Total Accidents Research Articles

ANALISIS PENERAPAN KESELAMATAN DAN KESEHATAN KERJA (K3) DALAM MEMINIMALISIR RESIKO KERJA PADA PT. POS INDONESIA (PERSERO) KANTOR CABANG GUNUNGSITOLI

In carrying out their duties, employees and office staff of PT. Pos Indonesia (Persero) Gunungsitoli Branch is faced with several occupational safety and health (K3) challenges. Observation data shows that as many as 75% of accidents occur in the field during package delivery, 15% occur during sorting activities, and the remaining 10% occur in administrative activities. Of the total accidents, 75% are caused by human error, such as carelessness or lack of knowledge about safety practices. Meanwhile, 25% was caused by unsafe and intensive environmental conditions, including storage facilities that were not neatly arranged and lack of warning signs. The aim of this research is to determine the Implementation of Occupational Safety and Health (K3) at PT. Pos Indonesia (Persero) Gunungsitoli Branch Office. This research method uses qualitative research with a descriptive approach. The research results show that PT. Pos Indonesia (Persero) Gunungsitoli Branch Office has so far implemented occupational safety and health implementation but it has not been optimal so there is still a lot that needs to be improved, including increasing K3 awareness and improving facilities and infrastructure. The conclusion of this research is that work accidents that occur are generally due to a lack of awareness and compliance with applicable K3 regulations, as well as a lack of work safety equipment. So it is recommended to make efforts to identify occupational safety and health practices, including analyzing compliance with regulations, as well as providing and improving facilities and infrastructure.

Analysis of the influence of living conditions, as a collection of social factors within the environment, on mortality rates among the rural and urban populations of the Nenets autonomous okrug from 2000 to 2019

BACKGROUND: Currently, in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF), there are evident indications of a deterioration in the medical and demographic situation amidst a lack of adequate social infrastructure development. For the first time, we attempted to analyze the impact of living conditions, which encompass various social factors within the habitat, shaped by the social infrastructure, on the mortality rates of the population of one of the regions within AZRF. AIM: To assess the impact of living conditions, as a set of social factors within the environment, on the mortality rates among the rural and urban populations of the Nenets autonomous okrug (NAO) in the period from 2000 to 2019. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The databases “Housing and communal services and social infrastructure in NAO in 2000-2019” and “Death cases in NAO in 2000–2019” including information on the population number and age and gender structure of the NAO population across individual settlements have been collected. Using the scoring system for assessing living conditions, a ranking with subsequent division into tertiles of all rural NAO settlements was carried out according to the value of the integral index of living conditions (IILC). A comparative analysis (tertiles with the city, and tertiles with each other) of average annual age-standardized rates of overall mortality, mortality from the main causes and structural components of external causes (EC) of mortality was performed. Relative risks were calculated as the ratio of mortality rates in each tertile to the corresponding indicator for the urban population. RESULTS: Average annual standardized rates and relative risks of mortality (total, EC, drowning, freezing, alcohol poisoning and transport accidents) of the NAO population demonstrated a “step by step” increase in the sequence “city — highest tertile — middle tertile — lowest tertile”, i.e. as living conditions worsen and as the IILC decreases. Statistically significant differences were identified between the city and tertiles, as well as between the highest (“favorable” living conditions) and lowest (“unfavorable” living conditions) tertiles in terms of total mortality, mortality from EC, drowning and freezing. Mortality rates from alcohol poisoning and transport accidents also increased as living conditions worsened, although the associations did reach the level of statistical significance. With the exception of suicides, the relative risks of mortality for individual EC reached maximum values in the lowest tertile of living conditions. CONCLUSION: Statistically significant inverse associations between total mortality, mortality from external causes and its main structural components, and the values of the integral index of living conditions have been identified among the rural population of NAO. A decrease in living conditions was significantly associated with an increase in mortality rates and relative risks.

