Accident prevention on ski slopes - Perceptions of safety and knowledge of existing rules

Increases in the numbers of people participating in snow sports raise safety concerns. Despite declining numbers of skiing injuries among recreational skiers, collisions resulting in severe injuries appear to be on the rise. Skiers’ risk of injury depends on a considerable number of different factors but only a few studies have investigated risk-taking behaviour and knowledge of proper skiing behaviour. To promote safe skiing the International Ski Federation (FIS) introduced regulations in 1967.We investigated participants’ familiarity with the FIS regulations on the ski slopes in relation to age, skiing ability and country of origin.Random interviews were conducted with1450 recreational skiers at 17 ski resorts in Tyrol, an Austrian province. A questionnaire assessing skiers’ knowledge of existing rules, their intuitive behaviour in given situations and perceptions of safety was developed. The study revealed that beginners, young skiers and those who were not local residents displayed insufficient knowledge. Risk-inducing situations that could result in collisions, such as moving upwards during carving, were largely assessed incorrectly. Appropriate intuitive behaviour increases with experience, and beginners are less able to implement FIS regulations than more experienced skiers. Ski resorts, the media and schools should direct educational efforts toward these high-risk groups. More research is needed to determine the causal connection between skiing injuries and disregard of the FIS Rules.     

Self reported risk taking and risk compensation in skiers and snowboarders are associated with sensation seeking

In alpine skiing, a controversial discussion has been taking place regarding the potential influence of wearing a ski helmet on the individual level of risk taking behaviour. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether self reported risk taking behaviour and self reported risk compensation are associated with the personality trait sensation seeking (SS) in alpine skiing and snowboarding. In total, 683 persons (36% males and 64% females) completed an online-survey about attitudes and use of protective gear in winter sports including the German version of the sensation seeking scale form V. A logistic regression analysis including gender, age, nationality, preferred winter sport, self reported skiing ability, mean skiing time per season, use of ski helmets, and SS total score was used to estimated adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (95 CI) for self reported risk taking behaviour. Regression analysis revealed that a more risky behaviour increased with male gender (OR: 2.7), with an age < 25 years (OR: 1.6), with skiing (OR: 1.3), higher skill level (OR: 5.7), and a mean skiing time > 28 days per season (OR: 2.2). In addition, SS total score was significantly higher in more risky compared to more cautious people (23.8 vs. 20.3, p < .001). Ski helmet use was not found to be predictive for a more risky behaviour (p > .05). Also, skiers and snowboarders with self reported risk compensation while wearing a ski helmet had higher SS total scores compared to those who did not report risk compensation (23.8 vs. 20.9, p = .001). In addition, self reported risk compensation in helmet wearers increased with an age < 25 years (OR: 2.2), a higher skill level (OR: 2.5) and a mean skiing time > 28 days per season (OR: 2.1). In conclusion, self reported risk taking and self reported risk compensation are associated with higher sensation seeking total scores. The personality trait sensation seeking, not wearing of a ski helmet, appears to be associated with riskier behaviour on the ski slopes.     

基于事故树和动态灰色关联方法的机坪事故人为因素分析研究

对机坪事故运用事故树进行定性分析后,再对引起基本事件的人为失误原因进行分类,最后利用动态灰色关联方法分析这些人为失误因素的影响程度。某机场实例研究得出,该机坪事故的人为失误主要原因为组织管理和个人原因。此研究得出的理论依据对完善和改进机坪安全管理有针对性的实用意义。     

The link between fatigue and safety

The objective of this review was to examine the evidence for the link between fatigue and safety, especially in transport and occupational settings. For the purposes of this review fatigue was defined as ‘a biological drive for recuperative rest’. The review examined the relationship between three major causes of fatigue – sleep homeostasis factors, circadian influences and nature of task effects – and safety outcomes, first looking at accidents and injury and then at adverse effects on performance. The review demonstrated clear evidence for sleep homeostatic effects producing impaired performance and accidents. Nature of task effects, especially tasks requiring sustained attention and monotony, also produced significant performance decrements, but the effects on accidents and/or injury were unresolved because of a lack of studies. The evidence did not support a direct link between circadian-related fatigue influences and performance or safety outcomes and further research is needed to clarify the link. Undoubtedly, circadian variation plays some role in safety outcomes, but the evidence suggests that these effects reflect a combination of time of day and sleep-related factors. Similarly, although some measures of performance show a direct circadian component, others would appear to only do so in combination with sleep-related factors. The review highlighted gaps in the literature and opportunities for further research.     

