Developments in the Safety Science Domain and in Safety Management From the 1970s Till the 1979 Near Disaster at Three Mile Island

Objective: What has been the influence of general management schools and safety research into causes of accidents and disasters on managing safety from 1970 till 1979? Method: The study was limited to original articles and documents, written in English or Dutch from the period under concern. For the Netherlands, the professional journal De Veiligheid (Safety) has been consulted. Results and conclusions: Dominant management approaches started with 1) the classical management starting from the 19th century, with scientific management from the start of the 20st century as a main component. During the interwar period 2) behavioural management started, based on behaviourism, followed by 3) quantitative management from the Second World War onwards. After the war 4) modern management became important. A company was seen as an open system, interacting with an external environment with external stakeholders. These schools management were not exclusive, but have existed in the period together. Early 20th century, the U.S. 'Safety First' movement was the starting point of this knowledge development on managing safety, with cost reduction and production efficiency as key drivers. Psychological models and metaphors explained accidents from ‘unsafe acts’. And safety was managed with training and selection of reckless workers, all in line with scientific management. Supported by behavioural management, this approach remained dominant for many years, even long after World War II. Influenced by quantitative management, potential and actual disasters after the war led to two approaches; loss prevention (up-scaling process industry) and reliability engineering (inherently dangerous processes in the aerospace and nuclear industries). The distinction between process safety and occupational safety became clear after the war, and the two developed into relatively independent domains. In occupational safety in the 1970s human errors thought to be symptoms of mismanagement. The term ‘safety management’ was introduced in scientific safety literature as well as concepts as loose, and tightly coupled processes, organizational culture, incubation of a disaster and mechanisms blinding organizations for portents of disaster scenarios. Loss prevention remained technically oriented. Till 1979 there was no clear relation with safety management. Reliability engineering, based on systems theory did have that relation with the MORT technique as a management audit. The Netherlands mainly followed Anglo-Saxon developments. Late 1970s, following international safety symposia in The Hague and Delft, independent research started in The Netherland

Gestión de riesgos de exposición ocupacional a las nanopartículas en un proyecto en desarrollo: Estudio de caso

The production of nanotechnology based products is increasing, along with the conscience of the possible harmful effects of some nanomaterials. Along with technological advances, there is the need to improve knowledge of safety and health and apply that knowledge to the workplace. The “safety-by-design” approaches are attracting attention as helpful tools to develop safer products and production processes. The Systematic Design Analysis Approach could help to identify the solutions to control workplace risks by defining the emission and exposure scenarios and the possible barriers to interrupt them. When managing risks during a photocatalytic ceramic tiles development project, it was possible to identify relevant nanoparticles emission scenarios and related barriers. Possible ways to reduce them could then be defined, which would in turn, lead to an inherently safer production process.La producción de productos basados en la nanotecnología va en aumento, junto con la conciencia de los posibles efectos nocivos de algunos nanomateriales. Junto con los avances tecnológicos, existe la necesidad de mejorar el conocimiento de la seguridad y salud y aplicar ese conocimiento en los entornos laborales. La enfoques "Safety-by-design” están atrayendo la atención como herramientas útiles para desarrollar productos y procesos de producción más seguros. El enfoque de Análisis Sistemática de Diseño podría ayudar a identificar las soluciones para el control de los riesgos laborales mediante la definición de los escenarios de emisiones y de exposición y los posibles obstáculos a interrumpirlos. Cuando la gestión de riesgos durante un proyecto de desarrollo de las azulejos cerámicos fotocatalíticos, fue posible identificar escenarios de emisiones de las nanopartículas relevantes y las barreras relacionadas. Así, las posibles formas de reducirlos podrían ser definidas, lo que, a su vez, pueden dar lugar a un proceso de producción inherentemente más seguro.The research was part of the SELFCLEAN – Selfcleaning ceramic surfaces Project, funded by QREN – Technological R&D Incentives System – Co-operation projects, Project No. 21533. The authors would like to thank their project partners for their co-operation

Occupational characteristics of cases with asbestos-related diseases in The Netherlands

