Semi-quantitative Risk Assessment Research Articles

Occupational Exposure and Risk Assessment of Formaldehyde in the Pathology Departments of Hospitals.

Background and Objective:Exposure to formaldehyde has adverse effects on health both acutely and over the long term (e.g., carcinogenicity). The substance is widely used in pathology and histology departments. This study focused on cancer risk of formaldehyde in pathology department of five hospitals in Rasht. Materials and Methods:Sampling and determination of formaldehyde in pathology department were carried out based on the NIOSH method of 3500. The working condition and working environment were investigated and a semi quantitative risk assessment were used to health risk assessment of formaldehyde and The individual lifetime cancer probability, which is defined as the increase in the probability of developing cancer during continuous exposure to an air pollutant were used to assess health risks with formaldehyde. Results:The results showed that the exposure level of all subjects were higher than the Occupational Exposure Limit for 8 hours exposure time of formaldehyde. However, in the five occupational groups, the highest weekly exposure index was observed for the Lab Technicians (0.664 ppm) at Hospital no. 5, which could have been due to more daily working hours at this sampling site and a lack of adequate ventilation. The formaldehyde concentration was in the 0.0192 to 0.326 ppm ranges for five hospital pathology departments. The cancer risk ranged from 9.52×10-5 to 1.53×10-3, and it was greater than the WHO acceptable cancer risk level.Conclusions:The results of the risk assessments can be used for managing the chemical exposure of allocated resources for defining control actions. This process plays an important role in reducing the level of exposure to formaldehyde in pathology departments.

Landslide hazard probability and risk assessment at the community level: a case of western Hubei, China

Abstract. Small communities living in mountainous terrain in Hubei province are often affected by landslides. Previous studies by the China Geological Survey focused on the 1:100 000 scale. Therefore, a more detailed assessment, especially at the community level, is urgently required by local governments for risk management. In this study, we conducted a more detailed semiquantitative landslide and risk assessment at the community level using a scale of 1:10 000. We applied the probabilistic method to assess landslide spatial, temporal, and size probabilities, while the hazard and risk assessment were considered for four return periods (5, 10, 20, and 50 years) and two size scenarios (landslide volume). The spatial probability from susceptibility mapping with an accuracy of 84 % indicates that the major controlling factors are Quaternary deposits and weathered eluvium from Ordovician limestones. This study revealed that most building areas in hazard maps are at the foot of major slopes with very high hazard probabilities, and therefore we computed the potential loss of life and property for each slope. The results reveal that 1530 people and USD 18 million worth of property were at risk of landslides within a 50-year return period and a landslide volume of 50 000 m3. The longer the return period is, the higher the hazard probability is. Compared with the classic inverse gamma and power law distribution of landslide magnitude and frequency, the function by the ordinary least squares method is more suitable for landslide size probability analysis of the study area. According to these methods, the proposed procedure of landslide risk assessment proves more useful than the existing data from the 1:100 000 scale in western Hubei, China.

Work Safety Risk Assessment at Container Load Unloading Jobs at PT. Pelabuhan Indonesia II (Persero) Palembang Branch 2017

Loading and unloading of container goods is carried out using cranes and truck containers as a means of transportation besides facilitating activities, which can also lead to the risk of workplace accidents. In 2014 there was a work accident in Kuningan Jakarta, workers were crushed by a container during the loading and unloading process. Container loading and unloading is a routine activity carried out at PT. Pelabuhan Indonesia II (Persero) Palembang Branch. This activity involves tools that can cause accidents such as being hit by a container and hit by a truck head, therefore a risk assessment is carried out on container loading and unloading work. The purpose of this study was to analyze occupational safety risk assessments on container loading and unloading work. This study uses a qualitative research design, using Job Safety Analysis (JSA) for the risk identification process, the US / NZ 4360: 1999 semi-quantitative risk assessment table for risk analysis and semi-quantitative risk level Cross (1988) for risk evaluation. The results of the study indicate that container loading and unloading work consists of the preparation stage, the operation phase of the QCC and the stage of moving containers. The risks identified based on the stage of work are overtaken by containers, falling from heights, collisions between head trucks, falling lifts, hit by a lock lock, getting hit by a truck head, falling into the river, collisions between QCCs and electric shock. The hazards included in the acceptable risk category include being crushed by repair equipment, hands pinched, tripping, slipping lubricants and head banging. The suggestion of this research is that all activities in the field should be carried out in accordance with the applicable regulations and supervision should be carried out more specifically in the use of PPE and conduct periodic health checks on workers. © 2020, Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. All rights reserved.

