Inspection Team Research Articles

Penegakan Sanksi Disiplin Berat terhadap Pegawai Negeri Sipil di Lingkungan Kementerian Perhubungan

This study is a non-dogmatic study or empirical study, where law is the embodiment of the symbolic meanings of social actors which are seen in the interactions between them. The aim of the research is to find out the procedures for applying heavy disciplinary sanctions to civil servants in accordance with Government Regulation Number 94 of 2021 and to find out the application of heavy disciplinary sanctions to civil servants within the Ministry of Transportation. Based on Government Regulation Number 94 of 2021 concerning Civil Servant Discipline, severe disciplinary penalties are divided into three categories: First, demotion to a lower level position for 12 months, Second, release from position to acting position for 12 months, and Third, honorable dismissal not at his own request as a Civil Servant. The procedures for imposing heavy disciplinary sanctions are contained in BKN Regulation Number 6 of 2020, which includes: forming an inspection team, summons, examination, determining heavy disciplinary penalties and delivering decisions on heavy disciplinary penalties. The research results show that the Ministry of Transportation has implemented severe disciplinary sanctions in accordance with applicable regulations, namely Government Regulation Number 94 of 2021 concerning Civil Servant Discipline. The Ministry of Transportation has also implemented the stages that have been mandated in the legal regulations that serve as guidelines for its implementation, namely State Civil Service Agency Regulation Number 6 of 2022. The factors that hinder the implementation of heavy disciplinary sanctions include officials suspected of committing serious disciplinary violations, not being temporarily released. from his position, the immediate superior has not played an active role in handling disciplinary violations, Submitting Decrees on Severe Disciplinary Punishments which do not comply with the provisions.

“I Want to Tell You Something, but Not Here”: Governmental Inspection teams’ Challenges in Identifying Mistreatment in Nursing Homes

ABSTRACT This study explores the challenges faced by the Ministry of Health’s inspection teams in identifying mistreatment within Israeli nursing homes. Four focus groups with 19 multidisciplinary inspectors revealed two main themes. First, the interaction between nursing home management, staff, and inspectors ranged from denial and concealment of mistreatment to cooperation in reporting it. Second, inspectors adapted skills not part of their official duties, such as investigative techniques and organizational analysis, to identify mistreatment. The findings highlight the need to reassess inspection teams’ roles, skills, and their relationship with nursing home staff to improve detection of mistreatment.

ANALISIS PEMERIKSAAN PAJAK DALAM MENINGKATKAN PENERIMAAN PPH PASAL 25 DI KANTOR PELAYANAN PAJAK PRATAMA MEDAN BARAT

The purpose of this study was to determine how the tax audit in increasing tax revenue of ITA 25 at KPP Pratama Medan Barat. This research uses qualitative methods. Data collection is done by interview and documentation techniques. The techniques used in this research include descriptive analysis where existing data will be collected and grouped and then analyzed. The results of this research show that the tax revenue of KPP Pratama Medan Barat has decreased and has not reached the specified target. The causes of not achieving the revenue target for the implementation of tax audits at the KPP Pratama Medan Barat are due to uncooperative taxpayers, lack of understanding of taxpayers, limited inspection teams.

Authoritarian environmentalism 2.0: An incremental transition of environmental governance in China

The recent policy practice in China has shown nuanced differences from previous accounts of authoritarian environmentalism. The emerging discourse of green transformation shows dual tendencies for (re-)centralizing and decentralizing environmental institutions. Our understanding of authoritarian environmentalism in China requires an update. We review the recent policy practice and the scholarly literature to advance a modified framework of authoritarian environmentalism. Using the Central Environmental Inspection Teams and emissions trading schemes as examples, we highlight the coordinated practice of strengthening state control while strategically using mass mobilization and market mechanisms. We argue that non-state actors and bottom-up tools are being absorbed into the politics of (re-)centralization. The centralizing state accommodates a limited range of participatory and decentralizing elements in an attempt to modernize the governance system. Our modified framework recognizes the mutually reinforcing authoritarian and liberal elements, and sheds light on the broader trends of environmental governance in China.

