Safety and Human Dependability in seaborne autonomous vessels

Highly automated and autonomous seaborne vessels (ASV) are developed to improve environmental impact and transport of goods and people. ASV are expected to be remotely supervised, to fulfil legal requirements and assure safe handling in cases of emergencies. The AutoSafe project is developing solutions for the safe operation of ASV. For emergencies, the human safety supervisors need to handle the vessel, supported by fallbacks, procedures, and technology. Passengers need to feel safe and know what to do in all situations, to avoid injuries or loss of life. International standards are a starting point to build safe, reliable and trust. The aim of this paper is to assess applicability and potential benefit of IEC62508:2010: Guidance on Human Aspects of Dependability to the AutoSafe cases, based on the identified project needs. IEC62508:2010 deals with the human aspect of dependability, where dependability is the combination of reliability, availability, maintainability, safety, etc. Methods and approaches exist to set requirements, assess, and evaluate human performance. However, they are most applicable to trained operators. Passengers' and especially emergency services' interaction with the ferry during emergency situations are only covered to a certain degree by the standard. These create human factor challenges, which should be referenced appropriately. IEC 62508:2010 should be updated with respect to highly automated and autonomous systems or refer to other relevant standards.publishedVersio

Implications of Cyber Security to Safety Approval in Railway

The railway domain has a justifiable preoccupation with safety, but less of a focus on cyber security. This could result in the risk of cyber security flaws in current railway systems being unacceptably high. However, in recent years the railway industry has realized the importance of cyber security, and the possible effects cyber security could have on safety functions, necessitating these aspects to also be considered as part of the safety approval. This trend can be seen from the fact that later updates of the railway standards from CENELEC to a larger degree include cyber security. This is also a consequence of the increasing digitalisation trend in the railway sector, as elsewhere in society (e.g., the ERTMS national implementation project in Norway). This paper presents findings from a brief literature study on how railway systems are vulnerable to cyber security threats and discusses how cyber security issues are covered by current railway legislation. Challenges related to the handling of cyber security threats as part of the railway approval processes is then elaborated. The fact that cyber security threats change faster than the pure safety threats must be taken into account. The problem is viewed from an independent safety assessor's point of view. Some major findings of the study are elaborated, and conclusions on how to deal with cyber security as part of the railway approval process are outlined with pros and cons.acceptedVersio

Implications of Cyber Security to Safety Approval in Railway

The railway domain has a justifiable preoccupation with safety, but less of a focus on cyber security. This could result in the risk of cyber security flaws in current railway systems being unacceptably high. However, in recent years the railway industry has realized the importance of cyber security, and the possible effects cyber security could have on safety functions, necessitating these aspects to also be considered as part of the safety approval. This trend can be seen from the fact that later updates of the railway standards from CENELEC to a larger degree include cyber security. This is also a consequence of the increasing digitalisation trend in the railway sector, as elsewhere in society (e.g., the ERTMS national implementation project in Norway). This paper presents findings from a brief literature study on how railway systems are vulnerable to cyber security threats and discusses how cyber security issues are covered by current railway legislation. Challenges related to the handling of cyber security threats as part of the railway approval processes is then elaborated. The fact that cyber security threats change faster than the pure safety threats must be taken into account. The problem is viewed from an independent safety assessor's point of view. Some major findings of the study are elaborated, and conclusions on how to deal with cyber security as part of the railway approval process are outlined with pros and cons.acceptedVersio

Remote and agile improvement of industrial control and safety systems processes

Digitalization and remote operations introduce new possibilities for continuous and agile improvements of products in operation by exploiting inherent possibilities in software which is easily changeable and deployable. This approach is driven by data analysis, customer expectations and the possibility of frequent deployment over the air of improved software. Adding functionality into software, combined with connectivity to products, opens possibilities for manufacturers and operators, enabling new features and new operational models. This has also become relevant for regulated environments like industrial control and safety systems used in critical infrastructures. Adapted agile processes like SafeScrum and DevOps may be used to achieve continuous improvement. They enable speed and a continuum between development, maintenance and operation. For instance, experience and data from operation on new cybersecurity threats, must be fed back to the maintenance process to be resolved fast. Hence, the DevOps concept, which is imperative in non-safety domains, is now highly relevant in regulated environments as well. The speed of this process is vital where in particular cybersecurity threats must be resolved fast to avoid safety threats. The Agile Safety Case is an enabler of ensuring structured proof of compliance of safety performance for the involved stakeholders. This paper proposes a solution for a safety case which may be applied for continuous product improvements during operation considering safety as well as security. The solution involves the relevant stakeholders and results in a shift in responsibilities.publishedVersio

Use of a Distributed Micro-sensor System for Monitoring the Indoor Particulate Matter Concentration in the Atmosphere of Ferroalloy Production Plants