Semi-quantitative risk assessment of Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis L.) harvesting bans due to harmful algal bloom (HAB) incidents in Greece

The risk ranking of the severity and the consequences of site closures due to Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) incidents was estimated through the development of a numerical risk matrix for the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis L. commercial exploitation, in Greece. Results showed that site closures due to HABs that lasted more than 4 to 6 weeks during the harvest season (spring to late summer) could be catastrophic.

Design, Fabrication and Risk Assessment of IoT Unit for Products Manufactured in Industry 4.0 Factory

This paper deals with the design, fabrication and risk assessment of IoT unit to reliability improvement of products manufactured in the Industry 4.0 factory. The collected data from the manufactured products can provide feedback to the manufacturing company via the Internet of Things (IoT). The manufacturer can realize the optimization of the whole product and also its production process based on these data through digitization and other analyses. On the other hand, the customer can prove due to these data that the product was used within the technical conditions specified by the manufacturer. In the paper, the IoT unit with temperature and humidity sensors was designed. After that, the risk analysis of the design with a semi-quantitative risk assessment method was applied. Then, the four prototypes of the demonstration unit were made and tested. After the testing, recalculation of the risk analysis was realized. At the end, the recommendation of high risks mitigation were presented.

Supporting risk management decision making by converting linguistic graded qualitative risk matrices through interval type-2 fuzzy sets

Risk matrices are widely used to present results of qualitative and semi-quantitative risk assessment for risk management decision making. There are different types of risk matrix category definitions according to the function and risk acceptance criteria. This paper reviews some general weaknesses of current risk matrices and proposes a method to improve the reading ambiguity of linguistically graded qualitative risk matrices. Main topic of this paper is the type of risk matrix that grades event consequence and frequency categories in linguistic terms. Because different people understand the meaning of these terms differently, the aim is to convert subjective quantified term inputs produced by a number of experts independently as much as possible to objective values creating at the same time a clearer and more discriminative result. In other words, the method involves asking various expert users independently to estimate numerical intervals of linguistic grades of event consequence and frequency on a continuous scale while maintaining risk acceptance levels. It is applying a second-generation fuzzy logic technique to express linguistic terms in numbers, called computing with words. This interval type-2 fuzzy system has evolved lately as a decision-making support tool and appears to be well suited to handle uncertainty intrinsic to qualitative linguistic grades, fusing different individual expert estimates in an objective way and to facilitate the reading resolution by introducing gliding numerical scales instead of discrete categories. Examples are given to illustrate the method as well as the use of the technique to aggregate a number of different qualitative risk matrix types into one unified risk matrix. The latter is useful in case a corporate-wide risk matrix exists to standardize risk management across the company, but older versions may still be around which should be fused with the newer ones.

Proposed evacuation safety index (ESI) for school buildings

Purpose Schools are vulnerable to strong-magnitude earthquakes. The purpose of this study is to develop a seismic evacuation safety index (ESI) to assess school’s safety as a function of the following parameters: means of egress, disaster preparedness and disaster response. Moreover, the study aims to simulate and study an evacuation model to estimate evacuation time for a realistic understanding of the evacuation processes. Design/methodology/approach The paper used a semi-quantitative risk assessment method in developing the ESI. This was used to evaluate schools and classify them according to their level of evacuation safety. To estimate the evacuation time of each school, cellular automata theory and static floor field were used. Findings The paper provides primary school stakeholders important parameters that they should consider in preparing pre-disaster plans to ensure safe evacuation of school children. Research limitations/implications ESI focuses only on the means of egress, disaster preparedness and disaster response as the contributing factors. The structural conditions of each school building and assessment of non-structural elements are not considered. Practical implications The ESI and the evacuation model can be used as a basis for evacuation planning and decision-making. This can help building owners and administrators in strengthening their disaster risk management plan by enforcing mitigating measures. Originality/value ESI is an original idea and fills the gap regarding the safe evacuation of school children especially during a major seismic event.

