On-site Workers Research Articles

Health Risk Assessment and Correlation Analysis on PCDD/Fs in the Fly Ash from a Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Plant

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in fly ash may pose health threats to onsite workers due to their inevitable dispersion in the working environments during recycling and disposal of fly ash from Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators (MSWIs). Here, PCDD/Fs in fly ash from an MSWI in Southern Taiwan was analyzed from several perspectives. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) Through multiple comparison analyses, it was revealed that four types of congeners (OCDD, OCDF, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF) have significantly higher concentrations than other species (p < 0.01). (2) 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF represented the main contributor to the total toxic equivalent concentration (TEQ). The top three candidate indicators of total TEQ are OCDF, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF and 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF, in which OCDF might be most powerful indicator of fly ash from similar sources. (3) It was indicated that all congeners correlated positively with each other (with R2 values in the range between 0.707–0.939); Meanwhile, the results of the cluster analysis unveiled the specific features of several congeners (such as 1,2,3,7,8,9-HxCDF, OCDD and OCDF). (4) Through assessing health risk with a Monte Carlo simulation, both the 95th percentile carcinogenic risk (CR) and non-carcinogenic risk (non-CR) for onsite workers exceeded the threshold limit and should be considered as significant risks for onsite workers. (5) The results of the sensitivity analysis suggested that concentration (CC) and exposure duration (ED) were the two most sensitive parameters in both the CR and non-CR assessment. The above findings could be useful for improving existing health risk mitigation/management strategies for onsite workers in waste incineration plants.

Development and Assessment of VR/AR Solution for Verification During the Construction Process

It is common occurrence that on-site workers misunderstand various detailing aspects of the provided documentation. Some of them can be unclear and should be discussed again due to construction related processes. In order to deal with this issue the application for mobile devices was proposed. The developed application allows to visualize two-dimensional print projects with the help of VR/AR (Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality) technology. The paper is focused on the assessment of the possibility to use the VR/AR technology during the process of construction. The feasibility of the solution is tested on the basis of a three-dimensional model created with the software operating in accordance with Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology. The developed mobile VR/AR solution was enhanced with basic functionality to verify structural members as well as entire structural system. Moreover, it allows to communicate in a simple manner, which can lead to the improving of the effectiveness and preventing the risk of construction errors.

Experimental tests on construction methods for a joint between concrete wall and steel girder involving long-time onsite welding

To create a joint between reinforced concrete (RC) walls and steel girders in high-rise buildings, the concrete around the embedded plate cannot avoid the damage due to the heat input from a long-time welding (6–48hours) of the embedded and gusset plates. A literature review showed insufficient research on evaluation of concrete damage due to the welding heat; furthermore, onsite construction workers did not have a clear solution to minimize the damage. In this study, five construction methods with different details are tested to analyze the effect of long-time (approximately 6hours) onsite welding on the high-strength concrete for the joint between gusset plates and the embedded plate in a high-rise building. Five full-scale specimens with different construction details were tested and analyzed in terms of four items: 1) temperature distribution measurements, 2) compressive strength tests, 3) neutralization tests, and 4) the characteristics of cracks. In this paper, the gusset plates made of SM490 (fy=325MPa) were welded over the embedded plates after 28days of curing of the concrete with a design strength of 55MPa. Based on the experimental results, it is found that the appropriate selection of construction methods subjected to a long-time onsite welding is to form a gap around the embedded steel plate to minimize the welding heat transfer from the steel plate to concrete.

Critical reflections on a visit to an inner-city primary health care clinic in Rio de Janeiro.

IntroductionBrazil and South Africa share many sociodemographic and health features that provide many learning opportunities. Brazil’s national health system, the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) prioritises primary health care since 1994, the year democracy came to South Africa. Two family physicians from these countries met in Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro, a densely populated area where poverty, danger, drugs, tuberculosis and mental illness are the focus of the health system.Maria do Socorro Family ClinicCentral to the SUS are the Family Health Teams, consisting of community health workers, nurses, doctors and allied health workers. This clinic in Rocinha has 11 teams, caring for 2700 people each, all visited monthly, preventing illness and promoting health. Patients with mental illness are cared for in a therapeutic residency, with an onsite psychiatrist, psychologist and social worker. The relationships between the health carers and the clinic and the community are collegial and equal, sharing care. Larger than life photos of patients from the community line the walls.TrainingA culture of learning is evident, with 18 family medicine residents, student nurses, a small library and a learning centre at the clinic. Local authorities compensate trainees in family medicine more than traditional specialties.ConclusionBrazil has made massive progress in providing universal health coverage over the last 20 years. South Africa, with not too dissimilar challenges, is embarking on this road more recently. The lessons learnt at clinic and community level in this inner-city clinic could be very useful for similar settings in South Africa and other countries.