Numerical analysis of duct wall failure in a prototype FAIDUS design-based generation IV SFR fuel subassembly under flow blockage accident

An ingenious prototype Fuel Assembly Inner DUct Structure (FAIDUS) design is conceptualized under the Generation IV safety philosophy to prevent large-scale corium pool formation following total coolant flow blockage accident. The early failure of the duct wall provides a built-in guideway for molten material relocation out of the core region, ensuring inherent safety robustness. Therefore, understanding the duct wall failure mechanism is critical for evaluating accident mitigation potential of the FAIDUS design. In this regard, a transient enthalpy-based multiphase computational model is developed to investigate the heat transfer and fluid flow behavior involved during the duct wall failure in 3-D domain. The numerical model is employed initially to simulate wall failure in the EAGLE ID1 in-pile test. The model results are validated against the in-pile test data. Subsequently, FAIDUS duct wall failure in a prototype fast reactor fuel subassembly (SA) is investigated employing the present model. The study reveals that the large heat flux from the molten pool to the duct is the main reason for the duct wall failure. The duct failure starts with an initial rupture across the corners of the hexagonal-shaped duct and progresses to total failure of the duct wall by the expansion of the rupture over the whole duct wall area with time. The outer hexcan wall sustains only minor thermal damage during the duct wall failure process. The present study explores the associated thermal-hydraulics, molten pool dynamics, crust formation behavior, and event sequences involved in duct wall failure in great detail. The simulation findings suggest that the FAIDUS SA design facilitates premature failure of the slim duct wall prior to the hexcan wall failure. This could potentially enable early discharge of the molten corium away from the core region, limiting the accident progress.

TIME SERIES MODELLING OF ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN WEST ARSI, ETHIOPIA

The aim of this research is time series modeling of road traffic accidents in the west Arsi zone, Ethiopia, it focused on monthly traffic accidents from January 2016 to December 2020. The goal of this study was to explore the number of traffic accidents to fit a time series model for the monthly number of road traffic accidents and to forecast a tow year ahead of the number of road traffic accidents. The analysis was done by using statistical software packages using this software and knowledge of time series analysis, trend, ACF, PACF, and Box-Jenkins analysis were computed. From the trend plot, the road traffic accidents was fluctuate from month to month as well as from year to year. There was total accident fluctuation from month to month (not stationary) a total of 1010 RTA were observed. The mean of 16.83 and standard deviation of 5.764 for the total accident was served the minimum and maximum record of road traffic accidents is 4 and 33 respectively. By differencing data one time, (2, 1, 3) model was fitted for making a two-year ahead forecast. Proper model adequacy checking was done. Two-year ahead forecasts showed that October, January, and April 2021 are the months with the most prominent values. Even if the trend in total accidents was decreasing there is still a need to pay more attention in order to prevent the occurrence of accidents related to road traffic accidents.

Characteristics of malignant urban gas accidents in China from 2013 to 2022

Malignant urban gas accidents, accounting for only approximately 1 % of the total gas accidents in China, are responsible for over 50 % of fatalities, thus becoming a major cause of public concern regarding gas safety. A comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of historical accidents is an effective way to prevent and reduce future accidents. In this regard, the study meticulously collects and analyzes all malignant gas accidents that occurred in China from 2013 to 2022. This approach can effectively clarify the focus of gas accident prevention, and also facilitate the implementation of more targeted preventive measures. The study provides diverse perspectives and comprehensive statistics on accidents using 10 variables in 6 dimensions: time (year, month, day, hour), location (province, place), gas source, type, cause, and level. In addition to common quantitative statistics, proportional analyses and visual displays, methods such as contingency tables, t-tests, chi-square tests, and cluster analyses were also used to provide more in-depth analyses and identify more potential patterns. The findings elucidate that: (1) Over the past decade, the yearly distribution of malignant gas accidents in China has been relatively stable; but, individual, particularly major accidents, have significantly influenced the overall severity; (2) June and July are the peak months for such accidents; (3) The most severe accidents occur during 6:00–6:59 a.m., 11:00–11:59 a.m., and 11:00–11:59 p.m.; (4) Central and eastern provinces are the epicenters of malignant gas accidents; (5) Residential accommodations, and restaurants and shops are frequently affected; (6) Liquefied petroleum gas, despite comprising merely 8.7 % of the aggregate supply, is implicated in over half of the malignant occurrences and associated fatalities; (7) Explosions account for approximately 78.49 % of these accidents; (8) Among the accident causes, violations of rules by workers stands as the foremost contributor; (9) Malignant gas accidents are generally larger accident. Moreover, this manuscript delves into the underlying reasons behind each noteworthy statistical trend and analyzes the critical issues facing the gas industry. This investigation not only bridges the gap in the statistical profiling of malignant gas accidents within China but also furnishes invaluable insights that may guide preventive measures against urban gas-related disasters. Furthermore, the methodological approaches and variable selections explored in this study lay a robust foundation for future endeavors in the realm of malignant gas accident management research and practice.