Integration of risk matrix and event tree analysis: a natural stone plant case

Machining has considerably increased with evolving technology and increasing demand in natural stone production facilities. Different types of accidents may occur in natural stone facilities during movement, dimensioning, cutting of blocks and surface processing. These accidents may be due to physical, chemical, ergonomic and mechanical conditions. Therefore, possible work accidents and occupational diseases should be investigated. In this study, an L-matrix analysis is conducted to analyze hazards and forecast risks in natural stone facilities. According to the L-matrix results, three major initiating events are identified. For each of these initiating events, event tree analysis is used to calculate risk scores. These initiating events are hoist rope fatigue and breaking, diamond wire fatigue and breaking, and electrical leakage due to old systems. These events and their results are classified according to the probabilities using event tree analysis.     

Accidents in the context of study among university students—A multicentre cross-sectional study in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Knowledge about prevalence and patterns of accidents among university students is scarce. The aims of the present health survey were to assess the general prevalence of accidents among university students, to describe the specific kinds of accidents, and to analyse associated factors. A multicentre cross-sectional health survey was conducted at 12 universities and 4 universities of applied sciences in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany. The response rate was 88%. The self-administered questionnaire covered multiple areas of health, behaviours and a specific module for accidents. In total, 252 (8.8%) out of 2855 students (aged 17-26 years) had experienced an accident in the context of their studies. Contusions, compressions and strains constituted more than 50% of all kinds of injuries, while fractures, irritations, burns or acid burns were reported less frequently. The cumulative risk of experiencing an accident was increasing linearly with the study duration, indicating an absence of a specific vulnerable period. Nearly 60% of all accidents took place during study-related sports activities, and about a quarter of all accidents occurred on the way to or from university. Only few accidents occurred on university floors, in lecture rooms or on stairways. Further studies are needed to assess more in depth the causes of accidents and the situation immediately preceding the event before making specific recommendations for prevention.     

Ski accidents and legal responsibility: The Spanish case

This study classifies and analyzes Spanish court rulings on responsibility for ski accidents¹ occurring within ski resort boundaries, and refers to court cases to propose guidelines aimed at assisting skiers and ski resort managers. Six main trends emerged from the study: (a) Spanish courts resolved lawsuits arising from four clearly identifiable categories of ski accidents. (b) Although lawsuits involving ski accidents were heard in both civil and criminal procedures, civil actions were more extensively brought than criminal ones. (c) The majority of the sentences ending legal proceedings resulted in acquittals, although the cost to defendants in the minority of cases where convictions were made exceeded one million euros in total. (d) No single lawsuit, either civil or criminal, was settled in a Court of First Instance; the vast majority were heard in Provincial Courts and only a small proportion reached the High Court. (e) The defendant was the ski resort operator in the great majority of cases. (f) Court decisions were consistently grounded only on the presence or otherwise of the factors necessary to prove either damages as a result of negligence, according to civil law, or misdemeanor or criminal injuries, in criminal lawsuits.     

To replace or not to replace? — An investigation into the residual strength of damaged rock climbing safety equipment

This paper presents a study on the residual strength of carabiners which have sustained impact damage due to accidental dropping during lead climbing. The question answered here is whether damaged quickdraws can be reused for future climbing or whether they should be replaced. Well defined damages were introduced into the main body and the gate of three different types of quickdraw carabiners. The carabiners were visually inspected and tested for functionality before the residual strength was measured following procedures defined in mountaineering standards. Contrary to common perception no micro-cracks were found within the damaged carabiners. In general, the carabiners tested here showed good resistance to impact damage. Impact on the main body does not seem to affect the residual strength. Impact on the wire gate may result in failure of the gate. However, if the gate is still functional, the strength is not affected by an impact.     

Lessons from recent accidents in radiation therapy in France

Many accidents in radiotherapy have been reported in France over the last years. This is due to the recent legal obligation to declare to the national safety authorities any significant incident relative to the use of ionising radiation including medical applications. The causes and consequences of the most serious events in radiotherapy are presented in this paper. Lessons can be learned from possible technical dysfunctions, from human errors or organisational weaknesses as to how such events can be prevented. The technical aspects are addressed here: in particular, dosimetric issues.     