森林組合における内勤従業員の職務と待遇（原著論文）（特集 林業経営の展開と労働問題-その担い手像-）

森林組合における内勤従業員の職務と待遇（原著論文）（特集 林業経営の展開と労働問題-その担い手像-）

PCDD/Fs distribution characteristics and health risk assessment in fly ash discharged from MSWIs in China

This study provided distribution and health risk information of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in fly ash from 4 municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs) in four seasons from four sites, including Zhengzhou City in Henan Province, Chuzhou City in Anhui Province, Jilin City in Jilin Province and Zibo City in Shandong Province. The toxic equivalent concentration (I-TEQ) values of PCDD/Fs ranged from 0.0707 to 0.7742ng I-TEQ/g, and no identical sequence occurred during four seasons in different sampling sites. The stabilization process might efficiently reduce the content and toxicology of PCDD/Fs in fly ash. The value of PCDD/PCDF in fly ash ranged from 0.145 to 0.787 after solidification. The characteristic index (DCI) of 2,3,4,7,8-P5CDF was 0.803 with 6.6% under 95% probability for fly ash samples discharged from MSWIs. The 95th percentile carcinogenic risks (CRs) for onsite workers were lower than the threshold value (10−5), suggesting that the cancer risk levels of PCDD/Fs in fly ash for onsite workers were acceptable. The 95th percentile non-carcinogenic risks (non-CRs) for onsite workers were lower than 1, suggesting no obvious non-carcinogenic effect was developed for onsite workers. This paper provide an overview information on the distribution of PCDD/Fs in fly ash during four seasons, and it could be used as an important fingerprint to distinguish the fly ash sources. Thus, the research could provide basic information for fly ash management in environment.

Improving Perinatal Mental Health Care for Women Veterans: Description of a Quality Improvement Program.

Purpose We describe results from a quality improvement project undertaken to address perinatal mental healthcare for women veterans. Description This quality improvement project was conducted in a single VA healthcare system between 2012 and 2015 and included screening for depressive symptoms with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) three times during the perinatal period, a dedicated maternity care coordinator (MCC), an on-site clinical social worker, and an on-site obstetrician/gynecologist (Ob/gyn). Information on prior mental health diagnosis was collected by the MCC or Ob/gyn. The prevalence of perinatal depressive symptoms and receipt of mental healthcare among those with such symptoms are reported by presence of a pre-pregnancy mental health diagnosis. Assessment Of the 199 women who used VA maternity benefits between 2012 and 2015, 56% (n = 111) had at least one pre-pregnancy mental health diagnosis. Compared to those without a pre-pregnancy mental health diagnosis, those with such a diagnosis were more likely to be screened for perinatal depressive symptoms at least once (61.5% vs. 46.8%, p = 0.04). Prevalence of depressive symptoms was 46.7% among those with a pre-pregnancy mental health diagnosis and 19.2% among those without. Among those with a pre-pregnancy mental health diagnosis and depressive symptoms (n = 35), 88% received outpatient mental healthcare and 77% met with the clinical social worker. Among those without a pre-pregnancy mental health diagnosis and depressive symptoms (n = 8), none received outpatient mental healthcare, but 77.8% met with the clinical social worker. Conclusion Improving perinatal mental healthcare for women veterans requires a multidisciplinary approach, including on-site integrated mental healthcare.

An Approach to Develop Video Tutorials for Construction Tasks

Effective communication between parties involved in a project is always considered a vital factor for a successful project. The construction industry's driving workforce i.e. the workers on site is mostly reliant upon verbal instructions for task execution due to limited capacity and resources of contractors. The existing construction labors are usually instructed verbally on the site which at times makes it more difficult for the low-skilled category workers to comprehend the task due to factors like less education and language related communication barriers. This reliance on human-variable verbal instructions causes ineffective communication which might leads to situations like inadequate productivity, workface questions, rework and unsafe conditions on the site. In order to overcome the shortcomings lying under the typical verbal instructional methodology, studies have surfaced with the objectives to make human variable process uniform with written instructions alongside relevant construction drawings. However, this paper-based instructional methodology can also be less impactful among less-skilled construction workers due to their lack of knowledge and visualization capabilities about particular tasks. Instances of multiple languages in this globalized construction world also result in increasing communication barriers.With an intention to make communication more effective with the on-site workers, the study proposes the formulation of visual task instructions with BIM innovation. This study presents a model for developing virtually animated video tutorials of construction tasks with an easy and comprehensible instructional content. These video based task instructions following how-to- do thematic design will create ease in elaborating sequential steps to workers for easy following on the ground.