Flood risk assessment of cultural heritage at large spatial scales: Framework and application to mainland Portugal

Abstract In a global context of increasing flood risk, the development of risk assessments that can effectively support disaster risk management strategies and policies is crucial. This is particularly relevant in the case of cultural heritage, given its socioeconomic value. Although there is a substantial body of literature on the topics of cultural heritage preservation and natural hazard impact mitigation in cultural heritage, the applicability of such studies is usually limited to single assets or sites. The assessment of cultural heritage flood risk at large spatial scales has received little research attention, which contrasts with the importance of the topic. This paper proposes a novel framework to perform semi-quantitative flood risk assessments to immovable cultural heritage assets in a large region, such as a country. The proposed framework employs various scientifically established concepts from the field of natural hazard risk in order to support the computation of coherent and comparable flood risk indices for each exposed asset. This framework can be used to provide a preliminary assessment of risk for a large number of cultural heritage assets with limited resources, as well as to identify those that warrant a more detailed evaluation of risk. The framework is illustrated through an application to immovable cultural heritage assets exposed to fluvial floods in mainland Portugal. This case study is used to discuss various issues related with data requirements, availability and reliability.

Application of Models for Occupational Health Risk Assessment to a Resin Anchorage Production Workshop

Objective to take the occupational health risk assessment in a resin anchorage production workshop by three models for occupational health risk assessment, and explore a suitable risk assessment model for this kind of production unit. Methods the occupational health status and main chemical hazard factors of a resin anchorage production workshop were investigated. Qualitative risk assessment and semi-quantitative risk assessment (contact limit ratio method and comprehensive index method) were used for risk assessment, and the results were compared and analysed. Results Comparing with comprehensive index method, the evaluation result of qualitative risk assessment and contact ratio method were closer to each other, but there was a big difference between the two methods in the determination of phthalic anhydride. Conclusion the three risk assessment methods had their own merits and demerits, the evaluation results were also different. The semi-quantitative risk assessment-contact limit ratio method is more suitable for the occupational risk assessment in resin anchorage production workshop.

A semi-quantitative Risk assessment method in process plants: confined spaces

The purpose of the present work was to develop a methodology for the confined spaces risk assessment in the workplace. Within the technological risk function, R=PxD, in order to account for the specific features of confined spaces, the probability of occurrence P was defined in two indices: the frequency of exposure to confined spaces, F, and the contact time I (strictly related to the complexity of the intervention that must be performed). The damage M has been separated into specific parameters considering the energy, the environment and the geometry of the confined space under examination, and in detail:an incorrect or not correctly signalled insulation that may lead to a sudden operation of part of the system with consequent accidental leakage of fluids or substances inside the confined space and / or movement of any mechanical part, with the energy damage factor DE;the atmosphere present in the confined space, which may be poorly oxygenated, corrosive, harmful, toxic or potentially explosive, with the environment damage factor DA.Moreover, as a specific corrective factor of damage factors, the criticality of the physical and geometrical characteristics of the confined space is evaluated, considering how it's easy for the worker to leave the confined space or to be rescued if he feels bad, with the factor of FCDG geometry damage correction. Once the damage factors have been identified and corrected with the FCDG factor, the specific risks of the confined space are evaluated by multiplying each damage factor by the probability of occurrence P, thus obtaining the index of:Risk of contact with hazardous substances or with moving mechanical parts;Asphyxiation risk;Chemical risk;Risk of fire and explosion.The application of this method to the confined spaces of a real process plant allowed to validate the methodology.

