Inequalities in work-related fatal injuries

Work-related fatal injuries are predominantly a problem among males. The group most affected is those aged 55 years and over. In some European countries the mortality rate from work injuries has decreased for both sexes, but the greater reduction among female workers maintains the trends, since 2011, of predominance of fatal injuries among males

Application of a SOAM-based systemic method to conduct a comprehensive analysis of a maritime accident

The current trends in maritime accidents worldwide are often linked to environmental, economic, and human consequences, such as oil spills, insurance costs, or human injuries or fatalities. Despite the continuous improvement in safety measures, maritime accidents are still occurring, and this remains a major concern in our society. The main aim of this paper is to contribute to the current safety measures by identifying the significant human and organisational accident contributors, and therefore, reducing the current accident trends. With this aim, this paper proposes to apply a systemic method known as the Systemic Occurrence Analysis Methodology (SOAM) for the first time in the maritime domain. SOAM, which is a 'Swiss-cheese" based organisational technique for analysing incidents and accidents, was developed by EUROCONTROL for the aviation domain. SOAM methodology is fully applied to three maritime accident collisions to identify the major accident contributors, absent or failed barriers, human involvement, and contextual conditions

Workers' exposure to dust and potentially toxic elements during steel cutting in two ship dismantling cases

Ship dismantling is the recommended recycling solution for the end of a ship’s life, but the process is not free of occupational risk. Despite proper regulations, there are underlying chemical and physical hazards, mainly due to the cutting of steel parts, which is the core of the recycling process. The overall aim of this research study is to determine, in two case study examples, the ship recycling workers’ potential occupational exposure by inhalation of chemical agents generated by the torch cutting process of coated and de-coated steel. This was carried out specifically through (i) monitoring and measuring ship recycling workers’ local environment for the inhalable (total dust) and respirable (fine dust) fractions during their working operations, (ii) analysing the heavy metal content of the dust and (iii) calculating and comparing this against occupational exposure limits, (v) comparing de-coating operations with cutting of coated and de-coated steel. Results of this study show that without further mitigation workers involved in torch cutting processes are at high risk of exposure to heavy metals by inhalation as these are exceeding the norms defined by regulatory bodies

Prevention Policy and Practice : Approaches to Tackling Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders : Report [European Risk Observatory Report]

The project entitled ‘Review of research, policy and practice on prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders’ aimed to gain a more complete understanding of the occupational safety and health (OSH) challenges in tackling work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The intention of the project was to provide a better understanding of the conditions under which strategies, policies and actions to address MSDs are most effective. To achieve this goal, a range of policy-level strategies and initiatives that were used by major stakeholders, including regulators and regulatory agencies, social partners, professional bodies and preventive services were identified. Following their identification, an analysis was undertaken to determine how these various strategies were adapted to the conditions and needs of different beneficiaries (e.g. in different sectors). To complement this analysis, the resources that were developed and used in the initiatives described were reviewed, with a view to identifying the factors that contributed to their success or failure (including any barriers to their implementation)

Prevention Policy and Practice : Approaches to Tackling Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders : Summary [European Risk Observatory Report]

The project entitled ‘Review of research, policy and practice on prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders’ aimed to gain a more complete understanding of the occupational safety and health (OSH) challenges in tackling work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The intention of the project was to provide a better understanding of the conditions under which strategies, policies and actions to address MSDs are most effective. To achieve this goal, a range of policy-level strategies and initiatives that were used by major stakeholders, including regulators and regulatory agencies, social partners, professional bodies and preventive services were identified. Following their identification, an analysis was undertaken to determine how these various strategies were adapted to the conditions and needs of different beneficiaries (e.g. in different sectors). To complement this analysis, the resources that were developed and used in the initiatives described were reviewed, with a view to identifying the factors that contributed to their success or failure (including any barriers to their implementation)

Inequalities in health risks in working environments

The self-reported prevalence of intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors in work environments differs between sexes; males are reportedly more exposed to risk from extrinsic factors and females from intrinsic factors. These trends do not differ between Euro 1 and Euro 2 countries. Previous European working condition surveys indicate stable levels of inequality between sexes from intrinsic and extrinsic work environment factors

Insights from the analysis of occupational accidents on board ships

The maritime working environment includes physical, ergonomic, environmental, psychological, and cultural contributors which may lead to the occurrence of occupational accidents and injuries. Therefore, the identification of underlying causes of fatalities, as well as non-fatal occupational injuries onboard ships, is essential to define priorities and design effective preventive strategies on occupational health and safety. This paper presents the results from a descriptive analysis of onboard ships occupational accidents conducted on a historical database and describe the existing gaps in occupational accidents data collection and analysis. Moreover, recommendations to overcome these gaps are provided

An online risk assessment tool to improve the standards of ship recycling operations

Ship recycling process is a tricky business and accepted as one of the most hazardous working environments if not done correctly. Ship recycling has many severe risks and most of the times it is lacking proper planning. Due to its complex procedure and the risks involved, there is a need of structured and guided way of approaching job tasks, and in addition, incorporating hazard identification and risk management for various experts is needed. A web base structured risk assessment tool dedicated to various professions related to ship recycling is developed. In this paper, the principles behind this web-based tool ‘Three Step Online tool’ are introduced, and its methodology is explained. Moreover, a case study of a ship recycling job task in Indonesia is presented. The result shows that this online based tool has been well received by multiple experts such as occupational health & safety experts and ship recyclers

SAFEMODE's approach for incorporating human factors into risk informed design

Human operators play a key role in the safe and successful conduct of maritime and aviation transport operations. Human error is often reported as a contributor to maritime and aviation accidents. Therefore, the implementation of human-informed design considerations is essential to improve safety and operational performance in both sectors, especially in the maritime sector, where there is a lack of an established framework to systematically consider human factors at the design stage. Therefore, the SAFEMODE project brings together key experts from both aviation and maritime sectors to address this important gap. The SAFEMODE project aims to deliver a framework that includes human factors considerations and enables designers to make risk-informed decisions. The methodological approach of SAFEMODE builds upon four areas: the collection and analysis of accident data; the development of a toolkit for human performance assurance, the development of Human Factors-based risk models and the creation of a framework to support risk-informed design. The type of safety events considered in SAFEMODE for both domains includes collision and grounding for the maritime sector, and runway collision, taxiway collision and wake vortex during en-route flight phase for the aviation sector. This paper will provide an insight into the efforts conducted as part of the SAFEMODE project to assess the human contribution to risk and the benefits of applying these models to support risk-informed decisions in design and operations