Assessment of Air Pollutants Emissions from a Cement Plant: A Case Study in Jordan

This paper presents predictions of air pollutants (dust, SO2, NOx and CO) emitted from a cement plant that will be constructed in Wadi Alabyad area located about 100 km south of Amman, Jordan. The Gaussian air pollution model is used and the predicted concentrations of the air pollutants are compared with the Jordanian air quality standards (JS 1140/2006). It is found that the month of September represents the worst-case scenario where the atmospheric stability condition is classified as A and the average wind speed is 1.7 m/s. The predicted SO2 hourly and the 24-hour concentrations -when using fuel oil- reached 0.8 ppm and 0.42 ppm, consequently, at a distance of 750 m from the plant, which exceed the standard values of 0.3 ppm and 0.14 pmm, consequently. In case of natural gas as source of energy, the SO2 concentration is predicted to be negligible. The hourly concentration of NOx is 0.32 ppm at a distance of 750 m from the plant exceeding the standard limit of 0.21 ppm. It is found that the maximum TSP 24-hour concentration will be expected to reach 359.61 μg/m3 exceeding the standard value of 260 μg/m3. The TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the values set by the standard near the vicinity of the cement plant at a distance closer than 300 m. The proposed mitigation measures should limit the ambient air pollutant concentrations to be in compliance with the standard values

Safety Management in the Jordanian Construction Industry

The Jordanian society and economy have suffered human and financial losses as a result of the poor safety record in the construction industry. The purpose of this study is to examine safety management in the Jordanian construction industry. The study collects data from 70 general contractors, who are involved in all types of construction. Collected data include information regarding organizational safety policy, safety training, safety meetings, safety equipment, safety inspections, safety incentives and penalties, workers’ attitude towards safety, labor turnover rates and compliance with safety legislation. The study reveals several factors of poor safety management. Among these are lack of safety training, occasional safety meetings, occasional safety inspections, unavailability of safety protection measures, hesitance of workers to use safety equipment, high labor turnover rates and non-compliance with safety legislation. The paper concludes by providing a set of recommendations to contractors and governmental bodies to improve safety performance

Impact of climate change on water resources in Jordan: a case study of Azraq basin

Abstract Azraq basin is one of the most important groundwater basins in Jordan. Trend analysis using RClimDex for six rainfall stations and two metrological stations was performed to detect and predict climate change impacts on the Azraq basin until the year 2030. Three absolute homogeneity tests were used to detect any variation in the data time series. The results showed that monthly max value of daily mean temp, tropical night, monthly maximum value of daily maximum temp, monthly maximum value of daily minimum temp and cool days were found to be statistically significant climate change indices. The trend of the max temperature during July is significant, while insignificant trend for the minimum temperature in the same month was noticed. The frequency of days in which the maximum temperature exceeded 38 °C increased and there was increase in the minimum temperature count of values that are exceeding 20 °C in the last 46 years. Regarding the rainfall, there is no change in total annual precipitation over the study area during the studied period. The results of simulating climate change impact into the evaporation showed expected increase by 4.74 and 5.32% for Al Butum and El Janab wadis, respectively, during the period of 2013–2030. Streamflow analysis showed slight decrease by 1.51 and 1.02% for both wadis, respectively

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study

Background: Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. Methods: The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18-49, 50-69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty. Results: NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year. Conclusion: As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population