Formal Safety Research Articles

Ocular morbidity patterns among metal workers from an unorganized sector: A cross-sectional study

Introduction and Aim: The metal working process has many hazards that the metal workers are exposed to resulting in several health disorders and diseases. However, there is a lack of documented information regarding the prevalence of ophthalmic safety practices and the factors influencing them among metal workers in the Moradabad region or the study area. The aim of the present study is to assess ocular morbidity patterns among the metal workers from an unorganized sector. Methods: We conducted this study to find out the morbidity patterns among the metal workers working in Northwestern Uttar Pradesh, district Moradabad. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 metal workers using a pre-validated structured questionnaire. Results: All the metal workers working, without any formal eye health and safety training. Eye Injury was the most common problem at work. The age of the metal workers, duration of employment & welding hours per day were associated with ocular morbidities among the metal workers. In this study, among 100 metal workers, 18% of workers were suffering from an occupational eye injury. 98% metal workers population don’t have any personal protective eye device.86% of them feel this protective eye device is not so necessary. Conclusion: There is a need for occupational health safety awareness services for metal workers in Moradabad as well as in Uttar Pradesh. While further research may be required to make policy recommendations, the current study provides a baseline morbidity burden among these mental workers to look for interventions to promote health and safety at work for this neglected unorganized group.

Are Welsh primary schools Sunproofed? Results of a national survey, part 1: scoping the landscape of sun safety policies in Wales.

Schools with formal sun safety polices generally show better sun safety practices than schools without. To understand the extent to which Welsh primary schools have sun safety policies; to identify the key characteristics of policies; to assess whether policy adoption varies by school characteristics; and to consider what support schools need to develop sun safety policies. An online multiple-choice survey on sun safety was distributed to all 1241 primary schools in Wales. In total, 471 (38.0%) schools responded. Of these, 183 (39.0%) reported having a formal sun safety policy. Welsh medium schools (P = 0.036) and schools in North Wales (P = 0.008) were more likely to report having a policy. Schools with a higher percentage of pupils receiving free school meals (P = 0.046) and with lower attendance rates (P = 0.008) were less likely to report having a sun safety policy. The primary reasons for schools not having a policy included being 'not aware of the need' (34.6%); 'need assistance with policy or procedure development' (30.3%); and 'not got around to it just yet' (26.8%). With less than half of schools reporting a sun safety policy and variation in the presence/absence of a policy by school characteristics, our survey revealed inconsistency in formal sun safety provision in Welsh schools. The findings also suggest that schools are unaware of the importance of sun safety and need support to develop and implement policies. This snapshot of the current situation in primary schools in Wales provides a basis upon which the comprehensiveness, effectiveness and implementation of sun safety policies can be further evaluated.

Standards of radiation protection amongst UK vascular surgeons: a clinician’s perspective

Objective: To evaluate training in radiation protection, knowledge of local policies and current practices regarding safe working with ionising radiation in vascular surgery units across the UK. Methods: A validated 37 question online survey was distributed to vascular surgery trainees (VTs) and consultants (VCs) by the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland (VSGBI), British Society of Endovascular Therapy (BSET) and Rouleaux Club through their national mailing lists between March and May 2024. Responses were collated using the survey server SurveyMonkey. Results were summarised using descriptive statistics and appropriate tests. Results: Ninety-one VCs and 87 VTs, representing approximately 15% and 44% of the UK VC and VT workforce, respectively, responded. In total, 94% of VCs and 97% of VTs expressed concerns over the effects of ionising radiation on their health; 91% of VCs and only 74% of VTs had undergone formal radiation safety training. Of these, only 18% of VCs and 43% of VTs had undergone training within the last two years. Overall, 34% of VCs and most VTs (75%) did not know who their local radiation safety officer was; 4% of VCs and 32% of VTs (p<0.001) were completely unaware of local radiation safety policies. A total of 13% of both were not aware of ‘As Low As Reasonably Achievable’ (ALARA) principles, with 20% of VCs and 35% of VTs failing to consistently employ them. Custom-made or retrofitted lead gowns were accessible to 55% of VCs but only 2.4% of VTs (p<0.001). Radiation protection glasses were worn by 52% of VCs compared with 16% of VTs (p<0.001). 84% of VCs were allocated a dosimeter versus only 44% of VTs (p<0.001). Most VCs (76%) and VTs (86%) believed that their employer should prospectively record their annual radiation exposure into a National Registry. A total of 86% of VCs and 96% of VTs agreed that employers should record their cumulative radiation exposure during their entire working life. One in four VCs and VTs experienced a health condition potentially related to their work with ionising radiation. Musculoskeletal pain was the most common, prevalent in 17% and 18% of VCs and VTs, respectively. Overall, 2% of VCs had a malignancy and 5% cataracts. Almost all VCs (94%) and VTs (96%) agreed that these illnesses should be recorded in a national registry. Conclusion: This survey highlights significant and concerning deficiencies in knowledge, access to personal radiation protection and failures in monitoring individual exposure to ionising radiation amongst the UK vascular surgical workforce.

