Operator performance-enhancing technologies to improve safety. A US DOT safety initiative for meeting the human-centered systems challenge.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-11-01

The program implements DOT Human Factors Coordinating Committee (HFCC) recommendations for a coordinated Departmental Human Factors Research Program to advance the human-centered systems approach for enhancing transportation safety. Human error is a ...

Defining the methodological challenges and opportunities for an effective science of sociotechnical systems and safety

PubMed Central

Waterson, Patrick; Robertson, Michelle M.; Cooke, Nancy J.; Militello, Laura; Roth, Emilie; Stanton, Neville A.

2015-01-01

An important part of the application of sociotechnical systems theory (STS) is the development of methods, tools and techniques to assess human factors and ergonomics workplace requirements. We focus in this paper on describing and evaluating current STS methods for workplace safety, as well as outlining a set of six case studies covering the application of these methods to a range of safety contexts. We also describe an evaluation of the methods in terms of ratings of their ability to address a set of theoretical and practical questions (e.g. the degree to which methods capture static/dynamic aspects of tasks and interactions between system levels). The outcomes from the evaluation highlight a set of gaps relating to the coverage and applicability of current methods for STS and safety (e.g. coverage of external influences on system functioning; method usability). The final sections of the paper describe a set of future challenges, as well as some practical suggestions for tackling these. Practitioner Summary: We provide an up-to-date review of STS methods, a set of case studies illustrating their use and an evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses. The paper concludes with a ‘roadmap’ for future work. PMID:25832121

A Framework to Guide the Assessment of Human-Machine Systems.

PubMed

Stowers, Kimberly; Oglesby, James; Sonesh, Shirley; Leyva, Kevin; Iwig, Chelsea; Salas, Eduardo

2017-03-01

We have developed a framework for guiding measurement in human-machine systems. The assessment of safety and performance in human-machine systems often relies on direct measurement, such as tracking reaction time and accidents. However, safety and performance emerge from the combination of several variables. The assessment of precursors to safety and performance are thus an important part of predicting and improving outcomes in human-machine systems. As part of an in-depth literature analysis involving peer-reviewed, empirical articles, we located and classified variables important to human-machine systems, giving a snapshot of the state of science on human-machine system safety and performance. Using this information, we created a framework of safety and performance in human-machine systems. This framework details several inputs and processes that collectively influence safety and performance. Inputs are divided according to human, machine, and environmental inputs. Processes are divided into attitudes, behaviors, and cognitive variables. Each class of inputs influences the processes and, subsequently, outcomes that emerge in human-machine systems. This framework offers a useful starting point for understanding the current state of the science and measuring many of the complex variables relating to safety and performance in human-machine systems. This framework can be applied to the design, development, and implementation of automated machines in spaceflight, military, and health care settings. We present a hypothetical example in our write-up of how it can be used to aid in project success.

Quantifying Pilot Contribution to Flight Safety during Drive Shaft Failure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Etherington, Tim; Last, Mary Carolyn; Bailey, Randall E.; Kennedy, Kellie D.

2017-01-01

Accident statistics cite the flight crew as a causal factor in over 60% of large transport aircraft fatal accidents. Yet, a well-trained and well-qualified pilot is acknowledged as the critical center point of aircraft systems safety and an integral safety component of the entire commercial aviation system. The latter statement, while generally accepted, cannot be verified because little or no quantitative data exists on how and how many accidents/incidents are averted by crew actions. A joint NASA/FAA high-fidelity motion-base simulation experiment specifically addressed this void by collecting data to quantify the human (pilot) contribution to safety-of-flight and the methods they use in today's National Airspace System. A human-in-the-loop test was conducted using the FAA's Oklahoma City Flight Simulation Branch Level D-certified B-737-800 simulator to evaluate the pilot's contribution to safety-of-flight during routine air carrier flight operations and in response to aircraft system failures. These data are fundamental to and critical for the design and development of future increasingly autonomous systems that can better support the human in the cockpit. Eighteen U.S. airline crews flew various normal and non-normal procedures over a two-day period and their actions were recorded in response to failures. To quantify the human's contribution to safety of flight, crew complement was used as the experiment independent variable in a between-subjects design. Pilot actions and performance during single pilot and reduced crew operations were measured for comparison against the normal two-crew complement during normal and non-normal situations. This paper details the crew's actions, including decision-making, and responses while dealing with a drive shaft failure - one of 6 non-normal events that were simulated in this experiment.

Human factors systems approach to healthcare quality and patient safety

PubMed Central

Carayon, Pascale; Wetterneck, Tosha B.; Rivera-Rodriguez, A. Joy; Hundt, Ann Schoofs; Hoonakker, Peter; Holden, Richard; Gurses, Ayse P.

2013-01-01

Human factors systems approaches are critical for improving healthcare quality and patient safety. The SEIPS (Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety) model of work system and patient safety is a human factors systems approach that has been successfully applied in healthcare research and practice. Several research and practical applications of the SEIPS model are described. Important implications of the SEIPS model for healthcare system and process redesign are highlighted. Principles for redesigning healthcare systems using the SEIPS model are described. Balancing the work system and encouraging the active and adaptive role of workers are key principles for improving healthcare quality and patient safety. PMID:23845724

Probabilistic Risk Assessment Procedures Guide for NASA Managers and Practitioners (Second Edition)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stamatelatos,Michael; Dezfuli, Homayoon; Apostolakis, George; Everline, Chester; Guarro, Sergio; Mathias, Donovan; Mosleh, Ali; Paulos, Todd; Riha, David; Smith, Curtis;

Safety Verification of the Small Aircraft Transportation System Concept of Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carreno, Victor; Munoz, Cesar

2005-01-01

A critical factor in the adoption of any new aeronautical technology or concept of operation is safety. Traditionally, safety is accomplished through a rigorous process that involves human factors, low and high fidelity simulations, and flight experiments. As this process is usually performed on final products or functional prototypes, concept modifications resulting from this process are very expensive to implement. This paper describe an approach to system safety that can take place at early stages of a concept design. It is based on a set of mathematical techniques and tools known as formal methods. In contrast to testing and simulation, formal methods provide the capability of exhaustive state exploration analysis. We present the safety analysis and verification performed for the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) Concept of Operations (ConOps). The concept of operations is modeled using discrete and hybrid mathematical models. These models are then analyzed using formal methods. The objective of the analysis is to show, in a mathematical framework, that the concept of operation complies with a set of safety requirements. It is also shown that the ConOps has some desirable characteristic such as liveness and absence of dead-lock. The analysis and verification is performed in the Prototype Verification System (PVS), which is a computer based specification language and a theorem proving assistant.

Understanding patient safety performance and educational needs using the 'Safety-II' approach for complex systems.

PubMed

McNab, Duncan; Bowie, Paul; Morrison, Jill; Ross, Alastair

2016-11-01

Participation in projects to improve patient safety is a key component of general practice (GP) specialty training, appraisal and revalidation. Patient safety training priorities for GPs at all career stages are described in the Royal College of General Practitioners' curriculum. Current methods that are taught and employed to improve safety often use a 'find-and-fix' approach to identify components of a system (including humans) where performance could be improved. However, the complex interactions and inter-dependence between components in healthcare systems mean that cause and effect are not always linked in a predictable manner. The Safety-II approach has been proposed as a new way to understand how safety is achieved in complex systems that may improve quality and safety initiatives and enhance GP and trainee curriculum coverage. Safety-II aims to maximise the number of events with a successful outcome by exploring everyday work. Work-as-done often differs from work-as-imagined in protocols and guidelines and various ways to achieve success, dependent on work conditions, may be possible. Traditional approaches to improve the quality and safety of care often aim to constrain variability but understanding and managing variability may be a more beneficial approach. The application of a Safety-II approach to incident investigation, quality improvement projects, prospective analysis of risk in systems and performance indicators may offer improved insight into system performance leading to more effective change. The way forward may be to combine the Safety-II approach with 'traditional' methods to enhance patient safety training, outcomes and curriculum coverage.

The effect of organisational culture on patient safety.

PubMed

Kaufman, Gerri; McCaughan, Dorothy

This article explores the links between organisational culture and patient safety. The key elements associated with a safety culture, most notably effective leadership, good teamwork, a culture of learning and fairness, and fostering patient-centred care, are discussed. The broader aspects of a systems approach to promoting quality and safety, with specific reference to clinical governance, human factors, and ergonomics principles and methods, are also briefly explored, particularly in light of the report of the public inquiry into care failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

An evaluation of NASA's program in human factors research: Aircrew-vehicle system interaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Research in human factors in the aircraft cockpit and a proposed program augmentation were reviewed. The dramatic growth of microprocessor technology makes it entirely feasible to automate increasingly more functions in the aircraft cockpit; the promise of improved vehicle performance, efficiency, and safety through automation makes highly automated flight inevitable. An organized data base and validated methodology for predicting the effects of automation on human performance and thus on safety are lacking and without such a data base and validated methodology for analyzing human performance, increased automation may introduce new risks. Efforts should be concentrated on developing methods and techniques for analyzing man machine interactions, including human workload and prediction of performance.

Safer Systems: A NextGen Aviation Safety Strategic Goal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Darr, Stephen T.; Ricks, Wendell R.; Lemos, Katherine A.

2008-01-01

The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), is charged by Congress with developing the concepts and plans for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The National Aviation Safety Strategic Plan (NASSP), developed by the Safety Working Group of the JPDO, focuses on establishing the goals, objectives, and strategies needed to realize the safety objectives of the NextGen Integrated Plan. The three goal areas of the NASSP are Safer Practices, Safer Systems, and Safer Worldwide. Safer Practices emphasizes an integrated, systematic approach to safety risk management through implementation of formalized Safety Management Systems (SMS) that incorporate safety data analysis processes, and the enhancement of methods for ensuring safety is an inherent characteristic of NextGen. Safer Systems emphasizes implementation of safety-enhancing technologies, which will improve safety for human-centered interfaces and enhance the safety of airborne and ground-based systems. Safer Worldwide encourages coordinating the adoption of the safer practices and safer systems technologies, policies and procedures worldwide, such that the maximum level of safety is achieved across air transportation system boundaries. This paper introduces the NASSP and its development, and focuses on the Safer Systems elements of the NASSP, which incorporates three objectives for NextGen systems: 1) provide risk reducing system interfaces, 2) provide safety enhancements for airborne systems, and 3) provide safety enhancements for ground-based systems. The goal of this paper is to expose avionics and air traffic management system developers to NASSP objectives and Safer Systems strategies.

Analysis of SAR distribution in human head of antenna used in wireless power transform based on magnetic resonance.

PubMed

Gong, Feixiang; Wei, Zhiqiang; Cong, Yanping; Chi, Haokun; Yin, Bo; Sun, Mingui

2017-07-20

In this paper, a novel wireless power transfer antenna system was designed for human head implantable devices. The antenna system used the structure of three plates and four coils and operated at low frequencies to transfer power via near field. In order to verify the electromagnetic radiation safety on the human head, the electromagnetic intensity and specific absorption rate (SAR) were studied by finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) method. A three-layer model of human head including skin, bone and brain tissues was constructed. The transmitting and receiving antenna were set outside and inside the model. The local and average SAR were simulated at the resonance frequency of 18.67 MHz in two situations, in one scenario both transmitting and receiving coil worked, while in the other scenario only the transmitting coil worked. The results showed that the maximum of 10 g SAR average value of human thoracic were 0.142 W/kg and 0.148 W/kg, respectively, both were lower than the international safety standards for human body of the ICNIRP and FCC, which verified the safety of the human body in wireless power transmission based on magnetic coupling resonance.

Is Model-Based Development a Favorable Approach for Complex and Safety-Critical Computer Systems on Commercial Aircraft?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Torres-Pomales, Wilfredo

2014-01-01

A system is safety-critical if its failure can endanger human life or cause significant damage to property or the environment. State-of-the-art computer systems on commercial aircraft are highly complex, software-intensive, functionally integrated, and network-centric systems of systems. Ensuring that such systems are safe and comply with existing safety regulations is costly and time-consuming as the level of rigor in the development process, especially the validation and verification activities, is determined by considerations of system complexity and safety criticality. A significant degree of care and deep insight into the operational principles of these systems is required to ensure adequate coverage of all design implications relevant to system safety. Model-based development methodologies, methods, tools, and techniques facilitate collaboration and enable the use of common design artifacts among groups dealing with different aspects of the development of a system. This paper examines the application of model-based development to complex and safety-critical aircraft computer systems. Benefits and detriments are identified and an overall assessment of the approach is given.

The science of human factors: separating fact from fiction

PubMed Central

Russ, Alissa L; Fairbanks, Rollin J; Karsh, Ben-Tzion; Militello, Laura G; Saleem, Jason J; Wears, Robert L

2013-01-01

Background Interest in human factors has increased across healthcare communities and institutions as the value of human centred design in healthcare becomes increasingly clear. However, as human factors is becoming more prominent, there is growing evidence of confusion about human factors science, both anecdotally and in scientific literature. Some of the misconceptions about human factors may inadvertently create missed opportunities for healthcare improvement. Methods The objective of this article is to describe the scientific discipline of human factors and provide common ground for partnerships between healthcare and human factors communities. Results The primary goal of human factors science is to promote efficiency, safety and effectiveness by improving the design of technologies, processes and work systems. As described in this article, human factors also provides insight on when training is likely (or unlikely) to be effective for improving patient safety. Finally, we outline human factors specialty areas that may be particularly relevant for improving healthcare delivery and provide examples to demonstrate their value. Conclusions The human factors concepts presented in this article may foster interdisciplinary collaborations to yield new, sustainable solutions for healthcare quality and patient safety. PMID:23592760

A new method to evaluate human-robot system performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodriguez, G.; Weisbin, C. R.

2003-01-01

One of the key issues in space exploration is that of deciding what space tasks are best done with humans, with robots, or a suitable combination of each. In general, human and robot skills are complementary. Humans provide as yet unmatched capabilities to perceive, think, and act when faced with anomalies and unforeseen events, but there can be huge potential risks to human safety in getting these benefits. Robots provide complementary skills in being able to work in extremely risky environments, but their ability to perceive, think, and act by themselves is currently not error-free, although these capabilities are continually improving with the emergence of new technologies. Substantial past experience validates these generally qualitative notions. However, there is a need for more rigorously systematic evaluation of human and robot roles, in order to optimize the design and performance of human-robot system architectures using well-defined performance evaluation metrics. This article summarizes a new analytical method to conduct such quantitative evaluations. While the article focuses on evaluating human-robot systems, the method is generally applicable to a much broader class of systems whose performance needs to be evaluated.

Predictive models of safety based on audit findings: Part 2: Measurement of model validity.

PubMed

Hsiao, Yu-Lin; Drury, Colin; Wu, Changxu; Paquet, Victor

2013-07-01

Part 1 of this study sequence developed a human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) based classification system (termed HFACS-MA) for safety audit findings and proved its measurement reliability. In Part 2, we used the human error categories of HFACS-MA as predictors of future safety performance. Audit records and monthly safety incident reports from two airlines submitted to their regulatory authority were available for analysis, covering over 6.5 years. Two participants derived consensus results of HF/E errors from the audit reports using HFACS-MA. We adopted Neural Network and Poisson regression methods to establish nonlinear and linear prediction models respectively. These models were tested for the validity of prediction of the safety data, and only Neural Network method resulted in substantially significant predictive ability for each airline. Alternative predictions from counting of audit findings and from time sequence of safety data produced some significant results, but of much smaller magnitude than HFACS-MA. The use of HF/E analysis of audit findings provided proactive predictors of future safety performance in the aviation maintenance field. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Ultra-sensitive detection of kanamycin for food safety using a reduced graphene oxide-based fluorescent aptasensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ha, Na-Reum; Jung, In-Pil; La, Im-Joung; Jung, Ho-Sup; Yoon, Moon-Young

2017-01-01

Overuse of antibiotics has caused serious problems, such as appearance of super bacteria, whose accumulation in the human body through the food chain is a concern. Kanamycin is a common antibiotic used to treat diverse infections; however, residual kanamycin can cause many side effects in humans. Thus, development of an ultra-sensitive, precise, and simple detection system for residual kanamycin in food products is urgently needed for food safety. In this study, we identified kanamycin-binding aptamers via a new screening method, and truncated variants were analyzed for optimization of the minimal sequence required for target binding. We found various aptamers with high binding affinity from 34.7 to 669 nanomolar Kdapp values with good specificity against kanamycin. Furthermore, we developed a reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-based fluorescent aptasensor for kanamycin detection. In this system, kanamycin was detected at a concentration as low as 1 pM (582.6 fg/mL). In addition, this method could detect kanamycin accurately in kanamycin-spiked blood serum and milk samples. Consequently, this simple, rapid, and sensitive kanamycin detection system with newly structural and functional analysis aptamer exhibits outstanding detection compared to previous methods and provides a new possibility for point of care testing and food safety.

STAMP-Based HRA Considering Causality Within a Sociotechnical System: A Case of Minuteman III Missile Accident.

PubMed

Rong, Hao; Tian, Jin

2015-05-01

The study contributes to human reliability analysis (HRA) by proposing a method that focuses more on human error causality within a sociotechnical system, illustrating its rationality and feasibility by using a case of the Minuteman (MM) III missile accident. Due to the complexity and dynamics within a sociotechnical system, previous analyses of accidents involving human and organizational factors clearly demonstrated that the methods using a sequential accident model are inadequate to analyze human error within a sociotechnical system. System-theoretic accident model and processes (STAMP) was used to develop a universal framework of human error causal analysis. To elaborate the causal relationships and demonstrate the dynamics of human error, system dynamics (SD) modeling was conducted based on the framework. A total of 41 contributing factors, categorized into four types of human error, were identified through the STAMP-based analysis. All factors are related to a broad view of sociotechnical systems, and more comprehensive than the causation presented in the accident investigation report issued officially. Recommendations regarding both technical and managerial improvement for a lower risk of the accident are proposed. The interests of an interdisciplinary approach provide complementary support between system safety and human factors. The integrated method based on STAMP and SD model contributes to HRA effectively. The proposed method will be beneficial to HRA, risk assessment, and control of the MM III operating process, as well as other sociotechnical systems. © 2014, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Practical Applications of Cosmic Ray Science: Spacecraft, Aircraft, Ground Based Computation and Control Systems and Human Health and Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atwell, William; Koontz, Steve; Normand, Eugene

2012-01-01

In this paper we review the discovery of cosmic ray effects on the performance and reliability of microelectronic systems as well as on human health and safety, as well as the development of the engineering and health science tools used to evaluate and mitigate cosmic ray effects in earth surface, atmospheric flight, and space flight environments. Three twentieth century technological developments, 1) high altitude commercial and military aircraft; 2) manned and unmanned spacecraft; and 3) increasingly complex and sensitive solid state micro-electronics systems, have driven an ongoing evolution of basic cosmic ray science into a set of practical engineering tools (e.g. ground based test methods as well as high energy particle transport and reaction codes) needed to design, test, and verify the safety and reliability of modern complex electronic systems as well as effects on human health and safety. The effects of primary cosmic ray particles, and secondary particle showers produced by nuclear reactions with spacecraft materials, can determine the design and verification processes (as well as the total dollar cost) for manned and unmanned spacecraft avionics systems. Similar considerations apply to commercial and military aircraft operating at high latitudes and altitudes near the atmospheric Pfotzer maximum. Even ground based computational and controls systems can be negatively affected by secondary particle showers at the Earth's surface, especially if the net target area of the sensitive electronic system components is large. Accumulation of both primary cosmic ray and secondary cosmic ray induced particle shower radiation dose is an important health and safety consideration for commercial or military air crews operating at high altitude/latitude and is also one of the most important factors presently limiting manned space flight operations beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO).

Dialysis Facility Safety: Processes and Opportunities.

PubMed

Garrick, Renee; Morey, Rishikesh

2015-01-01

Unintentional human errors are the source of most safety breaches in complex, high-risk environments. The environment of dialysis care is extremely complex. Dialysis patients have unique and changing physiology, and the processes required for their routine care involve numerous open-ended interfaces between providers and an assortment of technologically advanced equipment. Communication errors, both within the dialysis facility and during care transitions, and lapses in compliance with policies and procedures are frequent areas of safety risk. Some events, such as air emboli and needle dislodgments occur infrequently, but are serious risks. Other adverse events include medication errors, patient falls, catheter and access-related infections, access infiltrations and prolonged bleeding. A robust safety system should evaluate how multiple, sequential errors might align to cause harm. Systems of care can be improved by sharing the results of root cause analyses, and "good catches." Failure mode effects and analyses can be used to proactively identify and mitigate areas of highest risk, and methods drawn from cognitive psychology, simulation training, and human factor engineering can be used to advance facility safety. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Prospect Theory and Interval-Valued Hesitant Set for Safety Evacuation Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kou, Meng; Lu, Na

2018-01-01

The study applies the research results of prospect theory and multi attribute decision making theory, combined with the complexity, uncertainty and multifactor influence of the underground mine fire system and takes the decision makers’ psychological behavior of emotion and intuition into full account to establish the intuitionistic fuzzy multiple attribute decision making method that is based on the prospect theory. The model established by this method can explain the decision maker’s safety evacuation decision behavior in the complex system of underground mine fire due to the uncertainty of the environment, imperfection of the information and human psychological behavior and other factors.

Nanoparticles in medicine: Current challenges facing inorganic nanoparticle toxicity assessments and standardizations.

PubMed

Hofmann-Amtenbrink, Margarethe; Grainger, David W; Hofmann, Heinrich

2015-10-01

Although nanoparticles research is ongoing since more than 30years, the development of methods and standard protocols required for their safety and efficacy testing for human use is still in development. The review covers questions on toxicity, safety, risk and legal issues over the lifecycle of inorganic nanoparticles for medical applications. The following topics were covered: (i) In vitro tests may give only a very first indication of possible toxicity as in the actual methods interactions at systemic level are mainly neglected; (ii) the science-driven and the regulation-driven approaches do not really fit for decisive strategies whether or not a nanoparticle should be further developed and may receive a kind of "safety label". (iii) Cost and time of development are the limiting factors for the drug pipeline. Knowing which property of a nanoparticle makes it toxic it may be feasible to re-engineer the particle for higher safety (safety by design). Testing the safety and efficacy of nanoparticles for human use is still in need of standardization. In this concise review, the author described and discussed the current unresolved issues over the application of inorganic nanoparticles for medical applications. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Human action quality evaluation based on fuzzy logic with application in underground coal mining.

PubMed

Ionica, Andreea; Leba, Monica

2015-01-01

The work system is defined by its components, their roles and the relationships between them. Any work system gravitates around the human resource and the interdependencies between human factor and the other components of it. Researches in this field agreed that the human factor and its actions are difficult to quantify and predict. The objective of this paper is to apply a method of human actions evaluation in order to estimate possible risks and prevent possible system faults, both at human factor level and at equipment level. In order to point out the importance of the human factor influence on all the elements of the working systems we propose a fuzzy logic based methodology for quality evaluation of human actions. This methodology has a multidisciplinary character, as it gathers ideas and methods from: quality management, ergonomics, work safety and artificial intelligence. The results presented refer to a work system with a high degree of specificity, namely, underground coal mining and are valuable for human resources risk evaluation pattern. The fuzzy logic evaluation of the human actions leads to early detection of possible dangerous evolutions of the work system and alarm the persons in charge.

Developing Organs On-a-Chip: Chemical Safety Research Collaborators Provide Research Review

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Risk assessors must understand how chemicals impact human systems, including complex tissues and organs. Unfortunately, there are huge data gaps in this area, and current testing methods are costly and time-consuming.

Evaluation of Human Reliability in Selected Activities in the Railway Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sujová, Erika; Čierna, Helena; Molenda, Michał

2016-09-01

The article focuses on evaluation of human reliability in the human - machine system in the railway industry. Based on a survey of a train dispatcher and of selected activities, we have identified risk factors affecting the dispatcher`s work and the evaluated risk level of their influence on the reliability and safety of preformed activities. The research took place at the authors` work place between 2012-2013. A survey method was used. With its help, authors were able to identify selected work activities of train dispatcher's risk factors that affect his/her work and the evaluated seriousness of its influence on the reliability and safety of performed activities. Amongst the most important finding fall expressions of unclear and complicated internal regulations and work processes, a feeling of being overworked, fear for one's safety at small, insufficiently protected stations.

Safety Metrics for Human-Computer Controlled Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leveson, Nancy G; Hatanaka, Iwao

2000-01-01

The rapid growth of computer technology and innovation has played a significant role in the rise of computer automation of human tasks in modem production systems across all industries. Although the rationale for automation has been to eliminate "human error" or to relieve humans from manual repetitive tasks, various computer-related hazards and accidents have emerged as a direct result of increased system complexity attributed to computer automation. The risk assessment techniques utilized for electromechanical systems are not suitable for today's software-intensive systems or complex human-computer controlled systems.This thesis will propose a new systemic model-based framework for analyzing risk in safety-critical systems where both computers and humans are controlling safety-critical functions. A new systems accident model will be developed based upon modem systems theory and human cognitive processes to better characterize system accidents, the role of human operators, and the influence of software in its direct control of significant system functions Better risk assessments will then be achievable through the application of this new framework to complex human-computer controlled systems.

[Innovative training for enhancing patient safety. Safety culture and integrated concepts].

PubMed

Rall, M; Schaedle, B; Zieger, J; Naef, W; Weinlich, M

2002-11-01

Patient safety is determined by the performance safety of the medical team. Errors in medicine are amongst the leading causes of death of hospitalized patients. These numbers call for action. Backgrounds, methods and new forms of training are introduced in this article. Concepts from safety research are transformed to the field of emergency medical treatment. Strategies from realistic patient simulator training sessions and innovative training concepts are discussed. The reasons for the high numbers of errors in medicine are not due to a lack of medical knowledge, but due to human factors and organisational circumstances. A first step towards an improved patient safety is to accept this. We always need to be prepared that errors will occur. A next step would be to separate "error" from guilt (culture of blame) allowing for a real analysis of accidents and establishment of meaningful incident reporting systems. Concepts with a good success record from aviation like "crew resource management" (CRM) training have been adapted my medicine and are ready to use. These concepts require theoretical education as well as practical training. Innovative team training sessions using realistic patient simulator systems with video taping (for self reflexion) and interactive debriefing following the sessions are very promising. As the need to reduce error rates in medicine is very high and the reasons, methods and training concepts are known, we are urged to implement these new training concepts widely and consequently. To err is human - not to counteract it is not.

Sociotechnical attributes of safe and unsafe work systems

PubMed Central

Kleiner, Brian M.; Hettinger, Lawrence J.; DeJoy, David M.; Huang, Yuang-Hsiang; Love, Peter E.D.

2015-01-01

Theoretical and practical approaches to safety based on sociotechnical systems principles place heavy emphasis on the intersections between social–organisational and technical–work process factors. Within this perspective, work system design emphasises factors such as the joint optimisation of social and technical processes, a focus on reliable human–system performance and safety metrics as design and analysis criteria, the maintenance of a realistic and consistent set of safety objectives and policies, and regular access to the expertise and input of workers. We discuss three current approaches to the analysis and design of complex sociotechnical systems: human–systems integration, macroergonomics and safety climate. Each approach emphasises key sociotechnical systems themes, and each prescribes a more holistic perspective on work systems than do traditional theories and methods. We contrast these perspectives with historical precedents such as system safety and traditional human factors and ergonomics, and describe potential future directions for their application in research and practice. Practitioner Summary: The identification of factors that can reliably distinguish between safe and unsafe work systems is an important concern for ergonomists and other safety professionals. This paper presents a variety of sociotechnical systems perspectives on intersections between social–organisational and technology–work process factors as they impact work system analysis, design and operation. PMID:25909756

Macroergonomics in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety

PubMed Central

Carayon, Pascale; Karsh, Ben-Tzion; Gurses, Ayse P.; Holden, Richard; Hoonakker, Peter; Hundt, Ann Schoofs; Montague, Enid; Rodriguez, Joy; Wetterneck, Tosha B.

2014-01-01

The US Institute of Medicine and healthcare experts have called for new approaches to manage healthcare quality problems. In this chapter, we focus on macroergonomics, a branch of human factors and ergonomics that is based on the systems approach and considers the organizational and sociotechnical context of work activities and processes. Selected macroergonomic approaches to healthcare quality and patient safety are described such as the SEIPS model of work system and patient safety and the model of healthcare professional performance. Focused reviews on job stress and burnout, workload, interruptions, patient-centered care, health IT and medical devices, violations, and care coordination provide examples of macroergonomics contributions to healthcare quality and patient safety. Healthcare systems and processes clearly need to be systematically redesigned; examples of macroergonomic approaches, principles and methods for healthcare system redesign are described. Further research linking macroergonomics and care processes/patient outcomes is needed. Other needs for macroergonomics research are highlighted, including understanding the link between worker outcomes (e.g., safety and well-being) and patient outcomes (e.g., patient safety), and macroergonomics of patient-centered care and care coordination. PMID:24729777

An Evaluation of Departmental Radiation Oncology Incident Reports: Anticipating a National Reporting System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Terezakis, Stephanie A., E-mail: stereza1@jhmi.edu; Harris, Kendra M.; Ford, Eric

Purpose: Systems to ensure patient safety are of critical importance. The electronic incident reporting systems (IRS) of 2 large academic radiation oncology departments were evaluated for events that may be suitable for submission to a national reporting system (NRS). Methods and Materials: All events recorded in the combined IRS were evaluated from 2007 through 2010. Incidents were graded for potential severity using the validated French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) 5-point scale. These incidents were categorized into 7 groups: (1) human error, (2) software error, (3) hardware error, (4) error in communication between 2 humans, (5) error at the human-software interface,more » (6) error at the software-hardware interface, and (7) error at the human-hardware interface. Results: Between the 2 systems, 4407 incidents were reported. Of these events, 1507 (34%) were considered to have the potential for clinical consequences. Of these 1507 events, 149 (10%) were rated as having a potential severity of ≥2. Of these 149 events, the committee determined that 79 (53%) of these events would be submittable to a NRS of which the majority was related to human error or to the human-software interface. Conclusions: A significant number of incidents were identified in this analysis. The majority of events in this study were related to human error and to the human-software interface, further supporting the need for a NRS to facilitate field-wide learning and system improvement.« less

Human performance cognitive-behavioral modeling: a benefit for occupational safety.

PubMed

Gore, Brian F

2002-01-01

Human Performance Modeling (HPM) is a computer-aided job analysis software methodology used to generate predictions of complex human-automation integration and system flow patterns with the goal of improving operator and system safety. The use of HPM tools has recently been increasing due to reductions in computational cost, augmentations in the tools' fidelity, and usefulness in the generated output. An examination of an Air Man-machine Integration Design and Analysis System (Air MIDAS) model evaluating complex human-automation integration currently underway at NASA Ames Research Center will highlight the importance to occupational safety of considering both cognitive and physical aspects of performance when researching human error.

Human performance cognitive-behavioral modeling: a benefit for occupational safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gore, Brian F.

2002-01-01

Human Performance Modeling (HPM) is a computer-aided job analysis software methodology used to generate predictions of complex human-automation integration and system flow patterns with the goal of improving operator and system safety. The use of HPM tools has recently been increasing due to reductions in computational cost, augmentations in the tools' fidelity, and usefulness in the generated output. An examination of an Air Man-machine Integration Design and Analysis System (Air MIDAS) model evaluating complex human-automation integration currently underway at NASA Ames Research Center will highlight the importance to occupational safety of considering both cognitive and physical aspects of performance when researching human error.

Demonstration of a Safety Analysis on a Complex System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leveson, Nancy; Alfaro, Liliana; Alvarado, Christine; Brown, Molly; Hunt, Earl B.; Jaffe, Matt; Joslyn, Susan; Pinnell, Denise; Reese, Jon; Samarziya, Jeffrey;

Application of an aviation model of incident reporting and investigation to the neurosurgical scenario: method and preliminary data.

PubMed

Ferroli, Paolo; Caldiroli, Dario; Acerbi, Francesco; Scholtze, Maurizio; Piro, Alfonso; Schiariti, Marco; Orena, Eleonora F; Castiglione, Melina; Broggi, Morgan; Perin, Alessandro; DiMeco, Francesco

2012-11-01

Incident reporting systems are universally recognized as important tools for quality improvement in all complex adaptive systems, including the operating room. Nevertheless, introducing a safety culture among neurosurgeons is a slow process, and few studies are available in the literature regarding the implementation of an incident reporting system within a neurosurgical department. The authors describe the institution of an aviation model of incident reporting and investigation in neurosurgery, focusing on the method they have used and presenting some preliminary results. In 2010, the Inpatient Safety On-Board project was developed through cooperation between a team of human factor and safety specialists with aviation backgrounds (DgSky team) and the general manager of the Fondazione Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta. In 2011, after specific training in safety culture, the authors implemented an aviation-derived prototype of incident reporting within the Department of Neurosurgery. They then developed an experimental protocol to track, analyze, and categorize any near misses that happened in the operating room. This project officially started in January 2012, when a dedicated team of assessors was established. All members of the neurosurgical department were asked to report near misses on a voluntary, confidential, and protected form (Patient Incident Reporting System form, Besta Safety Management Programme). Reports were entered into an online database and analyzed by a dedicated team of assessors with the help of a facilitator, and an aviation-derived root cause analysis was performed. Since January 2012, 14 near misses were analyzed and classified. The near-miss contributing factors were mainly related to human factors (9 of 14 cases), technology (1 of 14 cases), organizational factors (3 of 14 cases), or procedural factors (1 of 14 cases). Implementing an incident reporting system is quite demanding; the process should involve all of the people who work within the environment under study. Persistence and strong commitment are required to enact the culture change essential in shifting from a paradigm of infallible operators to the philosophy of errare humanum est. For this paradigm shift to be successful, contributions from aviation and human factor experts are critical.

NASA Occupant Protection Standards Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Somers, Jeffrey; Gernhardt, Michael; Lawrence, Charles

2012-01-01

Historically, spacecraft landing systems have been tested with human volunteers, because analytical methods for estimating injury risk were insufficient. These tests were conducted with flight-like suits and seats to verify the safety of the landing systems. Currently, NASA uses the Brinkley Dynamic Response Index to estimate injury risk, although applying it to the NASA environment has drawbacks: (1) Does not indicate severity or anatomical location of injury (2) Unclear if model applies to NASA applications. Because of these limitations, a new validated, analytical approach was desired. Leveraging off of the current state of the art in automotive safety and racing, a new approach was developed. The approach has several aspects: (1) Define the acceptable level of injury risk by injury severity (2) Determine the appropriate human surrogate for testing and modeling (3) Mine existing human injury data to determine appropriate Injury Assessment Reference Values (IARV). (4) Rigorously Validate the IARVs with sub-injurious human testing (5) Use validated IARVs to update standards and vehicle requirement

Blame the Patient, Blame the Doctor or Blame the System? A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Studies of Patient Safety in Primary Care

PubMed Central

Daker-White, Gavin; Hays, Rebecca; McSharry, Jennifer; Giles, Sally; Cheraghi-Sohi, Sudeh; Rhodes, Penny; Sanders, Caroline

2015-01-01

Objective Studies of patient safety in health care have traditionally focused on hospital medicine. However, recent years have seen more research located in primary care settings which have different features compared to secondary care. This study set out to synthesize published qualitative research concerning patient safety in primary care in order to build a conceptual model. Method Meta-ethnography, an interpretive synthesis method whereby third order interpretations are produced that best describe the groups of findings contained in the reports of primary studies. Results Forty-eight studies were included as 5 discrete subsets where the findings were translated into one another: patients’ perspectives of safety, staff perspectives of safety, medication safety, systems or organisational issues and the primary/secondary care interface. The studies were focused predominantly on issues seen to either improve or compromise patient safety. These issues related to the characteristics or behaviour of patients, staff or clinical systems and interactions between staff, patients and staff, or people and systems. Electronic health records, protocols and guidelines could be seen to both degrade and improve patient safety in different circumstances. A conceptual reading of the studies pointed to patient safety as a subjective feeling or judgement grounded in moral views and with potentially hidden psychological consequences affecting care processes and relationships. The main threats to safety appeared to derive from ‘grand’ systems issues, for example involving service accessibility, resources or working hours which may not be amenable to effective intervention by individual practices or health workers, especially in the context of a public health system. Conclusion Overall, the findings underline the human elements in patient safety primary health care. The key to patient safety lies in effective face-to-face communication between patients and health care staff or between the different staff involved in the care of an individual patient. Electronic systems can compromise safety when they override the opportunities for face-to-face communication. The circumstances under which guidelines or protocols are seen to either compromise or improve patient safety needs further investigation. PMID:26244494

Optimizing the Design of Preprinted Orders for Ambulatory Chemotherapy: Combining Oncology, Human Factors, and Graphic Design

PubMed Central

Jeon, Jennifer; White, Rachel E.; Hunt, Richard G.; Cassano-Piché, Andrea L.; Easty, Anthony C.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To establish a set of guidelines for developing ambulatory chemotherapy preprinted orders. Methods: Multiple methods were used to develop the preprinted order guidelines. These included (A) a comprehensive literature review and an environmental scan; (B) analyses of field study observations and incident reports; (C) critical review of evidence from the literature and the field study observation analyses; (D) review of the draft guidelines by a clinical advisory group; and (E) collaboration with graphic designers to develop sample preprinted orders, refine the design guidelines, and format the resulting content. Results: The Guidelines for Developing Ambulatory Chemotherapy Preprinted Orders, which consist of guidance on the design process, content, and graphic design elements of ambulatory chemotherapy preprinted orders, have been established. Conclusion: Health care is a safety critical, dynamic, and complex sociotechnical system. Identifying safety risks in such a system and effectively addressing them often require the expertise of multiple disciplines. This study illustrates how human factors professionals, clinicians, and designers can leverage each other's expertise to uncover commonly overlooked patient safety hazards and to provide health care professionals with innovative, practical, and user-centered tools to minimize those hazards. PMID:23077436

An Autonomous Flight Safety System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bull, James B.; Lanzi, Raymond J.

2007-01-01

The Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) being developed by NASA s Goddard Space Flight Center s Wallops Flight Facility and Kennedy Space Center has completed two successful developmental flights and is preparing for a third. AFSS has been demonstrated to be a viable architecture for implementation of a completely vehicle based system capable of protecting life and property in event of an errant vehicle by terminating the flight or initiating other actions. It is capable of replacing current human-in-the-loop systems or acting in parallel with them. AFSS is configured prior to flight in accordance with a specific rule set agreed upon by the range safety authority and the user to protect the public and assure mission success. This paper discusses the motivation for the project, describes the method of development, and presents an overview of the evolving architecture and the current status.

Automatic Speech Recognition in Air Traffic Control: a Human Factors Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karlsson, Joakim

1990-01-01

The introduction of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology into the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system has the potential to improve overall safety and efficiency. However, because ASR technology is inherently a part of the man-machine interface between the user and the system, the human factors issues involved must be addressed. Here, some of the human factors problems are identified and related methods of investigation are presented. Research at M.I.T.'s Flight Transportation Laboratory is being conducted from a human factors perspective, focusing on intelligent parser design, presentation of feedback, error correction strategy design, and optimal choice of input modalities.

Participatory design of a preliminary safety checklist for general practice

PubMed Central

Bowie, Paul; Ferguson, Julie; MacLeod, Marion; Kennedy, Susan; de Wet, Carl; McNab, Duncan; Kelly, Moya; McKay, John; Atkinson, Sarah

2015-01-01

Background The use of checklists to minimise errors is well established in high reliability, safety-critical industries. In health care there is growing interest in checklists to standardise checking processes and ensure task completion, and so provide further systemic defences against error and patient harm. However, in UK general practice there is limited experience of safety checklist use. Aim To identify workplace hazards that impact on safety, health and wellbeing, and performance, and codesign a standardised checklist process. Design and setting Application of mixed methods to identify system hazards in Scottish general practices and develop a safety checklist based on human factors design principles. Method A multiprofessional ‘expert’ group (n = 7) and experienced front-line GPs, nurses, and practice managers (n = 18) identified system hazards and developed and validated a preliminary checklist using a combination of literature review, documentation review, consensus building workshops using a mini-Delphi process, and completion of content validity index exercise. Results A prototype safety checklist was developed and validated consisting of six safety domains (for example, medicines management), 22 sub-categories (for example, emergency drug supplies) and 78 related items (for example, stock balancing, secure drug storage, and cold chain temperature recording). Conclusion Hazards in the general practice work system were prioritised that can potentially impact on the safety, health and wellbeing of patients, GP team members, and practice performance, and a necessary safety checklist prototype was designed. However, checklist efficacy in improving safety processes and outcomes is dependent on user commitment, and support from leaders and promotional champions. Although further usability development and testing is necessary, the concept should be of interest in the UK and internationally. PMID:25918338

Index extraction for electromagnetic field evaluation of high power wireless charging system.

PubMed

Park, SangWook

2017-01-01

This paper presents the precise dosimetry for highly resonant wireless power transfer (HR-WPT) system using an anatomically realistic human voxel model. The dosimetry for the HR-WPT system designed to operate at 13.56 MHz frequency, which one of the ISM band frequency band, is conducted in the various distances between the human model and the system, and in the condition of alignment and misalignment between transmitting and receiving circuits. The specific absorption rates in the human body are computed by the two-step approach; in the first step, the field generated by the HR-WPT system is calculated and in the second step the specific absorption rates are computed with the scattered field finite-difference time-domain method regarding the fields obtained in the first step as the incident fields. The safety compliance for non-uniform field exposure from the HR-WPT system is discussed with the international safety guidelines. Furthermore, the coupling factor concept is employed to relax the maximum allowable transmitting power. Coupling factors derived from the dosimetry results are presented. In this calculation, the external magnetic field from the HR-WPT system can be relaxed by approximately four times using coupling factor in the worst exposure scenario.

Capturing Safety Requirements to Enable Effective Task Allocation Between Humans and Automaton in Increasingly Autonomous Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neogi, Natasha A.

