Hazard Identification Process Research Articles

A METHOD FOR ASSESSING THE LEVEL OF PROFESSIONAL RISKS WHEN PERFORMING HIGH-RISK WORK BY CONTRACTORS

The article researches the professional risks arising from the admission of contractors to perform high-risk work at the facilities of oil and gas industry enterprises. The involvement of contractors is an additional source of danger. Based on this, the client is obliged to identify all the factors of this source of danger and assess the level of professional risks. The scientific literature describes the methodology of the process of hazard identification and assessment of professional risk levels, but there are no studies related to considering the fact of involvement of contractors as a separate source of danger when assessing the level of professional risks. This issue requires further study. Based on the analysis carried out by the author using the method of constructing a Bow-Tie diagram, risk factors are identified and measures to prevent them are proposed. The article provides: a method for determining and improving the level of competencies of contractor’s personnel, an example of a personnel management structure, processes for motivating safe performance of work, ways to monitor and control the state of labor protection. The results of the conducted research help employers who involve contractors to develop and implement professional risk management measures in order to effectively operate the occupational safety management system.

Effects of construction workers’ safety knowledge on hazard-identification performance via eye-movement modeling examples training

Most accidents in the construction industry are caused by a large proportion of hazards that remain unrecognized; this hazard-identification failure can be traced back to inadequate safety knowledge and ineffective education methods. Eye-movement modeling examples (EMMEs) show an expert’s gaze replays in the hazard-identification process with verbal explanations. Thus, with the fundamental objective of measuring the impacts of tacit and explicit safety knowledge on construction workers’ hazard-identification performance, this study demonstrated the moderation effect of EMMEs on this influence pathway. This study created a digital building construction site to conduct two eye-tracking experiments, and every participant completed a hazard-identification test before and after EMMEs training. The effect of tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge on hazard-identification performance was explored in Study 1 and Study 2. The results demonstrated the potential of EMMEs to indirectly teach strategic identification sequences and contribute to deeper safety education, and the influence of individual safety knowledge on the effectiveness of EMMEs.

Concept of hazard identification for RAMS specification

In parallel with the dynamic development of rail transport in terms of vehicle design, control systems, infrastructure issues, the development of processes and procedures in the area of safety management must also progress. This growing awareness was confirmed, among other things, by harmonising the content of the regulations on railway safety and interoperability, the safety certification of railway undertakings and the definition of the tasks and roles of national safety authorities. In effect, this was to enable the development of a single European railway area. An implementation tool that allows for a systematic approach to safety management processes and that enables the above requirements to be met is, among other things, RAMS analyses. A key step in the safety management process for specifying RAMS is hazard identification, which is particularly highlighted in PN EN 50126-2:2018 through the holistic model for risk assessment and control of railway system hazards (hourglass model). It places the hazard identification process in two stages, i.e. in the early development stage of the analysis (similar to other known risk management models) and in the hazard control stage. This positioning alone indicates the importance of the hazard identification process. On the comprehensiveness and detail of its implementation depends the validity of the final outcome of the RAMS analysis. The development of such a process for real technical facilities in a way that is consistent with the needs of RAMS analyses and, at the same time, ensures that satisfactory results of these analyses are achieved, has become the subject of this article.

Application of the EAST-BL method on a MASS system for Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment

As can be seen through the continuous research on the Marine Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) in recent years, several positive as well as optimistic results have been emerged, along with several concerns. In particular, the risk analysis process regarding MASS faces many difficulties as the lack of respective data may lead the estimation of probability or frequency to be extremely uncertain or even biased. To this end, the application of risk informed approaches, that are based on the traditional definition of risk, can be quite misleading. This paper presents a methodology for risk assessment on MASS based on the utilisation of the EAST-BL, a system-based methodology that combines the output of three different networks (i.e., task, social and information) for human and non-human agents of a system to identify hazards and the DNV’s framework for risk assessment from the RBAT study. The objective of the paper is to provide insights regarding the application of EAST-BL on MASS as well as the way that system-based methods can be utilised to enhance the hazard identification and risk assessment processes for MASS.