Learning Optimal Guidance Schemes with Safety Guarantees for Underactuated Marine Vehicles

In this paper, we propose a guidance scheme for underactuated marine vehicles with collision-avoidance guarantees. The guidance scheme is based on a line-of-sight approach and ensures path-following when safety allows it, but deviates from the desired path if safety mandates it. We provide formal safety guarantees by proving forward invariance of the collision-free safe set using a barrier function. However, while barrier-function-based control schemes provide formal safety guarantees, the real-life performance is often lacking due to the challenge of manually tuning such controllers. We demonstrate that the performance of the control law can be improved by replacing a part of the control law by a neural network, while retaining the same formal safety guarantees.

Bayesian Optimization With Formal Safety Guarantees via Online Conformal Prediction

Bayesian Optimization With Formal Safety Guarantees via Online Conformal Prediction

Human Resource Management Challenges In The Tourism Industry In Iraq

As Iraq aims to develop its tourism industry to support economic growth following the conflict, a key question arises regarding the workforce needed to enable sustainable sector expansion. This paper explores the unique human resource management (HRM) challenges tourism companies face in this fledgling context through a qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews with eight HR executives from major hospitality firms revealed four major problem themes: recruiting skilled talent, excessive turnover, safety and well-being risks, and inadequate training infrastructure. The findings align with strategic HRM theory in that shortfalls in acquiring, motivating, protecting, and developing human capital obstruct the achievement of organizational growth, productivity, service quality, and continuity goals. Practical implications point to increasing public and private investments in formal tourism education, safety standards, and company-level development programs as priority actions to remedy crippling HRM constraints for the emerging Iraqi tourism sector. The paper spotlights an underexplored yet critically important HRM context, providing empirical insights to inform policies and practices that can unlock the sector's potential.

The role of surfers in beach safety management: Insights from French respondents to a global surfer survey

Coastal locations are a leading contributor to the global drowning burden. Despite being a known risk-reduction measure, a significant proportion of beachgoers continue to bathe outside of lifeguard-patrolled areas placing themselves at increased risk of beach hazards such as rip currents and breaking waves. Under such conditions, recreational surfers represent a potentially important role as bystander rescuers although little is known about surfers' relationship to safety. In this study, we analyze surfer beach safety knowledge and behaviors using a sample of 569 French surfers, drawn from a Global Surfer Survey. Using pair wised comparisons and multivariate analysis, surfer characteristics as rescuers and as victims are investigated as well as their willingness to learn new safety skills. In our survey, 55.9% of French surfers self reported having previously conducted a rescue. We show that experienced and highly skilled surfers have a higher probability of performing a rescue than other surfers, but having completed ocean lifeguard training has no statistical influence. Having previously experienced injury seems beneficial both to act as a rescuer, but also in improving a surfers own safety. As victims, surfers appear to be calmer and less often in trouble with rip currents as others, such as swimmers. Compared to non surfers, surfers were less likely to be able to walk away and more likely to require medical assistance nevertheless. In the survey, 88.4% of the respondents were willing to take part in a course aimed at lifesaving and rescue skills for surfers, whether freely provided or not. Younger surfers (under 24 years) are more willing to acquire formal safety skills than other age groups. On the contrary, having alreadly performed a rescue has no statistical influence on the willingness to attend training sessions. Despite the significant involvement of surfers in saving lives in the coastal environment, there remains a need to encourage collaboration between local surfers and other stakeholders officially in charge of beach safety management.

