1,720,975 research outputs found
Self-designing networks and structural influences on safety: Developing a theory on the relation between organizational design and safety in temporary organizations that operate in a dynamic environment
Full text linkContains fulltext :
178382.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Delft University of Technology, 01 juni 2017Promotores : Ale, B.J.M., Kramer, E.H.213 p
Taalproblemen bij BRZO- en ARIE bedrijven, een onderschat gevaar? Een verkennend onderzoek naar het raakvlak tussen taalproblemen en zware ongevallen.
No full textLanguage issues as a result of illiteracy and foreign languages on the shopfloor are not being identified as a risk within current safety management systems. These risks are to be identified, quantified and prioritised in order to allow risk reducing measures to be taken.The nature of language issues related danger was investigated in literature. Based on accident investigation reports, human error research and accident investigation method causal factor categories, the associated risks were quantified. Legibility of safety related documents used by Seveso II companies was investigated and found to be poor in many cases. Interviews and a survey among Seveso II companies are to be used to identify the gap between current best practices and the language issue related dangers found in literature. This investigation shows by means of triangulation with different approaches that language issue related risks are indeed underestimated or even completely ignored. A recommended coarse of action and further work in order to arrive at appropriate measures are presented.Safety Science GroupTechnology, Policy and Managemen
Warning citizens; influencing self-reliance in emergencies
No full textAn important part of the response to an emergency is making sure that people are able to take themselves and others to a place of safety. To make people aware that there is an emergency, there are three steps that have to be taken: there has to be a warning that something is going on, people have to perceive and process that warning, and finally, people have to perform the self-reliant behaviour that will get them to a safe place. Self-reliance can be increased when people are motivated to comply with instructions that are given in an emergency. This thesis is about finding out what factors influence self-reliance in an emergency and how these influencing factors can be investigated so that the total effectiveness of a warning system can be determined. The research question is: How can the way in which a new or existing warning system effectively influences citizens’ self-reliance in an emergency be investigated? A model was constructed which shows the steps of warning information processing in which self-reliance can be influenced. This model is called the contextual human information processing model, as it shows the influences on self-reliance in terms of the interactions between cognition, affective states and situational variables. The model looks at issues inside (HIP, Personal characteristics and behaviour) and outside (situational characteristics and warning) the human. The model produces a list of influencing factors that have to be investigated when determining the effectiveness of a warning system.Safety ScienceTechnology, Policy and Managemen
A Methodology to Allow Comparison among Different Energy Systems
No full textThe work proposes a methodology to overcome diversity of risk expressions and allow comparison among different energy systems, being them connected to traditional or innovative technologies. The investigation started with the analysis of ten different energy chains along their steps, which has led to the development of a common frame applicable to all fuel and life cycles. This initial analysis has also defined the most dominant risk scenarios associated to each step of the considered energy chains. Secondly, a set of seventeen risk characterisation indicators (RCIs) has been developed on the backbone of the causal structure for hazard progression in an energy system. The RCIs have been tailored to serve the main characteristics of risk in the most convenient general form that makes the majority of them applicable to all energy systems. An innovative approach for grouping the indicators, and ranking the events to which they are applied, is used, based on the concepts of Boolean logic applied in the form of event and fault trees. This application, based on the mathematical meaning of the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) technique, has been proven to be satisfactory, leading to the limitation of the subjectivity injection in the grouping and ranking procedure in comparison with the usually adopted multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods. The uncertainty analysis on the performed numerical application of the described methodology has identified in the input data the major source of uncertainty, while the method itself has an acceptable level of uncertainty that makes it reliable for information processing. In conclusion, the problem of missing consistent risk expressions and information concerning new energy systems adopting new technologies has been addressed. Again, the method proposed relies on the use of PSA. A PSA study developed on a manufacture line for multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells has been performed. Due to lack of specific data from the photovoltaic industry, only a general approach