Hazardous Machinery Research Articles

Non-Invasive Alcohol Concentration Measurement Using a Spectroscopic Module: Outlook for the Development of a Drunk Driving Prevention System.

Alcohol acts as a central nervous system depressant and falls under the category of psychoactive drugs. It has the potential to impair vital bodily functions, including cognitive alertness, muscle coordination, and induce fatigue. Taking the wheel after consuming alcohol can lead to delayed responses in emergency situations and increases the likelihood of collisions with obstacles or suddenly appearing objects. Statistically, drivers under the influence of alcohol are seven times more likely to cause accidents compared to sober individuals. Various techniques and methods for alcohol measurement have been developed. The widely used breathalyzer, which requires direct contact with the mouth, raises concerns about hygiene. Methods like chromatography require skilled examiners, while semiconductor sensors exhibit instability in sensitivity over measurement time and has a short lifespan, posing structural challenges. Non-dispersive infrared analyzers face structural limitations, and in-vehicle air detection methods are susceptible to external influences, necessitating periodic calibration. Despite existing research and technologies, there remain several limitations, including sensitivity to external factors such as temperature, humidity, hygiene consideration, and the requirement for periodic calibration. Hence, there is a demand for a novel technology that can address these shortcomings. This study delved into the near-infrared wavelength range to investigate optimal wavelengths for non-invasively measuring blood alcohol concentration. Furthermore, we conducted an analysis of the optical characteristics of biological substances, integrated these data into a mathematical model, and demonstrated that alcohol concentration can be accurately sensed using the first-order modeling equation at the optimal wavelength. The goal is to minimize user infection and hygiene issues through a non-destructive and non-invasive method, while applying a compact spectrometer sensor suitable for button-type ignition devices in vehicles. Anticipated applications of this study encompass diverse industrial sectors, including the development of non-invasive ignition button-based alcohol prevention systems, surgeon's alcohol consumption status in the operating room, screening heavy equipment operators for alcohol use, and detecting alcohol use in close proximity to hazardous machinery within factories.

Primary Care Professionals' Empathy and Its Relationship to Approaching Patients with Risky Alcohol Consumption.

The aim of this study was to estimate the level of empathy among primary care (PC) health professionals and its relationship with their approach to patients at risk due to alcohol consumption. This is an observational, descriptive, and multicenter study that included 80 PHC professionals. The professionals completed a questionnaire comprising socio-occupational questions and inquiries regarding their actions when dealing with patients suspected of risky alcohol consumption. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy was used to measure their level of empathy and was completed by 80 professionals, of whom 57.5% were family physicians, 10% were nurses, and 32.5% were family- and community-medicine residents. The mean age was 39.5 ± 13.1 (SD) (range of 24-65 years) and 71.3% were females. The mean empathy level score was 112.9 ± 11.1 (95% CI: 110.4-115.4; range: 81-132 points). Actions that stood out for their frequency were providing health advice in the general population, offering advice to pregnant women, and recommending abstinence to users of hazardous machinery or motor vehicles. The level of empathy was associated with age (p = 0.029), the health center's scope (p = 0.044), systematic alcohol exploration (p = 0.034), and follow-ups for patients diagnosed with risky consumption (p = 0.037). The mean score obtained indicated a high level of empathy among professionals. Professionals with greater empathy more frequently conducted systematic screening for risky alcohol consumption.

Efficient safety management plan for industrial accident prevention of hazardous machinery: Focus on safety certification system and regulations in South Korea

The “4th industrial revolution” is accelerating changes in technology, industry, and machinery, and the “Internet of everything” (IoE) requires comprehensive integration of people and machines. Despite the development of these technologies, fatal accidents continue to occur due to malfunctions of dangerous machinery, so the importance of the safety certification system is increasing, but there are few objective analysis data. In this study, the necessity of a safety certification system was confirmed by analyzing the effect of the safety certification system on the prevention effect of industrial accidents in three methods. Based on these analysis results, the industrial accident prevention effect of the current safety certification system and necessary supplementary tasks were derived. Safety certification systems for more than 30 machines and equipment are in operation in South Korea. In this research, the press, crane, catapult, and lift machines most commonly used in industrial fields were analyzed. This study was conducted in five steps: a safety certification system operation status investigation, a survey and interviews, an analysis of dangerous machinery and equipment accidents, focus group interviews, and study of the direction of safety certification systems in consideration of recent IoE developments. As a result of the analysis, various opinions were presented on the safety certification system by subject, and it was found that it was necessary to prepare supplementary measures for the advancement of the safety certification system advancement, expand its field applicability, and improve the efficiency of safety certification.

