Industry Guidelines Research Articles

Human error analysis of the Montara well blowout

AbstractThe 2009 blowout from the Montara wellhead resulted the total loss of the West Atlas drilling rig and caused massive ecological damage in the Timor Sea of Australia. The incident preceded the 2010 Macondo Deepwater Horizon blowout and shared many parallels. An analysis is performed to assess the Montara incident and finds it stemmed from a series of human errors including, but not limited to, miscalculations, procedural errors, hasty decision making, and failure to follow the American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practices 75 on drilling mud circulation. Twelve specific errors were identified and classified into eight categories. The results show that 10 of the 12 errors were latent errors preceded by the 2004 relaxation of the Australian Government's off‐shore drilling industry regulations. Following industry guidelines, best practice procedures, and safe work practices are crucial to avoiding a well disaster and these were not a key aspect of the Montara wellhead operations; ultimately, safety was not a top priority.

Mitigation of ancient coal mining hazards to overhead line equipment structures

Subsidence and collapse of structures supporting overhead line equipment (OLE) due to legacy coal mining can be catastrophic during both the construction and operational phases, causing damage to construction plant, injuries and fatalities to the construction and maintenance workforce, failure of the track and disruption to the operational railway. When applied to linear railway schemes spanning considerable distances, industry guidelines for appraising and mitigating these mining hazards are overly conservative with a disproportionate cost. On phase 4 of the North West Electrification Project between Manchester Victoria and Euxton Junction, an innovative risk-based method was devised and implemented to identify and mitigate mining hazards to OLE structures. Formulation of these value-engineering solutions prevented programme drift and led to significant cost savings. Details of this methodology, including a detailed desk study, computational geomechanics, a well-targeted ground investigation, void remediation and real-time foundation monitoring, are discussed in this paper.

Hydrocarbon contaminants in pizza boxes from the Italian market

Abstract According to the Italian legislation, pizza boxes should be exclusively made of virgin fibers. Nevertheless, this requirement is often disregarded, exposing consumers to possible migration of different contaminants. This work investigated on the presence of hydrocarbon contaminants in pizza boxes collected in Italy, and their migration potential. Different sources of contamination were identified, the most important being illegal use of recycled fibers in 32 % of the total samples (12/38). The most contaminated cardboard reached 650 mg/kg of MOSH and 70 mg/kg of MOAH C10-C35. Two of the virgin paperboards with the highest MOSH contamination (44 and 68 mg/kg) had the typical profile of a food grade product, probably used during manufacturing. A third contamination source (15 % of the samples) was related to the use of printing ink containing alkylbenzenes. All the cardboard boxes contained PAHs below the limit proposed by the CEPI Industry Guideline (0.0016 mg/dm2) published in 2012. Cardboard made of recycled fiber showed higher levels of chrysene. Assessment of potential migration and preliminary migration tests using Tenax® indicated that PAH migration was of low concern, while MOH migration could reach levels higher than 2 mg/kg of MOSH, and 0.5 mg/kg of MOAH, even when a small amount of the contamination (5%) present in the cardboard migrated into the pizza. Based on data obtained with migration test using Tenax®, and taking as reference the consumption of one pizza per week, it was calculated that MOSH migration from cardboard boxes could contribute for about 10 % to the total dietary intake.

Risk communication for labeling all ingredients in consumer products

ABSTRACT The labeling of all ingredients contained in consumer products has been requested by consumers concerned regarding their safety. Consequently, regulatory agencies have set guidelines for industries on how to provide safety information regarding the ingredients in their products. However, discordant opinions were raised from stakeholders, resulting in the formation of a risk communication forum among industries, regulatory agencies, consumer groups, and academia. There are several methods that might be utilized to provide ingredient information to consumers: (1) listing all ingredients on the label of products, (2) providing major ingredients on the label of products, (3) presenting all ingredients on the websites of each manufacturer, and (4) listing major ingredients on the label of products and the remainder of ingredients (not on the label) on the websites. Each method might have its own advantages and disadvantages with respect to providing the information regarding the names of the ingredients used in consumer products to the consumers. A continuous risk communication forum might be an effective tool to facilitate an improved understanding of chemical information, toxicological science, regulatory guidelines, labeling methods, and consumers’ concern. This study suggests that risk communication efforts may be helpful and a good opportunity for stakeholders to exchange opinions and reach a harmonious conclusion on labeling of consumer products ingredients.

