•Study evaluates pedestrian safety while pedestrian crossing at urban mid-blocks.•PSM was assessed to analyse gap-selection behaviour of pedestrian for safe crossings.•Influencing factors such as ...speed, gap, and behavior of driver and pedestrian was analysed.•A multiple regression model was developed for PSM considering influencing factors.
Amplified pedestrian-vehicle interaction especially at urban midblock crossings have ensued higher pedestrian fatalities and such situations further exacerbates under heterogeneous traffic conditions and therefore, it becomes indispensable to evaluate pedestrian safety especially at urban midblock crossings. To comprehend the factors influencing pedestrian safety, video-graphic survey was conducted at four urban midblock crossings located in different parts of India. Data was extracted from the video and model was developed using Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) Technique. The data includes mainly pedestrian demographics, vehicle characteristics and roadway characteristics out of which, eleven variables are identified and analysed, which are found to be significant. Regression model indicated that the PSM distinctly depends on the availability of gap in vehicular flow, pedestrian crossing behaviour and speed of the approaching vehicle. Further, it is found that safety margin increases with increase in pedestrian speed and vehicular gap, whereas the same decreases with rolling behaviour, while crossing the street. Elasticity analysis was also carried out among the different variables, wherein the vehicle speed, pedestrian speed and vehicle gap were found to be the most influencing variables, whereas, pedestrian age and platoon size had the least effect. It was also found that pedestrians are more likely to cross the road by maintaining least marginal vehicular gap with respect to light vehicles compared to heavier vehicles, highlighting that vehicle type influences pedestrian safety. Further, driver yielding behaviour significantly influences pedestrian safety. In addition, from the sensitivity analysis, it is corroborated that the safety margin against to pedestrian speed and vehicle speed increases with increase in the vehicle gap size. Moreover, PSM against waiting time decreases as the vehicle gap increases. The developed PSM model can enable engineers and planners to evaluate safety at existing crossings at unprotected mid-blocks. The results of the PSM model may be useful to design pedestrian facility and suggest appropriate remedial measures to enhance pedestrian safety.
Performance evaluation in construction safety is of great importance to further improve upon safety
management processes. This paper develops a data envelopment analysis (DEA) based framework to ...evaluate the construction
safety performance at the macro level. The core of the method is to compare the output-input ratio of construction safety.
Using the building practitioner, construction machinery and equipment, and construction area as the inputs, and value added
of construction and death toll as the outputs, safety performance score is computed for the China’s provincial construction
industries from 2009 to 2017. The results show that the number of benchmark provinces every year is between five and seven.
The gap between the best-performing and underperforming province was relatively small in 2012 and big in 2014. Beijing,
Qinghai, Hainan, Fujian, Chongqing, and Tianjin can be utilized as role models for the provinces that need to improve their
performance in construction safety. The eastern region has the highest score in construction safety performance, followed by
the western and central region. This study provides an effective solution to solve performance issue in regional construction
safety and improves the tradition performance evaluation system to a certain extent.
On the one hand, in the present era, construction companies are one of Egypt’s fastest-growing industries and provide significant economic returns. On the other hand, construction industries ...significantly put individuals in danger of accidental death. In this study, the researchers examined the factors that affect Occupational Safety (OCS) measures among women engineers working in Egypt’s construction industries. This is a quantitative study that used cross-sectional data, and the researchers used 376 usable samples. By applying Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), this study’s findings demonstrate that the Work Environment (WEN), Personal Protection (PP), Training and Education of Safety Skills (TESS), Familiarity with Safety Regulations (FSR) and Safety Commitment (SCT) influence OCS. This study’s findings will help policymakers and planners design effective safety policies on construction sites. This study’s findings about adopting precautionary and safety measures will help reduce the death rates on Egypt’s construction sites. Finally, particularly in developing countries, this study’s findings will contribute to the health and safety and environment and health literature.