Risk assessment of LNG bunkering vessel operation based on formal safety assessment method

AbstractWith the increase of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fuel‐powered vessels, LNG bunkering vessels have become an important development direction of LNG bunkering technology for its advantages. However, the LNG bunkering vessel operation risk assessment is relatively few. Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) is a novel structured and systematic risk analysis method for Marine engineering, through the data analysis based on probability theory, people can foresee the risk before the accident and take measures to reduce the risk and avoid heavy loss. In this paper, the LNG bunkering vessel operation process is divided into four subprocesses: the loading process, the navigation process, the bunkering process, and the anchoring process. The FSA method is used to identify and evaluate the risks in each process, judge the negligible risk, reasonable and feasible low risk, unacceptable risk, and put forward corresponding safe measures to provide safety guarantees for the operation of LNG bunkering vessels. Through the standardized assessment steps of FSA, a risk model for the LNG bunkering vessel operation process is established, and reasonable suggestions and measures that can effectively control the risk of the LNG bunkering vessel operation process are proposed, the research results of this paper can provide important technical guidance and reference value for the safe operation of LNG bunkering vessel.

A Compositional Dissipativity Approach for Data-Driven Safety Verification of Large-Scale Dynamical Systems

This work is concerned with a <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">compositional data-driven approach</i> for formal safety verification of large-scale continuous-time dynamical systems with unknown models. The proposed framework enjoys the interconnection matrix and joint dissipativity-type properties of subsystems, described by the notion of <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">stochastic storage certificates</i> . In the first part of the paper, we cast the required conditions for constructing storage certificates as a robust optimization program (ROP). Since the proposed ROP is not tractable due to the unknown model appearing in one of its constraints, we propose a scenario optimization program (SOP) corresponding to the original ROP by collecting finite numbers of data from trajectories of each subsystem. By establishing a probabilistic relation between the optimal value of SOP and that of ROP, we construct a storage certificate for each unknown subsystem based on the number of data and a required level of confidence. We accordingly propose a compositional technique based on <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dissipativity reasoning</i> to construct <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">stochastic barrier certificates</i> of interconnected systems based on storage certificates of individual subsystems. By leveraging the acquired barrier certificate, we quantify a lower bound on the probability that an interconnected system never reaches a certain unsafe region in finite time horizons with an a-priori guaranteed confidence. We also propose an auxiliary compositional approach without requiring any compositionality condition but at the cost of providing a potentially conservative safety guarantee. In the second part of the paper, we propose our approaches for <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">deterministic</i> continuous-time systems with unknown dynamics. We verify our results over an unknown room temperature network containing 100 rooms.

Implementation of Statistics in Container Ship Safety Inspection

The IMO developed the Formal Safety Assessment (FSA), which is a systematic and formalized risk assessment methodology that supports decision-making within the IMO. The main objective of the FSA is to provide detailed information on a ship’s current level of safety and highlight the need for any necessary changes. In the European Union, a comprehensive FSA was conducted primarily for container ships under a project named SAFEDOR [2], which took place from 2005 to 2009. The project’s results were submitted to IMO through MSC83/INF.8, utilizing data on container ship fleets and casualties from 1993 to 2004 for the investigation. During the COVID period, there has been a significant increase in demand for container ships. In 2020, the global container fleet capacity expanded by almost 3%, reaching 281,784,000 deadweight tons (dwt), while container trade experienced a contraction of 1.1%, totaling 149 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) according to UNCTAD [13]. This study aims to enhance and evaluate the safety performance of all container ships by primarily focusing on integrating the IMO-introduced FSA into vessel inspections. This integration will enable the measurement of all container ships globally using the same scale.

