Industrial Accidents Research Articles

How Constructionist Perspectives on Learning Can Improve Learning and Prevent Accidents in High-Risk Industries

Management systems containing procedures, checklists, and descriptions for how various tasks should be conducted are often used in high-risk industries. Much has been written about the judicial and technological concerns of management systems, but less has been written on how to train staff in the use of them. Through a cognitive-constructionist perspective combined with social constructivism, this paper discusses how staff training can be designed to fit the characteristics of the workers. This paper focuses on how people learn in different ways, and how this is related to perspectives on knowledge. The method used is semi-structured interviews with twenty-seven workers in two different companies operating in the oil and gas-producing industry. The workers got only a short web-based theory course on the management system, with no practical exercises, repetitions, or other types of follow-ups. This is a signal that the management system is of less importance, and many of the workers thought they did not need it. Training must be designed to fit the workers, with practical exercises, repetition, and possibilities for on-the-job training. Accidents in this sector can cause human losses and great environmental harm, and this paper argues that better training of staff can prevent such accidents and reduce harm to the environment.

Analysis of Fatal Construction Accidents in Indonesia—A Case Study

Booming demand for facilities and infrastructure in Indonesia has led to an increase in construction-related accidents. Court rulings provide valuable data on accident circumstances, which can help improve safety standards. Although information on these accidents is scarce and not systematically consolidated, effective data gathering and analysis can lead to better safety outcomes. This study analyzes 150 court rulings in construction industry accident cases and their related decision frameworks to identify seven risk categories using scenario analysis. The correlative patterns and their associated significance are explored via descriptive statistical analysis, and four categories, namely project, task, accident, and medium, were found to be correlated. The results of the cross-tabulation test between two categories were used to highlight correlated categories. Toll road works accounted for 52% of accident cases, with collisions with construction machinery being the most frequent accident type (36%, 76 cases). Lifting and moving goods had respective phi and Cramer values of 0.534 and 0.001. It is obvious that future safety improvement efforts should focus on roadway projects and utilizing construction vehicles for transportation and lifting work. This can be achieved through increased regulatory compliance, proper utilization of standard operating procedures (SOPs), and ensuring vehicle suitability. The results of this study are highly relevant to workplace health and safety officers and risk management personnel.

A real-time digital twin for active safety in an aircraft hangar

The aerospace industry prioritises safety protocols to prevent accidents that can result in injuries, fatalities, or aircraft damage. One of the potential hazards that can occur while manoeuvring aircraft in and out of a hangar is collisions with other aircraft or buildings, which can lead to operational disruption and costly repairs. To tackle this issue, we have developed the Smart Hangar project, which aims to alert personnel of increased risks and prevent incidents from happening. The Smart Hangar project uses computer vision, LiDAR, and ultra-wideband sensors to track all objects and individuals within the hangar space. These data inputs are combined to form a real-time 3D Digital Twin (DT) of the hangar environment. The Active Safety system then uses the DT to perform real-time path planning, collision prediction, and safety alerts for tow truck drivers and hangar personnel. This paper provides a detailed overview of the system architecture, including the technologies used, and highlights the system’s performance. By implementing this system, we aim to reduce the risk of accidents in the aerospace industry and increase safety for all personnel involved. Additionally, we identify future research directions for the Smart Hangar project.

Emergency Preparedness Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Risk and Protective Factors

ABSTRACT Recent increases in natural (e.g. extreme weather) and human-caused (e.g. industrial accidents) have raised concerns for public health and safety. Older adults face greater vulnerability and are often less prepared for these emergencies. Applying the risk and protective factor model, this study explored factors associated with emergency preparedness among older people living in the community. We analyzed cross-sectional secondary data obtained from the National Poll on Healthy Aging to compare factors associated with emergency preparedness among community-dwelling older people aged 60–69 (n = 383) and 70–80 (n = 370). Results showed that among all community-dwelling older adults, having previously discussed evacuation plans with family or friends was associated with a higher level of emergency preparedness. Among those aged 60–69, experience with an emergency in the past year was associated with a higher level of emergency preparedness, whereas living alone and having a Hispanic background were associated with a lower level of emergency preparedness. For those aged 70–80, higher perceived mental health was associated with a higher level of emergency preparedness. Implications focus on shifting the perspective of the disproportional risks for older adults around emergencies to one that values and supports older adults’ strengths and insights.