Construction safety prediction is an emerging field where various forms of information and analytical techniques are used to predict the likelihood or severity of a future injury. A review of this ...literature reveals that even though the approaches are used for the same goal of predicting future safety outcomes, they are modeled independently and exclusively from one another. To organize thinking in safety prediction, the literature is organized into four operationally-defined predictive families: (1) safety risk assessment, which considers the characteristics and dangers of the work; (2) precursor analysis, which considers the conditions of the workers; (3) leading indicators, which consider the quantity of safety management activities; and (4) safety climate assessments, which considers worker perceptions of safety. Additionally, a unified model is proposed where the four families are considered together and opportunities for synergy and cross-validation are exploited. Researchers may benefit from this model as they create points of departure, propose and test novel approaches, and attempt to contextualize their findings within the existing body of literature. Furthermore, practitioners may use the model to make more accurate and robust safety predictions that account for the interconnectedness of the work attributes, human resources, and management strategies that affect safety.
•One of the very few empirical studies focusing on Human Factors and Safety Culture in the port environment.•The application of a robust methodological approach that has been validated in applied ...industrial research.•The application of the Safety Cultural Maturity Model.•Provides a solid platform for future research in this ‘under-researched’ area.•Provides high level recommendations for key steps ports need to consider on their journey towards a resilient safety culture.
The critical role of understanding Human Factors and the importance of Safety Culture in the maritime sector is becoming much more topical. While the key focus of much of the research in this sector has been on seagoing vessels, it is also important to recognise that ports and docks can be particularly dangerous and hazardous environments. The objective of this paper is to report on an exploratory research study assessing the safety culture and human factor awareness in a large European port environment. The research study adopted a multi-methods approach that included the completion of a Safety Culture Assessment Survey across a port environment (161 responses) and research interviews (11 in total) with a port authority company. The research concludes that there is an increasing awareness of human factors and a move towards a positive safety culture that facilitates an open and resilient approach to all safety practices. However much more focused research is required focusing on the specific complexities, constraints and shared processes of our port environments.
The coronavirus pandemic crisis highlighted the critical importance of comprehensive safety management for all organizations. Safety management literature delineates two approaches to achieving ...safety, characterized as safety management through centralized control, known as the safety management system (SMS), and safety management through guided adaptability, known as organizational resilience (OR). Each of these approaches plays a pivotal role in establishing and maintaining the safety and sustainability of an organization. This paper aimed to compare the maturity of SMS with the maturity of OR, identifying the relationship between aspects of SMS and OR in the context of the crisis of the pandemic. Based on a literature review, the author presents adopted concepts of SMS and OR, as well as a customized maturity model for both. The survey methodology involved two questionnaires on SMS and OR, consisting of 26 and 18 questions, respectively. The survey was conducted in three approved training organizations (ATOs) in the Greater Poland voivodeship. When comparing key aspects of both approaches to safety management (SMS vs. OR), significant differences in ratings were observed. Additionally, a moderate correlation was found between aspects of SMS and OR. This discrepancy was reflected in the maturity models. According to the survey results, SMS achieved the fourth level of maturity, labeled proactive safety management, while OR attained the third level of maturity, termed a fairly agile organization. Furthermore, the results showed that while the guided adaptability approach is more difficult to achieve in an organization, the centralized control approach is insufficient. Therefore, both components are necessary to ensure the comprehensive safety of the organization.