Load Identification in Steel Structural Systems Using Machine Learning Elements: Uniform Length Loads and Point Forces

Actual load identification is a most important task solved in the course of (1) engineering inspections of steel structures, (2) the design of systems rising or restoring the bearing capacity of damaged structural frames, and (3) structural health monitoring. Actual load values are used to determine the stress–strain state (SSS) of a structure and accomplish various engineering objectives. Load identification can involve some uncertainty and require soft computing techniques. Towards this end, the article presents an integrated method combining basic provisions of structural mechanics, machine learning, and artificial neural networks. This method involves decomposing structures into primitives, using machine learning data to make projections, and assembling structures to make final projections for steel frame structures subjected to elastic strain. Final projections serve to identify parameters of point forces and loads distributed along the length of rods. The process of identification means checking the difference between (1) weight coefficient matrices applied to unit loads and (2) actual loads standardized using maximum load values. Cases of neural network training and parameters identification are provided for simple beams. The aim of this research is to enhance the reliability and durability of steel structures by predicting consequences of unfavorable load, including emergency impacts. The novelty of this study lies in the co-use of artificial intelligence elements and structural mechanics methods to predict load parameters using actual displacement curves of structures. This novel approach will enable engineering inspection teams to predict unfavorable load peaks, prevent emergency situations, and identify actual causes of emergencies triggered by excessive loading.

Comprehensive Inspection Solution for Boiler Water Wall Tube Corrosion

A substantial number of domestic coal-fired boilers, most of which have been in operation for numerous years, are susceptible to corrosion and tube ruptures within their high-temperature environment, often resulting in unplanned shutdowns. Despite the annual planned maintenance shutdowns, which involve routine inspections of water wall and furnace tubes to detect potential corrosion and erosion, the current non-destructive testing methods are generally localized. This approach, particularly with the considerable height variation of the water wall tubes (ranging from approximately 10 to 25 meters), may overlook segments with severe corrosion during localized ultrasonic thickness gauging. Although the experience of inspection teams reduces the chance of defect oversight, the demand for a comprehensive and effective inspection technique remains a priority for boiler operators. This study utilizes the characteristic of guided waves to propagate over a certain distance along pipelines, initiating an exploration into a comprehensive inspection solution for water wall tubes. Finite element simulation results demonstrate the suitability of utilizing a 120 kHz frequency for shear horizontal mode (SH0) testing on the fire side of water wall tubes. This mode effectively screens for localized corrosion within a 3-meter range. In the field of on-site boiler inspection, electromagnetic coils are employed to generate guided waves within water wall tubes. The gathered signals from each electromagnetic guided wave testing (EMGWT) are consolidated into a distribution map, indicating suspicious signal locations. Pulse eddy current testing (PECT) is employed to identify potential issues with guided waves without requiring surface preparation. If PECT reveals anomalies, the affected surface is polished, and phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) is conducted to quantitatively measure the remaining wall thickness due to corrosion. The theoretical exploration and on-site inspection outcomes affirm the feasibility of this approach, aimed at enhancing operational safety for boiler water wall tubes and mitigating the risks of tube ruptures and leaks. This comprehensive inspection solution amalgamates three advanced detection technologies, each capitalizing on its unique inspection characteristics to facilitate corrosion screening, corrosion scanning, and wall thickness sizing. Through the integration of these technologies, the overall inspection strategy ensures the utmost level of reliability.