The Causes of Rejection of Medical Care Benefits for Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance, A retrospective analysis

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the reasons of the claim rejections and denials compensated by dentalrelated the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) that is operated by the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service (COMWEL).Methods: We collected 803 claims from one consultant who responded to dental-related medical inquiries commissioned by the Daegu and Gyeongbuk Workers’ COMWEL from January 2021 to May 2023. We analyzed the approval status and the reasons for non-approval, based on the reviewed response materials and dental online medical consultation data.Results: Among the initial and supplementary compensation applications, there were 79 cases with insufficient examina-tions, 72 cases with incomplete records, 19 cases with errors, 148 cases due to pre-existing conditions, and 6 cases where the applicant was ineligible for medical benefits. The reasons for re-evaluation after data supplementation included 122 cases of inadequate examinations, 76 cases of incomplete records, 24 cases with logical errors, 11 cases with insufficient photographs, and 57 cases for a combination of these reasons.Conclusions: In the context of industrial injury compensation claims, the denial of claims often arises from missing or incomplete dental records, diagnostic omissions, or logical inconsistencies between records, diagnoses, and treatment plans. Therefore, it is essential to ensure accurate medical records, appropriate examinations, and evidence-based diagnosis. Spe-cial attention should also be given to the collection of clinical data, including photographs.

Characterization and application of modern formwork systems during analysis of the aspect of industrial accident prevention

In the field of the construction industry, many aspects of industrial accident protection must be taken into account in order to prevent extraordinary events. Furthermore the three most common types of questions asked in investments are what, when and for how much. This is no different in structural engineering within the construction industry. This issue is particularly interesting when we talk about temporary structures, such as slab formwork. With the finished product, such as a residential building, a public building or an industrial hall structure, formwork is no longer encountered, and yet it is one of the most costly and time-consuming processes of monolithic reinforced concrete structure construction. Post-calculations show that formwork accounts for about 35-40% of the total cost of reinforced concrete structural construction. Thus, it is understandable that both designers and contractors have always been concerned about how best to optimize the amount of formwork to be used and their timely use. For this reason, the remaining formwork bark panels, which partially replace the floor formwork, were developed. The article shows that time and cost factors can also influence the occurrence of extraordinary events.

Disaster management and mitigation strategies in Zambia: A systematic review

Overview: This paper provides an overview of disaster management and mitigation strategies in Zambia. Drawing upon a range of academic literature, government reports, and field studies, it examines the various natural and human-induced disasters that Zambia faces, including floods, droughts, disease outbreaks, and industrial accidents. The paper analyzes the country's disaster management framework, highlights key institutions, policies and stakeholders involved in disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts. Contribution to the Body of Knowledge: Basing on community-based approaches to disaster risk reduction and resilience building, the paper emphasizes the importance of local knowledge and participation in the mitigation of the impacts of disasters. It contributes to the ongoing discourse on enhancing resilience and reducing the impact of disasters on vulnerable populations and environments; and the development of more robust and sustainable disaster management and mitigation strategies that can better protect lives, livelihoods and ecosystems in the face of future disasters. Methods: The study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative analysis of policy documents and literature reviews with quantitative assessments of food production, consumption patterns, and socioeconomic indicators. Data was collected from various sources, including government reports, academic publications, and international organizations. Data was obtained from respondents by means of interviews, questionnaires and project observation schedules. The sample consisted of two hundred and fifty respondents. Frequency, percentages, tables, graphs and pie-charts were used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data obtained. Data was then analyzed manually in some cases and also, a combination of software MS Access and MS Excel. Results: Effective disaster management and mitigation require a comprehensive, multi-dimensional approach that integrates preparedness, risk reduction, community engagement, innovation, and global cooperation. By prioritizing resilience-building measures and investing in proactive strategies, societies can mitigate the impact of disasters and foster sustainable development in the face of evolving challenges. Recommendation: governments, organizations, and communities should work together to build more resilient societies and minimize the devastating effects of disasters.

