Valutazione e gestione dei rischi per la salute dei lavoratori nello scavo meccanico di gallerie

La presente relazione costituisce il compendio di quanto discusso all’interno del seminario organizzato anche con valenza formativa nell’ambito del Master di 2° livello in Ingegneria per la Sicurezza Occupazionale -MISO- e accreditato Educazione Continua in Medicina -ECM-, dal titolo “Valutazione e gestione dei rischi per la salute dei lavoratori nello scavo meccanico di gallerie”. Nei vari interventi, dopo un inquadramento sulle moderne tecniche di scavo meccanico, sono trattati i criteri di approccio per la valutazione e gestione dei principali inquinanti di formazione o generati durante la lavorazione. Sono in particolare approfonditi gli aspetti connessi con la definizione di valori di concentrazione accettabili con uno scenario normativo tuttora in marcata evoluzione. L’ultima parte fornisce indicazioni sulla gestione della sicurezza in coerenza con il moderno approccio in Prevention through Design -PtD- e in qualità, in condizioni normali ed in caso di deviazioni ragionevolmente attendibili. Nel suo insieme quindi, quanto esposto può costituire riferimento aggiornato sullo stato dell’arte in materia di sicurezza per lo scavo meccanico delle gallerie

A Prevention through Design Approach for the Environmental S&H Conditions and the Ventilation System at an Italian Underground Quarry

Even if the number of the Italian quarrying operations in underground is steadily growing, in many cases the safety criticalities are somehow underestimated, in spite of the regulations D.Lgs. 81/08 and D.Lgs. 624/96, Italian enforcements of the European Directives. Ventilation system is conceived to face very simplified requirements, whilst critical pollutants or emergency situations are not taken in due considerations. Asides, the ventilation system fault and availability analysis is seldom included in the project. The paper deals with the results of a research work started some years ago at an underground quarry exploited through drift sublevel based on drill and blast technique, to identify criteria suitable to grant effective safety and health -S&H- conditions for the workers operating in the underground in the Prevention through Design approach. Taken into account that the phases for an effective approach to the S&H problems in underground must follow a hierarchic method in which the risk management should be faced from an effective hazard reduction to a minimum at the sources, and the ventilation should be considered only as a 4th level solution, the possibilities of control at the main pollution sources, i.e. the emission of pollutants due to the rock winning and mucking operations, have been examined. The residual risk was then faced with both the original underground and airways layout definition for a new exploitation development, based on technical and efficiency considerations, and on fire emergency computer simulations. Finally, the paper summarizes the results of an availability analysis of the ventilation system for the normal operating conditions and the emergencies management, on the basis of the results of Hazard Evaluation techniques, in particular Hazard and Operability Analysis and Fault Tree Analysis

A Prevention through Design Approach for the Environmental S&H Conditions and the Ventilation System at an Italian Underground Quarry

Even if the number of the Italian underground quarrying operations is steadily growing, in many cases the safety criticalities are somehow underestimated, in spite of the regulations D.Lgs. 81/08 and D.Lgs. 624/96, Italian enforcements of the former European Directives 89/391/EEC, 92/91/EEC and 92/104/EEC. Ventilation system is conceived to face very simplified requirements, whilst critical pollutants or emergency situations are not taken in due consideration. Asides, the ventilation system fault and availability analysis are seldom included in the project. The paper deals with the results of a research work started some years ago at an underground quarry exploited through drift sublevel based on drill and blast technique, to identify criteria suitable to grant effective safety and health -S&H- conditions for the workers operating in the underground in the Prevention through Design approach. Taken into account that the phases for an effective approach to the S&H problems in underground must follow a hierarchic method, in which the risk management should be faced from an effective hazard reduction to a minimum at the sources, and the ventilation should be considered only as a 4th level solution, the possibilities of control at the main pollution sources, i.e. the emission of pollutants due to the rock winning and mucking operations, have been examined. The residual risk was then faced with both the original underground and airways layout definition for a new exploitation development, based on technical and efficiency considerations, and on fire emergency computer simulations. Finally, the paper summarizes the results of an availability analysis of the ventilation system for normal operating conditions, and the emergencies management, on the basis of the results of Hazard Evaluation techniques, particularly Hazard and Operability Analysis and Fault Tree Analysis

A rare unreported bilateral thoracic muscle on the inferior and posteromedial aspect of the rib cage: case report and literature review

Thoracic wall muscles are essential for respiration. Few anatomical variations in thoracic wall muscles have been reported. Such variants must be considered during surgical procedures that involve the thorax muscles. During routine dissection of a 65-year-old male cadaver as part of a fourth-year clinical anatomy elective, additional muscle strips were found in the inner and inferior aspect of the rib cage closer to the posteromedial body wall. The muscle consisted of two strips of narrow muscle fibers originating from the inferior borders of ribs eleven and twelve that radiated to insert on the transverse processes of the T11 and T12 vertebrae. The case report describes an unusual, novel medial thoracic wall muscle that has not been previously described in the literature. Variations in thoracic muscles can affect respiratory function and surgical interventions like chest tube placement and needle therapy for local anesthesia, therefore, it is important for clinicians to be aware of such variants

Bilateral vertebral arteries entering the C4 foramen transversarium with the left vertebral artery originating from the aortic arch

Vertebral arteries (VAs) serve as major blood vessels to the central nervous system. Vertebral arteries typically arise from the subclavian arteries and ascend separately within the transverse foramina of the cervical vertebrae (C6-C1) before entering the skull at the foramen magnum and joining at the base of the pons to form the basilar artery of the vertebrobasilar circulation. Therefore, variations in the origin and anatomic course of the vertebral arteries have implications for invasive medical procedures involving the superior thoracic/cervical regions or the cervical vertebrae. The current case report describes variation in the entry point of both vertebral arteries and the site of origin of the left vertebral artery. The variation was revealed during routine dissection of a 72-year-old female cadaver. It was found that the left vertebral artery originated directly from the aortic arch to abnormally enter the transverse foramen of C4 instead of the transverse foramen of C6. The right vertebral artery arose as usual from the right subclavian artery. However, the right vertebral artery also directly entered the transverse foramen of C4 instead of the transverse foramen of C6