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Food contact materials (FCM) are any type of item intended to come into contact with foods and thus represent a potential source for human exposure to chemicals. Regarding FCMs made of paper and board, information pertaining to their chemical constituents and the potential impacts on human health remains scarce, which hampers safety evaluation. We describe an effect-directed strategy to identify and characterize emerging chemicals in paper and board FCMs. Twenty FCMs were tested in eight reporter gene assays, including assays for the AR, ER, AhR, PPARγ, Nrf2 and p53, as well as mutagenicity. All FCMs exhibited activities in at least one assay. As proof-of-principle, FCM samples obtained from a sandwich wrapper and a pizza box were carried through a complete step-by-step multi-tiered approach. The pizza box exhibited ER activity, likely caused by the presence of bisphenol A, dibutyl phthalate, and benzylbutyl phthalate. The sandwich wrapper exhibited AR antagonism, likely caused by abietic acid and dehydroabietic acid. Migration studies confirmed that the active chemicals can transfer from FCMs to food simulants. In conclusion, we report an effect-directed strategy that can identify hazards posed by FCMs made from paper and board, including the identification of the chemical(s) responsible for the observed activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazard identification is a fundamental step in safety management that has the potential to reduce the number and severity of occupational injuries on construction sites. Researchers have identified and evaluated some of the hazards, but few have extensively discussed all of them and none have classified them by sector. The goal of this paper is to fill that research gap by considering hazard identification through an organized synthesis of the existing literature. After a comprehensive literature review, 236 publications were deemed eligible for further analysis. Eighteen safety hazards were identified and then categorized into four groups based on their physiological impacts, ranked based on frequency of citation, and classified by sector. The results revealed that falls from heights, material handling, and heavy machinery were the most frequently cited hazards and the most likely to impact all sectors. Mitigation strategies were also identified, and it was determined that most hazards can be mitigated through the use of personal protective equipment, and effective training and supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction process is a dynamic one, and the complexity of the working conditions and the high level of uncertainty make the construction industry the third most dangerous industry after mining and agriculture. And since the construction industry is vital to the development of a country, safety during construction is of particular importance. A great deal of research, studies and practices have been conducted to reduce potential risks and improve worker efficiency during the construction process. In recent years, with the rapid development of cognitive neuroscience and the integration of medical technology, various wearable monitoring devices have been widely used in the field of building construction for real-time monitoring of workers' physical and mental conditions. Among them, the application of EEG (electroencephalogram) in the building construction process enables researchers to gain insight into the physical and mental state of construction workers while performing construction tasks. This paper introduces EEG technology and portable EEG monitoring equipment and summarizes its application in monitoring workers' adverse reactions (emotion, fatigue, psychological burden, and vigilance) and construction hazard identification during the process of construction in recent years, which provides future EEG research in the field of building construction and construction site safety management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of hazards and risk assessment are key factors in the safety of the industries, including power plants. This paper contains an original risk analysis method that increases the level of safety in commissioning and start-up operations. With the proposed method, which has been tested in real industrial facilities, it has been possible to increase the safety of the system and reduce the likelihood of incidents and accidents in one of the most dangerous stages of project construction activities. This paper also gives an overview of the processes and procedures used in the construction of power plants compared to other industry sectors, proposing some areas for potential improvement. It has been verified that temporary systems used during commissioning apply risk evaluation techniques that do not consider some aspects related to process hazards, something that can be important for the prevention of accidents that historically happen at this stage. Analysis of the data has determined that, in these stages, there have been incidents and accidents, some of them severe. Thus, in this paper, a methodology is proposed. The method allows addressing the particularities of the execution of temporary systems in a safe way by putting into practice an agile and flexible method that can be applied to these particular systems, so that the risk levels can be reduced. The method was applied to one real application representative of this kind of system and yielded excellent results. The proposed methodology is highly recommended as an improvement for the power industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazard identification in the construction industry is subject to a larger number of variables and unknowns than in other manufacturing industries making the hazard identification process more difficult and resulting in many injuries and fatalities. Moreover, previous research identified a research gap with regards to a universal hazard identification method. The results presented in this paper are a prerequisite for the development of such a method. Specifically, this paper proposes a novel classification of hazards in order to enable a more accurate hazard identification process which can take all possible hazards into consideration. Based on the theoretical framework, three hazard types are proposed in the research: self-induced hazards, peer-induced hazards, and global hazards. This classification is based on who is the source (who causes) the hazards in relation to who is affected by the hazards. Such classification was not identified in previous literature. This research also has practical implications. Such classification of hazards may influence safety experts to more actively focus on peer-induced hazards which are the hardest to identify. Finally, the outputs of the entire research should enable a more accurate and comprehensive hazard identification resulting in reduced injury and fatality rates in the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manufacture and production of industrial chemicals continues to increase, with hundreds of thousands of chemicals and chemical mixtures used worldwide, leading to widespread population exposures and resultant health impacts. Low-wealth communities and communities of color often bear disproportionate burdens of exposure and impact; all compounded by regulatory delays to the detriment of public health. Multiple authoritative bodies and scientific consensus groups have called for actions to prevent harmful exposures via improved policy approaches. We worked across multiple disciplines to develop consensus recommendations for health-protective, scientific approaches to reduce harmful chemical exposures, which can be applied to current US policies governing industrial chemicals and environmental pollutants. This consensus identifies five principles and scientific recommendations for improving how agencies like the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approach and conduct hazard and risk assessment and risk management analyses: (1) the financial burden of data generation for any given chemical on (or to be introduced to) the market should be on the chemical producers that benefit from their production and use; (2) lack of data does not equate to lack of hazard, exposure, or risk; (3) populations at greater risk, including those that are more susceptible or more highly exposed, must be better identified and protected to account for their real-world risks; (4) hazard and risk assessments should not assume existence of a "safe" or "no-risk" level of chemical exposure in the diverse general population; and (5) hazard and risk assessments must evaluate and account for financial conflicts of interest in the body of evidence. While many of these recommendations focus specifically on the EPA, they are general principles for environmental health that could be adopted by any agency or entity engaged in exposure, hazard, and risk assessment. We also detail recommendations for four priority areas in companion papers (exposure assessment methods, human variability assessment, methods for quantifying non-cancer health outcomes, and a framework for defining chemical classes). These recommendations constitute key steps for improved evidence-based environmental health decision-making and public health protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of