2016-01-01

There is a current drive towards enabling the deployment of increasingly autonomous systems in the National Airspace System (NAS). However, shifting the traditional roles and responsibilities between humans and automation for safety critical tasks must be managed carefully, otherwise the current emergent safety properties of the NAS may be disrupted. In this paper, a verification activity to assess the emergent safety properties of a clearly defined, safety critical, operational scenario that possesses tasks that can be fluidly allocated between human and automated agents is conducted. Task allocation role sets were proposed for a human-automation team performing a contingency maneuver in a reduced crew context. A safety critical contingency procedure (engine out on takeoff) was modeled in the Soar cognitive architecture, then translated into the Hybrid Input Output formalism. Verification activities were then performed to determine whether or not the safety properties held over the increasingly autonomous system. The verification activities lead to the development of several key insights regarding the implicit assumptions on agent capability. It subsequently illustrated the usefulness of task annotations associated with specialized requirements (e.g., communication, timing etc.), and demonstrated the feasibility of this approach.

Forming Human-Robot Teams Across Time and Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hambuchen, Kimberly; Burridge, Robert R.; Ambrose, Robert O.; Bluethmann, William J.; Diftler, Myron A.; Radford, Nicolaus A.

2012-01-01

NASA pushes telerobotics to distances that span the Solar System. At this scale, time of flight for communication is limited by the speed of light, inducing long time delays, narrow bandwidth and the real risk of data disruption. NASA also supports missions where humans are in direct contact with robots during extravehicular activity (EVA), giving a range of zero to hundreds of millions of miles for NASA s definition of "tele". . Another temporal variable is mission phasing. NASA missions are now being considered that combine early robotic phases with later human arrival, then transition back to robot only operations. Robots can preposition, scout, sample or construct in advance of human teammates, transition to assistant roles when the crew are present, and then become care-takers when the crew returns to Earth. This paper will describe advances in robot safety and command interaction approaches developed to form effective human-robot teams, overcoming challenges of time delay and adapting as the team transitions from robot only to robots and crew. The work is predicated on the idea that when robots are alone in space, they are still part of a human-robot team acting as surrogates for people back on Earth or in other distant locations. Software, interaction modes and control methods will be described that can operate robots in all these conditions. A novel control mode for operating robots across time delay was developed using a graphical simulation on the human side of the communication, allowing a remote supervisor to drive and command a robot in simulation with no time delay, then monitor progress of the actual robot as data returns from the round trip to and from the robot. Since the robot must be responsible for safety out to at least the round trip time period, the authors developed a multi layer safety system able to detect and protect the robot and people in its workspace. This safety system is also running when humans are in direct contact with the robot, so it involves both internal fault detection as well as force sensing for unintended external contacts. The designs for the supervisory command mode and the redundant safety system will be described. Specific implementations were developed and test results will be reported. Experiments were conducted using terrestrial analogs for deep space missions, where time delays were artificially added to emulate the longer distances found in space.

Understanding safety and production risks in rail engineering planning and protection.

PubMed

Wilson, John R; Ryan, Brendan; Schock, Alex; Ferreira, Pedro; Smith, Stuart; Pitsopoulos, Julia

2009-07-01

Much of the published human factors work on risk is to do with safety and within this is concerned with prediction and analysis of human error and with human reliability assessment. Less has been published on human factors contributions to understanding and managing project, business, engineering and other forms of risk and still less jointly assessing risk to do with broad issues of 'safety' and broad issues of 'production' or 'performance'. This paper contains a general commentary on human factors and assessment of risk of various kinds, in the context of the aims of ergonomics and concerns about being too risk averse. The paper then describes a specific project, in rail engineering, where the notion of a human factors case has been employed to analyse engineering functions and related human factors issues. A human factors issues register for potential system disturbances has been developed, prior to a human factors risk assessment, which jointly covers safety and production (engineering delivery) concerns. The paper concludes with a commentary on the potential relevance of a resilience engineering perspective to understanding rail engineering systems risk. Design, planning and management of complex systems will increasingly have to address the issue of making trade-offs between safety and production, and ergonomics should be central to this. The paper addresses the relevant issues and does so in an under-published domain - rail systems engineering work.

John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety Awards. System innovation: Veterans Health Administration National Center for Patient Safety.

PubMed

Heget, Jeffrey R; Bagian, James P; Lee, Caryl Z; Gosbee, John W

2002-12-01

In 1998 the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) created the National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) to lead the effort to reduce adverse events and close calls systemwide. NCPS's aim is to foster a culture of safety in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by developing and providing patient safety programs and delivering standardized tools, methods, and initiatives to the 163 VA facilities. To create a system-oriented approach to patient safety, NCPS looked for models in fields such as aviation, nuclear power, human factors, and safety engineering. Core concepts included a non-punitive approach to patient safety activities that emphasizes systems-based learning, the active seeking out of close calls, which are viewed as opportunities for learning and investigation, and the use of interdisciplinary teams to investigate close calls and adverse events through a root cause analysis (RCA) process. Participation by VA facilities and networks was voluntary. NCPS has always aimed to develop a program that would be applicable both within the VA and beyond. NCPS's full patient safety program was tested and implemented throughout the VA system from November 1999 to August 2000. Program components included an RCA system for use by caregivers at the front line, a system for the aggregate review of RCA results, information systems software, alerts and advisories, and cognitive acids. Following program implementation, NCPS saw a 900-fold increase in reporting of close calls of high-priority events, reflecting the level of commitment to the program by VHA leaders and staff.

Human factors in airport surface incidents : an analysis of pilot reports submitted to the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-12-01

The purpose of this study was to examine human factors involved in airport surface incidents as reported by pilots. Reports submitted to the : Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) are a good source of information regarding the human performance is...

Human factors in modern traffic systems.

PubMed

Noy, Y I

1997-10-01

Traffic systems are undergoing enormous change with the advent of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Although productivity and quality of mobility are emerging interests, safety remains the predominant preoccupation of ITS human factors. It should be evident that while intelligent technologies may have the potential to improve traffic safety, they also have the potential to adversely affect it. Ultimately, the effect on safety depends on the specific technologies that are invoked and the manner in which they are incorporated within the vehicle as well as within the larger road transportation system. Current automotive developments can be characterized as technology-centred solutions rather than user-centred solutions. Greater effort must be directed at understanding and accommodating the human element in the road transportation system in order that future transportation objectives can be achieved. There is a need to expand the scope of traditional human factors to include macro-level effects as well as to place greater emphasis on understanding human interactions with other elements of the system. There is also increasing recognition of the urgent need for systematic procedures and criteria for testing the safety of ITS prior to large-scale market penetration.

Integrated therapy safety management system

PubMed Central

Podtschaske, Beatrice; Fuchs, Daniela; Friesdorf, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

Aims The aim is to demonstrate the benefit of the medico-ergonomic approach for the redesign of clinical work systems. Based on the six layer model, a concept for an ‘integrated therapy safety management’ is drafted. This concept could serve as a basis to improve resilience. Methods The concept is developed through a concept-based approach. The state of the art of safety and complexity research in human factors and ergonomics forms the basis. The findings are synthesized to a concept for ‘integrated therapy safety management’. The concept is applied by way of example for the ‘medication process’ to demonstrate its practical implementation. Results The ‘integrated therapy safety management’ is drafted in accordance with the six layer model. This model supports a detailed description of specific work tasks, the corresponding responsibilities and related workflows at different layers by using the concept of ‘bridge managers’. ‘Bridge managers’ anticipate potential errors and monitor the controlled system continuously. If disruptions or disturbances occur, they respond with corrective actions which ensure that no harm results and they initiate preventive measures for future procedures. The concept demonstrates that in a complex work system, the human factor is the key element and final authority to cope with the residual complexity. The expertise of the ‘bridge managers’ and the recursive hierarchical structure results in highly adaptive clinical work systems and increases their resilience. Conclusions The medico-ergonomic approach is a highly promising way of coping with two complexities. It offers a systematic framework for comprehensive analyses of clinical work systems and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration. PMID:24007448

A Mathematical Model for Railway Control Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoover, D. N.

1996-01-01

We present a general method for modeling safety aspects of railway control systems. Using our modeling method, one can progressively refine an abstract railway safety model, sucessively adding layers of detail about how a real system actually operates, while maintaining a safety property that refines the original abstract safety property. This method supports a top-down approach to specification of railway control systems and to proof of a variety of safety-related properties. We demonstrate our method by proving safety of the classical block control system.

NASA Astronauts on Soyuz: Experience and Lessons for the Future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2010-01-01

The U. S., Russia, and, China have each addressed the question of human-rating spacecraft. NASA's operational experience with human-rating primarily resides with Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle, and International Space Station. NASA s latest developmental experience includes Constellation, X38, X33, and the Orbital Space Plane. If domestic commercial crew vehicles are used to transport astronauts to and from space, Soyuz is another example of methods that could be used to human-rate a spacecraft and to work with commercial spacecraft providers. For Soyuz, NASA's normal assurance practices were adapted. Building on NASA's Soyuz experience, this report contends all past, present, and future vehicles rely on a range of methods and techniques for human-rating assurance, the components of which include: requirements, conceptual development, prototype evaluations, configuration management, formal development reviews (safety, design, operations), component/system ground-testing, integrated flight tests, independent assessments, and launch readiness reviews. When constraints (cost, schedule, international) limit the depth/breadth of one or more preferred assurance means, ways are found to bolster the remaining areas. This report provides information exemplifying the above safety assurance model for consideration with commercial or foreign-government-designed spacecraft. Topics addressed include: U.S./Soviet-Russian government/agency agreements and engineering/safety assessments performed with lessons learned in historic U.S./Russian joint space ventures

Road Lane Detection by Discriminating Dashed and Solid Road Lanes Using a Visible Light Camera Sensor.

PubMed

Hoang, Toan Minh; Hong, Hyung Gil; Vokhidov, Husan; Park, Kang Ryoung

2016-08-18

With the increasing need for road lane detection used in lane departure warning systems and autonomous vehicles, many studies have been conducted to turn road lane detection into a virtual assistant to improve driving safety and reduce car accidents. Most of the previous research approaches detect the central line of a road lane and not the accurate left and right boundaries of the lane. In addition, they do not discriminate between dashed and solid lanes when detecting the road lanes. However, this discrimination is necessary for the safety of autonomous vehicles and the safety of vehicles driven by human drivers. To overcome these problems, we propose a method for road lane detection that distinguishes between dashed and solid lanes. Experimental results with the Caltech open database showed that our method outperforms conventional methods.

Road Lane Detection by Discriminating Dashed and Solid Road Lanes Using a Visible Light Camera Sensor

PubMed Central

Hoang, Toan Minh; Hong, Hyung Gil; Vokhidov, Husan; Park, Kang Ryoung

2016-01-01

With the increasing need for road lane detection used in lane departure warning systems and autonomous vehicles, many studies have been conducted to turn road lane detection into a virtual assistant to improve driving safety and reduce car accidents. Most of the previous research approaches detect the central line of a road lane and not the accurate left and right boundaries of the lane. In addition, they do not discriminate between dashed and solid lanes when detecting the road lanes. However, this discrimination is necessary for the safety of autonomous vehicles and the safety of vehicles driven by human drivers. To overcome these problems, we propose a method for road lane detection that distinguishes between dashed and solid lanes. Experimental results with the Caltech open database showed that our method outperforms conventional methods. PMID:27548176

Application of the FTA and ETA Method for Gas Hazard Identification for the Performance of Safety Systems in the Industrial Department

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ignac-Nowicka, Jolanta

2018-03-01

The paper analyzes the conditions of safe use of industrial gas systems and factors influencing gas hazards. Typical gas installation and its basic features have been characterized. The results of gas threat analysis in an industrial enterprise using FTA error tree method and ETA event tree method are presented. Compares selected methods of identifying hazards gas industry with respect to the scope of their use. The paper presents an analysis of two exemplary hazards: an industrial gas catastrophe (FTA) and an explosive gas explosion (ETA). In both cases, technical risks and human errors (human factor) were taken into account. The cause-effect relationships of hazards and their causes are presented in the form of diagrams in the drawings.

SAR in human head model due to resonant wireless power transfer system.

PubMed

Zhang, Chao; Liu, Guoqiang; Li, Yanhong; Song, Xianjin

2016-04-29

Efficient mid-range wireless power transfer between transmitter and the receiver has been achieved based on the magnetic resonant coupling method. The influence of electromagnetic field on the human body due to resonant wireless power transfer system (RWPT) should be taken into account during the design process of the system. To analyze the transfer performance of the RWPT system and the change rules of the specific absorption rate (SAR) in the human head model due to the RWPT system. The circuit-field coupling method for a RWPT system with consideration of the displacement current was presented. The relationship between the spiral coil parameters and transfer performance was studied. The SAR in the human head model was calculated under two different exposure conditions. A system with output power higher than 10 W at 0.2 m distance operating at a frequency of approximately 1 MHz was designed. The FEM simulation results show the peak SAR value is below the safety limit which appeared when the human head model is in front of the transmitter. The simulation results agreed well with the experimental results, which verified the validity of the analysis and design.

The Rated Voltage Determination of DC Building Power Supply System Considering Human Beings Safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhicheng; Yu, Kansheng; Xie, Guoqiang; Zou, Jin

2018-01-01

Generally two-level voltages are adopted for DC building power supply system. From the point of view of human beings safety, only the lower level voltage which may be contacted barehanded is discussed in this paper based on the related safety thresholds of human beings current effect. For several voltage levels below 100V recommended by IEC, the body current and current density of human electric shock under device normal work condition, as well as effect of unidirectional single impulse currents of short durations are calculated and analyzed respectively. Finally, DC 60V is recommended as the lower level rating voltage through the comprehensive consideration of technical condition and cost of safety criteria.

SU-E-T-785: Using Systems Engineering to Design HDR Skin Treatment Operation for Small Lesions to Enhance Patient Safety

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saw, C; Baikadi, M; Peters, C

2015-06-15

Purpose: Using systems engineering to design HDR skin treatment operation for small lesions using shielded applicators to enhance patient safety. Methods: Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field that offers formal methodologies to study, design, implement, and manage complex engineering systems as a whole over their life-cycles. The methodologies deal with human work-processes, coordination of different team, optimization, and risk management. The V-model of systems engineering emphasize two streams, the specification and the testing streams. The specification stream consists of user requirements, functional requirements, and design specifications while the testing on installation, operational, and performance specifications. In implementing system engineering tomore » this project, the user and functional requirements are (a) HDR unit parameters be downloaded from the treatment planning system, (b) dwell times and positions be generated by treatment planning system, (c) source decay be computer calculated, (d) a double-check system of treatment parameters to comply with the NRC regulation. These requirements are intended to reduce human intervention to improve patient safety. Results: A formal investigation indicated that the user requirements can be satisfied. The treatment operation consists of using the treatment planning system to generate a pseudo plan that is adjusted for different shielded applicators to compute the dwell times. The dwell positions, channel numbers, and the dwell times are verified by the medical physicist and downloaded into the HDR unit. The decayed source strength is transferred to a spreadsheet that computes the dwell times based on the type of applicators and prescribed dose used. Prior to treatment, the source strength, dwell times, dwell positions, and channel numbers are double-checked by the radiation oncologist. No dosimetric parameters are manually calculated. Conclusion: Systems engineering provides methodologies to effectively design the HDR treatment operation that minimize human intervention and improve patient safety.« less

A knee-mounted biomechanical energy harvester with enhanced efficiency and safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chao; Chau, Li Yin; Liao, Wei-Hsin

2017-06-01

Energy harvesting is becoming a major limiting issue for many portable devices. When undertaking any activity, the human body generates a significant amount of biomechanical energy, which can be collected by means of a portable energy harvester. This energy provides a method of powering portable devices such as prosthetic limbs. In this paper, a knee-mounted energy harvester with enhanced efficiency and safety is proposed and developed to convert mechanical energy into electricity during human motion. This device can change the bi-directional knee input into uni-directional rotation for an electromagnetic generator using a specially designed transmission system. Without the constraint of induced impact on the human body, this device can harvest biomechanical energy from both knee flexion and extension, improving the harvesting efficiency over previous single-direction energy harvesters. It can also provide protection from device malfunction, and increase the safety of current biomechanical energy harvesters. A highly compact and light prototype is developed taking into account human kinematics. The biomechanical energy harvesting system is also modeled and analyzed. The prototype is tested under different conditions including walking, running and climbing stairs, to evaluate the energy harvesting performance and effect on the human gait. The experimental results show that the prototype can harvest an average power of 3.6 W at 1.5 m s-1 walking speed, which is promising for portable electronic devices.

Assessment of Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Safety Using the Self-Controlled Tree-Temporal Scan Statistic Signal-Detection Method in the Sentinel System.

PubMed

Yih, W Katherine; Maro, Judith C; Nguyen, Michael; Baker, Meghan A; Balsbaugh, Carolyn; Cole, David V; Dashevsky, Inna; Mba-Jonas, Adamma; Kulldorff, Martin

2018-06-01

The self-controlled tree-temporal scan statistic-a new signal-detection method-can evaluate whether any of a wide variety of health outcomes are temporally associated with receipt of a specific vaccine, while adjusting for multiple testing. Neither health outcomes nor postvaccination potential periods of increased risk need be prespecified. Using US medical claims data in the Food and Drug Administration's Sentinel system, we employed the method to evaluate adverse events occurring after receipt of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (4vHPV). Incident outcomes recorded in emergency department or inpatient settings within 56 days after first doses of 4vHPV received by 9- through 26.9-year-olds in 2006-2014 were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, diagnosis codes and analyzed by pairing the new method with a standard hierarchical classification of diagnoses. On scanning diagnoses of 1.9 million 4vHPV recipients, 2 statistically significant categories of adverse events were found: cellulitis on days 2-3 after vaccination and "other complications of surgical and medical procedures" on days 1-3 after vaccination. Cellulitis is a known adverse event. Clinically informed investigation of electronic claims records of the patients with "other complications" did not suggest any previously unknown vaccine safety problem. Considering that thousands of potential short-term adverse events and hundreds of potential risk intervals were evaluated, these findings add significantly to the growing safety record of 4vHPV.

A systems engineering perspective on the human-centered design of health information systems.

PubMed

Samaras, George M; Horst, Richard L

2005-02-01

The discipline of systems engineering, over the past five decades, has used a structured systematic approach to managing the "cradle to grave" development of products and processes. While elements of this approach are typically used to guide the development of information systems that instantiate a significant user interface, it appears to be rare for the entire process to be implemented. In fact, a number of authors have put forth development lifecycle models that are subsets of the classical systems engineering method, but fail to include steps such as incremental hazard analysis and post-deployment corrective and preventative actions. In that most health information systems have safety implications, we argue that the design and development of such systems would benefit by implementing this systems engineering approach in full. Particularly with regard to bringing a human-centered perspective to the formulation of system requirements and the configuration of effective user interfaces, this classical systems engineering method provides an excellent framework for incorporating human factors (ergonomics) knowledge and integrating ergonomists in the interdisciplinary development of health information systems.

Cockpit automation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiener, Earl L.

1988-01-01

The aims and methods of aircraft cockpit automation are reviewed from a human-factors perspective. Consideration is given to the mixed pilot reception of increased automation, government concern with the safety and reliability of highly automated aircraft, the formal definition of automation, and the ground-proximity warning system and accidents involving controlled flight into terrain. The factors motivating automation include technology availability; safety; economy, reliability, and maintenance; workload reduction and two-pilot certification; more accurate maneuvering and navigation; display flexibility; economy of cockpit space; and military requirements.

[Comment to DPR 177/011].

PubMed

De Santis, Anna Elisa

2012-01-01

The subject of this study is the analysis of DPR 177/2011 regarding occupational safety in confined environments suspected of pollution The study wishes to represent a platform for the knowledge of the relevant principles and issues that are the functional basis for occupational health professionals, to offer a scheme in which it is possible to implement local actions of occupational prevention in the confined spaces and to help Italian intervention plans Italian within the European area, such, e.g., the present "Healthy workplaces campaign working together for risk prevention" promoted by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. The interiorization of this behavioural scheme is needed for professionals and authorities in the occupational safety systems, both public and private, who have the institutional duty to obtain trheir effectiveness. To observe the safety system in the specific matter of confined spaces, their essential elements were considered. These elements were identified both in the DPR 177/2011 and in other pertinent documents. This study doesn't pretend to identify all relevant documents, but wishes to underline the open structure of the system for acquiring non strictly juridical documents, such as ICOH guidelines and International code of ethics for occupational health professionals and pertinent authorities. A specific matter of the study is the different role of rules and ethical principles in verifying the adequacy of the safety system. The role of guidelines and ethic principles in the internal evaluation of legal value was examined for their relevance in order to decide on adequacy of the employer's management in safety matter adequacy which can by evaluated looking at his effective knowledge of spaces and good selection of managers and professionals. Furthermore, the study establishes how central--in reaching the safety--is the method based on effectiveness in managing the prevention in occupational health. The managerial method, not based on formal interpretation but on the effective situation of the spaces and of the human resources, is a critical element in safety systems and represents an acceptable scheme for the conduct of the subjects in charge for the production cycle. They are those who effectively decide on the site, except for some situations, as it is for example the prevision of managerial liability for activity in outsourcing. It has been stressed in this study the dynamicity of safety system in confined spaces which can be derived by the employer's duty of vigilance for interference risks between his activity and the activity of other enterprises operating in outsourcing. This duty it is permanent in every space and moment of production cycle. This context of functional responsibility, and liability when it exists, based on reality as well as on the knowledge of the spaces and human resources, shows the central function of qualified MD and his functionality in both aspects. In the first, he is able to understand various risks existing for health. In the second, for the many strict contacts with workers, he can participate in developing their information and formation, which have educational importance for the safety system of the occupational health. To conclude about the occupational safety system, this study stresses that the activity of qualified MD is not a simple surveillance carried out by medical examinations as a routine, but it is a strategic issue for the realization of organizational wellness at work, which is functional to respect both the human rights and an efficient production cycle.

Exponential error reduction in pretransfusion testing with automation.

PubMed

South, Susan F; Casina, Tony S; Li, Lily

2012-08-01

Protecting the safety of blood transfusion is the top priority of transfusion service laboratories. Pretransfusion testing is a critical element of the entire transfusion process to enhance vein-to-vein safety. Human error associated with manual pretransfusion testing is a cause of transfusion-related mortality and morbidity and most human errors can be eliminated by automated systems. However, the uptake of automation in transfusion services has been slow and many transfusion service laboratories around the world still use manual blood group and antibody screen (G&S) methods. The goal of this study was to compare error potentials of commonly used manual (e.g., tiles and tubes) versus automated (e.g., ID-GelStation and AutoVue Innova) G&S methods. Routine G&S processes in seven transfusion service laboratories (four with manual and three with automated G&S methods) were analyzed using failure modes and effects analysis to evaluate the corresponding error potentials of each method. Manual methods contained a higher number of process steps ranging from 22 to 39, while automated G&S methods only contained six to eight steps. Corresponding to the number of the process steps that required human interactions, the risk priority number (RPN) of the manual methods ranged from 5304 to 10,976. In contrast, the RPN of the automated methods was between 129 and 436 and also demonstrated a 90% to 98% reduction of the defect opportunities in routine G&S testing. This study provided quantitative evidence on how automation could transform pretransfusion testing processes by dramatically reducing error potentials and thus would improve the safety of blood transfusion. © 2012 American Association of Blood Banks.

Index extraction for electromagnetic field evaluation of high power wireless charging system

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

This paper presents the precise dosimetry for highly resonant wireless power transfer (HR-WPT) system using an anatomically realistic human voxel model. The dosimetry for the HR-WPT system designed to operate at 13.56 MHz frequency, which one of the ISM band frequency band, is conducted in the various distances between the human model and the system, and in the condition of alignment and misalignment between transmitting and receiving circuits. The specific absorption rates in the human body are computed by the two-step approach; in the first step, the field generated by the HR-WPT system is calculated and in the second step the specific absorption rates are computed with the scattered field finite-difference time-domain method regarding the fields obtained in the first step as the incident fields. The safety compliance for non-uniform field exposure from the HR-WPT system is discussed with the international safety guidelines. Furthermore, the coupling factor concept is employed to relax the maximum allowable transmitting power. Coupling factors derived from the dosimetry results are presented. In this calculation, the external magnetic field from the HR-WPT system can be relaxed by approximately four times using coupling factor in the worst exposure scenario. PMID:28708840

Aerothermal Instrumentation Loads To Implement Aeroassist Technology in Future Robotic and Human Missions to MARS and Other Locations Within the Solar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parmar, Devendra S.; Shams, Qamar A.

2002-01-01

The strategy of NASA to explore space objects in the vicinity of Earth and other planets of the solar system includes robotic and human missions. This strategy requires a road map for technology development that will support the robotic exploration and provide safety for the humans traveling to other celestial bodies. Aeroassist is one of the key elements of technology planning for the success of future robot and human exploration missions to other celestial bodies. Measurement of aerothermodynamic parameters such as temperature, pressure, and acceleration is of prime importance for aeroassist technology implementation and for the safety and affordability of the mission. Instrumentation and methods to measure such parameters have been reviewed in this report in view of past practices, current commercial availability of instrumentation technology, and the prospects of improvement and upgrade according to the requirements. Analysis of the usability of each identified instruments in terms of cost for efficient weight-volume ratio, power requirement, accuracy, sample rates, and other appropriate metrics such as harsh environment survivability has been reported.

Inhaled chemotherapy in lung cancer: future concept of nanomedicine

PubMed Central

Zarogoulidis, Paul; Chatzaki, Ekaterini; Porpodis, Konstantinos; Domvri, Kalliopi; Hohenforst-Schmidt, Wolfgang; Goldberg, Eugene P; Karamanos, Nikos; Zarogoulidis, Konstantinos

2012-01-01

Regional chemotherapy was first used for lung cancer 30 years ago. Since then, new methods of drug delivery and pharmaceuticals have been investigated in vitro, and in animals and humans. An extensive review of drug delivery systems, pharmaceuticals, patient monitoring, methods of enhancing inhaled drug deposition, safety and efficacy, and also additional applications of inhaled chemotherapy and its advantages and disadvantages are presented. Regional chemotherapy to the lung parenchyma for lung cancer is feasible and efficient. Safety depends on the chemotherapy agent delivered to the lungs and is dose-dependent and time-dependent. Further evaluation is needed to provide data regarding early lung cancer stages, and whether regional chemotherapy can be used as neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment. Finally, inhaled chemotherapy could one day be administered at home with fewer systemic adverse effects. PMID:22619512

HFE safety reviews of advanced nuclear power plant control rooms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ohara, John

1994-01-01

Advanced control rooms (ACR's) will utilize human-system interface (HSI) technologies that may have significant implications for plant safety in that they will affect the operator's overall role and means of interacting with the system. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews the human factors engineering (HFE) aspects of HSI's to ensure that they are designed to good HFE principles and support performance and reliability in order to protect public health and safety. However, the only available NRC guidance was developed more than ten years ago, and does not adequately address the human performance issues and technology changes associated with ACR's. Accordingly, a new approach to ACR safety reviews was developed based upon the concept of 'convergent validity'. This approach to ACR safety reviews is described.

Discrimination Between Child and Adult Forms Using Radar Frequency Signature Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-14

Distances. This sensor poses no risk to human subjects or persons operating the equipment. The 88 th Medical Group Bio -Environmental Safety...method of remotely characterizing human activity. Unlike optical sensors , radar systems need not rely upon line-of-sight or good weather to perform well...and in monitoring vital signs through chemical or bio - logical protection suits. These military applications have seen research as early as the mid

Microbicide safety/efficacy studies in animals: macaques and small animal models.

PubMed

Veazey, Ronald S

2008-09-01

A number of microbicide candidates have failed to prevent HIV transmission in human clinical trials, and there is uncertainty as to how many additional trials can be supported by the field. Regardless, there are far too many microbicide candidates in development, and a logical and consistent method for screening and selecting candidates for human clinical trials is desperately needed. The unique host and cell specificity of HIV, however, provides challenges for microbicide safety and efficacy screening, that can only be addressed by rigorous testing in relevant laboratory animal models. A number of laboratory animal model systems ranging from rodents to nonhuman primates, and single versus multiple dose challenges have recently been developed to test microbicide candidates. These models have shed light on both the safety and efficacy of candidate microbicides as well as the early mechanisms involved in transmission. This article summarizes the major advantages and disadvantages of the relevant animal models for microbicide safety and efficacy testing. Currently, nonhuman primates are the only relevant and effective laboratory model for screening microbicide candidates. Given the consistent failures of prior strategies, it is now clear that rigorous safety and efficacy testing in nonhuman primates should be a prerequisite for advancing additional microbicide candidates to human clinical trials.

Microbicide Safety/Efficacy studies in animals -macaques and small animal models

PubMed Central

Veazey, Ronald S.

2009-01-01

Purpose of review A number of microbicide candidates have failed to prevent HIV transmission in human clinical trials, and there is uncertainty as to how many additional trials can be supported by the field. Regardless, there are far too many microbicide candidates in development, and a logical and consistent method for screening and selecting candidates for human clinical trials is desperately needed. However, the unique host and cell specificity of HIV provides challenges for microbicide safety and efficacy screening, that can only be addressed by rigorous testing in relevant laboratory animal models. Recent findings A number of laboratory animal model systems ranging from rodents to nonhuman primates, and single versus multiple dose challenges have recently been developed to test microbicide candidates. These models have shed light on both the safety and efficacy of candidate microbicides as well as the early mechanisms involved in transmission. This article summarizes the major advantages and disadvantages of the relevant animal models for microbicide safety and efficacy testing. Summary Currently, nonhuman primates are the only relevant and effective laboratory model for screening microbicide candidates. Given the consistent failures of prior strategies, it is now clear that rigorous safety and efficacy testing in nonhuman primates should be a pre-requisite for advancing additional microbicide candidates to human clinical trials. PMID:19373023

Psychological safety: The key to high performance in high stress, potentially traumatic environments

Treesearch

James Saveland

2011-01-01

Safety is typically talked about in a context of the absence of injury. The field of resilience engineering has been advocating that we think about safety differently, by taking a systems view and begin to see how people create safety in unsafe systems by managing risk. There is growing recognition that safety is an emergent behavior of our complex system of human...

An intelligent crowdsourcing system for forensic analysis of surveillance video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tahboub, Khalid; Gadgil, Neeraj; Ribera, Javier; Delgado, Blanca; Delp, Edward J.

2015-03-01

Video surveillance systems are of a great value for public safety. With an exponential increase in the number of cameras, videos obtained from surveillance systems are often archived for forensic purposes. Many automatic methods have been proposed to do video analytics such as anomaly detection and human activity recognition. However, such methods face significant challenges due to object occlusions, shadows and scene illumination changes. In recent years, crowdsourcing has become an effective tool that utilizes human intelligence to perform tasks that are challenging for machines. In this paper, we present an intelligent crowdsourcing system for forensic analysis of surveillance video that includes the video recorded as a part of search and rescue missions and large-scale investigation tasks. We describe a method to enhance crowdsourcing by incorporating human detection, re-identification and tracking. At the core of our system, we use a hierarchal pyramid model to distinguish the crowd members based on their ability, experience and performance record. Our proposed system operates in an autonomous fashion and produces a final output of the crowdsourcing analysis consisting of a set of video segments detailing the events of interest as one storyline.

Verification and Validation Challenges for Adaptive Flight Control of Complex Autonomous Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Nhan T.

2018-01-01

Autonomy of aerospace systems requires the ability for flight control systems to be able to adapt to complex uncertain dynamic environment. In spite of the five decades of research in adaptive control, the fact still remains that currently no adaptive control system has ever been deployed on any safety-critical or human-rated production systems such as passenger transport aircraft. The problem lies in the difficulty with the certification of adaptive control systems since existing certification methods cannot readily be used for nonlinear adaptive control systems. Research to address the notion of metrics for adaptive control began to appear in the recent years. These metrics, if accepted, could pave a path towards certification that would potentially lead to the adoption of adaptive control as a future control technology for safety-critical and human-rated production systems. Development of certifiable adaptive control systems represents a major challenge to overcome. Adaptive control systems with learning algorithms will never become part of the future unless it can be proven that they are highly safe and reliable. Rigorous methods for adaptive control software verification and validation must therefore be developed to ensure that adaptive control system software failures will not occur, to verify that the adaptive control system functions as required, to eliminate unintended functionality, and to demonstrate that certification requirements imposed by regulatory bodies such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can be satisfied. This presentation will discuss some of the technical issues with adaptive flight control and related V&V challenges.

Human Factors in Patient Safety as an Innovation

PubMed Central

Carayon, Pascale

2010-01-01

The use of Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) tools, methods, concepts and theories has been advocated by many experts and organizations to improve patient safety. To facilitate and support the spread of HFE knowledge and skills in health care and patient safety, we propose to conceptualize HFE as innovations whose diffusion, dissemination, implementation and sustainability need to be understood and specified. Using Greenhalgh et al. (2004) model of innovation, we identified various factors that can either hinder or facilitate the spread of HFE innovations in healthcare organizations. Barriers include lack of systems thinking, complexity of HFE innovations and lack of understanding about the benefits of HFE innovations. Positive impact of HFE interventions on task performance and the presence of local champions can facilitate the adoption, implementation and sustainability of HFE innovations. This analysis concludes with a series of recommendations for HFE professionals, researchers and educators. PMID:20106468

Human Milk Management Redesign: Improving Quality and Safety and Reducing Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurse Stress.

PubMed

Settle, Margaret Doyle; Coakley, Amanda Bulette; Annese, Christine Donahue

2017-02-01

Human milk provides superior nutritional value for infants in the neonatal intensive care unit and is the enteral feeding of choice. Our hospital used the system engineering initiative for patient safety model to evaluate the human milk management system in our neonatal intensive care unit. Nurses described the previous process in a negative way, fraught with opportunities for error, increased stress for nurses, and the need to be away from the bedside and their patients. The redesigned process improved the quality and safety of human milk management and created time for the nurses to spend with their patients.

Assessment of the State-of-the-Art of System-Wide Safety and Assurance Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roychoudhury, Indranil; Reveley, Mary S.; Phojanamongkolkij, Nipa; Leone, Karen M.

2017-01-01

Since its initiation, the System-wide Safety Assurance Technologies (SSAT) Project has been focused on developing multidisciplinary tools and techniques that are verified and validated to ensure prevention of loss of property and life in NextGen and enable proactive risk management through predictive methods. To this end, four technical challenges have been listed to help realize the goals of SSAT, namely (i) assurance of flight critical systems, (ii) discovery of precursors to safety incidents, (iii) assuring safe human-systems integration, and (iv) prognostic algorithm design for safety assurance. The objective of this report is to provide an extensive survey of SSAT-related research accomplishments by researchers within and outside NASA to get an understanding of what the state-of-the-art is for technologies enabling each of the four technical challenges. We hope that this report will serve as a good resource for anyone interested in gaining an understanding of the SSAT technical challenges, and also be useful in the future for project planning and resource allocation for related research.

Neurobehavioural methods, effects and prevention: workers' human rights are why the field matters for developing countries.

PubMed

London, L

2009-11-01

Little research into neurobehavioural methods and effects occurs in developing countries, where established neurotoxic chemicals continue to pose significant occupational and environmental burdens, and where agents newly identified as neurotoxic are also widespread. Much of the morbidity and mortality associated with neurotoxic agents remains hidden in developing countries as a result of poor case detection, lack of skilled personnel, facilities and equipment for diagnosis, inadequate information systems, limited resources for research and significant competing causes of ill-health, such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. Placing the problem in a human rights context enables researchers and scientists in developing countries to make a strong case for why the field of neurobehavioural methods and effects matters because there are numerous international human rights commitments that make occupational and environmental health and safety a human rights obligation.

Safety and the Human Factor.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Ann

1982-01-01

Discusses four elements of safety programs: (1) safety training; (2) safety inspections; (3) accident investigations; and (4) protective safety equipment. Also discusses safety considerations in water/wastewater treatment facilities focusing on falls, drowning hazards, trickling filters, confined space entry, collection/distribution system safety,…

A first step toward understanding patient safety

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Patient safety has become an important policy agenda in healthcare systems since publication of the 1999 report entitled "To Err Is Human." The paradigm has changed from blaming the individual for the error to identifying the weakness in the system that led to the adverse events. Anesthesia is one of the first healthcare specialties to adopt techniques and lessons from the aviation industry. The widespread use of simulation programs and the application of human factors engineering to clinical practice are the influences of the aviation industry. Despite holding relatively advanced medical technology and comparable safety records, the Korean health industry has little understanding of the systems approach to patient safety. Because implementation of the existing system and program requires time, dedication, and financial support, the Korean healthcare industry is in urgent need of developing patient safety policies and putting them into practice to improve patient safety before it is too late. PMID:27703622

The Effect of Simulated Flash-Heat Pasteurization on Immune Components of Human Milk.

PubMed

Daniels, Brodie; Schmidt, Stefan; King, Tracy; Israel-Ballard, Kiersten; Amundson Mansen, Kimberly; Coutsoudis, Anna

2017-02-22

A pasteurization temperature monitoring system has been designed using FoneAstra, a cellphone-based networked sensing system, to monitor simulated flash-heat (FH) pasteurization. This study compared the effect of the FoneAstra FH (F-FH) method with the Sterifeed Holder method currently used by human milk banks on human milk immune components (immunoglobulin A (IgA), lactoferrin activity, lysozyme activity, interleukin (IL)-8 and IL-10). Donor milk samples ( N = 50) were obtained from a human milk bank, and pasteurized. Concentrations of IgA, IL-8, IL-10, lysozyme activity and lactoferrin activity were compared to their controls using the Student's t -test. Both methods demonstrated no destruction of interleukins. While the Holder method retained all lysozyme activity, the F-FH method only retained 78.4% activity ( p < 0.0001), and both methods showed a decrease in lactoferrin activity (71.1% Holder vs. 38.6% F-FH; p < 0.0001) and a decrease in the retention of total IgA (78.9% Holder vs. 25.2% F-FH; p < 0.0001). Despite increased destruction of immune components compared to Holder pasteurization, the benefits of F-FH in terms of its low cost, feasibility, safety and retention of immune components make it a valuable resource in low-income countries for pasteurizing human milk, potentially saving infants' lives.

Evaluating Models of Human Performance: Safety-Critical Systems Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feary, Michael S.

2012-01-01

This presentation is part of panel discussion on Evaluating Models of Human Performance. The purpose of this panel is to discuss the increasing use of models in the world today and specifically focus on how to describe and evaluate models of human performance. My presentation will focus on discussions of generating distributions of performance, and the evaluation of different strategies for humans performing tasks with mixed initiative (Human-Automation) systems. I will also discuss issues with how to provide Human Performance modeling data to support decisions on acceptability and tradeoffs in the design of safety critical systems. I will conclude with challenges for the future.

Evolution of International Space Station Program Safety Review Processes and Tools

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ratterman, Christian D.; Green, Collin; Guibert, Matt R.; McCracken, Kristle I.; Sang, Anthony C.; Sharpe, Matthew D.; Tollinger, Irene V.

2013-01-01

The International Space Station Program at NASA is constantly seeking to improve the processes and systems that support safe space operations. To that end, the ISS Program decided to upgrade their Safety and Hazard data systems with 3 goals: make safety and hazard data more accessible; better support the interconnection of different types of safety data; and increase the efficiency (and compliance) of safety-related processes. These goals are accomplished by moving data into a web-based structured data system that includes strong process support and supports integration with other information systems. Along with the data systems, ISS is evolving its submission requirements and safety process requirements to support the improved model. In contrast to existing operations (where paper processes and electronic file repositories are used for safety data management) the web-based solution provides the program with dramatically faster access to records, the ability to search for and reference specific data within records, reduced workload for hazard updates and approval, and process support including digital signatures and controlled record workflow. In addition, integration with other key data systems provides assistance with assessments of flight readiness, more efficient review and approval of operational controls and better tracking of international safety certifications. This approach will also provide new opportunities to streamline the sharing of data with ISS international partners while maintaining compliance with applicable laws and respecting restrictions on proprietary data. One goal of this paper is to outline the approach taken by the ISS Progrm to determine requirements for the new system and to devise a practical and efficient implementation strategy. From conception through implementation, ISS and NASA partners utilized a user-centered software development approach focused on user research and iterative design methods. The user-centered approach used on the new ISS hazard system utilized focused user research and iterative design methods employed by the Human Computer Interaction Group at NASA Ames Research Center. Particularly, the approach emphasized the reduction of workload associated with document and data management activities so more resources can be allocated to the operational use of data in problem solving, safety analysis, and recurrence control. The methods and techniques used to understand existing processes and systems, to recognize opportunities for improvement, and to design and review improvements are described with the intent that similar techniques can be employed elsewhere in safety operations. A second goal of this paper is to provide and overview of the web-based data system implemented by ISS. The software selected for the ISS hazard systemMission Assurance System (MAS)is a NASA-customized vairant of the open source software project Bugzilla. The origin and history of MAS as a NASA software project and the rationale for (and advantages of) using open-source software are documented elsewhere (Green, et al., 2009).

Improving Safety through Human Factors Engineering.

PubMed

Siewert, Bettina; Hochman, Mary G

2015-10-01

Human factors engineering (HFE) focuses on the design and analysis of interactive systems that involve people, technical equipment, and work environment. HFE is informed by knowledge of human characteristics. It complements existing patient safety efforts by specifically taking into consideration that, as humans, frontline staff will inevitably make mistakes. Therefore, the systems with which they interact should be designed for the anticipation and mitigation of human errors. The goal of HFE is to optimize the interaction of humans with their work environment and technical equipment to maximize safety and efficiency. Special safeguards include usability testing, standardization of processes, and use of checklists and forcing functions. However, the effectiveness of the safety program and resiliency of the organization depend on timely reporting of all safety events independent of patient harm, including perceived potential risks, bad outcomes that occur even when proper protocols have been followed, and episodes of "improvisation" when formal guidelines are found not to exist. Therefore, an institution must adopt a robust culture of safety, where the focus is shifted from blaming individuals for errors to preventing future errors, and where barriers to speaking up-including barriers introduced by steep authority gradients-are minimized. This requires creation of formal guidelines to address safety concerns, establishment of unified teams with open communication and shared responsibility for patient safety, and education of managers and senior physicians to perceive the reporting of safety concerns as a benefit rather than a threat. © RSNA, 2015.

