safety behavior. A cross-sectional study including 166 inpatients in hospital wards belonging to 10 public hospitals in Italy was undertaken to test the hypotheses developed. Hypothesized relations have been analyzed through a fully mediated multilevel structural equation model. This methodology allows studying behavior at the individual level, while keeping into account the heterogeneity among hospital specialties. Results suggest that the linkage between leader support for safety and individual safety behavior is mediated by coworker support on safety issues and by the creation of a shame-free environment. These findings call for the creation of a safety climate in which managerial efforts should be directed not only to the provision of new safety resources and the enforcement of safety rules but also to the encouragement of teamwork and freedom to report errors as ways to foster the capacity of the staff to communicate, share, and learn from each other.

Case study of soil-structure interaction for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, A.J.H.

1975-01-01

The dynamic response of a turbine pedestal foundation was analyzed for earthquake and emergency unbalanced loadings in view of satisfactory machine performance and safety consideration. A method of studying the soil-structure interaction effect on such response aiming directly toward a realistic design of the pedestal and also the foundation mat is described. The method utilized the concept underlying the fundation spring approach. Unlike the conventional ones, this concrete pedestal complex has its stiffness and stability provided by shear walls, rib plates, girders and horizontal diaphrams. This necessitated the use of a three-dimensional finite element model as an original mathematical static model consisting of line, surface and solid elements. The mat was also modeled as a flexible mat. For soil-structure interaction effect the foundation compliance functions were represented by frequency independent soil springs distributed at the nodes of the mat, oriented in the global axes. For accurate springs, in magnitude and distribution, for the irregular shape of the mat considered, another finite element model was constructed to simulate a rigid disc (with the true shape) resting on the elastic half-space. The static model was then reduced to a dynamic model containing only those degrees of freedom sufficient to reflect significant response of the complex and its components. For the flexible slab and spring distribution used, the present soil-structure model allowed a better prediction of responses not only at floor elevations where major structural components intersect but also at the interior points of floors and walls where amplification in high frequency response is important. With the method outlined, realistic dynamic responses of the girders which support the machine bearing were studied in detail

Studying Wind Energy/Bird Interactions: A Guidance Document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, R. [California Energy Commission (US); Morrison, M. [California State Univ., Sacramento, CA (US); Sinclair, K. [Dept. of Energy/National Renewable Energy Lab. (US); Strickland, D. [WEST, Inc. (US)

1999-12-01

This guidance document is a product of the Avian Subcommittee of the National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC). The NWCC was formed to better understand and promote responsible, credible, and comparable avian/wind energy interaction studies. Bird mortality is a concern and wind power is a potential clean and green source of electricity, making study of wind energy/bird interactions essential. This document provides an overview for regulators and stakeholders concerned with wind energy/bird interactions, as well as a more technical discussion of the basic concepts and tools for studying such interactions.

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)

Effects of a case-based interactive e-learning course on knowledge and attitudes about patient safety: a quasi-experimental study with third-year medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaupp, Rainer; Körner, Mirjam; Fabry, Götz

2016-07-11

Patient safety (PS) is influenced by a set of factors on various levels of the healthcare system. Therefore, a systems-level approach and systems thinking is required to understand and improve PS. The use of e-learning may help to develop a systems thinking approach in medical students, as case studies featuring audiovisual media can be used to visualize systemic relationships in organizations. The goal of this quasi-experimental study was to determine if an e-learning can be utilized to improve systems thinking, knowledge, and attitudes towards PS. A quasi-experimental, longitudinal within- subjects design was employed. Participants were 321 third-year medical students who received online surveys before and after they participated in an e-learning course on PS. Primary outcome measures where levels of systems thinking and attitudes towards PS. Secondary outcome measures were the improvement of PS specific knowledge through the e-learning course. Levels of systems thinking showed significant improvement (58.72 vs. 61.27; p e-learning. Student's attitudes towards patient safety improved in several dimensions: After the course, students rated the influence of fatigue on safety higher (6.23 vs. 6.42, p e-learning (p e-learning can be used to teach PS. Attitudes towards PS improved on several dimensions. Furthermore, we were able to demonstrate that a specifically designed e-learning program can foster the development of conceptual frameworks such as systems thinking, which facilitates the understanding of complex socio-technical systems within healthcare organisations.

A study of the international trend and comprehensive enhancement program on the Nuclear Power Plant safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Soon Hong; Cho, Nam Jin; Paek, Won Phil

1990-12-01

The objectives of this study are as follows : overview of the international trend related to the safety of Nuclear Power Plant(NPPs), study of the present status of NPP safety in Korea in aspects of design, construction and operation, suggestion of the comprehensive program to improve NPP safety in Korea. The results of this study can contribute to improve the safety of existing and future NPPs, and to establish the severe accident policy in Korea

A study of the international trend and comprehensive enhancement program on the Nuclear Power Plant safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jang, Soon Hong; Cho, Nam Jin; Paek, Won Phil [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1990-12-15

The objectives of this study are as follows : overview of the international trend related to the safety of Nuclear Power Plant(NPPs), study of the present status of NPP safety in Korea in aspects of design, construction and operation, suggestion of the comprehensive program to improve NPP safety in Korea. The results of this study can contribute to improve the safety of existing and future NPPs, and to establish the severe accident policy in Korea.