robotics and automation (RA) within construction operations to combat stagnant productivity, high rates of injuries and fatalities, and a declining workforce is increasing. However, utilizing RA for construction operations creates human-robot interactions (HRIs) that can lead to the emergence of novel hazards or exacerbate existing safety risk levels. These hazards, if ignored, could worsen worker safety performance. This paper presents a study intended to identify critical HRI safety risks and develop a pre-task planning protocol for the assessment of safety risks associated with the use of RA. To achieve this goal, the authors utilized a sequential multi-phase approach relying on information obtained from a literature review, a 3-round Delphi process consisting of a panel of experts from industry and academia, and interviews with safety experts. Forty hazards associated with RA and 20 potential strategies for the mitigation of HRI safety risks were identified and evaluated. This information was used to develop a safety risk assessment tool that yields an overall risk rating of using RA. This study contributes to knowledge and practice by identifying and quantifying critical safety risks associated with HRI and developing a tool to assess and mitigate unique HRI safety risks. Utilizing insights developed in this study could improve construction worker safety and health and aid the industry's increasing push towards a smart and safe workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For mining engineering and geological engineering, the deformation and fracture of coal and rock are the essential causes of dynamic disasters. In this paper, the loading experimental system was established on gas-bearing coal, to study the internal relationship between the spatial distribution of EP and the development process of damaging localization on coal mass. The results indicated the temporal response of EP signal could reflect the stress state and damage degree of gas-bearing coal, showing the precursor feather when coal mass failed. Particularly, when the stress dropped suddenly, the EP signal has a sudden mutation, and the acoustic emission (AE) signal suffered the pulsed increase, while the crack grew and expanded rapidly. Furthermore, when local severe damage occurs inside the coal mass, there was abnormal EP spatial distribution with high-value or dense contours in these zones, where simultaneously AE rupture events frequently occurred, and cracks expanded and gathered. The characteristics of EP spatial distribution can reveal the development process of coal mass damaging localization. Meanwhile, the mentioned zones with abnormal EP distribution above are hazard sources inducing coal mass’s instability and failure. The study results provide the foundational research work of fine forecasting on coal and gas outburst disaster hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of water inrush risk is becoming increasingly important as coal mining activities reach greater depths. Hazard identification, as well as hazard analysis, is the first step in accident prevention. However, there have not been any studies that focus on the hazard analysis system for mine water inrush. In this paper, hazard identification and its definitions are briefly summarized and a comprehensive review of methods for hazard identification and classification are conducted. To illustrate the hazard of coal mine water inrush, data on coal mine accidents (since 2001) are collected and hundreds water inrush accidents were analyzed in depth. Empirical, statistical analysis and case study method were used to conduct the research. By collecting a large number of mine water inrush cases, hazard identification and risk control measures for coal mine water inrush accidents were conducted. Hazard identification method based on fault tree analysis, as well as a method based on management oversight and risk tree (MORT) and energy release theory were put forward. The analysis results show that the historical information and experiences are critically important in hazard identification of mine water inrush. Hazard of mine water inrush is divided into dynamic root hazard and static root hazard which can be further categorized into static innate hazard and dynamic-triggered hazard. Strategies for risk control of mine water inrush are combined into three aspects: engineering controls, operation system controls, and human behavior controls. Finally, a case study of the Taoyuan coal mine was conducted to illustrate the proposed system, with limitations and future studies are discussed. The hazard identification and classification system can be broadly applied to coal mines and will improve risk control and prevention of mine water inrush accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endocrine disrupting chemicals or carcinogens have been known for decades for their endocrine signal disruption. Endocrine disrupting chemicals are a serious concern and they have been included in the top priority toxicants and persistent organic pollutants. Therefore, researchers have been working for a long time to understand their mechanisms of interaction in different human organs. Several reports are available about the carcinogen potential of these chemicals. The presented review is an endeavor to understand the hazard identification associated with endocrine disrupting carcinogens in relation to the human body. The paper discusses the major endocrine disrupting carcinogens and their potency for carcinogenesis. It discusses human exposure, route of entry, carcinogenicity and mechanisms. In addition, the paper discusses the research gaps and bottlenecks associated with the research. Moreover, it discusses the limitations associated with the analytical techniques for detection of endocrine disrupting carcinogens. [Display omitted] • Types of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) related to cancer were analyzed. • EDCs associated cancers and their mechanisms were discussed. • Human exposure to EDCs was explored. • Assessment of EDCs carcinogenicity was performed. • Research gaps and future studies were suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the safety issue of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) has become a hot topic. Preliminary hazard analysis of MASS can assist autonomous ship design and ensure safe and reliable operation. However, since MASS technology is still at its early stage, there are not enough data for comprehensive hazard analysis. Hence, this paper attempts to combine conventional ship data and MASS experiments to conduct a preliminary hazard analysis for autonomy level III MASS using the hybrid causal logic (HCL) method. Firstly, the hazardous scenario of autonomy level III MASS is developed using the event sequence diagram (ESD). Furthermore, the fault tree (FT) method is utilized to analyze mechanical events in ESD. The events involving human factors and related to MASS in the ESD are analyzed using Bayesian Belief Network (BBN). Finally, the accident probability of autonomy level III MASS is calculated in practice through historical data and a test ship with both an autonomous and a remote navigation mode in Wuhan and Nanjing, China. Moreover, the key influence factors are found, and the accident-causing event chains are identified, thus providing a reference for MASS design and safety assessment process. This process is applied to the preliminary hazard analysis of the test ship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoplastics are associated with several risks to the ecology and toxicity to humans. Nanoplastics are synthetic polymers with dimensions ranging from 1 nm to 1 μm. They are directly released to the environment or secondarily derived from plastic disintegration in the environment. Nanoplastics are widely detected in environmental samples and the food chain; therefore, their potentially toxic effects have been widely explored. In the present review, an overview of another two potential sources of nanoplastics, exposure routes to illustrate hazard identification of nanoplastics, cell internalization, and effects on intracellular target organelles are presented. In addition, challenges on the study of nanoplastics and future research areas are summarized. This paper also summarizes some approaches to eliminate or minimize the levels of nanoplastics to ensure environmental safety and improve human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sucralose, a sugar substitute first approved for use in 1991, is a non-caloric sweetener regulated globally as a food additive. Based on numerous experimental animal studies (dating to the 1980s) and human epidemiology studies, international health agencies have determined that sucralose is safe when consumed as intended. A single lifetime rodent carcinogenicity bioassay conducted by the Ramazzini Institute (RI) reported that mice fed diets containing sucralose develop hematopoietic neoplasia, but controversy continues regarding the validity and relevance of these data for predicting health effects in humans. The present paper addresses the controversy by providing the perspective of experienced pathologists on sucralose-related animal toxicity and carcinogenicity data generally, and the RI carcinogenicity bioassay findings specifically, using results from publicly available papers and