제조업의 TBM활동이 안전요인에 미치는 영향

Despite accident prevention activities through government regulations such as the enforcement of the Serious Accident Act and various safety and health policies, the incidence of safety accidents is not showing a clear decrease. Accordingly, the Ministry of Employment and Labor recently distributed a guide on Tool Box Meetings and presented TBM activities as a key activity to prevent safety accidents, although it is not a legal obligation. In this study, we studied the impact of TBM activities on safety factors in manufacturing plants that are currently operating TBM activities to prevent safety accidents. Through a review of previous research, the TBM activity level was used as an independent variable, and safety communication, safety importance culture, and regulatory procedure culture were configured as dependent variables. Based on the results of a survey of 179 workers at 13 manufacturing plants, statistical analysis was conducted using JAMOVI, a statistical analysis program. As a result of the study, the level of TBM activity in the manufacturing industry was positively related to safety communication (=0.607, p<.001), safety importance culture (=0.574, p<.001), and regulatory procedure culture (=0.579, p<.001). It was confirmed to have a significant effect. Through these results, implications were discussed: first, that TBM activities in the manufacturing industry can affect safety accident prevention by improving safety culture subfactors, and second, that TBM activities should be more activated to prevent safety accidents in the manufacturing industry. . In addition, we hope that TBM activities will be activated in the manufacturing industry and contribute to the prevention of safety accidents through follow-up research on the safety effects of TBM activities at manufacturing workplaces.

안전관리전문기관 종사자의 직무환경이 직무만족에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

On November 30, 2022, the government also unveiled the “Serious Accidents Reduction Roadmap,” emphasizing collaboration between safety management agencies and private accident prevention agencies, and governance for a safe and healthy workplace. This study, based on Article 17, Paragraph 5 of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, involves 361 workers in workplaces with 50 to 300 regular workers who have delegated safety management tasks to safety management agencies. The study aims to improve job satisfaction by enhancing the working environment of workers performing safety management tasks through high-quality safety management technical guidance, inspection, and other services. Using the KOSS basic form of KOSHA GUIDE H-67-2022, “Guidelines for Measuring Job Stress Factors,” the research method involved surveying workers in four areas and 18 items. The study hypothesized that job environmental factors significantly influence job satisfaction, with safety environment, job autonomy, and workplace culture reconstructed as independent variables and job satisfaction as the dependent variable. The results showed that job environmental factors explained 46.1% of job satisfaction (R² = 0.461). The regression model was appropriate at F = 101.788 ( =0.001). The impact of job environmental factors on job satisfaction revealed significant positive effects for safety environment (β = 0.126, p < 0.01), job autonomy (β = 0.332, p < 0.001), and workplace culture (β = 0.381, p < 0.001). The relative impact indicated that workplace culture, job autonomy, and safety environment ranked in descending order. The study concluded that improving job environmental factors in safety management entrusted workplaces through specialized technical guidance and inspections positively impacts job satisfaction. Urgent attention from individuals, institutions, and the government is necessary, alongside institutional improvements, to prevent and reduce industrial accidents in safety management entrusted workplaces.