Enhancing nuclear power plant safety via on-site mental fatigue management

Nuclear incidents and accidents have occurred at various nuclear power plants. Since some of these incidents and accidents caused by human errors might be preventable, numerous researchers argue that fatigue management for on-site workers is the key, especially for mental fatigue. Thus, this study proposes an approach consisting of two mechanisms. A fatigue monitor could identify the mentally fatigued workers by detecting their brain wave rhythms through a brain-computer interface. For such workers, a fatigue alert would awaken them. If the status of the mentally fatigued workers becomes worse, based on a positioning technique (i.e., wireless networks), this mechanism would alert the nearby workers and managers to deal with this condition. The test results indicate that the proposed approach enhanced the capacity to examine the mentally fatigued workers, ensured the accuracy in locating these workers, and avoided possible nuclear incidents. This study is a useful reference for similar applications in the nuclear industry.

Research on Optimization Design of Lifting Mechanism of Hot Air Drying Room Gate

Artificial hand lifting device for the traditional hot air drying oven door is optimized by design UG software to provide power to the lifting device of hydraulic pump. Thus driving the working mechanism to realize linear reciprocating rotary motion. This improvement improves safety during drying efficiency and the drying room door landing, convenient on-site workers the operation, improve the operation environment.

계절 특성을 고려한 독성 피해예측에 따른 위기대응 고도화에 관한 연구

오늘날 주민 생활공간과 인접해 있는 산업단지의 노후화 문제는 지역사회 안전을 위협하는 원인으로 지적되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 현행의 위험도 분석 및 지역사회 고지범위를 제고하기 위해 대안의 사고시나리오의 영향범위와 계절별 기상 최빈값을 활용하여 모사된 영향범위를 비교 분석하였고, 시간대별로 관측된 풍향을 계절별로 검토하여 독성물질 누출 시 피해 가능성이 높은 지역을 예측하였다. 또한 인명피해를 최소화하기 위한 한계 대피시간 및 최소 이격거리를 제시하였으며, 비상대응에 활용되고 있는 위해관리계획서를 고찰하여 인근 근로자 및 주민에 대해 한층 더 합리적인 안전대책이 이루어질 수 있도록 제언하였다. Today the issue of deterioration of industrial complexes that are located close to life space of residents has been raised as a cause of threats to the safety of local communities. In this study, in order to improve the current risk analysis and scope of community notification, simulated threat zones were comparatively analyzed by utilizing the threat zones of alternative accident scenarios and modes of seasonal weather, and the area with a high probability of damage upon the leakage of toxic substances was predicted by examining wind directions observed at each time slot for each season. In addition, limit evacuation time and minimum separation distance to minimize casualties were suggested, and a proposal to enable more reasonable safety measures for on-site workers and nearby residents made by reviewing the risk management plan currently utilized for emergency response.

Location, Location, Location: Teaching About Neighborhoods in Pediatrics

Location, Location, Location: Teaching About Neighborhoods in Pediatrics

An integrated risk sensing system for geo-structural safety

Over the last decades, geo-structures are experiencing a rapid development in China. The potential risks inherent in the huge amount of construction and asset operation projects in China were well managed in the major project, i.e. the project of Shanghai Yangtze tunnel in 2002. Since then, risk assessment of geo-structures has been gradually developed from a qualitative manner to a quantitative manner. However, the current practices of risk management have been paid considerable attention to the assessment, but little on risk control. As a result, the responses to risks occurrences after a comprehensive assessment are basically too late. In this paper, a smart system for risk sensing incorporating the wireless sensor network (WSN) on-site visualization techniques and the resilience-based repair strategy was proposed. The merit of this system is the real-time monitoring for geo-structural performance and dynamic pre-warning for safety of on-site workers. The sectional convergence, joint opening, and seepage of segmental lining of shield tunnel were monitored by the micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) based sensors. The light emitting diode (LED) coupling with the above WSN system was used to indicate different risk levels on site. By sensing the risks and telling the risks in real time, the geo-risks could be controlled and the safety of geo-structures could be assured to a certain degree. Finally, a resilience-based analysis model was proposed for designing the repair strategy by using the measured data from the WSN system. The application and efficiency of this system have been validated by two cases including Shanghai metro tunnel and underwater road tunnel.