international regulatory authority decisions. In the authors' view, flaws in the design, methodology, data evaluation, and reporting of the RI carcinogenicity bioassay for sucralose diminish the value of the data as evidence that this agent represents a carcinogenic hazard to humans. This limitation will remain until the RI bioassay is repeated under Good Laboratory Practices and the design, data, and accuracy of the pathology diagnoses and interpretations are reviewed by qualified pathologists with experience in evaluating potential chemically-induced carcinogenic hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Batteries and hydrogen constitute two of the most promising solutions for decarbonising international shipping. This paper presents the comparison between a battery and a proton-exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cell version of a high-speed catamaran ferry with a main focus on safety. The systems required for each version are properly sized and fitted according to the applicable rules, and their impact on the overall design is discussed. Hazards for both designs were identified; frequency and consequence indexes for them were input qualitatively, following Novel Technology Qualification and SOLAS Alternative Designs and Arrangements, while certain risk control options were proposed in order to reduce the risks of the most concerned accidental events. The highest ranked risks were analysed by quantitative risk assessments in PyroSim software. The gas dispersion analysis performed for the hydrogen version indicated that it is crucial for the leakage in the fuel cell room to be stopped within 1 s after being detected to prevent the formation of explosive masses under full pipe rupture of 33 mm diameter, even with 120 air changes per hour. For the battery version, the smoke/fire simulation in the battery room indicated that the firefighting system could achieve a 30% reduction in fire duration, with firedoors closed and ventilation shut, compared to the scenario without a firefighting system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power systems and their primary components, mostly the transmission and distribution of overhead lines, substations, and other power facilities, are distributed in space and are exposed to various atmospheric and meteorological conditions. These conditions carry a certain level of risk for reliable electrical power delivery. Various atmospheric hazards endanger the operation of power systems, where the most significant are thunderstorms, wildfire events, and floods which can cause various ranges of disturbances, faults, and damages to the power grid, or even negatively affect the quality of life. By utilizing a weather monitoring and early warning system, it is possible to ensure a faster reaction against different weather-caused fault detections and elimination, to ensure a faster and more adequate preparation for fighting extreme weather events, while maintaining overhead line protection and fault elimination. Moreso, it is possible to bypass overhead lines that have the highest risk of unfavorable meteorological events and hazards, and reroute the energy, thus providing electricity to endangered areas in times of need while minimizing blackouts, and consequently, improving the quality of human life. This paper will present an analysis of the various risks of atmospheric phenomena, in the meteorological and climate context, and discuss various power system components, the power system control, operations, planning, and power quality. A concept with the main functionalities and data sources needed for the establishment of an early warning weather hazard system will be proposed. The proposed solution can be used as a utility function in power system control to mitigate risks to the power system due to atmospheric influences and ongoing climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in training approaches and technology have identified the need to improve training in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH). While many researchers have examined the use of augmented reality (AR) and technology-based classrooms to enhance conventional training practices, quantitative evidence for their effectiveness and motivational impact remains scarce. To contribute to filling this research gap, an AR-based application was developed to enhance OSH training. The enhanced training session was conducted in a closed, safe environment with ten participants with no background in OSH. Pre-test, post-test, and instructional material motivation surveys (IMMS) using a five-point Likert scale were deployed to measure the effectiveness and motivational impact in accordance with the respective ARCS factors. The empirical results obtained show that participants performed significantly better in the post-tests than in the pre-tests (mean = 14.60, s = 1.71, t(9) = -12.11 with p-value < 0.001). The IMMS results show that the perceived motivation arising from the AR-based application resulted in the highest mean score for the satisfaction factor (4.80) followed by the relevance (4.65), confidence (4.60), and attention (4.55) factors. The results of the evaluation suggest that the AR-based application boosted participants' active learning behavior, engagement, and interest during the enhanced training session and produced a better learning outcome and experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accidents have occurred periodically in the tailings ponds where mine solid waste is stored in recent years, and thus their safety has become one of the constraints restricting the sustainable development of the mining industry. Reclamation is an important way to treat tailings ponds, but improper reclamation methods and measures not only cannot reduce the accident risk of tailings ponds, but will further increase the pollution to the surrounding environment. The influencing factors of reclamation accidents in tailings ponds are complex, and the existing models cannot characterize them. In order to study the propagation process of tailings pond reclamation risk, this paper proposes a three-dimensional identification framework for accident hazards based on evidence (TDIFAHE) to identify all potential hazards that may occur during the reclamation stage, and obtain a list of hazards. Based on the complex network theory, this paper uses identified hazards as network nodes and the correlation between hazards as the edges of the network. Based on the identified hazard data, the evolution network of reclamation risk in tailings ponds (ENRRTP) is constructed. By analyzing the statistical characteristics of ENRRTP, it can be found that ENRRTP has small world and scale-free characteristics. The above characteristics show that the reclamation risk of tailings ponds is coupled with multiple factors and the disaster path is short. Giving priority to those hub hazards that have a dominant impact on the reclamation risk can significantly reduce the reclamation risk of the tailings pond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crane-related accidents often occur due to failure in timely and accurate hazard identification. Virtual Reality (VR) technology facilitates immersive environments for improving hazard identification without real-world consequences. However, the impact of simulation fidelity on hazard identification performance, particularly for novice crane operators, remains underexplored. This paper examines how simulation fidelity and task complexity affect hazard identification performance among novice operators through a VR experiment with two fidelity and two complexity levels. Findings demonstrate high-fidelity (HF) scenarios significantly improve hazard identification success rate and speed for swing-over hazards but extend task completion times. Task complexity modulates simulation fidelity's impact on task completion, with significant differences between fidelity levels observed only under low complexity. These insights inform the design and calibration of simulation fidelity in VR platforms, potentially improving training efficacy and crane lifting safety for novice operators. • Explores the impact of simulation fidelity on novice crane operators' hazard identification. • Finds that high-fidelity boosts success rate but reduces speed in hazard identification. • Highlights accuracy-speed trade-off due to simulation fidelity changes. • Emphasises interaction fidelity for immersive, real-world-like experiences. • Guides on balancing simulation fidelity and cost-effectiveness in VR safety training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience is the ability to restore performance after sustaining serious damage by a usually unexpected threat. This paper analyzes resilience of process plants as there are oil and gas refining, chemical manufacturing, power-producing plants, and many more. Over the years, plant safety has shifted from retrospective to proactive measures. Safety is important from many points of view, such as protection of workforce and nearby population, but certainly too from an economical and sustainability aspect. Pro-action requires predictive insight of what in the process can go wrong because of internal or external disruptive disturbance. Over the years, to that end, much effort was spent developing risk assessment methods and management. However, risk assessment has proven