Semi-Quantitative Risk Assessment of Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Health Center Laboratories (Case Study)

Background: It is generally accepted that laboratory staff are often exposed to chemical risks in various ways. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the occupational exposure risk assessment from chemical substances utilized in the laboratories of health centers at Shahroud University of Medical Sciences in 2016 - 2017. Methods: The method used in this study was based on the methodology presented by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health-Ministry of Human Resources (DOSH). Also, descriptive statistics, as well as the chi-square statistical tests were used to examine the relationship between occupational incidents and independent variables. Results: Approximately 19.81% of the studied laboratories had a significant exposure risk such that 6.6% of laboratories had a very high-risk level and 13.21% had a high-risk level. The most dangerous substance was Formalin 10% solution (Formaldehyde solution). The lowest risks were accredited to the endocrinology and serology laboratory. Conclusions: It is recommended that hazardous chemicals (risk rating = 4 or 5) specifications be determined on a specific form. This form can include the chemical name, the chemical composition, the name of the test, which may use the specified chemical substance, the TLV values, and instructions for using the chemicals and the places where the chemicals are stored and maintained. Finally, the necessary training is provided on employee risk management. Also, it is recommended to work under ventilation hood and use of appropriate PPE.

Quantitative and semi-quantitative risk assessment of occupational exposure to lead among electrical solderers in Neyshabur, Iran.

Lead is one of the most widely used elements in the world. Lead can cause acute and chronic complications such as abnormal hemoglobin synthesis, kidney damage, abortion, nervous system disorders, male infertility, loss of learning ability, behavioral disorders, and even death. The aim of this study was to carry out quantitative and semi-quantitative risk assessments of exposure to lead among the solderers of the Neyshabur electronics industry. This cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study was conducted in 2017 and 2018 on 40 female soldering workers exposed to lead. Semi-quantitative risk assessment was carried out according to the Singapore Health Department and quantitative risk assessment according to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) method. The average occupational exposure to lead in the electronics manufacturing industry was 93.89 ± 33.40 μg m-3 with a range from 9 to 150 μg m-3. Occupational exposure to lead in the industrial groups of initial soldering with an average of 130.37 ± 40.23 μg m-3 and cutting wires, electroplating, and coating bare parts with an average of 110.24 ± 30.11 μg m-3 was higher than the secondary soldering groups with an average of 90.78 ± 20.22 and shift supervisors with an average of 43.86 ± 10.97 μg m-3. The mean excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) was 0.11 per 1000 people and the mean non-carcinogenic risk (HQ) was 7.20. The results of this study indicate that there is a risk of non-carcinogenic complications among electronic solderers. Therefore, managers and employers should reduce lead exposure through engineering controls (substituting lead-free alloys, efficient ventilation) and management strategies such as reducing exposure hours.

Semi-quantitative health risk assessment of exposure to chemicals in an aluminum rolling mill

The main goal of this study was to evaluate the health risks resulting from occupational exposure to chemicals in an aluminum rolling mill to propose effective control measures. Exposure of workers to chemicals was assessed based on the Singapore Health Department’s methodology. The health risks of exposure to the identified chemicals and the relative risk of developing cancer due to exposure to benzene were assessed. According to the results, the risk level of exposure to sulfuric acid in the washing line and to manganese in the manufacturing unit were high. In assessing the risk of developing cancer arising from benzene exposure, the lifetime cancer risk was found in the range 10−4–10−6 (the possible range). The results indicated that in the aluminum rolling industry, occupational exposure to 75% of the chemicals had a low risk level, 15% had a moderate risk level and 10% had a high risk level.

A Fuzzy-Based Risk Assessment Framework for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Under-Ice Missions.

The use of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for various scientific, commercial, and military applications has become more common with maturing technology and improved accessibility. One relatively new development lies in the use of AUVs for under-ice marine science research in the Antarctic. The extreme environment, ice cover, and inaccessibility as compared to open-water missions can result in a higher risk of loss. Therefore, having an effective assessment of risks before undertaking any Antarctic under-ice missions is crucial to ensure an AUV's survival. Existing risk assessment approaches predominantly focused on the use of historical fault log data of an AUV and elicitation of experts' opinions for probabilistic quantification. However, an AUV program in its early phases lacks historical data and any assessment of risk may be vague and ambiguous. In this article, a fuzzy-based risk assessment framework is proposed for quantifying the risk of AUV loss under ice. The framework uses the knowledge, prior experience of available subject matter experts, and the widely used semiquantitative risk assessment matrix, albeit in a new form. A well-developed example based on an upcoming mission by an ISE-explorer class AUV is presented to demonstrate the application and effectiveness of the proposed framework. The example demonstrates that the proposed fuzzy-based risk assessment framework is pragmatically useful for future under-ice AUV deployments. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates the validity of the proposed method.