Understanding the value of mixed methods research: the Children’s Safety Initiative-Emergency Medical Services

PubMed Central

Hansen, Matthew; O’Brien, Kerth; Meckler, Garth; Chang, Anna Marie; Guise, Jeanne-Marie

2016-01-01

Mixed methods research has significant potential to broaden the scope of emergency care and specifically emergency medical services investigation. Mixed methods studies involve the coordinated use of qualitative and quantitative research approaches to gain a fuller understanding of practice. By combining what is learnt from multiple methods, these approaches can help to characterise complex healthcare systems, identify the mechanisms of complex problems such as medical errors and understand aspects of human interaction such as communication, behaviour and team performance. Mixed methods approaches may be particularly useful for out-of-hospital care researchers because care is provided in complex systems where equipment, interpersonal interactions, societal norms, environment and other factors influence patient outcomes. The overall objectives of this paper are to (1) introduce the fundamental concepts and approaches of mixed methods research and (2) describe the interrelation and complementary features of the quantitative and qualitative components of mixed methods studies using specific examples from the Children’s Safety Initiative-Emergency Medical Services (CSI-EMS), a large National Institutes of Health-funded research project conducted in the USA. PMID:26949970

Meeting Report: 2015 PDA Virus & TSE Safety Forum.

PubMed

Willkommen, Hannelore; Blümel, Johannes; Brorson, Kurt; Chen, Dayue; Chen, Qi; Gröner, Albrecht; Kreil, Thomas R; Ruffing, Michel; Ruiz, Sol; Scott, Dorothy; Silvester, Glenda

2016-01-01

The report provides a summary of the presentations at the Virus & TSE Safety Forum 2015 organized by the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) and held in Cascais, Portugal, from 9 to 11 June, 2015. As with previous conferences of this series, the PDA Virus & TSE Safety Forum 2015 provided an excellent forum for the exchange of information and opinions between the industry, research organizations, and regulatory bodies. Regulatory updates on virus and TSE safety aspects illustrating current topics of discussion at regulatory agencies in Europe and the United States were provided; the conference covered emerging viruses and new virus detection systems that may be used for the investigation of human pathogenic viruses as well as the virus safety of cell substrates and of raw material of ovine/caprine or human origin. Progress of development and use of next-generation sequencing methods was shown by several examples. Virus clearance data illustrating the effectiveness of inactivation or removal methods were presented and data provided giving insight into the mechanism of action of these technologies. In the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) part of the conference, the epidemiology of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was reviewed and an overview about diagnostic tests provided; current thinking about the spread and propagation of prions was presented and the inactivation of prions by disinfection (equipment) and in production of bovine-derived reagents (heparin) shown. The current report provides an overview about the outcomes of the 2015 PDA Virus & TSE Safety Forum, a unique event in this field. © PDA, Inc. 2016.

Cognitive Systems Engineering: The Next 30 Years

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feary, Michael

2012-01-01

This presentation is part of panel discussion on Cognitive Systems Engineering. The purpose of this panel is to discuss the challenges and future directions of Cognitive Systems Engineering for the next 30 years. I intended to present the work we have been doing with the Aviation Safety program and Space Human Factors Engineering project on Work Domain Analysis and some areas of Research Focus. Specifically, I intend to focus on the shift on the need to understand and model attention in mixed-initiative systems, the need for methods which can generate results to be used in trade-off decisions, and the need to account for a range of human behavior in the design.

System safety education focused on system management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grose, V. L.

1971-01-01

System safety is defined and characteristics of the system are outlined. Some of the principle characteristics include role of humans in hazard analysis, clear language for input and output, system interdependence, self containment, and parallel analysis of elements.

Safety leadership and systems thinking: application and evaluation of a Risk Management Framework in the mining industry.

PubMed

Donovan, Sarah-Louise; Salmon, Paul M; Lenné, Michael G; Horberry, Tim

2017-10-01

Safety leadership is an important factor in supporting safety in high-risk industries. This article contends that applying systems-thinking methods to examine safety leadership can support improved learning from incidents. A case study analysis was undertaken of a large-scale mining landslide incident in which no injuries or fatalities were incurred. A multi-method approach was adopted, in which the Critical Decision Method, Rasmussen's Risk Management Framework and Accimap method were applied to examine the safety leadership decisions and actions which enabled the safe outcome. The approach enabled Rasmussen's predictions regarding safety and performance to be examined in the safety leadership context, with findings demonstrating the distribution of safety leadership across leader and system levels, and the presence of vertical integration as key to supporting the successful safety outcome. In doing so, the findings also demonstrate the usefulness of applying systems-thinking methods to examine and learn from incidents in terms of what 'went right'. The implications, including future research directions, are discussed. Practitioner Summary: This paper presents a case study analysis, in which systems-thinking methods are applied to the examination of safety leadership decisions and actions during a large-scale mining landslide incident. The findings establish safety leadership as a systems phenomenon, and furthermore, demonstrate the usefulness of applying systems-thinking methods to learn from incidents in terms of what 'went right'. Implications, including future research directions, are discussed.

Integrating Symbolic and Statistical Methods for Testing Intelligent Systems Applications to Machine Learning and Computer Vision

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jha, Sumit Kumar; Pullum, Laura L; Ramanathan, Arvind

Embedded intelligent systems ranging from tiny im- plantable biomedical devices to large swarms of autonomous un- manned aerial systems are becoming pervasive in our daily lives. While we depend on the flawless functioning of such intelligent systems, and often take their behavioral correctness and safety for granted, it is notoriously difficult to generate test cases that expose subtle errors in the implementations of machine learning algorithms. Hence, the validation of intelligent systems is usually achieved by studying their behavior on representative data sets, using methods such as cross-validation and bootstrapping.In this paper, we present a new testing methodology for studyingmore » the correctness of intelligent systems. Our approach uses symbolic decision procedures coupled with statistical hypothesis testing to. We also use our algorithm to analyze the robustness of a human detection algorithm built using the OpenCV open-source computer vision library. We show that the human detection implementation can fail to detect humans in perturbed video frames even when the perturbations are so small that the corresponding frames look identical to the naked eye.« less

A Model-based Framework for Risk Assessment in Human-Computer Controlled Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hatanaka, Iwao

2000-01-01

The rapid growth of computer technology and innovation has played a significant role in the rise of computer automation of human tasks in modem production systems across all industries. Although the rationale for automation has been to eliminate "human error" or to relieve humans from manual repetitive tasks, various computer-related hazards and accidents have emerged as a direct result of increased system complexity attributed to computer automation. The risk assessment techniques utilized for electromechanical systems are not suitable for today's software-intensive systems or complex human-computer controlled systems. This thesis will propose a new systemic model-based framework for analyzing risk in safety-critical systems where both computers and humans are controlling safety-critical functions. A new systems accident model will be developed based upon modem systems theory and human cognitive processes to better characterize system accidents, the role of human operators, and the influence of software in its direct control of significant system functions. Better risk assessments will then be achievable through the application of this new framework to complex human-computer controlled systems.

Integrating Safety in the Aviation System: Interdepartmental Training for Pilots and Maintenance Technicians

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mattson, Marifran; Petrin, Donald A.; Young, John P.

2001-01-01

The study of human factors has had a decisive impact on the aviation industry. However, the entire aviation system often is not considered in researching, training, and evaluating human factors issues especially with regard to safety. In both conceptual and practical terms, we argue for the proactive management of human error from both an individual and organizational systems perspective. The results of a multidisciplinary research project incorporating survey data from professional pilots and maintenance technicians and an exploratory study integrating students from relevant disciplines are reported. Survey findings suggest that latent safety errors may occur during the maintenance discrepancy reporting process because pilots and maintenance technicians do not effectively interact with one another. The importance of interdepartmental or cross-disciplinary training for decreasing these errors and increasing safety is discussed as a primary implication.

Mild Normobaric Hypoxia Exposure for Human-Autonomy System Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stephens, Chad L.; Kennedy, Kellie D.; Crook, Brenda L.; Williams, Ralph A.; Schutte, Paul

2017-01-01

An experiment investigated the impact of normobaric hypoxia induction on aircraft pilot performance to specifically evaluate the use of hypoxia as a method to induce mild cognitive impairment to explore human-autonomous systems integration opportunities. Results of this exploratory study show that the effect of 15,000 feet simulated altitude did not induce cognitive deficits as indicated by performance on written, computer-based, or simulated flight tasks. However, the subjective data demonstrated increased effort by the human test subject pilots to maintain equivalent performance in a flight simulation task. This study represents current research intended to add to the current knowledge of performance decrement and pilot workload assessment to improve automation support and increase aviation safety.

Robots testing robots: ALAN-Arm, a humanoid arm for the testing of robotic rehabilitation systems.

PubMed

Brookes, Jack; Kuznecovs, Maksims; Kanakis, Menelaos; Grigals, Arturs; Narvidas, Mazvydas; Gallagher, Justin; Levesley, Martin

2017-07-01

Robotics is increasing in popularity as a method of providing rich, personalized and cost-effective physiotherapy to individuals with some degree of upper limb paralysis, such as those who have suffered a stroke. These robotic rehabilitation systems are often high powered, and exoskeletal systems can attach to the person in a restrictive manner. Therefore, ensuring the mechanical safety of these devices before they come in contact with individuals is a priority. Additionally, rehabilitation systems may use novel sensor systems to measure current arm position. Used to capture and assess patient movements, these first need to be verified for accuracy by an external system. We present the ALAN-Arm, a humanoid robotic arm designed to be used for both accuracy benchmarking and safety testing of robotic rehabilitation systems. The system can be attached to a rehabilitation device and then replay generated or human movement trajectories, as well as autonomously play rehabilitation games or activities. Tests of the ALAN-Arm indicated it could recreate the path of a generated slow movement path with a maximum error of 14.2mm (mean = 5.8mm) and perform cyclic movements up to 0.6Hz with low gain (<1.5dB). Replaying human data trajectories showed the ability to largely preserve human movement characteristics with slightly higher path length and lower normalised jerk.

76 FR 20672 - Recommendations on In Vitro Ocular Safety Testing Methods and Strategies and Routine Use of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-13

... certain regulatory testing purposes without the need for animal testing. The Organisation for Economic Co... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Recommendations on In Vitro Ocular Safety Testing Methods... Ocular Safety Testing AGENCY: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National...

Practical Applications of Cosmic Ray Science: Spacecraft, Aircraft, Ground-Based Computation and Control Systems, and Human Health and Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atwell, William; Koontz, Steve; Normand, Eugene

2012-01-01

Three twentieth century technological developments, 1) high altitude commercial and military aircraft; 2) manned and unmanned spacecraft; and 3) increasingly complex and sensitive solid state micro-electronics systems, have driven an ongoing evolution of basic cosmic ray science into a set of practical engineering tools needed to design, test, and verify the safety and reliability of modern complex technological systems. The effects of primary cosmic ray particles and secondary particle showers produced by nuclear reactions with the atmosphere, can determine the design and verification processes (as well as the total dollar cost) for manned and unmanned spacecraft avionics systems. Similar considerations apply to commercial and military aircraft operating at high latitudes and altitudes near the atmospheric Pfotzer maximum. Even ground based computational and controls systems can be negatively affected by secondary particle showers at the Earth s surface, especially if the net target area of the sensitive electronic system components is large. Finally, accumulation of both primary cosmic ray and secondary cosmic ray induced particle shower radiation dose is an important health and safety consideration for commercial or military air crews operating at high altitude/latitude and is also one of the most important factors presently limiting manned space flight operations beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO). In this paper we review the discovery of cosmic ray effects on the performance and reliability of microelectronic systems as well as human health and the development of the engineering and health science tools used to evaluate and mitigate cosmic ray effects in ground-based atmospheric flight, and space flight environments. Ground test methods applied to microelectronic components and systems are used in combinations with radiation transport and reaction codes to predict the performance of microelectronic systems in their operating environments. Similar radiation transport codes are used to evaluate possible human health effects of cosmic ray exposure, however, the health effects are based on worst-case analysis and extrapolation of a very limited human exposure data base combined with some limited experimental animal data. Finally, the limitations on human space operations beyond low-Earth orbit imposed by long term exposure to galactic cosmic rays are discussed.

Aviation safety/automation program overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morello, Samuel A.

1990-01-01

The goal is to provide a technology base leading to improved safety of the national airspace system through the development and integration of human-centered automation technologies for aircraft crews and air traffic controllers. Information on the problems, specific objectives, human-automation interaction, intelligent error-tolerant systems, and air traffic control/cockpit integration is given in viewgraph form.

Synthesis from Design Requirements of a Hybrid System for Transport Aircraft Longitudinal Control. Volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hynes, Charles S.; Hardy, Gordon H.; Sherry, Lance

2007-01-01

Volume I of this report presents a new method for synthesizing hybrid systems directly from design requirements, and applies the method to design of a hybrid system for longitudinal control of transport aircraft. The resulting system satisfies general requirement for safety and effectiveness specified a priori, enabling formal validation to be achieved. Volume II contains seven appendices intended to make the report accessible to readers with backgrounds in human factors, fli ght dynamics and control. and formal logic. Major design goals are (1) system desi g n integrity based on proof of correctness at the design level, (2), significant simplification and cost reduction in system development and certification, and (3) improved operational efficiency, with significant alleviation of human-factors problems encountered by pilots in current transport aircraft. This report provides for the first time a firm technical basis for criteria governing design and certification of avionic systems for transport aircraft. It should be of primary interest to designers of next-generation avionic systems.

Synthesis from Design Requirements of a Hybrid System for Transport Aircraft Longitudinal Control. Volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hynes, Charles S.; Hardy, Gordon H.; Sherry, Lance

2007-01-01

Volume I of this report presents a new method for synthesizing hybrid systems directly from desi gn requirements, and applies the method to design of a hybrid system for longitudinal control of transport aircraft. The resulting system satisfies general requirement for safety and effectiveness specified a priori, enabling formal validation to be achieved. Volume II contains seven appendices intended to make the report accessible to readers with backgrounds in human factors, flight dynamics and control, and formal logic. Major design goals are (1) system design integrity based on proof of correctness at the design level, (2) significant simplification and cost reduction in system development and certification, and (3) improved operational efficiency, with significant alleviation of human-factors problems encountered by pilots in current transport aircraft. This report provides for the first time a firm technical basis for criteria governing design and certification of avionic systems for transport aircraft. It should be of primary interest to designers of next-generation avionic systems.

A Real-time Evaluation of Human-based Approaches to Safety Testing: What We Can Do Now (TDS)

EPA Science Inventory

Despite ever-increasing efforts in early safety assessment in all industries, there are still many chemicals that prove toxic in humans. While greater use of human in vitro test methods may serve to reduce this problem, the formal validation process applied to such tests represen...

The Future of Pork Production in the World: Towards Sustainable, Welfare-Positive Systems.

PubMed

McGlone, John J

2013-05-15

Among land animals, more pork is eaten in the world than any other meat. The earth holds about one billion pigs who deliver over 100 mmt of pork to people for consumption. Systems of pork production changed from a forest-based to pasture-based to dirt lots and finally into specially-designed buildings. The world pork industry is variable and complex not just in production methods but in economics and cultural value. A systematic analysis of pork industry sustainability was performed. Sustainable production methods are considered at three levels using three examples in this paper: production system, penning system and for a production practice. A sustainability matrix was provided for each example. In a comparison of indoor vs. outdoor systems, the food safety/zoonoses concerns make current outdoor systems unsustainable. The choice of keeping pregnant sows in group pens or individual crates is complex in that the outcome of a sustainability assessment leads to the conclusion that group penning is more sustainable in the EU and certain USA states, but the individual crate is currently more sustainable in other USA states, Asia and Latin America. A comparison of conventional physical castration with immunological castration shows that the less-common immunological castration method is more sustainable (for a number of reasons). This paper provides a method to assess the sustainability of production systems and practices that take into account the best available science, human perception and culture, animal welfare, the environment, food safety, worker health and safety, and economics (including the cost of production and solving world hunger). This tool can be used in countries and regions where the table values of a sustainability matrix change based on local conditions. The sustainability matrix can be used to assess current systems and predict improved systems of the future.

A systematic review of human factors and ergonomics (HFE)-based healthcare system redesign for quality of care and patient safety.

PubMed

Xie, Anping; Carayon, Pascale

2015-01-01

Healthcare systems need to be redesigned to provide care that is safe, effective and efficient, and meets the multiple needs of patients. This systematic review examines how human factors and ergonomics (HFE) is applied to redesign healthcare work systems and processes and improve quality and safety of care. We identified 12 projects representing 23 studies and addressing different physical, cognitive and organisational HFE issues in a variety of healthcare systems and care settings. Some evidence exists for the effectiveness of HFE-based healthcare system redesign in improving process and outcome measures of quality and safety of care. We assessed risk of bias in 16 studies reporting the impact of HFE-based healthcare system redesign and found varying quality across studies. Future research should further assess the impact of HFE on quality and safety of care, and clearly define the mechanisms by which HFE-based system redesign can improve quality and safety of care.

Function allocation for humans and automation in the context of team dynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jeffrey C. Joe; John O'Hara; Jacques Hugo

Within Human Factors Engineering, a decision-making process called function allocation (FA) is used during the design life cycle of complex systems to distribute the system functions, often identified through a functional requirements analysis, to all human and automated machine agents (or teammates) involved in controlling the system. Most FA methods make allocation decisions primarily by comparing the capabilities of humans and automation, but then also by considering secondary factors such as cost, regulations, and the health and safety of workers. The primary analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of humans and machines, however, is almost always considered in terms ofmore » individual human or machine capabilities. Yet, FA is fundamentally about teamwork in that the goal of the FA decision-making process is to determine what are the optimal allocations of functions among agents. Given this framing of FA, and the increasing use of and sophistication of automation, there are two related social psychological issues that current FA methods need to address more thoroughly. First, many principles for effective human teamwork are not considered as central decision points or in the iterative hypothesis and testing phase in most FA methods, when it is clear that social factors have numerous positive and negative effects on individual and team capabilities. Second, social psychological factors affecting team performance and can be difficult to translate to automated agents, and most FA methods currently do not account for this effect. The implications for these issues are discussed.« less

A human factors engineering paradigm for patient safety: designing to support the performance of the healthcare professional

PubMed Central

Karsh, B‐T; Holden, R J; Alper, S J; Or, C K L

2006-01-01

The goal of improving patient safety has led to a number of paradigms for directing improvement efforts. The main paradigms to date have focused on reducing injuries, reducing errors, or improving evidence based practice. In this paper a human factors engineering paradigm is proposed that focuses on designing systems to improve the performance of healthcare professionals and to reduce hazards. Both goals are necessary, but neither is sufficient to improve safety. We suggest that the road to patient and employee safety runs through the healthcare professional who delivers care. To that end, several arguments are provided to show that designing healthcare delivery systems to support healthcare professional performance and hazard reduction should yield significant patient safety benefits. The concepts of human performance and hazard reduction are explained. PMID:17142611

Quantifying the Metrics That Characterize Safety Culture of Three Engineered Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tucker, Julie; Ernesti, Mary; Tokuhiro, Akira

2002-07-01

With potential energy shortages and increasing electricity demand, the nuclear energy option is being reconsidered in the United States. Public opinion will have a considerable voice in policy decisions that will 'road-map' the future of nuclear energy in this country. This report is an extension of the last author's work on the 'safety culture' associated with three engineered systems (automobiles, commercial airplanes, and nuclear power plants) in Japan and the United States. Safety culture, in brief is defined as a specifically developed culture based on societal and individual interpretations of the balance of real, perceived, and imagined risks versus themore » benefits drawn from utilizing a given engineered systems. The method of analysis is a modified scale analysis, with two fundamental Eigen-metrics, time- (t) and number-scales (N) that describe both engineered systems and human factors. The scale analysis approach is appropriate because human perception of risk, perception of benefit and level of (technological) acceptance are inherently subjective, therefore 'fuzzy' and rarely quantifiable in exact magnitude. Perception of risk, expressed in terms of the psychometric factors 'dread risk' and 'unknown risk', contains both time- and number-scale elements. Various engineering system accidents with fatalities, reported by mass media are characterized by t and N, and are presented in this work using the scale analysis method. We contend that level of acceptance infers a perception of benefit at least two orders larger magnitude than perception of risk. The 'amplification' influence of mass media is also deduced as being 100- to 1000-fold the actual number of fatalities/serious injuries in a nuclear-related accident. (authors)« less

77 FR 35395 - Draft Five-Year Plan (2013-2017) for the National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-13

... innovations are driving transformative changes in toxicology and how safety testing is performed. The field of toxicology is evolving from a system based largely on animal testing toward one based on the integration of... methods that protect human and animal health and the environment while reducing, refining (enhancing...

A systematic review of Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE)-based healthcare system redesign for quality of care and patient safety

PubMed Central

Xie, Anping; Carayon, Pascale

2014-01-01

Healthcare systems need to be redesigned to provide care that is safe, effective and efficient, and meets the multiple needs of patients. This systematic review examines how Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) is applied to redesign healthcare work systems and processes and improve quality and safety of care. We identified twelve projects representing 23 studies and addressing different physical, cognitive and organizational HFE issues in a variety of healthcare systems and care settings. Some evidence exists for the effectiveness of HFE-based healthcare system redesign in improving process and outcome measures of quality and safety of care. We assessed risk of bias in 16 studies reporting the impact of HFE-based healthcare system redesign and found varying quality across studies. Future research should further assess the impact of HFE on quality and safety of care, and clearly define the mechanisms by which HFE-based system redesign can improve quality and safety of care. Practitioner Summary Existing evidence shows that HFE-based healthcare system redesign has the potential to improve quality of care and patient safety. Healthcare organizations need to recognize the importance of HFE-based healthcare system redesign to quality of care and patient safety, and invest resources to integrate HFE in healthcare improvement activities. PMID:25323570

Application of modified extended method in CREAM for safety inspector in coal mines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jinhe; Zhang, Xiaohong; Zeng, Jianchao

2018-01-01

Safety inspector often performs duties in circumstances contributes to the oc currence of human failures. Therefore, the paper aims at quantifying human failure pro bability (HFP) of safety inspector during the coal mine operation with cognitive reliabi lity and error analysis method (CREAM). Whereas, some shortcomings of this approa ch that lacking considering the applicability of the common performance condition (C PC), and the subjective of evaluating CPC level which weaken the accuracy of the qua ntitative prediction results. A modified extended method in CREAM which is able to a ddress these difficulties with a CPC framework table is proposed, and the proposed me thodology is demonstrated by the virtue of a coal-mine accident example. The results a re expected to be useful in predicting HFP of safety inspector and contribute to the enh ancement of coal mine safety.

Canadian Pacific Railway Investigation of Safety-Related Occurrences Protocol considered helpful by both labor and management.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-09-01

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Human Factors Research and Development (R&D) Program sponsored an Alternative Safety Measures Program designed to explore alternative methods for evaluating whether safety programs improve safety outcomes and...

Canadian Pacific Railway mechanical services' 5-Alive safety program shows promise in reducing injuries.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-09-01

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Human Factors Research and Development (R&D) Program is sponsoring an Alternative Safety Measures Program to explore alternative methods for evaluating whether safety programs improve safety outcomes and the ...

Patient safety: lessons learned.

PubMed

Bagian, James P

2006-04-01

The traditional approach to patient safety in health care has ranged from reticence to outward denial of serious flaws. This undermines the otherwise remarkable advances in technology and information that have characterized the specialty of medical practice. In addition, lessons learned in industries outside health care, such as in aviation, provide opportunities for improvements that successfully reduce mishaps and errors while maintaining a standard of excellence. This is precisely the call in medicine prompted by the 1999 Institute of Medicine report "To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System." However, to effect these changes, key components of a successful safety system must include: (1) communication, (2) a shift from a posture of reliance on human infallibility (hence "shame and blame") to checklists that recognize the contribution of the system and account for human limitations, and (3) a cultivation of non-punitive open and/or de-identified/anonymous reporting of safety concerns, including close calls, in addition to adverse events.

Human Systems Integration in Expeditionary Medical Treatment Facilities

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

mental models and situation awareness Human Factors Engineering, Personnel, and Safety / Occupational Health The following issue is associated with...domains are human factors engineering, manpower, personnel, training, safety and occupational health , survivability, habitability, and environment...certain responsibilities to less-qualified personnel. Human error is a particularly sensitive topic across all sectors of health care, but the time

Imaginable Technologies for Human Missions to Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bushnell, Dennis M.

2007-01-01

The thesis of the present discussion is that the simultaneous cost and inherent safety issues of human on-site exploration of Mars will require advanced-to-revolutionary technologies. The major crew safety issues as currently identified include reduced gravity, radiation, potentially extremely toxic dust and the requisite reliability for years-long missions. Additionally, this discussion examines various technological areas which could significantly impact Human-Mars cost and safety. Cost reductions for space access is a major metric, including approaches to significantly reduce the overall up-mass. Besides fuel, propulsion and power systems, the up-mass consists of the infrastructure and supplies required to keep humans healthy and the equipment for executing exploration mission tasks. Hence, the major technological areas of interest for potential cost reductions include propulsion, in-space and on-planet power, life support systems, materials and overall architecture, systems, and systems-of-systems approaches. This discussion is specifically offered in response to and as a contribution to goal 3 of the Presidential Exploration Vision: "Develop the Innovative Technologies Knowledge and Infrastructures both to explore and to support decisions about the destinations for human exploration".

Design Development Test and Evaluation (DDT and E) Considerations for Safe and Reliable Human Rated Spacecraft Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, James; Leggett, Jay; Kramer-White, Julie

2008-01-01

A team directed by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) collected methodologies for how best to develop safe and reliable human rated systems and how to identify the drivers that provide the basis for assessing safety and reliability. The team also identified techniques, methodologies, and best practices to assure that NASA can develop safe and reliable human rated systems. The results are drawn from a wide variety of resources, from experts involved with the space program since its inception to the best-practices espoused in contemporary engineering doctrine. This report focuses on safety and reliability considerations and does not duplicate or update any existing references. Neither does it intend to replace existing standards and policy.

Human Factors in Aerospace: Examples from Projects at NASA Ames

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edwards, Tamsyn

2017-01-01

Human factors is a critical consideration in system performance and system safety. This presentation provides examples of how human factors can be utilized in a variety of applied research projects to create system wide benefits

77 FR 40622 - Mine Safety and Health Research Advisory Committee, National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-10

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Mine Safety and Health Research Advisory Committee, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (MSHRAC, NIOSH..., oxygen supply partnership, safety culture, occupational health and safety management systems, preventing...

A Qualitative Study on Organizational Factors Affecting Occupational Accidents

PubMed Central

ESKANDARI, Davood; JAFARI, Mohammad Javad; MEHRABI, Yadollah; KIAN, Mostafa Pouya; CHARKHAND, Hossein; MIRGHOTBI, Mostafa

2017-01-01

Background: Technical, human, operational and organizational factors have been influencing the sequence of occupational accidents. Among them, organizational factors play a major role in causing occupational accidents. The aim of this research was to understand the Iranian safety experts’ experiences and perception of organizational factors. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in 2015 by using the content analysis technique. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 17 safety experts working in Iranian universities and industries and analyzed with a conventional qualitative content analysis method using the MAXQDA software. Results: Eleven organizational factors’ sub-themes were identified: management commitment, management participation, employee involvement, communication, blame culture, education and training, job satisfaction, interpersonal relationship, supervision, continuous improvement, and reward system. The participants considered these factors as effective on occupational accidents. Conclusion: The mentioned 11 organizational factors are probably involved in occupational accidents in Iran. Naturally, improving organizational factors can increase the safety performance and reduce occupational accidents. PMID:28435824

Mines Systems Safety Improvement Using an Integrated Event Tree and Fault Tree Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Ranjan; Ghosh, Achyuta Krishna

2017-04-01

Mines systems such as ventilation system, strata support system, flame proof safety equipment, are exposed to dynamic operational conditions such as stress, humidity, dust, temperature, etc., and safety improvement of such systems can be done preferably during planning and design stage. However, the existing safety analysis methods do not handle the accident initiation and progression of mine systems explicitly. To bridge this gap, this paper presents an integrated Event Tree (ET) and Fault Tree (FT) approach for safety analysis and improvement of mine systems design. This approach includes ET and FT modeling coupled with redundancy allocation technique. In this method, a concept of top hazard probability is introduced for identifying system failure probability and redundancy is allocated to the system either at component or system level. A case study on mine methane explosion safety with two initiating events is performed. The results demonstrate that the presented method can reveal the accident scenarios and improve the safety of complex mine systems simultaneously.

Teaching patient safety and human factors in undergraduate nursing curricula in England: a pilot survey.

PubMed

Robson, Wayne; Clark, Debbie; Pinnock, David; White, Nick; Baxendale, Bryn

Patient safety is a key priority for all healthcare systems, and there is growing recognition for the need to educate tomorrow's nurses about the role of human factors in reducing avoidable harm to patients. A pilot survey was sent to 20 schools of nursing in England to explore the teaching of patient safety and human factors. All 13 schools that responded (65% response rate) stated that patient safety was covered in their curricula and was allocated more than 4 hours; all the classes included human factors. Only two respondents indicated their teaching to be multi-professional. Awareness of the World Health Organization's multiprofessional patient safety curriculum guide was poor. Faculties also seemed unaware that the Institute for Healthcare Improvement provides free online patient safety modules for students and that there is a global network of student patient safety chapters.

The Effect of Simulated Flash-Heat Pasteurization on Immune Components of Human Milk

PubMed Central

Daniels, Brodie; Schmidt, Stefan; King, Tracy; Israel-Ballard, Kiersten; Amundson Mansen, Kimberly; Coutsoudis, Anna

2017-01-01

A pasteurization temperature monitoring system has been designed using FoneAstra, a cellphone-based networked sensing system, to monitor simulated flash-heat (FH) pasteurization. This study compared the effect of the FoneAstra FH (F-FH) method with the Sterifeed Holder method currently used by human milk banks on human milk immune components (immunoglobulin A (IgA), lactoferrin activity, lysozyme activity, interleukin (IL)-8 and IL-10). Donor milk samples (N = 50) were obtained from a human milk bank, and pasteurized. Concentrations of IgA, IL-8, IL-10, lysozyme activity and lactoferrin activity were compared to their controls using the Student’s t-test. Both methods demonstrated no destruction of interleukins. While the Holder method retained all lysozyme activity, the F-FH method only retained 78.4% activity (p < 0.0001), and both methods showed a decrease in lactoferrin activity (71.1% Holder vs. 38.6% F-FH; p < 0.0001) and a decrease in the retention of total IgA (78.9% Holder vs. 25.2% F-FH; p < 0.0001). Despite increased destruction of immune components compared to Holder pasteurization, the benefits of F-FH in terms of its low cost, feasibility, safety and retention of immune components make it a valuable resource in low-income countries for pasteurizing human milk, potentially saving infants’ lives. PMID:28241418

Safety Psychology Applicating on Coal Mine Safety Management Based on Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Baoyue; Chen, Fei

In recent years, with the increase of intensity of coal mining, a great number of major accidents happen frequently, the reason mostly due to human factors, but human's unsafely behavior are affected by insecurity mental control. In order to reduce accidents, and to improve safety management, with the help of application security psychology, we analyse the cause of insecurity psychological factors from human perception, from personality development, from motivation incentive, from reward and punishment mechanism, and from security aspects of mental training , and put forward countermeasures to promote coal mine safety production,and to provide information for coal mining to improve the level of safety management.

Software Safety Risk in Legacy Safety-Critical Computer Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hill, Janice; Baggs, Rhoda

2007-01-01

Safety-critical computer systems must be engineered to meet system and software safety requirements. For legacy safety-critical computer systems, software safety requirements may not have been formally specified during development. When process-oriented software safety requirements are levied on a legacy system after the fact, where software development artifacts don't exist or are incomplete, the question becomes 'how can this be done?' The risks associated with only meeting certain software safety requirements in a legacy safety-critical computer system must be addressed should such systems be selected as candidates for reuse. This paper proposes a method for ascertaining formally, a software safety risk assessment, that provides measurements for software safety for legacy systems which may or may not have a suite of software engineering documentation that is now normally required. It relies upon the NASA Software Safety Standard, risk assessment methods based upon the Taxonomy-Based Questionnaire, and the application of reverse engineering CASE tools to produce original design documents for legacy systems.

Contribution of European research to risk analysis.

PubMed

Boenke, A

2001-12-01

The European Commission's, Quality of Life Research Programme, Key Action 1-Health, Food & Nutrition is mission-oriented and aims, amongst other things, at providing a healthy, safe and high-quality food supply leading to reinforced consumer confidence in the safety, of European food. Its objectives also include the enhancing of the competitiveness of the European food supply. Key Action 1 is currently supporting a number of different types of European collaborative projects in the area of risk analysis. The objectives of these projects range from the development and validation of prevention strategies including the reduction of consumers risks; development and validation of new modelling approaches, harmonization of risk assessment principles methodologies and terminology; standardization of methods and systems used for the safety evaluation of transgenic food; providing of tools for the evaluation of human viral contamination of shellfish and quality control; new methodologies for assessing the potential of unintended effects of genetically modified (genetically modified) foods; development of a risk assessment model for Cryptosporidium parvum related to the food and water industries, to the development of a communication platform for genetically modified organism, producers, retailers, regulatory authorities and consumer groups to improve safety assessment procedures, risk management strategies and risk communication; development and validation of new methods for safety testing of transgenic food; evaluation of the safety and efficacy of iron supplementation in pregnant women, evaluation of the potential cancer-preventing activity of pro- and pre-biotic ('synbiotic') combinations in human volunteers. An overview of these projects is presented here.

Human factors in safety and business management.

PubMed

Vogt, Joachim; Leonhardt, Jorg; Koper, Birgit; Pennig, Stefan

2010-02-01

Human factors in safety is concerned with all those factors that influence people and their behaviour in safety-critical situations. In aviation these are, for example, environmental factors in the cockpit, organisational factors such as shift work, human characteristics such as ability and motivation of staff. Careful consideration of human factors is necessary to improve health and safety at work by optimising the interaction of humans with their technical and social (team, supervisor) work environment. This provides considerable benefits for business by increasing efficiency and by preventing incidents/accidents. The aim of this paper is to suggest management tools for this purpose. Management tools such as balanced scorecards (BSC) are widespread instruments and also well known in aviation organisations. Only a few aviation organisations utilise management tools for human factors although they are the most important conditions in the safety management systems of aviation organisations. One reason for this is that human factors are difficult to measure and therefore also difficult to manage. Studies in other domains, such as workplace health promotion, indicate that BSC-based tools are useful for human factor management. Their mission is to develop a set of indicators that are sensitive to organisational performance and help identify driving forces as well as bottlenecks. Another tool presented in this paper is the Human Resources Performance Model (HPM). HPM facilitates the integrative assessment of human factors programmes on the basis of a systematic performance analysis of the whole system. Cause-effect relationships between system elements are defined in process models in a first step and validated empirically in a second step. Thus, a specific representation of the performance processes is developed, which ranges from individual behaviour to system performance. HPM is more analytic than BSC-based tools because HPM also asks why a certain factor is facilitating or obstructing success. A significant need for research and development is seen here because human factors are of increasing importance for organisational success. This paper suggests integrating human factors in safety management of aviation businesses - a top-ranking partner of technology and finance - and managing it with professional tools. The tools HPM and BSC were identified as potentially useful for this purpose. They were successfully applied in case studies briefly presented in this paper. In terms of specific safety-steering tools in the aviation industry, further elaboration and empirical study is crucial. Statement of Relevance: The importance of human factors is recognised by operators at the sharp end of aviation, where flights are conducted or coordinated. At the blunt end, measurement tools are needed to manage operational resources.

Food Safety Impacts from Post-Harvest Processing Procedures of Molluscan Shellfish.

PubMed

Baker, George L

2016-04-18

Post-harvest Processing (PHP) methods are viable food processing methods employed to reduce human pathogens in molluscan shellfish that would normally be consumed raw, such as raw oysters on the half-shell. Efficacy of human pathogen reduction associated with PHP varies with respect to time, temperature, salinity, pressure, and process exposure. Regulatory requirements and PHP molluscan shellfish quality implications are major considerations for PHP usage. Food safety impacts associated with PHP of molluscan shellfish vary in their efficacy and may have synergistic outcomes when combined. Further research for many PHP methods are necessary and emerging PHP methods that result in minimal quality loss and effective human pathogen reduction should be explored.

[What Surgeons Should Know about Risk Management].

PubMed

Strametz, R; Tannheimer, M; Rall, M

2017-02-01

Background: The fact that medical treatment is associated with errors has long been recognized. Based on the principle of "first do no harm", numerous efforts have since been made to prevent such errors or limit their impact. However, recent statistics show that these measures do not sufficiently prevent grave mistakes with serious consequences. Preventable mistakes such as wrong patient or wrong site surgery still frequently occur in error statistics. Methods: Based on insight from research on human error, in due consideration of recent legislative regulations in Germany, the authors give an overview of the clinical risk management tools needed to identify risks in surgery, analyse their causes, and determine adequate measures to manage those risks depending on their relevance. The use and limitations of critical incident reporting systems (CIRS), safety checklists and crisis resource management (CRM) are highlighted. Also the rationale for IT systems to support the risk management process is addressed. Results/Conclusion: No single tool of risk management can be effective as a standalone instrument, but unfolds its effect only when embedded in a superordinate risk management system, which integrates tailor-made elements to increase patient safety into the workflows of each organisation. Competence in choosing adequate tools, effective IT systems to support the risk management process as well as leadership and commitment to constructive handling of human error are crucial components to establish a safety culture in surgery. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Numerical human models for accident research and safety - potentials and limitations.

PubMed

Praxl, Norbert; Adamec, Jiri; Muggenthaler, Holger; von Merten, Katja

2008-01-01

The method of numerical simulation is frequently used in the area of automotive safety. Recently, numerical models of the human body have been developed for the numerical simulation of occupants. Different approaches in modelling the human body have been used: the finite-element and the multibody technique. Numerical human models representing the two modelling approaches are introduced and the potentials and limitations of these models are discussed.

Improving Patient Safety in Anesthesia: A Success Story?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Botney, Richard

2008-05-01

Anesthesia is necessary for surgery; however, it does not deliver any direct therapeutic benefit. The risks of anesthesia must therefore be as low as possible. Anesthesiology has been identified as a leader in improving patient safety. Anesthetic mortality has decreased, and in healthy patients can be as low as 1:250,000. Trends in anesthetic morbidity have not been as well defined, but it appears that the risk of injury is decreasing. Studies of error during anesthesia and Closed Claims studies have identified sources of risk and methods to reduce the risks associated with anesthesia. These include changes in technology, such asmore » anesthetic delivery systems and monitors, the application of human factors, the use of simulation, and the establishment of reporting systems. A review of the important events in the past 50 years illustrates the many steps that have contributed to the improvements in anesthesia safety.« less

Safety in home care: A research protocol for studying medication management

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Patient safety is an ongoing global priority, with medication safety considered a prevalent, high-risk area of concern. Yet, we have little understanding of the supports and barriers to safe medication management in the Canadian home care environment. There is a clear need to engage the providers and recipients of care in studying and improving medication safety with collaborative approaches to exploring the nature and safety of medication management in home care. Methods A socio-ecological perspective on health and health systems drives our iterative qualitative study on medication safety with elderly home care clients, family members and other informal caregivers, and home care providers. As we purposively sample across four Canadian provinces: Alberta (AB), Ontario (ON), Quebec (QC) and Nova Scotia (NS), we will collect textual and visual data through home-based interviews, participant-led photo walkabouts of the home, and photo elicitation sessions at clients' kitchen tables. Using successive rounds of interpretive description and human factors engineering analyses, we will generate robust descriptions of managing medication at home within each provincial sample and across the four-province group. We will validate our initial interpretations through photo elicitation focus groups with home care providers in each province to develop a refined description of the phenomenon that can inform future decision-making, quality improvement efforts, and research. Discussion The application of interpretive and human factors lenses to the visual and textual data is expected to yield findings that advance our understanding of the issues, challenges, and risk-mitigating strategies related to medication safety in home care. The images are powerful knowledge translation tools for sharing what we learn with participants, decision makers, other healthcare audiences, and the public. In addition, participants engage in knowledge exchange throughout the study with the use of participatory data collection methods. PMID:20525363

Formal Verification of a Conflict Resolution and Recovery Algorithm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maddalon, Jeffrey; Butler, Ricky; Geser, Alfons; Munoz, Cesar

2004-01-01

New air traffic management concepts distribute the duty of traffic separation among system participants. As a consequence, these concepts have a greater dependency and rely heavily on on-board software and hardware systems. One example of a new on-board capability in a distributed air traffic management system is air traffic conflict detection and resolution (CD&R). Traditional methods for safety assessment such as human-in-the-loop simulations, testing, and flight experiments may not be sufficient for this highly distributed system as the set of possible scenarios is too large to have a reasonable coverage. This paper proposes a new method for the safety assessment of avionics systems that makes use of formal methods to drive the development of critical systems. As a case study of this approach, the mechanical veri.cation of an algorithm for air traffic conflict resolution and recovery called RR3D is presented. The RR3D algorithm uses a geometric optimization technique to provide a choice of resolution and recovery maneuvers. If the aircraft adheres to these maneuvers, they will bring the aircraft out of conflict and the aircraft will follow a conflict-free path to its original destination. Veri.cation of RR3D is carried out using the Prototype Verification System (PVS).

Optimizing the design of preprinted orders for ambulatory chemotherapy: combining oncology, human factors, and graphic design.

PubMed

Jeon, Jennifer; White, Rachel E; Hunt, Richard G; Cassano-Piché, Andrea L; Easty, Anthony C

2012-03-01

To establish a set of guidelines for developing ambulatory chemotherapy preprinted orders. Multiple methods were used to develop the preprinted order guidelines. These included (A) a comprehensive literature review and an environmental scan; (B) analyses of field study observations and incident reports; (C) critical review of evidence from the literature and the field study observation analyses; (D) review of the draft guidelines by a clinical advisory group; and (E) collaboration with graphic designers to develop sample preprinted orders, refine the design guidelines, and format the resulting content. The Guidelines for Developing Ambulatory Chemotherapy Preprinted Orders, which consist of guidance on the design process, content, and graphic design elements of ambulatory chemotherapy preprinted orders, have been established. Health care is a safety critical, dynamic, and complex sociotechnical system. Identifying safety risks in such a system and effectively addressing them often require the expertise of multiple disciplines. This study illustrates how human factors professionals, clinicians, and designers can leverage each other's expertise to uncover commonly overlooked patient safety hazards and to provide health care professionals with innovative, practical, and user-centered tools to minimize those hazards.