Workplace accidents, economic determinants and underreporting: an empirical analysis in Italy

PurposeThis paper proposes an analysis of occupational accidents in Italy at the regional level. For this purpose, our panel is composed of 20 regions over the 2010–2019 time span.Design/methodology/approachWe apply different econometric estimation techniques (pooled OLS model, panel fixed and random effects models and semiparametric fixed model) using INAIL and ISTAT data. Our models investigate workplace accidents at the regional level by accounting for socioeconomic, labour market and productive system variables and controlling for possible underreporting bias.FindingsOverall results reveal the existence of a relevant under-notification phenomenon of accidents at work with respect to moderate accidents, that is higher especially for the southern regions of Italy. However, when considering as outcome variable an alternative set of more severe workplace accidents our model specification remains highly jointly statistically significant. Among our main findings, the analysis shows that worker skills (blue collar) strongly affect the regional pattern of workplace accidents, i.e. an increase of 1% of low paid employees generates about an increase of 1.8 severe workplace accidents per thousand workers. Moreover, we provide evidence that the size of the firm is inversely related to the occupational accident rates. Finally, our results highlight a nonlinear relationship between GDP and occupational accidents for the Italian regional context, confirmed by the high statistical significance of the quadratic term in all the estimated linear models and by the semi-parametric analysis.Originality/valueA first element of originality of our study consists of investigating the macro determinants of occupation accidents at a regional Italian level. Second, the empirical literature (Boone and Van Ours, 2006) highlights the possible bias of underreporting behaviours on nonfatal accidents in contrast to fatal accidents that are always reported. From this perspective, we have identified a few analyses (namely, Boone et al., 2011) considering different accident sets characterised by different severity degrees. Thus, this paper contributes to the literature considering five alternative subsets of accidents stratified by degree of severity (i.e. moderate, severe, moderate plus severe, severe plus fatal and total accident rates) to test for possible underreporting bias affecting our econometric model.

Drink…then drive away: The effects of lowering the blood alcohol concentration in Utah.

In March of 2017 Utah announced its intent to lower the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) for driving from 0.08 to 0.05g/dL. However, this change did not take effect until 2019. We employ a difference-in- differences strategy on Utah counties using neighboring states as controls to test whether this policy change significantly affected the number of traffic accidents or the severity of those accidents. Results show the policy appears to temporarily decrease the total number of accidents, limited primarily to property damage- only accidents. We believe these results may be partially explained by drivers who, after the policy is enacted, avoid reporting property damage-only accidents if possible. Using insurance claims data, we show there is no corresponding fall in insurance claims or payouts suggesting that the fall in total accidents likely comes from under-reporting.

Identifikasi Kesehatan dan Keselamatan Kerja (K3)Pada SPBE PTD dengan Menggunakan MetodeJob Safety Analysis (JSA)

In the operational activities of the oil and gas industry (oil and gas), Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is very important. Workers in the oil and gas industry have a great potential risk to occupational health and safety conditions. Companies are required to implement an Occupational Health and Safety system to achieve the goal of zero accident industrial operations. Zero accident is a key factor in managing occupational safety and health (OHS). This research focuses on identifying hazards to the interaction between workers, officers/employees, tools and the environment with research indicators namely Human error, not using PPE, technical accidents. The purpose of this study was to determine employee awareness of Occupational Safety and Health (K3) at SPBE PTD and to determine Job Safety Analysis at SPBE PTD in order to create zero accidents with descriptive qualitative methods using Job Safety Analysis (JSA). The results showed that the total average indicator assessment had a value of 2.318, the total average accident in 2020 had a value of 0.833, the total average accident in 2021 had a value of 0.722, and the total average accident in 2022 had a value of 0.833. From the results of the total average value, it can be interpreted that the PTD SPBE does not have zero accidents.