개방형BIM기반 2D도면 자동 생성 프로그램 개발에 관한 연구

Especially for resolving BIM data compatibility issue, as one of recently raised BIM technology issues, has also been improved by using open BIM, representatively using IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) format. As shown in many case studies, usefulness of BIM technology is increasing day by day, and the IFC-based open BIM technology is essential in recent AEC projects where the productive collaboration is of importance. One of current problems in actual projects is that there is a conflict between conventional ways and newly developed BIM ways. Using both conventional and new technologies leads construction workers to having more work loads, consequently the efficiency and productivity of on-site workers have been decreased. Thus, it is strongly necessary to facilitate 3D BIM models to extract and generate 2D precision drawings in automation, especially using open BIM technologies. Some native BIM authoring tools have limitations in there automatic generation of 2D drawings, and there is no standardized mechanism to generate 2D drawings from heterogeneous applications. For this reason, this paper aims to develop an automated stand-alone program to generate 2D drawings in automation using IFC file, totally independent from various BIM authoring tools. By using the application described in this paper, any type of general drawings such as plan, section and elevation can be extracted without additional efforts. The development approach described in this paper, based on the open BIM technologies, has a strong impact to the current process especially in the perspective of enhancing productivity when we need to find out a trade-off in-between conventional and new approaches.

The longitudinal mental health impact of Fukushima nuclear disaster exposures and public criticism among power plant workers: the Fukushima NEWS Project study.

The Fukushima Daiichi and Daini Nuclear Power Plant workers experienced multiple stressors as both victims and onsite workers after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent nuclear accidents. Previous studies found that disaster-related exposures, including discrimination/slurs, were associated with their mental health. Their long-term impact has yet to be investigated. A total of 968 plant workers (Daiichi, n = 571; Daini, n = 397) completed self-written questionnaires 2-3 months (time 1) and 14-15 months (time 2) after the disaster (response rate 55.0%). Sociodemographics, disaster-related experiences, and peritraumatic distress were assessed at time 1. At time 1 and time 2, general psychological distress (GPD) and post-traumatic stress response (PTSR) were measured, respectively, using the K6 scale and Impact of Event Scale Revised. We examined multivariate covariates of time 2 GPD and PTSR, adjusting for autocorrelations in the hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Higher GPD at time 2 was predicted by higher GPD at time 1 (β = 0.491, p < 0.001) and discrimination/slurs experiences at time 1 (β = 0.065, p = 0.025, adjusted R 2 = 0.24). Higher PTSR at time 2 was predicted with higher PTSR at time 1 (β = 0.548, p < 0.001), higher age (β = 0.085, p = 0.005), and discrimination/slurs experiences at time 1 (β = 0.079, p = 0.003, adjusted R 2 = 0.36). Higher GPD at time 2 was predicted by higher GPD and discrimination/slurs experience at time 1. Higher PTSR at time 2 was predicted by higher PTSR, higher age, and discrimination/slurs experience at time 1.

Composition profiles and health risk of PCDD/F in outdoor air and fly ash from municipal solid waste incineration and adjacent villages in East China

In present study, composition profiles and health risk of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in outdoor air and fly ash from domestic waste treatment center (DWTC) were studied. In addition, the composition profiles and health risk of PCDD/F in outdoor air from adjacent villages were researched and used to quantitatively analyze the difference between onsite workers and adjacent villagers. Moreover, the difference between old intake method and new inhalation dosimetry method in the process of assessing the health risk of PCDD/Fs in outdoor air was quantitatively compared and analyzed. The results of this study were summarized as follows. (1) The 95th percentile carcinogenic risk (CR) and non-carcinogenic risk (non-CR) for onsite workers and adjacent villagers were much lower than the threshold values of 10−6 and 1.0, respectively, suggesting no potential health risk. (2) The 95th percentile CR for onsite workers was 1.27×10−8 and was 64.8 times higher than that of adjacent villagers (1.99×10−10). (3) The 95th percentile non-CR for onsite workers and adjacent villagers were 1.37×10−4 and 1.31×10−7, respectively. (3) Accidental ingestion of fly ash was the largest contributor to CR and non-CR for onsite workers, contributing 62.98% and 64.04% to CR and non-CR, respectively. (4) The CR and non-CR of PCDD/Fs in outdoor air for onsite workers and adjacent villagers which calculated by old intake method was much higher than the results from new inhalation dosimetry method. The results quantitatively showed the levels and potential risks of PCDD/Fs posed by a DWTC site, which can be helpful to predict the influence from DWTC sites and promote the management of DWTC in China.