Non-Violent Revenge — Analyzing the Elements of Revenge in Visual Works in the Context of the Era

Revenge often signifies the retaliation of the powerless against the powerful in various relationships such as gender, society, peers, or family, enabling the audience to derive satisfaction from the triumph of the underdog. This enduring appeal is why revenge narratives have remained prevalent throughout literary and cinematic history. Recent discussions have questioned whether characters in many contemporary film and television productions are excessively “weak.” The emergence of numerous dark hero narratives such as Empresses in the Palace, The Glory, Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, and The Knockout has sparked extensive debate on violent revenge-themed visual media. In this context, drawing from a synthesis of literature and analysis of works like The Great Jang-Geum, Like a Flowing River 3, and Roving Inspection Team, this paper proposes the concept of non-violent revenge. Moreover, building upon the idea of non-violent revenge, it discusses revenge elements in visual media within the context of their respective eras, exploring new revenge ideologies and the societal significance reflected in visual media, thus envisioning new avenues for revenge aesthetics.

Revision of China’s marine environmental protection law: history, background and improvement

The law on marine environmental protection is a branch of the law on environmental protection and is the basis for the conduct of marine environmental protection. Since its promulgation in 1982, China’s Marine Environmental Protection Law has undergone two revisions and three amendments, forming a legal system based on the Constitution, with the Environmental Protection Law as the overarching principle, the Marine Environmental Protection Law as the core, and various laws on the protection of marine elements as the gripping force. The revision of the Marine Environmental Protection Law in 2023 was based on the 2018 supervision and inspection of the enforcement inspection team of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the implementation of the construction of a strong maritime country, and the adaptation to the reform of the ocean governance system. Compared with the previous Marine Environmental Protection Law, the improvements of the newly revised law are mainly reflected in the following: optimizing the institutional mechanism, reflecting the Land and Sea Coordination, strengthening supervision and management, strengthening marine litter pollution prevention and control, enhancing the protection of marine biodiversity, strengthening the regulation of estuaries, and strict liability.

Rapid detection of the source of a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak in Switzerland through routine interviewing of patients and whole-genome sequencing.

Listeriosis is a notifiable disease in Switzerland. In summer 2022, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health noticed an increase in reports of listeriosis cases, indicating a possible ongoing outbreak. Here we present the approaches applied for rapidly confirming the outbreak, detecting the underlying source of infection and the measures put in place to eliminate it and contain the outbreak. For close surveillance and early detection of outbreak situations with their possible sources, listeriosis patients in Switzerland are systematically interviewed about risk behaviours and foods consumed prior to the infection.Listeria monocytogenesisolates derived from patients in medical laboratories are sent to the National Reference Laboratory for Enteropathogenic Bacteria and Listeria, where they routinely undergo whole-genome sequencing. Interview and whole-genome sequencing data are continuously linked for comparison and analysis. In summer 2022, 20 patient-derivedL. monocytogenesserotype 4b sequence type 388 strains were found to belong to an outbreak cluster (≤10 different alleles between neighbouring isolates) based on core genome multilocus sequence typing analysis. Geographically, 18 of 20 outbreak cases occurred in northeastern Switzerland. The median age of patients was 77.4 years (range: 58.1-89.7), with both sexes equally affected. Rolling analysis of the interview data revealed smoked trout from a local producer as a suspected infection source, triggering an on-site investigation of the production facility and sampling of the suspected products by the responsible cantonal food inspection team on 15 July 2022. Seven of ten samples tested positive forL. monocytogenesand the respective cantonal authority ordered a ban on production and distribution as well as a product recall. The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office released a nationwide public alert covering the smoked fish products concerned. Whole-genome sequencing analysis confirmed the interrelatedness of theL. monocytogenessmoked trout product isolates and the patient-derived isolates. Following the ban on production and distribution and the product recall, reporting of new outbreak-related cases rapidly dropped to zero. This listeriosis outbreak could be contained within a relatively short time thanks to identification of the source of contamination through the established combined approach of timely interviewing of every listeriosis patient or a representative and continuous molecular analysis of the patient- and food-derivedL. monocytogenesisolates. These findings highlight the effectiveness of this well-established, joint approach involving the federal and cantonal authorities and the research institutions mandated to contain listeriosis outbreaks in Switzerland.

