Beyond OCRA: Predictive UL-WMSD risk assessment for safe assembly design

In terms of occupational safety, one of the most important areas to consider is that of Upper-Limb Work-related MusculoSkeletal Disorders (UL-WMSDs), i.e. work-related disorders due to biomechanical overload of the upper limbs caused by protracted movements and/or repeated efforts throughout the workday. To estimate the risk associated with these disorders, the method known as the OCRA (OCcupational Repetitive Actions) Index is universally accepted; based on observation, it provides an index whose value is related to the expected percentage of pathological cases among the entire working population. This work introduces a different perspective to the problem in order to provide designers with a method - PRASAD: Predictive Risk Assessment for Safe Assembly Design - that makes them aware of the issues related to UL-WMSDs, starting from the earliest stages of the design of a new product and the related assembly workstation, well earlier than observing the activities associated to its production, that is when the assembly workstation is fully set and running. The main advantage of the method lies in the outcome, the PRASAD Index, which is fully comparable with the OCRA Index, so that the proposal leverages on the well-known OCRA standard approach. The new method, aimed at a use in the design phase (of a new workstation for a new product), is potentially useful for a conventional risk assessment of existing workstations as well: it combines the rapidity of a checklist for the initial screening with a level of detail that is characteristic of advanced methods, such as the OCRA Index. Finally, PRASAD represents an innovation in the risk assessment of UL-WMSDs because of its feature of modelling the concept of "Technical Actions", which enables estimating (and taking into account) the repetitiveness of tasks, based on technical design and production management data

Rapid response to the earthquake emergency of May 2012 in the Po Plain, northern Italy

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A novel synthesis of N-hydroxy-3-aroylindoles and 3-aroylindoles

A straightforward indole synthesis via annulation of C-nitrosoaromatics with conjugated terminal alkynones was realised achieving a simple, highly regioselective, atom- and step economical access to 3-aroylindoles in moderate to good yields. Further functionalizations of indole scaffolds were investigated and an easy way to JWH-018, a synthetic cannabinoid, was achieved

Rapid response to the earthquake emergency of May 2012 in the Po Plain, northern Italy

International audienceRapid-response seismic networks are an important element in the response to seismic crises. They temporarily improve the detection performance of permanent monitoring systems during seismic sequences. The improvement in earthquake detection and location capabilities can be important for decision makers to assess the current situation, and can provide invaluable data for scientific studies related to hazard, tectonics and earthquake physics. Aftershocks and the clustering of the locations of seismic events help to characterize the dimensions of the causative fault. Knowing the number, size and timing of the aftershocks or the clustering seismic events can help in the foreseeing of the characteristics of future seismic sequences in the same tectonic environment. Instrumental rapid response requires a high degree of preparedness. A mission in response to a magnitude (Ml) 6 event with a rupture length of a few tens of kilometers might involve the deployment within hours to days of 30-50 seismic stations in the middle of a disaster area of some hundreds of square kilometers, and the installation of an operational center to help in the logistics and communications. When an earthquake strikes in a populated area, which is almost always the case in Italy, driving the relevant seismic response is more difficult

Il Pronto Intervento durante l’emergenza sismica in Emilia Romagna

Alle ore 02.03 UTC di domenica 20 maggio 2012, la Rete Sismica Nazionale (RSN [Amato and Mele, 2008; Delladio, 2011]) dell’Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) ha registrato un evento simico di magnitudo locale 5.9 che è stato avvertito in gran parte dell’Italia centro-settentrionale; l’evento è stato localizzato sotto la valle del Po in Emilia (44.89° N, 11.23° E e 6.3 km di profondità). Subito dopo la scossa principale, è stato attivato il Pronto Intervento Sismico dell’INGV al fine di installare una rete sismica temporanea ad integrazione delle stazioni permanenti già presenti in area epicentrale. Grazie alla collaborazione fra le sedi INGV di Ancona, Arezzo, Bologna, Irpinia (Grottaminarda), Milano, Pisa e Roma sono state installate 44 stazioni temporanee, di cui 10 in trasmissione real-time con la sala di sorveglianza simica della sede di Roma. Contemporaneamente altre 38 stazioni sismiche temporanee sono state inoltre installate dal Dipartimento della Protezione Civile – DPC (16 stazioni strong motion), dall’Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale – OGS (8 stazioni stand-alone) e da enti francesi (14 stazioni stand-alone). In una seconda fase, l’8 giugno 2012, è stato attivato anche il Centro Operativo Emergenza Sismica (COES [Moretti et al., 2010a]), all’interno della Direzione di Comando e Controllo (Di.Coma.C.) del DPC predisposto presso l’Agenzia della Protezione Civile Regionale dell’Emilia Romagna (Bologna). L’allestimento e il coordinamento della struttura sono stati realizzati grazie alla collaborazione tra il Centro Nazionale Terremoti (CNT) e la Sezione di Bologna. Il COES ha garantito la comunicazione costante e diretta con i funzionari DPC presenti nell'area epicentrale. Allo stesso tempo, la struttura è stata proposta come supporto logistico per tutti i colleghi dell’INGV impegnati in attività nella zona epicentrale (reti sismiche Mobili, EMERSITO, GPS, EMERGEO, QUEST) e per sostenere il servizio dedicato alla “Comunicazione e Informazione” promosso a favore delle popolazioni colpite, degli operatori della protezione civile e dei volontari di soccorso. In questo lavoro saranno descritte le attività svolte nel primo mese di emergenza, le modalità e le tempistiche dell’intervento, le strutture coinvolte

Rapid response to the earthquake emergency of May 2012 in the Po Plain, northern Italy

Rapid-response seismic networks are an important element in the response to seismic crises. They temporarily improve the detection performance of permanent monitoring systems during seismic sequences. The improvement in earthquake detection and location capabilities can be important for decision makers to assess the current situation, and can provide invaluable data for scientific studies related to hazard, tectonics and earthquake physics. Aftershocks and the clustering of the locations of seismic events help to characterize the dimensions of the causative fault. Knowing the number, size and timing of the aftershocks or the clustering seismic events can help in the foreseeing of the characteristics of future seismic sequences in the same tectonic environment. Instrumental rapid response requires a high degree of preparedness. A mission in response to a magnitude (ML) 6 event with a rupture length of a few tens of kilometers might involve the deployment within hours to days of 30-50 seismic stations in the middle of a disaster area of some hundreds of square kilometers, and the installation of an operational center to help in the logistics and communications. When an earthquake strikes in a populated area, which is almost always the case in Italy, driving the relevant seismic response is more difficult. Temporary station sites are chosen such as to optimize the network geometry for earthquake locations and source study purposes. Stations have to be installed in quiet, but easily reachable, sites, and for real-time data transmission, the sites might need to have optical intervisibility. The operational center can remain in a town if there is one within the damaged area, and it should coordinate the actions of the field teams and provide information to colleagues, the Civil Protection Authorities and the general public. The emergency system should operate as long as the seismic rate remains high; the duration of any mission might also depend on the seismic history of the area involved. This study describes the seismic response following the May 20, 2012, ML 5.9 earthquake in northern Italy, which included rapid deployment of seismological stations in the field for real-time seismic monitoring purposes, the coordination of further instrumental set-ups according to the spatial evolution of the seismic sequence, and data archiving