Enhancing Sustainability through Analysis and Prevention: A Study of Fatal Accidents on Trap Boats within the Commercial Fishing Industry

The global commercial fishing industry, which employs approximately 159,800 seafarers worldwide (as reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), faces a significant challenge in terms of safety. According to estimates by the International Labour Organization, approximately 24,000 seafarers lose their lives each year in fishing-related accidents. However, most existing guidelines for preventing maritime accidents primarily target vessels involved in international navigation, often inadequately addressing the unique risks faced by small-scale boats operating in coastal areas. This study focuses on trap fishery, a widely practiced fishing method globally, analyzing quantitative data from 1790 maritime accidents and conducting a survey involving 101 seafarers in South Korea. Utilizing Bayesian network analysis, aligned with Formal Safety Assessment protocols, the authors developed preventive guidelines aiming to reduce the rate of fatal accidents. The guidelines, derived from the data analysis, are anticipated to provide invaluable assistance to seafarers engaged in trap fishery not only in South Korea but also across various countries worldwide. By enhancing safety measures in this critical sector, this research will contribute to the overarching goal of sustainability within the global commercial fishing industry.

Dose Escalation in Esophageal Cancer: Comparing Pre-Accrual and On-Trial Target Volume Delineation in the UK SCOPE2 Trial

The ongoing UK SCOPE2 trial evaluates radiotherapy (RT) dose escalation and PET-guided systemic therapy in esophageal cancer, and has an accompanying RT trials quality assurance (RTTQA) program, evolved through the preceding SCOPE trials. We compare pre-accrual with on-trial individual case review (ICR) target volume delineation (TVD). Prior to recruitment, centers were required to undertake TVD exercises using 3D/4D DICOM datasets with relevant clinical details and a RT planning guidance document (RPGD) provided. Contours were then compared against the RTTQA team-defined gold standard. Exceptions were those who had satisfied QA requirements for a previous esophageal RT trial (NeoSCOPE). For ICRs, prospective reviews (prior RT start, PRs) were undertaken for each center's first submission, plus high-dose cases submitted pending formal safety review. Additional PRs were undertaken at the RTTQA team's discretion. Timely retrospective reviews (within 2 weeks of RT start, TRR) were also undertaken for a random 10% sample. TVDs were assessed for compliance using predefined criteria and the RPGD. Resubmission was requested at reviewer's discretion, usually due to unacceptable variation (UV) from protocol. Clarification was sought before contour approval/resubmission request if appropriate. Review outcomes were then evaluated. PTV6000 was new to SCOPE2, along with a greater emphasis on use of 4DCT than in prior SCOPE trials. A total of 85 pre-accrual cases from 33 UK centers were reviewed, of which 20 (24%) were resubmissions, and 50 (59%) were accepted. 99 TVD UVs were observed in 49 cases, most commonly in CTVB (42/99, 42%), which included editing for normal structures and elective lymph node regions, followed by ITV (4D cases only, 14/52, 27%) and PTV6000 (13/99, 13%). 121 ICRs from 31 UK centers were available for review. 87 (72%) were PRs and 34 (28%) TRRs. 43 (36%) completed the relevant SCOPE2 exercise. 19 (16%) were resubmissions, and 82 (68%) were accepted. 72 UVs were observed in 45 ICRs; again, most commonly in CTVB (34/72, 48%), PTV6000 (high dose arm only, 11/46, 24%) and ITV (4D only, 5/26, 19%). Of the 45 cases where a UV was recorded, 16 (36%) had completed the relevant SCOPE2 pre-accrual. Comparing area of UV on SCOPE2 pre-accrual cases and ICRs, 3 (19%) contours contained the same (2 = CTVB, 1 = PTV6000), 5 (31%) contained different and 8 (50%) had no UVs at pre-accrual. The rate of UV was significantly lower for ICR than for pre-accrual submissions (0.60 and 1.16 respectively, p = 0.001). Significantly fewer UVs in ICR compared with pre-accrual supports a robust, educational RTTQA program through national collaboration and evolving trial series. CTVB, along with newer volumes of ITV and PTV6000, were recurring UV domains and should inform RPGD development and RTTQA for ongoing recruitment and future trials.