Involvement of Lay Assessors in the Inspection and Regulation of Public Services: A Systematic Review

Public services have increasingly sought to use lay assessors (often known as “experts by experience”) as members of inspection teams in health, social care, and education settings. This involvement has been credited as giving more influence to users over how services ought to run. Yet, little is known about the process or outcome of engaging with lay assessors. We conducted a systematic review to understand the benefits and challenges of involving lay assessors in the inspection of public services. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched the literature in English using five bibliographic databases with the date of publication limited to 2000 onward. Across 27 eligible studies, results suggest that including diverse views and perspectives is a strength, yet little consideration is given to issues of “representativeness” of lay assessors or the power differentials within mixed groups that can shape which perspectives gain dominance. Despite a frequent rehearsal of the many benefits of involving lay assessors in inspections as a potential force to drive up the quality of inspections and inspected services, the impact of including lay assessors in inspections in terms of improving services was hard to determine. When designing training for lay assessors, services needed to carefully consider the tension between maintaining the assessor’s “naive eye” versus becoming “professionalised.” It was also apparent that expectations are often not clearly shared over how lay perspectives could be included in final inspection reports, thus risking disengagement. Involving lay assessors is still a fairly novel, yet rich and meaningful way to improve services, yet a lack of clear expectations, and typical exclusion of lay assessors in setting standards for regulation, can still act as barriers to meaningful involvement, preventing lay views from being heard and acted upon.

Game-theoretic learning for the coordination of drone teams in autonomous cooperative inspection

Without the need for an on-board pilot, drones are designed to accomplish dull, dangerous and dirty missions. However, if a mission exhibits a large operative area and/or several objectives, it may entail poor performance when executed by a single drone. Drone teams may overcome this issue by acting as mobile sensor networks for proximal sensing. In such networks, cooperative autonomy is a key enabling behaviour for achieving resilient and cost-efficient systems. This work implements cooperative autonomous behaviour in the form of a dynamic and decentralized mission planner for a multi-drone inspection mission. The proposed design exploits multi-agent task allocation, distributed route planning and game theory for the assignment of inspection tasks and for the processing of optimal routes in reasonable time frames and with limited communication. In detail, it applies the learning-in-games framework for the coordination within the inspection team, by studying some ad-hoc variants of best response and of log linear learning. Moreover, this work presents some numerical results of model-in-the-loop tests for a comparison between the learning-in-games approaches.

Policy uncertainty and land transaction prices in China

Economic policy uncertainty has prominent effects on investment and output. Using unique transaction-level data in China, this paper explores the impact of economic policy uncertainty on land transaction premiums in China. On average, a 1% increase in the policy uncertainty level reduces land transaction premiums by 3.907 percentage points. The impact of policy uncertainty is more profound for firms with tighter financial constraints and land located in cities with lower rent-to-price ratios. The influence of policy uncertainty becomes weaker after the anti-corruption campaign in China, especially in provinces scrutinised by the central inspection teams, implying that improvements in the political environment alleviates the impact of policy uncertainty.

Quality inspection personnel training and team construction research of power plant installation and construction units

Quality inspection personnel training and team construction research of power plant installation and construction units

Analysis of Workplace Accident Potential in the Spinning Department at PT. Panca Bintang Tunggal Sejahtera, Indonesia Using the HIRA and SCAT Methods

Occupational accidents frequently occurred in the spinning department of PT. Panca Bintang Tunggal Sejahtera, Indonesia, in the past year. The purpose of this study is to minimize the number of work accidents in the department by knowing the risk value, sequence of events, and incidents factors. The research method used is the HIRA method for classifying the risk level of each hazard and the SCAT method for finding factors causing work accidents. According to the HIRA approach, 28 hazards were found in 7 yarn spinning process activities in the spinning department including 3 potential hazards with extreme risk (11%), 10 potential hazards with high risk (36%), 8 potential hazards with medium risk (28%), and 7 potential hazards with low risk (25%). From the SCAT implementation, it is revealed that all activities require control and changes, especially in work process activities where there are hazards with extreme risk. The proposed improvements are to complete the procurement of PPE, add OHS signs, provide outreach and training to all employees related to OHS, and form an inspection team to supervise workers related to OHS.