IDENTIFICATION OF K3 HAZARD RISK IN FIREFIGHTERS AT MEDAN CITY FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

Firefighters are particularly vulnerable to several work-related illnesses and injuries, including toxic gas poisoning, burns, respiratory distress, and bodily injury. Therefore, an important first step in implementing successful prevention tactics is to identify possible K3 hazards precisely and accurately. To prevent industrial accidents that endanger workers due to hazards arising in the Medan City Fire and Rescue Department, the purpose of this study is to identify hazards and evaluate risks using the HIRA method analysis. The research was conducted using qualitative methodology. Three data collection methods were used: documentation, in-depth interviews, and observation. The informants in this study amounted to 4 people consisting of 2 key informants and 2 main informants. Based on the results of hazard identification and risk assessment, there are 19 accident risks spread across 5 activities in the Medan City Fire and Rescue Service. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that 10 potential hazards fall into the meaningful category, 4 potential hazards fall into the medium-risk category, 4 potential hazards fall into the low-risk category, and high-risk categories as many as 1 potential hazard. Based on these conclusions, suggestions were submitted to the Medan City Fire and Rescue Service to increase the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, helmets, heat-resistant shirts, and pants, and SCBA was an anticipation of the proposal submitted to the Medan City Fire and Rescue Service. Medan City Fire and Rescue Officers are also required to always comply with established work rules to reduce risks and avoid work accidents.

ORGANIZING INFORMATION COLLECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF DISASTER: APPROACHES BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER EMERGENCIES

This article examines the challenges and strategies associated with collecting critical information during different types of disasters. The use of technology and specialized tools to collect data on various natural disasters, such as natural events, industrial accidents, and health crises, is examined. It also emphasizes the importance of cleaning this data to remove unnecessary information. It is shown that by mastering these data collection techniques, more informed decisions can be made and disaster management can be improved.

THE ORGANIZATION OF DECONTAMINATION FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT USED IN INCIDENTS INVOLVING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

Contemporary civilization is invariably accompanied by disasters, industrial accidents, infectiousdiseases and increasingly frequent terrorist attacks. Despite the use of ever more sophisticatedsafeguards accompanying the development of civilization and modern branches of the economy,these phenomena will inevitably keep occurring. The possibility of sudden unforeseen incidentscaused by the impact of chemical, biological, or radiological factors requires constant readiness ofunits of the State Fire Service. The work analyses the decontamination process used in Germany,North America and Poland. This enabled the development of proposals for organizing thedecontamination process applied to personal protective equipment, constituting a combinationof selected solutions, which allows for the implementation of systemic changes in the State FireService.

Assessment of safety climate perception of maintenance workers during major overhauls, outages, shutdowns or turnarounds (MoOSTs)

AbstractMaintenance activities are used to sustain the reliability of physical industrial assets. However, studies indicate that some of the most devastating industrial accidents are attributable to poor safety perceptions of maintenance workers, especially during major overhauls, outages, shutdowns or turnarounds (MoOSTs). Typical MoOSTs involve the harmonisation of regular maintenance endeavours on a large scale, which in turn heighten risks of accidents and costs. Furthermore, MoOSTs are performed over short durations thereby necessitating parallel high‐risk activities by different organisations that have different perceptions of safety and possess different safety cultures. Understanding safety climate can immensely benefit MoOSTs organisations by improving the understanding of attitudes and perceptions that alleviate workplace incidents. This study aimed to establish safety climate that would boost safety culture and positively impact perceived safety performance during MoOSTs. Safety climate questionnaire survey was deployed to MoOSTs workers of leading cement plants in Nigeria. Through exploratory factor analysis, three underlying safety climate factors were identified, which helped to determine that factors such as ‛training and learning from incidents’, ‛commitment of senior management towards ensuring safety and its protocol development process’ and ‛effectiveness of incident reporting systems during MoOSTs’ were significant predictors of workers’ perceptions of safety performance. The findings also pointed out that the inter‐relationship between perceived safety performance, MoOSTs safety training and organisational commitment were positively correlated.