Effect of soil type and temperature on survival of Salmonella enterica in poultry manure-amended soils.

The effects of soil type and temperature on the survival of a cocktail of five Salmonella enterica serotypes (Enteritidis, Infantis, Montevideo, Typhimurium and Zanzibar) in manure-amended soils under controlled laboratory conditions was assessed. Containers of clay loam or sandy soil, unaltered or amended with 2% (w/w) poultry manure, were inoculated with S. enterica (~5 log10 CFU per gram) and held at 5, 21 or 37°C for 6weeks. Statistical analysis of the persistence of S. enterica identified a significant three-way interaction between soil type, manure amendment and temperature. Clay loam soils and lower temperatures tended to support S. enterica persistence over 6weeks with only 1- and 2-log reductions respectively. In contrast, sand and higher temperatures resulted in a 4-log and either 3- to 4-log reductions respectively. Manure amendment had an overarching effect of reducing die-off of S. enterica in comparison with unamended soils. This study highlights that a large component of variation of the rate of S. enterica reduction in soils may be attributed to combinations of environmental factors, in particular, soil type and temperature. It further underscores the importance of risk management strategies and industry guidelines based on local data and that reflect the diversity of prevailing horticultural production environments. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The persistence of Salmonella enterica in soil environments was shown to be significantly influenced by a range of individual and interacting environmental effects, including temperature, soil type and amendment addition. This indicates that current horticultural food safety management systems which employ a uniform prescribed exclusion period between application of manure and time of harvest may be unfit for purpose under certain conditions by either underestimating or overestimating pathogen die-off. These findings support exclusion periods that account for a range of environmental factors including temperature, soil type and growing region that may be more appropriate to manage microbiological risks associated with soil which has been amended with manure.

849-P: Accuracy and Precision of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) in Hospitalized Patients Undergoing Radiology Procedures

Background: There is increasing interest in using CGM for the inpatient management of diabetes in non-ICU settings. Current industry guidelines recommend removing devices when undergoing certain radiology procedures due to concerns about potential interference with CGM system functioning. However, there is no published data on the impact of CGM precision and accuracy after radiation and contrast exposure to support this recommendation. Methods: We collected data on 49 adult medicine and surgery patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes who were monitored with Dexcom CGM systems before and after radiology procedures (x-rays, CT scan, catheterization/angiography). The primary outcome was glycemic variability by percent coefficient of variation (%CV) as reported by CGM 2-hours pre and post imaging. Secondary outcome was the mean absolute relative difference (MARD) between matched glucose pairs from capillary point-of-care and CGM pre and post imaging procedure. Results: There were no significant differences in mean blood glucose (BG) or %CV seen on CGM readings for all imaging procedures combined (delta mean BG -7.7 ±26.0, p=0.051; %CV 18.0% pre vs. 19.1% post, p=0.65) or when stratified by x-ray (delta mean BG -8.8 ±29.9, p=0.15; %CV 20.1% pre vs. 21.5% post, p=0.60) vs. CT scan/catheterization/angiography (delta mean BG -6.3 ±20.6, p=0.19; %CV 15.2% pre vs. 15.9% post, p=0.97). The overall MARD was 13.3% pre-imaging and 12.7% post-imaging. The overall percentage of glucose values within ±15%/15mg/dl, ±20%/20mg/dl, and ±30%/30mg/dl of the POC reference value was 69%, 80%, and 94%, respectively pre-imaging, and 69%, 82% and 93% post-imaging (p=NS). Clarke Error Grid analysis showed 98.1% of glucoses falling into Zones A and B pre-imaging and 99.7% post-imaging. Conclusions: Preliminary data suggests that ongoing CGM usage during multiple radiology procedures is safe and reliable without interference or disruption in CGM data transmission. Disclosure A. Migdal: None. E. Spanakis: Research Support; Self; Dexcom, Inc. R.J. Galindo: Advisory Panel; Self; Lilly Diabetes. Consultant; Self; Valeritas, Inc. Research Support; Self; Novo Nordisk Inc. Other Relationship; Self; UpToDate. G. Davis: None. L.G. Singh: None. M. Satyarengga: None. M. Fayfman: None. F.J. Pasquel: Advisory Panel; Self; AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company. Consultant; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. Research Support; Self; Dexcom, Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., National Institutes of Health. B.S. Albury: None. M.A. Urrutia: None. K.W. Zamudio: None. S. Gibanica: None. S. Cardona: None. L. Peng: None. G.E. Umpierrez: None. Funding Dexcom, Inc.

