The Government’s Forward Regulatory Programme

Gives an overview of the Forward Programme, which identifies 308 regulatory changes that may be implemented between April 2010 up to and including April 2011 (comprising 265 new measures and 43 simplifications of existing measures). The Forward Programme is intended to provide greater transparency to the Government’s regulatory intentions as they impact on business

A methodology to define risk matrices–application to inland water ways autonomous ships

The autonomous ships’ introduction is associated with a number of challenges including the lack of appropriate risk acceptance criteria to support the risk assessment process during the initial design phases. This study aims to develop a rational methodology for selecting appropriate risk matrix ratings, which are required to perform the risk assessment of autonomous and conventional ships at an early design stage. This methodology consists of four phases and employs the individual and societal risk acceptance criteria to determine the risk matrix ratings for the groups of people exposed to risks. During the first and second phase, the required input parameters for the risk matrix ratings based on the individual risk and societal risk are calculated, respectively. During the third phase, the risk matrix ratings are defined using input from the first and second phases. During the fourth phase, the equivalence between the different types of consequences is specified. The methodology is applied for the case study of a crewless inland waterways ship to assess her typical operation within north-European mainland. The results demonstrate that the inclusion of societal risk resulted in more stringent risk matrix ratings compared to the ones employed in previous studies. Moreover, the adequacy of the proposed methodology and its effectiveness to provide risk acceptance criteria aligned with societal and individual risk acceptance criteria as well as its applicability to conventional ships are discussed

A method to identify and rank objects and hazardous interactions affecting autonomous ships navigation

The Autonomous Navigation System (ANS) constitutes a critical key enabling technology required for operating Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS). To assure the safety of MASS operations, the effective identification of potential objects and target ships interacting with the own MASS is quintessential. This study proposes a systematic method to identify the items interacting with the own MASS. This method is based on a similar approach previously employed for the encountering items' identification in robotics, which is customised herein for the MASS needs. The developed method is applied to a short-sea shipping MASS. The environmental features, agents and objects related to her navigation are identified and ranked based on the frequency of encounter and the potential collision consequences. The results demonstrate the ability of the method to identify additional items in comparison to Automatic Identification System based data. The interactions with the small ships are considered as the most critical, due to their potential accidental consequences and their exhibited high frequency of encounter. This study results are employed to support the ANS design and testing of the investigated ship

ПІДСИСТЕМА «ПРАЦІВНИК» У СИСТЕМІ КЕРУВАННЯ ОХОРОНОЮ ПРАЦІ НА ПІДПРИЄМСТВІ

Theoretical principles of approaches to solving the problem of reducing injuries and improving working conditions are considered. It is shown that the complexity of the issue of ensuring an effective level of employee safety requires the use of multifactorial research methods. The presented results in the theoretical research proved the necessity and possibility of using the theory of systems analysis in combination with the theory of automatic control and the theory of reliability to achieve this goal. It is determined that the working conditions and tasks set by managers to employees in the 21st century are increasingly becoming formalized (determined). Workers on safety issues must follow rules that limit their activity, and this has an impact on their behavior. It is determined that the working conditions and tasks set by managers to employees in the 21st century are increasingly becoming formalized (determined). Workers on safety issues must follow rules that limit their activity, and this has an impact on their behavior. It has been proven that possible disturbances and opposition to the implementation of these rules and restrictions should be taken into account. It is necessary to register all errors and deviations from the normal condition of the employee, starting with the most minor ones.  It is shown that the safety management system is based on the efficient and error-free operation of the subsystem "employee", which is probabilistic (by the nature of its origin), that is, errors can occur in the work. It is pointed out that it is necessary to take into account all the components of the dualistic management scheme of the occupational safety and health management system. It is emphasized that it is necessary to revise all instructions on labor protection taking into account the risks of non-compliance with safety requirements and taking into account their consequences. Attention is drawn to the fact that automatic control systems in automatic control systems must be implemented in the production to ensure the registration of error-free operation of workers, and provide them with assistance in case of difficult production situations.Розглянуто теоретичні засади щодо підходів у вирішенні проблеми зменшення травматизму та покращення умов праці. Показано, що складність питання щодо забезпечення ефективного рівня безпеки працівників, вимагає застосування багатофакторних методів дослідження. Наведені результати у теоретичному досліджені довели необхідність та можливість використання теорії системного аналізу у поєднанні із теорією автоматичного керування та теорії надійності для досягнення цієї мети. Визначено, що виробничі умови праці та завдання, які висуваються керівниками до працівників, у 21 сторіччі, все більше набувають формалізованого (детермінованого) вигляду. Працівники на виробництві щодо питань безпечного поводження, повинні дотримуватись правил, які обмежують їх активність, а це накладає відбиток на їх поведінку. Доведено, що треба враховувати можливі збурення та протидію щодо виконання цих правил та обмежень. Необхідно реєструвати усі помилки та відхилення від нормального стану працівника починаючи із самих незначних. Показано, що система керування безпекою базується на ефективній та безпомилкової роботи підсистеми «працівник», яка носить ймовірнісний характер (за природою свого походження), тобто помилки можуть мати місце у роботі. Вказується на необхідність врахування усіх складових дуалістичної схеми керування СУПБЗ. Наголошується на тому, що необхідно переглянути усі інструкції з охорони праці із урахуванням ризиків не виконання вимог безпеки та з урахуванням їх наслідків. Звертається увага на те, що системи автоматичного контролю у системах автоматичного керування, повинні бути втілені на виробництві для забезпечення реєстрації безпомилкової роботи працівників, та надання їм допомоги у разі складних виробничих ситуацій