The design of the intelligent monitoring system for dam safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Chun-qiao; Jiang, Chen-guang; Wang, Guo-hui

2008-12-01

Being a vital manmade water-control structure, a dam plays a very important role in the living and production of human being. To make a dam run safely, the best design and the superior construction quality are paramount; moreover, with working periods increasing, various dynamic, alternative and bad loads generate little by little various distortions on the dam structure inevitably, which shall lead to potential safety problems or further a disaster (dam burst). There are many signs before the occurrence of a dam accident, so the timely and effective surveying on the distortion of a dam is important. On the basis of the cause supra, two intelligent (automatic) monitoring systems about the dam's safety based on the RTK-GPS technology and the measuring robot has been developed. The basic principle, monitoring method and monitoring process of these two intelligent (automatic) monitoring systems are introduced. It presents examples of monitor and puts forward the basic rule of dam warning based on data of actual monitor.

Comparison of standard (self-directed) versus intensive patient training for the human insulin inhalation powder (HIIP) delivery system in patients with type 2 diabetes: efficacy, safety, and training measures.

PubMed

Rosenstock, Julio; Nakano, Masako; Silverman, Bernard L; Sun, Bin; de la Peña, Amparo; Suri, Ajit; Muchmore, Douglas B

2007-02-01

The Lilly/Alkermes human insulin inhalation powder (HIIP) delivery system [AIR (a registered trademark of Alkermes, Inc., Cambridge, MA) Inhaled Insulin System] was designed to be easy to use. Training methods were compared in insulin-naive patients with type 2 diabetes. Patients (n = 102) were randomized to standard or intensive training. With standard training, patients learned how to use the HIIP delivery system by reading directions for use (DFU) and trying on their own. Intensive training included orientation to the HIIP delivery system with individual coaching and inspiratory flow rate training. Both groups received preprandial HIIP + metformin with or without a thiazolidinedione for 4 weeks. Overall 2-h postprandial blood glucose (PPBG) excursion was the primary measure. Noninferiority was defined as the upper limit of the two-sided 95% confidence interval of the mean difference between groups being 1.2 < or = mmol/L. Overall 2-h PPBG excursions (least squares mean +/- SE) at endpoint were -0.11 +/- 0.38 (standard training) and 0.23 +/- 0.36 (intensive training) mmol/L. The mean difference (standard minus intensive training) and two-sided 95% confidence interval were -0.35 (-1.02, 0.33) mmol/L. No statistically or clinically significant differences were observed between training methods in premeal, postmeal, or bedtime blood glucose values, HIIP doses at endpoint, or blood glucose values after a test meal. No discontinuations occurred because of difficulty of use or dislike of the HIIP system. DFU compliance was >90% in both training groups. There were no significant differences between training methods in safety measures. The HIIP delivery system is easy to use, and most patients can learn to use it by reading the DFU without assistance from health care professionals.

Risk of Performance Decrement and Crew Illness Due to an Inadequate Food System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Douglas, Grace L.; Cooper, Maya; Bermudez-Aguirre, Daniela; Sirmons, Takiyah

2016-01-01

NASA is preparing for long duration manned missions beyond low-Earth orbit that will be challenged in several ways, including long-term exposure to the space environment, impacts to crew physiological and psychological health, limited resources, and no resupply. The food system is one of the most significant daily factors that can be altered to improve human health, and performance during space exploration. Therefore, the paramount importance of determining the methods, technologies, and requirements to provide a safe, nutritious, and acceptable food system that promotes crew health and performance cannot be underestimated. The processed and prepackaged food system is the main source of nutrition to the crew, therefore significant losses in nutrition, either through degradation of nutrients during processing and storage or inadequate food intake due to low acceptability, variety, or usability, may significantly compromise the crew's health and performance. Shelf life studies indicate that key nutrients and quality factors in many space foods degrade to concerning levels within three years, suggesting that food system will not meet the nutrition and acceptability requirements of a long duration mission beyond low-Earth orbit. Likewise, mass and volume evaluations indicate that the current food system is a significant resource burden. Alternative provisioning strategies, such as inclusion of bioregenerative foods, are challenged with resource requirements, and food safety and scarcity concerns. Ensuring provisioning of an adequate food system relies not only upon determining technologies, and requirements for nutrition, quality, and safety, but upon establishing a food system that will support nutritional adequacy, even with individual crew preference and self-selection. In short, the space food system is challenged to maintain safety, nutrition, and acceptability for all phases of an exploration mission within resource constraints. This document presents the evidence for the Risk of Performance Decrement and Crew Illness Due to an Inadequate Food System and the gaps in relation to exploration, as identified by the NASA Human Research Program (HRP). The research reviewed here indicates strategies to establish methods, technologies, and requirements that increase food stability, support adequate nutrition, quality, and variety, enable supplementation with grow-pick-and-eat salad crops, ensure safety, and reduce resource use. Obtaining the evidence to establish an adequate food system is essential, as the resources allocated to the food system may be defined based on the data relating nutritional stability and food quality requirements to crew performance and health.

Towards a Usability and Error "Safety Net": A Multi-Phased Multi-Method Approach to Ensuring System Usability and Safety.

PubMed

Kushniruk, Andre; Senathirajah, Yalini; Borycki, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

The usability and safety of health information systems have become major issues in the design and implementation of useful healthcare IT. In this paper we describe a multi-phased multi-method approach to integrating usability engineering methods into system testing to ensure both usability and safety of healthcare IT upon widespread deployment. The approach involves usability testing followed by clinical simulation (conducted in-situ) and "near-live" recording of user interactions with systems. At key stages in this process, usability problems are identified and rectified forming a usability and technology-induced error "safety net" that catches different types of usability and safety problems prior to releasing systems widely in healthcare settings.

Damage Thresholds for Exposure to NIR and Blue Lasers in an In Vitro RPE Cell System

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-01

damage , and to identify antioxidants capable of protecting these cells from laser-in- duced cell death. MATERIALS AND METHODS The human RPE cell...melanosomes in blue laser-induced damage in vitro, which confirms the view that melanin plays an important role in photochemical damage mechanisms in...community has only a validating role in the animal ED50 damage threshold data used by safety committees. Systems of in vitro analysis must be

48 CFR 352.223-70 - Safety and health.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Safety and health. 352.223-70 Section 352.223-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CLAUSES AND... health. As prescribed in 323.7002, the Contracting Officer shall insert the following clause: Safety and...

48 CFR 352.223-70 - Safety and health.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Safety and health. 352.223-70 Section 352.223-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CLAUSES AND... health. As prescribed in 323.7002, the Contracting Officer shall insert the following clause: Safety and...

48 CFR 352.223-70 - Safety and health.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Safety and health. 352.223-70 Section 352.223-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CLAUSES AND... health. As prescribed in 323.7002, the Contracting Officer shall insert the following clause: Safety and...

48 CFR 352.223-70 - Safety and health.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Safety and health. 352.223-70 Section 352.223-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CLAUSES AND... health. As prescribed in 323.7002, the Contracting Officer shall insert the following clause: Safety and...

48 CFR 352.223-70 - Safety and health.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Safety and health. 352.223-70 Section 352.223-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CLAUSES AND... health. As prescribed in 323.7002, the Contracting Officer shall insert the following clause: Safety and...

NASA aviation safety reporting system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

The human factors frequency considered a cause of or contributor to hazardous events onboard air carriers are examined with emphasis on distractions. Safety reports that have been analyzed, processed, and entered into the aviation safety reporting system data base are discussed. A sampling of alert bulletins and responses to them is also presented.

Image-based fall detection and classification of a user with a walking support system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taghvaei, Sajjad; Kosuge, Kazuhiro

2017-10-01

The classification of visual human action is important in the development of systems that interact with humans. This study investigates an image-based classification of the human state while using a walking support system to improve the safety and dependability of these systems.We categorize the possible human behavior while utilizing a walker robot into eight states (i.e., sitting, standing, walking, and five falling types), and propose two different methods, namely, normal distribution and hidden Markov models (HMMs), to detect and recognize these states. The visual feature for the state classification is the centroid position of the upper body, which is extracted from the user's depth images. The first method shows that the centroid position follows a normal distribution while walking, which can be adopted to detect any non-walking state. The second method implements HMMs to detect and recognize these states. We then measure and compare the performance of both methods. The classification results are employed to control the motion of a passive-type walker (called "RT Walker") by activating its brakes in non-walking states. Thus, the system can be used for sit/stand support and fall prevention. The experiments are performed with four subjects, including an experienced physiotherapist. Results show that the algorithm can be adapted to the new user's motion pattern within 40 s, with a fall detection rate of 96.25% and state classification rate of 81.0%. The proposed method can be implemented to other abnormality detection/classification applications that employ depth image-sensing devices.

An in vitro approach for comparative interspecies metabolism of agrochemicals.

PubMed

Whalley, Paul M; Bartels, Michael; Bentley, Karin S; Corvaro, Marco; Funk, Dorothee; Himmelstein, Matthew W; Neumann, Birgit; Strupp, Christian; Zhang, Fagen; Mehta, Jyotigna

2017-08-01

The metabolism and elimination of a xenobiotic has a direct bearing on its potential to cause toxicity in an organism. The confidence with which data from safety studies can be extrapolated to humans depends, among other factors, upon knowing whether humans are systemically exposed to the same chemical entities (i.e. a parent compound and its metabolites) as the laboratory animals used to study toxicity. Ideally, to understand a metabolite in terms of safety, both the chemical structure and the systemic exposure would need to be determined. However, as systemic exposure data (i.e. blood concentration/time data of test material or metabolites) in humans will not be available for agrochemicals, an in vitro approach must be taken. This paper outlines an in vitro experimental approach for evaluating interspecies metabolic comparisons between humans and animal species used in safety studies. The aim is to ensure, where possible, that all potential human metabolites are also present in the species used in the safety studies. If a metabolite is only observed in human in vitro samples and is not present in a metabolic pathway defined in the toxicological species already, the toxicological relevance of this metabolite must be evaluated. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Human Factors Society, Annual Meeting, 35th, San Francisco, CA, Sept. 2-6, 1991, Proceedings. Vols. 1 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

These proceedings discuss human factor issues related to aerospace systems, aging, communications, computer systems, consumer products, education and forensic topics, environmental design, industrial ergonomics, international technology transfer, organizational design and management, personality and individual differences in human performance, safety, system development, test and evaluation, training, and visual performance. Particular attention is given to HUDs, attitude indicators, and sensor displays; human factors of space exploration; behavior and aging; the design and evaluation of phone-based interfaces; knowledge acquisition and expert systems; handwriting, speech, and other input techniques; interface design for text, numerics, and speech; and human factor issues in medicine. Also discussedmore » are cumulative trauma disorders, industrial safety, evaluative techniques for automation impacts on the human operators, visual issues in training, and interpreting and organizing human factor concepts and information.« less

A Synthetic Vision Preliminary Integrated Safety Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hemm, Robert; Houser, Scott

2001-01-01

This report documents efforts to analyze a sample of aviation safety programs, using the LMI-developed integrated safety analysis tool to determine the change in system risk resulting from Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) technology implementation. Specifically, we have worked to modify existing system safety tools to address the safety impact of synthetic vision (SV) technology. Safety metrics include reliability, availability, and resultant hazard. This analysis of SV technology is intended to be part of a larger effort to develop a model that is capable of "providing further support to the product design and development team as additional information becomes available". The reliability analysis portion of the effort is complete and is fully documented in this report. The simulation analysis is still underway; it will be documented in a subsequent report. The specific goal of this effort is to apply the integrated safety analysis to SV technology. This report also contains a brief discussion of data necessary to expand the human performance capability of the model, as well as a discussion of human behavior and its implications for system risk assessment in this modeling environment.

System safety engineering analysis handbook

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ijams, T. E.

1972-01-01

The basic requirements and guidelines for the preparation of System Safety Engineering Analysis are presented. The philosophy of System Safety and the various analytic methods available to the engineering profession are discussed. A text-book description of each of the methods is included.

Spreading the Word on Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

Beginning with the Apollo Program in the early 1960s, the NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) has supported every U.S. human exploration space flight program to date. Located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, WSTF is part of Johnson Space Center. The facility's primary mission is to provide the expertise and infrastructure to test and evaluate spacecraft materials, components, and rocket propulsion systems to enable the safe human exploration and utilization of space. WSTF stores, tests, and disposes of Space Shuttle and International Space Station propellants. Since aerospace fluids can have harmful reactions with the construction materials of the systems containing them, a major component of WSTF's work is the study of propellants and hazardous materials. WSTF has a wide variety of resources to draw upon in assessing the fire, explosion, compatibility, and safety hazards of these fluids, which include hydrogen, oxygen, hydrazine fuels, and nitrogen tetroxide. In addition to developing new test methods, WSTF has created technical manuals and training courses for the safe use of aerospace fluids.

Implementing technology to improve medication safety in healthcare facilities: a literature review.

PubMed

Hidle, Unn

Medication errors remain one of the most common causes of patient injuries in the United States, with detrimental outcomes including adverse reactions and even death. By developing a better understanding of why and how medication errors occur, preventative measures may be implemented including technological advances. In this literature review, potential methods of reducing medication errors were explored. Furthermore, technology tools available for medication orders and administration are described, including advantages and disadvantages of each system. It was found that technology can be an excellent aid in improving safety of medication administration. However, computer technology cannot replace human intellect and intuition. Nurses should be involved when implementing any new computerized system in order to obtain the most appropriate and user-friendly structure.

Scientific evaluation of the safety factor for the acceptable daily intake (ADI). Case study: butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA).

PubMed

Würtzen, G

1993-01-01

The principles of 'data-derived safety factors' are applied to toxicological and biochemical information on butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). The calculated safety factor for an ADI is, by this method, comparable to the existing internationally recognized safety evaluations. Relevance for humans of forestomach tumours in rodents is discussed. The method provides a basis for organizing data in a way that permits an explicit assessment of its relevance.

Proceedings of the international meeting on thermal nuclear reactor safety. Vol. 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

Separate abstracts are included for each of the papers presented concerning current issues in nuclear power plant safety; national programs in nuclear power plant safety; radiological source terms; probabilistic risk assessment methods and techniques; non LOCA and small-break-LOCA transients; safety goals; pressurized thermal shocks; applications of reliability and risk methods to probabilistic risk assessment; human factors and man-machine interface; and data bases and special applications.

System safety management: A new discipline

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pope, W. C.

1971-01-01

The systems theory is discussed in relation to safety management. It is suggested that systems safety management, as a new discipline, holds great promise for reducing operating errors, conserving labor resources, avoiding operating costs due to mistakes, and for improving managerial techniques. It is pointed out that managerial failures or system breakdowns are the basic reasons for human errors and condition defects. In this respect, a recommendation is made that safety engineers stop visualizing the problem only with the individual (supervisor or employee) and see the problem from the systems point of view.

Sounding the warning bells: the need for a systems approach to understanding behaviour at rail level crossings.

PubMed

Read, Gemma J M; Salmon, Paul M; Lenné, Michael G

2013-09-01

Collisions at rail level crossings are an international safety concern and have been the subject of considerable research effort. Modern human factors practice advocates a systems approach to investigating safety issues in complex systems. This paper describes the results of a structured review of the level crossing literature to determine the extent to which a systems approach has been applied. The measures used to determine if previous research was underpinned by a systems approach were: the type of analysis method utilised, the number of component relationships considered, the number of user groups considered, the number of system levels considered and the type of model described in the research. None of research reviewed was found to be consistent with a systems approach. It is recommended that further research utilise a systems approach to the study of the level crossing system to enable the identification of effective design improvements. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Establishing a culture for patient safety - the role of education.

PubMed

Milligan, Frank J

2007-02-01

This paper argues that the process of making significant moves towards a patient safety culture requires changes in healthcare education. Improvements in patient safety are a shared international priority as too many errors and other forms of unnecessary harm are currently occurring in the process of caring for and treating patients. A description of the patient safety agenda is given followed by a brief analysis of human factors theory and its use in other safety critical industries, most notably aviation. The all too common problem of drug administration errors is used to illustrate the relevance of human factors theory to healthcare education with specific mention made of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS).

People or systems? To blame is human. The fix is to engineer.

PubMed

Holden, Richard J

2009-12-01

Person-centered safety theories that place the burden of causality on human traits and actions have been largely dismissed in favor of systems-centered theories. Students and practitioners are now taught that accidents are caused by multiple factors and occur due to the complex interactions of numerous work system elements, human and non-human. Nevertheless, person-centered approaches to safety management still prevail. This paper explores the notion that attributing causality and blame to people persists because it is both a fundamental psychological tendency as well as an industry norm that remains strong in aviation, health care, and other industries. Consequences of that possibility are discussed and a case is made for continuing to invest in whole-system design and engineering solutions.

Practical Applications of Cosmic Ray Science: Spacecraft, Aircraft, Ground-Based Computation and Control Systems, Exploration, and Human Health and Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koontz, Steve

2015-01-01

In this presentation a review of galactic cosmic ray (GCR) effects on microelectronic systems and human health and safety is given. The methods used to evaluate and mitigate unwanted cosmic ray effects in ground-based, atmospheric flight, and space flight environments are also reviewed. However not all GCR effects are undesirable. We will also briefly review how observation and analysis of GCR interactions with planetary atmospheres and surfaces and reveal important compositional and geophysical data on earth and elsewhere. About 1000 GCR particles enter every square meter of Earth’s upper atmosphere every second, roughly the same number striking every square meter of the International Space Station (ISS) and every other low- Earth orbit spacecraft. GCR particles are high energy ionized atomic nuclei (90% protons, 9% alpha particles, 1% heavier nuclei) traveling very close to the speed of light. The GCR particle flux is even higher in interplanetary space because the geomagnetic field provides some limited magnetic shielding. Collisions of GCR particles with atomic nuclei in planetary atmospheres and/or regolith as well as spacecraft materials produce nuclear reactions and energetic/highly penetrating secondary particle showers. Three twentieth century technology developments have driven an ongoing evolution of basic cosmic ray science into a set of practical engineering tools needed to design, test, and verify the safety and reliability of modern complex technological systems and assess effects on human health and safety effects. The key technology developments are: 1) high altitude commercial and military aircraft; 2) manned and unmanned spacecraft; and 3) increasingly complex and sensitive solid state micro-electronics systems. Space and geophysical exploration needs drove the development of the instruments and analytical tools needed to recover compositional and structural data from GCR induced nuclear reactions and secondary particle showers. Finally, the possible role of GCR secondary particle showers in addressing an important homeland security problem, finding nuclear contraband and weapons, will be briefly reviewed.

Updating Human Factors Engineering Guidelines for Conducting Safety Reviews of Nuclear Power Plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O, J.M.; Higgins, J.; Stephen Fleger - NRC

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews the human factors engineering (HFE) programs of applicants for nuclear power plant construction permits, operating licenses, standard design certifications, and combined operating licenses. The purpose of these safety reviews is to help ensure that personnel performance and reliability are appropriately supported. Detailed design review procedures and guidance for the evaluations is provided in three key documents: the Standard Review Plan (NUREG-0800), the HFE Program Review Model (NUREG-0711), and the Human-System Interface Design Review Guidelines (NUREG-0700). These documents were last revised in 2007, 2004 and 2002, respectively. The NRC is committed to the periodicmore » update and improvement of the guidance to ensure that it remains a state-of-the-art design evaluation tool. To this end, the NRC is updating its guidance to stay current with recent research on human performance, advances in HFE methods and tools, and new technology being employed in plant and control room design. This paper describes the role of HFE guidelines in the safety review process and the content of the key HFE guidelines used. Then we will present the methodology used to develop HFE guidance and update these documents, and describe the current status of the update program.« less

[Anaesthetic security: evolution of ideas].

PubMed

Cherif, Ali; Daghfous, Mounir; Saîdi, Yosri

2008-11-01

The concept of risk has not clear neither in the media nor in the medical field. It appears important to us to bring details relating some definitions in the field of anaesthesia safety. This work aims to clarify the concepts of safety, of risk in a medical activity like the Anaesthesia. A search was carried out on Medline with the following key words: Risk anaesthetic, anaesthetic Safety, anaesthetic mortality. The definitions of risk, of acceptable risk taking account of social and economic considerations are brought in this text. The ways to evaluate safety and the methods to achieve it was developed. The indicator of quality more used to evaluate safety is anaesthetic mortality. Many difficulties exist with the interpretation of data on mortality. The standards of care are normally established according to the degree of necessary safety. Concurrently to these standards exist certainly the human error which is a phenomenon towards which must direct all the efforts of improvement of safety but more especially the errors of system which are found regularly in the analysis of accidents and incident. The identification of the failures is the mandatory step to achieve safety.

Safety Characteristics in System Application Software for Human Rated Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mango, E. J.

2016-01-01

NASA and its industry and international partners are embarking on a bold and inspiring development effort to design and build an exploration class space system. The space system is made up of the Orion system, the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) system. All are highly coupled together and dependent on each other for the combined safety of the space system. A key area of system safety focus needs to be in the ground and flight application software system (GFAS). In the development, certification and operations of GFAS, there are a series of safety characteristics that define the approach to ensure mission success. This paper will explore and examine the safety characteristics of the GFAS development.

Measurement and standardization of eye safety for optical radiation of LED products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mou, Tongsheng; Peng, Zhenjian

2013-06-01

The blue light hazard (BLH) to human eye's retina is now a new issue emerging in applications of artificial light sources. Especially for solid state lighting sources based on the blue chip-LED(GaN), the photons with their energy more than 2.4 eV show photochemical effects on the retina significantly, raising damage both in photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium. The photobiological safety of artificial light sources emitting optical radiation has gained more and more attention worldwide and addressed by international standards IEC 62471-2006(CIE S009/E: 2002). Meanwhile, it is involved in IEC safety specifications of LED lighting products and covered by European Directive 2006/25/EC on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of the workers to artificial optical radiation. In practical applications of the safety standards, the measuring methods of optical radiation from LED products to eyes are important in establishment of executable methods in the industry. In 2011, a new project to develop the international standard of IEC TR62471-4,that is "Measuring methods of optical radiation related to photobiological safety", was approved and are now under way. This paper presents the concerned methods for the assessment of optical radiation hazards in the standards. Furthermore, a retina radiance meter simulating eye's optical geometry is also described, which is a potential tool for blue light hazard assessment of retinal exposure to optical radiation. The spectroradiometric method integrated with charge-coupled device(CCD) imaging system is introduced to provide more reliable results.

Multimodal interaction for human-robot teams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burke, Dustin; Schurr, Nathan; Ayers, Jeanine; Rousseau, Jeff; Fertitta, John; Carlin, Alan; Dumond, Danielle

2013-05-01

Unmanned ground vehicles have the potential for supporting small dismounted teams in mapping facilities, maintaining security in cleared buildings, and extending the team's reconnaissance and persistent surveillance capability. In order for such autonomous systems to integrate with the team, we must move beyond current interaction methods using heads-down teleoperation which require intensive human attention and affect the human operator's ability to maintain local situational awareness and ensure their own safety. This paper focuses on the design, development and demonstration of a multimodal interaction system that incorporates naturalistic human gestures, voice commands, and a tablet interface. By providing multiple, partially redundant interaction modes, our system degrades gracefully in complex environments and enables the human operator to robustly select the most suitable interaction method given the situational demands. For instance, the human can silently use arm and hand gestures for commanding a team of robots when it is important to maintain stealth. The tablet interface provides an overhead situational map allowing waypoint-based navigation for multiple ground robots in beyond-line-of-sight conditions. Using lightweight, wearable motion sensing hardware either worn comfortably beneath the operator's clothing or integrated within their uniform, our non-vision-based approach enables an accurate, continuous gesture recognition capability without line-of-sight constraints. To reduce the training necessary to operate the system, we designed the interactions around familiar arm and hand gestures.

Conditioning laboratory cats to handling and transport.

PubMed

Gruen, Margaret E; Thomson, Andrea E; Clary, Gillian P; Hamilton, Alexandra K; Hudson, Lola C; Meeker, Rick B; Sherman, Barbara L

2013-10-01

As research subjects, cats have contributed substantially to our understanding of biological systems, from the development of mammalian visual pathways to the pathophysiology of feline immunodeficiency virus as a model for human immunodeficiency virus. Few studies have evaluated humane methods for managing cats in laboratory animal facilities, however, in order to reduce fear responses and improve their welfare. The authors describe a behavioral protocol used in their laboratory to condition cats to handling and transport. Such behavioral conditioning benefits the welfare of the cats, the safety of animal technicians and the quality of feline research data.

Novel Driving Control of Power Assisted Wheelchair Based on Minimum Jerk Trajectory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seki, Hirokazu; Sugimoto, Takeaki; Tadakuma, Susumu

This paper describes a novel trajectory control scheme for power assisted wheelchair. Human input torque patterns are always intermittent in power assisted wheelchairs, therefore, the suitable trajectories must be generated also after the human decreases his/her input torque. This paper tries to solve this significant problem based on minimum jerk model minimizing the changing rate of acceleration. The proposed control system based on minimum jerk trajectory is expected to improve the ride quality, stability and safety. Some experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Safety Characteristics in System Application of Software for Human Rated Exploration Missions for the 8th IAASS Conference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mango, Edward J.

2016-01-01

NASA and its industry and international partners are embarking on a bold and inspiring development effort to design and build an exploration class space system. The space system is made up of the Orion system, the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) system. All are highly coupled together and dependent on each other for the combined safety of the space system. A key area of system safety focus needs to be in the ground and flight application software system (GFAS). In the development, certification and operations of GFAS, there are a series of safety characteristics that define the approach to ensure mission success. This paper will explore and examine the safety characteristics of the GFAS development. The GFAS system integrates the flight software packages of the Orion and SLS with the ground systems and launch countdown sequencers through the 'agile' software development process. A unique approach is needed to develop the GFAS project capabilities within this agile process. NASA has defined the software development process through a set of standards. The standards were written during the infancy of the so-called industry 'agile development' movement and must be tailored to adapt to the highly integrated environment of human exploration systems. Safety of the space systems and the eventual crew on board is paramount during the preparation of the exploration flight systems. A series of software safety characteristics have been incorporated into the development and certification efforts to ensure readiness for use and compatibility with the space systems. Three underlining factors in the exploration architecture require the GFAS system to be unique in its approach to ensure safety for the space systems, both the flight as well as the ground systems. The first are the missions themselves, which are exploration in nature, and go far beyond the comfort of low Earth orbit operations. The second is the current exploration system will launch only one mission per year even less during its developmental phases. Finally, the third is the partnered approach through the use of many different prime contractors, including commercial and international partners, to design and build the exploration systems. These three factors make the challenges to meet the mission preparations and the safety expectations extremely difficult to implement. As NASA leads a team of partners in the exploration beyond earth's influence, it is a safety imperative that the application software used to test, checkout, prepare and launch the exploration systems put safety of the hardware and mission first. Software safety characteristics are built into the design and development process to enable the human rated systems to begin their missions safely and successfully. Exploration missions beyond Earth are inherently risky, however, with solid safety approaches in both hardware and software, the boldness of these missions can be realized for all on the home planet.

78 FR 11237 - Public Hearing

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-15

... management of human error in its operations and system safety programs, and the status of PTC implementation... UP's safety management policies and programs associated with human error, operational accident and... Chairman of the Board of Inquiry 2. Introduction of the Board of Inquiry and Technical Panel 3...

Using human factors engineering to improve patient safety in the cardiovascular operating room.

PubMed

Gurses, Ayse P; Martinez, Elizabeth A; Bauer, Laura; Kim, George; Lubomski, Lisa H; Marsteller, Jill A; Pennathur, Priyadarshini R; Goeschel, Chris; Pronovost, Peter J; Thompson, David

2012-01-01

Despite significant medical advances, cardiac surgery remains a high risk procedure. Sub-optimal work system design characteristics can contribute to the risks associated with cardiac surgery. However, hazards due to work system characteristics have not been identified in the cardiovascular operating room (CVOR) in sufficient detail to guide improvement efforts. The purpose of this study was to identify and categorize hazards (anything that has the potential to cause a preventable adverse patient safety event) in the CVOR. An interdisciplinary research team used prospective hazard identification methods including direct observations, contextual inquiry, and photographing to collect data in 5 hospitals for a total 22 cardiac surgeries. We performed thematic analysis of the qualitative data guided by a work system model. 60 categories of hazards such as practice variations, high workload, non-compliance with evidence-based guidelines, not including clinicians' in medical device purchasing decisions were found. Results indicated that hazards are common in cardiac surgery and should be eliminated or mitigated to improve patient safety. To improve patient safety in the CVOR, efforts should focus on creating a culture of safety, increasing compliance with evidence based infection control practices, improving communication and teamwork, and designing better tools and technologies through partnership among all stakeholders.

The health abnormalities under the technogenic exposures risks analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fedorova, E. V.; Malyshev, V. S.; Borovkova, A. M.

2017-11-01

A number of the medico-ecological orientation subjects are included in the curricula of the masters being trained in the teaching course 13.04.02 “Power industry and electrical equipment” and had elected the courses “Anthropogenic safety in power industry and electrical equipment” of the engineering ecology and labor safety department (EE and LS) of NRU “MPEI”. The anthropogenic safety specialist is to know all consequences suffers of such disciplines on account of the human person being influenced with the anthropogenic stress firstly. Energetic is to be obviously foreground in the environment pollution. Carbon, sulfurs, nitrogen oxides, heavy metals compounds, soot particles, benzapiren are arrived to the atmospheric air. The receipt of the harmful substances with an inhaled air leads to the respiratory organs pathology, organism adaptation properties tension and the population morbidity increase. The discipline “The Human physiology” developed on EE and LS chair and being taught of the first course of a magistracy first semester, helps to understand these above-mentioned processes. The general questions of human physiology being besides, all the students are gotten acquainted with ecological and production factors on a human body adverse impacts consequences and with the methods of its analysis, prevention and health risks studies. The most part of a course is presented with the practical trainings permitting the students to gain the basic skills of an organism functional condition main systems for analysis. The innovative “bronkhofonografiya” technique (with the CDC applications “Pattern-1” EE and LS chairs developed) is used for the respiratory organs conditions analysis along with the traditional spirometry methods.

The Analysis of the Contribution of Human Factors to the In-Flight Loss of Control Accidents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ancel, Ersin; Shih, Ann T.

2012-01-01

In-flight loss of control (LOC) is currently the leading cause of fatal accidents based on various commercial aircraft accident statistics. As the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) emerges, new contributing factors leading to LOC are anticipated. The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), along with other aviation agencies and communities are actively developing safety products to mitigate the LOC risk. This paper discusses the approach used to construct a generic integrated LOC accident framework (LOCAF) model based on a detailed review of LOC accidents over the past two decades. The LOCAF model is comprised of causal factors from the domain of human factors, aircraft system component failures, and atmospheric environment. The multiple interdependent causal factors are expressed in an Object-Oriented Bayesian belief network. In addition to predicting the likelihood of LOC accident occurrence, the system-level integrated LOCAF model is able to evaluate the impact of new safety technology products developed in AvSP. This provides valuable information to decision makers in strategizing NASA's aviation safety technology portfolio. The focus of this paper is on the analysis of human causal factors in the model, including the contributions from flight crew and maintenance workers. The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) taxonomy was used to develop human related causal factors. The preliminary results from the baseline LOCAF model are also presented.

The elements of a commercial human spaceflight safety reporting system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christensen, Ian

2017-10-01

In its report on the SpaceShipTwo accident the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) included in its recommendations that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ;in collaboration with the commercial spaceflight industry, continue work to implement a database of lessons learned from commercial space mishap investigations and encourage commercial space industry members to voluntarily submit lessons learned.; In its official response to the NTSB the FAA supported this recommendation and indicated it has initiated an iterative process to put into place a framework for a cooperative safety data sharing process including the sharing of lessons learned, and trends analysis. Such a framework is an important element of an overall commercial human spaceflight safety system.

Assessing watershed-wildfire risks on National Forest System lands in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States

Treesearch

Matthew P. Thompson; Joe Scott; Paul G. Langowski; Julie W. Gilbertson-Day; Jessica R. Haas; Elise M. Bowne

2013-01-01

Wildfires can cause significant negative impacts to water quality with resultant consequences for the environment and human health and safety, as well as incurring substantial rehabilitation and water treatment costs. In this paper we will illustrate how state-of-the-art wildfire simulation modeling and geospatial risk assessment methods can be brought to bear to...

75 FR 16140 - Common Formats for Patient Safety Data Collection and Event Reporting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-31

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Common Formats for Patient Safety Data Collection and Event Reporting AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and... mandatory reporting system, collaborative/voluntary reporting system, research-related reporting system, or...

Epistemic Questions and Answers for Software System Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holloway, C. M.; Johnson, Chris W.

2010-01-01

System safety is primarily concerned with epistemic questions, that is, questions concerning knowledge and the degree of confidence that can be placed in that knowledge. For systems with which human experience is long, such as roads, bridges, and mechanical devices, knowledge about what is required to make the systems safe is deep and detailed. High confidence can be placed in the validity of that knowledge. For other systems, however, with which human experience is comparatively short, such as those that rely in part or in whole on software, knowledge about what is required to ensure safety tends to be shallow and general. The confidence that can be placed in the validity of that knowledge is consequently low. In a previous paper, we enumerated a collection of foundational epistemic questions concerning software system safety. In this paper, we review and refine the questions, discuss some difficulties that attend to answering the questions today, and speculate on possible research to improve the situation.

Loosely Coupled GPS-Aided Inertial Navigation System for Range Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heatwole, Scott; Lanzi, Raymond J.

2010-01-01

The Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) aims to replace the human element of range safety operations, as well as reduce reliance on expensive, downrange assets for launches of expendable launch vehicles (ELVs). The system consists of multiple navigation sensors and flight computers that provide a highly reliable platform. It is designed to ensure that single-event failures in a flight computer or sensor will not bring down the whole system. The flight computer uses a rules-based structure derived from range safety requirements to make decisions whether or not to destroy the rocket.

System safety education focused on flight safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holt, E.

1971-01-01

The measures necessary for achieving higher levels of system safety are analyzed with an eye toward maintaining the combat capability of the Air Force. Several education courses were provided for personnel involved in safety management. Data include: (1) Flight Safety Officer Course, (2) Advanced Safety Program Management, (3) Fundamentals of System Safety, and (4) Quantitative Methods of Safety Analysis.

Aviation Safety: Modeling and Analyzing Complex Interactions between Humans and Automated Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rungta, Neha; Brat, Guillaume; Clancey, William J.; Linde, Charlotte; Raimondi, Franco; Seah, Chin; Shafto, Michael

2013-01-01

The on-going transformation from the current US Air Traffic System (ATS) to the Next Generation Air Traffic System (NextGen) will force the introduction of new automated systems and most likely will cause automation to migrate from ground to air. This will yield new function allocations between humans and automation and therefore change the roles and responsibilities in the ATS. Yet, safety in NextGen is required to be at least as good as in the current system. We therefore need techniques to evaluate the safety of the interactions between humans and automation. We think that current human factor studies and simulation-based techniques will fall short in front of the ATS complexity, and that we need to add more automated techniques to simulations, such as model checking, which offers exhaustive coverage of the non-deterministic behaviors in nominal and off-nominal scenarios. In this work, we present a verification approach based both on simulations and on model checking for evaluating the roles and responsibilities of humans and automation. Models are created using Brahms (a multi-agent framework) and we show that the traditional Brahms simulations can be integrated with automated exploration techniques based on model checking, thus offering a complete exploration of the behavioral space of the scenario. Our formal analysis supports the notion of beliefs and probabilities to reason about human behavior. We demonstrate the technique with the Ueberligen accident since it exemplifies authority problems when receiving conflicting advices from human and automated systems.

2014 Summer Series - Kristin Yvonne Rozier - No More Helicopter Parenting: Intelligent Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-06-10

Safety is NASA's top priority! The search for innovative new ways to validate and verify is vital for the development of safety-critical systems. Such techniques have been successfully used to assure systems for air traffic control, airplane separation assurance, autopilots, logic designs, medical devices, and other functions that ensure human safety.

Methods to Manipulate and Monitor Wnt Signaling in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.

PubMed

Huggins, Ian J; Brafman, David; Willert, Karl

2016-01-01

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) may revolutionize medical practice by providing: (a) a renewable source of cells for tissue replacement therapies, (b) a powerful system to model human diseases in a dish, and (c) a platform for examining efficacy and safety of novel drugs. Furthermore, these cells offer a unique opportunity to study early human development in vitro, in particular, the process by which a seemingly uniform cell population interacts to give rise to the three main embryonic lineages: ectoderm, endoderm. and mesoderm. This process of lineage allocation is regulated by a number of inductive signals that are mediated by growth factors, including FGF, TGFβ, and Wnt. In this book chapter, we introduce a set of tools, methods, and protocols to specifically manipulate the Wnt signaling pathway with the intention of altering the cell fate outcome of hPSCs.

Food safety in the 21st century.

PubMed

Käferstein, F; Abdussalam, M

1999-01-01

The global importance of food safety is not fully appreciated by many public health authorities despite a constant increase in the prevalence of foodborne illness. Numerous devastating outbreaks of salmonellosis, cholera, enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli infections, hepatitis A and other diseases have occurred in both industrialized and developing countries. In addition, many of the re-emerging or newly recognized pathogens are foodborne or have the potential of being transmitted by food and/or drinking water. More foodborne pathogens can be expected because of changing production methods, processes, practices and habits. During the early 21st century, foodborne diseases can be expected to increase, especially in developing countries, in part because of environmental and demographic changes. These vary from climatic changes, changes in microbial and other ecological systems, to decreasing freshwater supplies. However, an even greater challenge to food safety will come from changes resulting directly in degradation of sanitation and the immediate human environment. These include the increased age of human populations, unplanned urbanization and migration and mass production of food due to population growth and changed food habits. Mass tourism and the huge international trade in food and feed is causing food and feedborne pathogens to spread transnationally. As new toxic agents are identified and new toxic effects recognized, the health and trade consequences of toxic chemicals in food will also have global implications. Meeting the huge challenge of food safety in the 21st century will require the application of new methods to identify, monitor and assess foodborne hazards. Both traditional and new technologies for assuring food safety should be improved and fully exploited. This needs to be done through legislative measures where suitable, but with much greater reliance on voluntary compliance and education of consumers and professional food handlers. This will be an important task for the primary health care system aiming at "health for all".

Food safety in the 21st century.

PubMed Central

Käferstein, F.; Abdussalam, M.

1999-01-01

The global importance of food safety is not fully appreciated by many public health authorities despite a constant increase in the prevalence of foodborne illness. Numerous devastating outbreaks of salmonellosis, cholera, enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli infections, hepatitis A and other diseases have occurred in both industrialized and developing countries. In addition, many of the re-emerging or newly recognized pathogens are foodborne or have the potential of being transmitted by food and/or drinking water. More foodborne pathogens can be expected because of changing production methods, processes, practices and habits. During the early 21st century, foodborne diseases can be expected to increase, especially in developing countries, in part because of environmental and demographic changes. These vary from climatic changes, changes in microbial and other ecological systems, to decreasing freshwater supplies. However, an even greater challenge to food safety will come from changes resulting directly in degradation of sanitation and the immediate human environment. These include the increased age of human populations, unplanned urbanization and migration and mass production of food due to population growth and changed food habits. Mass tourism and the huge international trade in food and feed is causing food and feedborne pathogens to spread transnationally. As new toxic agents are identified and new toxic effects recognized, the health and trade consequences of toxic chemicals in food will also have global implications. Meeting the huge challenge of food safety in the 21st century will require the application of new methods to identify, monitor and assess foodborne hazards. Both traditional and new technologies for assuring food safety should be improved and fully exploited. This needs to be done through legislative measures where suitable, but with much greater reliance on voluntary compliance and education of consumers and professional food handlers. This will be an important task for the primary health care system aiming at "health for all". PMID:10327714

Comparing safety climate for nurses working in operating theatres, critical care and ward areas in the UK: a mixed methods study

PubMed Central

Tarling, Maggie; Jones, Anne; Murrells, Trevor; McCutcheon, Helen

2017-01-01

Objectives The main aim of the study was to explore the potential sources of variation and understand the meaning of safety climate for nursing practice in acute hospital settings in the UK. Design A sequential mixed methods design included a cross-sectional survey using the Safety Climate Questionnaire (SCQ) and thematic analysis of focus group discussions. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to validate the factor structure of the SCQ. Factor scores were compared between nurses working in operating theatres, critical care and ward areas. Results from the survey and the thematic analysis were then compared and synthesised. Setting A London University. Participants 319 registered nurses working in acute hospital settings completed the SCQ and a further 23 nurses participated in focus groups. Results CFA indicated that there was a good model fit on some criteria (χ2=1683.699, df=824, p<0.001; χ2/df=2.04; root mean square error of approximation=0.058) but a less acceptable fit on comparative fit index which is 0.804. There was a statistically significant difference between clinical specialisms in management commitment (F (4,266)=4.66, p=0.001). Nurses working in operating theatres had lower scores compared with ward areas and they also reported negative perceptions about management in their focus group. There was significant variation in scores for communication across clinical specialism (F (4,266)=2.62, p=0.035) but none of the pairwise comparisons achieved statistical significance. Thematic analysis identified themes of human factors, clinical management and protecting patients. The system and the human side of caring was identified as a meta-theme. Conclusions The results suggest that the SCQ has some utility but requires further exploration. The findings indicate that safety in nursing practice is a complex interaction between safety systems and the social and interpersonal aspects of clinical practice. PMID:29084793

Safety Assessment of Acyl Glucuronides-A Simplified Paradigm.

