自建沙特阿美营地在重油项目中的应用

在沙特阿美项目的实际执行过程中,大部分外国承包商都是以EPC总承包的形式分包给当地有经验的承包商,不但合同价格高、工期不可控,而且最后许多营地不能通过阿美的联合检查验收。因此,为了避免这些不利因素,沙特重油项目首次尝试采用"设计分包、自行采购、自行施工"的新模式,最终通过阿美诸多部门的联合检查验收,实现了公司在沙特项目营地建设模式的重大突破,也为后续沙特阿美项目营地建设提供借鉴和参考。     

Determining the causal relationships among balanced scorecard perspectives on school safety performance: Case of Saudi Arabia

In the public schools of many developing countries, numerous accidents and incidents occur because of poor safety regulations and management systems. To improve the educational environment in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Education seeks novel approaches to measure school safety performance in order to decrease incidents and accidents. The main objective of this research was to develop a systematic approach for measuring Saudi school safety performance using the balanced scorecard framework philosophy. The evolved third generation balanced scorecard framework is considered to be a suitable and robust framework that captures the system-wide leading and lagging indicators of business performance. The balanced scorecard architecture is ideal for adaptation to complex areas such as safety management where a holistic system evaluation is more effective than traditional compartmentalised approaches. In developing the safety performance balanced scorecard for Saudi schools, the conceptual framework was first developed and peer-reviewed by eighteen Saudi education experts. Next, 200 participants, including teachers, school executives, and Ministry of Education officers, were recruited to rate both the importance and the performance of 79 measurement items used in the framework. Exploratory factor analysis, followed by the confirmatory partial least squares method, was then conducted in order to operationalise the safety performance balanced scorecard, which encapsulates the following five salient perspectives: safety management and leadership; safety learning and training; safety policy, procedures and processes; workforce safety culture; and safety performance. Partial least squares based structural equation modelling was then conducted to reveal five significant relationships between perspectives, namely, safety management and leadership had a significant effect on safety learning and training and safety policy, procedures and processes, both safety learning and training and safety policy, procedures and processes had significant effects on workforce safety culture, and workforce safety culture had a significant effect on safety performance.     

Foodborne disease and food control in the Gulf States

Gulf States in the Middle East have had to change rapidly from subsidence herding, farming and fishing communities to modern states through the exploitation of revenue-generating petroleum products. Fresh water is an even more precious commodity than oil today as this is seen as a rapidly diminishing resource through over use of aquifers with scarce and unpredictable rainfall not replenishing the needs of these countries which increasing rely on reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination of seawater but at a cost in terms of energy. Recycling of waste water and sewage is carried out and used to water urban landscaping and some crops, but there are risks of the presence of pathogens. Much food today is imported to satisfy the requirements of expanding populations, especially foreign workers on temporary visas who make up more than half the residents in many of these Gulf States. Despite limited published data on Gulf States regarding enteric and foodborne diseases and their prevention and control, profiles emerge that can describe the current situation and some future directions. Gastrointestinal diseases, such as typhoid, cholera, and amebic dysentery can be brought into these countries through workers returning from endemic regions, and also through refugees from conflict-torn neighboring countries. However, some diseases are endemic like brucellosis and fatal illnesses from the newly identified Middle East Respiratory Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) associated with camels. In the 1990s, coalition troops stationed during the Gulf War brought in external suppliers and caterers, but using local products like chickens with troops occasionally suffering from infections. The hot climate, particularly in summer, can allow rapid growth of pathogens in foods, especially where refrigeration is not available as in home-prepared lunches by workers and during transportation of foods across traffic-congested cities. One of the biggest concerns for Saudi Arabia is the health oversight of millions during the annual Hajj, and despite much care over restriction of infected pilgrims and care of food, occasional outbreaks have been reported. Government agencies are particularly concerned about restaurant food and try and follow up on complaints of customers but rarely are agents identified; those that have include Salmonella, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. Implicated foods include ethnic products such as Turkish menu items and shawarma. Local culture may play a role in allowing growth of pathogens such as serving women after men at weddings. However, deaths that have been attributed to microbial sources may have been caused by illegal use of pesticides such as aluminum phosphide. Severe penalties have been applied to owners and staff implicated in outbreaks including fines, jail sentences and deportations, which are not typical of Western nations. However, some agencies have initiatives to help educate and train foreign workers in several languages. Foodborne disease surveillance systems are generally not adequate though some countries have initiated modernization of inspection approaches and laboratories. Consumer surveys show that residents have some knowledge of foodborne disease but this could be improved especially for women who do most of the shopping and food preparation in homes. Agencies are increasing directing campaigns for general food safety in their populations, and as long as resources are available, food control is likely to improve over time in Gulf States which is good news for visitors, expatriate workers and citizens alike.     