Ofsted, quality assure yourself! Applying current inspection criteria to assure the quality of current inspection

With tongue in cheek, I have modified key paragraphs in the current school inspection framework to help those monitoring inspections for quality-assurance purposes judge the quality of inspection teams. Reading them reveals the demanding nature of those expectations and raises the question as to how far inspectors can reasonably be expected to meet them – just as the same question can be posed to problems of the original paragraphs when applied to school teachers and leaders. The modified framework might also be used as the basis for self-evaluation by inspection teams or as a feedback form for schools to submit after an inspection.

Training Maltese inspectors in using hospital standards: a Maltese and Dutch public collaboration

Abstract Background The Maltese Department for Health Regulation sought the support of the Dutch National Health Care Institute in drafting acute hospital standards and in training respective inspectors in applying those standards. The aim was to create SMART standards for public and private hospitals thereby diminishing preventable suffering and waste. Objectives The project started in 2018 with a situational analysis of Maltese hospital care and of training needs, followed by interactive workshops with key stakeholders, and the subsequent development of draft standards. Due to COVID-19, the work was curtailed during 2020-2021. Over the course of 2022 draft standards have been finalized, a three-day training was delivered including mock inspections of Dutch hospitals, followed by a final session in January 2023 in which the inspectors received feedback from the Dutch faculty on their use of the draft standards in the Maltese setting. Results The licensing standards describe tasks and responsibilities of hospital leadership with respect to quality and safety, as well as reporting structures such as key performance indicators, and incidents that affect patient care. The training focused on the importance of Safety-II regulation. Interviews took place to explore inspectors’ experiences. Inspectors reported that using these standards facilitates open communication. They are in a better position to enter into a more meaningful and constructive dialogue with hospital management and professionals on how they can safeguard quality of care. Conclusions During the development of the hospital standards and the training, inspection team members have gained a clear vision on their role and position towards healthcare providers, and of their responsibilities in stimulating proactive quality and safety management and a learning culture in Maltese hospital care. The standards outline will support the licensing authority to protect patient safety through a collaborative regulatory approach. Key messages • The interactive work done by Maltese experts and Dutch policy advisors resulted in explicit quality standards for public and private hospitals. • The training has empowered inspectors to foster a governance structure in acute hospitals, to encourage an accountable and learning culture and to enter into an open dialogue on quality and safety.

Ceci N’est Pas Une Bombe: Lessons from a Field Experiment Using Neutron and Gamma Measurements to Confirm the Absence of Nuclear Weapons

In March 2023, the UN Institute for Disarmament Research held a verification experiment that included a mockup onsite inspection at a former military facility in the municipality of Menzingen, Switzerland. The experiment included a visit to the site by an inspection team, accompanied by the host team. Among other activities, radiation measurements were used to confirm the non-nuclear nature of selected items stored onsite. In this paper, we discuss the neutron and gamma measurement systems used during the experiment and the inspection protocols followed to confirm the absence of nuclear weapons. Results from the experiment and a laboratory reproduction are presented, before concluding with lessons learned for how absence-confirmation measurements can help support verification of future arms control agreements.

Prevalence of cysticercosis in cattle slaughterhouses in the western region of Minas Gerais, Brazil (2013-2020): Influence of sanitary regulations in reducing risks to human health.