PubMed

Smith, Dennis A; Hammond, Timothy; Baillie, Thomas A

2018-06-01

While simple O - (ether-linked) and N -glucuronide drug conjugates generally are unreactive and considered benign from a safety perspective, the acyl glucuronides that derive from metabolism of carboxylic acid-containing xenobiotics can exhibit a degree of chemical reactivity that is dependent upon their molecular structure. As a result, concerns have arisen over the safety of acyl glucuronides as a class, several members of which have been implicated in the toxicity of their respective parent drugs. However, direct evidence in support of these claims remains sparse, and due to frequently encountered species differences in the systemic exposure to acyl glucuronides (both of the parent drug and oxidized derivatives thereof), coupled with their instability in aqueous media and potential to undergo chemical rearrangement (acyl migration), qualification of these conjugates by traditional safety assessment methods can be very challenging. In this Commentary, we discuss alternative (non-acyl glucuronide) mechanisms by which carboxylic acids may cause serious adverse reactions, and propose a novel, practical approach to compare systemic exposure to acyl glucuronide metabolites in humans to that in animal species used in preclinical safety assessment based on relative estimates of the total body burden of these circulating conjugates. Copyright © 2018 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Flight deck party line issues : an Aviation Safety Reporting System analysis

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-06-01

This document describes an analysis of the Aviation Safety Reporting System : (ASRS) database with regards to human factors aspects concerning the : implementation of Data Link into the flightdeck. The ASRS database contains : thousands of reports co...

WTEC monograph on instrumentation, control and safety systems of Canadian nuclear facilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Uhrig, Robert E.; Carter, Richard J.

1993-01-01

This report updates a 1989-90 survey of advanced instrumentation and controls (I&C) technologies and associated human factors issues in the U.S. and Canadian nuclear industries carried out by a team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Carter and Uhrig 1990). The authors found that the most advanced I&C systems are in the Canadian CANDU plants, where the newest plant (Darlington) has digital systems in almost 100 percent of its control systems and in over 70 percent of its plant protection system. Increased emphasis on human factors and cognitive science in modern control rooms has resulted in a reduced workload for the operators and the elimination of many human errors. Automation implemented through digital instrumentation and control is effectively changing the role of the operator to that of a systems manager. The hypothesis that properly introducing digital systems increases safety is supported by the Canadian experience. The performance of these digital systems has been achieved using appropriate quality assurance programs for both hardware and software development. Recent regulatory authority review of the development of safety-critical software has resulted in the creation of isolated software modules with well defined interfaces and more formal structure in the software generation. The ability of digital systems to detect impending failures and initiate a fail-safe action is a significant safety issue that should be of special interest to nuclear utilities and regulatory authorities around the world.

Immunogenicity of glycans on biotherapeutic drugs produced in plant expression systems-The taliglucerase alfa story.

PubMed

Rup, Bonita; Alon, Sari; Amit-Cohen, Bat-Chen; Brill Almon, Einat; Chertkoff, Raul; Tekoah, Yoram; Rudd, Pauline M

2017-01-01

Plants are a promising alternative for the production of biotherapeutics. Manufacturing in-planta adds plant specific glycans. To understand immunogenic potential of these glycans, we developed a validated method to detect plant specific glycan antibodies in human serum. Using this assay, low prevalence of pre-existing anti-plant glycan antibodies was found in healthy humans (13.5%) and in glucocerebrosidase-deficient Gaucher disease (GD) patients (5%). A low incidence (9% in naïve patient and none in treatment experienced patients) of induced anti-plant glycan antibodies was observed in GD patients after up to 30 months replacement therapy treatment with taliglucerase alfa, a version of human glucocerebrosidase produced in plant cells. Detailed evaluation of clinical safety and efficacy endpoints indicated that anti-plant glycan antibodies did not affect the safety or efficacy of taliglucerase alfa in patients. This study shows the benefit of using large scale human trials to evaluate the immunogenicity risk of plant derived glycans, and indicates no apparent risk related to anti-plant glycan antibodies.

Micro-Inspector Spacecraft for Space Exploration Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mueller, Juergen; Alkalai, Leon; Lewis, Carol

2005-01-01

NASA is seeking to embark on a new set of human and robotic exploration missions back to the Moon, to Mars, and destinations beyond. Key strategic technical challenges will need to be addressed to realize this new vision for space exploration, including improvements in safety and reliability to improve robustness of space operations. Under sponsorship by NASA's Exploration Systems Mission, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), together with its partners in government (NASA Johnson Space Center) and industry (Boeing, Vacco Industries, Ashwin-Ushas Inc.) is developing an ultra-low mass (<3.0 kg) free-flying micro-inspector spacecraft in an effort to enhance safety and reduce risk in future human and exploration missions. The micro-inspector will provide remote vehicle inspections to ensure safety and reliability, or to provide monitoring of in-space assembly. The micro-inspector spacecraft represents an inherently modular system addition that can improve safety and support multiple host vehicles in multiple applications. On human missions, it may help extend the reach of human explorers, decreasing human EVA time to reduce mission cost and risk. The micro-inspector development is the continuation of an effort begun under NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology Enabling Concepts and Technology (ECT) program. The micro-inspector uses miniaturized celestial sensors; relies on a combination of solar power and batteries (allowing for unlimited operation in the sun and up to 4 hours in the shade); utilizes a low-pressure, low-leakage liquid butane propellant system for added safety; and includes multi-functional structure for high system-level integration and miniaturization. Versions of this system to be designed and developed under the H&RT program will include additional capabilities for on-board, vision-based navigation, spacecraft inspection, and collision avoidance, and will be demonstrated in a ground-based, space-related environment. These features make the micro-inspector design unique in its ability to serve crewed as well as robotic spacecraft, well beyond Earth-orbit and into arenas such as robotic missions, where human teleoperation capability is not locally available.

Cabin Safety Issues Related to Pre-Departure and Inflight Issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connell, Linda

2014-01-01

The Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) in a partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), participating carriers, and labor organizations. It is designed to improve the National Airspace System by collecting and studying reports detailing unsafe conditions and events in the aviation industry. Employees are able to report safety issues or concerns with confidentiality and without fear of discipline. Safety reports highlighting the human element in cabin safety issues and concerns.

System Driven Workarounds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connell, Linda; Wichner, David; Jakey, Abegael Marie

2013-01-01

The Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) in a partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), participating carriers, and labor organizations. It is designed to improve the National Airspace System by collecting and studying reports detailing unsafe conditions and events in the aviation industry. Employees are able to report safety issues or concerns with confidentiality and without fear of discipline. Safety reports highlighting system driven workarounds for the aviation community highlight the human workaround for the complex aviation system.

Addressing the human factors issues associated with control room modifications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O`Hara, J.; Stubler, W.; Kramer, J.

1998-03-01

Advanced human-system interface (HSI) technology is being integrated into existing nuclear plants as part of plant modifications and upgrades. The result of this trend is that hybrid HSIs are created, i.e., HSIs containing a mixture of conventional (analog) and advanced (digital) technology. The purpose of the present research is to define the potential effects of hybrid HSIs on personnel performance and plant safety and to develop human factors guidance for safety reviews of them where necessary. In support of this objective, human factors issues associated with hybrid HSIs were identified. The issues were evaluated for their potential significance to plantmore » safety, i.e., their human performance concerns have the potential to compromise plant safety. The issues were then prioritized and a subset was selected for design review guidance development.« less

The Human Side of Library Automation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Anne; Barnacle, Stephen

1989-01-01

Discusses the importance of recognizing the human component in library automation systems to ensure the smooth and efficient operation of the system. Human factors considerations are discussed in terms of health and safety aspects, ergonomics, workplace design, and job organization. (41 references) (CLB)

The Microphysiology Systems Database for Analyzing and Modeling Compound Interactions with Human and Animal Organ Models

PubMed Central

Vernetti, Lawrence; Bergenthal, Luke; Shun, Tong Ying; Taylor, D. Lansing

2016-01-01

Abstract Microfluidic human organ models, microphysiology systems (MPS), are currently being developed as predictive models of drug safety and efficacy in humans. To design and validate MPS as predictive of human safety liabilities requires safety data for a reference set of compounds, combined with in vitro data from the human organ models. To address this need, we have developed an internet database, the MPS database (MPS-Db), as a powerful platform for experimental design, data management, and analysis, and to combine experimental data with reference data, to enable computational modeling. The present study demonstrates the capability of the MPS-Db in early safety testing using a human liver MPS to relate the effects of tolcapone and entacapone in the in vitro model to human in vivo effects. These two compounds were chosen to be evaluated as a representative pair of marketed drugs because they are structurally similar, have the same target, and were found safe or had an acceptable risk in preclinical and clinical trials, yet tolcapone induced unacceptable levels of hepatotoxicity while entacapone was found to be safe. Results demonstrate the utility of the MPS-Db as an essential resource for relating in vitro organ model data to the multiple biochemical, preclinical, and clinical data sources on in vivo drug effects. PMID:28781990

ESA Human rating Requirements:Status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trujillo, M.; Sgobba, T.

2012-01-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) human rating safety requirements are based on heritage requirements of the International Space Station as well as the knowledge and experience derived from European participation on international partnerships. This expertise in conjunction with recommendations derived from past accidents (i.e.: Columbia) and lessons learned have led to the identification of m inimum core safety tech nical requirements for hum an rated space syst ems. These requirements apply to th e crewed space vehicle, integrated space system (i.e.: cre wed vehicle on its launcher) and its interfaces with control centres, la unch pad, etc. In 2009, a first draft was issued. Then, in the summer of 2010, ESA established a working group comprised of more than twenty experts (from disciplines including propulsion, pyrotechnics, structures, avionics, human factors and life support among others) across the Agency to review this draft. This paper provides an overview of ESA "Safety technical re quirements for human rated s pace systems" document, its scope a nd structure, as well as the planned steps for verification of these requirements in term s of achieving the identified safety objectives for crew safety in t erms of a quantitative risk evaluation.

Protecting Patients from an Unsafe System: The Etiology & Recovery of Intra-Operative Deviations in Care

PubMed Central

Hu, Yue-Yung; Arriaga, Alexander F.; Roth, Emilie M.; Peyre, Sarah E.; Corso, Katherine A.; Swanson, Richard S.; Osteen, Robert T.; Schmitt, Pamela; Bader, Angela M.; Zinner, Michael J.; Greenberg, Caprice C.

2012-01-01

Objective To understand the etiology and resolution of unanticipated events in the operating room (OR). Background The majority of surgical adverse events occur intra-operatively. The OR represents a complex, high-risk system. The influence of different human, team, and organizational/environmental factors on safety and performance is unknown. Methods We video-recorded and transcribed 10 high-acuity operations, representing 43.7 hours of patient care. Deviations, defined as delays and/or episodes of decreased patient safety, were identified by majority consensus of a multidisciplinary team. Factors that contributed to each event and/or mitigated its impact were determined and attributed to the patient, providers, or environment/organization. Results Thirty-three deviations (10 delays, 17 safety compromises, 6 both) occurred – with a mean of one every 79.4 minutes. These deviations were multifactorial (mean 3.1 factors). Problems with communication and organizational structure appeared repeatedly at the root of both types of deviations. Delays tended to be resolved with vigilance, communication, coordination, and cooperation, while mediation of safety compromises was most frequently accomplished with vigilance, leadership, communication, and/or coordination. The organization/environment was not found to play a direct role in compensation. Conclusions Unanticipated events are common in the OR. Deviations result from poor organizational/environmental design and suboptimal team dynamics, with caregivers compensating to avoid patient harm. While recognized in other high risk domains, such human resilience has not yet been described in surgery and has major implications for the design of safety interventions. PMID:22750753

Quantitative safety assessment of air traffic control systems through system control capacity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jingjing

Quantitative Safety Assessments (QSA) are essential to safety benefit verification and regulations of developmental changes in safety critical systems like the Air Traffic Control (ATC) systems. Effectiveness of the assessments is particularly desirable today in the safe implementations of revolutionary ATC overhauls like NextGen and SESAR. QSA of ATC systems are however challenged by system complexity and lack of accident data. Extending from the idea "safety is a control problem" in the literature, this research proposes to assess system safety from the control perspective, through quantifying a system's "control capacity". A system's safety performance correlates to this "control capacity" in the control of "safety critical processes". To examine this idea in QSA of the ATC systems, a Control-capacity Based Safety Assessment Framework (CBSAF) is developed which includes two control capacity metrics and a procedural method. The two metrics are Probabilistic System Control-capacity (PSC) and Temporal System Control-capacity (TSC); each addresses an aspect of a system's control capacity. And the procedural method consists three general stages: I) identification of safety critical processes, II) development of system control models and III) evaluation of system control capacity. The CBSAF was tested in two case studies. The first one assesses an en-route collision avoidance scenario and compares three hypothetical configurations. The CBSAF was able to capture the uncoordinated behavior between two means of control, as was observed in a historic midair collision accident. The second case study compares CBSAF with an existing risk based QSA method in assessing the safety benefits of introducing a runway incursion alert system. Similar conclusions are reached between the two methods, while the CBSAF has the advantage of simplicity and provides a new control-based perspective and interpretation to the assessments. The case studies are intended to investigate the potential and demonstrate the utilities of CBSAF and are not intended for thorough studies of collision avoidance and runway incursions safety, which are extremely challenging problems. Further development and thorough validations are required to allow CBSAF to reach implementation phases, e.g. addressing the issues of limited scalability and subjectivity.

Remote Safety Monitoring for Elderly Persons Based on Omni-Vision Analysis

PubMed Central

Xiang, Yun; Tang, Yi-ping; Ma, Bao-qing; Yan, Hang-chen; Jiang, Jun; Tian, Xu-yuan

2015-01-01

Remote monitoring service for elderly persons is important as the aged populations in most developed countries continue growing. To monitor the safety and health of the elderly population, we propose a novel omni-directional vision sensor based system, which can detect and track object motion, recognize human posture, and analyze human behavior automatically. In this work, we have made the following contributions: (1) we develop a remote safety monitoring system which can provide real-time and automatic health care for the elderly persons and (2) we design a novel motion history or energy images based algorithm for motion object tracking. Our system can accurately and efficiently collect, analyze, and transfer elderly activity information and provide health care in real-time. Experimental results show that our technique can improve the data analysis efficiency by 58.5% for object tracking. Moreover, for the human posture recognition application, the success rate can reach 98.6% on average. PMID:25978761

Quantifying Pilot Contribution to Flight Safety During an In-Flight Airspeed Failure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Etherington, Timothy J.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.; Kennedey, Kellie D.

2017-01-01

Accident statistics cite the flight crew as a causal factor in over 60% of large transport fatal accidents. Yet a well-trained and well-qualified crew is acknowledged as the critical center point of aircraft systems safety and an integral component of the entire commercial aviation system. A human-in-the-loop test was conducted using a Level D certified Boeing 737-800 simulator to evaluate the pilot's contribution to safety-of-flight during routine air carrier flight operations and in response to system failures. To quantify the human's contribution, crew complement was used as an independent variable in a between-subjects design. This paper details the crew's actions and responses while dealing with an in-flight airspeed failure. Accident statistics often cite flight crew error (Baker, 2001) as the primary contributor in accidents and incidents in transport category aircraft. However, the Air Line Pilots Association (2011) suggests "a well-trained and well-qualified pilot is acknowledged as the critical center point of the aircraft systems safety and an integral safety component of the entire commercial aviation system." This is generally acknowledged but cannot be verified because little or no quantitative data exists on how or how many accidents/incidents are averted by crew actions. Anecdotal evidence suggest crews handle failures on a daily basis and Aviation Safety Action Program data generally supports this assertion, even if the data is not released to the public. However without hard evidence, the contribution and means by which pilots achieve safety of flight is difficult to define. Thus, ways to improve the human ability to contribute or overcome deficiencies are ill-defined.

Formally verifying human–automation interaction as part of a system model: limitations and tradeoffs

PubMed Central

Bass, Ellen J.

2011-01-01

Both the human factors engineering (HFE) and formal methods communities are concerned with improving the design of safety-critical systems. This work discusses a modeling effort that leveraged methods from both fields to perform formal verification of human–automation interaction with a programmable device. This effort utilizes a system architecture composed of independent models of the human mission, human task behavior, human-device interface, device automation, and operational environment. The goals of this architecture were to allow HFE practitioners to perform formal verifications of realistic systems that depend on human–automation interaction in a reasonable amount of time using representative models, intuitive modeling constructs, and decoupled models of system components that could be easily changed to support multiple analyses. This framework was instantiated using a patient controlled analgesia pump in a two phased process where models in each phase were verified using a common set of specifications. The first phase focused on the mission, human-device interface, and device automation; and included a simple, unconstrained human task behavior model. The second phase replaced the unconstrained task model with one representing normative pump programming behavior. Because models produced in the first phase were too large for the model checker to verify, a number of model revisions were undertaken that affected the goals of the effort. While the use of human task behavior models in the second phase helped mitigate model complexity, verification time increased. Additional modeling tools and technological developments are necessary for model checking to become a more usable technique for HFE. PMID:21572930

Using the Human Systems Simulation Laboratory at Idaho National Laboratory for Safety Focused Research

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Joe, Jeffrey .C; Boring, Ronald L.

Under the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have been using the Human Systems Simulation Laboratory (HSSL) to conduct critical safety focused Human Factors research and development (R&D) for the nuclear industry. The LWRS program has the overall objective to develop the scientific basis to extend existing nuclear power plant (NPP) operating life beyond the current 60-year licensing period and to ensure their long-term reliability, productivity, safety, and security. One focus area for LWRS is the NPP main control room (MCR), because many of the instrumentation andmore » control (I&C) system technologies installed in the MCR, while highly reliable and safe, are now difficult to replace and are therefore limiting the operating life of the NPP. This paper describes how INL researchers use the HSSL to conduct Human Factors R&D on modernizing or upgrading these I&C systems in a step-wise manner, and how the HSSL has addressed a significant gap in how to upgrade systems and technologies that are built to last, and therefore require careful integration of analog and new advanced digital technologies.« less

Understanding the value of mixed methods research: the Children's Safety Initiative-Emergency Medical Services.

PubMed

Hansen, Matthew; O'Brien, Kerth; Meckler, Garth; Chang, Anna Marie; Guise, Jeanne-Marie

2016-07-01

Mixed methods research has significant potential to broaden the scope of emergency care and specifically emergency medical services investigation. Mixed methods studies involve the coordinated use of qualitative and quantitative research approaches to gain a fuller understanding of practice. By combining what is learnt from multiple methods, these approaches can help to characterise complex healthcare systems, identify the mechanisms of complex problems such as medical errors and understand aspects of human interaction such as communication, behaviour and team performance. Mixed methods approaches may be particularly useful for out-of-hospital care researchers because care is provided in complex systems where equipment, interpersonal interactions, societal norms, environment and other factors influence patient outcomes. The overall objectives of this paper are to (1) introduce the fundamental concepts and approaches of mixed methods research and (2) describe the interrelation and complementary features of the quantitative and qualitative components of mixed methods studies using specific examples from the Children's Safety Initiative-Emergency Medical Services (CSI-EMS), a large National Institutes of Health-funded research project conducted in the USA. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Challenges in Developing Competency-based Training Curriculum for Food Safety Regulators in India

PubMed Central

Thippaiah, Anitha; Allagh, Komal Preet; Murthy, G. V.

2014-01-01

Context: The Food Safety and Standards Act have redefined the roles and responsibilities of food regulatory workforce and calls for highly skilled human resources as it involves complex management procedures. Aims: 1) Identify the competencies needed among the food regulatory workforce in India. 2) Develop a competency-based training curriculum for food safety regulators in the country. 3) Develop training materials for use to train the food regulatory workforce. Settings and Design: The Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad, led the development of training curriculum on food safety with technical assistance from the Royal Society for Public Health, UK and the National Institute of Nutrition, India. The exercise was to facilitate the implementation of new Act by undertaking capacity building through a comprehensive training program. Materials and Methods: A competency-based training needs assessment was conducted before undertaking the development of the training materials. Results: The training program for Food Safety Officers was designed to comprise of five modules to include: Food science and technology, Food safety management systems, Food safety legislation, Enforcement of food safety regulations, and Administrative functions. Each module has a facilitator guide for the tutor and a handbook for the participant. Essentials of Food Hygiene-I (Basic level), II and III (Retail/ Catering/ Manufacturing) were primarily designed for training of food handlers and are part of essential reading for food safety regulators. Conclusion: The Food Safety and Standards Act calls for highly skilled human resources as it involves complex management procedures. Despite having developed a comprehensive competency-based training curriculum by joint efforts by the local, national, and international agencies, implementation remains a challenge in resource-limited setting. PMID:25136155

Command Recognition of Robot with Low Dimension Whole-Body Haptic Sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, Tatsuya; Tsuji, Toshiaki

The authors have developed “haptic armor”, a whole-body haptic sensor that has an ability to estimate contact position. Although it is developed for safety assurance of robots in human environment, it can also be used as an interface. This paper proposes a command recognition method based on finger trace information. This paper also discusses some technical issues for improving recognition accuracy of this system.

Psychophysiology of Humans in Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cowings, P.S.; Wade, Charles E. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Psychophysiological methods can provide aerospace medicine investigators with a unique perspective on the diagnosis and treatment of biomedical problems of humans in space. As psychophysiologists, we measure physiological responses to environmental stressors as a means of assessing and modifying their effects on behavior and performance. In the course of an 20-year research program. we have determined that this approach can be used to: (1) objectively identify physiological correlates of discomfort, malaise and performance; and (2) correct autonomic nervous system (ANS) disturbance and thereby increase tolerance to environmental stressors without the need for pharmacological intervention. The research presented will describe the application of psychophysiological methods for studying human adaptation to space and developing behavioral medicine techniques for facilitating this adaptation as well a readaptation to Earth. The goal of this work is to enhance the safety, comfort and operational efficiency of passengers and crew during spaceflight.

Developing and Evaluating an Automated All-Cause Harm Trigger System.

PubMed

Sammer, Christine; Miller, Susanne; Jones, Cason; Nelson, Antoinette; Garrett, Paul; Classen, David; Stockwell, David

2017-04-01

From 2009 through 2012, the Adventist Health System Patient Safety Organization (AHS PSO) used the Global Trigger Tool method for harm identification and demonstrated harm reduction. Although the awareness of harm demonstrated opportunities for improvement across the system, leaders determined that the human and fiscal resources required to continue with a retrospective manual harm identification process were unsustainable. In addition, there was growing concern that the identification of harm after the patient's discharge did not allow for intervention during the hospital stay. Therefore, the AHS PSO decided to seek an alternative method for patient harm identification. The AHS PSO and another PSO jointly developed a novel automated all-cause harm trigger identification system that allowed for real-time bedside intervention, real-time trend analysis affecting patient safety, and continued learning about harm measurement. A sociotechnical approach of people, process, and technology was used at two pilot hospitals sharing the same electronic health record platform. Automated positive harm triggers and work-flow models were developed and evaluated. Combined data from the two hospitals in a period of 11 consecutive months indicated (1) a total of 2,696 harms (combined hospital-acquired and outside-acquired); (2) that hypoglycemia (blood glucose ≤ 40 mg/dL) was the most frequently identified harm; (3) 256 harms related to the Patient Safety Indicator 90 (PSI 90) Composite descriptions versus 77 harms reported to regulatory harm reduction programs; and (4) that almost one third (32%) of total harms were classified as outside-acquired. The automated harm trigger system revealed not only more harm but a broader scope of harm and led to a deeper understanding of patient safety vulnerabilities. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SSTAC/ARTS review of the draft Integrated Technology Plan (ITP). Volume 5: Human Support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

Viewgraphs of briefings from the Space Systems and Technology Advisory Committee (SSTAC)/ARTS review of the draft integrated technology plan (ITP) on human support are included. Topics covered include: human support program; human factors; life support technology; fire safety; medical support technology; advanced refrigeration technology; EVA suit system; advanced PLSS technology; and ARC-EVA systems research program.

CE: Nursing's Evolving Role in Patient Safety.

PubMed

Kowalski, Sonya L; Anthony, Maureen

2017-02-01

: Background: In its 1999 report To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) suggested that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die annually as a result of medical errors. The report urged health care institutions to break the silence surrounding such errors and to implement changes that would promote a culture of safety. Our aim in conducting this content analysis of AJN articles was to explore the nurse's historical and contemporary role in promoting patient safety. We chose to focus on AJN because, as the oldest continuously published nursing journal, it provided a unique opportunity for us to view trends in nursing practice over more than 100 years. We reviewed all AJN tables of contents from 1900 through 2015, identifying for inclusion articles with titles that suggested a focus on nursing care, patient safety, or clinical content. We then read and analyzed each of the final 1,086 articles over a period of nine months. Our content analysis indicates that the early articles (from 1900 through 1920) focused on such safety measures as asepsis and the newly understood germ theory. In the 1930s, articles proposed methods for preventing medication errors and encouraged the development of written procedures to standardize care. During World War II, nurse authors identified improved patient survival rates with the use of "shock wards" and recovery rooms. The 1950s saw the emergence of progressive patient care initiatives, through which patients were assigned to various levels of care (intensive, intermediate, self, long-term, or home care) based on patient acuity. The 1960s brought increasingly complex equipment and medication regimens, which created safety problems. Hospital-acquired infections were recognized. Unit-dose medication was instituted in the 1970s. In the next two decades, medication and nursing-procedure safety were emphasized. From 2000 to 2015, articles looked beyond human performance as causes of health care errors to systemic factors, such as poor communication, patient-nurse ratios, provider skill mix, disruptive or inappropriate provider behavior, shift work, and long working hours. Emphasis on patient safety increased as patient care became more complex. As nurses developed a professional identity, they often put a spotlight on safety concerns and solutions. The IOM report, which encouraged research focused on systemic solutions to errors, was instrumental in furthering the very culture of safety that the nursing profession had championed.

Usability Methods for Ensuring Health Information Technology Safety: Evidence-Based Approaches. Contribution of the IMIA Working Group Health Informatics for Patient Safety.

PubMed

Borycki, E; Kushniruk, A; Nohr, C; Takeda, H; Kuwata, S; Carvalho, C; Bainbridge, M; Kannry, J

2013-01-01

Issues related to lack of system usability and potential safety hazards continue to be reported in the health information technology (HIT) literature. Usability engineering methods are increasingly used to ensure improved system usability and they are also beginning to be applied more widely for ensuring the safety of HIT applications. These methods are being used in the design and implementation of many HIT systems. In this paper we describe evidence-based approaches to applying usability engineering methods. A multi-phased approach to ensuring system usability and safety in healthcare is described. Usability inspection methods are first described including the development of evidence-based safety heuristics for HIT. Laboratory-based usability testing is then conducted under artificial conditions to test if a system has any base level usability problems that need to be corrected. Usability problems that are detected are corrected and then a new phase is initiated where the system is tested under more realistic conditions using clinical simulations. This phase may involve testing the system with simulated patients. Finally, an additional phase may be conducted, involving a naturalistic study of system use under real-world clinical conditions. The methods described have been employed in the analysis of the usability and safety of a wide range of HIT applications, including electronic health record systems, decision support systems and consumer health applications. It has been found that at least usability inspection and usability testing should be applied prior to the widespread release of HIT. However, wherever possible, additional layers of testing involving clinical simulations and a naturalistic evaluation will likely detect usability and safety issues that may not otherwise be detected prior to widespread system release. The framework presented in the paper can be applied in order to develop more usable and safer HIT, based on multiple layers of evidence.

Validation of an ergonomic method to withdraw [99mTc] radiopharmaceuticals.

PubMed

Blondeel-Gomes, Sandy; Marie, Solène; Fouque, Julien; Loyeau, Sabrina; Madar, Olivier; Lokiec, François

2017-11-10

The main objective of the present work was to ensure quality of radiopharmaceuticals syringes withdrawn with a "Spinal needle/obturator In-Stopper" system. Methods: Visual examinations and physicochemical tests are performed at T0 and T+4h for [ 99m Tc]albumin nanocolloid and T+7h for [ 99m Tc]eluate, [ 99m Tc] HydroxyMethylene DiPhosphonate and [ 99m Tc]Human Serum Albumin. Microbiological validation was performed according to European pharmacopoeia. Fingertip radiation exposure was evaluated to confirm the safety of the system. Results: Results show stable visual and physicochemical properties. The integrity of the connector was not affected after 30 punctures (no cores). No microbiological contamination was found on tested syringes. Conclusion: The system could be used 30 times. The stability of syringes drawing with this method is guaranteed up to 4 hours for [ 99m Tc]albumin nanocolloid and 7 hours for [ 99m Tc]eluate, [ 99m Tc]HydroxyMethylene DisPhosphonate and [ 99m Tc]Human serum albumin. Copyright © 2017 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.

Effect of two pasteurization methods on the protein content of human milk.

PubMed

Baro, Cristina; Giribaldi, Marzia; Arslanoglu, Sertac; Giuffrida, Maria Gabriella; Dellavalle, Giuseppina; Conti, Amedeo; Tonetto, Paola; Biasini, Augusto; Coscia, Alessandra; Fabris, Claudio; Moro, Guido Eugenio; Cavallarin, Laura; Bertino, Enrico

2011-06-01

The Holder method is the recommended pasteurization method for human milk banks, as it ensures the microbiological safety of human milk (HM). The loss of some biologically active milk components, due to the heat treatment, is a main limit to the diffusion of donor HM. High-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurization may be an alternative to maintain the nutritional and immunological quality of HM. The aim of the present study was to compare the impact of Holder and HTST pasteurization on the HM protein profile. The protein patterns of HTST-treated milk and raw milk were similar. The Holder method modified bile salt-stimulated lipase, lactoferrin and components of the immune system. The HTST method preserved the integrity of bile salt-stimulated lipase, lactoferrin and, to some extent, of IgAs. Holder pasteurization decreased the amount of bile salt-stimulated lipase and inactivated the remaining molecules, while the HTST method did not alter its activity. Pasteurization increased the bioavailable lysine quantity. HTST pasteurization seems to better retain the protein profile and some of the key active components of donor HM.

Stability basin estimates fall risk from observed kinematics, demonstrated on the Sit-to-Stand task.

PubMed

Shia, Victor; Moore, Talia Yuki; Holmes, Patrick; Bajcsy, Ruzena; Vasudevan, Ram

2018-04-27

The ability to quantitatively measure stability is essential to ensuring the safety of locomoting systems. While the response to perturbation directly reflects the stability of a motion, this experimental method puts human subjects at risk. Unfortunately, existing indirect methods for estimating stability from unperturbed motion have been shown to have limited predictive power. This paper leverages recent advances in dynamical systems theory to accurately estimate the stability of human motion without requiring perturbation. This approach relies on kinematic observations of a nominal Sit-to-Stand motion to construct an individual-specific dynamic model, input bounds, and feedback control that are then used to compute the set of perturbations from which the model can recover. This set, referred to as the stability basin, was computed for 14 individuals, and was able to successfully differentiate between less and more stable Sit-to-Stand strategies for each individual with greater accuracy than existing methods. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human Factors Engineering as a System in the Vision for Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitmore, Mihriban; Smith, Danielle; Holden, Kritina

2006-01-01

In order to accomplish NASA's Vision for Exploration, while assuring crew safety and productivity, human performance issues must be well integrated into system design from mission conception. To that end, a two-year Technology Development Project (TDP) was funded by NASA Headquarters to develop a systematic method for including the human as a system in NASA's Vision for Exploration. The specific goals of this project are to review current Human Systems Integration (HSI) standards (i.e., industry, military, NASA) and tailor them to selected NASA Exploration activities. Once the methods are proven in the selected domains, a plan will be developed to expand the effort to a wider scope of Exploration activities. The methods will be documented for inclusion in NASA-specific documents (such as the Human Systems Integration Standards, NASA-STD-3000) to be used in future space systems. The current project builds on a previous TDP dealing with Human Factors Engineering processes. That project identified the key phases of the current NASA design lifecycle, and outlined the recommended HFE activities that should be incorporated at each phase. The project also resulted in a prototype of a webbased HFE process tool that could be used to support an ideal HFE development process at NASA. This will help to augment the limited human factors resources available by providing a web-based tool that explains the importance of human factors, teaches a recommended process, and then provides the instructions, templates and examples to carry out the process steps. The HFE activities identified by the previous TDP are being tested in situ for the current effort through support to a specific NASA Exploration activity. Currently, HFE personnel are working with systems engineering personnel to identify HSI impacts for lunar exploration by facilitating the generation of systemlevel Concepts of Operations (ConOps). For example, medical operations scenarios have been generated for lunar habitation in order to identify HSI requirements for the lunar communications architecture. Throughout these ConOps exercises, HFE personnel are testing various tools and methodologies that have been identified in the literature. A key part of the effort is the identification of optimal processes, methods, and tools for these early development phase activities, such as ConOps, requirements development, and early conceptual design. An overview of the activities completed thus far, as well as the tools and methods investigated will be presented.

An Evaluation of the Effects of Human Factors and Ergonomics on Health Care and Patient Safety Practices: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Zhang, Longhao; Zhao, Pujing; Chen, Ying; Zhang, Mingming

2015-01-01

Background From the viewpoint of human factors and ergonomics (HFE), errors often occur because of the mismatch between the system, technique and characteristics of the human body. HFE is a scientific discipline concerned with understanding interactions between human behavior, system design and safety. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of HFE interventions in improving health care workers’ outcomes and patient safety and to assess the quality of the available evidence. Methods We searched databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS Previews and the CBM (Chinese BioMedical Literature Database), for articles published from 1996 to Mar.2015. The quality assessment tool was based on the risk of bias criteria developed by the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organization of Care (EPOC) Group. The interventions of the included studies were categorized into four relevant domains, as defined by the International Ergonomics Association. Results For this descriptive study, we identified 8, 949 studies based on our initial search. Finally, 28 studies with 3,227 participants were included. Among the 28 included studies, 20 studies were controlled studies, two of which were randomized controlled trials. The other eight studies were before/after surveys, without controls. Most of the studies were of moderate or low quality. Five broad categories of outcomes were identified in this study: 1) medical errors or patient safety, 2) health care workers’ quality of working life (e.g. reduced fatigue, discomfort, workload, pain and injury), 3) user performance (e.g., efficiency or accuracy), 4) health care workers’ attitudes towards the interventions(e.g., satisfaction and preference), and 5) economic evaluations. Conclusion The results showed that the interventions positively affected the outcomes of health care workers. Few studies considered the financial merits of these interventions. Most of the included studies were of moderate quality. This review highlights the need for scientific and standardized guidelines regarding how HFE should be implemented in health care. PMID:26067774

A Steady-State Visual Evoked Potential Brain-Computer Interface System Evaluation as an In-Vehicle Warning Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riyahi, Pouria

This thesis is part of current research at Center for Intelligence Systems Research (CISR) at The George Washington University for developing new in-vehicle warning systems via Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs). The purpose of conducting this research is to contribute to the current gap between BCI and in-vehicle safety studies. It is based on the premise that accurate and timely monitoring of human (driver) brain's signal to external stimuli could significantly aide in detection of driver's intentions and development of effective warning systems. The thesis starts with introducing the concept of BCI and its development history while it provides a literature review on the nature of brain signals. The current advancement and increasing demand for commercial and non-medical BCI products are described. In addition, the recent research attempts in transportation safety to study drivers' behavior or responses through brain signals are reviewed. The safety studies, which are focused on employing a reliable and practical BCI system as an in-vehicle assistive device, are also introduced. A major focus of this thesis research has been on the evaluation and development of the signal processing algorithms which can effectively filter and process brain signals when the human subject is subjected to Visual LED (Light Emitting Diodes) stimuli at different frequencies. The stimulated brain generates a voltage potential, referred to as Steady-State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP). Therefore, a newly modified analysis algorithm for detecting the brain visual signals is proposed. These algorithms are designed to reach a satisfactory accuracy rate without preliminary trainings, hence focusing on eliminating the need for lengthy training of human subjects. Another important concern is the ability of the algorithms to find correlation of brain signals with external visual stimuli in real-time. The developed analysis models are based on algorithms which are capable of generating results for real-time processing of BCI devices. All of these methods are evaluated through two sets of recorded brain signals which were recorded by g.TEC CO. as an external source and recorded brain signals during our car driving simulator experiments. The final discussion is about how the presence of an SSVEP based warning system could affect drivers' performances which is defined by their reaction distance and Time to Collision (TTC). Three different scenarios with and without warning LEDs were planned to measure the subjects' normal driving behavior and their performance while they use a warning system during their driving task. Finally, warning scenarios are divided into short and long warning periods without and with informing the subjects, respectively. The long warning period scenario attempts to determine the level of drivers' distraction or vigilance during driving. The good outcome of warning scenarios can bridge between vehicle safety studies and online BCI system design research. The preliminary results show some promise of the developed methods for in-vehicle safety systems. However, for any decisive conclusion that considers using a BCI system as a helpful in-vehicle assistive device requires far deeper scrutinizing.

First-in-Human Trial of MIV-150 and Zinc Acetate Coformulated in a Carrageenan Gel: Safety, Pharmacokinetics, Acceptability, Adherence, and Pharmacodynamics

PubMed Central

Hoesley, Craig J.; Plagianos, Marlena; Hoskin, Elena; Zhang, Shimin; Teleshova, Natalia; Alami, Mohcine; Novak, Lea; Kleinbeck, Kyle R.; Katzen, Lauren L.; Zydowsky, Thomas M.; Fernández-Romero, José A.; Creasy, George W.

2016-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of MIV-150 and zinc acetate in a carrageenan gel (PC-1005). Acceptability, adherence, and pharmacodynamics were also explored. Design: A 3-day open-label safety run-in (n = 5) preceded a placebo-controlled, double-blind trial in healthy, HIV-negative, abstinent women randomized (4:1) to vaginally apply 4 mL of PC-1005 or placebo once daily for 14 days. Methods: Assessments included physical examinations, safety labs, colposcopy, biopsies, cervicovaginal lavages (CVLs), and behavioral questionnaires. MIV-150 (plasma, CVL, tissue), zinc (plasma, CVL), and carrageenan (CVL) concentrations were determined with LC-MS/MS, ICP-MS, and ELISA, respectively. CVL antiviral activity was measured using cell-based assays. Safety, acceptability, and adherence were analyzed descriptively. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using noncompartmental techniques and actual sampling times. CVL antiviral EC50 values were calculated using a dose–response inhibition analysis. Results: Participants (n = 20) ranged from 19–44 years old; 52% were black or African American. Among those completing the trial (13/17, PC-1005; 3/3, placebo), 11/17 reported liking the gel overall; 7 recommended reducing the volume. Adverse events, which were primarily mild and/or unrelated, were comparable between groups. Low systemic MIV-150 levels were observed, without accumulation. Plasma zinc levels were unchanged from baseline. Seven of seven CVLs collected 4-hour postdose demonstrated antiviral (HIV, human papillomavirus) activity. High baseline CVL anti–herpes-simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2) activity precluded assessment of postdose activity. Conclusions: PC-1005 used vaginally for 14 days was well tolerated. Low systemic levels of MIV-150 were observed. Plasma zinc levels were unchanged. Postdose CVLs had anti-HIV and anti–human papillomavirus activity. These data warrant further development of PC-1005 for HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention. PMID:27437826

Implementing Software Safety in the NASA Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wetherholt, Martha S.; Radley, Charles F.

1994-01-01

Until recently, NASA did not consider allowing computers total control of flight systems. Human operators, via hardware, have constituted the ultimate safety control. In an attempt to reduce costs, NASA has come to rely more and more heavily on computers and software to control space missions. (For example. software is now planned to control most of the operational functions of the International Space Station.) Thus the need for systematic software safety programs has become crucial for mission success. Concurrent engineering principles dictate that safety should be designed into software up front, not tested into the software after the fact. 'Cost of Quality' studies have statistics and metrics to prove the value of building quality and safety into the development cycle. Unfortunately, most software engineers are not familiar with designing for safety, and most safety engineers are not software experts. Software written to specifications which have not been safety analyzed is a major source of computer related accidents. Safer software is achieved step by step throughout the system and software life cycle. It is a process that includes requirements definition, hazard analyses, formal software inspections, safety analyses, testing, and maintenance. The greatest emphasis is placed on clearly and completely defining system and software requirements, including safety and reliability requirements. Unfortunately, development and review of requirements are the weakest link in the process. While some of the more academic methods, e.g. mathematical models, may help bring about safer software, this paper proposes the use of currently approved software methodologies, and sound software and assurance practices to show how, to a large degree, safety can be designed into software from the start. NASA's approach today is to first conduct a preliminary system hazard analysis (PHA) during the concept and planning phase of a project. This determines the overall hazard potential of the system to be built. Shortly thereafter, as the system requirements are being defined, the second iteration of hazard analyses takes place, the systems hazard analysis (SHA). During the systems requirements phase, decisions are made as to what functions of the system will be the responsibility of software. This is the most critical time to affect the safety of the software. From this point, software safety analyses as well as software engineering practices are the main focus for assuring safe software. While many of the steps proposed in this paper seem like just sound engineering practices, they are the best technical and most cost effective means to assure safe software within a safe system.

Improving patient safety: patient-focused, high-reliability team training.

PubMed

McKeon, Leslie M; Cunningham, Patricia D; Oswaks, Jill S Detty

2009-01-01

Healthcare systems are recognizing "human factor" flaws that result in adverse outcomes. Nurses work around system failures, although increasing healthcare complexity makes this harder to do without risk of error. Aviation and military organizations achieve ultrasafe outcomes through high-reliability practice. We describe how reliability principles were used to teach nurses to improve patient safety at the front line of care. Outcomes include safety-oriented, teamwork communication competency; reflections on safety culture and clinical leadership are discussed.

Symposium on Aviation Psychology, 1st, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, April 21, 22, 1981, Proceedings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

The impact of modern technology on the role, responsibility, authority, and performance of human operators in modern aircraft and ATC systems was examined in terms of principles defined by Paul Fitts. Research into human factors in aircraft operations and the use of human factors engineering for aircraft safety improvements were discussed, and features of the man-machine interface in computerized cockpit warning systems are examined. The design and operational features of computerized avionics displays and HUDs are described, along with results of investigations into pilot decision-making behavior, aircrew procedural compliance, and aircrew judgment training programs. Experiments in vision and visual perception are detailed, as are behavioral studies of crew workload, coordination, and complement. The effectiveness of pilot selection, screening, and training techniques are assessed, as are methods for evaluating pilot performance.