Children and youth agricultural injuries: A retrospective analysis of pediatric trauma admissions in North Dakota

IntroductionFarm children and youths face unique health risks, including increased risk of agricultural injuries (AI), due to the hazardous machinery, structures and animals on their residential environment. As a result, they experience more severe and complex polytraumatic injuries and longer hospital stays compared to those children injured in homes or residences. A major barrier to the prevention of AI among children and youth residing on farms is a lack of analytic studies about the magnitude and characteristics of these injuries, especially in North Dakota. MethodsWe performed a retrospective review of the Sanford Medical Center Fargo trauma registry for pediatric patients (aged 0–19 years) who received care between January 2010 and December 2020 for AI. Patients were grouped for analysis by the age categories of the Agricultural Youth Work Guidelines (AYWG) to compare the mechanisms of injury with the recommended minimum age requirements for specific farm tasks. ResultsOf the 41 patients, 26 were male. Mean age was 11 years and one death was reported. The most common mechanism of injury was animals (37%), followed by falls (20%) and machinery (17%). Children under 6 years and youth aged 16 to 19 had the highest number of injuries. Females experienced 53% of animal-related injuries and males accounted for all vehicle-related injuries. ConclusionThe incidence and severity of polytraumatic AI among young children in North Dakota is concerning. Our results underscore the continued need to pursue pediatric injury prevention on farms through educational resources and programs, including the AWYG. Practical applicationsParents require more training on age and ability appropriate farm tasks, especially animal-related interactions. It is imperative that families are given the education and training necessary to integrate children into the farm life while protecting them from injury.

Detection of Alcohol Inebriation from Eye Movements

Today, the most convenient way of estimating an individual's blood-alcohol concentration requires a breathalyzer device and intense user cooperation, which severely limits the scope of potential applications. We develop and study a machine-learning model that detects alcohol inebriation based on a person's eye gaze and eye closure. We investigate the relative contribution of individual features derived from eye gaze and eye closure to the model. In order to train and experimentally evaluate the model, we collect— and share—a new data set with participants in baseline and alcohol-intoxicated states. We find that the model can in fact detect the consumption of a moderate amount of alcohol; the accuracy grows significantly with increasing blood alcohol concentration. The most relevant features turn out to relate to the velocity and acceleration profiles during fixations and saccades. From our proof-of-concept study, we can conclude that contactless inebriation detection based on eye gaze is in fact possible, albeit data need to be collected on an industrial scale to reach practical applicability. Potential applications of contactless inebriation detection include the detection of impaired drivers or operators of other hazardous machinery as well as health-monitoring applications.

사업장 위험요소 존재와 산업재해 발생의 관련성에 관한 연구

In this study, focusing on the 'Focused on the 9th Occupational Safety and Health Survey Data', the existence of risk factors in the workplace and the relevance of the occurrence of industrial accidents are confirmed, and based on this, the existence of risk factors is identified in advance and safety and health management measures to reduce occupational accidents. It was carried out for the purpose of use as basic data for establishment. Among the raw data of ‘Focused on the 9th Occupational Safety and Health Survey Data’, 5,108 workplaces were selected for final analysis. The data are divided by industry, and the size of the workplace (number of workers), the occurrence of industrial accidents (as of 2017), mental/psychological, chemical substances, physical, ergonomics, presence of dangerous machinery/equipment, and the presence or absence of risk factors for work in hazardous places are 6 Statistical analysis was performed using the items. As a result, the occurrence of industrial accidents by industry was highest in the construction industry, manufacturing industry, and service industry. In the manufacturing and service industries, the larger the workplace, the higher the occurrence of industrial accidents, and in the construction industry, the occurrence of workplaces with 100 or more workers was higher. In the relationship between companies, in the manufacturing and service industries, the occurrence of industrial accidents among in-house subcontractors of the prime contractor was high, and in the construction industry, the occurrence of industrial accidents was high in the workplaces other than the principal and subcontractors. As for the presence of risk factors in the workplace, the presence of hazardous machinery and equipment risk factors in the manufacturing industry, mental and psychological risk factors in the service industry, and the presence of risk factors in dangerous places in the construction industry were found to be the highest. difference in existence. Occupational accidents were found to be highly correlated when risk factors were present. Through this study, it was confirmed that the relationship between the business type, size, and company of the workplace is related to the occurrence of industrial accidents. In addition, although the presence of risk factors in the workplace is highly related to the occurrence of industrial accidents, there are differences according to the industry. The safety and health system of the workplace should be established after identifying the characteristics of the workplace and the existence of risk factors in advance, and improvement and countermeasures should be prepared by identifying harmful risk factors through the search for accidents occurring at the workplace and discovering potential risk factors.

