Safety Approach Research Articles

Indigenous Cultural Safety in Recognizing and Responding to Family Violence: A Systematic Scoping Review.

This systematic scoping review synthesizes the recommended approaches for providing culturally safe family violence interventions to Indigenous peoples in health care and social service settings. A total of 3783 sources were identified through our electronic database searches, hand-searching of Indigenous-focused journals, and backward and forward citation chaining. After screening those sources in duplicate, 28 papers were included for synthesis in June 2020. Forward citation chaining of these 28 included articles in June 2022 identified an additional 304 possible articles for inclusion; following the screening of those 304 articles, an additional 6 were retained in the review. Thus, a total of 34 articles were included for data extraction and narrative synthesis. Initial results were presented to members of the Six Nations of the Grand River Youth Mental Wellness Committee, and their feedback was incorporated into our inductive organization of findings. Our findings represent three thematic areas that reflect key recommendations for health care and social service provision to Indigenous families for whom family violence is a concern: (1) creating the conditions for cultural safety; (2) healing at the individual and community level; and (3) system-level change. These findings demonstrate the need to center Indigenous peoples and perspectives in the development and implementation of cultural safety approaches, to acknowledge and address historically contingent causes of past and present family violence including colonization and related state policies, and to transform knowledge and power relationships at the provider, organization, and government level.

Implementing the Power to Kids programme in home‐based (foster) care: Identifying the SAFETY approach

AbstractSexual abuse and dating violence are chronic problems for children and young people in out‐of‐home care. This study explored the impact of a prevention and response programme Power to Kids, which targets harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), child sexual exploitation (CSE) and dating violence (DV) for children and young people in home‐based (foster) care. Twenty‐eight case managers, 25 foster carers and 13 children and young people participated in a mixed methods study in Victoria, Australia informed by the research question: How does the Power to Kids programme impact the sexual health and safety of children and young people in home‐based (foster) care? The data analysis revealed a SAFETY approach whereby the sexual health and safety knowledge of carers and case managers was enhanced, and carers were given permission to have Brave Conversations with children and young people, who could then apply the new knowledge to their lives. Case managers were upskilled in identifying indicators of sexual abuse and empowered to escalate stalled therapeutic and disruption practice when children and young people were identified as experiencing HSB, CSE or DV.

Wide / narrow-area slope stability analysis considering infiltration and runoff during heavy precipitation

Runoff generated by heavy rainfall in natural catchment area and caused by ditch clogging in artificial structure increases the instability of the slope. The effects of runoff are usually neglected in traditional rainfall-induced slope failure analysis. In order to consider the effects of runoff on the slope instability, this study attempts to simulate the runoff, infiltration and slope instabilities simultaneously on both wide/narrow area. For this purpose, this study firstly proposes a coupled model of surface flow, subsurface flow, and soil mechanics based on Diffusion wave equations, Richards’s equation, Green-Ampt infiltration capacity model, and local factor of safety approach in wide area simulation. Next, snowmelt and surface grass layer are additionally considered in narrow area simulation. Finally, the proposed coupled model is applied to two slopes at Nissho Pass and Kuromatsunai in Hokkaido, Japan. The slope instabilities assessment approach provides an effective method for simulating runoff and slope instabilities. In wide area, the distribution map of the factor of safety has significant implications for precisely determining the dangerous spots and accurately releasing the warning information. In narrow area, the slope disaster points caused by the ditch clogging are extracted and effect of grass layer on slope stability assessment is demonstrated. The construction and maintenance of the drainage system can be re-designed to ensure all the surface flow caused by the precipitation drain out smoothly.

Decolonization and trauma-informed truth-telling about Indigenous Australia in a social work diversity course: a cultural safety approach

ABSTRACT Actual accounts of the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples since colonization remain largely misunderstood and misrepresented within Australian education systems and the broader social consciousness. Culturally sensitive practice and ethnic diversity are challenging topics to teach social work students when truth-telling is absent. Social workers need to develop an understanding of intergenerational trauma experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, critically reflect on perpetuated stereotypes, and confront internalized beliefs about peoples of diverse ethnic and cultural identities in preparation to work respectfully with Indigenous communities. A course focused on building students’ knowledge and skills for culturally responsive practice is described in this paper, along with suggestions for enhancing teaching and learning. The paper argues for the importance of truth-telling about Australia’s continuing racism in social work education to create cultural safety for service users.