to be fallible because of various uncertainties and not the least by overlooked or unknown threats. To protect against those upsetting threats, measures can be taken up to a certain limit. These start in designing error-tolerant equipment able to be receptive to early warning signals during operations, responding to those with 'plasticity' of mind (that is, an organization and its leadership especially able to think 'outside-the box' for coping with unexpected situations), and finally, to deploy effective emergency response and able to recover from damage quickly. The paper presents a summary/review of nearly a decade of research work at the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center at the Texas A&M University to develop the concept and the techniques to realize a resilient plant, so far with a focus on chemical plant. It is, however, still a 'work-in-progress'; potential is large. Besides the conceptual details, cases are presented that show how human and technical factors, combined in a socio-technical system, can lead to a broader plant safety insight enabling more effective risk control and increased resilience. These cases have up to now only considered warning signals and possible management action, while still limited to internal threats. Hence, aspects of equipment design and recovery should be further considered, also in the light of the dynamics of present-day business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of remote sensing data to assess geohazards is being improved by web-based platforms and collaborative projects, such as the Geohazard Exploitation Platform (GEP) of the European Space Agency (ESA). This paper presents the evaluation of a surface velocity map that is generated by this platform. The map was produced through an unsupervised Multi-temporal InSAR (MTI) analysis applying the Parallel-SBAS (P-SBAS) algorithm to 25 ENVISAT satellite images from the South of Spain that were acquired between 2003 and 2008. This analysis was carried out using a service implemented in the GEP called "SBAS InSAR". Thanks to the map that was generated by the SBAS InSAR service, we identified processes not documented so far; provided new monitoring data in places affected by known ground instabilities; defined the area affected by these instabilities; and, studied a case where GEP could have been able to help in the forecast of a slope movement reactivation. This amply demonstrates the reliability and usefulness of the GEP, and shows how web-based platforms may enhance the capacity to identify, monitor, and assess hazards that are associated to geological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a responsive analysis of the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in risk management, contrasting traditional approaches with those augmented by AI and highlighting the challenges and opportunities that emerge. AI, intense learning methodologies such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs), have been identified as pivotal in extracting meaningful insights from image data, a form of analysis that holds significant potential in identifying and managing risks across various industries. The research methodology involves a strategic selection and processing of images for analysis and introduces three case studies that serve as benchmarks for evaluation. These case studies showcase the application of AI, in place of image processing capabilities, to identify hazards, evaluate risks, and suggest control measures. The comparative evaluation focuses on the accuracy, relevance, and practicality of the AI-generated findings alongside the system's response time and comprehensive understanding of the context. Results reveal that AI can significantly enhance risk assessment processes, offering rapid and detailed insights. However, the study also recognises the intrinsic limitations of AI in contextual interpretation, advocating for a synergy between technological and domain-specific expertise. The conclusion underscores the transformative potential of AI in risk management, supporting continued research to further integrate AI effectively into risk assessment frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the dynamic and complex nature of a construction jobsite, workers' safety is significantly connected to both their ability to efficiently scan their surrounding environment and their ability to anticipate and identify potentially hazardous sources in a timely manner. However, existing studies have failed to consider the spatial-temporal characteristics of high-risk construction hazards as well as the limited training available for enhancing workers' hazard anticipation. Accordingly, this study (1) examines the impact of dynamic hazards' spatiotemporal characteristics on construction workers' hazard identification and anticipation performance, and (2) proposes and illustrates a new methodological approach that harnesses cue perception timing to assemble a coherent cognitive model of situational awareness. To achieve these objectives, this study combines subjective survey measurements with such technologies as 360° video panoramas and wearable psychophysiological sensors to examine 30 construction workers' hazard search strategies, timely hazard identification performance, and spatial attentional distribution. The results of this study demonstrate that workers' hazard anticipation abilities are differentially influenced by both spatial and temporal characteristics of dynamic hazards: (1) most workers failed to distribute their spatial attention across the 360° construction environment and missed hazards outside their field of view (behind or overhead), highlighting the importance of attentional orienting; (2) most workers failed to identify emerging hazard cues that would enable anticipating latent hazards; and (3) many workers failed to develop a correct situational awareness framework because they had improper cue-perception timing. The findings of this study highlight the importance of considering the unique spatiotemporal characteristics of dynamic hazards to properly predict workers' true hazard anticipation abilities. Furthermore, the findings of this study are expected to provide valuable insight into developing effective safety training strategies to enhance workers' situational awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk assessment provides a proactive and logical ground [or many decision-making processes. Although the approach of risk assessment nowadays is well established, it remains a relatively new research area, with increasing interest in understanding the principles that underpin the practice. In the review of computer models and literature on environmental risk assessments in general and the risk analysis of waste disposal sites in particular, the authors have determined that a comprehensive risk assessment methodology covering all modules and sub-modules for landfill leachate does not exist. The same fact holds for landfill gas and degraded landfill waste (although these are both beyond the scope of this paper). A range of knowledge deficiencies is identified in the literature. One such deficiency is the development of a strategic procedure for carrying out Hazard Identification and Categorization for risk assessment of landfill leachate, assisted with a corresponding computer model. This study, with reference to the relevant literature, discusses the extent to which the Hazard Identification and Categorization procedure is absent in landfill risk analysis approaches. The elements, which should be added to such a procedure in order to more effectively underpin land-fill risk assessments, are also indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work of product designers has to evolve in phase with the improvements made to technology and changes in regulations. They have to work on different aspects of a product such as its technological, legal, environmental and occupational safety implications. European directive 2006/42/CE promulgates safe machine design principles to prevent professional risks. These principles guide machine designers to reduce residual risks as much as the technological state of the art permits. Special machine designers are by definition confronted by a lack of specific standards relating to a priori risk analysis. The aim of this paper is to present an original approach to help them to identify hazards upstream and also throughout the design process. This approach is based on the fact that hazards are linked to the presence of energies. Hazard identification can be done through the detection of parameters linked to energy sources and flows. The approach then feeds back information to designers about potential contacts between energies and workers, to highlight the need to add preventive measures. We use the Functional-Structural Model is used to represent the machine energy architecture through the different steps of its lifecycle. Thus it is possible to identify every interface through which energies circulate. These interfaces are defined by two kinds of parameter: energetic parameters (linked to energy properties), and other design parameters. This paper first presents a detailed classification of energetic parameters that are also indicators of the hazards present in the machine. We then present logical rules for processing these energetic parameters