Application of three semi-quantitative risk assessment methods in electroplating enterprises

Objective: To apply the semi-quantitative risk assessment model in the Technical Guidelines for Occupational Health Risk Assessment of Chemical Hazardous Factors in the Workplace to assess the occupational health risk of electroplating enterprises and explore its applicable conditions and characteristics. Methods: Three electroplating enterprises were selected as the research objects. Occupational hygiene survey and hazard factor detection were conducted on the spot. Three semi-quantitative risk assessment methods were used to assess the risk, and the evaluation results were compared. Results: The consistency between the contact index method and the comprehensive index method was strong. The weighted Kappa value was 0.946 and the P value was less than 0.001, but the consistency between the contact ratio method, the contact index method and the comprehensive index method was poor. The weighted Kappa value was 0.345 and 0.391, and the P value was 0.009 and 0.004, respectively. When the contact concentration is less than 50% OELs, the evaluation results of the contact ratio method are lower than those of the exponential method and the comprehensive exponential method. The consistency of the three methods was the highest when the contact concentration (>50%) and (<OELs). When the contact concentration >OELs, the results of the contact ratio method are higher than those of the index method and the comprehensive index method. Conclusion: Contact ratio method is suitable for occupational health risk assessment under the condition of incomplete occupational health information and for enterprise managers to identify key control points of health risk through self-assessment; Contact index method is suitable for hazard risk assessment of occupational hazards without sampling test conditions or OELs, and pre-assessment of occupational hazards of construction projects without access to analogical test data. The index method is suitable for occupational health risk assessment with available testing data and complete occupational health information.

Application of semi-quantitative risk assessment method in occupational health risk assessment of wooden furniture manufacturing enterprises

Objective: To explore the applicability of semi-quantitative risk assessment methods in wood furniture manufacturing companies. Methods: Two medium-sized wooden furniture manufactures were randomly selected as research objects, namely A company and B company. Used the Semi-Quantitative risk assessment method (the ratio method, the index method and the comprehensive method) in the "Guidelines for occupational health risk assessment of chemicals in the workplace" (GBZ/T 298-2017) to conduct occupational hygiene survey, occupational hazard factor testing and occupational health risk assessments for two wood furniture manufacturers from January to October 2018, and compared and analyzed the applicability of these three semi-quantitative risk assessment methods in wooden furniture manufacturing enterprises. Results: The occupational health status of A enterprises was worse than that of B enterprises, and the occupational health risk level was higher than that of B enterprises, and the risk level of A enterprise is 3~4, and the risk level of B enterprise is 2~3. The occupational health risk level obtained by the index method was consistent with the comprehensive method, while the risk level of some occupational disease hazards used the ratio method was inconsistent with the results of the index method and the comprehensive method. Compared with the index method and the comprehensive method, when E/OEL<0.5 or E/OEL≥2, there might be a certain fluctuation in the occupational health risk level obtained by the ratio method. Conclusion: The semi-quantitative risk assessment is more objective, comprehensive and flexible in the application of occupational health risk assessment, and can assess the occupational health risk level of chemical poisons in wood furniture manufacturing enterprises.

An integrated risk-based assessment of the North Sea to guide ecosystem-based management

This study provides an integrated perspective to ecosystem based management (EBM) by considering a diverse array of societal goals, i.e. sustainable food supply, clean energy and a healthy marine ecosystem, and a selection of management measures to achieve them. The primary aim of this exercise is to provide guidance for (more) integrated EBM in the North Sea based on an evaluation of the effectiveness of those management measures in contributing to the conservation of marine biodiversity. A secondary aim is to identify the requirements of the knowledge base to guide such future EBM initiatives.Starting from the societal goals we performed a scoping exercise to identify a “focal social-ecological system” which is a subset of the full social-ecological system but considered adequate to guide EBM towards the achievement of those societal goals. A semi-quantitative risk assessment including all the relevant human activities, their pressures and the impacted ecosystem components was then applied to identify the main threats to the North Sea biodiversity and evaluate the effectiveness of the management measures to mitigate those threats.This exercise revealed the need for such risk-based approaches in providing a more integrated perspective but also the trade-off between being comprehensive but qualitative versus quantitative but limited in terms of the “focal” part of the SES that can be covered. The findings in this paper provide direction to the (further) development of EBM and its knowledge base that should ultimately allow an integrated perspective while maintaining its capacity to deliver the accuracy and detail needed for decision-making.