Nuclear decommissioning: project management and leadership

Abstract. Management and leadership for safety relate to managerial competencies necessary to develop, promote and sustain a safety culture and to set goals, lead others and manage knowledge and projects to enhance safety performance. The development of these competencies is needed to enrich and complement the predominant technical background and skills of engineers and/or managers involved in the nuclear sector and particularly in decommissioning and dismantling (D&amp;amp;D) projects. The recent recognition of the importance of managing for safety led the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to develop formal safety requirements that are now implemented by its member states. This includes the need to develop training and education for beginning- and mid-career managers with nuclear safety responsibilities and, considering the time frame of D&amp;amp;D projects, for future generations of managers. Training and education challenges are acute in all Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC) and European countries, where managers need to develop knowledge and comprehensive safety-related competencies to run the D&amp;amp;D projects of nuclear facilities in a context where the generational change of managers in the nuclear field is happening fast. In 2016/2017 the IAEA and the European Commission (EC) developed a cooperative framework to jointly address a similar challenge related to operation and regulatory oversight of nuclear installations. The development of these projects was possible by funding from the European Union (EU) through its INSC instrument. The first project, led by the IAEA in 2017, was the development of a pilot school for safety leadership at the University Côte d'Azur (UCA), France. Encouraged by this success, the agency has since then developed the syllabus into a 2-week programme, still based on experiential learning, which is offered to IAEA member states who wish to organise sessions for their managers (regulatory bodies or industry). The second project, named ELSE, was operated by UCA and aimed to develop training to help managers acquire leadership for safety capabilities, which are key professional requirements in complex, high-risk and highly regulated sectors such as the nuclear sector. The originality of the ELSE project stemmed from its science-based approach, integrating the most recent findings of management and other social sciences. The dedicated ELSE training programme is composed of a massive online open course (MOOC), a 10 d of face-to-face training and an individually tutored project. Based on the success of these experiences, the EU decided to prolong these actions in the field of nuclear D&amp;amp;D, leading to the start-up, in 2023, of the Decommissioning Management and Leadership for Safety Education (DMaLSE) project. This project has also been entrusted to UCA, in partnership with SKEMA Business School, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Jacques Repussard Conseil. DMaLSE has two main objectives, namely to develop a science-based training programme for future D&amp;amp;D project managers and to extend the impact of the project through bachelor-degree-level on-site training for operators involved in D&amp;amp;D projects.

Towards system-theoretic risk management for maritime transportation systems: A case study of the yangtze river estuary

This paper presents a novel framework for system-theoretic risk management of maritime transportation systems (MTS) based on the principles of formal safety assessment. The proposed framework comprises four essential steps: (1) risk identification: identifying accident scenarios and associated risk-influencing factors in the MTS through text mining of maritime accident investigation reports; (2) risk analysis: determining the probabilities and consequences of accident scenarios in the MTS using Bayesian network modeling; (3) risk evaluation: assessing the risks of various accident scenarios and the comprehensive risk of the MTS, and comparing the results with risk acceptance criteria to make informed decisions; and (4) risk treatment: proposing effective risk control options (RCOs) for accident scenarios and the comprehensive risk of the MTS by incorporating expert judgment, fuzzy sets, and Bayesian network modeling. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework, the risk management of the Yangtze River Estuary is presented as a case study. By adopting a comprehensive approach to risk management, stakeholders gain a more holistic view of risk and achieve more effective decision-making processes for RCOs. The framework may help improve the safety and security of maritime operations, enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of the industry.