Who Reports Low Interactive Psychology Status? An Investigation Based on Chinese Coal Miners.

In mine safety and health research, psychological issues have always been neglected. This paper aims to identify the psychological perceptions of workers with respect to the mine environment and interpersonal environment across the whole production system. A survey was designed that measured the miners’ demographic details and perceptions of two affect-based interactions; three resource-based interactions for the manager, supervisor, co-worker; and three actual environment interactions. A total of 642 frontline coal miners from six mines located in six provinces in China completed the survey. The main results indicated that that miners reported low psychology status, especially those over 51 years old, with a monthly income of 2000–4000 and junior school education. Second, there was a high proportion of inferior value in environmental interactions. Meanwhile, the miners’ interactions with their co-workers were perceived as the most positive and those with their managers as the least in interpersonal interactions. Third, there were significant differences in sub-dimension interactions (actual environment, resource-based, affect-based interactions) that certainly existed in these interactive roles. Additionally, the dissociated type of miners with manager and supervisor (low resource and affect-based interaction) reached 23.99~24.45%. This study revealed the inner psychological risk factors for safety and health work in coal mines and provides an essential guideline for mining industries.

Separation of RRR-α-Tocopherol by Chiral Chromatography.

α-Tocopherol can exist as eight possible stereoisomers due to the presence of three chiral carbons. Regulations and industry guidelines necessitate that dietary vitamin E intakes be based on the vitamin E activity of RRR-α-tocopherol. Food products fortified with synthetic all-rac-α-tocopherol or all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate during manufacturing will require chiral separation of the α-tocopherol stereoisomers for accurate estimation of vitamin E activity. The development of an HPLC method utilizing a chiral column for the chromatographic separation of RRR-α-tocopherol from other α-tocopherol stereoisomers. Normal phase liquid chromatographic separation using a polysaccharide-based chiral column with fluorescence detection of α-tocopherol stereoisomers. The described chromatographic method achieves baseline resolution of RRR-α-tocopherol from its stereoisomers. Method selectivity, precision, and robustness were evaluated and acceptable performance was achieved. The chromatographic method was found to be suitable for application where both RRR-α-tocopherol content and total α-tocopherol content are required for routine compliance testing. A robust and precise chomatographic method for the baseline resolution of RRR-α-tocopherol from its stereoisomers was acheived.

Developing an Animal Welfare Assessment Protocol for Livestock Transported by Sea.

