Trams-a risk factor for pedestrians

In Gothenburg tram injuries were identified to be an important cause of traffic injuries and fatalities (48%) among pedestrians. During the summer middle-aged men, often under the influence of alcohol, were often severely injured and the injury rate was also high during the autumn. A majority (60%) of those fatally injured were under the influence of alcohol. Most injury events happened at or near a tram stop. The most serious injuries arose when the victim landed under a tram. In 1992, a runaway tram caused a major disaster, killing 10 pedestrians and injuring 30. The injury reducing measures the tram company has now started to introduce include safety railings at tram stops, side barriers on the tramcars to prevent people from falling under the tram and lower speeds near tram stops.     

民用飞机座舱温度异常事故仿真研究

飞机座舱温度异常事故模拟仿真问题,飞机座舱温度控制系统结构复杂,故障类型较多,为深入分析座舱温度控制系统故障机理,同时,为相关的适航条款的验证提供数据支撑.根据流体和能量守恒建立座舱温度控制系统数学模型;用蒙特卡洛方法通过调用座舱温度控制系统模型对随机故障注入进行仿真研究.得到座舱Simulink动态仿真曲线,分析其变化过程;并对温度变化情况进行统计.仿真结果表明,故障与理论结果一致,随机故障注入结果表明,数据对相关的条款验证修改能够提供数据支撑.表明对座舱温度异常事故仿真研究具有重要的参考价值.     

‘Actions not as planned’ in military air-traffic control

Observations were made of the errors made by eight air-traffic controllers over two periods each of 2½ hours. Errors were classified using a recently devised classification of motor-program errors (Reason 1979) and all the controllers were observed under three conditions of workload, and performing two ostensibly similar air-traffic tasks.

More errors were found with increasing workload, but only in one of the tasks This was interpreted in terms of the pacing and time stress inherently imposed in that task. The assessment of error incidence seems a good candidate as a non-intrusive measure of workload. Analysis of errors in terms of Reason's typology showed no interaction with any of the other variables.

The association of errors with the use of particular pieces of equipment demonstrated ergonomic deficiencies which may have otherwise remained unnoticed It seems that error auditing may also be a useful investigative technique in ergonomic assessment.     

An examination of the relationship between cycle training,cycle accidents,attitudes and cycling behaviour among children

Around 40% of 10–11-year-old children receive cycle training every year in the UK, but concern has been expressed over the efficacy of training courses. One argument is that accidents occur too infrequently to be a viable evaluative criterion, and attitudes and behaviour have been suggested as alternatives. A questionnaire that measured a number of variables including accidents, attitudes, and behaviour was completed by 336 participants from two schools in the London Borough of Bromley. At least one cycling injury had been sustained by 58.3% of respondents, requiring hospital treatment in 19.1% of cases. Girls reported fewer accidents than boys. No relationship between training and accidents was found. A principal components analysis (PCA) of the attitudes items produced a ‘safe attitudes’ factor. Girls displayed ‘safer’ attitudes, but there was no evidence that training produced safer attitudes. A PCA of the cycling behaviour scales produced two factors, ‘safe cycling’ and ‘showing off’. Safe cyclists who obeyed basic safety rules were less likely to sustain cycle injuries, but showing off was not related to accidents. Girls were less likely to show off, but the safe behaviour gender difference did not reach significance. Training did not relate to either factor.     

Association between increase in fixed penalties and road safety outcomes: A meta-analysis

Studies that have evaluated the association between increases in traffic fine amounts (fixed penalties) and changes in compliance with road traffic law or the number of accidents are synthesised by means of meta-analysis. The studies were few and different in many respects. Nine studies were included in the meta-analysis of changes in compliance. Four studies were included in the meta-analysis of changes in accidents. Increasing traffic fines was found to be associated with small changes in the rate of violations. The changes were non-linear. For increases up to about 100%, violations were reduced. For larger increases, no reduction in violations was found. A small reduction in fatal accidents was associated with increased fixed penalties, varying between studies from less than 1–12%. The main pattern of changes in violations was similar in the fixed-effects and random-effects models of meta-analysis, meta-regression and when simple (non-weighted) mean values were computed. The main findings are thus robust, although most of the primary studies did not control very well for potentially confounding factors. Summary estimates of changes in violations or accidents should be treated as provisional and do not necessarily reflect causal relationships.     

Falls in the healthy elderly: predisposing causes

One hundred healthy men and women aged 65-85 took part in a prospective study. They were clinically examined and underwent laboratory tests of gait, balance and reaction time at the start of an observation year.