Majority existing organic composite phase change materials (CPCMs) are flammable that result in thermal hazards such as fire and explosions in battery modules. Furthermore, the performance of ...PCM-based battery modules in extreme conditions like thermal runaway has not been studied adequately. In this study, a tubular CPCM-cell structure is designed using physically flame-retardant-modified CPCMs, and a series of experiments on the CPCMs with/without real cells is conducted with calorimeter tests and SEM analysis on morphology structure. First, the calorimeter tests and comparison on the heat release rate (HRR) are conducted on the CPCMs with and without flame retardant additives. Results show that the addition of Al(OH)3 reduced the HRR from 242.5 to 204.4 kW/m2 with 15 wt% additives. Besides, the analysis of the mitigating performances of structure-enhanced tubular module and traditional cuboid module with real batteries is conducted. A factor of safety (FOS) parameter is defined to evaluate the safety degree of thermal runaway domino with energy density. The FOS of blank, CPCM–0C, and CPCM–15C modules are 0, 3.59, and 16.67, respectively, while that of CPCM-15T reaches 21.01, indicating a significant improvement on mitigating effects by structure enhancement compared to adding flame retardant additives. This study brings novelty in the design of PCM-based battery modules, particularly from the thermal safety prospect.
•An optimized tubular module using modified CPCM is designed to reduce hazard risk.•Bottleneck issue is solved by structure enhancement without reducing energy density.•Effect of flame retardant additives on thermal hazards is tested with/without cells.•Mitigation of tubular unit with air-flow-channel on heat propagation is tested.•Evaluation of battery modules are conducted from two aspects simultaneously.
•Frequency distribution of root cause for passenger vehicle recalls.•Classification schemes for defective components and defect types.•Significant associations between defective components and defect ...types.•Functional Block Diagram of Airbag System.•Failure Mode Effect and Analysis (FMEA) of Airbag.
This study analysed 345 passenger vehicle recalls that were reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The root cause analysis was applied to analyse each recall event in order to derive the cause of the recall, i.e., the defect type. Classification schemes were developed to organize the defective components and defect type into useful categories. The defect types were classified into manufacturing defects, design flaws, and mislabelling. Each of the above categories was expanded into smaller subcategories and items. Following the root cause analysis, the functional block diagram, and failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) were applied to translate defective recall cases into FMEA tabular statements. Cramer's V and Phi coefficient analyses were applied to identify significant associations between defective components and defect types to prevent the future recurrence of recalls and improve vehicle quality. This study demonstrated that root cause and FMEA, based on an orthogonal classification scheme, can be applied to derive feasible solutions for reducing vehicle safety recalls, and such analysis can be generalized to other products or manufacturing processes.
The assessment of safety barriers performance is often achieved through tests or inspections in order to determine their availability or probability of failure on demand (PFD). The ultimate objective ...of these activities is to observe if the safety barrier is operational and to detect possible hidden failures. However, sometimes due to error in design or changes performed on the installation, the referred safety barrier is not adequate or no longer suitable to face the current level of risk. In the present paper is made a description of safety barriers as important means concerning risky situations and a methodology to evaluate the adequacy of a safety barrier is proposed. This methodology links the safety integrity level of an assessed safety barrier to the probability of occurrence of the hazardous event that it should protect. There is a pre-selection of the classified dangerous undetected safety function failures that will be used to determine the probability of failure on demand (PFD) and the safety barrier adequacy to a specific risk. It will be also possible to estimate the probability of occurrence of a hazardous situation corresponding to the simultaneity of the initiating hazardous event and the safety barrier fault (when a demand occurs).
Road project sites are dangerous and crash-prone, with many hazards that can cause injuries and can result in the deaths of road users or site-workers. Work zones for road construction or maintenance ...can potentially contribute to increasing these crashes. Many studies have addressed this issue; however, there is a lack of similar studies in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this study contributes to developing safety practices for road work zones in Saudi Arabia by identifying, analyzing, and controlling the main risk factors. A survey approach was used to identify risk factors and potential countermeasures from road users' and civil engineering experts' perceptions. The main findings showed that most participants believed that the presence of work zones on the road might increase the probability of crash occurrence and that the highest risk factor that could cause a crash in a work zone is related to driver behavior. Both groups agreed that strict action against contractors or consultants who have safety violations would enhance road safety in work zones. Considering the findings of this study, decision-makers should take strong action to implement and improve road safety practices.
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