and others, in order to increase the accuracy of the hazard identification performed. To conclude, the results obtained from using this approach during the industrial design of a supply line is detailed to validate the pertinence of its application from the earliest design stages, with improved accuracy during the subsequent design stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The identification of hazards and risk assessment are key factors in the safety of the industries, including power plants. This paper contains an original risk analysis method that increases the level of safety in commissioning and start-up operations. With the proposed method, which has been tested in real industrial facilities, it has been possible to increase the safety of the system and reduce the likelihood of incidents and accidents in one of the most dangerous stages of project construction activities. This paper also gives an overview of the processes and procedures used in the construction of power plants compared to other industry sectors, proposing some areas for potential improvement. It has been verified that temporary systems used during commissioning apply risk evaluation techniques that do not consider some aspects related to process hazards, something that can be important for the prevention of accidents that historically happen at this stage. Analysis of the data has determined that, in these stages, there have been incidents and accidents, some of them severe. Thus, in this paper, a methodology is proposed. The method allows addressing the particularities of the execution of temporary systems in a safe way by putting into practice an agile and flexible method that can be applied to these particular systems, so that the risk levels can be reduced. The method was applied to one real application representative of this kind of system and yielded excellent results. The proposed methodology is highly recommended as an improvement for the power industry.

The cascading propagation and evolution of metro operation failures can significantly impact the safety of metro operation. To overcome this challenge, this study pre-processes a massive amount of metro operation log data through noise reduction. Moreover, a professional terminology dictionary is constructed along with a custom stop-word dictionary to segment the preprocessed data. Subsequently, the AFP-tree algorithm is employed to mine the segmented log data and identify key hazards. A weighted urban rail transit network is established, considering the effective path time cost, and the shortest travel OD path. To simulate the dynamic evolution of the failure chain propagation, a model based on disaster propagation theory is constructed. Taking the Shanghai Metro line as a case, multiple simulation scenarios are established with 25 key hazards as triggering points, and the number of cascade failure stations affected under different scenarios is outputted. The results indicate that the fault stations caused by the large passenger flow are the largest. Meanwhile, the number of stations affected by the door clamp is the smallest. The scale of fault stations reaches a maximum value in 16–20 min. Through case analysis, a positive correlation is found when the self-recovery factor is between 14 and 18, and the number of fault stations shows a significant increasing trend. The research results can provide decision-making support and theoretical guidance for rail transit operation safety management enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction industry is one of the most hazardous industries to work in. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that safety performance improvement is stagnating. Information technologies (ITs) are however identified as one of the most promising methods of improving the performance of construction safety. The goal of this paper was therefore to present previous research in the application of innovative ITs to the field of construction health and safety (H&S), classified by their underlying technology and application, to identify research gaps, as well as to evaluate and describe the potential of their implementation into construction safety practice. To achieve the set goals, the research consisted of identifying and studying the existing research published in the leading journals in the field of construction H&S. The review identified 72 papers dealing with development or application of innovative ITs. The research had also identified several research gaps, which have a significant impact on the construction safety practice. These gaps focus on the construction phase, while neglecting earlier project phases; industry and project levels, while neglecting construction activity and task levels; building projects, while neglecting infrastructure projects and specific hazard types, while neglecting a universal approach. Focussing research effort on these gaps would benefit all construction safety stakeholders but mostly the prominent contractors and H&S professionals. Furthermore, recommendations for directing research focus on solving the identified issues are given in this paper.

The industrial zones are increasingly invaded by groups of mobile robots that are the most capable to perform complex tasks by collaborating and cooperating together. The operation of a mobile robot within a dynamic and high-risk environment with strong interaction between robot-robot and human-robot is of a certain complexity of control and safety. Such type of systems requires a safety and hazard investigation to verify if it is able to operate under certain operating conditions, while still ensuring the control and collaboration between mobile robots and human. This paper presents an approach that combines aspects of System-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) and Bowtie for safety assessment purposes. The approach we propose is used for a case related to multi-robot systems considering the coordinating, cooperating and collaborating aspects. At first, a risk identification study is done using STPA to extract a set of risk scenarios related to different types of hierarchical coordination architectures in addition to their factors. Afterward, an evaluation of the obtained scenarios is performed by the Bowtie method. The aim of our study is to better compare different control approaches of a multi-agent system. The combination offers detailed hazard identification. It further provides a classification of risks which helps to improve STPA outcomes thus facilitate decision-making over the suitable approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A requirement arose during decommissioning work at a UK Magnox Nuclear Power Station to identify the hazards involved in removing High Dose Rate Items from a Cartridge Cooling Pond. Removing objects from the cooling pond under normal situations is a routine event with well understood risks but the situation described in this paper is not a routine event. The power station has shifted from an operational phase in its life-cycle to a decommissioning phase, and as such the risks, and procedures to deal with them, have become more novel and uncertain. This raises an important question. Are the hazard identification methods that have proven useful in one phase of the system lifecycle just as useful in another, and if not, what methods should be used? An opportunity arose at this site to put the issue to a direct test. Two methods were used, one practitioner focussed and in widespread use during the plant's operational phase (the Structured What-If method), the other was an analyst method (Cognitive Work Analysis). The former is proven on this site but might not be best suited to the novelty and uncertainty brought about by a shift in context from operations to decommissioning. The latter is not proven on this site but it is designed for novelty and uncertainty. The paper presents the outcomes of applying both methods to a real-world hazard identification task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazard identification in the construction industry is subject to a larger number of variables and unknowns than in other manufacturing industries making the hazard identification process more difficult and resulting in many injuries and fatalities. Moreover, previous research identified a research gap with regards to a universal hazard identification method. The results presented in this paper are a prerequisite for the development of such a method. Specifically, this paper proposes a novel classification of hazards in order to enable a more accurate hazard identification process which can take all possible hazards into consideration. Based on the theoretical framework, three hazard types are proposed in the research: self-induced hazards, peer-induced hazards, and global hazards. This classification is based on who is the source (who causes) the hazards in relation to who is affected by the hazards. Such classification was not identified in previous literature. This research also has practical implications. Such classification of hazards may influence safety experts to more actively focus on peer-induced hazards which are the hardest to identify. Finally, the outputs of the entire research should enable a more accurate and comprehensive hazard identification resulting in reduced injury and fatality rates in the construction industry.