采场爆破质量事故处理实践

在地下采矿的中深孔爆破中,出现多起铵油炸药拒爆的质量事故,通过事故分析和模拟实验,找出了可能产生事故的多种原因,并采取相应技术和管理措施,达到了满意的效果,为同类采场爆破事故处理提供借鉴。     

The effect of helmet use on injury severity and crash circumstances in skiers and snowboarders

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of helmet use on non-head-neck injury severity and crash circumstances in skiers and snowboarders. We used a matched case-control study over the November 2001 to April 2002 winter season. 3295 of 4667 injured skiers and snowboarders reporting to the ski patrol at 19 areas in Quebec with non-head, non-neck injuries agreed to participate. Cases included those evacuated by ambulance, admitted to hospital, with restriction of normal daily activities (NDAs) >6 days, with non-helmet equipment damage, fast self-reported speed, participating on a more difficult run than usual, and jumping-related injury. Controls were injured participants without severe injuries or high-energy crash circumstances and were matched to cases on ski area, activity, day, age, and sex. Conditional logistic regression was used to relate each outcome to helmet use. There was no evidence that helmet use increased the risk of severe injury or high-energy crash circumstances. The results suggest that helmet use in skiing and snowboarding is not associated with riskier activities that lead to non-head-neck injuries.     

Understanding the human factors contribution to railway accidents and incidents in Australia

Forty rail safety investigation reports were reviewed and a theoretical framework (the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System; HFACS) adopted as a means of identifying errors associated with rail accidents/incidents in Australia. Overall, HFACS proved useful in categorising errors from existing investigation reports and in capturing the full range of relevant rail human factors data. It was revealed that nearly half the incidents resulted from an equipment failure, most of these the product of inadequate maintenance or monitoring programs. In the remaining cases, slips of attention (i.e. skilled-based errors), associated with decreased alertness and physical fatigue, were the most common unsafe acts leading to accidents and incidents. Inadequate equipment design (e.g. driver safety systems) was frequently identified as an organisational influence and possibly contributed to the relatively large number of incidents/accidents resulting from attention failures. Nearly all incidents were associated with at least one organisational influence, suggesting that improvements to resource management, organisational climate and organisational processes are critical for Australian accident and incident reduction. Future work will aim to modify HFACS to generate a rail-specific framework for future error identification, accident analysis and accident investigation.     

Grain boundary effects on cyclic deformation and fatigue damage

The cyclic deformation behaviors of single- and polycrystals were well documented in the past three decades. It has been recognized that there existed great difference in the fatigue damage mechanisms between single- and polycrystals, which can be mainly attributed to the effects of grain boundaries (GBs) and the crystallographic orientations. In the present work, a series of research work mainly on copper bicrystals with various GBs and different component crystals have been systematically investigated, including the macroscopic cyclic stress-strain responses and fatigue damage mechanisms in micro-scale. Firstly, direct evidence is offered to show the obvious strengthening effect caused by the large-angle GBs during cyclic deformation. The data of cyclic stress-strain responses will be presented to show the effects of the GBs and the crystallographic orientations in the macro-scale. Next, the influence of various GBs on fatigue cracking behavior will be considered for the crystalline materials. Clear evidences are shown that the interactions of persistent slip bands (PSBs) with various GBs play a decisive role in the intergranular fatigue cracking during cyclic deformation. It is suggested that the intergranular fatigue cracking strongly depends on the interactions of PSBs with GBs in fatigued crystals, rather than the GB structure itself. The underlying fatigue damage mechanisms were further discussed in terms of the different interactions between PSBs and three types of GBs.     

Fatigue Properties of Steel Coated with TiN by a PVD Process

Specimens of the steels S 6-5-2 (AISIM2) and 100 Cr 6 (AISI 52100) were coated with TiN by a reactive DC-magnetron-sputtering process. The fatigue behaviour of coated and uncoated specimens was investigated under cyclic bending. The fatigue limit of the uncoated steel S 6-5-2 is mainly governed by internal defects like carbide clusters and micropipes. Therefore, a coating has no influence on the fatigue limit. At high stress amplitudes the failure of the uncoated material is initiated at the specimen surface. Thus, coating of the surface causes higher mean lifetimes. The fatigue behaviour of the uncoated steel 100 Cr 6 is mainly governed by crack initiation at the surface of the specimens. At low stress amplitudes, a coating may shift the crack initiation place to the interior of the specimens. Hence, a slight improvement of the fatigue limit by coating is observed. At high stress amplitudes the coating has no influence on crack initiation and no improvement of the lifetime can be achieved by coating.     