Bovine cysticercosis is a foodborne zoonosis that has a worldwide distribution, and its highest prevalence is found in developing countries with a large volume of cattle production, such as Brazil. The objective was to evaluate the prevalence of cysticercosis during seven years in three slaughterhouses located in the western region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and the impacts of the legislation on the identification and destination of infected carcasses. Three slaughterhouses (Sl) were selected for this study with averages of 200 (SlA), 721 (SlB) and 1138 (SlC) bovines slaughtered per day. The monthly number of slaughtered cattle, infected carcasses with cysticercosis and destination were used to calculate the condemnation occurrence index (COI) and the adjusted seasonal index (ASI). To assess the impact of the legislation, the prevalence rate and destination of infected carcasses were subdivided into the PRE (January 2013 to March 2017) and POST (April 2017 to December 2020) period of Decree 9013 of 2017 and the results were compared by chi-square (P<0.05). SlA recorded the highest cysticercosis rate with 1.54 % and SlC the lowest rate with 0.33 %. In addition, it was observed that in the POST period there was an increase in the identification of infected carcasses in SlA and B (P<0.05). The POST period also resulted in a change in the relative frequency of infected carcasses destination in the three slaughterhouses (P<0.05). The ASI identified an increase in infected carcasses in February and a decrease in November for SlB, proving to be an important tool for planning the inspection team trainings. These results show that the disease is still present in the studied region and highlight the benefits of using the One Health concept in the evaluation of a time series prevalence of bovine cysticercosis by: identifying seasonality of the disease, trends during the time period and impacts brought by updates in the national sanitary legislation.

Automatic Inspection System for Segregation of Defective Parts of Heavy Vehicles

Defect Detection is a crucial process in the manufacturing industry. Most of the manufacturing parts tend to get scratches, dents, etc. on their surface during the manufacturing process. Such parts are defective and are not acceptable for further use. So, it is essential to inspect parts before they can be dispatched further. To detect such defects, a team of skilled persons is deployed; which does manual visual inspection of parts to detect those defects. In manual inspection, chances of missing small defects are pretty high. Not only that but it also takes a considerable amount of time. Moreover, the job is tedious and monotonous creating strain on the eyes of members of the inspection team. Some defects are even not visible to the naked eye. To make the process of visual inspection simple and easy, a deep learning Convolutional neural network (CNN) based model is proposed. Reason behind choosing a convolutional neural network is its capability to extract features efficiently as the task accuracy depends upon this capability. A custom dataset has been prepared with utmost care of illumination conditions, resolution of image, etc., so that a clear picture of parts with minute details can be captured. The model has been trained using the dataset thus prepared and containing 960 images and it is observed that it provides a good accuracy of 95%. The same model is deployed using an embedded board with a Jetson Nano processor to prepare a computer vision-based inspection system that can be used to differentiate between perfect and imperfect parts and thus help skilled personnel in the inspection process.

A Zone-Based Model for Analysis of Dependent Failures in Requirements Inspection

In the software development life cycle, the quality of the requirements specification affects the overall quality of the subsequent phases and hence, the software product. The requirements specification is usually inspected by an inspection team to detect defects. To enhance the quality of the requirements specification, one conventional strategy usually used is adding redundancies to the inspection team. However, this strategy suffers from the problem of dependent failures of the redundant inspectors which was not studied systematically in previous research. To analyze the dependent failures and independent failures in an inspection team, this paper first defines the independent failures and dependent failures in an inspection team from the perspective of human errors. Then a quantification model, i.e., the Zone-based Model, is proposed to analyze the dependent and independent failures. The Zone-based Model considers the following situations: 1) the probability of failures of an inspector may be high; 2) the probability of failures of the inspectors may be different; 3) the failures in an inspection team can be a combination of dependent failures and independent failures. By considering all those situations, the Z model has a meaningful interpretation and a convincing assessment of the failures of an inspection team. To verify the effectiveness of the new model, the Zone-based model is compared to conventional models using simulation data. The results show that the Zone-based model is significantly better than the traditional models in analyzing the independent and dependent failures.