ANALISA KESEHATAN DAN KESELAMATAN KERJA (K3) MENGGUNAKAN METODE HAZARD IDENTIFICATION RISK ASSASSEMENT AND RISK CONTROL (HIRARC) PADA PEMBANGUNAN GERBANG BANYURAN TANJUNG JATI UNIT 5 DAN 6 DI PT. SUPRACO INDONESIA

HSE is a system that must be owned by every company to ensure that operational activities carried out do not harm anyone. HSE is also known as K3, namely occupational health and safety. HSE itself stands for health, safety and environment. In order to achieve the objectives of the K3 program, various elements and resources need to be used, so that in the application of K3 it needs to be organized, and regulated into a K3 management system (SMK3). This study uses the Hazard Identification Risk Assessment and Risk Control (HIRARC) Method is a series of hazard identification processes in routine and non-routine activities. HIRARC is an effort to prevent and reduce the potential for work accidents, avoiding and minimizing risks that occur appropriately by avoiding and minimizing the risk of work accidents and controlling them in order to carry out the process of activities so that the process becomes safe. Hazard identification, risk assessment and control are part of the risk management system which is the basis of the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (SMK3), which consists of hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control.

Hazard Identification And Risk Assesment (HIRA) Pada Proses Riksa Uji Mesin Crimping Semi-Otomatis

Every phase of work activities in a workplace is inevitably associated with potential hazards and risks that can lead to both workplace accidents and occupational illnesses. To mitigate these hazards effectively, the identification and assessment of risks are imperative, providing a foundation for offering constructive recommendations to the respective companies. The process of hazard identification and risk assessment adheres to the risk management stages, aligned with the AS/NZS 4360:2004 standard on Risk Management, encompassing the determination of consequences (severity) and probability levels (likelihood) to ascertain the risk levels within each work process phase. Upon establishing these risk levels, comprehensive recommendations for control programs can be devised, aimed at averting workplace accidents and occupational diseases. Data acquisition is carried out through surveys/observations involving workers and document reviews. The observations were conducted within the production area, specifically focusing on the semi-automatic crimping machine inspection process at PT. SWS in December 2022. The research findings reveal that within the crimping machine inspection process, the risk percentages are distributed as follows: 0% at the extreme risk level, 65% at the high risk level, 35% at the moderate risk level, and 0% at the low risk level. Effective control and supervision measures are essential to prevent the occurrence of workplace accidents and occupational illnesses. These measures offer significant benefits, encompassing enhanced work productivity, improved work morale, and a fortified corporate reputation. The researcher proposes a range of control measures, spanning substitution, engineering, administrative adjustments, and personal protective equipment provisioning.

Automated Identification and Qualitative Characterization of Safety Concerns Reported in UAV Software Platforms

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are nowadays used in a variety of applications. Given the cyber-physical nature of UAVs, software defects in these systems can cause issues with safety-critical implications. An important aspect of the lifecycle of UAV software is to minimize the possibility of harming humans or damaging properties through a continuous process of hazard identification and safety risk management. Specifically, safety-related concerns typically emerge during the operation of UAV systems, reported by end-users and developers in the form of issue reports and pull requests. However, popular UAV systems daily receive tens or hundreds of reports of varying types and quality. To help developers timely identify and triage safety-critical UAV issues, we (i) experiment with automated approaches (previously used for issue classification) for detecting the safety-related matters appearing in the titles and descriptions of issues and pull requests reported in UAV platforms and (ii) propose a categorization of the main hazards and accidents discussed in such issues. Our results (i) show that shallow machine learning (ML)-based approaches can identify safety-related sentences with precision, recall, and F-measure values of about 80%; and (ii) provide a categorization and description of the relationships between safety issue hazards and accidents.

Using VR to teach safety in design: what and how do engineering students learn?

ABSTRACT Access to interactive, simulated work environments through virtual reality (VR) has potential in teaching safety in design (SiD) to engineering students with reduced risk, cost and inconvenience. However, there is limited understanding of what students learn from immersive VR interventions, or the outcomes from specific learning activities. This study investigated engineering students’ SiD learning in engineering design units at an Australian university. Informed by blended cognitivist-constructivist and situative perspectives, the units embedded static visualisation, dynamic visualisation through VR simulation, and group discussion, within an authentic hazard identification and analysis process. Observational data and student performances were analysed. Students’ hazard comprehension differed by type of hazard and by learning activity. Students demonstrated understanding of SiD processes, terminology, and relevance of these to engineering design. We conclude that VR simulation is an effective learning tool, however the combination of learning elements was important to achieve learning outcomes.