Historical analysis of accidents in the Saudi Arabian chemical industry

AbstractThe chemical industry oversees the transformation of raw materials into products through unit operations that require appropriate organization to avoid accidents. Hence, it is important to do analyses to identify any possible mistakes, substances involved, or common sources of accidents in the industry to avoid such errors and design better safety measures to create a safer space for the chemical industry, which is hugely important and boasts a worldwide presence. This document presents an analysis of chemical industry‐related accidents in Saudi Arabia, namely fires, explosions, and toxic clouds which occurred in the chemical and petrochemical industries and while transporting hazardous materials in the last 46 years. Three databases—one for each type of accident—were created with information collected from articles, newspapers, videos, and papers. ‘Explosion’, ‘fire’, and ‘toxic clouds’ were the key words used for the research, focusing on accident taking place in Saudi Arabia. Once the information had been collected, the accidents were filtered, checked, and moved to a fourth general database. It is shown that 54.0% of all related accidents were fires, 25.4% toxic clouds, and 20.6% were explosions. The provinces with the most registered accidents were Riyadh (15), Jeddah (10), and Jubail (6).

Smart Industrial Safety Monitoring and Alert System using Raspberry Pi

The rapid advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) technology has enabled the development of systems for automatic monitoring and alerting in industrial settings. Industrial accidents, such as gas leaks or fires, can lead to significant setbacks. To address this, we propose a system utilizing IoT concepts to monitor industrial applications and generate alerts or alarms to prevent mishaps. Our system employs flame and gas sensors to detect fires and gas leaks, along with other sensors such as temperature detectors, PIR sensors for trespass detection, and current and voltage monitoring. Data from these sensors are continuously scanned and transmitted online for real-time monitoring. The system, implemented using Raspberry Pi and interfaced with an LCD screen, provides a comprehensive approach to industrial safety, aiming to reduce both human and economic losses. Key Words: Internet of Things (IoT), industrial safety, sensors, Raspberry Pi, fault monitoring, Wi-Fi module

Highly effective and reusable Ni–Al oxide/Zn0.4Co0.6Fe2O4 superparamagnetic aerogel for oil-water separation

Oily wastewater from the oil industry and oil spill accidents has become a serious environmental problem and has attracted worldwide attention. The present study reports on the successful preparation of a novel magnetic Ni–Al oxide/Zn0.4Co0.6F2O4 mesoporous aerogel (MNA) as a highly selective adsorbent for oil removal from water. Oleic acid (OA) and Triton X-100 (TX) were used as hydrophobic agents for MNA surface modification. It was found that the attached amount of OA on the mesoporous MNA aerogel is 3.5 times larger than that of TX, giving an advantage to MNA-OA in oil separation. The MNA-OA displayed superhydrophobicity (contact angle ∼150°) and superparamagnetism properties that allowed the adsorbent to be used selectively for oil removal. The MNA-OA was found to have a high oil removal efficiency of ∼97% with an adsorption capacity of ∼2 g/g. Furthermore, the produced magnetic adsorbent has high stability due to the strong chemical binding of OA, which is demonstrated by its good reusability performance. Throughout five separate runs, the MNA-OA was shown to be a very efficient and reusable adsorbent for oily wastewater.

AUTOMATION OF THE PROCESS AND OPTIMIZATION OF TECHNICAL DIAGNOSTICS RESULTS PROCESSING

High safety requirements are imposed on the operation of production facilities. One of the requirements is periodic diagnostics of equipment and structures. Technical diagnostics is the recognition of the state of a technical system, which includes a wide rangeof problems associated with obtaining and evaluating diagnostic information. Surveys provide extensive information about the diagnostic object, which allows us to conclude about the operability of the object, to make a decision about repairs or modernization.The article discusses the process of diagnostics, its shortcomings and methods of their elimination. A program for automating the process and processing the results of technical diagnostics is proposed. The implementation of the development is aimed at increasing the reliability of the data obtained, reducing labor costs, and improving the state of safety at production facilities. It is also assumed that when using the development, the number of industrial accidents that occurred due to human factor errors during technical diagnostics will be reduced.The program consists of four elements, which will allow them to be gradually implemented in production: a sensor-server commu-nication system, a database, an electronic technological scheme of the object, a computing module. The communication system will simplify the transmission of data from the control sites. The database will facilitate work with documentation for control objects. The information available on the electronic technological scheme will increase the speed of interaction of employees of various services during diagnostics. The calculation module will eliminate the human factor during calculations and accelerate the formation of control acts and the conclusion of the industrial safety expertise.The joint use of all elements of the program will facilitate and accelerate the work on technical diagnostics and simplify the work with documentation for research objects.

Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garments (RMG) Industry: Exploring Workplace Well-Being Issues in Policy and Practice

Gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in the workplace are major issues that affect the work environment and employee well-being. These issues have received little attention from managers in the ready-made garments (RMG) factories or policymakers more generally in Bangladesh, despite the comprehensive approach to restructuring the industry following two devastating industrial accidents. This research examines the role played by RMG factory managers in eliminating gender-based violence and increasing positive work experiences and well-being in the workplace, and the policy initiatives from the government with the aim to stop workplace violence. The study uses qualitative methods—document analysis and semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that measures to protect workers from GBVH are absent in employment regulation. Though there are high court directives on workplace harassment, these have not been implemented effectively. The findings show that women workers have faced longstanding GBVH, which has impacted their well-being. The increasing rate of women leaving RMG sector jobs reflects how women workers’ well-being issues have been disregarded within the factories.

Пути повышения эффективности систем управления охраной труда

The high level of occupational injuries has been registered globally. Daily, 5,000 deaths are caused by industrial accidents and occupational illnesses. It is an issue that requires an urgent solution. The International Organization of Standardization has developed the ISO 45001:2018 Standard; implementing its recommendations in the working practices of an enterprise should increase the efficiency of activities aiming to ensure occupational safety. The basic recommendation of the standard is the development of an occupational safety management system at the enterprise. It is a documented system; within its setup, it is required to develop a significant volume of documentation and determine information links between the departments. The enterprise, however, must not focus only on documentation. The main functioning efficiency factor of the occupational safety management system is training for staff. Conditions to boost staff activities and their involvement in the development of favorable working conditions, detection and elimination of hazards at the workplace must be provided. An essential factor of the successful functioning of the occupational safety management system is the conducting of recurrent audits (1–2 times a year) at each department of the enterprise. Nevertheless, hazards and incidents at the workplace can emerge daily; therefore, the staff should act as auditors as the efficiency of detection of emerging hazards and risks and their timely elimination will depend on the staff’s qualification, attention, and active approach. In order to boost staff involvement, constant improvement of competencies and the use of an incentive system developed considering the efficiency of proposals on occupational safety improvements can be recommended. The involvement of staff in occupational safety activities, their understanding of the importance of such activities aiming at the safety of life and health, and the support of initiatives of the staff are possible on the condition of interest of the enterprise's top management in the efficient measures to ensure occupational safety. Involvement of all employees of the enterprise in solving occupational safety problems will enable significant improvement of working conditions, reduce the level of occupational injuries, and resolve social issues within the framework of achievement the goals of the sustainable development program.

From unstructured accident reports to a hybrid decision support system for occupational risk management: The consensus converging approach

Introduction: Workplace accidents in the petroleum industry can cause catastrophic damage to people, property, and the environment. Earlier studies in this domain indicate that the majority of the accident report information is available in unstructured text format. Conventional techniques for the analysis of accident data are time-consuming and heavily dependent on experts’ subject knowledge, experience, and judgment. There is a need to develop a machine learning-based decision support system to analyze the vast amounts of unstructured text data that are frequently overlooked due to a lack of appropriate methodology. Method: To address this gap in the literature, we propose a hybrid methodology that uses improved text-mining techniques combined with an un-bias group decision-making framework to combine the output of objective weights (based on text mining) and subjective weights (based on expert opinion) of risk factors to prioritize them. Based on the contextual word embedding models and term frequencies, we extracted five important clusters of risk factors comprising more than 32 risk sub-factors. A heterogeneous group of experts and employees in the petroleum industry were contacted to obtain their opinions on the extracted risk factors, and the best-worst method was used to convert their opinions to weights. Conclusions and Practical Applications: The applicability of our proposed framework was tested on the data compiled from the accident data released by the petroleum industries in India. Our framework can be extended to accident data from any industry, to reduce analysis time and improve the accuracy in classifying and prioritizing risk factors.