A contribution to the analysis of equity associated with high-level radioactive waste management

Risk distribution is a core problem in the context of risk management. In this respect, the issue of equity with regard to the management of high-level radioactive waste is complex and has given rise to substantial literature, mainly related to the notions of consent, compensation or sustainable development. This paper aims at contributing to this debate by analysing one aspect often neglected in the ethical literature, namely the question of equity associated with the health impact of different management strategies. Therefore, we will assess qualitatively the potential exposure of individuals in the case of three management strategies – surface storage, non-retrievable geological disposal, and retrievable geological disposal –, and we will compare the results using a criterion of Rawlsian inspiration, which states that the fairest option is the one for which the least well-off groups are as well-off as possible. Our analysis shows that non-retrievable geological disposal is favoured in this regard for each vulnerable group, namely local communities, and on-site workers.

Predicting movements of onsite workers and mobile equipment for enhancing construction site safety

Tens of thousands of time-loss injuries and deaths are annually reported from the construction sector, and a high percentage of them are due to the workers being struck by mobile equipment on sites. In order to address this site safety issue, it is necessary to provide proactive warning systems. One critical part in such systems is to locate the current positions of onsite workers and mobile equipment and also predict their future positions to prevent immediate collisions. This paper proposes novel Kalman filters for predicting the movements of the workers and mobile equipment on the construction sites. The filters take the positions of the equipment and workers estimated from multiple video cameras as input, and output the corresponding predictions on their future positions. Moreover, the filters could adjust their predictions based on the worker or equipment's previous movements. The effectiveness of the filters has been tested with real site videos and the results show the high prediction accuracy of the filters.

Ambient exposure to coarse and fine particle emissions from building demolition

Demolition of buildings produce large quantities of particulate matter (PM) that could be inhaled by on-site workers and people living in the neighbourhood, but studies assessing ambient exposure at the real-world demolition sites are limited. We measured concentrations of PM10 (≤10 μm), PM2.5 (≤2.5 μm) and PM1 (≤1 μm) along with local meteorology for 54 working hours over the demolition period. The measurements were carried out at (i) a fixed-site in the downwind of demolished building, (ii) around the site during demolition operation through mobile monitoring, (iii) different distances away from the demolition site through sequential monitoring, and (iv) inside an excavator vehicle cabin and on-site temporary office for engineers. Position of the PM instrument was continuously recorded using a Global Positioning System on a second basis during mobile measurements. Fraction of coarse particles (PM2.5–10) contributed 89 (with mean particle mass concentration, PMC ≈ 133 ± 17 μg m−3), 83 (100 ± 29 μg m−3), and 70% (59 ± 12 μg m−3) of total PMC during the fixed-site, mobile monitoring and sequential measurements, respectively, compared with only 50% (mean 12 ± 6 μg m−3) during the background measurements. The corresponding values for fine particles (PM2.5) were 11, 17 and 30% compared with 50% during background, showing a much greater release of coarse particles during demolition. The openair package in R and map source software (ArcGIS) were used to assess spatial variation of PMCs in downwind and upwind of the demolition site. A modified box model was developed to determine the emission factors, which were 210, 73 and 24 μg m−2 s−1 for PM10, PM2.5 and PM1, respectively. The average respiratory deposited doses to coarse (and fine) particles inside the excavator cabin and on-site temporary office increased by 57- (and 5-) and 13- (and 2-) times compared with the local background level, respectively. The monitoring stations in downwind direction illustrated a logarithmic decrease of PM with distance. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to assess physicochemical features of particles. The minerals such as silica were found as a marker of demolition dust and elements such as sulphur coming from construction machinery emissions. Findings of this study highlight a need to limit occupational exposure of individuals to coarse and fine particles by enforcing effective engineering controls.

Case Study of Integrated Prefab Accommodations System for Migrant On-Site Construction Workers in China

AbstractSerious labor shortages in the construction industry have emerged in China in recent years. This has led to a significant need for the industry to improve the poor accommodations and inferior conditions of living quarters for migrant workers by applying both technical and management methods. In order to address the problem of improving the accommodations for rural migrant construction workers in urban China, this paper uses modular construction technology to develop an innovative integrated prefabricated (prefab) accommodation system for construction workers on site. The current status of the traditional construction workers’ quarters is investigated to reveal the most urgent problems in terms of health, safety, and environmental considerations. By analyzing barriers that block innovation to improved workers’ quarters, the integrated prefab accommodation system is proposed in detail, with the quarters’ design and operational management mode taken into account. The developed system can provide more...