[The population's insurance protection as a mechanism responsible for provision of sanitary and epidemiological well-being].

PubMed

Iarushin, S V

2007-01-01

The paper describes a principal scheme of insurance protection organization due to the negative human influences of environmental factors and industrial risks as one of the most effective mechanisms responsible for controlling sanitary-and-epidemiological well-being and human health. It also considers how a voluntary medical collective insurance program and a civil responsibility insurance one are being implemented due to unforeseen damages done to the population's health and how the quality and safety of goods (work, services) are controlled. Organizational, methodic, and normative legal approaches are proposed to developing the population's insurance protection system.

Mixed-Initiative Activity Planning for Mars Rovers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bresina, John; Jonsson, Ari; Morris, Paul; Rajan, Kanna

2005-01-01

One of the ground tools used to operate the Mars Exploration Rovers is a mixed-initiative planning system called MAPGEN. The role of the system is to assist operators building daily plans for each of the rovers, maximizing science return, while maintaining rover safety and abiding by science and engineering constraints. In this paper, we describe the MAPGEN system, focusing on the mixed-initiative planning aspect. We note important challenges, both in terms of human interaction and in terms of automated reasoning requirements. We then describe the approaches taken in MAPGEN, focusing on the novel methods developed by our team.

Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design

PubMed Central

Thimbleby, Harold; Oladimeji, Patrick; Cairns, Paul

2015-01-01

Number entry is a ubiquitous activity and is often performed in safety- and mission-critical procedures, such as healthcare, science, finance, aviation and in many other areas. We show that Monte Carlo methods can quickly and easily compare the reliability of different number entry systems. A surprising finding is that many common, widely used systems are defective, and induce unnecessary human error. We show that Monte Carlo methods enable designers to explore the implications of normal and unexpected operator behaviour, and to design systems to be more resilient to use error. We demonstrate novel designs with improved resilience, implying that the common problems identified and the errors they induce are avoidable. PMID:26354830

Student manual, Book 2: Orientation to occupational safety compliance in DOE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Colley, D.L.

1993-10-01

This is a student hand-book an Occupational Safety Compliance in DOE. Topics include the following: Electrical; materials handling & storage; inspection responsibilities & procedures; general environmental controls; confined space entry; lockout/tagout; office safety, ergonomics & human factors; medical & first aid, access to records; construction safety; injury/illness reporting system; and accident investigation procedures.

[Topical issues of biological safety under current conditions. Part 2. Conceptual, terminological, and definitive framework of biological safety].

PubMed

Onishchenko, G G; Smolenskiĭ, V Iu; Ezhlova, E B; Demina, Iu V; Toporkov, V P; Toporkov, A V; Liapin, M N; Kutyrev, V V

2013-01-01

In accordance with the established conceptual base for the up-to-date broad interpretation of biological safety, and IHR (2005), developed is the notional, terminological, and definitive framework, comprising 33 elements. Key item of the nomenclature is the biological safety that is identified as population safety (individual, social, national) from direct and (or) human environment mediated (occupational, socio-economic, geopolitical infrastructures, ecological system) exposures to hazardous biological factors. Ultimate objective of the biological safety provision is to prevent and liquidate aftermaths of emergency situations of biological character either of natural or human origin (anthropogenic) arising from direct and indirect impact of the biological threats to the public health compatible with national and international security hazard. Elaborated terminological framework allows for the construction of self-sufficient semantic content for biological safety provision, subject to formalization in legislative, normative and methodological respects and indicative of improvement as regards organizational and structural-functional groundwork of the Russian Federation National chemical and biological safety system, which is to become topical issue of Part 3.

A safety-based decision making architecture for autonomous systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Musto, Joseph C.; Lauderbaugh, L. K.

1991-01-01

Engineering systems designed specifically for space applications often exhibit a high level of autonomy in the control and decision-making architecture. As the level of autonomy increases, more emphasis must be placed on assimilating the safety functions normally executed at the hardware level or by human supervisors into the control architecture of the system. The development of a decision-making structure which utilizes information on system safety is detailed. A quantitative measure of system safety, called the safety self-information, is defined. This measure is analogous to the reliability self-information defined by McInroy and Saridis, but includes weighting of task constraints to provide a measure of both reliability and cost. An example is presented in which the safety self-information is used as a decision criterion in a mobile robot controller. The safety self-information is shown to be consistent with the entropy-based Theory of Intelligent Machines defined by Saridis.

Integration of Active and Passive Safety Technologies--A Method to Study and Estimate Field Capability.

PubMed

Hu, Jingwen; Flannagan, Carol A; Bao, Shan; McCoy, Robert W; Siasoco, Kevin M; Barbat, Saeed

2015-11-01

The objective of this study is to develop a method that uses a combination of field data analysis, naturalistic driving data analysis, and computational simulations to explore the potential injury reduction capabilities of integrating passive and active safety systems in frontal impact conditions. For the purposes of this study, the active safety system is actually a driver assist (DA) feature that has the potential to reduce delta-V prior to a crash, in frontal or other crash scenarios. A field data analysis was first conducted to estimate the delta-V distribution change based on an assumption of 20% crash avoidance resulting from a pre-crash braking DA feature. Analysis of changes in driver head location during 470 hard braking events in a naturalistic driving study found that drivers' head positions were mostly in the center position before the braking onset, while the percentage of time drivers leaning forward or backward increased significantly after the braking onset. Parametric studies with a total of 4800 MADYMO simulations showed that both delta-V and occupant pre-crash posture had pronounced effects on occupant injury risks and on the optimal restraint designs. By combining the results for the delta-V and head position distribution changes, a weighted average of injury risk reduction of 17% and 48% was predicted by the 50th percentile Anthropomorphic Test Device (ATD) model and human body model, respectively, with the assumption that the restraint system can adapt to the specific delta-V and pre-crash posture. This study demonstrated the potential for further reducing occupant injury risk in frontal crashes by the integration of a passive safety system with a DA feature. Future analyses considering more vehicle models, various crash conditions, and variations of occupant characteristics, such as age, gender, weight, and height, are necessary to further investigate the potential capability of integrating passive and DA or active safety systems.

Human visual system-based smoking event detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Odetallah, Amjad D.; Agaian, Sos S.

2012-06-01

Human action (e.g. smoking, eating, and phoning) analysis is an important task in various application domains like video surveillance, video retrieval, human-computer interaction systems, and so on. Smoke detection is a crucial task in many video surveillance applications and could have a great impact to raise the level of safety of urban areas, public parks, airplanes, hospitals, schools and others. The detection task is challenging since there is no prior knowledge about the object's shape, texture and color. In addition, its visual features will change under different lighting and weather conditions. This paper presents a new scheme of a system for detecting human smoking events, or small smoke, in a sequence of images. In developed system, motion detection and background subtraction are combined with motion-region-saving, skin-based image segmentation, and smoke-based image segmentation to capture potential smoke regions which are further analyzed to decide on the occurrence of smoking events. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. As well, the developed method is capable of detecting the small smoking events of uncertain actions with various cigarette sizes, colors, and shapes.

Safety assessment for hair-spray resins: risk assessment based on rodent inhalation studies.

PubMed

Carthew, Philip; Griffiths, Heather; Keech, Stephen; Hartop, Peter

2002-04-01

The methods involved in the safety assessment of resins used in hair-spray products have received little peer review, or debate in the published literature, despite their widespread use, in both hairdressing salons and the home. The safety assessment for these resins currently involves determining the type of lung pathology that can be caused in animal inhalation exposure studies, and establishing the no-observable-effect level (NOEL) for these pathologies. The likely human consumer exposure is determined by techniques that model the simulated exposure under "in use" conditions. From these values it is then possible to derive the likely safety factors for human exposure. An important part of this process would be to recognize the intrinsic differences between rodents and humans in terms of the respiratory doses that each species experiences during inhalation exposures, for the purpose of the safety assessment. Interspecies scaling factors become necessary when comparing the exposure doses experienced by rats, compared to humans, because of basic differences between species in lung clearance rates and the alveolar area in the lungs. The rodent inhalation data and modeled human exposure to Resin 6965, a resin polymer that is based on vinyl acetate, has been used to calculate the safety factor for human consumer exposure to this resin, under a range of "in use" exposure conditions. The use of this safety assessment process clearly demonstrates that Resin 6965 is acceptable for human consumer exposure under the conditions considered in this risk assessment.

A Simplified Approach to Risk Assessment Based on System Dynamics: An Industrial Case Study.

PubMed

Garbolino, Emmanuel; Chery, Jean-Pierre; Guarnieri, Franck

2016-01-01

Seveso plants are complex sociotechnical systems, which makes it appropriate to support any risk assessment with a model of the system. However, more often than not, this step is only partially addressed, simplified, or avoided in safety reports. At the same time, investigations have shown that the complexity of industrial systems is frequently a factor in accidents, due to interactions between their technical, human, and organizational dimensions. In order to handle both this complexity and changes in the system over time, this article proposes an original and simplified qualitative risk evaluation method based on the system dynamics theory developed by Forrester in the early 1960s. The methodology supports the development of a dynamic risk assessment framework dedicated to industrial activities. It consists of 10 complementary steps grouped into two main activities: system dynamics modeling of the sociotechnical system and risk analysis. This system dynamics risk analysis is applied to a case study of a chemical plant and provides a way to assess the technological and organizational components of safety. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

Evaluation of Human and Anthropomorphic Test Device Finite Element Models under Spaceflight Loading Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Putnam, Jacob P.; Untaroiu, Costin; Somers. Jeffrey

2014-01-01

In an effort to develop occupant protection standards for future multipurpose crew vehicles, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has looked to evaluate the test device for human occupant restraint with the modification kit (THOR-K) anthropomorphic test device (ATD) in relevant impact test scenarios. With the allowance and support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NASA has performed a series of sled impact tests on the latest developed THOR-K ATD. These tests were performed to match test conditions from human volunteer data previously collected by the U.S. Air Force. The objective of this study was to evaluate the THOR-K finite element (FE) model and the Total HUman Model for Safety (THUMS) FE model with respect to the tests performed. These models were evaluated in spinal and frontal impacts against kinematic and kinetic data recorded in ATD and human testing. Methods: The FE simulations were developed based on recorded pretest ATD/human position and sled acceleration pulses measured during testing. Predicted responses by both human and ATD models were compared to test data recorded under the same impact conditions. The kinematic responses of the models were quantitatively evaluated using the ISO-metric curve rating system. In addition, ATD injury criteria and human stress/strain data were calculated to evaluate the risk of injury predicted by the ATD and human model, respectively. Results: Preliminary results show well-correlated response between both FE models and their physical counterparts. In addition, predicted ATD injury criteria and human model stress/strain values are shown to positively relate. Kinematic comparison between human and ATD models indicates promising biofidelic response, although a slightly stiffer response is observed within the ATD. Conclusion: As a compliment to ATD testing, numerical simulation provides efficient means to assess vehicle safety throughout the design process and further improve the design of physical ATDs. The assessment of the THOR-K and THUMS FE models in a spaceflight testing condition is an essential first step to implementing these models in the computational evaluation of spacecraft occupant safety. Promising results suggest future use of these models in the aerospace field.

Human-Automation Allocations for Current Robotic Space Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marquez, Jessica J.; Chang, Mai L.; Beard, Bettina L.; Kim, Yun Kyung; Karasinski, John A.

2018-01-01

Within the Human Research Program, one risk delineates the uncertainty surrounding crew working with automation and robotics in spaceflight. The Risk of Inadequate Design of Human and Automation/Robotic Integration (HARI) is concerned with the detrimental effects on crew performance due to ineffective user interfaces, system designs and/or functional task allocation, potentially compromising mission success and safety. Risk arises because we have limited experience with complex automation and robotics. One key gap within HARI, is the gap related to functional allocation. The gap states: We need to evaluate, develop, and validate methods and guidelines for identifying human-automation/robot task information needs, function allocation, and team composition for future long duration, long distance space missions. Allocations determine the human-system performance as it identifies the functions and performance levels required by the automation/robotic system, and in turn, what work the crew is expected to perform and the necessary human performance requirements. Allocations must take into account each of the human, automation, and robotic systems capabilities and limitations. Some functions may be intuitively assigned to the human versus the robot, but to optimize efficiency and effectiveness, purposeful role assignments will be required. The role of automation and robotics will significantly change in future exploration missions, particularly as crew becomes more autonomous from ground controllers. Thus, we must understand the suitability of existing function allocation methods within NASA as well as the existing allocations established by the few robotic systems that are operational in spaceflight. In order to evaluate future methods of robotic allocations, we must first benchmark the allocations and allocation methods that have been used. We will present 1) documentation of human-automation-robotic allocations in existing, operational spaceflight systems; and 2) To gather existing lessons learned and best practices in these role assignments, from spaceflight operational experience of crew and ground teams that may be used to guide development for future systems. NASA and other space agencies have operational spaceflight experience with two key Human-Automation-Robotic (HAR) systems: heavy lift robotic arms and planetary robotic explorers. Additionally, NASA has invested in high-fidelity rover systems that can carry crew, building beyond Apollo's lunar rover. The heavy lift robotic arms reviewed are: Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), Japanese Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS), and the European Robotic Arm (ERA, designed but not deployed in space). The robotic rover systems reviewed are: Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Science Laboratory rover, and the high-fidelity K10 rovers. Much of the design and operational feedback for these systems have been communicated to flight controllers and robotic design teams. As part of the mitigating the HARI risk for future human spaceflight operations, we must document function allocations between robots and humans that have worked well in practice.

Effectiveness of maritime safety control in different navigation zones using a spatial sequential DEA model: Yangtze River case.

PubMed

Wu, Bing; Wang, Yang; Zhang, Jinfen; Savan, Emanuel Emil; Yan, Xinping

2015-08-01

This paper aims to analyze the effectiveness of maritime safety control from the perspective of safety level along the Yangtze River with special considerations for navigational environments. The influencing variables of maritime safety are reviewed, including ship condition, maritime regulatory system, human reliability and navigational environment. Because the former three variables are generally assumed to be of the same level of safety, this paper focuses on studying the impact of navigational environments on the level of safety in different waterways. An improved data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is proposed by treating the navigational environment factors as inputs and ship accident data as outputs. Moreover, because the traditional DEA model cannot provide an overall ranking of different decision making units (DMUs), the spatial sequential frontiers and grey relational analysis are incorporated into the DEA model to facilitate a refined assessment. Based on the empirical study results, the proposed model is able to solve the problem of information missing in the prior models and evaluate the level of safety with a better accuracy. The results of the proposed DEA model are further compared with an evidential reasoning (ER) method, which has been widely used for level of safety evaluations. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted to better understand the relationship between the variation of navigational environments and level of safety. The sensitivity analysis shows that the level of safety varies in terms of traffic flow. It indicates that appropriate traffic control measures should be adopted for different waterways to improve their safety. This paper presents a practical method of conducting maritime level of safety assessments under dynamic navigational environment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Discovering Innovation at the Intersection of Undergraduate Medical Education, Human Factors, and Collaboration: The Development of a Nasogastric Tube Safety Pack.

PubMed

Taylor, Natalie; Bamford, Thomas; Haindl, Cornelia; Cracknell, Alison

2016-04-01

Significant deficiencies exist in the knowledge and skills of medical students and residents around health care quality and safety. The theory and practice of quality and safety should be embedded into undergraduate medical practice so that health care professionals are capable of developing interventions and innovations to effectively anticipate and mitigate errors. Since 2011, Leeds Medical School in the United Kingdom has used case study examples of nasogastric (NG) tube patient safety incidents within the undergraduate patient safety curriculum. In 2012, a medical undergraduate student approached a clinician with an innovative idea after undertaking an NG tubes root cause analysis case study. Simultaneously, a separate local project demonstrated low compliance (11.6%) with the United Kingdom's National Patient Safety Agency NG tubes guideline for use of the correct method to check tube position. These separate endeavors led to interdisciplinary collaboration between a medical student, health care professionals, researchers, and industry to develop the Initial Placement Nasogastric Tube Safety Pack. Human factors engineering was used to inform pack design to allow guideline recommendations to be accessible and easy to follow. A timeline of product development, mapped against key human factors and medical device design principles used throughout the process, is presented. The safety pack has since been launched in five UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals, and the pack has been introduced into health care professional staff training for NG tubes. A mixed-methods evaluation is currently under way in five NHS organizations.

30 CFR 250.800 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., installed, used, maintained, and tested in a manner to assure the safety and protection of the human, marine, and coastal environments. Production safety systems operated in subfreezing climates shall utilize...

2005 Tri-Service Infrastructure Systems Conference and Exhibition. Volume 12. Tracks 15, 16 and 17

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-08-04

glare, surface luminances, and uniformity. Also, the importance of daylight on human health and productivity is emphasized. • Exterior lighting design...Electrical Safety Requirements – OSHA CFR Title 29 Part 1910 Occupational Safety and Health Standard, Subpart S – Electrical – Design Safety...Standards and Safety Related Work Practices Part 1926 Safety and Health Regulations for Construction, Subpart K – Electrical – Installation Safety

Development of a Universal Safety Behavior Management System for Coal Mine Workers

PubMed Central

LI, Jizu; LI, Yuejiao; LIU, Xiaoguang

2015-01-01

Background: In China, over 80% of all work-related deaths in the mining industry occur in coal mines and human factors constitute 85% of the direct causes of coal mine accidents, which indicates that significant shortcomings currently exist in the safety behavior management of Chinese coal mine workers. We aimed to verify the impact of human psychological behavior in coal mine accidents systematically through experimental study, theoretical analysis and management application. Methods: Four test instruments (Sensory and cognitive capacity test, Sixteen-Personal Factor Questionnaire, Symptom Checklist 90 Questionnaire and the supervisors’ evaluation) were employed from November 2013 to June 2014 to identify unsafe behavior factors, the self-established Questionnaire of Safety Behavior Norms (QSBN) was also used to propose the safety behavior countermeasures of coal mine employees. Results: The mental health of most coal mine workers’ is relatively poor. The sensory and cognitive capacity of those in different work posts varies greatly, as does the sense of responsibility. Workers are susceptible to external influences, and score low in site management. When the 16-PF and SCL-90 sensory and cognitive assessments were combined, the psychological index predictive power was greatest for estimating sense of efficiency and degree of satisfaction in internal evaluations, while at the same time lowest for estimating control of introversion-extroversion and stress character. Conclusion: The psychological indicators can predict part of employee safety behavior, and assist a coal mine enterprise to recruit staff, develop occupational safety norms and improve the working environment. PMID:26258088

University Safety Culture: A Work-in-Progress?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyons, Michael

2016-01-01

Safety management systems in Australian higher education organisations are under-researched. Limited workplace safety information can be found in the various reports on university human resources benchmarking programs, and typically they show only descriptive statistics. With the commencement of new consultation-focused regulations applying to…

47 CFR 97.403 - Safety of life and protection of property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... of human life and immediate protection of property when normal communication systems are not....403 Section 97.403 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE Providing Emergency Communications § 97.403 Safety of life and...

Hierarchical Shared Control of Cane-Type Walking-Aid Robot

PubMed Central

Tao, Chunjing

2017-01-01

A hierarchical shared-control method of the walking-aid robot for both human motion intention recognition and the obstacle emergency-avoidance method based on artificial potential field (APF) is proposed in this paper. The human motion intention is obtained from the interaction force measurements of the sensory system composed of 4 force-sensing registers (FSR) and a torque sensor. Meanwhile, a laser-range finder (LRF) forward is applied to detect the obstacles and try to guide the operator based on the repulsion force calculated by artificial potential field. An obstacle emergency-avoidance method which comprises different control strategies is also assumed according to the different states of obstacles or emergency cases. To ensure the user's safety, the hierarchical shared-control method combines the intention recognition method with the obstacle emergency-avoidance method based on the distance between the walking-aid robot and the obstacles. At last, experiments validate the effectiveness of the proposed hierarchical shared-control method. PMID:29093805

Advanced Information Systems Design: Technical Basis and Human Factors Review Guidance

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-03-01

D ., Wise, J ., and Hanes, L., "An Evaluation of Nuclear Power Plant Safety Parameter Display Systems," Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 25th...Reactor (PWR) (Source: Reprinted with permission from Woods, D ., Wise, J ., and Hanes, L., "An Evaluation of Nuclear Power Plant Safety Parameter...Dials display rpCJni?3 (b) Fluid-Tanks display B (c) Seesaw display I 72 CF \\^- J B ’ V ’II ’ ( d ) Mimic display B E * • \\ ^r 7

Color-coding and human factors engineering to improve patient safety characteristics of paper-based emergency department clinical documentation.

PubMed

Kobayashi, Leo; Boss, Robert M; Gibbs, Frantz J; Goldlust, Eric; Hennedy, Michelle M; Monti, James E; Siegel, Nathan A

2011-01-01

Investigators studied an emergency department (ED) physical chart system and identified inconsistent, small font labeling; a single-color scheme; and an absence of human factors engineering (HFE) cues. A case study and description of the methodology with which surrogate measures of chart-related patient safety were studied and subsequently used to reduce latent hazards are presented. Medical records present a challenge to patient safety in EDs. Application of HFE can improve specific aspects of existing medical chart organization systems as they pertain to patient safety in acute care environments. During 10 random audits over 5 consecutive days (573 data points), 56 (9.8%) chart binders (range 0.0-23%) were found to be either misplaced or improperly positioned relative to other chart binders; 12 (21%) were in the critical care area. HFE principles were applied to develop an experimental chart binder system with alternating color-based chart groupings, simple and prominent identifiers, and embedded visual cues. Post-intervention audits revealed significant reductions in chart binder location problems overall (p < 0.01), for Urgent Care A and B pods (6.4% to 1.2%; p < 0.05), Fast Track C pod (19.3% to 0.0%; p < 0.05) and Behavioral/Substance Abuse D pod (15.7% to 0.0%; p < 0.05) areas of the ED. The critical care room area did not display an improvement (11.4% to 13.2%; p = 0.40). Application of HFE methods may aid the development, assessment, and modification of acute care clinical environments through evidence-based design methodologies and contribute to safe patient care delivery.

Applying human factors and ergonomics to the misuse of nonsterile clinical gloves in acute care.

PubMed

Wilson, Jennie; Bak, Aggie; Loveday, Heather P

2017-07-01

Health care workers (HCWs) are recommended to wear nonsterile clinical gloves (NSCG) for direct contact with blood and body fluids. However, there is evidence of extensive inappropriate NSCG use. A mixed-methods study comprising observation of NSCG use in 2 acute hospitals and semistructured HCW interviews. Qualitative data were categorized using thematic analysis. Findings were mapped to the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety model and used to develop a strategy for improving NSCG use. Two hundred seventy-eight procedures performed in 178 episodes of care involved the use of NSCG. NSCG were inappropriate for 59% of procedures (165 out of 278). Risk of cross-contamination occurred in 49% (87 out of 178) episodes. Twenty-six HCWs were interviewed; emotion and socialization were key factors influencing decisions to use NSCG. Data from observation and thematic analysis were mapped to 6 interacting components of the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety work system. Interventions targeting each component informed quality improvement strategies CONCLUSIONS: Despite intense promotion of hand hygiene as the key measure to protect patients from health care-associated infection, NSCG dominate routine clinical practice and potential cross-contamination occurs in 50% of care episodes. Such practice is associated with significant environmental and financial costs and adversely affects patient safety. The application of human factors and ergonomics to the complex drivers of inappropriate NSCG behavior may be more effective than conventional approaches of education and policy in achieving the goal of preventing health care-associated infection and improving patient safety. Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In vitro steroid profiling system for the evaluation of endocrine disruptors.

PubMed

Nakano, Yosuke; Yamashita, Toshiyuki; Okuno, Masashi; Fukusaki, Eiichiro; Bamba, Takeshi

2016-09-01

Endocrine disruptors (ED) are chemicals that affect various aspects of the endocrine system, often leading to the inhibition of steroidogenesis. Current chemical safety policies that restrict human exposure to such chemicals describe often time-consuming and costly methods for the evaluation of ED effects. We aimed to develop an effective tool for accurate phenotypic chemical toxicology studies. We developed an in vitro ED evaluation system using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) methods for metabolomic analysis of multi-marker profiles. Accounting for sample preparation and GC/MS/MS conditions, we established a screening method that allowed the simultaneous analysis of 17 steroids with good reproducibility and a linear calibration curve. Moreover, we applied the developed system to H295R human adrenocortical cells exposed to forskolin and prochloraz in accordance with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines and observed dose-dependent variations in steroid profiles. While the OECD guidelines include only testosterone and 17β-estradiol, our system enabled a comprehensive and highly sensitive analysis of steroid profile alteration due to ED exposure. The application of our ED evaluation screen could be economical and provide novel insights into the hazards of ED exposure to the endocrine system. Copyright © 2016 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rasmussen's legacy: A paradigm change in engineering for safety.

PubMed

Leveson, Nancy G

2017-03-01

This paper describes three applications of Rasmussen's idea to systems engineering practice. The first is the application of the abstraction hierarchy to engineering specifications, particularly requirements specification. The second is the use of Rasmussen's ideas in safety modeling and analysis to create a new, more powerful type of accident causation model that extends traditional models to better handle human-operated, software-intensive, sociotechnical systems. Because this new model has a formal, mathematical foundation built on systems theory (as was Rasmussen's original model), new modeling and analysis tools become possible. The third application is to engineering hazard analysis. Engineers have traditionally either omitted human from consideration in system hazard analysis or have treated them rather superficially, for example, that they behave randomly. Applying Rasmussen's model of human error to a powerful new hazard analysis technique allows human behavior to be included in engineering hazard analysis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comparison of leading and lagging indicators of safety in naval aviation.

PubMed

O'Connor, Paul; Cowan, Shawn; Alton, Jeffrey

2010-07-01

The purpose of this paper is to examine the results of two different methods of identifying human factors safety concerns in U.S. Naval aviation. In both studies, the information was collected using the Department of Defense Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (DoD-HFACS). In the first study, aviation mishap data (a lagging indictor) was obtained on 47 F/A-18 and 16 H-60 mishaps. In the second study, the responses of 68 squadrons to a survey regarding the human factors issues that they considered to be of the greatest safety concern were examined (a leading indicator). First study results revealed that skill-based errors were the most commonly cited factors for both F/A-18 and H-60 mishaps (70.2% and 81.3%, respectively). More specifically, the most commonly used nanocodes were 'over control/ under control' (27.7% and 56.3%, respectively), 'breakdown in visual scan' (27.7% and 12.5%, respectively), and 'procedural errors' (23.4% and 37.6%, respectively). The second study identified that the main concern of F/A-18 and H-60 aviators was workload and operational tempo (identified by 85% of squadrons). It can be concluded that the nanocodes that were most commonly used to classify the causes of past mishaps were not identified as major concerns by the squadrons who responded to the survey. The findings from these studies emphasize the importance of examining a number of performance metrics to ensure that effective measures are being taken to improve safety.

Improving patient safety: lessons from rock climbing.

PubMed

Robertson, Nic

2012-02-01

How to improve patient safety remains an intractable problem, despite large investment and some successes. Academics have argued that the root of the problem is a lack of a comprehensive 'safety culture' in hospitals. Other safety-critical industries such as commercial aviation invest heavily in staff training to develop such a culture, but comparable programmes are almost entirely absent from the health care sector. In rock climbing and many other dangerous activities, the 'buddy system' is used to ensure that safety systems are adhered to despite adverse circumstances. This system involves two or more people using simple checks and clear communication to prevent problems causing harm. Using this system as an example could provide a simple, original and entertaining way of introducing medical students to the idea that human factors are central to ensuring patient safety. Teaching the buddy system may improve understanding and acceptance of other patient safety initiatives, and could also be used by junior doctors as a tool to improve the safety of their practice. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

Human Health and Support Systems Capability Roadmap Progress Review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grounds, Dennis; Boehm, Al

2005-01-01

The Human Health and Support Systems Capability Roadmap focuses on research and technology development and demonstration required to ensure the health, habitation, safety, and effectiveness of crews in and beyond low Earth orbit. It contains three distinct sub-capabilities: Human Health and Performance. Life Support and Habitats. Extra-Vehicular Activity.

An Overview of the NASA Aviation Safety Program (AVSP) Systemwide Accident Prevention (SWAP) Human Performance Modeling (HPM) Element

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foyle, David C.; Goodman, Allen; Hooley, Becky L.

2003-01-01

An overview is provided of the Human Performance Modeling (HPM) element within the NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP). Two separate model development tracks for performance modeling of real-world aviation environments are described: the first focuses on the advancement of cognitive modeling tools for system design, while the second centers on a prescriptive engineering model of activity tracking for error detection and analysis. A progressive implementation strategy for both tracks is discussed in which increasingly more complex, safety-relevant applications are undertaken to extend the state-of-the-art, as well as to reveal potential human-system vulnerabilities in the aviation domain. Of particular interest is the ability to predict the precursors to error and to assess potential mitigation strategies associated with the operational use of future flight deck technologies.

Quantifying Pilot Contribution to Flight Safety during Hydraulic Systems Failure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Etherington, Timothy J.; Bailey, Randall E.; Kennedy, Kellie D.

2017-01-01

Accident statistics cite the flight crew as a causal factor in over 60% of large transport aircraft fatal accidents. Yet, a well-trained and well-qualified pilot is acknowledged as the critical center point of aircraft systems safety and an integral safety component of the entire commercial aviation system. The latter statement, while generally accepted, cannot be verified because little or no quantitative data exists on how and how many accidents/incidents are averted by crew actions. A joint NASA/FAA high-fidelity motion-base human-in-the-loop test was conducted using a Level D certified Boeing 737-800 simulator to evaluate the pilot's contribution to safety-of-flight during routine air carrier flight operations and in response to aircraft system failures. To quantify the human's contribution, crew complement (two-crew, reduced crew, single pilot) was used as the independent variable in a between-subjects design. This paper details the crew's actions, including decision-making, and responses while dealing with a hydraulic systems leak - one of 6 total non-normal events that were simulated in this experiment.

75 FR 56548 - Joint Meeting of the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-16

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0001] Joint Meeting of the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety... and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory...

Combining task analysis and fault tree analysis for accident and incident analysis: a case study from Bulgaria.

PubMed

Doytchev, Doytchin E; Szwillus, Gerd

2009-11-01

Understanding the reasons for incident and accident occurrence is important for an organization's safety. Different methods have been developed to achieve this goal. To better understand the human behaviour in incident occurrence we propose an analysis concept that combines Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Task Analysis (TA). The former method identifies the root causes of an accident/incident, while the latter analyses the way people perform the tasks in their work environment and how they interact with machines or colleagues. These methods were complemented with the use of the Human Error Identification in System Tools (HEIST) methodology and the concept of Performance Shaping Factors (PSF) to deepen the insight into the error modes of an operator's behaviour. HEIST shows the external error modes that caused the human error and the factors that prompted the human to err. To show the validity of the approach, a case study at a Bulgarian Hydro power plant was carried out. An incident - the flooding of the plant's basement - was analysed by combining the afore-mentioned methods. The case study shows that Task Analysis in combination with other methods can be applied successfully to human error analysis, revealing details about erroneous actions in a realistic situation.

WE-G-BRA-03: Developing a Culture of Patient Safety Utilizing the National Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System (ROILS)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hasson, B; Workie, D; Geraghty, C

Purpose: To transition from an in-house incident reporting system to a ROILS standards system with the intent to develop a safety focused culture in the Department and enroll in ROILS. Methods: Since the AAPM Safety Summit (2010) several safety and reporting systems have been implemented within the Department. Specific checklists and SBAR reporting systems were introduced. However, the active learning component was lost due to reporting being viewed with distrust and possible retribution.To Facilitate introducing ROILS each leader in the Department received a copy of the ROILS participation guide. Four specific tasks were assigned to each leader: develop a reportingmore » tree, begin the ROILS based system, facilitate adopting ROILS Terminology, and educate the staff on expectations of safety culture. Next, the ROILS questions were broken down into area specific questions (10–15) per departmental area. Excel spreadsheets were developed for each area and setup for error reporting entries. The Role of the Process Improvement Committee (PI) has been modified to review and make recommendations based on the ROILS entries. Results: The ROILS based Reporting has been in place for 4 months. To date 64 reports have been entered. Since the adoption of ROILS the reporting of incidents has increased from 2/month to 18/month on average. Three reports had a dosimetric effect on the patient (<5%) dose variance. The large majority of entries have been Characterized as Processes not followed or not sure how to Characterize, and Human Behavior. Conclusion: The majority of errors are typo’s that create confusion. The introduction of the ROILS standards has provided a platform for making changes to policies that increase patient safety. The goal is to develop a culture that sees reporting at a national level as a safe and effective way to improve our safety, and to dynamically learn from other institutions reporting.« less

Systems, methods and apparatus for quiesence of autonomic safety devices with self action

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinchey, Michael G. (Inventor); Sterritt, Roy (Inventor)

2011-01-01

Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which in some embodiments an autonomic environmental safety device may be quiesced. In at least one embodiment, a method for managing an autonomic safety device, such as a smoke detector, based on functioning state and operating status of the autonomic safety device includes processing received signals from the autonomic safety device to obtain an analysis of the condition of the autonomic safety device, generating one or more stay-awake signals based on the functioning status and the operating state of the autonomic safety device, transmitting the stay-awake signal, transmitting self health/urgency data, and transmitting environment health/urgency data. A quiesce component of an autonomic safety device can render the autonomic safety device inactive for a specific amount of time or until a challenging situation has passed.

An examination of railroad yard worker safety

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-07-01

This report presents the methods, findings and recommendations from a multi-year research program that examined worker safety issues in railroad yards. The research program focused on human factor-related hazards and solutions to railroad yard worker...

Non-technical skills training to enhance patient safety.

PubMed

Gordon, Morris

2013-06-01

  Patient safety is an increasingly recognised issue in health care. Systems-based and organisational methods of quality improvement, as well as education focusing on key clinical areas, are common, but there are few reports of educational interventions that focus on non-technical skills to address human factor sources of error. A flexible model for non-technical skills training for health care professionals has been designed based on the best available evidence, and with sound theoretical foundations.   Educational sessions to improve non-technical skills in health care have been described before. The descriptions lack the details to allow educators to replicate and innovate further.   A non-technical skills training course that can be delivered as either a half- or full-day intervention has been designed and delivered to a number of mixed groups of undergraduate medical students and doctors in postgraduate training. Participant satisfaction has been high and patient safety attitudes have improved post-intervention.   This non-technical skills educational intervention has been built on a sound evidence base, and is described so as to facilitate replication and dissemination. With the key themes laid out, clinical educators will be able to build interventions focused on numerous clinical issues that pay attention to human factor contributors to safety. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Chitosan Dilutable and Dilactin Forte: Assessment of Their Efficiency for Safety and Quality of Foodstuff

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iurchikova, N.; Khlebosolova, O.

2018-01-01

The modern natural food preservatives used to process and store foodstuff allow to ensure its safety and high quality. Chitosan and dilactin-forte are among such medicines. These preservatives are not only safe, but also are beneficial to a human body in virtue of their effects onto human digestive system. The article describes the results of the research conducted to identify the impact of these natural preservatives on safety of carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus)

The safety helmet detection technology and its application to the surveillance system.

PubMed

Wen, Che-Yen

2004-07-01

The Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) plays an important role in the modem economy. It provides a fast and convenient way to process transactions between banks and their customers. Unfortunately, it also provides a convenient way for criminals to get illegal money or use stolen ATM cards to extract money from their victims' accounts. For safety reasons, each ATM has a surveillance system to record customer's face information. However, when criminals use an ATM to withdraw money illegally, they usually hide their faces with something (in Taiwan, criminals usually use safety helmets to block their faces) to avoid the surveillance system recording their face information, which decreases the efficiency of the surveillance system. In this paper, we propose a circle/circular arc detection method based upon the modified Hough transform, and apply it to the detection of safety helmets for the surveillance system of ATMs. Since the safety helmet location will be within the set of the obtainable circles/circular arcs (if any exist), we use geometric features to verify if any safety helmet exists in the set. The proposed method can be used to help the surveillance systems record a customer's face information more precisely. If customers wear safety helmets to block their faces, the system can send a message to remind them to take off their helmets. Besides this, the method can be applied to the surveillance systems of banks by providing an early warning safeguard when any "customer" or "intruder" uses a safety helmet to avoid his/her face information from being recorded by the surveillance system. This will make the surveillance system more useful. Real images are used to analyze the performance of the proposed method.

EMS helicopter incidents reported to the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connell, Linda J.; Reynard, William D.

1993-01-01

The objectives of this evaluation were to: Identify the types of safety-related incidents reported to the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) in Emergency Medical Service (EMS) helicopter operations; Describe the operational conditions surrounding these incidents, such as weather, airspace, flight phase, time of day; and Assess the contribution to these incidents of selected human factors considerations, such as communication, distraction, time pressure, workload, and flight/duty impact.

Multi-Robot Systems in Military Domains (Les Systemes Multi-Robots Dans les Domaines Militaires)

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

to allow him to react quickly to improve his personal safety , it is mandatory to shorten the current very long delay needed for the human operator to...Hard RT tasks 2 OS / API Process monitoring 3 H / API Flexible communication medium 4 H / API Networking capabilities 5 H / API Safety 6 API...also be considered between high level services and legacy systems. 4) This is the one of the basic requirement for CoRoDe. 5) Safety : CRC, Timeouts

75 FR 56112 - Integrated Food Safety System Online Collaboration Development-Cooperative Agreement With the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-15

... unintentional contamination of food at each of these points. FDA has worked with other Federal, State, local... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0480] Integrated Food Safety System Online Collaboration Development-- Cooperative Agreement With the National...

Video Analysis and Remote Digital Ethnography: Approaches to understanding user perspectives and processes involving healthcare information technology.

PubMed

Kushniruk, Andre W; Borycki, Elizabeth M

2015-01-01

Innovations in healthcare information systems promise to revolutionize and streamline healthcare processes worldwide. However, the complexity of these systems and the need to better understand issues related to human-computer interaction have slowed progress in this area. In this chapter the authors describe their work in using methods adapted from usability engineering, video ethnography and analysis of digital log files for improving our understanding of complex real-world healthcare interactions between humans and technology. The approaches taken are cost-effective and practical and can provide detailed ethnographic data on issues health professionals and consumers encounter while using systems as well as potential safety problems. The work is important in that it can be used in techno-anthropology to characterize complex user interactions with technologies and also to provide feedback into redesign and optimization of improved healthcare information systems.

[Measurement and study report as a part of the control system for human safety and health protection against electromagnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation (0 Hz-300 GHz)].

PubMed

Aniołczyk, Halina

2007-01-01

The National Control System for safety and health protection against electromagnetic fields (EMF) and electromagnetic radiation (EMR) (0 Hz-300 GHz) is constantly analyzed in view of Directive 2004/40/EC. Reports on the effects of investments (at the designing stage or at the stage of looking for their localization) on the environment and measurement and study reports on the objects already existing or being put into operation are important elements of this system. These documents should meet both national and European Union's legislation requirements. The overriding goal of the control system is safety and health protection of humans against electromagnetic fields in the environment and in occupational settings. The author pays a particular attention to provisions made in directives issued by relevant ministers and to Polish standards, which should be documented in measurement and study reports published by the accredited laboratories and relating to the problems of human safety and health protection. Similar requirements are valid for the Reports. Therefore, along with measurement outcomes, the reports should include data on the EMF exposure classification at work-posts and the assessment of occupational risk resulting from EMF exposure or at least thorough data facilitating such a classification.

Incident reporting: Its role in aviation safety and the acquisition of human error data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reynard, W. D.

1983-01-01

The rationale for aviation incident reporting systems is presented and contrasted to some of the shortcomings of accident investigation procedures. The history of the United State's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is outlined and the program's character explained. The planning elements that resulted in the ASRS program's voluntary, confidential, and non-punitive design are discussed. Immunity, from enforcement action and misuse of the volunteered data, is explained and evaluated. Report generation techniques and the ASRS data analysis process are described; in addition, examples of the ASRS program's output and accomplishments are detailed. Finally, the value of incident reporting for the acquisition of safety information, particularly human error data, is explored.

On Space Exploration and Human Error: A Paper on Reliability and Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bell, David G.; Maluf, David A.; Gawdiak, Yuri

2005-01-01

NASA space exploration should largely address a problem class in reliability and risk management stemming primarily from human error, system risk and multi-objective trade-off analysis, by conducting research into system complexity, risk characterization and modeling, and system reasoning. In general, in every mission we can distinguish risk in three possible ways: a) known-known, b) known-unknown, and c) unknown-unknown. It is probably almost certain that space exploration will partially experience similar known or unknown risks embedded in the Apollo missions, Shuttle or Station unless something alters how NASA will perceive and manage safety and reliability

Changing conversations: teaching safety and quality in residency training.

PubMed

Voss, John D; May, Natalie B; Schorling, John B; Lyman, Jason A; Schectman, Joel M; Wolf, Andrew M D; Nadkarni, Mohan M; Plews-Ogan, Margaret

2008-11-01

Improving patient safety and quality in health care is one of medicine's most pressing challenges. Residency training programs have a unique opportunity to meet this challenge by training physicians in the science and methods of patient safety and quality improvement (QI).With support from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the authors developed an innovative, longitudinal, experiential curriculum in patient safety and QI for internal medicine residents at the University of Virginia. This two-year curriculum teaches the critical concepts and skills of patient safety and QI: systems thinking and human factors analysis, root cause analysis (RCA), and process mapping. Residents apply these skills in a series of QI and patient safety projects. The constructivist educational model creates a learning environment that actively engages residents in improving the quality and safety of their medical practice.Between 2003 and 2005, 38 residents completed RCAs of adverse events. The RCAs identified causes and proposed useful interventions that have produced important care improvements. Qualitative analysis demonstrates that the curriculum shifted residents' thinking about patient safety to a systems-based approach. Residents completed 237 outcome assessments during three years. Results indicate that seminars met predefined learning objectives and were interactive and enjoyable. Residents strongly believe they gained important skills in all domains.The challenge to improve quality and safety in health care requires physicians to learn new knowledge and skills. Graduate medical education can equip new physicians with the skills necessary to lead the movement to safer and better quality of care for all patients.This article is part of a theme issue of Academic Medicine on the Title VII health professions training programs.