All falls occurring in that year were analysed in detail. Three-quarters of them were trips or slips; however, ten personal factors were identified which, if present, increased the likelihood of a fall occurring. These were: disturbance of gait following a rest period accompanied by a lighting change (in persons aged 70 and over); an absent or abnormal plantar reflex; failure to wear prescribed spectacles; the presence of anxiety/depression, of a foot problem, or of two or more self-perceived limitations on mobility; a history of former wearing of high heels; a sustained drop in pulse pressure 5 min after cessation of a rest period; restricted neck movements; and the presence of an inverse Romberg ratio.

The number of circumstantial and personal factors contributing to the falls varied between three and twelve.     

A systems approach to organizational error

Abstract

The past two decades have seen a significant number of large-scale disasters in a wide range of hazardous, well-defended technologies. Despite their differences, the root causes of these accidents have been traced to latent failures and organizational errors arising in the upper echelons of the system in question. A model of the aetiology of these organizational accidents is outlined. The model describes two interrelated causal sequences: (a) an active failure pathway that originates in top-level decisions and proceeds via error-producing and violation-promoting conditions in the various workplaces to unsafe acts committed by those at the immediate human-system interface and (b) a latent failure pathway that runs directly from the organizational processes to deficiencies in the system's defences. The paper goes on to identify two sets of dependencies associated with latent failures and violations. Organizational errors increase the likelihood of operator error through the active failure pathway and, at the same time, enhance the possibility of adverse outcomes through defensive weaknesses. Violations have a narrower range of consequences. Non-compliance with safe operating procedures increases the likelihood of error by taking perpetrators into regions of operation in which neither the physical regime nor the hazards are well understood. Violations, by definition, also take perpetrators ‘closer to the edge,’ and thus increase the chance that subsequent errors will have damaging outcomes. The paper concludes by indicating two ways in which the model has been applied in industrial settings: (a) through the development of proactive measures for diagnosing and remedying organizational processes known to be implicated in accident causation, and (b) an accident investigation technique that guides investigators and analysts to the organizational root causes of past accidents.     

An exposure based study of crash and injury rates in a cohort of transport and recreational cyclists in New South Wales,Australia

This paper examines self-reported prospectively collected data from 2038 adult transport and recreational cyclists from New South Wales (Australia) to determine exposure-based incident crash and injury rates. During 25,971 days of cycling, 198 crashes were reported, comprising approximately equal numbers of falls and collisions. The overall crash rate was 0.290 (95% CI, 0.264–0.319) per 1000 km or 6.06 (95% CI, 5.52–6.65) per 1000 h of travel. The rate of crashes causing any injury (self-treated, or medically attended without overnight hospital stay) was 0.148 (95% CI, 0.133–0.164) per 1000 km or 3.09 (95% CI, 2.79-3.43) per 1000 h of travel. The rate of crashes causing a medically attended injury (without overnight hospital stay) was 0.023 (95% CI, 0.020–0.027) per 1000 km or 0.49 (95% CI, 0.43-0.56) per 1000 h of travel. No injuries requiring an overnight stay in hospital were reported on days meeting the inclusion criteria. After adjustment for exposure in hours, or for the risks associated with different infrastructure utilisation, the rates of crashes and medically attended injuries were found to be greater for females than males, less experienced than more experienced cyclists, and for those who rode mainly for transport rather than mainly for recreation. Comparison of estimated crash and injury rates on different infrastructure types were limited by the small number of events, however findings suggest that the separation of cyclists from motorised traffic is by itself not sufficient to ensure safe cycling.     

Steel Erection Fatalities in the Construction Industry

Construction fatalities continue to occur during steel erection. Using 166 case files resulting from Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA) investigations of steel erection fatalities during the years 2000–2005, the writers examined the data to determine the proximal causes and contributing physical factors. Of the 166 fatal events, results showed proximal cause “falls” represented 125 of the fatal events, “crushed/struck/hit by object” represented 40, and one was caused by electrocution. The rate of fatalities tended to reduce from 2000 to 2005. As a result, OSHA may be reaching one of its goals established following the introduction of the new steel standards in 2002, an annual reduction of 30 fatalities. The results of this study indicate that employer compliance with OSHA’s fall protection standards and instructing employees in recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions could save lives.     

关于冶金机械设备几种事故驱动方式的比较

比较了冶金机械设备在停电故障下几种事故驱动方式,重点介绍了新兴的EPS(Emergency Power Supply)事故驱动电源,并倾向于采用EPS作为冶金设备的主要事故驱动。