Pothole Detection Using Machine Learning Models

Potholes are damage caused to the ground by the formation of water and wear and tear over time. According to statistical data, bad road conditions account for about one- third of the total road accidents which has been increasing exponentially. Potholes have become so common that it has become second nature for people to learn how to spot and avoid them, which causes further accidents. The need of the hour is to build a dependable pothole detection system to accurately detect potholes and warn the drivers and government officials in advance. The process to build such a system is divided into two steps i.e. collection of data and pothole identification. The first step is achieved by taking the data from already available data sets on the Internet. The other step includes labeling the potholes in the data set which is usually done manually. This paper focuses mainly on Visual-based techniques to identify the best detection method by comparing popular Machine Learning models and algorithms. The obtained data set is trained using various transfer learning techniques like You Only Look Once (YOLO)[1] and Single Shot Detector (SSD) [1]. Apart from transfer learning, this paper also focuses on some proposed techniques using Convolutional Neural Net- works (CNN) and classification algorithms like Support Vector Machine (SVM)[21] to identify and localize potholes. The actual size of potholes is calculated using morphological operations, which is a just a straightforward technique to analyze figures using set theory. To analyze every model and find the best model, each model is trained on different sizes of data sets and the obtained result is validated and examined by considering different aspects like speed and accuracy in mind.

Analisis Profil Kecelakaan Konstruksi pada Proyek Bangunan Gedung di Indonesia

The construction sector is the highest contributor to construction accidents, which is 31.9% of the total construction accidents. One of the leading causes of accidents is the need for more awareness from workers and companies of the importance of implementing OHS at work. This situation arises due to the need for maximum planning and implementation of the Construction Safety Management System through the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing, and the Indonesian government has issued Regulation Number 10 of 2021 concerning construction safety guidelines. Data collection in this study is secondary data, namely construction accident reports by the Construction Safety Committee. The analysis used is archival analysis, where the report is mapped to produce statistics on construction accidents based on the type of project, time of occurrence, day of occurrence, the impact of the accident, and the cause of the accident. The results showed that the building became the first rank of construction project types with a percentage of 35% where the occurrence was in the morning before noon, namely 08.00-12.00, and on Tuesday became a day that often occurred construction accidents based on the construction safety committee. It was found that the cause of the accident was dominated by human factors and work equipment, which would impact the damage to the building itself with a percentage of 56%. The results of this study will be helpful for implementers/construction accident experts as guidelines for the future

Analysis of Occupational Safety and Health Cost Plan Construction on The Project “Preservasi Jalan dan Jembatan Surabaya – Sidoarjo”

Indonesia is one of the developing countries which currently has a lot of development underway. Problems related to occupational health and safety are still often ignored, especially in East Java province, this is demonstrated by the still high number of construction work accidents in 2021 in East Java province, namely 26% of the total construction work accident cases in Indonesia. This research was carried out on the project “Preservasi Jalan dan Jembatan Surabaya – Sidoarjo”. The method of this research is hazard identification risk assessment and risk control (HIRARC) and quantitative descriptive method. The results of this research show that the amount of occupational health and safety costs is based on the owner's estimate which is guided by the Minister for Public Works and Housing Regulation Number 10 of 2021 concerning Construction Safety Management Systems is IDR. 664,667,000.00 where The value of 4,04 % of occupational safety and health costs has met the ideal standard from circular letter number 10/SE/M/2018 of the Minister for Public Works and Housing that is between 1.5% - 2.5% of the total project value.