Measurement and Monitoring of Safety Framework: a qualitative study of implementation through a Canadian learning collaborative

BackgroundThe Measurement and Monitoring of Safety Framework (MMSF) aims to move beyond a narrow focus on measurement and past harmful events as the major focus for safety in healthcare organisations....

Deliberative safety for industrial intelligent human–robot collaboration: Regulatory challenges and solutions for taking the next step towards industry 4.0

In previous scholarly literature, safety is understood as a main obstacle for introducing human–robot collaboration in industrial production. This interdisciplinary paper is concerned with the safety and regulation of human–robot collaboration and contribute to this debate through a case study of stakeholders in Sweden, exploring the views of the involved stakeholders which is largely absent in previous research literature. The case study concludes that while stressing some potential benefits, stakeholders within the industry are generally reluctant to human–robot collaboration. Current regulation and safety standards are understood to be one of the prominent obstacles to such solutions. Based on the perspectives of the stakeholders as well as an analysis of current regulation and safety standards, the paper identifies the following problems with current regulation: (i) existing categories and conceptualizations used to guide safety evaluation are problematic, (ii) intelligence and autonomous aspects of collaborative systems are not sufficiently addressed, (iii) current standards do not enable evaluation of the trade off between safety, efficiency and flexibility, and (iv) the regulation has a lack of focus on active safety and using the control system as a safety measure. In an attempt to address these identified problems, the difference between traditional collaborative robots and intelligent human–robot collaboration is analyzed in the paper and a new safety approach is suggested, called Deliberative safety , which allows the humans and robots to switch between different safety measures based on the need for flexibility or efficiency to reach production goals. While considering system performance, we propose a taxonomy to better support the design of deliberative safety as well as five safety measures to use in a deliberative safety approach. These measures include available measures like perimeter safety, zone safety and reactive safety to more advanced measures like planned and active safety, and when used together, they can enable intelligent human–robot collaboration. • Existing conceptualizations used to guide safety evaluation of HRC are problematic. • Safety standards do not enable evaluation of the trade off between safety, efficiency and flexibility. • New safety approach called Deliberative Safety , allow changes of safety measures during operation. • These changes are based on the need and intention of both the humans and robots. • New safety measures better suited for intelligent automation based on key performance indicators.

Towards a Complete Safety Framework for Longitudinal Driving

Formal models for the safety validation of autonomous vehicles have become increasingly important. To this end, we present a safety framework for longitudinal automated driving. This framework allows calculating minimum safe inter-vehicular distances for arbitrary ego vehicle control policies. We use this framework to enhance the Responsibility-Sensitive Safety (RSS) model and models based on it, which fail to cover situations where the ego vehicle has a higher decelerating capacity than its preceding vehicle. For arbitrary ego vehicle control policies, we show how our framework can be applied by substituting real (possibly computationally intractable) controllers with upper bounding functions. This comprises a general approach for longitudinal safety, where safety guarantees for the upper-bounded system are equivalent to those for the original system but come at the expense of larger inter-vehicular distances.

Current Status of Formulary in Japan and the Assessment of Various Value Components of Medicines

Development of a formulary is an important issue to achieve rational use of medicines in each local medical area in Japan. The purpose of developing the formulary is to secure the access for safe, effective, and affordable medications based on evidence for patients, families, healthcare professionals as well as for general publics. The economic aspect plays an important role for the establishment of the formulary, while the word "economic" is often misread as simple "cost reduction", which only aims to generic/biosimilar substitutions. Both health outcomes and costs, should be taken into account under the true "health economic analysis", or the cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA). Information provided via the CEA could be useful for establishment of the formulary. Moreover, various value assessment of medicines in health technology assessments (HTA) field beyond the current approach of safety, effectiveness, and economics evaluations should be considered. In this review, we discuss comprehensive assessment of various value components of medicines to establish the most suitable formulary which would contribute to whole society, as well as healthcare facilities/patients.