Factors affecting the relationship between contractors and their sub-contractors in Saudi Arabia

Delay in contract progress payment, lack of construction quality, errors and delay in shop drawings and/or approval of sample materials were ranked highest as interface problems, whilst legal disputes, scheduling conflicts amongst sub-contractors, geological problems and weather conditions were ranked lowest.     

Factors effecting construction contractors' performance

A number of interesting and important aspects have been achieved in this research; in particular, that quality of work should be of major concern to contractors and could become a pre-requisite in any selection process by the client body. Contract documentation should be clear and should not include ambiguous clauses and contradictory documentation, as this only leads to problems for all parties during the contract and a low performance rating from the contractor.     

Professional architectural/engineering consultancy practices in Saudi Arabia

The local architectural engineering firm in Saudi Arabia is handling projects up to 175m SR a year on average. It will have been in practice 13 years, employing 91 people, most holding a B.Sc. degree. Practices are mainly selected by competitive bidding and paid under a fixed fee arrangement. The authors found that the public authorities are the major employers of local A/E design services.     

Safety management in the construction industry in Saudi Arabia

Safety programmes of sixteen construction companies in the Eastern Province were evaluated and it was found that larger firms had more formal safety training which resulted in higher standards of overall safety.     

Use of microsilica in concrete construction

The advantages of using microsilica can be considerable as it reduces thermal cracking caused by the heat of cement hydration and can improve durability to attack by sulphate and acidic waters. The advantages and applications are reviewed and a number of test core illustrations are included.     

Occupational exposure to noise and hearing thresholds among civilian aircraft maintenance workers

High noise exposure is anticipated to be present in the aircraft maintenance operations in civil aviation sector. The objective of the present study is the assessment of noise exposure and hearing threshold of the aircraft maintenance workers in this sector. Noise levels were measured in the aircraft hangers and in the workshops at a main international airport in Saudi Arabia. Two hundred aircraft maintenance workers were subjected to pure tone audiometry. The average L_eq,8h at most of the aircraft maintenance operations was considerably high and most of the workers (89.5%) were exposed to noise levels ≥85 dBA. Frequency analysis of sound pressure levels revealed that the contribution of the octave bands 1, 2 and 4 kHz to the overall noise level was high. The audiograms of the examined workers showed significant hearing impairment as compared to non-noise-exposed Saudi employees. Although the observed excessive noise levels can cause hearing loss, the effect among the studied aircraft maintenance workers was mild. This might be attributed to the usage of hearing protection devices, the intermittent nature of the workers' exposure to noise and job rotation. Statistical analysis revealed significant association of both age and usage of hearing protectors with hearing loss. The effect of exposure duration on hearing loss was also detected.     

Technical and Economic Advantages of Producing and Applying Ozone At High Concentration

Today ozone can be produced in concentrations up to 3.5 wtJ (12 g/Nm³) in air and 7 wt% (92 g/Nm³) in oxygen with simultaneously low specific energy consumption. The high concentrations improve the transfer efficiency and the reaction kinetics of ozone. This is demonstrated with reference to the design basis of the water treatment plants of Los Angeles, Dordrecht and Jeddah. In all cases the overall costs per kilogram of ozone are minimized by choosing the appropriate ozone concentration between 2 wt% (24 g/Nm³) and 6 wt% (79 g/Nm³).