사업장의 위험기계·기구현황이 산업재해에 미치는 영향: 근로자 안전 행동수준의 매개효과

사업장의 위험기계·기구현황이 산업재해에 미치는 영향: 근로자 안전 행동수준의 매개효과

Aplikasi Sensor Passive Infra-Red (PIR) untuk Meningkatkan Keselamatan Pekerja pada Mesin-Mesin Produksi Industri

This research of literature study discusses about the function and application of infrared sensor-based motion detection devices for work safety on industrial cam machinery.This device was designed to assist the industry in preventing the work accidents that occur due to hazardous industrial machinery. The detector uses a PIR (Passive Infra-Red) sensor as a motion detector of the human limbs. On its application, PIR sensor is placed on a specific side of the machine. Then, the system will provide an automatic cut-off alarms on the machine when a person crosses the fabric area that has been detected by the sensor. It was expected that this way will protect the manpower from the occurrence of work accidents which are caused by dangerous industrial machines. With the implementation of this infrared sensor design, the analysis of hazardous machinery is becoming increased so that this infrared sensor based working security system is growing and easier for shaping in many designs.

A BIM-based method to plan indoor paths

Humans more and more live in urban areas and spend the majority of their time indoors, while buildings are becoming increasingly interconnected. Path planning in complex indoor environments is consequently becoming a societal challenge. This paper proposes a system, called BiMov, dedicated to automatically determining plan paths in complex buildings based on a digital mock-up (a BIM in IFC format). The originality of the research comes from the separation of the BIM model topological analysis from the semantic and geometric consideration of the customer of the path planning service. The process consists in exploiting the semantic, geometric, and topological features of the constituents of a BIM to generate navigation graphs that take the profile of MOoP (Mobile Object or Person) and the operational accessibility status of spaces and transitions (such as doors or stairs) into account. The ultimate aim is to determine the optimal path according to given criteria. The system is based on four data models: (1) a building model derived from the original BIM that represents and structures the building features relevant to indoor mobility; (2) a MOoP model representing its bulk size, ability to move horizontally and vertically, and various authorisations; (3) a calendar model representing the conjectural accessibility status of spaces and transitions; (4) a navigation graph model proposing three levels of detail. The Macro level represents a simple graph of connectivity between neighbouring interior spaces and is intended to help architects verify their design in terms of accessibility. The External level is used to connect accessible spaces via their common horizontal or vertical transitions. This level is intended for MOoPs that do not require a detailed description of the path. The Internal level integrates meshing of each space: a 2D mesh for planar mobility or a 3D mesh for drones. This level is intended for MOoP such as heavy object handlers or autonomous mobile vehicles that need to validate a reliable path within spaces containing furniture, hazardous machinery, or bulky equipment. We developed a prototype software application that illustrates our approach for different path planning scenarios in a BIM model generated outside this project.

Do pharmacists counsel customers about the effects of sedating antihistamines on driving skills? A survey of community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia

ObjectiveTo investigate the level of counselling regarding the effects of sedating antihistamines on driving skills provided by private community pharmacies in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.MethodsThis study randomly selected private community pharmacies. Mystery shoppers following a similar scenario individually visited these pharmacies. These clients asked for a commonly used brand of sedating antihistamine and noted the counselling offered by the pharmacist. If spontaneous counselling was not offered, necessary information regarding the medication’s use was requested. Finally, the content of counselling was documented.ResultsOf the 100 pharmacies selected, 12 were excluded for various reasons and 88 pharmacies were included in the study. Only 23 pharmacies offered spontaneous counselling. Although 73.9% of pharmacists (65 of 88), spontaneously or upon request, mentioned sedation as a side-effect, only one pharmacist warned the client against driving after taking the medication, and three other pharmacists warned against dealing with hazardous machinery. Other side-effects were almost ignored.ConclusionA life-threatening insufficiency in the quality of counselling at Saudi Arabian private community pharmacies exists. Traffic accidents, secondary to the side-effects of sedating antihistamines, may be avoided if proper counselling is offered. Saudi Arabian authorities should take appropriate actions to ensure optimal practice in community pharmacies.