A Case Study on the Effect of Geometric Design Consistency on Road Crashes on Narayanghat-Muglin Road Section

Design consistency is overlooked while designing roads, resulting in unsafe road facilities. The safety performance of a highway can be greatly enhanced by detecting and addressing any inconsistencies present on the road. Over time, the application of geometric standards shifted from new road construction to upgrading, which could result in limited design options. Due to the emerging importance of design consistency in geometric design, this research has been initiated to evaluate horizontal curve consistency based on an established operating speed prediction model.
 Horizontal curve data of the Narayanghat–Mugling Road section has been collected from the Division Road Office, Bharatpur, and accident data has been obtained from the District Traffic Police, Chitwan. Out of 242 horizontal curves in the Narayanghat-Muglin road section, the design consistency of 223 horizontal curves was evaluated, while 19 horizontal curves with posted speed limits were not considered because these curves are not within the range of design criteria set out in Asian Highways Design Standards (1993).
 The average, maximum, and minimum 85th percentile speed was found to be 78, 101, and 32 kmph respectively. Out of 223 horizontal curves evaluated for individual consistency based on operating speed, 75% of the curves were categorized as “poor”, 16% as “fair”, and 9% as “good”. It was found that under successive element consistency evaluation based on operating speed, 22% of horizontal curves were categorized as “poor”, 23% as “fair”, and 55% as “good”. When studied under vehicle stability consistency evaluation criteria, 88% of the curves were classified as “fair” and 12% as “good”. It was found that the predicted accidents caused by geometric design inconsistency and vehicle stability are 5.12% of total accidents per year.
 From the safety standpoint, if the condition |V85-Vd|>20 is met, critical discrepancies between the design speed and operating speed arise, resulting in unsafe operations. Therefore, it is generally advisable to consider redesigning those road sections.

Relationship between Safety Climate and Safety Behavior in Company X in Indonesia

Throughout 2019–2021, there was a considerable rise in total work accident cases in Indonesia, increasing from 210,789 to 234,370. According to the location of the incident, accident cases in the workplace also escalated from 139,999 to 144,929. The purpose of this study was to measure the maturity level of the safety climate at Company X in Indonesia and analyze its relationship with safety behavior. This was a quantitative study on a total of 200 respondents using a questionnaire as the data collection method. A structured questionnaire was used to capture the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, the safety climate, and safety behavior. Respondents participated in this study by responding to the items in the questionnaire distributed. The findings of this study indicated that the maturity level of the safety climate at Company X was at the adequate level with a very strong relationship between the sub-dimensional variables and safety climate. The relationship between safety climate and safety behavior was quite strong. This study emphasized that an increase in the level of safety climate could improve safety behavior. Therefore, increasing safety climate level is effective to reduce the incidence of occupational accidents.

Accident Analysis and Identification of Black Spots on Road Section from Sanga to Dhulikhel in Araniko Highway

Road accidents are major causes of injuries and fatalities worldwide and a significant public health concern. This paper includes a comprehensive analysis of road accidents on the road section from Sanga to Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchwok district to identify trends of accidents, causes contributing to accidents and identifying the accident black spots and ranking accident black spots based on the Weighted Severity Index and Accident Severity Index. The study uses a data-driven approach using accident data obtained from the district police office, statistical analysis and weighted Severity Index and Accident Severity Index to observe road accident patterns. This study focuses on accident analysis to find out the spatial distribution of accidents, highlight accident peak times, accident black spots and their ranking. The various factors contributing to road accidents related to driver behaviour, vehicle condition, pedestrian behaviour, and environmental condition were explored and statistical analysis are done to determine accident likelihood and severity which are very helpful to identify accident-prone areas. There is a noteworthy pattern in the accident records in the past four fiscal years. Overall, fatal accidents have decreased over the years but serious accidents have increased. The number of minor incidents has also shown some variation. Males had more accidents than females. It is clear that the male percentage significantly outnumber the female comprising 81.9%, while females make up only 10.1%. It was observed that the 26 to 56 age group is a more vulnerable. The relatively low percentages of accidents occurred during morning and late evening. The accident frequency significantly rises from the late morning through the early afternoon with peak frequency in the late afternoon. It was observed that light vehicles account for 25%, tipper and other vehicles account for 19%, two wheeler accounts for 20% and vehicle and pedestrian accounts for 36% of the total accidents recorded. This study suggests evidence-based recommendations for accident prevention, infrastructure improvement, public awareness programs and law enforcement strategies to reduce road accidents.