Simple SummaryAustralia exports large numbers of live cattle and sheep by sea to many destinations. Increasingly high animal welfare standards are being required of all livestock industries, and reports of substantial mortality events on some voyages have raised public concerns regarding animal welfare. Mortality rates alone do not assure stakeholders that livestock experience adequate welfare throughout the voyage. Determining the animal welfare status of large animal consignments is complex and requires many measures that are focused on the environment and resources provided, and also on how the animals respond to their surroundings. A list of measures, appropriate for use on cattle and sheep that enter the livestock export supply chain, was determined by reviewing three international welfare assessment protocols, and consulting the Australian livestock export standards and an animal health handbook used by shipboard veterinarians and stockpersons. After preliminary testing of the measures on a sheep and cattle voyage, we propose a protocol that is potentially practical and applicable for pen assessments for both species at pre-export and destination feedlot facilities and during sea transport. Proposing a protocol is the first step towards developing a system that evaluates livestock welfare throughout the export supply chain, and will contribute to improved industry transparency.Australian livestock industries face increased scrutiny from animal welfare groups and society, and the long-distance transport of livestock by sea has recently gained particular attention. Other than non-compliance with broad regulatory standards and voyage mortality rates, there is minimal information to ascertain the welfare of exported livestock. There is currently no standardised, validated animal welfare assessment protocol for livestock on-farm prior to live export or when undergoing transport. This study describes a novel assessment protocol suitable for use on live feeder and slaughter animals exported by sea from Australia. Health and welfare indicators for use in the livestock export supply chain were identified by reviewing three internationally recognised animal welfare assessment protocols for livestock; Welfare Quality®, AWIN and AssureWel, as well as consulting with industry compliance standards and guidelines. This paper proposes a welfare protocol designed to assess sheep and beef cattle exported by sea from Australia, and incorporates environmental-, resource-, management- and animal-based measures. In collaboration with industry, this welfare protocol can be tested on commercial livestock consignments, and be used for ongoing management, for increased transparency and to provide feedback to operators for continuous improvement.

BIM data model requirements for asset monitoring and the circular economy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review and provide recommendations to extend the current open standard data models for describing monitoring systems and circular economy precepts for built assets. Open standard data models enable robust and efficient data exchange which underpins the successful implementation of a circular economy. One of the largest opportunities to reduce the total life cycle cost of a built asset is to use the building information modelling (BIM) approach during the operational phase because it represents the largest share of the entire cost. BIM models that represent the actual conditions and performance of the constructed assets can boost the benefits of the installed monitoring systems and reduce maintenance and operational costs. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a horizontal investigation of current BIM data models and their use for describing circular economy principles and performance monitoring of built assets. Based on the investigation, an extension to the industry foundation classes (IFC) specification, recommendations and guidelines are presented which enable to describe circular economy principles and asset monitoring using IFC. Findings Current open BIM data models are not sufficiently mature yet. This limits the interoperability of the BIM approach and the implementation of circular economy principles. An overarching approach to extend the current standards is necessary, which considers aspects related to not only modelling the monitoring system but also data management and analysis. Originality/value To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study that identifies requirements for data model standards in the context current linear economic model of making, using and disposing is growing unsustainably far beyond the finite limits of planet of a circular economy. The results of this study set the basis for the extension of current standards required to apply the circular economy precepts.

Evaluation of Night Lighting Environment in Two Osaka Prefectural Parks

Night lighting is designed based on Japanese Industrial Standards and National Police Agency guidelines, but it has not been verified that it is actually in accordance with the standards. In this study, the night lighting environment in the park was verified from the viewpoint of user safety. The illuminance was measured every 10m mesh in Suminoe Park and Sumiyoshi Park, which are thought to have many users at night. The measurement was performed separately for the leafing period and the defoliation period. At Suminoe Park in the leafing period, 75.6% of the main places with garden roads were below 5 lx and below the JIS standard. In addition, 53.1% of other places were below 1 lx and below the JIS standard. 72.9% at the main locations in Sumiyoshi Park and 34.3% at other locations were below the JIS standard. These illuminance deficiencies are considered to be able to be improved to some extent by plant management techniques.

