Machinery Transportation Management: Case Study of 'Plant-trailer' H&S Incidents

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate causal agents of health and safety (H&S)incidents among “plant-trailers” (as used by construction and utility contractors to transport mechanical machinery); including the relationship(s) of such incidents to routine safety inspections and, plant maintenance functions. Design/methodology/approach – H&S plant-trailer incident data, from a collaborating UK-based case study utility company are analysed using inductive, interpretative and descriptive statistical methods. Findings – Principal incident occurrences relate to trailer wheels, wheel bearings, tyres and braking systems. All forms of incidents observed harbour significant risk and especially, if they occur during travel on public highways. Derived recommendations for incident mitigation and Control, suggest a requirement for improved human behaviour, machinery inspection regimes and maintenance systems. Research limitations/implications – The findings will be valuable to academia as a basis for advancing this new research subject, both empirically and internationally. Direction is offered in this respect. Practical implications – Recommendations will be of practical relevance to machinery management practitioners generally and to plant-trailer stakeholders more Specifically. For the latter, the study encourages introspective consideration of plant-trailer H&S systems. Originality/value – No previous research has targeted these issues relating to plant-trailers. Keywords Risk, Inspection, Maintenance, Machinery, H&S, Trailers Paper type Case stud

Letter to the Editor: a response to Horne and Lucey (2017)

No abstract available

The Complexity Era in Economics

This article argues that the neoclassical era in economics has ended and is being replaced by a new era. What best characterizes the new era is its acceptance that the economy is complex, and thus that it might be called the complexity era. The complexity era has not arrived through a revolution. Instead, it has evolved out of the many strains of neoclassical work, along with work done by less orthodox mainstream and heterodox economists. It is only in its beginning stages. The article discusses the work that is forming the foundation of the complexity era, and how that work will likely change the way in which we understand economic phenomena and the economics profession.

Internet Filtering and the Adolescent Gay/Lesbian Patron

With the recent passage of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), and its constitutionality subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court, libraries are faced with challenges presented by Internet filtering, and the obstacles to access it poses for disadvantaged patron groups. This paper discusses the ramifications of Internet filtering at public libraries on sexual minority youth and how this may translate into a negative health impact on this community and a restriction on intellectual freedom. Topics discussed include filtering technology, the risks it presents to equitable access, the disproportionate effect on the gay/lesbian community, and how filtering impairs the creation of online communities for this minority group

Live and Dead Issues in the Methodology of Economics

We attempt to clarify divisions made by us in previous work (Colander et al., 2004a,b) between “orthodox, mainstream, and heterodox” in economics, following very useful remarks in Dequech (2007), whom we thank. We also provide specific advice for heterodox economists, namely: worry less about methodology, focus on being economists first and heterodox economists second, and prepare ideas to leave the incubator of heterodoxy to enter the mainstream economic debate.

The aging of tungsten filaments and its effect on wire surface kinetics in hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

Wire-desorbed radicals present during hot-wire chemical vapor deposition growth have been measured by quadrupole mass spectrometry. New wires produce Si as the predominant radical for temperatures above 1500 K, with a minor contribution from SiH3, consistent with previous measurements; the activation energy for the SiH3 signal suggests its formation is catalyzed. Aged wires also produce Si as the predominant radical (above 2100 K), but show profoundly different radical desorption kinetics. In particular, the Si signal exhibits a high temperature activation energy consistent with evaporation from liquid silicon. The relative abundance of the other SiHx species suggests that heterogeneous pyrolysis of SiH4 on the wire may be occurring to some extent. Chemical analysis of aged wires by Auger electron spectroscopy suggests that the aging process is related to the formation of a silicide at the surface, with silicon surface concentrations as high as 15 at. %. A limited amount (2 at. %) of silicon is observed in the interior as well, suggesting that diffusion into the wire occurs. Calculation of the relative rates for the various wire kinetic processes, coupled with experimental observations, reveals that silicon diffusion through the silicide is the slowest process, followed by Si evaporation, with SiH4 decomposition being the fastest