EyeLSD a Robust Approach for Eye Localization and State Detection

Improving the safety of public roads and industrial factories requires more reliable and robust computer vision-based approaches for monitoring the eye state (open or closed) of human operators. Getting this information in real time when humans are driving cars or using hazardous machinery will help to prevent accidents and deaths. This paper proposes a new framework called EyeLSD to localize the eyes and detect their states without face detection step. For EyeLSD aims, two novel descriptors are proposed: enhanced Pyramidal Local Binary Pattern Histogram (ePLBPH) and Multi-Three-Patch LBP histogram (Multi-TPLBP). The performance of EyeLSD with ePLBPH and Multi-TPLBP is evaluated and compared against other approaches. For this evaluation three independent and public datasets were used: BioID, CAS-PEAL-R1 and ZJU datasets. The set EyeLSD, ePLBPH and Multi-TPLBP have a greater performance when compared against the state-of-the-art algorithms. The proposed approach is very stable under large range of eye appearances caused by expression, rotation, lighting, head pose, and occlusion.

Causes of Mortality and Risk Factors for Injury Mortality Among Children in the Agricultural Health Study

Farm children face unique health risks due to sharing their residential environment with hazardous machinery and materials. Causes of mortality among farm children have not been comprehensively described. Objective: In the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) cohort, we examined causes of mortality among 21,360 children in Iowa and North Carolina between 1975 and 1998. Methods: We matched identifying information for children provided by mothers on self-administered questionnaires to state death registries (1975–1998). Data on farm and family characteristics were provided by parents via enrollment questionnaires (1993–1997). Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated, using state mortality data to generate expected deaths. We used logistic regression to examine parent, child and farm characteristics associated with injury mortality. Results: There were 162 deaths in Iowa (SMR = 0.69; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.60, 0.81) and 26 deaths in North Carolina (SMR = 0.42; 95%CI = 0.28, 0.61) in children aged 0–19 years. This deficit was largely due to deaths in the first year of life. Although deaths from overall unintentional injury were not increased, excess agricultural machinery mortality was observed in Iowa (SMR = 9.25; 95% CI = 5.12, 16.70). In case-control comparisons, maternal age less than 25 years at child's birth (OR = 2.17; 95%CI = 1.05, 4.49) and having more than 2 children in the family (OR = 2.79; 95%CI = 1.47, 5.30) were associated with increased child injury mortality. For children under 14 years, participation in farm work was associated with increased risk of agricultural machine-related mortality (OR = 3.92; 95% CI = 1.04, 14.78). Conclusions: Parent and child characteristics associated with child injury mortality could be used to target farm safety interventions.

Protecting Young Workers in Agriculture: Participation in Tractor Certification Training

Tractor-related injuries among youth are an important public health problem. The major objectives of this study were to (1) provide a rigorous estimate of the number of youth operating tractors in Ohio and (2) assess the extent to which these youth are participating in federally mandated tractor safety training. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by approximately 4,000 students ages 14 or 15 years who were enrolled in a stratified cluster sample of 99 Ohio schools. Almost one-third of the youth (30%) reported having operated tractors, with 19% having operated a tractor on a farm not owned by a parent or guardian. More than half of the youth (52%) reported having operated a tractor and/or other hazardous machinery, with 25% having operated the machinery on a farm not owned or operated by a parent or guardian. Extrapolating from 4-H records and Ohio census data, fewer than 1% of the youth who are operating tractors or other hazardous machinery have participated in tractor certification training. Increasing participation in mandated training may be an important step in protecting the health of our nation's young agricultural workers.