Evaluating the impacts of the demerit points system on traffic law violations and driver involvement in road accidents in Israel

Demerit points systems (DPS) have been used in many countries as a means for improving road safety, by monitoring traffic law violations of drivers and applying corrective measures to repeat offenders, while knowledge on their safety impacts is yet incomplete. This study examined the DPS impacts on committing traffic offenses and accident involvement of drivers, in Israel, based on files of the national Licensing Authority and complementary accident files. Models were developed to evaluate changes in violation and accident rates of drivers, who underwent the DPS corrective measures, in after the treatment related to the before period, and accounting for changes observed in the matched comparison-groups. The findings showed that during the three-year period after the measures' implementation, the decrease in committing violations was of 70%, and simultaneously, there was a decrease in drivers' accident involvement, on average, of 1% in severe accidents and of 11% in total injury accidents. The effects were consistent across various groups of drivers by the corrective measures applied and the type of license. The study results support the continued use of the DPS, to improve drivers' behaviors and road safety. To increase its impacts at the national level, the DPS implementation should be supported by stable police enforcement and publicity efforts.

Identifying Critical Factors and Trends Leading to Fatal Accidents in Small-Scale Construction Sites in Korea

Small-scale construction sites in South Korea account for about 91.5% of all construction workplaces and contribute to 72.3% of the total accidents and fatalities. Safety measures at these sites are often underestimated, and proper safety education is lacking. In particular, the fatality rate is about 4.43 times higher compared to medium-/large-scale construction sites. In this study, a systematic analysis was conducted to examine the causes and trends of industrial accidents in small-scale construction sites to address these issues. This study analyzed industrial accidents in small-scale construction sites using statistical analysis, LDA topic modeling, and network analysis based on data from the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) from 2018 to 2022. The analysis revealed that the most critical cause of accidents in small-scale construction sites is ‘Scaffolding and working platforms’, with accidents primarily involving ‘Fall’. Furthermore, various risk factors and accident trends were identified in apartment construction, new building projects, and mobile scaffolding usage. This study systematically analyzed the causes and trends of industrial accidents at small-scale construction sites, providing important evidence to enhance safety management and preventive measures. The results are expected to play a crucial role in establishing a safety culture at construction sites and ensuring the wellbeing of construction workers.

Cause-specific accidental deaths and burdens related to ambient heat in a warming climate: A nationwide study of China

BackgroundFuture warming is projected to increase the heat-related mortality burden, especially for vulnerable populations. However, most previous studies focused on non-accidental morbidity or mortality, with far less research on heat-related accidental events. MethodsWe collected individual accidental death records among all residents in Chinese mainland from June to August during 2013–2019. Accidental deaths were further divided into several subtypes by different causes. We used an individual-level, time-stratified, case-crossover study design to estimate the association between daily mean temperature and accidental deaths, and estimate its variation in seven geo-climatic zones, age (5–64, 65–74, ≥75), and sex (male, female). We then estimated the temperature-related excess accidental deaths under global warming scenarios of 1.5, 2, and 3℃. FindingsA total of 711,929 accidental death records were included in our study. We found that higher temperatures were associated with increased risks of deaths from the total accidental events and four main subtypes, including traffic, falls, drowning, and unintentional injuries. We also found that younger individuals (ages 5–64) and males faced a higher risk of heat-related mortality due to total accidents, traffic incidents, and drowning. For future climate scenarios, even under the 1.5℃ climate change scenario, 6,939 (95% eCI (empirical Confidence Interval): 6,818–7,067) excess accidental deaths per year are attributed to higher summertime daily temperature over mainland China, and the number of accidental deaths would increase by 16.71% and 33.59% under the 2℃ and 3℃ climate change scenarios, respectively. For residents living in southern coastal and northwest inland regions, the projected increase in accidental death is higher. ConclusionsThis nationwide study confirms that higher summer temperatures are linked to an increased risk of accidental deaths. Younger age groups and males face a higher risk. This indicates that current estimates of the health effects of climate change might be underestimated, particularly for younger populations.