Flibe Use in Fusion Reactors - An Initial Safety Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cadwallader, Lee Charles; Longhurst, Glen Reed

1999-04-01

This report is an initial effort to identify and evaluate safety issues associated with the use of Flibe (LiF-BeF2) as a molten salt coolant for nuclear fusion power plant applications. Flibe experience in the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment is briefly reviewed. Safety issues identified include chemical toxicity, radiological issues resulting from neutron activation, and the operational concerns of handling a high temperature coolant. Beryllium compounds and fluorine pose be toxicological concerns. Some controls to protect workers are discussed. Since Flibe has been handled safely in other applications, its hazards appear to be manageable. Some safety issues that require further study are pointed out. Flibe salt interaction with strong magnetic fields should be investigated. Evolution of Flibe constituents and activation products at high temperature (i.e., will Fluorine release as a gas or remain in the molten salt) is an issue. Aerosol and tritium release from a Flibe spill requires study, as does neutronics analysis to characterize radiological doses. Tritium migration from Flibe into the cooling system is also a safety concern. Investigation of these issues will help determine the extent to which Flibe shows promise as a fusion power plant coolant or plasma-facing material.

Flibe use in fusion reactors: An initial safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cadwallader, L.C.; Longhurst, G.R.

1999-01-01

This report is an initial effort to identify and evaluate safety issues associated with the use of Flibe (LiF-BeF 2 ) as a molten salt coolant for nuclear fusion power plant applications. Flibe experience in the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment is briefly reviewed. Safety issues identified include chemical toxicity, radiological issues resulting from neutron activation, and the operational concerns of handling a high temperature coolant. Beryllium compounds and fluorine pose be toxicological concerns. Some controls to protect workers are discussed. Since Flibe has been handled safely in other applications, its hazards appear to be manageable. Some safety issues that require further study are pointed out. Flibe salt interaction with strong magnetic fields should be investigated. Evolution of Flibe constituents and activation products at high temperature (i.e., will Fluorine release as a gas or remain in the molten salt) is an issue. Aerosol and tritium release from a Flibe spill requires study, as does neutronics analysis to characterize radiological doses. Tritium migration from Flibe into the cooling system is also a safety concern. Investigation of these issues will help determine the extent to which Flibe shows promise as a fusion power plant coolant or plasma-facing material

Designing a Safety Reporting Smartphone Application to Improve Patient Safety After Total Hip Arthroplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Krumsvik, Ole Andreas; Babic, Ankica

2017-01-01

This paper presents a safety reporting smartphone application which is expected to reduce the occurrence of postoperative adverse events after total hip arthroplasty (THA). A user-centered design approach was utilized to facilitate optimal user experience. Two main implemented functionalities capture patient pain levels and well-being, the two dimensions of patient status that are intuitive and commonly checked. For these and other functionalities, mobile technology could enable timely safety reporting and collection of patient data out of a hospital setting. The HCI expert, and healthcare professionals from the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen have assessed the design with respect to the interaction flow, information content, and self-reporting functionalities. They have found it to be practical, intuitive, sufficient and simple for users. Patient self-reporting could help recognizing safety issues and adverse events.

Safety evaluations required in the safety regulations for Monju and the validity confirmation of safety evaluation methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-08-15

The purposes of this study are to perform the safety evaluations of the fast breeder reactor 'Monju' and to confirm the validity of the safety evaluation methods. In JFY 2012, the following results were obtained. As for the development of safety evaluation methods needed in the safety examination achieved for the reactor establishment permission, development of the analysis codes, such as a core damage analysis code, were carried out according to the plan. As for the development of the safety evaluation method needed for the risk informed safety regulation, the quantification technique of the event tree using the Continuous Markov chain Monte Carlo method (CMMC method) were studied. (author)

Identifying research priorities for patient safety in mental health: an international expert Delphi study

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Kevin; Thibaut, Bethan; Ramtale, Sonny Christian; Adam, Sheila; Darzi, Ara; Archer, Stephanie