Construction industry is extremely hazardous with construction workers almost three times more likely than average to suffer a fatal accident in the workplace. Although great improvement in safety performance has been noted, in recent years the improvement started stagnating. To tackle this issue and to improve safety on the construction sites, numerous Health and Safety (H&S) research is carried out. This research aims to contribute in reducing the number of accidents and consequently injuries by enabling automated hazard identification through the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and a specially developed construction hazards database. Goal of this paper is to present the structure and purpose of the database and how construction hazard and activity data was gathered and entered into the database. Sources for the construction hazard and activity identification process included scientific and professional construction H&S literature as well as specialised construction H&S documentation. Results presented in this paper are the first step of a research effort to enable automated identification of construction hazards through the use of BIM.

Accidents have occurred periodically in the tailings ponds where mine solid waste is stored in recent years, and thus their safety has become one of the constraints restricting the sustainable development of the mining industry. Reclamation is an important way to treat tailings ponds, but improper reclamation methods and measures not only cannot reduce the accident risk of tailings ponds, but will further increase the pollution to the surrounding environment. The influencing factors of reclamation accidents in tailings ponds are complex, and the existing models cannot characterize them. In order to study the propagation process of tailings pond reclamation risk, this paper proposes a three-dimensional identification framework for accident hazards based on evidence (TDIFAHE) to identify all potential hazards that may occur during the reclamation stage, and obtain a list of hazards. Based on the complex network theory, this paper uses identified hazards as network nodes and the correlation between hazards as the edges of the network. Based on the identified hazard data, the evolution network of reclamation risk in tailings ponds (ENRRTP) is constructed. By analyzing the statistical characteristics of ENRRTP, it can be found that ENRRTP has small world and scale-free characteristics. The above characteristics show that the reclamation risk of tailings ponds is coupled with multiple factors and the disaster path is short. Giving priority to those hub hazards that have a dominant impact on the reclamation risk can significantly reduce the reclamation risk of the tailings pond.

It is essential to use alternative fuels if we are to reach the emission reduction targets set by the IMO. Hydrogen carriers are classified as zero-emission, while having a higher energy density (including packing factor) than pure hydrogen. They are often considered as safe alternative fuels. The exact definition of what safety entails is often lacking, both for hydrogen carriers as well as for ship safety. The aim of this study is to review the safety of hydrogen carriers from two perspectives, investigating potential connections between the chemical and maritime approaches to safety. This enables a reasoned consideration between safety aspects and other design drivers in ship design and operation. The hydrogen carriers AB, NaBH 4 , KBH 4 and two LOHCs (NEC and DBT) are taken into consideration, together with a couple reference fuels (ammonia, methanol and MDO). After the evaluation of chemical properties related to safety and the scope of the current IMO safety framework, it can be concluded that safety remains a vague and non-explicit concept from both perspectives. Therefore, further research is required to prove the safe application of hydrogen carriers onboard ships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical and oil processes are intrinsically sources of potential hazards. Although traditional qualitative hazard identification methods are simple, systematic, and flexible, such methodologies present limitations related to the inherent subjectivity, dependence on the team's level of experience, and widespread time consumption of the members involved. In this context, the present work aims to develop a systematic way to use computational modeling and simulation tools for hazard identification. After extensive literature review, the present work proposes a methodology based on the association of the main points of previous works, with new contributions regarding the preparation for the simulations and the characterization of the minimum set of process variables that can enable appropriate interpretation of the results. The propene polymerization process (LIPP-SHAC process) was used as a case study to illustrate the proposed procedure. The paper explores how the model can be adapted for safety analyses and simulations for different hazard scenarios. The results obtained with different models are discussed and compared to those obtained with a traditional hazard identification approach to discuss how computational process modeling and simulation tools can sum to heuristic analysis. In conclusion, the use of simulations complementing the human-based approach can indeed enhance the understanding of mechanisms of hazardous scenarios, lessen conservative decision-making, and avoid overlooking device failures that can pose a severe hazard to the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Operators worldwide are using hazardous substances in the production process and after the completion of production processes, those substances can cause major accidents with serious consequences on the health and safety of people and the environment. This paper describes some of the methods of risk analysis in plants who use hazardous substances in the production process, in order to identify a method combined-complete, to provide the data needed to calculate the effects of chemical accidents and emergency planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aimed to introduce our research on the systematic hazard identification method for the coal-mine industry in China. Hazard identification is a significant factor in risk management. Various methods have been adopted in coal-mine enterprises. Based on our analysis, the recent methods appear to be complicated and difficult for the first-line workers. Thus a more systematic method is needed. Our main contribution in this paper was to come up with a hazards list. A hazard evolves into an accident is a process of state transition in which the basic components of the hazard contribute a lot. In order to identify the hazards in coal-mine comprehensively and systematically, this paper proposed to analyze and classify three elements of a hazard in detail. First of all, the accident types of coal-mine industry were classified from the energy point of view based on one hazard component—hazard element. Then, equipment and