Improving operating room safety

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Despite the introduction of the Universal Protocol, patient safety in surgery remains a daily challenge in the operating room. This present study describes one community health system's efforts to improve operating room safety through human factors training and ultimately the development of a surgical checklist. Using a combination of formal training, local studies documenting operating room safety issues and peer to peer mentoring we were able to substantially change the culture of our operating room. Our efforts have prepared us for successfully implementing a standardized checklist to improve operating room safety throughout our entire system. Based on these findings we recommend a multimodal approach to improving operating room safety. PMID:19930577

Comparison of minipig, dog, monkey and human drug metabolism and disposition.

PubMed

Dalgaard, Lars

2015-01-01

This article gives an overview of the drug metabolism and disposition (ADME) characteristics of the most common non-rodent species used in toxicity testing of drugs (minipigs, dogs, and monkeys) and compares these to human characteristics with regard to enzymes mediating the metabolism of drugs and the transport proteins which contribute to the absorption, distribution and excretion of drugs. Literature on ADME and regulatory guidelines of relevance in drug development of small molecules has been gathered. Non-human primates (monkeys) are the species that is closest to humans in terms of genetic homology. Dogs have an advantage due to the ready availability of comprehensive background data for toxicological safety assessment and dogs are easy to handle. Pigs have been used less than dogs and monkeys as a model in safety assessment of drug candidates. However, when a drug candidate is metabolised by aldehyde oxidase (AOX1), N-acetyltransferases (NAT1 and NAT2) or cytochrome (CYP2C9-like) enzymes which are not expressed in dogs, but are present in pigs, this species may be a better choice than dogs, provided that adequate exposure can be obtained in pigs. Conversely, pigs might not be the right choice if sulfation, involving 3-phospho-adenosyl-5-phosphosulphate sulphotransferase (PAPS) is an important pathway in the human metabolism of a drug candidate. In general, the species selection should be based on comparison between in vitro studies with human cell-based systems and animal-cell-based systems. Results from pharmacokinetic studies are also important for decision-making by establishing the obtainable exposure level in the species. Access to genetically humanized mouse models and highly sensitive analytical methods (accelerator mass spectrometry) makes it possible to improve the chance of finding all metabolites relevant for humans before clinical trials have been initiated and, if necessary, to include another animal species before long term toxicity studies are initiated. In conclusion, safety testing can be optimized by applying knowledge about species ADME differences and utilising advanced analytical techniques. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of Pilot Delay and Non-Responsiveness on the Safety Performance of Airborne Separation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Consiglio, Maria; Hoadley, Sherwood; Wing, David; Baxley, Brian; Allen, Bonnie Danette

2008-01-01

Assessing the safety effects of prediction errors and uncertainty on automationsupported functions in the Next Generation Air Transportation System concept of operations is of foremost importance, particularly safety critical functions such as separation that involve human decision-making. Both ground-based and airborne, the automation of separation functions must be designed to account for, and mitigate the impact of, information uncertainty and varying human response. This paper describes an experiment that addresses the potential impact of operator delay when interacting with separation support systems. In this study, we evaluated an airborne separation capability operated by a simulated pilot. The experimental runs are part of the Safety Performance of Airborne Separation (SPAS) experiment suite that examines the safety implications of prediction errors and system uncertainties on airborne separation assistance systems. Pilot actions required by the airborne separation automation to resolve traffic conflicts were delayed within a wide range, varying from five to 240 seconds while a percentage of randomly selected pilots were programmed to completely miss the conflict alerts and therefore take no action. Results indicate that the strategicAirborne Separation Assistance System (ASAS) functions exercised in the experiment can sustain pilot response delays of up to 90 seconds and more, depending on the traffic density. However, when pilots or operators fail to respond to conflict alerts the safety effects are substantial, particularly at higher traffic densities.

47 CFR 97.403 - Safety of life and protection of property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Safety of life and protection of property. 97... RADIO SERVICES AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE Providing Emergency Communications § 97.403 Safety of life and... of human life and immediate protection of property when normal communication systems are not...

47 CFR 97.403 - Safety of life and protection of property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Safety of life and protection of property. 97... RADIO SERVICES AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE Providing Emergency Communications § 97.403 Safety of life and... of human life and immediate protection of property when normal communication systems are not...

47 CFR 97.403 - Safety of life and protection of property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... of human life and immediate protection of property when normal communication systems are not... 47 Telecommunication 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Safety of life and protection of property. 97... RADIO SERVICES AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE Providing Emergency Communications § 97.403 Safety of life and...

A customized vision system for tracking humans wearing reflective safety clothing from industrial vehicles and machinery.

PubMed

Mosberger, Rafael; Andreasson, Henrik; Lilienthal, Achim J

2014-09-26

This article presents a novel approach for vision-based detection and tracking of humans wearing high-visibility clothing with retro-reflective markers. Addressing industrial applications where heavy vehicles operate in the vicinity of humans, we deploy a customized stereo camera setup with active illumination that allows for efficient detection of the reflective patterns created by the worker's safety garments. After segmenting reflective objects from the image background, the interest regions are described with local image feature descriptors and classified in order to discriminate safety garments from other reflective objects in the scene. In a final step, the trajectories of the detected humans are estimated in 3D space relative to the camera. We evaluate our tracking system in two industrial real-world work environments on several challenging video sequences. The experimental results indicate accurate tracking performance and good robustness towards partial occlusions, body pose variation, and a wide range of different illumination conditions.

A Customized Vision System for Tracking Humans Wearing Reflective Safety Clothing from Industrial Vehicles and Machinery

PubMed Central

Mosberger, Rafael; Andreasson, Henrik; Lilienthal, Achim J.

2014-01-01

This article presents a novel approach for vision-based detection and tracking of humans wearing high-visibility clothing with retro-reflective markers. Addressing industrial applications where heavy vehicles operate in the vicinity of humans, we deploy a customized stereo camera setup with active illumination that allows for efficient detection of the reflective patterns created by the worker's safety garments. After segmenting reflective objects from the image background, the interest regions are described with local image feature descriptors and classified in order to discriminate safety garments from other reflective objects in the scene. In a final step, the trajectories of the detected humans are estimated in 3D space relative to the camera. We evaluate our tracking system in two industrial real-world work environments on several challenging video sequences. The experimental results indicate accurate tracking performance and good robustness towards partial occlusions, body pose variation, and a wide range of different illumination conditions. PMID:25264956

Safety assessment of personal care products/cosmetics and their ingredients.

PubMed

Nohynek, Gerhard J; Antignac, Eric; Re, Thomas; Toutain, Herve

2010-03-01

We attempt to review the safety assessment of personal care products (PCP) and ingredients that are representative and pose complex safety issues. PCP are generally applied to human skin and mainly produce local exposure, although skin penetration or use in the oral cavity, on the face, lips, eyes and mucosa may also produce human systemic exposure. In the EU, US and Japan, the safety of PCP is regulated under cosmetic and/or drug regulations. Oxidative hair dyes contain arylamines, the most chemically reactive ingredients of PCP. Although arylamines have an allergic potential, taking into account the high number of consumers exposed, the incidence and prevalence of hair dye allergy appears to be low and stable. A recent (2001) epidemiology study suggested an association of oxidative hair dye use and increased bladder cancer risk in consumers, although this was not confirmed by subsequent or previous epidemiologic investigations. The results of genetic toxicity, carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity studies suggest that modern hair dyes and their ingredients pose no genotoxic, carcinogenic or reproductive risk. Recent reports suggest that arylamines contained in oxidative hair dyes are N-acetylated in human or mammalian skin resulting in systemic exposure to traces of detoxified, i.e. non-genotoxic, metabolites, whereas human hepatocytes were unable to transform hair dye arylamines to potentially carcinogenic metabolites. An expert panel of the International Agency on Research of Cancer (IARC) concluded that there is no evidence for a causal association of hair dye exposure with an elevated cancer risk in consumers. Ultraviolet filters have important benefits by protecting the consumer against adverse effects of UV radiation; these substances undergo a stringent safety evaluation under current international regulations prior to their marketing. Concerns were also raised about the safety of solid nanoparticles in PCP, mainly TiO(2) and ZnO in sunscreens. However, current evidence suggests that these particles are non-toxic, do not penetrate into or through normal or compromised human skin and, therefore, pose no risk to human health. The increasing use of natural plant ingredients in personal care products raised new safety issues that require novel approaches to their safety evaluation similar to those of plant-derived food ingredients. For example, the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) is a promising tool to assess the safety of substances present at trace levels as well as minor ingredients of plant-derived substances. The potential human systemic exposure to PCP ingredients is increasingly estimated on the basis of in vitro skin penetration data. However, new evidence suggests that the in vitro test may overestimate human systemic exposure to PCP ingredients due to the absence of metabolism in cadaver skin or misclassification of skin residues that, in vivo, remain in the stratum corneum or hair follicle openings, i.e. outside the living skin. Overall, today's safety assessment of PCP and their ingredients is not only based on science, but also on their respective regulatory status as well as other issues, such as the ethics of animal testing. Nevertheless, the record shows that today's PCP are safe and offer multiple benefits to quality of life and health of the consumer. In the interest of all stakeholders, consumers, regulatory bodies and producers, there is an urgent need for an international harmonization on the status and safety requirements of these products and their ingredients.

Safety assessment of personal care products/cosmetics and their ingredients

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nohynek, Gerhard J., E-mail: gnohynec@rd.loreal.co; Antignac, Eric; Re, Thomas

2010-03-01

We attempt to review the safety assessment of personal care products (PCP) and ingredients that are representative and pose complex safety issues. PCP are generally applied to human skin and mainly produce local exposure, although skin penetration or use in the oral cavity, on the face, lips, eyes and mucosa may also produce human systemic exposure. In the EU, US and Japan, the safety of PCP is regulated under cosmetic and/or drug regulations. Oxidative hair dyes contain arylamines, the most chemically reactive ingredients of PCP. Although arylamines have an allergic potential, taking into account the high number of consumers exposed,more » the incidence and prevalence of hair dye allergy appears to be low and stable. A recent (2001) epidemiology study suggested an association of oxidative hair dye use and increased bladder cancer risk in consumers, although this was not confirmed by subsequent or previous epidemiologic investigations. The results of genetic toxicity, carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity studies suggest that modern hair dyes and their ingredients pose no genotoxic, carcinogenic or reproductive risk. Recent reports suggest that arylamines contained in oxidative hair dyes are N-acetylated in human or mammalian skin resulting in systemic exposure to traces of detoxified, i.e. non-genotoxic, metabolites, whereas human hepatocytes were unable to transform hair dye arylamines to potentially carcinogenic metabolites. An expert panel of the International Agency on Research of Cancer (IARC) concluded that there is no evidence for a causal association of hair dye exposure with an elevated cancer risk in consumers. Ultraviolet filters have important benefits by protecting the consumer against adverse effects of UV radiation; these substances undergo a stringent safety evaluation under current international regulations prior to their marketing. Concerns were also raised about the safety of solid nanoparticles in PCP, mainly TiO{sub 2} and ZnO in sunscreens. However, current evidence suggests that these particles are non-toxic, do not penetrate into or through normal or compromised human skin and, therefore, pose no risk to human health. The increasing use of natural plant ingredients in personal care products raised new safety issues that require novel approaches to their safety evaluation similar to those of plant-derived food ingredients. For example, the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) is a promising tool to assess the safety of substances present at trace levels as well as minor ingredients of plant-derived substances. The potential human systemic exposure to PCP ingredients is increasingly estimated on the basis of in vitro skin penetration data. However, new evidence suggests that the in vitro test may overestimate human systemic exposure to PCP ingredients due to the absence of metabolism in cadaver skin or misclassification of skin residues that, in vivo, remain in the stratum corneum or hair follicle openings, i.e. outside the living skin. Overall, today's safety assessment of PCP and their ingredients is not only based on science, but also on their respective regulatory status as well as other issues, such as the ethics of animal testing. Nevertheless, the record shows that today's PCP are safe and offer multiple benefits to quality of life and health of the consumer. In the interest of all stakeholders, consumers, regulatory bodies and producers, there is an urgent need for an international harmonization on the status and safety requirements of these products and their ingredients.« less

SEIPS 2.0: a human factors framework for studying and improving the work of healthcare professionals and patients.

PubMed

Holden, Richard J; Carayon, Pascale; Gurses, Ayse P; Hoonakker, Peter; Hundt, Ann Schoofs; Ozok, A Ant; Rivera-Rodriguez, A Joy

2013-01-01

Healthcare practitioners, patient safety leaders, educators and researchers increasingly recognise the value of human factors/ergonomics and make use of the discipline's person-centred models of sociotechnical systems. This paper first reviews one of the most widely used healthcare human factors systems models, the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model, and then introduces an extended model, 'SEIPS 2.0'. SEIPS 2.0 incorporates three novel concepts into the original model: configuration, engagement and adaptation. The concept of configuration highlights the dynamic, hierarchical and interactive properties of sociotechnical systems, making it possible to depict how health-related performance is shaped at 'a moment in time'. Engagement conveys that various individuals and teams can perform health-related activities separately and collaboratively. Engaged individuals often include patients, family caregivers and other non-professionals. Adaptation is introduced as a feedback mechanism that explains how dynamic systems evolve in planned and unplanned ways. Key implications and future directions for human factors research in healthcare are discussed.

Developing and deploying a patient safety program in a large health care delivery system: you can't fix what you don't know about.

PubMed

Bagian, J P; Lee, C; Gosbee, J; DeRosier, J; Stalhandske, E; Eldridge, N; Williams, R; Burkhardt, M

2001-10-01

The Veterans Administration (VA) identified patient safety as a high-priority issue in 1997 and implemented the Patient Safety Improvement (PSI) initiative throughout its entire health care system. In spring 1998 the External Panel on Patient Safety System Design recommended alternative methods to enhance reporting and thereby improve patient safety. REDESIGNING THE PSI INITIATIVE: The VA began redesigning the PSI initiative in late 1998. The dedicated National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) was established. Using the panel's recommendations as a jumping-off point, NCPS began to identify known and suspected obstacles to implementation (such as possible punitive consequences and additional workload). NCPS adopted a prioritization scoring method, the Safety Assessment Code (SAC) Matrix, for close calls and adverse events, which requires assessing the event's actual or potential severity and the probability of occurrence. The SAC Matrix specifies actions that must be taken for given scores. Use of the SAC score permits a consistent handling of reports throughout the VA system and a rational selection of cases to be considered. A system for performing a root cause analysis (RCA) was developed to guide caregivers at the frontline. This system includes a computer-aided tool, a flipbook containing a series of six questions, and reporting of the findings back to the reporter. The final step requires that the facility's chief executive officer "concur" or "nonconcur" on each recommended corrective action. The RCA team outlines how the effectiveness of the corrective action will be evaluated to verify that the action has had the intended effect, and it ascertains that there were no unintended negative consequences. Based on successful implementation in two pilots, full-scale national rollout to the 173 facilities began in April 2000 and was concluded by the end of August 2000. NCPS supplied 3 days of training for individuals at each facility. The training included didactic components, an introduction to human factors engineering concepts, and small- and large-group simulation exercises. Facility leaders were reminded of the necessity to reinforce the point that assignment to an RCA team was considered an important duty. It is essential to design and implement a system that takes into account the concerns of the frontline personnel and is aimed at being a tool for learning and not accountability. The system must have as its primary focus the dissemination of positive actions that reduce or eliminate vulnerabilities that have been identified, not a counting exercise of the number of reports.

A system of safety management practices and worker engagement for reducing and preventing accidents: an empirical and theoretical investigation.

PubMed

Wachter, Jan K; Yorio, Patrick L

2014-07-01

The overall research objective was to theoretically and empirically develop the ideas around a system of safety management practices (ten practices were elaborated), to test their relationship with objective safety statistics (such as accident rates), and to explore how these practices work to achieve positive safety results (accident prevention) through worker engagement. Data were collected using safety manager, supervisor and employee surveys designed to assess and link safety management system practices, employee perceptions resulting from existing practices, and safety performance outcomes. Results indicate the following: there is a significant negative relationship between the presence of ten individual safety management practices, as well as the composite of these practices, with accident rates; there is a significant negative relationship between the level of safety-focused worker emotional and cognitive engagement with accident rates; safety management systems and worker engagement levels can be used individually to predict accident rates; safety management systems can be used to predict worker engagement levels; and worker engagement levels act as mediators between the safety management system and safety performance outcomes (such as accident rates). Even though the presence of safety management system practices is linked with incident reduction and may represent a necessary first-step in accident prevention, safety performance may also depend on mediation by safety-focused cognitive and emotional engagement by workers. Thus, when organizations invest in a safety management system approach to reducing/preventing accidents and improving safety performance, they should also be concerned about winning over the minds and hearts of their workers through human performance-based safety management systems designed to promote and enhance worker engagement. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Identification of human-generated forces on wheelchairs during total-body extensor thrusts.

PubMed

Hong, Seong-Wook; Patrangenaru, Vlad; Singhose, William; Sprigle, Stephen

2006-10-01

Involuntary extensor thrust experienced by wheelchair users with neurological disorders may cause injuries via impact with the wheelchair, lead to the occupant sliding out of the seat, and also damage the wheelchair. The concept of a dynamic seat, which allows movement of a seat with respect to the wheelchair frame, has been suggested as a potential solution to provide greater freedom and safety. Knowledge of the human-generated motion and forces during unconstrained extensor thrust events is of great importance in developing more comfortable and effective dynamic seats. The objective of this study was to develop a method to identify human-generated motions and forces during extensor thrust events. This information can be used to design the triggering system for a dynamic seat. An experimental system was developed to automatically track the motions of the wheelchair user using a video camera and also measure the forces at the footrest. An inverse dynamic approach was employed along with a three-link human body model and the experimental data to predict the human-generated forces. Two kinds of experiments were performed: the first experiment validated the proposed model and the second experiment showed the effects of the extensor thrust speed, the footrest angle, and the seatback angle. The proposed method was tested using a sensitivity analysis, from which a performance index was deduced to help indicate the robust region of the force identification. A system to determine human-generated motions and forces during unconstrained extensor thrusts was developed. Through experiments and simulations, the effectiveness and reliability of the developed system was established.

PLASMA-field barrier sentry (PFBS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzaga, Ernesto A.; Cossette, Harold James

2013-06-01

This paper describes the concept and method in designing and developing a unique security system apparatus that will counter unauthorized personnel: to deny access to or occupy an area or facility, to control or direct crowd or large groups, and to incapacitate individuals or small groups until they can be secured by military or law enforcement personnel. The system exploits Tesla coil technology. Application of basic engineering circuit analysis and principle is demonstrated. Transformation from classical spark gap method to modern solid state design was presented. The analysis shows how the optimum design can be implemented to maximize performance of the apparatus. Discussion of the hazardous effects of electrical elements to human physiological conditions was covered. This serves to define guidelines in implementing safety limits and precautions on the performance of the system. The project is strictly adhering towards non-lethal technologies and systems.

Use of the ICRP system for the protection of marine ecosystems.

PubMed

Telleria, D; Cabianca, T; Proehl, G; Kliaus, V; Brown, J; Bossio, C; Van der Wolf, J; Bonchuk, I; Nilsen, M

2015-06-01

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recently reinforced the international system of radiological protection, initially focused on humans, by identifying principles of environmental protection and proposing a framework for assessing impacts of ionising radiation on non-human species, based on a reference flora and fauna approach. For this purpose, ICRP developed dosimetric models for a set of Reference Animals and Plants, which are representative of flora and fauna in different environments (terrestrial, freshwater, marine), and produced criteria based on information on radiation effects, with the aim of evaluating the level of potential or actual radiological impacts, and as an input for decision making. The approach developed by ICRP for flora and fauna is consistent with the approach used to protect humans. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) includes considerations on the protection of the environment in its safety standards, and is currently developing guidelines to assess radiological impacts based on the aforementioned ICRP approach. This paper presents the method developed by IAEA, in a series of meetings with international experts, to enable assessment of the radiological impact to the marine environment in connection with the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972 (London Convention 1972). This method is based on IAEA's safety standards and ICRP's recommendations, and was presented in 2013 for consideration by representatives of the contracting parties of the London Convention 1972; it was approved for inclusion in its procedures, and is in the process of being incorporated into guidelines. © The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Identification of Crew-Systems Interactions and Decision Related Trends

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Sharon Monica; Evans, Joni K.; Reveley, Mary S.; Withrow, Colleen A.; Ancel, Ersin; Barr, Lawrence

2013-01-01

NASA Vehicle System Safety Technology (VSST) project management uses systems analysis to identify key issues and maintain a portfolio of research leading to potential solutions to its three identified technical challenges. Statistical data and published safety priority lists from academic, industry and other government agencies were reviewed and analyzed by NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) systems analysis personnel to identify issues and future research needs related to one of VSST's technical challenges, Crew Decision Making (CDM). The data examined in the study were obtained from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Aviation Accident and Incident Data System, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Accident/Incident Data System and the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). In addition, this report contains the results of a review of safety priority lists, information databases and other documented references pertaining to aviation crew systems issues and future research needs. The specific sources examined were: Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) Safety Enhancements Reserved for Future Implementation (SERFIs), Flight Deck Automation Issues (FDAI) and NTSB Most Wanted List and Open Recommendations. Various automation issues taxonomies and priority lists pertaining to human factors, automation and flight design were combined to create a list of automation issues related to CDM.

Overview of medical errors and adverse events

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Safety is a global concept that encompasses efficiency, security of care, reactivity of caregivers, and satisfaction of patients and relatives. Patient safety has emerged as a major target for healthcare improvement. Quality assurance is a complex task, and patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are more likely than other hospitalized patients to experience medical errors, due to the complexity of their conditions, need for urgent interventions, and considerable workload fluctuation. Medication errors are the most common medical errors and can induce adverse events. Two approaches are available for evaluating and improving quality-of-care: the room-for-improvement model, in which problems are identified, plans are made to resolve them, and the results of the plans are measured; and the monitoring model, in which quality indicators are defined as relevant to potential problems and then monitored periodically. Indicators that reflect structures, processes, or outcomes have been developed by medical societies. Surveillance of these indicators is organized at the hospital or national level. Using a combination of methods improves the results. Errors are caused by combinations of human factors and system factors, and information must be obtained on how people make errors in the ICU environment. Preventive strategies are more likely to be effective if they rely on a system-based approach, in which organizational flaws are remedied, rather than a human-based approach of encouraging people not to make errors. The development of a safety culture in the ICU is crucial to effective prevention and should occur before the evaluation of safety programs, which are more likely to be effective when they involve bundles of measures. PMID:22339769

Using Empirical Models for Communication Prediction of Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quasny, Todd

2015-01-01

A viable communication path to a spacecraft is vital for its successful operation. For human spaceflight, a reliable and predictable communication link between the spacecraft and the ground is essential not only for the safety of the vehicle and the success of the mission, but for the safety of the humans on board as well. However, analytical models of these communication links are challenged by unique characteristics of space and the vehicle itself. For example, effects of radio frequency during high energy solar events while traveling through a solar array of a spacecraft can be difficult to model, and thus to predict. This presentation covers the use of empirical methods of communication link predictions, using the International Space Station (ISS) and its associated historical data as the verification platform and test bed. These empirical methods can then be incorporated into communication prediction and automation tools for the ISS in order to better understand the quality of the communication path given a myriad of variables, including solar array positions, line of site to satellites, position of the sun, and other dynamic structures on the outside of the ISS. The image on the left below show the current analytical model of one of the communication systems on the ISS. The image on the right shows a rudimentary empirical model of the same system based on historical archived data from the ISS.

Software Dependability and Safety Evaluations ESA's Initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernek, M.

ESA has allocated funds for an initiative to evaluate Dependability and Safety methods of Software. The objectives of this initiative are; · More extensive validation of Safety and Dependability techniques for Software · Provide valuable results to improve the quality of the Software thus promoting the application of Dependability and Safety methods and techniques. ESA space systems are being developed according to defined PA requirement specifications. These requirements may be implemented through various design concepts, e.g. redundancy, diversity etc. varying from project to project. Analysis methods (FMECA. FTA, HA, etc) are frequently used during requirements analysis and design activities to assure the correct implementation of system PA requirements. The criticality level of failures, functions and systems is determined and by doing that the critical sub-systems are identified, on which dependability and safety techniques are to be applied during development. Proper performance of the software development requires the development of a technical specification for the products at the beginning of the life cycle. Such technical specification comprises both functional and non-functional requirements. These non-functional requirements address characteristics of the product such as quality, dependability, safety and maintainability. Software in space systems is more and more used in critical functions. Also the trend towards more frequent use of COTS and reusable components pose new difficulties in terms of assuring reliable and safe systems. Because of this, its dependability and safety must be carefully analysed. ESA identified and documented techniques, methods and procedures to ensure that software dependability and safety requirements are specified and taken into account during the design and development of a software system and to verify/validate that the implemented software systems comply with these requirements [R1].

Ex-ante assessment of the safety effects of intelligent transport systems.

PubMed

Kulmala, Risto

2010-07-01

There is a need to develop a comprehensive framework for the safety assessment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). This framework should: (1) cover all three dimensions of road safety-exposure, crash risk and consequence, (2) cover, in addition to the engineering effect, also the effects due to behavioural adaptation and (3) be compatible with the other aspects of state of the art road safety theories. A framework based on nine ITS safety mechanisms is proposed and discussed with regard to the requirements set to the framework. In order to illustrate the application of the framework in practice, the paper presents a method based on the framework and the results from applying that method for twelve intelligent vehicle systems in Europe. The framework is also compared to two recent frameworks applied in the safety assessment of intelligent vehicle safety systems. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human Factors for Nursing: From In-Situ Testing to Mobile Usability Engineering.

PubMed

Kushniruk, Andre W; Borycki, Elizabeth M; Solvoll, Terje; Hullin, Carola

2016-01-01

The tutorial goal is to familiarize participants with human aspects of health informatics and human-centered approaches to the design, evaluation and deployment of both usable and safe healthcare information systems. The focus will be on demonstrating and teaching practical and low-cost methods for evaluating mobile applications in nursing. Basic background to testing methods will be provided, followed by live demonstration of the methods. Then the audience will break into small groups to explore the application of the methods to applications of interest (there will be a number of possible applications that will be available for applications in areas such as electronic health records and decision support, however, if the groups have applications of specific interest to them that will be possible). The challenges of conducting usability testing, and in particular mobile usability testing will be discussed along with practical solutions. The target audience includes practicing nurses and nurse researchers, nursing informatics specialists, nursing students, nursing managers and health informatics professionals interested in improving the usability and safety of healthcare applications.

42 CFR 87.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... procedure, method, technique, or approach that will further the research purposes described in § 87.4... HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION GRANTS...

Intelligent Vehicle Initiative Forum : proceedings

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-08-05

This event, jointly sponsored by ITS Americas Advanced Vehicle Control and Safety Systems (AVCSS) and Safety and Human Factors (S&HF) Committees, was designed to review and discuss the U.S. Department of Transportations Intelligent Vehicle Init...

Traffic safety facts 1996 : a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-12-01

This annual report presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administ...

Traffic safety facts 2005 : a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-01-01

This annual report presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administ...

Traffic safety facts 2006 : a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-01-01

This annual report presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administ...

Traffic safety facts 2000 : a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-12-01

This annual report presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administ...

Traffic safety facts 2001 : a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-12-01

This annual report presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administ...

Traffic safety facts 1998 : a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

This annual report presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administ...

Traffic safety facts 2002 : a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-01-01

This annual report presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administ...

Traffic safety facts 2003 : a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-01-01

This annual report presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administ...

Traffic safety facts 1999 : a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-12-01

This annual report presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administ...

Traffic safety facts 1994 : a compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-08-01

This annual report presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administ...

Attitudes to teamwork and safety among Italian surgeons and operating room nurses.

PubMed

Prati, Gabriele; Pietrantoni, Luca

2014-01-01

Previous studies have shown that surgical team members' attitudes about safety and teamwork in the operating theatre may play a role in patient safety. The aim of this study was to assess attitudes about teamwork and safety among Italian surgeons and operating room nurses. Fifty-five surgeons and 48 operating room nurses working in operating theatres at one hospital in Italy completed the Operating Room Management Attitudes Questionnaire (ORMAQ). Results showed several discrepancies in attitudes about teamwork and safety between surgeons and operating room nurses. Surgeons had more positive views on the quality of surgical leadership, communication, teamwork, and organizational climate in the theatre than operating room nurses. Operating room nurses reported that safety rules and procedures were more frequently disregarded than the surgeons. The results are only partially aligned with previous ORMAQ surveys of surgical teams in other countries. The differences emphasize the influence of national culture, as well as the particular healthcare system. This study shows discrepancies on many aspects in attitudes to teamwork and safety between surgeons and operating room nurses. The findings support implementation and use of team interventions and human factor training. Finally, attitude surveys provide a method for assessing safety culture in surgery, for evaluating the effectiveness of training initiatives, and for collecting data for a hospital's quality assurance programme.

Alcohol and highway safety in a public health perspective.

PubMed Central

Dickman, F B

1988-01-01

The Public Health Service and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration share the responsibility for problems related to injury prevention and control regarding the alcohol-impaired operation of motor vehicles. NHTSA activities have evolved over several decades within a general framework which emphasizes community-based systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is promoting program activities that stress community-level involvement in problems of alcohol and highway use. The public health approach to the mortality and morbidity resulting from alcohol use and motor vehicle operation entails examining and promoting those activities that address human factors. Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management (TEAM) is a cooperative effort representing sports, entertainment, insurance, vehicle manufacturer, and other organizations and agencies building community coalitions. The Centers for Disease Control is establishing research and collaborating centers to stimulate studies and exchange information on injury-related research. Alcohol countermeasures programs include training for law enforcement and legal officials, technology development efforts, and changes in laws applied to use of alcohol and other drugs. Outreach and networking activities have encouraged the initiation and coordination of community level groups active in promoting highway safety with regard to the use of alcohol. Statistical method changes are being discussed for surveillance of motor vehicle-related injuries for Health Objectives for the Nation for the Year 2000. NHTSA data systems being discussed are thought to be more timely and more sensitive to crash activity than methods now in use.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) PMID:3141961

The structure and emerging trends of construction safety management research: a bibliometric review.

PubMed

Liang, Huakang; Zhang, Shoujian; Su, Yikun

2018-03-29

Recently, construction safety management (CSM) practices and systems have become important topics for stakeholders to take care of human resources. However, few studies have attempted to map the global research on CSM. A comprehensive bibliometric review was conducted in this study based on multiple methods. In total, 1172 CSM-related papers from the Web of Science Core Collection database were examined. The analyses focused on publication year, country-institute, publication source, author and research topics. The results indicated that the USA, China, Australia and the UK took leading positions in CSM research. Two branches of journals were identified, namely the branch of engineering science and that of safety science and social science. Additionally, seven themes together with 28 specific topics were detected to allow researchers to track the main structure and temporal evolution of CSM research. Finally, the main research trends and potential research directions were discussed to guide the future research.

A Qualitative Study on Organizational Factors Affecting Occupational Accidents.

PubMed

Eskandari, Davood; Jafari, Mohammad Javad; Mehrabi, Yadollah; Kian, Mostafa Pouya; Charkhand, Hossein; Mirghotbi, Mostafa

2017-03-01

Technical, human, operational and organizational factors have been influencing the sequence of occupational accidents. Among them, organizational factors play a major role in causing occupational accidents. The aim of this research was to understand the Iranian safety experts' experiences and perception of organizational factors. This qualitative study was conducted in 2015 by using the content analysis technique. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 17 safety experts working in Iranian universities and industries and analyzed with a conventional qualitative content analysis method using the MAXQDA software. Eleven organizational factors' sub-themes were identified: management commitment, management participation, employee involvement, communication, blame culture, education and training, job satisfaction, interpersonal relationship, supervision, continuous improvement, and reward system. The participants considered these factors as effective on occupational accidents. The mentioned 11 organizational factors are probably involved in occupational accidents in Iran. Naturally, improving organizational factors can increase the safety performance and reduce occupational accidents.

Human kidney proximal tubule cells are vulnerable to the effects of Rauwolfia serpentina.

PubMed

Mossoba, Miriam E; Flynn, Thomas J; Vohra, Sanah; Wiesenfeld, Paddy L; Sprando, Robert L

2015-12-01

Rauwolfia serpentina (or Snake root plant) is a botanical dietary supplement marketed in the USA for maintaining blood pressure. Very few studies have addressed the safety of this herb, despite its wide availability to consumers. Its reported pleiotropic effects underscore the necessity for evaluating its safety. We used a human kidney cell line to investigate the possible negative effects of R. serpentina on the renal system in vitro, with a specific focus on the renal proximal tubules. We evaluated cellular and mitochondrial toxicity, along with a variety of other kidney-specific toxicology biomarkers. We found that R. serpentina was capable of producing highly detrimental effects in our in vitro renal cell system. These results suggest more studies are needed to investigate the safety of this dietary supplement in both kidney and other target organ systems.

Systems modelling approaches to the design of safe healthcare delivery: ease of use and usefulness perceived by healthcare workers.

PubMed

Jun, Gyuchan Thomas; Ward, James; Clarkson, P John

2010-07-01

The UK health service, which had been diagnosed to be seriously out of step with good design practice, has been recommended to obtain knowledge of design and risk management practice from other safety-critical industries. While these other industries have benefited from a broad range of systems modelling approaches, healthcare remains a long way behind. In order to investigate the healthcare-specific applicability of systems modelling approaches, this study identified 10 distinct methods through meta-model analysis. Healthcare workers' perception on 'ease of use' and 'usefulness' was then evaluated. The characterisation of the systems modelling methods showed that each method had particular capabilities to describe specific aspects of a complex system. However, the healthcare workers found that some of the methods, although potentially very useful, would be difficult to understand, particularly without prior experience. This study provides valuable insights into a better use of the systems modelling methods in healthcare. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: The findings in this study provide insights into how to make a better use of various systems modelling approaches to the design and risk management of healthcare delivery systems, which have been a growing research interest among ergonomists and human factor professionals.

A brief review of the occurrence, use, and safety of food-related nanomaterials.

PubMed

Magnuson, Bernadene A; Jonaitis, Tomas S; Card, Jeffrey W

2011-08-01

Nanotechnology and nanomaterials have tremendous potential to enhance the food supply through novel applications, including nutrient and bioactive absorption and delivery systems; ingredient functionality; improved colors and flavors; microbial, allergen, and contaminant detection and control; and food packaging properties and performance. To determine the current state of knowledge regarding the safety of these potential uses of nanomaterials, an appraisal of the published literature on the safety of food-related nanomaterials was undertaken. A method of assessment of reliability of toxicology studies was developed to conduct this appraisal. The review of the toxicology literature on oral exposure to food-related nanomaterials found that the number of studies is limited. Exposure to nanomaterials in the human food chain may occur not only through intentional uses in food manufacturing, but also via uses in agricultural production and carry over from use in other industries. Although a number of analytical methods are useful in physicochemical characterization of manufactured nanomaterials, new methods may be needed to more fully detect and characterize nanomaterials incorporated into foods and in other media. There is a need for additional toxicology studies of sufficient quality and duration on different types of nanomaterials to further our understanding of the characteristics of nanomaterials that affect safety of oral exposure resulting from use in various food applications. © 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®

Modeling Multiple Human-Automation Distributed Systems using Network-form Games

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brat, Guillaume

2012-01-01

The paper describes at a high-level the network-form game framework (based on Bayes net and game theory), which can be used to model and analyze safety issues in large, distributed, mixed human-automation systems such as NextGen.

Hyperspectral imaging applied to medical diagnoses and food safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrasco, Oscar; Gomez, Richard B.; Chainani, Arun; Roper, William E.

2003-08-01

This paper analyzes the feasibility and performance of HSI systems for medical diagnosis as well as for food safety. Illness prevention and early disease detection are key elements for maintaining good health. Health care practitioners worldwide rely on innovative electronic devices to accurately identify disease. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is an emerging technique that may provide a less invasive procedure than conventional diagnostic imaging. By analyzing reflected and fluorescent light applied to the human body, a HSI system serves as a diagnostic tool as well as a method for evaluating the effectiveness of applied therapies. The safe supply and production of food is also of paramount importance to public health illness prevention. Although this paper will focus on imaging and spectroscopy in food inspection procedures -- the detection of contaminated food sources -- to ensure food quality, HSI also shows promise in detecting pesticide levels in food production (agriculture.)

Modelling runway incursion severity.

PubMed

Wilke, Sabine; Majumdar, Arnab; Ochieng, Washington Y

2015-06-01

Analysis of the causes underlying runway incursions is fundamental for the development of effective mitigation measures. However, there are significant weaknesses in the current methods to model these factors. This paper proposes a structured framework for modelling causal factors and their relationship to severity, which includes a description of the airport surface system architecture, establishment of terminological definitions, the determination and collection of appropriate data, the analysis of occurrences for severity and causes, and the execution of a statistical analysis framework. It is implemented in the context of U.S. airports, enabling the identification of a number of priority interventions, including the need for better investigation and causal factor capture, recommendations for airfield design, operating scenarios and technologies, and better training for human operators in the system. The framework is recommended for the analysis of runway incursions to support safety improvements and the methodology is transferable to other areas of aviation safety risk analysis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN OVER-RELIANCE ON TECHNOLOGY.

PubMed

2017-01-01

THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF AN INCIDENT RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL SYSTEM FOR INCIDENT REPORTING (NSIR), THIS ISMP CANADA SAFETY BULLETIN HIGHLIGHTS HUMAN OVER-RELIANCE ON TECHNOLOGY BY INTRODUCING TWO RELATED HUMAN COGNITIVE LIMITATIONS: AUTOMATION BIAS AND AUTOMATION COMPLACENCY.

CBP for Field Workers – Results and Insights from Three Usability and Interface Design Evaluations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oxstrand, Johanna Helene; Le Blanc, Katya Lee; Bly, Aaron Douglas

2015-09-01

Nearly all activities that involve human interaction with the systems in a nuclear power plant are guided by procedures. Even though the paper-based procedures (PBPs) currently used by industry have a demonstrated history of ensuring safety, improving procedure use could yield significant savings in increased efficiency as well as improved nuclear safety through human performance gains. The nuclear industry is constantly trying to find ways to decrease the human error rate, especially the human errors associated with procedure use. As a step toward the goal of improving procedure use and adherence, researchers in the Light-Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, togethermore » with the nuclear industry, have been investigating the possibility and feasibility of replacing the current paper-based procedure process with a computer-based procedure (CBP) system. This report describes a field evaluation of new design concepts of a prototype computer-based procedure system.« less

Conditions for the successful integration of Human and Organizational Factors (HOF) in the nuclear safety analysis.

PubMed

Tosello, Michèle; Lévêque, Françoise; Dutillieu, Stéphanie; Hernandez, Guillaume; Vautier, Jean-François

2012-01-01

This communication presents some elements which come from the experience feedback at CEA about the conditions for the successful integration of HOF in the nuclear safety analysis. To point out some of these conditions, one of the concepts proposed by Edgar Morin to describe the functioning of "complex" systems: the dialogical principle has been used. The idea is to look for some dialogical pairs. The elements of this kind of pair are both complementary and antagonist to one another. Three dialogical pairs are presented in this communication. The first two pairs are related to the organization of the HOF network and the last one is related to the methods which are used to analyse the working situations. The three pairs are: specialist - non-specialist actors of the network, centralized - distributed human resources in the network and microscopic - macroscopic levels of HOF methods to analyse the working situations. To continuously improve these three dialogical pairs, it is important to keep the differences which exist between the two elements of a pair and to find and maintain a balance between the two elements of the pairs.

When paradigms collide at the road rail interface: evaluation of a sociotechnical systems theory design toolkit for cognitive work analysis.

PubMed

Read, Gemma J M; Salmon, Paul M; Lenné, Michael G

2016-09-01

The Cognitive Work Analysis Design Toolkit (CWA-DT) is a recently developed approach that provides guidance and tools to assist in applying the outputs of CWA to design processes to incorporate the values and principles of sociotechnical systems theory. In this paper, the CWA-DT is evaluated based on an application to improve safety at rail level crossings. The evaluation considered the extent to which the CWA-DT met pre-defined methodological criteria and aligned with sociotechnical values and principles. Both process and outcome measures were taken based on the ratings of workshop participants and human factors experts. Overall, workshop participants were positive about the process and indicated that it met the methodological criteria and sociotechnical values. However, expert ratings suggested that the CWA-DT achieved only limited success in producing RLX designs that fully aligned with the sociotechnical approach. Discussion about the appropriateness of the sociotechnical approach in a public safety context is provided. Practitioner Summary: Human factors and ergonomics practitioners need evidence of the effectiveness of methods. A design toolkit for cognitive work analysis, incorporating values and principles from sociotechnical systems theory, was applied to create innovative designs for rail level crossings. Evaluation results based on the application are provided and discussed.

Applying Failure Modes, Effects, And Criticality Analysis And Human Reliability Analysis Techniques To Improve Safety Design Of Work Process In Singapore Armed Forces

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

an instituted safety program that utilizes a generic risk assessment method involving the 5-M (Mission, Man, Machine , Medium and Management) factor...the Safety core value is hinged upon three key principles—(1) each soldier has a crucial part to play, by adopting safety as a core value and making...it a way of life in his unit; (2) safety is an integral part of training, operations and mission success, and (3) safety is an individual, team and

Human factors evaluation of remote afterloading brachytherapy: Human error and critical tasks in remote afterloading brachytherapy and approaches for improved system performance. Volume 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Callan, J.R.; Kelly, R.T.; Quinn, M.L.