2018-01-01

Objective Physical healthcare has dominated the patient safety field; research in mental healthcare is not as extensive but findings from physical healthcare cannot be applied to mental healthcare because it delivers specialised care that faces unique challenges. Therefore, a clearer focus and recognition of patient safety in mental health as a distinct research area is still needed. The study aim is to identify future research priorities in the field of patient safety in mental health. Design Semistructured interviews were conducted with the experts to ascertain their views on research priorities in patient safety in mental health. A three-round online Delphi study was used to ascertain consensus on 117 research priority statements. Setting and participants Academic and service user experts from the USA, UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore were included. Main outcome measures Agreement in research priorities on a five-point scale. Results Seventy-nine statements achieved consensus (>70%). Three out of the top six research priorities were patient driven; experts agreed that understanding the patient perspective on safety planning, on self-harm and on medication was important. Conclusions This is the first international Delphi study to identify research priorities in safety in the mental field as determined by expert academic and service user perspectives. A reasonable consensus was obtained from international perspectives on future research priorities in patient safety in mental health; however, the patient perspective on their mental healthcare is a priority. The research agenda for patient safety in mental health identified here should be informed by patient safety science more broadly and used to further establish this area as a priority in its own right. The safety of mental health patients must have parity with that of physical health patients to achieve this. PMID:29502096

Reactor safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butz, H.P.; Heuser, F.W.; May, H.

1985-01-01

The paper comprises an introduction into nuclear physics bases, the safety concept generally speaking, safety devices of pwr type reactors, accident analysis, external influences, probabilistic safety assessment and risk studies. It further describes operational experience, licensing procedures under the Atomic Energy Law, research in reactor safety and the nuclear fuel cycle. (DG) [de

A Study on University Student's Perception of Food Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koh, K.H.

2007-01-01

The present study compared the perception of food safety between students majoring in Food Science and Nutrition and other students who are ordinary food consumers. The importance of factors related to food safety was high in order of pesticide residue (45%), food additives (24%), food pathogens (15%), GM foods (7%), antibiotics (4%) and irradiated foods (4%), and no significant difference was observed according to major(p less than 0.10). Particularly with regard to irradiated food, students majoring in Food Science and Nutrition replied 'no hamful' (21%), 'harmful' (58%) or 'not sure' (21%), showing that more than half of them thought that irradiated food is harmful

Safety assessment in plant layout design using indexing approach: implementing inherent safety perspective. Part 2-Domino Hazard Index and case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tugnoli, Alessandro; Khan, Faisal; Amyotte, Paul; Cozzani, Valerio

2008-12-15

The design of layout plans requires adequate assessment tools for the quantification of safety performance. The general focus of the present work is to introduce an inherent safety perspective at different points of the layout design process. In particular, index approaches for safety assessment and decision-making in the early stages of layout design are developed and discussed in this two-part contribution. Part 1 (accompanying paper) of the current work presents an integrated index approach for safety assessment of early plant layout. In the present paper (Part 2), an index for evaluation of the hazard related to the potential of domino effects is developed. The index considers the actual consequences of possible escalation scenarios and scores or ranks the subsequent accident propagation potential. The effects of inherent and passive protection measures are also assessed. The result is a rapid quantification of domino hazard potential that can provide substantial support for choices in the early stages of layout design. Additionally, a case study concerning selection among various layout options is presented and analyzed. The case study demonstrates the use and applicability of the indices developed in both parts of the current work and highlights the value of introducing inherent safety features early in layout design.

Attitudes of teenagers towards workplace safety training.

Science.gov (United States)

Zierold, Kristina M; Welsh, Erin C; McGeeney, Teresa J

2012-12-01

More than 70 % of teenagers are employed before graduating high school. Every 10 min, in the United States, a young worker is injured on the job. Safety training has been suggested as a way to prevent injuries, yet little is known about the methods of safety training and the effectiveness of training that teens receive at work. This study is the first to assess the attitudes teens hold towards safety training and what they believe would help them stay safe on the job. In 2010, focus groups and interviews were conducted with 42 teens from public high schools in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Participating teens were aged 15-19 years old, 43 % male, 69 % African-American, and 56 % worked either in the restaurant/food industry or in retail jobs. Most teens reported receiving safety training. Although the majority believed that safety training was important, many felt that they personally did not need safety training; that it was "common sense." However, 52 % of teens reported workplace injuries. Many viewed injury lightly and as part of the job, even those that sustained severe injuries. Most teens were trained by methods that seem at best "boring" and at worst, ineffective. Little interaction, action, or repetition is used. Training is not geared towards teens' developmental levels or interest, as in most cases all workers received the same type of training. Safety training may be a powerful way to reduce injury rates among working teenagers, but it is essential that training methods which are geared towards teens are utilized.

Light-water reactors. Safety problems and related studies in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lelievre, J.

1975-01-01

The program of theoretical and experimental studies developed by the CEA on the safety of PWR reactors is presented: studies relative to the consequences of a LOCA following a rupture of the primary system, studies relative to fuel element behavior, studies on steels, reliability studies and studies of non-destructive testing methods [fr

The medical student as a patient: attitudes towards involvement in the quality and safety of health care.