Integrating Hazard-oriented Knowledge Representation for Multilevel Flow Modelling in Process Hazard Identification

In addition to process control at the equipment level, the Identification of systemic hazards and the realization of process safety are also part of the operational problems of complex systems. To improve the effectiveness of hazard Identification based on the Multilevel Flow Modelling(MFM) models, this paper proposes that a hazard-oriented knowledge representation can represent more hazards than previous models used for online operational decision support in terms of latent intention, chemical, and physical hazard properties of materials and effects of multiple conditions in combination. Thus, the scope of application of the MFM model is extended from online operational decision support to hazard identification, and the application phase of the model is extended from the operational phase to the design phase. Moreover, the results are demonstrated by a Minxo process modeling and compared with its Hazard and Operability study(HAZOP) report results, and the representation rate of hazard of the MFM model incorporating hazard-oriented knowledge is improved, showing great potential for further optimization of the MFM-assisted HAZOP study.

Upscaling a chemical screening approach to assess impacts of shale, tight and deep gas development on unconfined aquifers

Study regionBeetaloo Sub-basin (Northern Territory) and Cooper Basin (Queensland and South Australia), Australia. Study focusA chemical screening approach was upscaled to regional scale to assess impacts of chemical spills on unconfined aquifers. Chemical dilution factors (DFs) were developed from hydrogeochemical modelling to predict the impact of hypothetical chemical spills as part of a hazard identification process from the potential development of shale, tight and deep gas in the Beetaloo Sub-basin and Cooper Basin. Advection and dispersion modelling (non-reactive HYDRUS 1-D) was used as a conservative screening approach to estimate DFs vertically through the unsaturated zone and laterally through the unconfined aquifers. The results were upscaled to basin scale, based on spatially distributed soil, groundwater and aquifer information, including the presence of karsts. The spatial approach successfully defined areas that required additional assessment prior to any future development. New hydrological insights for the regionFor chemical concentrations from surface spills to not exceed ecotoxicological thresholds at the water table, a DF of > 1000 was required. Screening areas with a DF of > 1000 constrained the area of concern for aquifer contamination from spills to 0.3 % and 14 % of the Beetaloo and Cooper regions respectively. The likelihood for long term impacts from potential undetected chemical leaks on groundwater dependent ecosystems was assessed to < 0.1 % of the Cooper region due to dilution in lateral groundwater flow, but 18 % of the Beetaloo region.

Hazard identification for self-unloading bulk carriers

ABSTRACT Self-Unloading (SUL) bulk carriers are unconventional , designed and provided with various sets of equipment in different set-ups to allow them to discharge the cargo onboard without assistance or interference from any shore facilities or discharging equipment. This variance and complexity of equipment pose hazards to the crew onboard; though many precautions are in place to reduce these hazards, accidents still happen. In this study, a thorough hazard identification process is performed, guided by International Maritime Organization (IMO) Formal Safety Assessment (FSA). The failure Mode Effect and Consequence Analysis (FMECA) method is used to identify the hazards and rank them based on measuring both frequency and severity of each. A novel contribution of this endeavour was to repeat the process of ranking hazard scenarios using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), thus sharpening the results obtained by FMECA, especially when the qualitative nature of the latter is considered. This study represents a pioneer step towards a full FSA for SUL bulk carriers.

HIRA in Excavation in High Rise Buildings

Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) is carried out for identification of hazard, the analysis of hazard, estimation of the likely effects of the risk and the mitigation measures/controls that are to be taken to minimize the risk. A good hazard identification process is the key to good risk management. It may not be possible to identify all hazards before commencement of work. Hence, the risk management process is dynamic which means control methods are to be applied even for risks which are identified even at a later stage of the project. Risk assessment gives an idea regarding the severity of hazards and safety measures to be taken. The present study focuses on hazards in excavation and the measures to be taken to minimize the same. The study was conducted on high rise buildings.

Identification of risk features using text mining and BERT-based models: Application to an oil refinery

The uncontrollable release of hazardous substances may lead to catastrophic accidents. In this context, risk studies are aimed at recommending either preventive measures or designing safeguards to mitigate the consequences. To that end, risk experts postulate possible leakages, then identify their causes and consequences, and finally evaluate and classify the risks into categories. These analyses rely on examination different engineering textual documents and attendance numerous meetings, which is very time consuming. Moreover, this qualitative process of hazard identification and assessment are usually the first steps of quantitative risk analysis (QRA) and is paramount to ensure its quality. Therefore, we here propose to use text mining and fine-tuned trained bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) models to support and reduce the efforts required for completing the early stages of QRA. Our idea is to apply these techniques to identify the potential consequences of accidents related to the operation of an oil refinery and classify each scenario in terms of severity of the consequence and likelihood of occurrence. The proposed method was applied to an actual oil refinery and presented very promising results. The potential consequences, the severity and likelihood categories were predicted with a mean accuracy of 97.42%, 86.44%, and 94.34% respectively. The models resulting from this research were embedded into a web-based app that is called HALO (hazard analysis based on language processing for oil refineries).