environment hazards lists and the management elements list were established based on the analysis of another hazard component— initiating mechanism. More over, a questionnaire survey was taken. Based on the analysis of this survey, the types of worker violations were classified aimed to ascertain the root cause of those violations. In order to get a systematic and comprehensive hazard identification and avoid omissions, all the identified hazards need to be recorded in detail and to be rechecked in order to realize the closed-loop management of hazard. Finally a hazards list for coal-mine industry is shaped through the systematic combination of mentioned hazard components. The list will never come to the end. The upgradation and improvement are needed constantly with the development of production technology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanomaterial is used in several items (implant materials, pills composition, cosmetics, etc.). Although TiO2 is no longer considered safe as a food additive, the general population is exposed daily through different routes, and information is lacking on some aspects of animal and human health. This study evaluated liver and kidney toxicity of food-grade TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) (primary size < 25 nm) in male and female rats that were orally exposed for 5 days to 0, 1, and 2 mg/kg body weight per day (comparable with daily E171 consumption). Selected liver and kidney toxicity endpoints included serum biomarkers, histopathological analysis and expression of osteopontin (SPP1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and neuropeptide Y (NPY). Although TiO2 NPs are known to affect the gastric mucosa, short-term exposure induced sex-specific effects: general toxicity parameters were predominantly altered in female rats, whereas the liver appeared to be more affected than the kidneys in male rats, which also showed overexpression of NPY and SPP1. In the kidneys, the TiO2 NP effects were quantitatively similar but qualitatively different in the two sexes. In conclusion, careful consideration should be paid to the presence of TiO2 NPs in other items that can lead to human exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The manufacture and production of industrial chemicals continues to increase, with hundreds of thousands of chemicals and chemical mixtures used worldwide, leading to widespread population exposures and resultant health impacts. Low-wealth communities and communities of color often bear disproportionate burdens of exposure and impact; all compounded by regulatory delays to the detriment of public health. Multiple authoritative bodies and scientific consensus groups have called for actions to prevent harmful exposures via improved policy approaches. We worked across multiple disciplines to develop consensus recommendations for health-protective, scientific approaches to reduce harmful chemical exposures, which can be applied to current US policies governing industrial chemicals and environmental pollutants. This consensus identifies five principles and scientific recommendations for improving how agencies like the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approach and conduct hazard and risk assessment and risk management analyses: (1) the financial burden of data generation for any given chemical on (or to be introduced to) the market should be on the chemical producers that benefit from their production and use; (2) lack of data does not equate to lack of hazard, exposure, or risk; (3) populations at greater risk, including those that are more susceptible or more highly exposed, must be better identified and protected to account for their real-world risks; (4) hazard and risk assessments should not assume existence of a “safe” or “no-risk” level of chemical exposure in the diverse general population; and (5) hazard and risk assessments must evaluate and account for financial conflicts of interest in the body of evidence. While many of these recommendations focus specifically on the EPA, they are general principles for environmental health that could be adopted by any agency or entity engaged in exposure, hazard, and risk assessment. We also detail recommendations for four priority areas in companion papers (exposure assessment methods, human variability assessment, methods for quantifying non-cancer health outcomes, and a framework for defining chemical classes). These recommendations constitute key steps for improved evidence-based environmental health decision-making and public health protection.

Hazard identification is a fundamental step in safety management that has the potential to reduce the number and severity of occupational injuries on construction sites. Researchers have identified and evaluated some of the hazards, but few have extensively discussed all of them and none have classified them by sector. The goal of this paper is to fill that research gap by considering hazard identification through an organized synthesis of the existing literature. After a comprehensive literature review, 236 publications were deemed eligible for further analysis. Eighteen safety hazards were identified and then categorized into four groups based on their physiological impacts, ranked based on frequency of citation, and classified by sector. The results revealed that falls from heights, material handling, and heavy machinery were the most frequently cited hazards and the most likely to impact all sectors. Mitigation strategies were also identified, and it was determined that most hazards can be mitigated through the use of personal protective equipment, and effective training and supervision.

The construction process is a dynamic one, and the complexity of the working conditions and the high level of uncertainty make the construction industry the third most dangerous industry after mining and agriculture. And since the construction industry is vital to the development of a country, safety during construction is of particular importance. A great deal of research, studies and practices have been conducted to reduce potential risks and improve worker efficiency during the construction process. In recent years, with the rapid development of cognitive neuroscience and the integration of medical technology, various wearable monitoring devices have been widely used in the field of building construction for real-time monitoring of workers’ physical and mental conditions. Among them, the application of EEG (electroencephalogram) in the building construction process enables researchers to gain insight into the physical and mental state of construction workers while performing construction tasks. This paper introduces EEG technology and portable EEG monitoring equipment and summarizes its application in monitoring workers’ adverse reactions (emotion, fatigue, psychological burden, and vigilance) and construction hazard identification during the process of construction in recent years, which provides future EEG research in the field of building construction and construction site safety management.