OBJECTIVE: To describe the occupational background of cases with an asbestos-related disease and to present overall mesothelioma risks across industries with historical exposure to asbestos. METHODS: For the period 1990-2000, cases were collected from records held by two law firms. Information on jobs held, previous employers, activities performed and specific products used were obtained from patients themselves or next of kin. Branches of industry and occupations were coded and the likelihood of asbestos exposure was assessed. For each branch of industry, the overall risk of mesothelioma was calculated from the ratio of the observed number of mesothelioma cases and the cumulative population-at-risk in the period 1947-1960. In order to compare mesothelioma risks across different industries, risk ratios were calculated for the primary asbestos industry and asbestos user industries relative to all other branches of industry. RESULTS: In total, 710 mesotheliomas and 86 asbestosis cases were available. The average latency period was approximately 40 yr and the average duration of exposure was 22 yr. Ship building and maintenance contributed the largest number of cases (27%), followed by the construction industry (14%), the insulation industry (12%), and the navy and army, primarily related to ship building and maintenance (5%). In the insulation industry, the overall risk of mesothelioma was 5 out of 100 workers, and in the ship building industry, 1 out of 100 workers. The construction industry had an overall risk comparable with many other asbestos-using industries (7 per 10,000 workers), but due to its size claimed many mesothelioma cases. CONCLUSION: The majority of cases with asbestos-related diseases had experienced their first asbestos exposure prior to 1960. For cases with first asbestos exposure after 1960, a shift was observed from the primary asbestos industry towards asbestos-using industries, such as construction, petroleum refining, and train building and maintenance. Due to the long latency period, asbestos exposure from 1960 to 1980 will cause a considerable number of mesothelioma cases in the next two decades

Functioning and ageing with late-onset sequelae of poliomyelitis

Nollet, F. [Promotor]Lankhorst, G.J. [Promotor]Beelen, J. [Copromotor

Optimisation of Cleaning Detergent use in Brewery Fermenter Cleaning

This paper investigates improvement possibilities in the cleaning operations undertaken at an industrial brewery. Experiments were performed on a bench scale cleaning rig which was designed to simulate ‘real life’ cleaning conditions of a clean-in-place (CIP) set in the brewery. The rig was used to clean consistently fouled coupons using difficult soils from the brewery. The objective of the experiments was to determine the reduction in effective cleaning performance with varied levels of Na2CO3 in the detergent from NaOH degradation and the maximum level that may be present before cleaning quality is impacted. The shear force of the cleaning fluid across the surface of the coupon was also varied to determine the impact on cleaning performance. Data collected from these offline measurements has been used to predict the end point of the detergent usage based on cost optimisation within the empirically determined limits. The results show that the NaOH detergent usage can be extended while achieving the same time to clean without impacting the cleaning quality and preventing premature disposal. This will provide an increased confidence level when cleaning fermenters with NaOH. It will also reduce cleaning costs and benefit the environment by reducing chemical effluent and minimising water consumption

Reliability and validity of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) in individuals with a recently acquired spinal cord injury

Objective To assess the reliability and validity of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) and possible subscales, and to interpret Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) total scores, in individuals with a spinal cord injury. Design Cross-sectional Setting Seven Dutch rehabilitation centres Subjects Individuals with a recently acquired traumatic or non-traumatic spinal cord injury at the start of inpatient spinal cord injury rehabilitation (N = 270). Main measure The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) consists of eight items on an individual's cognitive and emotional representation of one's health conditions. Principal component analysis was performed to identify possible Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) subscales. Validity was assessed by testing hypotheses on correlations between the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) and other measures. Cut-off points of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) total score were determined. Results Mean (SD) age of participants was 60.1 (16.5) years, 188 (71%) were male, and 119 (44%) had tetraplegia. Three potential subscales were revealed. Cronbach's alpha was acceptable for only one subscale. This subscale was named 'consequences' and included the items 'consequences', 'symptom burden', 'concern', and 'emotions'. The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) total and the consequence subscale showed the expected strong correlations (>.50) with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Mean (SD) scores were 40.9 (12.3) on the 8-item Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) (range 0-80) and 25.1 (8.1) on the consequences subscale (range 0-40). Cut-off points for the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) total score were determined as follows: = 50 indicating high experienced threat. Conclusion The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) total and consequences subscale seem applicable in individuals with a spinal cord injury in the rehabilitation practice and research

Taal en veiligheid: een groeiend nieuw werkveld [Language and security: a growing new field of work]

Language issues cause safety problems at work. This study presents an inventory of scientific studies in the economic sectors and assesses which level of risk management they address. Complications with language have not been investigated comprehensively across sectors as a causal factor in accidents. This leaves language related risks partially unknown, hence uncontrolled. There is lack of insight in both the nature and magnitude of this danger in healthcare, agricultural, transport and construction sectors. Healthcare is especially troublesome since patients might be victims of language related accidents due to their presence and interaction. The same may occur to members of the public in traffic accidents. In transport and agricultural sectors safety measures were taken without any analysis of language related risks. This study shows that scientific research on ‘language and safety’ is in its infancy and requires priority on the research agenda