Dynamic aspects of salt reduction in tomato sauce by use of flavor enhancers and a bitter blocker

Several government agencies have established guidelines for the food industry to reduce sugar, fat, and salt in processed foods. The objective of this study was to determine the dynamic sensory profile of tomato sauce formulated with flavor enhancers, a bitter blocker and 50% sodium content reduction. The perception of consumers and a trained panel was explored. Consumers performed temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) and temporal acceptance (TA) while the trained panel performed time-intensity analysis (TI). TA indicated that flavor enhancers improve initial acceptance of a sample but that its masking effect weakens 30 s after ingestion. TI showed that despite promoting salty equivalence, substitute salts were not able to completely suppress the bitter taste characteristic of potassium chloride and the addition of lysine as a bitter blocker was the least effective strategy. In TDS the bitter taste was not dominant in any of the samples. However, the presence of unusual flavors/tastes to the consumers like metallic and umami seems to have interfered negatively in the evaluation of the flavors. Flavor enhancers have been widely used to reformulate processed foods in order to reduce sodium content, preserving sensory acceptance. This study provides information on the dynamic behavior of different salt substitutes.

Tablet scoring study of enalapril maleate tablets USP 20 mg

Tablet scoring study of enalapril maleate tablets USP 20 mg - JPBS- Print ISSN No: - Online ISSN No:- 2320-1924 Article DOI No:- 10.18231/j.jpbs.2019.009, Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences-J Pharm Biol Sci

Changing trends in the levels of blood pressure and prevalence of hypertension among Chinese children and adolescents from 1991 to 2015

Objective: To examine the trends in blood pressure levels and prevalence of hypertension among Chinese children and adolescents aged 7-17 years from 1991 to 2015, using the four blood pressure references for children and adolescents, in order to provide basic data for the prevention and control of hypertension. Methods: A total of 14 622 children and adolescents aged 7-17 years were selected from the China Health and Nutrition Survey 1991-2015. Hypertension was defined under the four latest published references including the 2018 Health Industry pediatric blood pressure reference (Industry Reference), the 2018 Chinese Hypertension Prevention and Treatment Guideline reference (Guideline Reference), the 2016 International Child Blood Pressure Reference (International Reference), and the 2017 Blood Pressure Reference by the American Academy of Pediatrics (US Reference). Multivariable liner regression model was used to examine the trends in blood pressure levels from 1991 to 2015, and multivariable logistic regression model was used to examine the trend in prevalence of hypertension from 1991 to 2015. Results: After adjusted for factors as age, sex, region, and BMI, the SBP appeared an increase, from 96.1 mmHg in 1991 to 102.7 mmHg and DBP from 62.6 mmHg to 67.4 mmHg (all P for trend <0.001) in 2015. The prevalence rates of hypertension defined by Industry Reference, Guideline Reference, International Reference and US Reference increased from 5.7%, 8.9%, 4.4% and 8.1% in 1991, to 12.8%, 20.5%, 13.1% and 17.8% (all P for trend <0.001) in 2015, respectively. Conclusion: Both levels of blood pressure and the prevalence of hypertension increased significantly in Chinese children and adolescents from 1991 to 2015.

Current Trends in Changes of the Cost Structure of Industrial Enterprises in Russia

The article presents the results of the study of the impact of cost structure on the profitability of goods sold in the processing industries of Russia for the period from 2005 till 2017. This allowed the authors to conclude that the material and other costs of enterprises had a major influence on the dynamics of profitability. The total share of these costs during the study period was 84-85%. In addition, regression analysis showed the effects of changes in the share of material costs on the change in the share of other costs. The value of the coefficient of determination was 0.860487, which indicates a high dependence between the indicators under consideration. At the same time, the authors could not find such a close relationship between material costs and other cost elements.In practice, the composition of the material costs of enterprises is quite clearly defined by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which simplifies their control. A wide list of costs included in other costs enables enterprises to manipulate these costs, because not always the priority objective of the organization is to improve the financial performance.According to the authors, the development of industry guidelines for cost accounting and calculating the cost of production, the need for which is due to the influence of industry and technological features on the cost structure, the method of their planning and accounting will contribute to improving the financial performance of industrial enterprises.