Safety and Reliability Analysis of an Ammonia-Powered Fuel-Cell System

Recently, the shipping industry has been under increasing pressure to improve its environmental impact with a target of a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, compared to the 2008 levels. For this reason, great attention has been placed on alternative zero-carbon fuels, specifically ammonia, which is considered a promising solution for shipping decarbonisation. In this respect, a novel ammonia-powered fuel-cell configuration is proposed as an energy-efficient power generation configuration with excellent environmental performance. However, there are safety and reliability concerns of the proposed ammonia-powered system that need to be addressed prior to its wider acceptance by the maritime community. Therefore, this is the first attempt to holistically examine the safety, operability, and reliability of an ammonia fuel-cell-powered ship, while considering the bunkering and fuel specifications. The proposed methodology includes the novel combination of a systematic preliminary hazard identification process with a functional and model-based approach for simulating the impact of various hazards. Furthermore, the critical faults and functional failures of the proposed system are identified and ranked according to their importance. This work can be beneficial for both shipowners and policymakers by introducing technical innovation and for supporting the future regulatory framework.

Pakistan’s experience with risk assessment training and implementation of concepts from the 4th edition of the WHO laboratory biosafety manual

IntroductionThe cyclical process of hazard identification, risk assessment, risk mitigation, and review is a key step in developing a biorisk management (BRM) system. This paper describes how this process was initiated in two laboratories in Pakistan using a unique model of blended learning. MethodsA training needs analysis showed that the staff had very little knowledge of BRM systems. A workshop using a unique blended model was conducted in which virtual and in-presence learning occurred simultaneously. This workshop aimed to train the participants by applying two key concepts from the World Health Organization Laboratory Biosafety Manual 4th edition: 1) the cyclical process of risk assessment and 2) mapping the core biorisk and establishing heightened control measures in the laboratories of the participants based on the risk assessment. All scenarios and examples used in the training were from the participants’ laboratory work processes. ResultsPrior to this project, no risk assessment was conducted in these laboratories. After the workshop, a risk assessment was performed for six work processes. In addition, seven core requirements and three heightened control measures were mapped, a biorisk officer was appointed, and a biosafety committee was convened. Furthermore, a biorisk manual, a biological waste management plan, an occupational health center, and a system for audits and inspections are being developed. Discussion and conclusionBRM training is not a one-time effort; it has to be strengthened to ensure the development and implementation of a comprehensive and sustainable BRM system. Training must be applicable to local settings and incremental, in a way that participants are not overloaded with information.

Identifying Nontraditional Epidemic Disease Risk Factors Associated with Major Health Events from World Health Organization and World Bank Open Data

ABSTRACT.Health events emerge from host, community, environment, and pathogen factors—forecasting epidemics is a complex task. We describe an exploratory analysis to identify economic risk factors that could aid epidemic risk assessment. A line list was constructed using the World Health Organization Disease Outbreak News (2016–2018) and economic indicators from the World Bank. Poisson regression employing forward imputations was used to establish relationships with the frequency with which countries reported public health events. Economic indicators demonstrated strong performance appropriate for further assessment in surveillance programming. In our analysis, three economic indicators were significantly associated to event reporting: how much the country’s urban population changed, its average forest area, and a novel economic indicator we developed that assessed how much the gross domestic product changed per capita. Other economic indicators performed less well: changes in total, female, urban, and rural population sizes; population density; net migration; change in per cent forest area; total forest area; and another novel indicator, change in percent of trade as a fraction of the total economy. We then undertook a further analysis of the start of the current COVID-19 pandemic that revealed similar associations, but confounding by global disease burden is likely. Continued development of forecasting approaches capturing information relevant to whole-of-society factors (e.g., economic factors as assessed in our study) could improve the risk management process through earlier hazard identification and inform strategic decision processes in multisectoral strategies to preventing, detecting, and responding to pandemic-threat events.

Modification of the Priority Risk Index: Adapting to Emergency Management Accreditation Program standards for institutes of higher learning hazard mitigation plans.