could have been performed, but sufficiently reliable to obtain results in line with the main safety studies in the sector. Moreover, the model is ready for further implementation and could be easily adapted to a real case. Though having the results from a PSA study, the possibility to compare them with possible results coming from the application of RCIs requires a further step involving the transformation of numerical results from both sides into a verbal ranking (such as high, medium, low ranking categories) which makes them comparable. This requires the involvement of expert judgment. The proposed methodological approach is promising. It can be easily adapted to various needs, it could be also used with a different set of indicators. Anyhow, in parallel to the benefits that this methodology could bring, it is also very important to be aware of its limitations, like, for example, the need to interpret the results of the ranking process in a relative view, and not as absolute values.Engineering and ReflectionTechnology, Policy and Managemen
Principles and Management of Information Process for Integrated Management of Fire Safety at SEVESO Sites
No full textAfter a chemical incident with severe consequences had occurred in the small village called Seveso in Italy in 1976, the first SEVESO directive was introduced in 1982 to protect the environment in member states of the European Union. The Directive has since been updated several times. SEVESO III will be effective from June the first 2015. The Directive expects operators of SEVESO sites to comply with the provisions in this Directive. The goal of the Directive is to prevent major incidents and to mitigate the effects of incidents that cannot be prevented. Nevertheless major incidents at these high risk sites keep occurring and it seems therefore logical to learn why these incidents occur. Is it: – because operators of these sites do not apply the provisions of the Directive as intended and/or, – because there is a conscious lack of compliance with the Directive which is not identified by the competent authority and/or, – because it is impossible to establish the desired level of fire safety with the provisions described in the Directive. The research for this thesis addresses these three aspects from various angles. The findings were used to define additional requirements for the next version of the Directive while recommendations were made for adjustments of existing guidance documents that were published to support the implementation of the Directive. The SEVESO directive has to be implemented by all member states of the European Community. An early observation during the research was that no options could be found to train as an industrial fire safety engineer at universities in the EU at the level required for these high risk sites. Perhaps this is also the reason that no previous research into industrial fire safety aspects at an academic level could be found, as such studies are often carried out at universities or in association with universities. This leaves stakeholders in industrial fire safety, lessons learned from previous incidents as well as other information in the public domain, to help identify and control these risks as anticipated in the SEVESO directive. Two studies for this thesis, one concerning heated storage of hydrocarbons in vertical storage tanks and another where the findings of the investigation into the causes of the Buncefield incident were reviewed, showed that operators and competent authorities are not keen to use lessons learned from previous accidents when assessing the risks of anticipated and existing activities at SEVESO sites. It was identified in the early stages of the research that many stakeholders with different backgrounds and qualifications are involved in establishing industrial fire safety. It was also established that fire safety can only be accomplished and maintained by going through a complex process. Complex processes can be successfully managed when the responsible organisation meets specific criteria and has the necessary tools in place. Although the elements of the Safety Management System required under the SEVESO directive are very important, they need to be stretched further before operators can control the complex fire safety aspects of these sites. Operators need to adopt specific principles for managing their SEVESO site if they want to be in control of their fire risks. Companies that have these principles securely implemented can be qualified as High Reliability Organisations (HROs). So far five principles were used by K.H. Roberts (1990) and Weick and Sutcliffe (2007: page 9-17) and others to describe HR Os. Two more principles were identified as conditional requirements in this research to secure effective management of the fire risks at SEVESO sites. They are principle 6. Facilitating Communication between Stakeholders and principle 7: Management and Exchange of Information. Access to reliable information is a precondition to establish integrated fire safety. SEVESO sites therefore have to incorporate the position of Information Manager in their organisation. This person is responsible for management and exchange of fire safety related information. He also takes on the role of the site’s fire safety Mediator who facilitates communication between the various stakeholders. The effectiveness of these seven principles HR Os was reviewed using three case studies concerning: the implementation of biofuels, the fire safety