The Preliminary Development of an in vitro Poultry Cecal Culture Model to Evaluate the Effects of Original XPCTM for the Reduction of Campylobacter jejuni and Its Potential Effects on the Microbiota

Poultry is a major reservoir for the pathogen Campylobacter jejuni. C. jejuni inhabits the poultry gastrointestinal tract as a part of the gut microbiota. The objective of this study was to evaluate both the survival of C. jejuni and the changes in the population dynamics of the cecal microbiome during an in vitro C. jejuni inoculation in the presence or absence of the functional metabolites of Diamond V Original XPCTM (XPC). Two independent trials were conducted. Broiler chickens (n = 6 per Trial 1 and n = 3 per Trial 2) were raised according to standard industry guidelines and euthanized on Day 41. The ceca were collected aseptically, their contents removed independently and then used in an in vitro microaerobic model with 0.1% cecal contents + Campylobacter with or without 1% XPC (w/v). Before the inoculation with a chloramphenicol resistant marker strain of C. jejuni, the cecal contents were pre-incubated with XPC at 42°C for 24 h, in a shaking incubator (200 rpm) under microaerobic conditions, then experimentally inoculated with 108/ml of C. jejuni into the appropriate treatment groups. At 0 and 24 h for Trial 1, and 48 h for Trial 2, sub-samples of the culture (n = 3 ceca, two technical replicates per ceca, XPC alone or ceca culture alone) were enumerated using a Petroff–Hausser counter, and the DNA was extracted for microbiome analysis. DNA was isolated using the Qiagen QIAamp Fast Stool DNA Mini Kit and sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq platform. The reads were filtered, normalized, and assigned taxonomical identities using the QIIME2 pipeline. The relative microbiota populations were identified via ANCOM. Altogether, evidence suggests that XPC alters the microbiome, and in turn reduces Campylobacter survival.

Review of Legal Frameworks, Standards and Best Practices in Verification and Assurance for Infrastructure Inspection Robotics

The purpose of this deliverable is to provide a single point of reference on the safety, regulatory and liability issues for operating robots in the European Union. The deliverable describes a state of the art and the well-known normative frameworks for assuring safety on the one hand and examines the regulatory and legal liability issues related to operating robots on the other. We organised the report based on the required structure of the deliverable with taking into consideration the different robots technologies, as recognised at the European Union and international level. This deliverable is closely related to other deliverables which describe the current state of the arts and normative framework from a different point of view. This review report is intended as a guiding document to be used by all project partners. There is currently no single framework to regulate robotics technology in Europe. Different types of robots, depending on where they operate—which Member State and in the air, on land, or in the waters—may be subject to various existing laws or regulations on the international, European Union, Member State levels. The regulations include legal standards and industry guidelines on the robot technologies themselves and on the developers, manufacturers, suppliers, and operators that must be met before these new technologies can be legally and safely deployed. Specific types of robots are subject to different regulatory regimes, and depending on the type of the robot, the applicable regulations may be harmonised across Europe or differ in each Member State. Current liability regimes on the EU and Member State levels govern the situations in which the humans associated with the robots are civilly liable for the damage they cause to property or injuries to persons. The appropriate legal regime could be fault-based, strict liability, or product liability depending on the particular circumstances. While existing laws are sufficient to address liability issues given the current state of the technology, further scientific advances that lead to increasingly sophisticated robots may raise problems on how to appropriately assign responsibility.