Rural Health Care Providers’ Educational Needs Related to Agricultural Exposures

The wide spectrum of agricultural diseases and injuries, combined with the changes in health care delivery, underscores the need for rural health care providers to maintain competency in occupational medicine pertaining to agriculture. Educational needs and training preferences of rural health care providers were determined through mail survey research conducted among a random sample of Midwest physicians, physician assistants, nurses, veterinarians, and chiropractors. Data from 1,237 survey participants revealed the most common agricultural exposures experienced by their patients/clients include heavy lifting, environmental dusts or irritants, and hazardous machinery. Minimal clinical competency was reported for exposures to pesticides, noxious gases, and volatile organic chemicals. Textbooks and journals were the most commonly used reference sources of the providers. Family and professional obligations along with cost and difficulty acquiring practice coverage, were the major barriers to participation in continuing education programs. Survey results suggest methods to maximize professional education and training experiences relevant to agricultural exposures.

Occupational and Other Environmental Diseases of the Endocrine System

The environment of the work place can be overtly dangerous if one must operate hazardous machinery, handle corrosive chemicals, or is exposed to toxic inhalants. Alternatively, occupational health hazards may be more subtle in the form of exposure to carcinogenic chemicals or irradiation, which may act insidiously during a period of many years. In addition to these well-recognized hazards of the work place, a new literature is emerging regarding the impact of occupational or other environmental exposure on the function of the endocrine system. These causal relationships may be particularly difficult to diagnose, since the disorders may be attributed to other well-described disease processes. Nevertheless, an increasing number of endocrine disorders are being recognized as attributable to occupational and nonoccupational environmental factors rather than hereditary or spontaneous disturbances. With respect to the thyroid gland, textbooks about the endocrine system usually give colorful descriptions of the effects of dietary goitrogens, although

Individual characteristics as predictors of accidental injuries in naval personnel

Personnel characteristics and occupational factors were investigated in order to identify groups with elevated risks of accidental injury in naval environments during first enlistments. The individual characteristics of age at enlistment, educational level, and mental ability all were found to relate significantly to injury when considered singly. When considered jointly, however, only education had a major effect on injury rate. In general, the results indicated that the same individual characteristics that predict poor military performance also predict risk of accidental injury. The occupational analysis identified a number of high-risk occupational specialties (occupations with injury rates above the Navy norm). With the exception of Hospital Corpsmen, all of these occupations were engineering, construction, or aviation specialties in which exposure to hazardous machinery or equipment was evident. Improved safety training and closer supervision should be considered for these personnel, particularly nonhigh school graduates. A modified life table technique was found to be appropriate for this type of longitudinal analysis where large and uneven withdrawals from the cohort occurred. Further analyses of large cohorts from high-risk occupations will be needed to understand the causal factors underlying observed differences in injury rate.

Urine Testing for Marijuana Use

<h3>To the Editor.—</h3> Testing urine for cannabinoids, the drug components of marijuana, has become common because relatively simple testing methods are now available. The presence of cannabinoids in urine indicates marijuana use, and a great deal of weight is often placed on positive findings. It is implied that performance is impaired while driving, flying, or operating hazardous machinery and that proficiency and learning ability are reduced. Persons whose urine yields positive test results are accused of possessing and using the drug. They are punished by convictions, fines, imprisonment, and loss of privileges, jobs, reputations, and careers. For this much weight to be placed on the results of an assay, there should be no question concerning the validity of the results; the drug identification must be positive and beyond any reasonable doubt. If safety is an issue, it should be shown that the person was adversely affected or that all people

Visual Aids in Insurance Teaching

This article reports no new panaceas or great schemes for reforming insurance teaching on the campus. The theme, in fact, may be Naught for your comfort. To begin with, those of us on the company side of insurance teaching have some advantages over the academics in that we often aren't teaching insurance per se at all. We are free to show movies about fire extinguishers and management principles and road-building equipment. We can show slides on details of building construction or hazardous machinery, or use sales presentations on new policy forms via expensive film strips our sales departments devised and paid for. Those of us with large educational budgets can schedule class time for sales or adjusting, have the students get involved in roleplaying situations, and then show them themselves in a playback on television tape. A.R.I.A. members teaching insurance courses at a college don't have these excuses for getting off the subject. A man stuck with the Survey of Insurance Contracts Course or What is Risk or Investment Practices of Life Insurance Companies will find pretty pictures on these subjects are scarce. It would be nice to think that some charitable, and well-heeled, soul is in the throes of making a really professional, half-hour color film about the nature of risk-a film that will make its points graphically (if expensively) and spare the insurance teaching profession the