concept of large pool fires and the Buncefield incident. These case studies illustrated the potential benefits for the site’s fire safety when SEVESO establishments are operated by seven principles HROs. It is therefore recommended to make it a mandatory requirement in the SEVESO directive for operators to become seven principles HROs. Additional options to adjust the SEVESO directive and associated existing guidance documents to control fire safety at these sites more effectively in the future, were also identified through case studies and translated into recommendations. The research also showed that some risks have long been identified but finding effective measures to control these risks require extensive research and funding. A recommendation was made on how this research in the future could be organised and funded on a non-profit basis.ManagementTechnology, Policy and Managemen
Optic Compliance: Enforcement and Compliance in the Dutch Chemical Industry
No full textValues Technology and InnovationTechnology, Policy and Managemen
Ships in an Artificial Force Field: A Multi-agent System for Nautical Traffic and Safety
No full textThe main objective of this research is developing a simulation tool that provides information of detailed ship behavior in a specific navigational environment, on both the ship traffic level and the individual ship level, for safety analysis, decision making, planning of ports and waterways, and design of mitigation measures. In this research, we have developed the Artificial Nautical Traffic System (ANTS) model for maritime safety. The simulation method proposed is able to provide realistic ship traffic behavior by using the agent based model and the artificial force field. The ODD protocol (Overview, Design concepts, Details) has been a great support for detailed description of its methodology, concept, structure, calibration, and validation. Ship AIS data is treated as real world data, therefore the data have been analyzed and utilized. A Dutch case and a Chinese case have been studied to demonstrate model implementation, calibration, validation, and the applications.Safety and Security ScienceTechnology, Policy and Managemen
Human Risk of Fire: Building a decision support tool using Bayesian networks
No full textSafety Science GroupTechnology, Policy and Managemen
How safe is safe enough?
No full textDisasters can never be completely ruled out. The Dutch national government has therefore committed itself to the concept of risk rather than the false promise of absolute safety. The objectives of this study were to evaluate current regulatory practices in the domains of industrial and flood safety in the Netherlands, and to formulate proposals for improvement. The outcomes of such an endeavor depend heavily on the chosen yardstick to distinguish between superior and inferior policy alternatives. Throughout the thesis, social improvements are defined in a way that is consistent with the approach followed in societal cost-benefit analyses. The three main topics covered by the thesis are: 1. The Dutch industrial and flood safety policies: underlying rationales, current practices, opportunities for mutual learning. 2. Methods for risk evaluation and their conformity with a utilitarian ethic: cost-benefit analysis, FN-criteria, the precautionary principle. 3. Dealing with losses: optimizing disaster preparedness, the (un)insurability of large-scale floods, the relations between insurance and system safety.Civil Engineering and Geoscience
Modelling risk in high hazard operations: Integrating technical, organisational and cultural factors
No full textRecent disasters in high hazard industries such as Oil and Gas Exploration (The Deepwater Horizon) and Petrochemical production (Texas City) have been found to have causes that range from direct technical failures through organizational shortcomings right up to weak regulation and inappropriate company cultures. Risk models have generally concentrated upon technical failures, which are easier to construct and for which there is more concrete data. The primary causes, as identified by the US Chemical Safety Board for Texas City and the Presidential Commission for the Deepwater Horizon, lie firmly rooted in the culture of the organization and determine the way in which individuals go about risky activities. Modelling human activities, especially collectively rather than individual human errors as is done in most human models, is a quite different proposition, in which complex interactions between different individuals and levels change over time as success and failure alter the pattern of payoffs. This paper examines the development of an integrated model for risk in a real-time environment for the hydrocarbon industry. It is based originally on the CATS model for commercial aviation safety, that first attempted to address some of these problems in a relatively simple way. Aviation is, however, a relatively simple activity, with large numbers of common components in a constrained environment. The Oil and Gas industry is significantly more diverse, covering the gamut from exploration, drilling, production, transport, refining and chemical production, each with its own potential for large scale disaster, but in the case of an integrated oil company all run by individuals within a common company culture. Other papers will cover the details of specific issues; this paper covers the integration of the model as a whole.Values and TechnologyTechnology, Policy and Managemen
- …