The Priority Risk Index is increasingly used as a methodology for quantifying jurisdictional risk for hazard mitigation planning purposes, and it can evolve to meet specific community needs. The index incorporates probability, impact, spatial extent, warning time, and duration when assessing each hazard, but it does not explicitly integrate a vulnerability and consequence analysis into its final scoring. To address this gap, a new index was developed-the Enhanced Priority Risk Index (EPRI). The new index adds a sixth category, vulnerability, calculated from a vulnerability and consequence analysis of the impacts on seven sectors identified in Standard 4.1.2 of the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP). To obtain a vulnerability score, impacts are ranked by sector from low (1) to very high (4), then a weighting factor is applied to each sector. The vulnerability score is added to the EPRI and provides risk levels based on the number of exploitable weaknesses and countermeasures identified within a specific jurisdiction. The vulnerability score and resulting EPRI are scalable and can be applied across jurisdictions, providing a transferable methodology that improves the hazard identification and risk assessment process and provides an approach for meeting EMAP accreditation standards.

Possible Adverse Effects of Food Additive E171 (Titanium Dioxide) Related to Particle Specific Human Toxicity, Including the Immune System.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is used as a food additive (E171) and can be found in sauces, icings, and chewing gums, as well as in personal care products such as toothpaste and pharmaceutical tablets. Along with the ubiquitous presence of TiO2 and recent insights into its potentially hazardous properties, there are concerns about its application in commercially available products. Especially the nano-sized particle fraction (<100 nm) of TiO2 warrants a more detailed evaluation of potential adverse health effects after ingestion. A workshop organized by the Dutch Office for Risk Assessment and Research (BuRO) identified uncertainties and knowledge gaps regarding the gastrointestinal absorption of TiO2, its distribution, the potential for accumulation, and induction of adverse health effects such as inflammation, DNA damage, and tumor promotion. This review aims to identify and evaluate recent toxicological studies on food-grade TiO2 and nano-sized TiO2 in ex-vivo, in-vitro, and in-vivo experiments along the gastrointestinal route, and to postulate an Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) following ingestion. Additionally, this review summarizes recommendations and outcomes of the expert meeting held by the BuRO in 2018, in order to contribute to the hazard identification and risk assessment process of ingested TiO2.

Protection of Air Transport Against Acts of Unlawful Interference

Air transport consists in moving people or goods by air. Aircrafts, known as the main means of air transport, can be divided into two categories: airplanes and helicopters. Such transport is the most modern and the most dynamically developing branch of transport. It is also considered to be the safest mode of transport, even though, for various reasons, aviation accidents still occur.&#x0D; Security in aviation has various connotations. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), it is a state in which the possibility of damage to persons or property is minimized and is maintained as part of a continuous process of hazard identification and safety risk management at an acceptable level or below this acceptable level. Aviation security includes flight safety and aviation security against acts of unlawful interference. There is a significant difference between the meaning of "safety" and "security". The first of these concepts means preventing unintentional damage, while the second refers to the procedures undertaken in order to prevent deliberate damage resulting from an intentional act.&#x0D; As it appears from the abovementioned information, the immovable part of aviation safety is aircraft protection, including the protection of civilian airports.&#x0D; The aim of the article is to draw attention to the problems of air transport security, including the security of airports, related to the evolution of threats and the functioning of the airport security system.&#x0D; The problem that the authors address is expressed in a question: in what directions should the current solutions in the field of air transport security be improved in order to effectively prevent acts of unlawful interference in the future?&#x0D; Theoretical research methods, such as the analysis and synthesis of information contained in literature and source materials, inference, comparison, were used to develop the article.

Quantitative Risk Assessment Onshore LNG Regasification Unit (ORU)

This paper presents the assessment of risk levels of the worker categories on the onshore LNG terminal regasification facility. Quantitative Risk Assessment are applied to evaluate the process and non-process accidental events at Onshore Regasification Unit (ORU) during offloading and normal operation. Individual Risk Per Annum (IRPA) and Potential Loss of Life (PLL) are the parameters to measure the risk for an individual in a specific worker category on the ORU area. Estimation numerical are provided to allow understanding of the risk exposure and fatality amongst the whole worker category or other areas of interest. QRA studies is used to take into account potential releases of hazardous material, estimated frequency of occurrence and consequences. Major Accident Hazard (MAH) are identified by the hazard identification process to identify all incident possibilities which cause to extensive damage to company assets and severe impact to people. Frequency of hazard occurrences is quantified using Event Tree Analysis (ETA) and fire modelling is utilized to represent the consequence. Evaluation against a set of risk acceptance criteria is carried out to the risk level arising from operation of the ORU area. Finally, a set of Safety Operation Procedure (SOP) and Emergency Response Plan (ERP) are developed to ensure the safety operation of the facility.