Airborne particulate matter (PM) is a concern for both occupational health and the environment, and, in the ferroalloy industry, the level of such particles in the air can be considerable. Small, low-cost sensors for measuring PM have generated interest in recent years, providing widespread monitoring of PM levels in the environment. However, such sensors have not yet been sufficiently tested under conditions relevant for the indoor environment of the metallurgical industry. This study aims to bridge this gap by benchmarking the commercial, low-cost Nova PM SDS011 particle sensor in two different ferroalloy plants. Benchmarking was performed against the Fidas 200S, which has been suitability-tested and certified according to the latest EU requirements (EN 15267, EN 16450). Twelve Nova sensors were tested over 3 months at a silicomanganese alloy (SiMn) plant, and 35 sensors were tested during 1 month at a silicon (Si) plant. The results showed that the low-cost Nova sensors exhibited all the same trends and peaks in terms of PM concentration, but measured lower dust concentrations than the Fidas 200S. The difference was larger at the silicon plant, which is in line with expectations, due to the size and mass fractions of particles in Si dust compared to SiMn dust, and to the larger measurement range of the Fidas, measuring down to 180 nm compared to the Nova which measures down to 300 nm. Despite the difference in absolute values, the Nova sensors were found to provide data for comparing dust levels over time for different processes, at different locations, and under different operational conditions.publishedVersio

Data Safety, Sources, and Data Flow in the Offshore Industry

Digitization may provide increased access to and more efficient use of real-time and historical data, internally as well as externally in an organization. However, when information from industrial control systems (ICS) becomes more available in office IT systems and in the "cloud", ICS systems may become more vulnerable and attractive targets for cyberattacks. We have investigated data safety in ICS in the Norwegian offshore sector when data is processed from ICS to the office network. The work is mainly based on document review and nine interviews with selected oil companies, rig companies and service providers of operational data. The paper addresses strengths and threats related to data safety with emphasis on (1) Data sources and data flow, (2) Safety and security of data, (3) Data cleaning and processing, (4) Contextualization, (5) Validation, and (6) Quality assurance. We also discuss shortcomings for functional safety in current standards such as IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 and standard series for security, IEC 62443. It is a major challenge for the industry that there are no good international standards and guidelines that define the relevant terminology across IT systems and ICS. Future work should address data safety challenges when applying artificial intelligence and machine learning in ICS systems.publishedVersio

MicroRNAs in Differentiation of Embryoid Bodies and the Teratoma Subtype of Testicular Cancer

Background: Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCTs) are the most frequent tumour type among young, adult men. TGCTs can be efficiently treated, but metastases of the teratoma subtype, for which there are no circulating biomarkers, represent a challenge. Materials and Methods: Global microRNA expression in teratoma tissue and embryoid bodies was assessed using next-generation sequencing. Levels of microRNAs identified as potential biomarkers were obtained from serum of patients with teratoma and matched healthy men. Results: We identified miR-222-5p, miR-200a-5p, miR-196b-3p and miR-454-5p as biomarker candidates from the tumour tissue and embryoid body screening but the expression of these microRNAs was very low in serum and not statistically different between patients and controls. miR-375-3p was highly expressed, being highest in patients with teratoma (p=0.012) but the levels of expression in serum from these patients and healthy controls overlapped. miR-371a-3p was not expressed in serum from patients with pure teratoma, only in patients with mixed tumours. Conclusion: The microRNA profiles of the teratoma subtype of TGCT and embryoid bodies were obtained and assessed for candidate circulating biomarkers, but none with high sensitivity and specificity for teratoma were identified in our study. We conclude that neither the proposed teratoma marker miR-375-3p nor miR-371a-3p are suitable as circulating teratoma markers.publishedVersio

Hazards and Risks of Automated Passenger Ferry Operations in Norway

This paper describes the hazards and mitigation of risks for operating automated ferries in sheltered waters in Norway. Two cases have been explored, one with max 25Pax (persons on board) close to shore, and another involving fjord crossing with max 130Pax. The approach is based on the formal safety assessment FSA framework specified by IMO (International Maritime Organization). The first step has been a Hazard Identification-HAZID in collaboration with key stakeholders (manufacturers, maritime authority, operators, and researchers), based on action research, building on experience and risk perception of the stakeholders. The HAZIDs have been based on prior incidents, safety critical task analysis, and hazards that may impact personnel safety and security. We have identified key areas of concern: Fire, Collision/Grounding, Man Overboard, Evacuation, or Ferry capsizes. We have suggested design approaches/measures to reduce probabilities of hazards occurrence and/or mitigate consequences. Challenges of non-failsafe situations must be handled through emergency response centres, and mobilization of passengers.publishedVersio

Comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries in young female footballers: cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To examine the effect of a comprehensive warm-up programme designed to reduce the risk of injuries in female youth football

Premisser for digitalisering og integrasjon IT-OT

Formålet med denne rapporten er å gi næringen økt forståelse av pågående digitalisering, status og utfordringer, og hvordan denne utviklingen bør styres videre. Denne rapporten er en av seks SINTEF-rapporter fra prosjektet: "IKT-sikkerhet – Robusthet i petroleumssektoren 2020". Prosjektet har innhentet kunnskap om risiko, sårbarheter og IKT-sikkerhet for industrielle IKT-systemer. ISBN: 978-82-14-06481-0publishedVersio