Removal of co-existing fluoride, calcium, magnesium, and carbonates, by non-chemical induced electrolysis system for drinking and industrial purposes

Abstract An electrolysis (ELC) system was proposed to remove co-existing F−, Ca2+, Mg2+, CO32−, and HCO3− from groundwater without the addition of any chemicals. The proposed system utilized an ELC cell composed of non-corrosive platinum and stainless steel electrodes. Ion removal mechanisms, performance against different ion concentrations, and charge loading were studied and compared with drinking and industrial water quality guidelines. System performance with real groundwater was also examined. Results revealed that ELC effectively removes (CO32− + HCO3−) in the anode as CO2, and (CO32− + HCO3−), Ca2+, and Mg2+ in cathode as MgCO3, CaCO3, and Mg(OH)2. F− was removed by co-precipitation with Mg(OH)2 and Coulomb transfer. Maximum removal of 58%-F−, 42%-Ca2+, and 95%-Mg2+ were observed at a charge loading of 1500 C/L. With increasing Ca2+ and Mg2+, removal increments of cathode F−, Ca2+, Mg2+, and (CO32− + HCO3−) were noticed. To meet drinking water guidelines value of 1.5 mg/L of F−, minimum initial ion concentration ranges should be within F− &amp;lt; 4.29–6 mg/L, Mg2+ &amp;lt; 75–125 mg/L, Ca2+ &amp;gt; 50 mg/L, and (CO32− + HCO3−) &amp;lt; 10–0 mmol/L for 1500 C/L. The anode delivered the quality water which meets industrial boiler water alkalinity guideline for the initial (CO32− + HCO3−) &amp;lt; 12.5 meq/L. The community-scale treatment system established in Sri Lanka confirmed smooth operation with a higher removal of F− and Ca2+ in the cathode and (CO32− + HCO3−) in the anode which can be slightly approximated with laboratory results.

Who Are the Essential and Frontline Workers?

Identifying essential and frontline workers and understanding their characteristics is useful for policymakers and researchers in targeting social insurance and safety net policies in response to the COVID-19 crisis. We develop a working definition that may inform additional research and policy discussion and provide data on the demographic and labor market composition of these workers. In a three-step approach, we first apply the official industry guidelines issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to microdata from the 2017 and 2018 American Community Survey to identify essential workers regardless of actual operation status of their industry. We then use data on the feasibility of work from home in the worker’s occupation group (Dingel and Neiman 2020) to identify those most likely to be frontline workers who worked in-person early in the COVID-19 crisis in March/April 2020. In a third step we exclude industries that were shutdown or running under limited demand at that time (Vavra, 2020). We find that the broader group of essential workers comprises a large share of the labor force and tends to mirror its demographic and labor market characteristics. In contrast, the narrower category of frontline workers is, on average, less educated, has lower wages, and has a higher representation of men, disadvantaged minorities, especially Hispanics, and immigrants. These results hold even when excluding industries that were shutdown or operating at a limited level.

Who are the Essential and Frontline Workers?

Identifying essential and frontline workers and understanding their characteristics is useful for policymakers and researchers in targeting social insurance and safety net policies in response to the COVID-19 crisis. We develop a working definition that may inform additional research and policy discussion and provide data on the demographic and labor market composition of these workers.In a three-step approach, we first apply the official industry guidelines issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to microdata from the 2017 and 2018 American Community Survey to identify essential workers regardless of actual operation status of their industry. We then use data on the feasibility of work from home in the worker's occupation group (Dingel and Neiman 2020) to identify those most likely to be frontline workers who worked in-person early in the COVID-19 crisis in March/April 2020.In a third step we exclude industries that were shutdown or running under limited demand at that time (Vavra, 2020). We find that the broader group of essential workers comprises a large share of the labor force and tends to mirror its demographic and labor market characteristics. In contrast, the narrower category of frontline workers is, on average, less educated, has lower wages, and has a higher representation of men, disadvantaged minorities, especially Hispanics, and immigrants. These results hold even when excluding industries that were shutdown or operating at a limited level.