Incidence of the exposure to blood and blood products and its relationship with the medical education accreditation among last grade medical students in Turkey

Abstract:&#x0D; Backgrounds: The primary aim of this study was to investigate the blood contact and needle-stick injury rates of final-year (year-6) medical students receiving their education and training at medical schools in different regions of Turkey and to analyse the relationships between blood contact and needle-stick injury and the personal variables of students and accreditation certifications of medical schools.&#x0D; Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, self-reporting questionnaires were completed anonymously by consenting final-year medical students. The study population (N = 7900) included all final-year medical students attending the 76 medical schools of Turkey. Of the 76 medical schools, 13 were selected by stratified random sampling, according to their accreditation certification and geographical location, which resulted in 2786 final-year medical students being contacted for participation. The dependent variable was percutaneous contact and the timing of the contact. The independent variables were the personal characteristics, occupational health and safety knowledge, invasive medical procedure skills, and blood-borne disease knowledge of final-year medical students, as well as, the accreditation certification of medical schools. Comparisons between groups were analysed using Cox proportional hazards regression.&#x0D; Results: 83.8% (n = 2334) of 2786 final-year medical students contacted, consented to participate. Blood contact rates of 75.2% for intact skin contact, 20.0% for mucosal contact, and 35.4% for percutaneous contact were reported; with27.0% of medical students reporting contaminated blood contact. The average percutaneous time-to-contact was 8.95 ± 0.09 months, with the percutaneous contact rate approaching 50% in the 12th month of the hazard analysis. Percutaneous contact was significantly higher in students who received no formal occupational health and safety training (OR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.11-1.50) and who attended non-accredited medical schools (OR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.26-1.66). Percutaneous contact increased significantly in medical students with increasing invasive medical procedure applying scores (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.04-1.09).&#x0D; Conclusion: The final year of medical education and training is a high-risk period for percutaneous contact, with the evidence suggesting that the high risks could be mediated by implementing appropriate occupational health and safety education and training. The accreditation certification of medical schools is a significant independent variable in exposure risk. The low blood-contact reporting rate among medical students is a serious concern that requires the implementation of appropriate interventional measures.&#x0D; Key words:blood contact,needle-stick injury, medical students, accreditation, occupational health and safety

Analysis of Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) for Ship Accident Risk Assessment: A Case Study of Work Accident MV Mandarin Ocean at Tanjung Priok Main Port

Tanjung Priok Port is one of the busiest loading and unloading ports in Indonesia which serves both export and import activities, causing a risk of accidents that can occur. In order to anticipate these problems, an effort is required to identify and reduce the risk of accidents. This study aims to analyze the MV ship accident case of MV. Mandarin Ocean at the Main Port of Tanjung Priok. Through the implementation of the Formal Safety Assessment (FSA), it is expected that an accurate and scientific analysis will be obtained regarding the hazards that will occur, costs in risk control, and recommendations for overcoming them in the loading and unloading process at Tanjung Priok Port. This study used the Fault Tree Analysis method to find the root causes of accidents to reduce/eliminate the risk of accidents. Based on the research results, it is known that the Implementation of Safety Management System PT. Prima Bandar Samudera is not optimal. Likewise with the Monitoring Supervision of the Implementation of Safety Management carried out by PT. Tanjung Priok Port is also not optimal. Therefore, based on the priority scale on the FSA results, immediate implementation is necessary as a corrective measure to reduce and even prevent various accident cases that occur at the Tanjung Priok Port. This is to achieve the main goal of ship safety management, which is to realize "Zero Accident".

Does Safety Matter? Formal Safety Institutions and Women Microenterprise Failure in India

Does Safety Matter? Formal Safety Institutions and Women Microenterprise Failure in India

“It's how people act out there that counts”: Examining linkages between emerging and protective organisationally desirable managerial masculinities and a reimagining of formal safety policies in the offshore oilfield