Descriptive analysis of occupational accidents in Spain and their relationship with heatwaves

ObjectiveThe purpose of this work is to carry out a descriptive analysis of occupational accidents and to evaluate the relationship between heatwaves and work accidents in Spain's three most populated provinces: Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. MethodsDaily data of work accidents (including for each case: gender, age, date, length of time in the position, type of work, place of accident and duration of medical leave) was collected. A heatwave was defined when daily mean temperatures above the threshold (95th percentile) of the climatological period (1990–2021) were recorded for at least three consecutive days. To estimate the association between daily workplace accidents and heatwave events, we applied a Generalized Additive Model combined with a Distributed Lag Non-linear Model with a quasi-Poisson distribution. ResultsThe average annual accident rate was 33.2 work accidents/100,000 employees in Madrid, 35.8 work accidents/100,000 employees in Barcelona and 31.8 work accidents/100,000 employees in Valencia. The total accident rates followed a downward trend between 2005 and 2021. The difference in work accident rates between sex decreased over the studied period (p < 0.005). In the first month of work, the highest casualty rate occurs among construction workers in Madrid and Barcelona, and in primary sector workers in Valencia. Work accidents tend to increase during heatwaves. The highest risk was recorded when considering a cumulative lagged effect of 3 days in Madrid and Barcelona and 5 days in Valencia. ConclusionsSince work accidents increase during heatwaves, risk prevention services and public administrations must take special measures to prevent them.

Construction accident data mining: A retrospective study using structural equation modeling based on 10-year data.

The data mining of construction accidents based on a robust modeling process can be used as a practical technique for reducing the frequency of construction accidents. This study was designed to data-mine construction accidents. This study was conducted in 2020 on construction accidents in Iran for ten years (2009-2018). The instruments to collect the required data were the checklists and descriptive reports of the accidents. The dependent variables of the study included reactive safety indicators related to construction accidents (lost working days (LWD) and total accident costs (TAC)). The independent variables consisted of four latent factors: personal variables, organizational variables, unsafe working conditions, and unsafe acts. The data were collected based on the conceptual model designed for data mining. The data mining process was carried out based on the structural equation modeling by IBM AMOS V. 23.0. A total of 5742 construction accidents occurring in 10 years were analyzed. The means of TAC and LWD indicators were estimated to be 248.20±52.60 days and 1893.10±152.22 $. These two indicators directly correlated with the two latent factors of unsafe conditions and unsafe acts and their related variables and were indirectly influenced by latent personal and organizational factors. The relationship between unsafe conditions and unsafe acts was significantly positive. The relationship between latent personal and organizational factors and the two construction accident indicators was significantly negative (p <0.05). The model results showed that personal and organizational variables could, directly and indirectly, affect reactive safety indicators in construction projects. Thus, these findings can be used to design and improve safety strategies to prevent and decrease construction accidents and incidents.

Neutronic and thermal-hydraulic calculations under steady state and transient conditions for a generic pebble bed fluoride salt cooled high-temperature reactor

Here, we develop multiphysics coupled neutronics/thermal-hydraulics models for a recently available generic Fluoride-salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHR) at equilibrium core burnup conditions with reactivity control mechanisms. We utilized the pebble bed reactor transient tool KP-AGREE with multigroup homogenized cross-sections generated by the continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport code Serpent to simulate transient events for an FHR. Comparing global reactor parameters and safety characteristics between Serpent and published results to standalone neutronic calculations in KP-AGREE verifies our initial conditions for our transient models. This work explores three separate transients: a loss of flow accident, an overcooling accident, and a total control rod withdrawal accident. The boundary conditions of these scenarios come from either transient benchmark definitions of a gas-cooled pebble bed reactor or transient analysis of a similar FHR design. For the loss of flow accident, our predicted peak fuel and coolant outlet temperatures show a similar response to published values, albeit slightly higher, with differences between values attributed to our modeling assumptions. The overcooling transient simulation predicts a 52 K temperature increase in the maximum fuel kernel temperature and an approximately 32.6% increase in total core power due to the negative coolant temperature feedback of the FHR design. Our control rod removal transients predicted a 235 K increase in maximum fuel kernel temperature and a 107.5% increase in total core power. For all transient cases, the fuel temperature remained significantly lower than the temperature limit, but coolant outlet temperatures for the reactivity-initiated accident exceeded external core material temperature limits.