APPLICATION OF FORMAL SAFETY ASSESSMENT FOR DRY DOCKING EVOLUTION

This research has evaluated the rules, guidelines and regulations related to docking a ship in floating-graving yards. Historical failure data analysis is carried out to identify associated components, equipment and the area of defects related to ship docking evolution problems. The current status of ship docking evolution is reviewed and possible sources which cause accidents are recognised. The major problems identified in this research are associated with risk modelling under circumstances where high levels of uncertainty exist. Following the identification of research needs, this work has developed several analytical models for the application of Formal Safety Assessment (FSA). Such models are subsequently demonstrated by their corresponding case studies with regards to application of FSA for ship docking evolution. Firstly, in this research a generic floating-graving docking model is constructed for the purpose of hazard identification and risk estimation. The hazards include various scenarios, identified from literature reviewed as the major contributors to ship docking failures. Then risk estimation is carried out utilising fault tree (FT) – FSA where there is sufficient data. Secondly, with increased lack of data, risk estimation is carried out using FT-Bayesian network (BN) where interdepencies exists amongst identified hazards. This risk estimation method is validated with the appropriate case study identified. Thirdly, fuzzy rule base and evidential reasoning approaches are used for risk estimation in terms of three risk parameters to select the major causes of component failure that can lead to pontoon deck failure in a floating dock. Possible risk control options (RCOs) are introduced, based on their effectiveness, to select the best RCO for minimising the risks. Finally, a cost benefit assessment is conducted to select the best risk control option using BN, where selections are based on economic terms. The four subjective novel FSA application methodologies in ship docking evolution are constructed from existing theoretical techniques and applied to real situations where data collection is otherwise not possible. The construction of the novel methodologies and the case study applications are the major contribution to knowledge in this thesis. It is concluded that the methodologies proposed possess significant potential for the application of FSA for ship docking evolution based on the validations of their corresponding case studies, which may also be applied with domain specification knowledge tailored to facilitate FSA application in other shipping industry sectors

RISK MANAGEMENT IN LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS PORTS AND MARINE TERMINALS SUPPLY CHAINS

Due to its environmental attributes, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a clean fossil fuel source of energy has witnessed a steady increase in demand worldwide over the last decade. This increase is mainly attributed to higher demand from the power generation sector as well as from domestic and industrial usages .This growing role of LNG among competing energy sources has raised concerns over the safety and security of the LNG chain of production, transport and distribution and its related infrastructure. Within this context, LNG ports and marine terminals, being strategically located at the midstream of the LNG Supply Chain (SC), are further exposed to safety and security risks and represent credible targets for international terrorism. Ensuring uninterrupted, robust and resilient LNG SC requires first, adequate management of safety and security risks in LNG ports and marine terminals. While each discipline of risk, be it safety or security, has received significant attention both in theory and practice, less attention was given to the management of interfaces and shared impacts among LNG Ports safety and security risks which led to the existence of gaps in the risk management (RM) systems of LNG ports and may represent a major source of risk and disruption to LNG ports. This research addresses such gaps which are poorly addressed in the current literature and proposes a holistic and integrated approach to the issues of LNG ports safety and security risks assessment and management. It also aims to model safety and security RM from a SC perspective and examines the relationships and shared impacts among LNG ports safety and security risks in the present context of increased LNG demand worldwide in the post 9/11 terrorism era. A unique combination of multiple methods within port and maritime SCs, including a Delphi survey, quantitative survey, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and a focus group expert consultation, is applied to reformulate the prevailing RM approach marked by dichotomy and a disciplinary silo and to propose a more enhanced and holistic approach to safety and security RM. The results of the study confirm that an integrated and holistic approach to the issue of RM in LNG ports and marine terminals is necessary to cost-effectively address safety and security risks and ensure reliable and resilient LNG SCs. Furthermore, a practical framework, in the form of a conceptual model, for LNG ports risks and emergencies management is proposed which integrates all facets of safety and security risks and emergencies management, including risk prevention, mitigation, emergency planning and response and port business continuity. The proposed conceptual model shows how the proposed RM approach can be practically applied in the context of LNG ports in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as well as in any LNG port worldwide which lacks an integrated approach to risks and emergencies management.Sel

Cognitive architecture of multimodal multidimensional dialogue management

Numerous studies show that participants of real-life dialogues happen to get involved in rather dynamic non-sequential interactions. This challenges the dialogue system designs based on a reactive interlocutor paradigm and calls for dialog systems that can be characterised as a proactive learner, accomplished multitasking planner and adaptive decision maker. Addressing this call, the thesis brings innovative integration of cognitive models into the human-computer dialogue systems. This work utilises recent advances in Instance-Based Learning of Theory of Mind skills and the established Cognitive Task Analysis and ACT-R models. Cognitive Task Agents, producing detailed simulation of human learning, prediction, adaption and decision making, are integrated in the multi-agent Dialogue Man-ager. The manager operates on the multidimensional information state enriched with representations based on domain- and modality-specific semantics and performs context-driven dialogue acts interpretation and generation. The flexible technical framework for modular distributed dialogue system integration is designed and tested. The implemented multitasking Interactive Cognitive Tutor is evaluated as showing human-like proactive and adaptive behaviour in setting goals, choosing appropriate strategies and monitoring processes across contexts, and encouraging the user exhibit similar metacognitive competences

MARE-WINT: New Materials and Reliability in Offshore Wind Turbine Technology

renewable; green; energy; environment; law; polic