A methodology for propellant composition optimization in aerosol consumer products, considering economic, safety, and environmental objectives

In this work we present for the first time a methodology to simultaneously optimize the composition of aerosol propellant mixes for consumer products, considering economical, safety, and environmental objectives. Selection of the suitable components for the propellant mix follows a decomposition approach that takes into account product and package compatibility, the regulatory framework, and the type of propellant. An inherent safety approach is considered for the safety objective. The core of the mathematical model is the multicomponent vapor–liquid equilibrium using the Peng–Robinson–Stryjek–Vera cubic equation of state. The optimization problem is defined as a multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear programming model solved using the ϵ-constraint method. The application of the methodology is demonstrated with a case study for an underarm deodorant formulation. One propellant mix is obtained from the Pareto front as the best compromise of the three objective functions. The rationale to choose a different solution, based on stakeholder’s preferences, is discussed.

A Coherent Approach towards Quantum Gravity

This paper typically focuses on the rescaling or equivocally a phase transition from the asymptotic approach of renormalizing the quantum gravity to a more granular approach of the loop quantum gravity (LQG) and then merging it with the Regge calculus for deriving the spin-(2) graviton as the basis of the unified theory. To construct a successful Ultraviolet (UV) completed theory via the fixed-point renormalization group flow equations (FRGE) results in an asymptotic safety approach of the quantum gravity (QG). From the loop-(2) onwards, the higher derivative divergence terms like the higher derivative curvatures, and quadratic divergences with higher derivative scalars make the momentum go to infinity which assaults a problem in renormalizing the QG. If the Einstein-Hilbert (E-H) action, which is the principle of least action is being computed, arising an equation of motion, and a localized path integral (or partition functions) is defined over a curved space, then that action is shown to be associated with the higher order dimension in a more compactified way, resulting in an infinite winding numbers being accompanied through the exponentiality coefficients of the partition integrals in the loop expansions of the second order term onwards, and based on that localization principle, the entire path integral got collapsed to isolated points or granules that if corresponds the aforesaid actions, results in negating the divergences’ with an implied bijections’ and reverse bijections’ of a diffeomorphism of a continuous differentiable functional domains. If those domains are being attributed to the spatial constraints, Hamiltonian constraints, and Master constraints then, through Ashtekar variables, it can be modestly shown that the behavior of quantum origin of asymptotic safety behavior is similar to the LQG granules of spin foam spacetime. Then, we will proceed with the triangulation of the “zoomed in” entangled-points that results in the inclusion of Regge poles via the quantum number (+2,-2,0) as the produced variables of the spin-(2) graviton and spin-(0) dilaton.

Reducing Work-Related Stress Through Soft-Skills Training Intervention in the Mining Industry.

The aim of the study was to verify if soft-skills training is an effective intervention in reducing work-related stress among miners, that is, people who run the risk of losing health and/or life due to unpredictable natural forces or human error at work. The motivation for the intervention was based on Job Demands-Resources model where soft skills are job resources that help individuals to cope with or prevent high demands of the environment. The needed skills as well as work demands were first investigated and then a custom training was developed. The rationale for introducing soft-skills training into the work environment can be seen as compatible with the Human Capital Model (HCM) which is designed to stimulate positive organizational behaviour by providing an effective approach to ensure employees' adequate coping with work-related stress. 96 volunteer employees were assigned to intervention (n = 48) and comparison (n = 48) groups. 16-hour tailored training covered tasks and simulation games related to communication, teambuilding, self-management and conflict resolution skills. Job Content Questionnaire, Occupational Stress Indicator (modified to fit the mining environment) and General Health Questionnaire were used in the study. A MANOVA with effect-size measures was conducted. Results revealed a significant increase in decision latitude and social support for the trainees. A substantial decrease in stress was also observed, along with a significant decrease in general health problems. There were no such changes in the comparison group. A soft-skills training, including communication, teamwork, self-motivation and conflict-resolution skills, helped participants to cope better with the stressful environment and improved their mental health. These effects lasted three months later. The intervention improved miners' psychosocial health and the strategies of coping with stress, which increased safety and health in the company. Investigating the effectiveness of such interventions included in the general Human Capital Model, as it was done in the study, might be a step forward towards building an interdisciplinary approach for health and safety and human resources.

