A New Approach for Human Factor Integration into Ship Design Process

Ship safety and operations are driving issues of ship design and it is well recognized that such performances are strongly related to Human Factor (HF). In the paper a methodology to integrate HF into the ship design process since an early stage is envisaged, with the aim to improve the overall ship resilience when dealing with uncertainty of performance implied by HF element. The System-Theoretic Accident Model Process (STAMP, Leveson 2003) is investigated as a suitable methodology able to provide a significant asset in such perspective. The approach is widely applied in many industrial and transportation fields but in order to better understand its application into the marine context, a specific application will be briefly commented. In the attempt to define a comprehensive procedure, as a preliminary overview, some selected models suitable to classify the human behavior will be considered with specific focus on the reasons for performance degrade and/or uncertainty

Results of a Peer Review Activity Carried out Alternatively on a Compulsory or Voluntary Basis

A comparative study on the performance and on the perception of two groups of students involved in a peer review activity on the writing of chemical laboratory reports is reported. The first group participated in a compulsory activity, while the second one participated on a voluntary basis. This study was aimed at determining whether the overall activity was more effective when the students voluntarily decided to participate. The results of this study seem to suggest that the use of the peer evaluation method for students in chemistry is partially affected by how the activity is proposed, whether voluntary or mandatory. The student perception, on the other hand, seems to be strongly influenced by whether the activity is offered as an obligation or as a voluntary option. This aspect could therefore foster a deeper and longer beneficial effect on learning for those students participating voluntarily

Two faces of internality: Measuring overconfident and cautious driving locus of control

Locus of Control (LoC) is the extent to which individuals believe they can control events in their lives. Individuals with high \u2018internal\u2019 LoC think that they can control the situation; individuals with high \u2018external\u2019 LoC feel the opposite. LoC has been used to predict drivers\u2019 behavior, but results are inconsistent: in some studies internal LoC is associated to safe driving behavior; in others to high rate of accidents; in others no relationship is found. We hypothesized that these findings reflect two different dimensions of internal LoC: (i) internal LoC makes people feel more responsible of their actions, so they are more cautious, and (ii) internal LoC makes people feel totally in control, so they push the boundaries. In this study we developed a new measure, the Driving Locus of Control Scale (DLOC), that differentiates two dimensions of internal LoC: overconfident and cautious. The DLOC was validated through exploratory (Sample 1: N = 187, 56% female, age 37 \ub115) and confirmatory (Sample 2: N=325, 27% female, age 19 \ub1 7) factor analysis. The final measurement model comprised 11 items that loaded on three correlated factors (Overconfident Internal LoC, Cautious Internal LoC, External LoC) and showed good fit in both samples. To investigate construct validity, the Driving Internality (DI) - Driving Externality (DE) scale was administered in Sample 1. The Overconfident factor correlated with the DI (r=.40), and the External with the DE (r=.44). The internal/cautious factor correlated with neither the DI nor the DE. The results support the need to distinguish two dimensions of internal LoC, that might disambiguate the contrasting results on the relationship between risky driving and internal LoC

Promuovere la sicurezza nelle organizzazioni attraverso manager resilienti

Il presente contributo \ue8 il risultato del progetto di ricerca \u201cPromoting safety through resilient organization managers\u201d (Promuovere la resilienza attraverso dirigenti di organizzazione resilienti), finanziato da Inail con il bando transnazionale SAF\u20acRA 2014 (SAF\u20acRA grant agreement n. 291812). L\u2019iniziativa SAF\u20acRA nasceva da una azione ERANET svoltasi nel periodo 2012-2015 nell\u2019ambito del settimo programma quadro della ricerca europea, con il fine di promuovere la collaborazione transnazionale ed interdisciplinare per portare dinamismo nell\u2019ambito della ricerca sulla sicurezza industriale. Dal 2015 SAF\u20acRA \ue8 diventato un consorzio permanente che promuove annualmente bandi di ricerca su argomenti di comune interesse ed innovativi rispetto alla tematica. Al consorzio partecipano i principali enti europei che gestiscono programmi di ricerca nell\u2019ambito della sicurezza del lavoro nel settore industriale. La tematica del bando 2014 era stata, appunto, quella dei fattori umani ed organizzativi, inclusa la resilienza, nella gestione della sicurezza industriale. Ai fattori umani ed organizzativi la ricerca dell\u2019istituto ha dato da sempre un\u2019attenzione particolare che ha portato negli anni allo sviluppo di sistemi di gestione della sicurezza del lavoro, ai quali viene riconosciuta particolare rilevanza attraverso vari meccanismi premianti ormai consolidati. Il sistema di gestione della sicurezza \ue8 anche il fulcro della prevenzione del pericolo d\u2019incidente rilevante, come definito dal d.lgs. 105/2015 noto col nome di Seveso III

Effects of winter sea bathing on psychoneuroendocrinoimmunological parameters

Context: Many people claim winter sea bathing gives them energy and health. According to the psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology (PNEI) paradigm, the stress response elicited by cold water immersion could indeed induce several beneficial psychophysical alterations. Objective: To determine the effects of winter sea bathing on psychological wellbeing, stress and immune markers. Design: A cross-sectional study. Participants: 228 people, between 19 and 88 years, including 107 winter sea bathers and 121 controls. Main Outcome Measures: A battery of questionnaires was administered to assess sociodemographic characteristics, self-perception of mental and physical heath, the number, duration and intensity of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTIs) in the last year, and Big Five personality traits. 17 winter sea bathers and 15 controls (mean age 67 years) were further examined to evaluate physiological health, underwent one ear-nose-throat (ENT) examination, and provided saliva samples for measurements of biological markers (cortisol, sIgA, IL-1\u3b2, IL-6). Results: Winter sea bathing was associated with lower levels of self-reported stress and higher wellbeing. The ENT examinations did not reveal signs of URTIs in winter sea bathers, who exhibited significantly higher levels of salivary sIgA compared to controls. Neither salivary IL-1\u3b2 nor cortisol levels were significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions: Winter sea bathers (even the elderly) had a perception of higher wellbeing and reported better health: thus, they appeared to take advantage of potential distress (cold water exposure) to improve their health