The male-dominated occupations comprising North Sea offshore oilfield work have long been stereotyped as attracting rough, ‘hard’ and pro-risk identities. However, stereotyping of male identities in high-risk workspaces are challenged by recent literatures citing complex, hybrid and emerging notions of safety-positive masculinities. Industrial policies are often highlighted as the catalyst for rapidly reshaping men's masculinities towards identities interlinked with performances of safety. Despite claims, few studies conduct structured policy analysis of safety-risk policies and pair this with interviews with policy makers. This study contributes to a body of existing literatures examining how formal oilfield safety policy influences construction of oilmen's institutional masculinities. Structured Document Analysis (DA) of three core safety policies was conducted at a major Scottish oilfield drilling organisation. Semi-structured interviews with seven policy-maker-supervisors were also conducted onshore; exploring contents, construction, and formal-informal goals of policy. DA uncovered two distinct blueprints influencing workplace identity; a dominant blueprint promoting ‘traditional’ oilfield masculinities, and a secondary blueprint promoting emerging oilfield masculinities. Policy makers revealed complex, informal processes of managerial reimagining, reframing, and selective policy interpretations, leading to prioritisation and promotion of motifs from only the secondary policy blueprint in the worksite; upholding emerging protective and pro-safety workplace masculinities. This downplayed, minimised, and overrode the ‘traditional’ -more prevalent- dominant policy motifs. The importance of findings are discussed, as is a pathway for future organisational masculinities, policy and energy-safety research to take advantage of the methodological approach and learnings developed from this scholarship.

Application of AllerCatPro 2.0 for protein safety assessments of consumer products.

Foreign proteins are potentially immunogenic, and a proportion of these are able to induce immune responses that result in allergic sensitization. Subsequent exposure of sensitized subjects to the inducing protein can provoke a variety of allergic reactions that may be severe, or even fatal. It has therefore been recognized for some time that it is important to determine a priori whether a given protein has the potential to induce allergic responses in exposed subjects. For example, the need to assess whether transgene products expressed in genetically engineered crop plants have allergenic properties. This is not necessarily a straightforward exercise (as discussed elsewhere in this edition), but the task becomes even more challenging when there is a need to conduct an overall allergenicity safety assessment of complex mixtures of proteins in botanicals or other natural sources that are to be used in consumer products. This paper describes a new paradigm for the allergenicity safety assessment of proteins that is based on the use of AllerCatPro 2.0, a new version of a previously described web application model developed for the characterization of the allergenic potential of proteins. Operational aspects of AllerCatPro 2.0 are described with emphasis on the application of new features that provide improvements in the predictions of allergenic properties such as the identification of proteins with high allergenic concern. Furthermore, the paper provides a description of strategies of how AllerCatPro 2.0 can best be deployed as a screening tool for identifying suitable proteins as ingredients in consumer products as well as a tool, in conjunction with label-free proteomic analysis, for identifying and semiquantifying protein allergens in complex materials. Lastly, the paper discusses the steps that are recommended for formal allergenicity safety assessment of novel consumer products which contain proteins, including consideration and integration of predicted consumer exposure metrics. The article therefore provides a holistic perspective of the processes through which effective protein safety assessments can be made of potential allergenic hazards and risks associated with exposure to proteins in consumer products, with a particular focus on the use of AllerCatPro 2.0 for this purpose.

Safety-critical traffic control by connected automated vehicles

Connected automated vehicles (CAVs) have shown great potential in improving traffic throughput and stability. Although various longitudinal control strategies have been developed for CAVs to achieve string stability in mixed-autonomy traffic systems, the potential impact of these controllers on safety has not yet been fully addressed. This paper proposes safety-critical traffic control (STC) by CAVs—a strategy that allows a CAV to maintain safety relative to both the preceding vehicle and the following human-driven vehicles (HVs). Specifically, we utilize control barrier functions (CBFs) to impart collision-free behavior with formal safety guarantees to the closed-loop system. The safety of both the CAV and HVs is incorporated into the framework through a quadratic program-based controller that minimizes deviation from a nominal stabilizing traffic controller subject to CBF-based safety constraints. Considering that some state information of the following HVs may be unavailable to the CAV, we employ state observer-based CBFs for STC. Finally, we conduct extensive numerical simulations – that include vehicle trajectories from real data – to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach in achieving provably safe traffic.