Polyoxotungstate-based supramolecular complexes as multifunctional electrocatalysts for sensing water contaminants

Electrochemical detection of water contaminants driven by polyoxometalate-based materials provides a promising approach for environmental safety and diseases prevention. Herein, three polyoxotungstate-based supramolecular complexes were synthesized with formulas of [Cd3(H2O)2(trz)6][HSiW12O40]2·17H2O (1), [Cd(imi)6]2[SiW12O40]·24H2O (2), [Himi]4[SiW12O40]·H2O (3), (Htrz ​= ​1-H-1,2,4-triazole; imi ​= ​Imidazole), which were employed as multifunctional sensors for the detection of various contaminants in water. Structural analysis showed that in compound 1, the trinuclear cadmium cluster [Cd3(Htrz)6]6+ links [SiW12O40]4- anion to form a dumbbell-shaped fragment, which interacts with each other via abundant hydrogen bonds to extend the structure into three-dimensional supramolecular network. In compound 2, the windmill-shaped [Cd(imi)6]2+ cations interact with [SiW12O40]4- anion via electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding to form 3-D supramolecular structure. Compound 3 displays an ‘inorganic core-organic hell’ hybrid supramolecular structure constructed by [SiW12O40]4- anion cluster and four protonated organic [Himi]+ cations. Three compounds as electrochemical sensors exhibited favorable electrocatalytic activities for the detection of hexavalent chromium Cr(VI), NO2− and H2O2 with remarkable anti-interference capacity. As for the determination of Cr(VI), compound 1 shows the lowest limit of detection (LOD) of 0.86 ​μM and high sensitivity of 39.3 ​μA ​mM−1 among three compounds, which meets the WHO standard for the minimum concentration of Cr(VI) in drinking water (less than 0.962 ​μM). Moreover, the LODs of compound 1 towards NO2− and H2O2 detection are 3.74 ​μM and 1.39 ​μM along with sensitivities of 4.81 ​μA ​mM−1 for NO2− ion and 37.2 ​μA ​mM−1 for H2O2, respectively. This work provides some important insights into the design of efficient POMs-based electrochemical sensors for environmental applications.

A survey of blockchain consensus safety and security: State-of-the-art, challenges, and future work

Blockchain technology has been widely used in finance, Internet of Things, insurance, and other fields since it was proposed in 2008. As a part of blockchain technology, the consensus protocol has a profound impact on the safety and security of blockchain systems. Therefore, there have been a lot of research on the safety and security of blockchain consensus protocols. However, the research shows us the diversity and complexity which motivate us to do this survey. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey focusing on the safety and security of blockchain consensus protocols, where we discuss in detail the classification of blockchain consensus protocols, the potential safety and security problems, safety and security assurance approaches, and validation methods etc. Furthermore, we also identify research challenges and current research gaps, and suggest future work to be further investigated in the end of this paper.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Robot-Assisted Mitral Valve Repair.

Robot-assisted surgery is a minimally invasive approach for repairing the mitral valve. This study aimed to assess its safety and clinical efficacy when compared with conventional sternotomy, partial sternotomy, and right minithoracotomy. A systematic review of peer-reviewed studies comparing robot-assisted mitral valve repair with conventional sternotomy, partial sternotomy, and right minithoracotomy was conducted following Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. Meta-analyses were performed where possible. The search strategy yielded 15 primary studies, of which 12 compared robot-assisted with conventional sternotomy, 2 compared robot-assisted with partial sternotomy, and 6 compared robot-assisted with right minithoracotomy. The overall quality of evidence was low, and there was a lack of data on long-term outcomes. Individual studies and pooled data demonstrated that robotic procedures were comparable to conventional sternotomy and other minimally invasive approaches with respect to the rates of stroke, renal failure, reoperation for bleeding, and mortality. Robot-assisted mitral valve repair was superior to conventional sternotomy with reduced atrial fibrillation, intensive care unit and hospital stay, pain, time to return to normal activities, and physical functioning at 1 year. However, robot-assisted mitral valve repair had longer cardiopulmonary, aortic cross-clamp, and procedure times compared with all other surgical approaches. Based on current evidence, robot-assisted mitral valve repair is comparable to other approaches for safety and early postoperative outcomes, despite being associated with longer operative times. Ideally, future studies will be randomized controlled trials that compare between robot-assisted surgery, conventional surgery, and other minimally surgery approaches focusing on hard clinical outcomes and patient-reported outcomes.