Applied study of Singapore occupational semi-quantitative risk assessment technique in occupational health risk assessment in a chair furniture manufacturing enterprise

Objective: To assess the occupational health risk level of a small-scale furniture manufacturer, and to explore the applicability of the Singapore-developed semi-quantitative occupational risk assessment model for chemical exposure (Singapore model) in small-scale furniture manufacturers, and to provide a basis for the continuous occupational health management of manufacturers. Methods: A small-scale furniture manufacturer was selected as the study subject; an on-site occupational hygiene investigation was performed on the above manufacturer during April to June in 2017, and a risk assessment was carried out using the Singapore model. Results: The assessment results of the Singapore model indicated that risk levels of occupational exposure to harmful chemicals for the key positions in the workplace were inconsistent between the actual exposure level method and the exposure index method except for the following: high risk for formaldehyde exposure (risk level: 3.5 and 4.1, respectively) during woodworking process, high risk for dimethyl benzene exposure (risk level: 3.5 and 3.5, respectively) during burnishing process, medium risk for methyl benzene and dimethyl benzene exposure (risk level: 3.0 and 3.4, respectively) as well as for dimethyl benzene exposure (risk level: 3.0 and 3.3, respectively) during primer coating process, medium risk for methyl benzene exposure (risk level: 3.0 and 3.4, respectively) during gel painting process, and medium risk for cyclohexanone exposure (risk level: 2.8 and 2.8, respectively) during oil polishing process. The exposure index method yielded a higher risk level than the actual exposure level method, especially in the risk level of benzene exposure, which was rated as "high" and "very high" by the former but "low" by the latter. Conclusion: The Singapore model is suitable for risk assessment of occupational exposure to harmful chemicals in small-scale furniture manufacturers, which can provide a basis for further prevention and control measures taken by manufacturers.

Development and in vitro evaluation of pH-independent release matrix tablet of weakly acidic drug valsartan using quality by design tools

The main objective of this study was the development of pH-independent controlled release valsartan matrix tablet in Quality by design (QbD) framework. The quality target product profile (QTPP), critical quality attributes (CQAs) and critical material attributes (CMAs) were defined by science and risk-based methodologies. Potential risk factors were identified with Fishbone diagram. Following, CMAs were further investigated with a semi-quantitative risk assessment method, which has been revised with mitigated risks after development and optimization studies. According to defined critical material attributes, which one of them was determined to be the dissolution, formulation optimization study was performed by using a statistical design of experiment. Formulation variables have been identified and fixed first with a ‘One factor at a time (OFAT)’ approach. After OFAT studies, a statistical experimental design was conducted with the most critical material attributes. Statistical design space and mathematical prediction equations have been developed for dissolution and hardness, which is important to predict drug dissolution behavior. In conclusion, a pH-independent release has been achieved for weakly acidic drug valsartan with a deeper understanding of drug product quality, with the science and risk-based approaches of QbD tools.

A new risk-based inspection methodology for offshore floating structures

ABSTRACTThe Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) programme is a part of the overall Asset Integrity Management (AIM). The RBI programme offers benefits such as providing a rational basis for inspection plans and efficient tools for updating those plans. The ultimate goal of the RBI programme, coupled with a more generic approach to asset integrity management, is to verify the integrity of the facility and its fitness for service. The present study attempts to address a step by step approach which can be followed for RBI planning inspection. Guidelines regarding the various steps of the RBI process are also provided in order to assist in preparing and maintaining the RBI programme. An advanced tool for semi-quantitative risk assessment of offshore floating structures is developed, where the user guide is presented.