Current onsite safety management always relies on time-consuming predefinitions of hazardous zones based on the managers' personal capabilities. However, in a typical labor-intensive industry such as construction, the workers themselves can provide a wealth of information for hazard identification. Historical accident-free working locations on site provide a valuable means of recognizing safe workplaces. This paper presents an approach to the automated classification of construction site zones derived from the location tracks of workers collected from a real-time location system (RTLS). Through data mining, filtering and analysis, the location tracks are transformed into grid density maps and continuous density maps. These illustrate the characteristics of spatial-temporal activities onsite as well as providing a visual representation of the distribution of safe and hazardous individual workplaces. A personnel hazard map is generated automatically based on historical accident-free location tracks from a field project using the proposed approach. Compared with the actual workplaces in terms of accuracy, precision, sensitivity and specificity, the evaluation result reveals that the hazardous areas on a construction site can be automatically classified to improve the workplace management of individual workers. The contributions of this research include an automated zone classification algorithm and an evaluation framework consisting of four indicators for hazard awareness onsite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current construction hazard identification mostly relies on safety managers' ability to identify hazards using their prior knowledge about them. Consequently, numerous latent hazards remain unidentified, which poses significant risks to construction workers. To advance current hazard identification capabilities, this study examines the feasibility of harnessing and analyzing collective patterns of workers' bodily responses (balance, gait, etc.) to identify safety hazards on a jobsite. To test the hypothesis that the abnormality of workers' bodily responses in one location highly correlates with the likelihood of a safety hazard in that location, this project collected data on the bodily responses of 10 subjects who participated in five experiments. These test subjects wore inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors on their body. Then the collected response data were analyzed using three metrics [average, standard deviation, and Shapiro-Wilk statistic (W)]. The data showed that the normality of workers' bodily response distributions--represented as a W statistic--highly correlated with hazard locations in every experiment, which implies that workers' bodily responses in hazardous areas are more irregularly distributed than in nonhazardous areas. This outcome demonstrates an opportunity for utilizing workers' collective bodily responses to identify safety hazards in diverse construction environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Approaches and models in Human Health Risk Assessment are comprehensively reviewed. • Method on the mechanisms of contaminant actions on human health hazards is needed. • Integration and update of existing toxicity databases are necessary. • Lack of health-based screening values is a barrier to biomonitoring. • The integration of fate and transport models and risk assessment systems is essential. Soil contamination is a serious global hazard as contaminants can migrate to the human body through the soil, water, air, and food, threatening human health. Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) is a commonly used method for estimating the magnitude and probability of adverse health effects in humans that may be exposed to contaminants in contaminated environmental media in the present or future. Such estimations have improved for decades with various risk assessment frameworks and well-established models. However, the existing literature does not provide a comprehensive overview of the methods and models of HHRA that are needed to grasp the current status of HHRA and future research directions. Thus, this paper aims to systematically review the HHRA approaches and models, particularly those related to contaminated sites from peer-reviewed literature and guidelines. The approaches and models focus on methods used in hazard identification, toxicity databases in dose–response assessment, approaches and fate and transport models in exposure assessment, risk characterization, and uncertainty characterization. The features and applicability of the most commonly used HHRA tools are also described. The future research trend for HHRA for contaminated sites is also forecasted. The transition from animal experiments to new methods in risk identification, the integration and update and sharing of existing toxicity databases, the integration of human biomonitoring into the risk assessment process, and the integration of migration and transformation models and risk assessment are the way forward for risk assessment in the future. This review provides readers with an overall understanding of HHRA and a grasp of its developmental direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the advances made in understanding the different facets of health, safety, and environmental (HSE) risk assessments for nanomaterials and nanomaterial-enabled products(NEP) in South Africa.Topics include the contribution of South Africa to the global knowledge based on HSE risks of nanomaterials, efforts taken by the governmen to assess the risks of nanomaterials and NEPs and the future direction for effective risk communication and management.

Manual hazard identification by safety managers in construction has practical challenges because each manager identifies environmental hazards from their perception, which can leave many potential hazards unidentified and consequently lead to accidents at the site. Previous studies have revealed that workers experience loss of body balance (LOB) when exposed to slip, trip, and fall (STF) hazards. This study extended previous studies to identify STF hazards by LOB measurement and collective sensing (i.e., data aggregation) techniques and assumed that STF hazards would cause multiple workers' LOBs in a given location. First, this study developed an approach to assess each worker's exposure to STF hazards by LOB analysis. A waist-worn inertial measurement unit sensor was used to extract features of waist movements, which were mapped into a single value to measure LOB scores using the Mahalanobis distance (MD) metric. As an individual worker is exposed to STF hazards, the MD values become larger than without exposure to STF hazards. The developed approach provided an unweighted average recall of 89.13% (without exposures: 90.30%, and with exposures: 87.96%) for detecting individual workers' exposures to STF hazards in an actual construction site. Then, an approach was developed to visualize the location of STF hazards by allocating multiple workers' LOB scores into each individual's Global Positioning System (GPS) data points. The results showed the feasibility of the developed approach to identify STF hazards, potentially helping to prevent STF accidents at construction sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A joint-analysis by the use of (i) the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique of Typical-Analytical-Hierarchy-Process (T_AHP) and Fuzzy-Analytical-Hierarchy-Process (F_AHP) with (ii) the Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) method respectively, was conducted in a sour-crude-oil process industry (SCOPI), focusing on the deviations with economic/health/environmental impact. Consequently, the intention of this paper is dual; that means the first one is the presentation and application of the traditional HAZOP method on a SCOPI, and the second one the illustration and usage of the combined HAZOP_TAHP/FAHP framework in the previous referred industry, via the resulted hazards with economical, health and also environmental impacts, unveiling the sustainable dimension of this approach. The choice of the particular SCOPI for executing the HAZOP process is greatly powerful for the implementation of this approach, due to the plentiful hazards that the process includes, and due to its sophisticated design, as well. Originally, the conventional HAZOP study was carried out for finding out the potential destructive causes of abnormal circumstances in the SCOPI's establishment. Subsequently, the defined (by HAZOP) hazards with particular economic, health and environmental impacts were elaborated by the T_AHP and F_AHP techniques in order to broaden the HAZOP results and prioritize the risks in the worksite of the SCOPI. It is worthwhile mentioning that this joint-analysis can afford a reliable base to enhance procedure safety and upgrade the occupational health safety's level (OHS). Likewise, it might be a constructive means for the decision-makers to: (i) evaluate the urgent situation of the restricted resources' investment, in measures of preventing particular deviations (like the ones with economical, health and environmental consequences), and (ii) to endorse the sustainable growth of this industry, taking into account that a significant part of literature utilized the issue of sustainability as a frame for the development of OHS RAA techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many civilian applications of commercial unmanned aircraft are being planned to operate in the years ahead. Several countries have developed their own framework to design the operation of unmanned aircraft and the different services that demand safe operation. This paper focuses on the European framework denoted as U-space which concludes with the joint integration of manned and unmanned aircraft in the airspace. U-space is a set of novel services and specific procedures designed to provide safe and efficient access into the airspace to the airspace users. U-space constitutes a management system to organise unmanned operations and provides relevant information to drone operators as well as manned aircraft, air navigation service providers and authorities. The understanding of associated hazards and risks to unmanned aircraft is a critical issue for their operation in complex and non-segregated airspaces. The safety assessment developed herein is crucial to identify safety indicators for U-space. In addition, the identification of safety indicators was used to identify gaps in U-spaces services that are not correctly covered by the U-space framework. Particularly, several safety indicators are identified that currently U-space services do not consider and can imply an increase in the operational risk of unmanned operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]