Psychosocial safety behavior: A scoping review of behavior-based approaches to workplace psychosocial safety

Introduction: In an era of workplace safety where psychosocial risks are widely recognized as occupational hazards, emerging research has sought to clarify the impact of these risks and the requisite interventions for improving psychosocial safety climate and reducing psychological injury risk. Method: The construct of psychosocial safety behavior (PSB) provides a novel framework for emerging research that seeks to apply a behavior-based safety approach to workplace psychosocial risks across several high-risk industries. This scoping review aims to provide a synthesis of existing literature on PSB, including its development as a construct and application in workplace safety interventions to date. Results: Although a limited number of studies of PSB were identified, the findings of this review provide evidence for growing cross-sector applications of behaviorally-focused approaches to improving workplace psychosocial safety. In addition, the identification of a broad spectrum of terminology surrounding the construct of PSB provides evidence of key theoretical and empirical gaps, with implications for future intervention-based research to address emerging areas of focus.

Bacteriocin: A natural approach for food safety and food security.

The call to cater for the hungry is a worldwide problem in the 21st century. Food security is the utmost prime factor for the increasing demand for food. Awareness of human health when using chemical preservatives in food has increased, resulting in the use of alternative strategies for preserving food and enhancing its shelf-life. New preservatives along with novel preservation methods have been instigated, due to the intensified demand for extended shelf-life, along with prevention of food spoilage of dairy products. Bacteriocins are the group of ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides; they possess a wide range of biological activities, having predominant antibacterial activity. The bacteriocins produced by the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are considered to be of utmost importance, due to their association with the fermentation of food. In recent times among various groups of bacteriocins, leaderless and circular bacteriocins are gaining importance, due to their extensive application in industries. These groups of bacteriocins have been least studied as they possess peculiar structural and biosynthetic mechanisms. They chemically possess N-to-C terminal covalent bonds having a predominant peptide background. The stability of the bacteriocins is exhibited by the circular structure. Up till now, very few studies have been performed on the molecular mechanisms. The structural genes associated with the bacteriocins can be combined with the activity of various proteins which are association with secretion and maturation. Thus the stability of the bacteriocins can be used effectively in the preservation of food for a longer period of time. Bacteriocins are thermostable, pH-tolerant, and proteolytically active in nature, which make their usage convenient to the food industry. Several research studies are underway in the domain of biopreservation which can be implemented in food safety and food security.

Justification of the Educators’ New Professional Functions under the Conditions of Martial Law

The article is devoted to actual problem of today's pedagogical theory: the new functions of educators in the conditions of martial law. Based on a reviewof foreign and native sources, the generalization of experience in Ukraine and beyond, the authors achieve the purpose. The purpose is to define the new functions of educators in the conditions of martial law and to fill in the existing ones with new content. The research is based on competence, activity, environmental, socio-pedagogical, safety approaches.
 Methodology. The research is based on competence, activity, environmental, socio-pedagogical, safety scientific approaches. Research methods are: theoretical analysis of sources, generalization, observation, conversations, establishment of cause and effect relationships. The materials of the research were domestic and foreign works on education methodology, safety in education, our experience of teaching at teacher training programs.
 Results. We observe an increase in the functions of educators under martial law. It is logical to add to the traditional functions of the school principal: security function, organization of social support and assistance; social adaptation; personnel management and implementation of a sustainable personnel policy in institution of general secondary education; preventive function, the function of cohesion an dunity of the school team and the population in the community; national-patriotic; organizational; financial management in institution of general secondary education; informative. Teachers in the conditions of martial law were also faced with the need to perform the following new functions: socio-pedagogical (helping children to solve problems of socialization in conditions of martial law, family distance); social adaptation and integration of families with children in the conditions of the host community; social prevention of negative phenomena in the educational environment; information about resources to help in the community; social support and assistance to families with children in the conditions of an educational institution – a temporary shelter for families; pre-medicalcare; promotion of national security through increased attention to national-patriotic education.
 Conclusions. Our research shows that all teaching staff of educational institutions and their principals in the conditions of martial law begins to perform additional functions and new tasks due to the peculiarities of the martial law in education and new threats to children and all other participants of the educational process, requirements to ensure national security. It requires updating the list and expanding the content of educators’ functions under martial law. That is why these questions should be included in the professional standards of the principal and the teacher of the institution of general secondary education, in educational programs of various levels, which will be the prospects of our further research.

MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR DECISION MAKING SYSTEM BASED ON THREE-SEGMENTED LINEAR REGRESSION

Context. The problem of approximation of empirical data in the decision-making system in safety management.. The object of the study was to verify the adequate coefficients of the mathematical model for data approximation using information technology.
 Objective. The goal of the work is the creation adequate math-ematical model using information technology on the bases analyze different approaches for approximating empirical data an that can be used to predict the current state of the operator in the flight safety system..
 Method. A comparative analysis of the description of the transformation of information indicators with a non-standard structure. The following models of transformation of information indicators with similar visual representation are selected for comparison: parabolas of the second and third order, single regression and regression with jumps. It is proposed to use new approaches for approximation, based on the use of the criterion proposed by Kuzmin and the Heaviside function. The adequacy of the approximation was checked using these criteria, which allowed to choose an adequate mathematical model to describe the transformation of information indicators. The stages of obtaining a mathematical model were as follows: determining the minimum sum of squares of deviations for all information indicators simultaneously; use of the Heaviside function; optimization of the abscissa axis in certain areas; use of the linearity test. The obtained mathematical model adequately describes the process of transformation of information indicators, which will allow the process of forecasting changes in medical and biological indicators of operators in the performance of professional duties in aviation, as one of the methods of determining the human factor in a proactive approach in flight safety.
 Results. The results of the study can be used during the construction of mathematical models to describe empirical data of this kind.
 Conclusions. Experimental studies have suggested recommending the use of three-segment linear regression with jumps as an adequate mathematical model that can be used to formalize the description of empirical data with non-standard structure and can be used in practice to build models for predicting operator dysfunction as one of the causes of adverse events in aviation.
 Prospects for further research may be the creation of a multiparameter mathematical model that will predict the violation of the functional state of the operator by informative parameters, as well as experimental study of proposed mathematical approaches for a wide range of practical problems of different nature and dimension.

Safety evaluation of the food enzyme β-galactosidase from the non-genetically modified Kluyveromyces lactis strain AE-KL.

The food enzyme β‐galactosidase (β‐d‐galactoside galatohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.23) is produced with the non‐genetically modified Kluyveromyces lactis strain AE‐KL by Amano Enzyme Inc. As the production strain meets the requirements for a Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) approach to safety assessment and as no other issues of concern were identified, the Panel considered that toxicological tests were not needed for the assessment of this food enzyme. The food enzyme is intended to be used for lactose hydrolysis in milk processing (including infant formulae), production of fermented milk products and manufacture of galacto‐oligosaccharides (GOS). The dietary exposure to the food enzyme–total organic solids (TOS) was estimated to be up to 7.933 mg TOS/kg body weight (bw) per day in European populations. A search for similarity of the amino acid sequence of the food enzyme to known allergens was made and no match was found. The Panel considered that, under the intended conditions of use, the risk of allergic reactions by dietary exposure cannot be excluded, but the likelihood for this to occur is considered to be low. Based on the QPS status of the production strain and the data provided, the Panel concluded that this food enzyme does not give rise to safety concerns, under the intended conditions of use.

Safety evaluation of the food enzyme β-galactosidase from the genetically modified Kluyveromyces lactis strain KLA.

The food enzyme β‐galactosidase (β‐d‐galactoside galactohydrolase; EC 3.2.1.23) is produced with the genetically modified Kluyveromyces lactis strain KLA by DSM Food Specialties B.V. The genetic modifications did not give rise to safety concerns. The food enzyme was considered free from viable cells of the production organism and its DNA. The food enzyme is intended to be used for the lactose hydrolysis in milk processing, production of fermented milk products and whey processing. It is also intended for lactose hydrolysis in milk products at home. Dietary exposure to the food enzyme–total organic solids (TOS) was estimated to be up to 11.876 mg TOS/kg body weight per day in European populations. The production strain of the food enzyme fulfils the requirements for the Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) approach to safety assessment. As no concerns arising from its genetic modification or from the manufacturing process have been identified, the Panel considered that toxicological tests are not needed for the assessment of this food enzyme. A search for similarity of the amino acid sequence of the food enzyme to known allergens was made and no match was found. The Panel considered that, under the intended conditions of use, the risk of allergic reactions by dietary exposure cannot be excluded, but the likelihood for this to occur is low. The Panel concluded that this food enzyme does not give rise to safety concerns under the intended conditions of use.