Road accidents caused by drivers falling asleep

About 29600 Norwegian accident-involved drivers received a questionnaire about the last accident reported to their insurance company. About 9200 drivers (31%) returned the questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions about sleep or fatigue as contributing factors to the accident. In addition, the drivers reported whether or not they had fallen asleep some time whilst driving. and what the consequences had been. Sleep or drowsiness was a contributing factor in 3.9% of all accidents, as reported by drivers who were at fault for the accident. This factor was strongly over-represented in night-time accidents (18.6%), in running-off-the-road accidents (8.3%), accidents after driving more than 150 km on one trip (8.1%), and personal injury accidents (7.3%). A logistic regression analysis showed that the following additional factors made significant and independent contributions to increasing the odds of sleep involvement in an accident: dry road, high speed limit, driving one's own car, not driving the car daily, high education, and few years of driving experience. More male than female drivers were involved in sleep-related accidents, but this seems largely to be explained by males driving relatively more than females on roads with high speed limits. A total of 10% of male drivers and 4% of females reported to have fallen asleep while driving during the last 12 months. A total of 4% of these events resulted in an accident. The most frequent consequence of falling asleep--amounting to more than 40% of the reported incidents--was crossing of the right edge-line before awaking, whereas crossing of the centreline was reported by 16%. Drivers' lack of awareness of important precursors of falling asleep--like highway hypnosis, driving without awareness, and similar phenomena--as well as a reluctance to discontinue driving despite feeling tired are pointed out as likely contributors to sleep-related accidents. More knowledge about the drivers' experiences immediately preceding such accidents may give a better background for implementing effective driver warning systems and other countermeasures.     

儿童非致死性意外伤害的流行病学研究

探索１～１４岁儿童非致死性意外伤害的流行病学特征。采用分层整群抽样方法,抽取重庆、合肥、天津、锦州、舟山等５个地区（包括城乡）的１～１４岁在册儿童１５２２８名,用统一的调查表进行现况调查。儿童非致死性意外伤害总体发生率为１１．３４％。不同年龄、不同性别的儿童意外伤害发生率存在显著差异（Ｐ０．０５）。儿童非致死性意外伤害存在地区性差异（Ｐ０．０１）和城乡差异;时点分布主要集中在每天的９：００～１１：００及１５：００～１７：００,一年中以夏、秋季最为多见。儿童非致死性意外伤害以跌伤最为多见,其次是体育运动伤、动物咬伤、打架伤、切割伤和烫伤等。     

Reducing medication errors in hospitals: a peer review organization collaboration

BACKGROUND: Motivated by published reports of the incidence, costs, causes, and nature of adverse drug events (ADEs) in hospitalized patients, in 1997 the Medicare peer review organization for Nevada and Utah initiated a voluntary project of medication error reduction for Utah hospitals. METHODS: Through project activities, hospital teams were encouraged to make changes to their medication processes based on direct evaluation of medication systems characteristics, informed by ergonomic principles and published studies of medication errors. Assessment of project effects included an evaluation of the changes implemented and results from an anonymous medication errors survey of clinical staff from participating organizations. RESULTS: Thirteen of the 39 acute care hospitals in Utah participated in 1997-1998 in the collaborative project. Participants reported substantive medication system changes that were expected to result in improved patient safety. Baseline and follow-up survey data were available for 8 of the participating hospitals. Analysis of 560 responses showed a 26.9% decrease in overall error frequency, a 12.5% increase in error detection and prevention, and a 24.1% increase in formal written reporting of errors that reached the patient. CONCLUSIONS: This project demonstrated community interest in a proactive and collaborative approach to improving patient safety. The improvement efforts were substantive and sustainable. Survey results suggest that the changes implemented in participating organizations may have reduced medication errors and improved capacity for error detection and prevention.     

A survey of serious aircraft accidents involving fatigue fracture

A world-wide survey of serious aircraft accidents involving fatigue fracture has been carried out. The study includes not only fatal accidents, but also those in which the damage to the airframe was substantial or greater. The accidents cover civil and, to a limited extent, military aircraft. A total of 1885 accidents since 1927 were identified as having fatigue fracture as a related cause, and these accidents resulted in 2240 deaths. Engine/transmission failure and landing-gear failure were the most common cause of recent fixed-wing accidents, while the most prevalent rotary-wing problems were failure of the engine/transmission and of the tail-rotor. Currently there is a yearly average of about 100 serious fatigue accidents (69 fixed-wing and 31 rotary-wing).