1995-05-01

Remote Afterloading Brachytherapy (RAB) is a medical process used in the treatment of cancer. RAB uses a computer-controlled device to remotely insert and remove radioactive sources close to a target (or tumor) in the body. Some RAB problems affecting the radiation dose to the patient have been reported and attributed to human error. To determine the root cause of human error in the RAB system, a human factors team visited 23 RAB treatment sites in the US The team observed RAB treatment planning and delivery, interviewed RAB personnel, and performed walk-throughs, during which staff demonstrated the procedures and practices usedmore » in performing RAB tasks. Factors leading to human error in the RAB system were identified. The impact of those factors on the performance of RAB was then evaluated and prioritized in terms of safety significance. Finally, the project identified and evaluated alternative approaches for resolving the safety significant problems related to human error.« less

Aviation safety and automation technology for subsonic transports

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Albers, James A.

1991-01-01

Discussed here are aviation safety human factors and air traffic control (ATC) automation research conducted at the NASA Ames Research Center. Research results are given in the areas of flight deck and ATC automations, displays and warning systems, crew coordination, and crew fatigue and jet lag. Accident investigation and an incident reporting system that is used to guide the human factors research is discussed. A design philosophy for human-centered automation is given, along with an evaluation of automation on advanced technology transports. Intelligent error tolerant systems such as electronic checklists are discussed along with design guidelines for reducing procedure errors. The data on evaluation of Crew Resource Management (CRM) training indicates highly significant positive changes in appropriate flight deck behavior and more effective use of available resources for crew members receiving the training.

The Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (Dematel) and Analytic Network Process (ANP) for Safety Management System Evaluation Performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rolita, Lisa; Surarso, Bayu; Gernowo, Rahmat

2018-02-01

In order to improve airport safety management system (SMS) performance, an evaluation system is required to improve on current shortcomings and maximize safety. This study suggests the integration of the DEMATEL and ANP methods in decision making processes by analyzing causal relations between the relevant criteria and taking effective analysis-based decision. The DEMATEL method builds on the ANP method in identifying the interdependencies between criteria. The input data consists of questionnaire data obtained online and then stored in an online database. Furthermore, the questionnaire data is processed using DEMATEL and ANP methods to obtain the results of determining the relationship between criteria and criteria that need to be evaluated. The study cases on this evaluation system were Adi Sutjipto International Airport, Yogyakarta (JOG); Ahmad Yani International Airport, Semarang (SRG); and Adi Sumarmo International Airport, Surakarta (SOC). The integration grades SMS performance criterion weights in a descending order as follow: safety and destination policy, safety risk management, healthcare, and safety awareness. Sturges' formula classified the results into nine grades. JOG and SMG airports were in grade 8, while SOG airport was in grade 7.

Internet of Things Based Combustible Ice Safety Monitoring System Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Enji

2017-05-01

As the development of human society, more energy is requires to meet the need of human daily lives. New energies play a significant role in solving the problems of serious environmental pollution and resources exhaustion in the present world. Combustible ice is essentially frozen natural gas, which can literally be lit on fire bringing a whole new meaning to fire and ice with less pollutant. This paper analysed the advantages and risks on the uses of combustible ice. By compare to other kinds of alternative energies, the advantages of the uses of combustible ice were concluded. The combustible ice basic physical characters and safety risks were analysed. The developments troubles and key utilizations of combustible ice were predicted in the end. A real-time safety monitoring system framework based on the internet of things (IOT) was built to be applied in the future mining, which provide a brand new way to monitoring the combustible ice mining safety.

EPSRC Principles of Robotics: commentary on safety, robots as products, and responsibility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boddington, Paula

2017-04-01

The EPSRC Principles of Robotics refer to safety. How safety is understood is relative to how tasks are characterised and identified. But the exact task(s) a robot plays within a complex system of agency may be hard to identify. If robots are seen as products, it is nonetheless vital that the safety and other implications of their use in situ must also be considered carefully, and they must be fit for purpose. The Principles identify humans as responsible, rather than robots. We must thus understand how the replacement of human agency by robotic agency may impact upon attributions of responsibility. The Principles seek to fit into existing systems of law and ethics. But these may need development, and in certain context, attention to more local regulations is also needed. A distinction between ethical issues related to the design of robotics, and to their use, may be needed in the Principles.

Continuous monitoring the vehicle dynamics and driver behavior using navigation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ene, George

2017-10-01

In all fields cost is very important and the increasing amount of data that are needed for active safety systems, like ADAS, lead to implementation of some complex and powerful unit for processing raw data. In this manner is necessary a cost-effective method to estimate the maximum available tire road friction during acceleration and braking by continuous monitoring the vehicle dynamics and driver behavior. The method is based on the hypothesis that short acceleration and braking periods can indicate vehicle dynamics, and thus the available tire road friction coefficient, and also human behavior and his limits. Support for this hypothesis is found in the literature and is supported by the result of experiments conducted under different conditions and seasons.

[Prospects of systemic radioecology in solving innovative tasks of nuclear power engineering].

PubMed

Spiridonov, S I

2014-01-01

A need of systemic radioecological studies in the strategy developed by the atomic industry in Russia in the XXI century has been justified. The priorities in the radioecology of nuclear power engineering of natural safety associated with the development of the radiation-migration equivalence concept, comparative evaluation of innovative nuclear technologies and forecasting methods of various emergencies have been identified. Also described is an algorithm for the integrated solution of these tasks that includes elaboration of methodological approaches, methods and software allowing dose burdens to humans and biota to be estimated. The rationale of using radioecological risks for the analysis of uncertainties in the environmental contamination impacts,at different stages of the existing and innovative nuclear fuel cycles is shown.

Technical Reference Suite Addressing Challenges of Providing Assurance for Fault Management Architectural Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fitz, Rhonda; Whitman, Gerek

2016-01-01

Research into complexities of software systems Fault Management (FM) and how architectural design decisions affect safety, preservation of assets, and maintenance of desired system functionality has coalesced into a technical reference (TR) suite that advances the provision of safety and mission assurance. The NASA Independent Verification and Validation (IVV) Program, with Software Assurance Research Program support, extracted FM architectures across the IVV portfolio to evaluate robustness, assess visibility for validation and test, and define software assurance methods applied to the architectures and designs. This investigation spanned IVV projects with seven different primary developers, a wide range of sizes and complexities, and encompassed Deep Space Robotic, Human Spaceflight, and Earth Orbiter mission FM architectures. The initiative continues with an expansion of the TR suite to include Launch Vehicles, adding the benefit of investigating differences intrinsic to model-based FM architectures and insight into complexities of FM within an Agile software development environment, in order to improve awareness of how nontraditional processes affect FM architectural design and system health management.

Fundamentals of health risk assessment. Use, derivation, validity and limitations of safety indices.

PubMed

Putzrath, R M; Wilson, J D

1999-04-01

We investigated the way results of human health risk assessments are used, and the theory used to describe those methods, sometimes called the "NAS paradigm." Contrary to a key tenet of that theory, current methods have strictly limited utility. The characterizations now considered standard, Safety Indices such as "Acceptable Daily Intake," "Reference Dose," and so on, usefully inform only decisions that require a choice between two policy alternatives (e.g., approve a food additive or not), decided solely on the basis of a finding of safety. Risk is characterized as the quotient of one of these Safety Indices divided by an estimate of exposure: a quotient greater than one implies that the situation may be considered safe. Such decisions are very widespread, both in the U.S. federal government and elsewhere. No current method is universal; different policies lead to different practices, for example, in California's "Proposition 65," where statutory provisions specify some practices. Further, an important kind of human health risk assessment is not recognized by this theory: this kind characterizes risk as likelihood of harm, given estimates of exposure consequent to various decision choices. Likelihood estimates are necessary whenever decision makers have many possible decision choices and must weigh more than two societal values, such as in EPA's implementation of "conventional air pollutants." These estimates can not be derived using current methods; different methods are needed. Our analysis suggests changes needed in both the theory and practice of human health risk assessment, and how what is done is depicted.

Laser beam alignment and profilometry using diagnostic fluorescent safety mirrors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lizotte, Todd E.

2011-03-01

There are a wide range of laser beam delivery systems in use for various purposes; including industrial and medical applications. Virtually all such beam delivery systems for practical purposes employ optical systems comprised of mirrors and lenses to shape, focus and guide the laser beam down to the material being processed. The goal of the laser beam delivery is to set the optimum parameters and to "fold" the beam path to reduce the mechanical length of the optical system, thereby allowing a physically compact system. In many cases, even a compact system can incorporate upwards of six mirrors and a comparable number of lenses all needing alignment so they are collinear. One of the major requirements for use of such systems in industry is a method of safe alignment. The alignment process requires that the aligner determine where the beam strikes each element. The aligner should also preferably be able to determine the shape or pattern of the laser beam at that point and its relative power. These alignments are further compounded in that the laser beams generated are not visible to the unaided human eye. Such beams are also often of relatively high power levels, and are thereby a significant hazard to the eyes of the aligner. Obvious an invisible beam makes it nearly impossible to align laser system without some form of optical assistance. The predominant method of visually aligning the laser beam delivery is the use of thermal paper, paper cards or fluorescing card material. The use of paper products which have limited power handling capability or coated plastics can produce significant debris and contaminants within the beam line that ultimately damage the optics. The use of the cards can also create significant laser light scatter jeopardizing the safety of the person aligning the system. This paper covers a new safety mirror design for use with at various UV and Near IR wavelengths (193 nm to 1064 nm) within laser beam delivery systems and how its use can provide benefits covering eye safety, precise alignment and beam diagnostics.

Trends in HFE Methods and Tools and Their Applicability to Safety Reviews

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O'Hara, J.M.; Plott, C.; Milanski, J.

2009-09-30

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) conducts human factors engineering (HFE) safety reviews of applicant submittals for new plants and for changes to existing plants. The reviews include the evaluation of the methods and tools (M&T) used by applicants as part of their HFE program. The technology used to perform HFE activities has been rapidly evolving, resulting in a whole new generation of HFE M&Ts. The objectives of this research were to identify the current trends in HFE methods and tools, determine their applicability to NRC safety reviews, and identify topics for which the NRC may need additional guidance tomore » support the NRC's safety reviews. We conducted a survey that identified over 100 new HFE M&Ts. The M&Ts were assessed to identify general trends. Seven trends were identified: Computer Applications for Performing Traditional Analyses, Computer-Aided Design, Integration of HFE Methods and Tools, Rapid Development Engineering, Analysis of Cognitive Tasks, Use of Virtual Environments and Visualizations, and Application of Human Performance Models. We assessed each trend to determine its applicability to the NRC's review by considering (1) whether the nuclear industry is making use of M&Ts for each trend, and (2) whether M&Ts reflecting the trend can be reviewed using the current design review guidance. We concluded that M&T trends that are applicable to the commercial nuclear industry and are expected to impact safety reviews may be considered for review guidance development. Three trends fell into this category: Analysis of Cognitive Tasks, Use of Virtual Environments and Visualizations, and Application of Human Performance Models. The other trends do not need to be addressed at this time.« less

Human factors considerations for the integration of unmanned aerial vehicles in the National Airspace System : an analysis of reports submitted to the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-06-06

Successful integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations into the National Airspace System requires the identification and mitigation of operational risks. This report reviews human factors issues that have been identified in operational as...

Human Systems Integration at NASA Ames Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCandless, Jeffrey

2017-01-01

The Human Systems Integration Division focuses on the design and operations of complex aerospace systems through analysis, experimentation and modeling. With over a dozen labs and over 120 people, the division conducts research to improve safety, efficiency and mission success. Areas of investigation include applied vision research which will be discussed during this seminar.

Aflatoxins: A Global Concern for Food Safety, Human Health and Their Management

PubMed Central

Kumar, Pradeep; Mahato, Dipendra K.; Kamle, Madhu; Mohanta, Tapan K.; Kang, Sang G.

2017-01-01

The aflatoxin producing fungi, Aspergillus spp., are widely spread in nature and have severely contaminated food supplies of humans and animals, resulting in health hazards and even death. Therefore, there is great demand for aflatoxins research to develop suitable methods for their quantification, precise detection and control to ensure the safety of consumers’ health. Here, the chemistry and biosynthesis process of the mycotoxins is discussed in brief along with their occurrence, and the health hazards to humans and livestock. This review focuses on resources, production, detection and control measures of aflatoxins to ensure food and feed safety. The review is informative for health-conscious consumers and research experts in the fields. Furthermore, providing knowledge on aflatoxins toxicity will help in ensure food safety and meet the future demands of the increasing population by decreasing the incidence of outbreaks due to aflatoxins. PMID:28144235

Principles of Automation for Patient Safety in Intensive Care: Learning From Aviation.

PubMed

Dominiczak, Jason; Khansa, Lara

2018-06-01

The transition away from written documentation and analog methods has opened up the possibility of leveraging data science and analytic techniques to improve health care. In the implementation of data science techniques and methodologies, high-acuity patients in the ICU can particularly benefit. The Principles of Automation for Patient Safety in Intensive Care (PASPIC) framework draws on Billings's principles of human-centered aviation (HCA) automation and helps in identifying the advantages, pitfalls, and unintended consequences of automation in health care. Billings's HCA principles are based on the premise that human operators must remain "in command," so that they are continuously informed and actively involved in all aspects of system operations. In addition, automated systems need to be predictable, simple to train, to learn, and to operate, and must be able to monitor the human operators, and every intelligent system element must know the intent of other intelligent system elements. In applying Billings's HCA principles to the ICU setting, PAPSIC has three key characteristics: (1) integration and better interoperability, (2) multidimensional analysis, and (3) enhanced situation awareness. PAPSIC suggests that health care professionals reduce overreliance on automation and implement "cooperative automation" and that vendors reduce mode errors and embrace interoperability. Much can be learned from the aviation industry in automating the ICU. Because it combines "smart" technology with the necessary controls to withstand unintended consequences, PAPSIC could help ensure more informed decision making in the ICU and better patient care. Copyright © 2018 The Joint Commission. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of cosmetic ingredients in the in vitro reconstructed human epidermis test method EpiSkin™ using HPLC/UPLC-spectrophotometry in the MTT-reduction assay.

PubMed

Alépée, N; Hibatallah, J; Klaric, M; Mewes, K R; Pfannenbecker, U; McNamee, P

2016-06-01

Cosmetics Europe recently established HPLC/UPLC-spectrophotometry as a suitable alternative endpoint detection system for measurement of formazan in the MTT-reduction assay of reconstructed human tissue test methods irrespective of the test system involved. This addressed a known limitation for such test methods that use optical density for measurement of formazan and may be incompatible for evaluation of strong MTT reducer and/or coloured chemicals. To build on the original project, Cosmetics Europe has undertaken a second study that focuses on evaluation of chemicals with functionalities relevant to cosmetic products. Such chemicals were primarily identified from the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) 2010 memorandum (addendum) on the in vitro test EpiSkin™ for skin irritation testing. Fifty test items were evaluated in which both standard photometry and HPLC/UPLC-spectrophotometry were used for endpoint detection. The results obtained in this study: 1) provide further support for Within Laboratory Reproducibility of HPLC-UPLC-spectrophotometry for measurement of formazan; 2) demonstrate, through use a case study with Basazol C Blue pr. 8056, that HPLC/UPLC-spectrophotometry enables determination of an in vitro classification even when this is not possible using standard photometry and 3) addresses the question raised by SCCS in their 2010 memorandum (addendum) to consider an endpoint detection system not involving optical density quantification in in vitro reconstructed human epidermis skin irritation test methods. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analyzing Software Requirements Errors in Safety-Critical, Embedded Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lutz, Robyn R.

1993-01-01

This paper analyzes the root causes of safety-related software errors in safety-critical, embedded systems. The results show that software errors identified as potentially hazardous to the system tend to be produced by different error mechanisms than non- safety-related software errors. Safety-related software errors are shown to arise most commonly from (1) discrepancies between the documented requirements specifications and the requirements needed for correct functioning of the system and (2) misunderstandings of the software's interface with the rest of the system. The paper uses these results to identify methods by which requirements errors can be prevented. The goal is to reduce safety-related software errors and to enhance the safety of complex, embedded systems.

Driver Support Functions under Resource-Limited Situations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inagaki, Toshiyuki; Itoh, Makoto; Nagai, Yoshitomo

This paper reports results of an experiment with a driving simulator in order to answer the following question: What type of support should be given to an automobile driver when it is determined, via some monitoring method, that the driver's situation awareness may not be appropriate to a given traffic condition? This paper compares (a) warning type support in which an auditory warning is given to the driver to enhance situation awareness and (b) action type support in which an autonomous safety control is executed as a soft protection for avoiding an accident. Although the both types of driver support are effective, the former sometimes fail to assure safety, which suggests a limitation of the human locus of control assumption, while efficacy of the latter may be degraded by an incorrect human reasoning that can happen under uncertainty. This paper discusses viewpoints needed in the design of systems for supporting drivers in resource-limited situations in which information or time available for a driver is limited in a given traffic condition.

Remotely controlled sensor apparatus for use in dig-face characterization system

DOEpatents

Josten, N.E.; Svoboda, J.M.

1999-05-25

A remotely controlled sensor platform apparatus useful in a dig-face characterization system is deployed from a mobile delivery device such as standard heavy construction equipment. The sensor apparatus is designed to stabilize sensors against extraneous motions induced by heavy equipment manipulations or other outside influences, and includes a terrain sensing and sensor elevation control system to maintain the sensors in close ground proximity. The deployed sensor apparatus is particularly useful in collecting data in work environments where human access is difficult due to the presence of hazardous conditions, rough terrain, or other circumstances that prevent efficient data collection by conventional methods. Such work environments include hazardous waste sites, unexploded ordnance sites, or construction sites. Data collection in these environments by utilizing the deployed sensor apparatus is desirable in order to protect human health and safety, or to assist in planning daily operations to increase efficiency. 13 figs.

Remotely controlled sensor apparatus for use in dig-face characterization system

DOEpatents

Josten, Nicholas E.; Svoboda, John M.

1999-01-01

A remotely controlled sensor platform apparatus useful in a dig-face characterization system is deployed from a mobile delivery device such as standard heavy construction equipment. The sensor apparatus is designed to stabilize sensors against extraneous motions induced by heavy equipment manipulations or other outside influences, and includes a terrain sensing and sensor elevation control system to maintain the sensors in close ground proximity. The deployed sensor apparatus is particularly useful in collecting data in work environments where human access is difficult due to the presence of hazardous conditions, rough terrain, or other circumstances that prevent efficient data collection by conventional methods. Such work environments include hazardous waste sites, unexploded ordnance sites, or construction sites. Data collection in these environments by utilizing the deployed sensor apparatus is desirable in order to protect human health and safety, or to assist in planning daily operations to increase efficiency.

Using HFACS-Healthcare to Identify Systemic Vulnerabilities During Surgery.

PubMed

Cohen, Tara N; Francis, Sarah E; Wiegmann, Douglas A; Shappell, Scott A; Gewertz, Bruce L

2018-03-01

The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System for Healthcare (HFACS-Healthcare) was used to classify surgical near miss events reported via a hospital's event reporting system over the course of 1 year. Two trained analysts identified causal factors within each event narrative and subsequently categorized the events using HFACS-Healthcare. Of 910 original events, 592 could be analyzed further using HFACS-Healthcare, resulting in the identification of 726 causal factors. Most issues (n = 436, 60.00%) involved preconditions for unsafe acts, followed by unsafe acts (n = 257, 35.39%), organizational influences (n = 27, 3.72%), and supervisory factors (n = 6, 0.82%). These findings go beyond the traditional methods of trending incident data that typically focus on documenting the frequency of their occurrence. Analyzing near misses based on their underlying contributing human factors affords a greater opportunity to develop process improvements to reduce reoccurrence and better provide patient safety approaches.

Considerations for the design of safe and effective consumer health IT applications in the home.

PubMed

Zayas-Cabán, Teresa; Dixon, Brian E

2010-10-01

Consumer health IT applications have the potential to improve quality, safety and efficiency of consumers' interactions with the healthcare system. Yet little attention has been paid to human factors and ergonomics in the design of consumer health IT, potentially limiting the ability of health IT to achieve these goals. This paper presents the results of an analysis of human factors and ergonomics issues encountered by five projects during the design and implementation of home-based consumer health IT applications. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded consumer health IT research projects, where patients used the IT applications in their homes, were reviewed. Project documents and discussions with project teams were analysed to identify human factors and ergonomic issues considered or addressed by project teams. The analysis focused on system design and design processes used as well as training, implementation and use of the IT intervention. A broad range of consumer health IT applications and diverse set of human factors and ergonomics issues were identified. The design and implementation processes used resulted in poor fit with some patients' healthcare tasks and the home environment and, in some cases, resulted in lack of use. Clinician interaction with patients and the information provided through health IT applications appeared to positively influence adoption and use. Consumer health IT application design would benefit from the use of human factors and ergonomics design and evaluation methods. Considering the context in which home-based consumer health IT applications are used will likely affect the ability of these applications to positively impact the quality, safety and efficiency of patient care.

Novel electric power-driven hydrodynamic injection system for gene delivery: safety and efficacy of human factor IX delivery in rats.

PubMed

Yokoo, T; Kamimura, K; Suda, T; Kanefuji, T; Oda, M; Zhang, G; Liu, D; Aoyagi, Y

2013-08-01

The development of a safe and reproducible gene delivery system is an essential step toward the clinical application of the hydrodynamic gene delivery (HGD) method. For this purpose, we have developed a novel electric power-driven injection system called the HydroJector-EM, which can replicate various time-pressure curves preloaded into the computer program before injection. The assessment of the reproducibility and safety of gene delivery system in vitro and in vivo demonstrated the precise replication of intravascular time-pressure curves and the reproducibility of gene delivery efficiency. The highest level of luciferase expression (272 pg luciferase per mg of proteins) was achieved safely using the time-pressure curve, which reaches 30 mm Hg in 10 s among various curves tested. Using this curve, the sustained expression of a therapeutic level of human factor IX protein (>500 ng ml(-1)) was maintained for 2 months after the HGD of the pBS-HCRHP-FIXIA plasmid. Other than a transient increase in liver enzymes that recovered in a few days, no adverse events were seen in rats. These results confirm the effectiveness of the HydroJector-EM for reproducible gene delivery and demonstrate that long-term therapeutic gene expression can be achieved by automatic computer-controlled hydrodynamic injection that can be performed by anyone.

Safety issues and new rapid detection methods in traditional Chinese medicinal materials

PubMed Central

Wang, Lili; Kong, Weijun; Yang, Meihua; Han, Jianping; Chen, Shilin

2015-01-01

The safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a major strategic issue that involves human health. With the continuous improvement in disease prevention and treatment, the export of TCM and its related products has increased dramatically in China. However, the frequent safety issues of Chinese medicine have become the ‘bottleneck’ impeding the modernization of TCM. It was proved that mycotoxins seriously affect TCM safety; the pesticide residues of TCM are a key problem in TCM international trade; adulterants have also been detected, which is related to market circulation. These three factors have greatly affected TCM safety. In this study, fast, highly effective, economically-feasible and accurate detection methods concerning TCM safety issues were reviewed, especially on the authenticity, mycotoxins and pesticide residues of medicinal materials. PMID:26579423

A Formal Methods Approach to the Analysis of Mode Confusion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, Ricky W.; Miller, Steven P.; Potts, James N.; Carreno, Victor A.

2004-01-01

The goal of the new NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) is to reduce the civil aviation fatal accident rate by 80% in ten years and 90% in twenty years. This program is being driven by the accident data with a focus on the most recent history. Pilot error is the most commonly cited cause for fatal accidents (up to 70%) and obviously must be given major consideration in this program. While the greatest source of pilot error is the loss of situation awareness , mode confusion is increasingly becoming a major contributor as well. The January 30, 1995 issue of Aviation Week lists 184 incidents and accidents involving mode awareness including the Bangalore A320 crash 2/14/90, the Strasbourg A320 crash 1/20/92, the Mulhouse-Habsheim A320 crash 6/26/88, and the Toulouse A330 crash 6/30/94. These incidents and accidents reveal that pilots sometimes become confused about what the cockpit automation is doing. Consequently, human factors research is an obvious investment area. However, even a cursory look at the accident data reveals that the mode confusion problem is much deeper than just training deficiencies and a lack of human-oriented design. This is readily acknowledged by human factors experts. It seems that further progress in human factors must come through a deeper scrutiny of the internals of the automation. It is in this arena that formal methods can contribute. Formal methods refers to the use of techniques from logic and discrete mathematics in the specification, design, and verification of computer systems, both hardware and software. The fundamental goal of formal methods is to capture requirements, designs and implementations in a mathematically based model that can be analyzed in a rigorous manner. Research in formal methods is aimed at automating this analysis as much as possible. By capturing the internal behavior of a flight deck in a rigorous and detailed formal model, the dark corners of a design can be analyzed. This paper will explore how formal models and analyses can be used to help eliminate mode confusion from flight deck designs and at the same time increase our confidence in the safety of the implementation. The paper is based upon interim results from a new project involving NASA Langley and Rockwell Collins in applying formal methods to a realistic business jet Flight Guidance System (FGS).

Psychology in nuclear power plants: an integrative approach to safety - general statement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shikiar, R.

Since the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant on March 28, 1979, the commercial nuclear industry in the United States has paid increasing attention to the role of humans in overall plant safety. As the regulatory body with primary responsibility for ensuring public health and safety involving nuclear operations, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has also become increasingly involved with the ''human'' side of nuclear operations. The purpose of this symposium is to describe a major program of research and technical assistance that the Pacific Northwest Laboratory is performing for the NRC that deals withmore » the issues of safety at nuclear power plants (NPPs). This program addresses safety from several different levels of analysis, which are all important within the context of an integrative approach to system safety.« less

Use of Foodomics for Control of Food Processing and Assessing of Food Safety.

PubMed

Josić, D; Peršurić, Ž; Rešetar, D; Martinović, T; Saftić, L; Kraljević Pavelić, S

Food chain, food safety, and food-processing sectors face new challenges due to globalization of food chain and changes in the modern consumer preferences. In addition, gradually increasing microbial resistance, changes in climate, and human errors in food handling remain a pending barrier for the efficient global food safety management. Consequently, a need for development, validation, and implementation of rapid, sensitive, and accurate methods for assessment of food safety often termed as foodomics methods is required. Even though, the growing role of these high-throughput foodomic methods based on genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic techniques has yet to be completely acknowledged by the regulatory agencies and bodies. The sensitivity and accuracy of these methods are superior to previously used standard analytical procedures and new methods are suitable to address a number of novel requirements posed by the food production sector and global food market. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Applying Human Factors Principles to Mitigate Usability Issues Related to Embedded Assumptions in Health Information Technology Design

PubMed Central

Lowry, Svetlana Z; Patterson, Emily S

2014-01-01

Background There is growing recognition that design flaws in health information technology (HIT) lead to increased cognitive work, impact workflows, and produce other undesirable user experiences that contribute to usability issues and, in some cases, patient harm. These usability issues may in turn contribute to HIT utilization disparities and patient safety concerns, particularly among “non-typical” HIT users and their health care providers. Health care disparities are associated with poor health outcomes, premature death, and increased health care costs. HIT has the potential to reduce these disparate outcomes. In the computer science field, it has long been recognized that embedded cultural assumptions can reduce the usability, usefulness, and safety of HIT systems for populations whose characteristics differ from “stereotypical” users. Among these non-typical users, inappropriate embedded design assumptions may contribute to health care disparities. It is unclear how to address potentially inappropriate embedded HIT design assumptions once detected. Objective The objective of this paper is to explain HIT universal design principles derived from the human factors engineering literature that can help to overcome potential usability and/or patient safety issues that are associated with unrecognized, embedded assumptions about cultural groups when designing HIT systems. Methods Existing best practices, guidance, and standards in software usability and accessibility were subjected to a 5-step expert review process to identify and summarize those best practices, guidance, and standards that could help identify and/or address embedded design assumptions in HIT that could negatively impact patient safety, particularly for non-majority HIT user populations. An iterative consensus-based process was then used to derive evidence-based design principles from the data to address potentially inappropriate embedded cultural assumptions. Results Design principles that may help identify and address embedded HIT design assumptions are available in the existing literature. Conclusions Evidence-based HIT design principles derived from existing human factors and informatics literature can help HIT developers identify and address embedded cultural assumptions that may underlie HIT-associated usability and patient safety concerns as well as health care disparities. PMID:27025349

Evaluating the safety and dosing of drugs in patients with liver cirrhosis by literature review and expert opinion

PubMed Central

Weersink, Rianne A; Bouma, Margriet; Burger, David M; Drenth, Joost P H; Hunfeld, Nicole G M; Kranenborg, Minke; Monster-Simons, Margje H; van Putten, Sandra A W; Metselaar, Herold J; Taxis, Katja; Borgsteede, Sander D

2016-01-01

Introduction Liver cirrhosis can have a major impact on drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Patients with cirrhosis often suffer from potentially preventable adverse drug reactions. Guidelines on safe prescribing for these patients are lacking. The aim of this study is to develop a systematic method for evaluating the safety and optimal dosage of drugs in patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods and analysis For each drug, a six-step evaluation process will be followed. (1) Available evidence on the pharmacokinetics and safety of a drug in patients with liver cirrhosis will be collected from the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) and a systematic literature review will be performed. (2) Data regarding two outcomes, namely pharmacokinetics and safety, will be extracted and presented in a standardised assessment report. (3) A safety classification and dosage suggestion will be proposed for each drug. (4) An expert panel will discuss the validity and clinical relevance of this suggested advice. (5) Advices will be implemented in all relevant Clinical Decision Support Systems in the Netherlands and published on a website for patients and healthcare professionals. (6) The continuity of the advices will be guaranteed by a yearly check of new literature and comments on the advices. This protocol will be applied in the evaluation of a selection of drugs: (A) drugs used to treat (complications of) liver cirrhosis, and (B) drugs frequently prescribed to the general population. Ethics and dissemination Since this study does not directly involve human participants, it does not require ethical clearance. Besides implementation on a website and in clinical decision support systems, we aim to publish the generated advices of one or two drug classes in a peer-reviewed journal and at conference meetings. PMID:27733414

State of science: human factors and ergonomics in healthcare.

PubMed

Hignett, Sue; Carayon, Pascale; Buckle, Peter; Catchpole, Ken

2013-01-01

The past decade has seen an increase in the application of human factors and ergonomics (HFE) techniques to healthcare delivery in a broad range of contexts (domains, locations and environments). This paper provides a state of science commentary using four examples of HFE in healthcare to review and discuss analytical and implementation challenges and to identify future issues for HFE. The examples include two domain areas (occupational ergonomics and surgical safety) to illustrate a traditional application of HFE and the area that has probably received the most research attention. The other two examples show how systems and design have been addressed in healthcare with theoretical approaches for organisational and socio-technical systems and design for patient safety. Future opportunities are identified to develop and embed HFE systems thinking in healthcare including new theoretical models and long-term collaborative partnerships. HFE can contribute to systems and design initiatives for both patients and clinicians to improve everyday performance and safety, and help to reduce and control spiralling healthcare costs. There has been an increase in the application of HFE techniques to healthcare delivery in the past 10 years. This paper provides a state of science commentary using four illustrative examples (occupational ergonomics, design for patient safety, surgical safety and organisational and socio-technical systems) to review and discuss analytical and implementation challenges and identify future issues for HFE.

Process safety improvement--quality and target zero.

PubMed

Van Scyoc, Karl

2008-11-15

Process safety practitioners have adopted quality management principles in design of process safety management systems with positive effect, yet achieving safety objectives sometimes remain a distant target. Companies regularly apply tools and methods which have roots in quality and productivity improvement. The "plan, do, check, act" improvement loop, statistical analysis of incidents (non-conformities), and performance trending popularized by Dr. Deming are now commonly used in the context of process safety. Significant advancements in HSE performance are reported after applying methods viewed as fundamental for quality management. In pursuit of continual process safety improvement, the paper examines various quality improvement methods, and explores how methods intended for product quality can be additionally applied to continual improvement of process safety. Methods such as Kaizen, Poke yoke, and TRIZ, while long established for quality improvement, are quite unfamiliar in the process safety arena. These methods are discussed for application in improving both process safety leadership and field work team performance. Practical ways to advance process safety, based on the methods, are given.

A Framework for Reliability and Safety Analysis of Complex Space Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, John W.; Groen, Frank; Wang, Lui; Austin, Rebekah; Witulski, Art; Mahadevan, Nagabhushan; Cornford, Steven L.; Feather, Martin S.; Lindsey, Nancy

2017-01-01

Long duration and complex mission scenarios are characteristics of NASA's human exploration of Mars, and will provide unprecedented challenges. Systems reliability and safety will become increasingly demanding and management of uncertainty will be increasingly important. NASA's current pioneering strategy recognizes and relies upon assurance of crew and asset safety. In this regard, flexibility to develop and innovate in the emergence of new design environments and methodologies, encompassing modeling of complex systems, is essential to meet the challenges.

A Decade in the MIST: Learnings from Investigations of Drug Metabolites in Drug Development under the "Metabolites in Safety Testing" Regulatory Guidance.

PubMed

Schadt, Simone; Bister, Bojan; Chowdhury, Swapan K; Funk, Christoph; Hop, Cornelis E C A; Humphreys, W Griffith; Igarashi, Fumihiko; James, Alexander D; Kagan, Mark; Khojasteh, S Cyrus; Nedderman, Angus N R; Prakash, Chandra; Runge, Frank; Scheible, Holger; Spracklin, Douglas K; Swart, Piet; Tse, Susanna; Yuan, Josh; Obach, R Scott

2018-06-01

Since the introduction of metabolites in safety testing (MIST) guidance by the Food and Drug Administration in 2008, major changes have occurred in the experimental methods for the identification and quantification of metabolites, ways to evaluate coverage of metabolites, and the timing of critical clinical and nonclinical studies to generate this information. In this cross-industry review, we discuss how the increased focus on human drug metabolites and their potential contribution to safety and drug-drug interactions has influenced the approaches taken by industry for the identification and quantitation of human drug metabolites. Before the MIST guidance was issued, the method of choice for generating comprehensive metabolite profile was radio chromatography. The MIST guidance increased the focus on human drug metabolites and their potential contribution to safety and drug-drug interactions and led to changes in the practices of drug metabolism scientists. In addition, the guidance suggested that human metabolism studies should also be accelerated, which has led to more frequent determination of human metabolite profiles from multiple ascending-dose clinical studies. Generating a comprehensive and quantitative profile of human metabolites has become a more urgent task. Together with technological advances, these events have led to a general shift of focus toward earlier human metabolism studies using high-resolution mass spectrometry and to a reduction in animal radiolabel absorption/distribution/metabolism/excretion studies. The changes induced by the MIST guidance are highlighted by six case studies included herein, reflecting different stages of implementation of the MIST guidance within the pharmaceutical industry. Copyright © 2018 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Autonomous Flight Safety System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferrell, Bob; Santuro, Steve; Simpson, James; Zoerner, Roger; Bull, Barton; Lanzi, Jim

2004-01-01

Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) is an independent flight safety system designed for small to medium sized expendable launch vehicles launching from or needing range safety protection while overlying relatively remote locations. AFSS replaces the need for a man-in-the-loop to make decisions for flight termination. AFSS could also serve as the prototype for an autonomous manned flight crew escape advisory system. AFSS utilizes onboard sensors and processors to emulate the human decision-making process using rule-based software logic and can dramatically reduce safety response time during critical launch phases. The Range Safety flight path nominal trajectory, its deviation allowances, limit zones and other flight safety rules are stored in the onboard computers. Position, velocity and attitude data obtained from onboard global positioning system (GPS) and inertial navigation system (INS) sensors are compared with these rules to determine the appropriate action to ensure that people and property are not jeopardized. The final system will be fully redundant and independent with multiple processors, sensors, and dead man switches to prevent inadvertent flight termination. AFSS is currently in Phase III which includes updated algorithms, integrated GPS/INS sensors, large scale simulation testing and initial aircraft flight testing.

Defining the Relationship Between Human Error Classes and Technology Intervention Strategies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiegmann, Douglas A.; Rantanen, Eas M.

2003-01-01

The modus operandi in addressing human error in aviation systems is predominantly that of technological interventions or fixes. Such interventions exhibit considerable variability both in terms of sophistication and application. Some technological interventions address human error directly while others do so only indirectly. Some attempt to eliminate the occurrence of errors altogether whereas others look to reduce the negative consequences of these errors. In any case, technological interventions add to the complexity of the systems and may interact with other system components in unforeseeable ways and often create opportunities for novel human errors. Consequently, there is a need to develop standards for evaluating the potential safety benefit of each of these intervention products so that resources can be effectively invested to produce the biggest benefit to flight safety as well as to mitigate any adverse ramifications. The purpose of this project was to help define the relationship between human error and technological interventions, with the ultimate goal of developing a set of standards for evaluating or measuring the potential benefits of new human error fixes.

Intranet-based safety documentation in management of major hazards and occupational health and safety.

PubMed

Leino, Antti

2002-01-01

In the European Union, Council Directive 96/82/EC requires operators producing, using, or handling significant amounts of dangerous substances to improve their safety management systems in order to better manage the major accident potentials deriving from human error. A new safety management system for the Viikinmäki wastewater treatment plant in Helsinki, Finland, was implemented in this study. The system was designed to comply with both the new safety liabilities and the requirements of OHSAS 18001 (British Standards Institute, 1999). During the implementation phase experiences were gathered from the development processes in this small organisation. The complete documentation was placed in the intranet of the plant. Hyperlinks between documents were created to ensure convenience of use. Documentation was made accessible for all workers from every workstation.

Software safety - A user's practical perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunn, William R.; Corliss, Lloyd D.

1990-01-01

Software safety assurance philosophy and practices at the NASA Ames are discussed. It is shown that, to be safe, software must be error-free. Software developments on two digital flight control systems and two ground facility systems are examined, including the overall system and software organization and function, the software-safety issues, and their resolution. The effectiveness of safety assurance methods is discussed, including conventional life-cycle practices, verification and validation testing, software safety analysis, and formal design methods. It is concluded (1) that a practical software safety technology does not yet exist, (2) that it is unlikely that a set of general-purpose analytical techniques can be developed for proving that software is safe, and (3) that successful software safety-assurance practices will have to take into account the detailed design processes employed and show that the software will execute correctly under all possible conditions.

A Vision-Based System for Intelligent Monitoring: Human Behaviour Analysis and Privacy by Context

PubMed Central

Chaaraoui, Alexandros Andre; Padilla-López, José Ramón; Ferrández-Pastor, Francisco Javier; Nieto-Hidalgo, Mario; Flórez-Revuelta, Francisco

2014-01-01

Due to progress and demographic change, society is facing a crucial challenge related to increased life expectancy and a higher number of people in situations of dependency. As a consequence, there exists a significant demand for support systems for personal autonomy. This article outlines the vision@home project, whose goal is to extend independent living at home for elderly and impaired people, providing care and safety services by means of vision-based monitoring. Different kinds of ambient-assisted living services are supported, from the detection of home accidents, to telecare services. In this contribution, the specification of the system is presented, and novel contributions are made regarding human behaviour analysis and privacy protection. By means of a multi-view setup of cameras, people's behaviour is recognised based on human action recognition. For this purpose, a weighted feature fusion scheme is proposed to learn from multiple views. In order to protect the right to privacy of the inhabitants when a remote connection occurs, a privacy-by-context method is proposed. The experimental results of the behaviour recognition method show an outstanding performance, as well as support for multi-view scenarios and real-time execution, which are required in order to provide the proposed services. PMID:24854209

A vision-based system for intelligent monitoring: human behaviour analysis and privacy by context.

PubMed

Chaaraoui, Alexandros Andre; Padilla-López, José Ramón; Ferrández-Pastor, Francisco Javier; Nieto-Hidalgo, Mario; Flórez-Revuelta, Francisco

2014-05-20

Due to progress and demographic change, society is facing a crucial challenge related to increased life expectancy and a higher number of people in situations of dependency. As a consequence, there exists a significant demand for support systems for personal autonomy. This article outlines the vision@home project, whose goal is to extend independent living at home for elderly and impaired people, providing care and safety services by means of vision-based monitoring. Different kinds of ambient-assisted living services are supported, from the detection of home accidents, to telecare services. In this contribution, the specification of the system is presented, and novel contributions are made regarding human behaviour analysis and privacy protection. By means of a multi-view setup of cameras, people's behaviour is recognised based on human action recognition. For this purpose, a weighted feature fusion scheme is proposed to learn from multiple views. In order to protect the right to privacy of the inhabitants when a remote connection occurs, a privacy-by-context method is proposed. The experimental results of the behaviour recognition method show an outstanding performance, as well as support for multi-view scenarios and real-time execution, which are required in order to provide the proposed services.

SEIPS 2.0: A human factors framework for studying and improving the work of healthcare professionals and patients

PubMed Central

Holden, Richard J.; Carayon, Pascale; Gurses, Ayse P.; Hoonakker, Peter; Hundt, Ann Schoofs; Ozok, A. Ant; Rivera-Rodriguez, A. Joy

2013-01-01

Healthcare practitioners, patient safety leaders, educators, and researchers increasingly recognize the value of human factors/ergonomics and make use of the discipline’s person-centered models of sociotechnical systems. This paper first reviews one of the most widely used healthcare human factors systems models, the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model, and then introduces an extended model, “SEIPS 2.0.” SEIPS 2.0 incorporates three novel concepts into the original model: configuration, engagement, and adaptation. The concept of configuration highlights the dynamic, hierarchical, and interactive properties of sociotechnical systems, making it possible to depict how health-related performance is shaped at “a moment in time.” Engagement conveys that various individuals and teams can perform health-related activities separately and collaboratively. Engaged individuals often include patients, family caregivers, and other non-professionals. Adaptation is introduced as a feedback mechanism that explains how dynamic systems evolve in planned and unplanned ways. Key implications and future directions for human factors research in healthcare are discussed. PMID:24088063

Partnering for transportation safety : human-centered systems : operator fatigue management conference

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-01-01

This Conference was intended to enlist support for, and participation in, a new multi-modal DOT safety initiative. This initiative builds on the modal agency programs within DOT to develop techniques that transportation operating companies can employ...

Functional Mobility Testing: A Novel Method to Establish Human System Interface Design Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

England, Scott A.; Benson, Elizabeth A.; Rajulu, Sudhakar

2008-01-01

Across all fields of human-system interface design it is vital to posses a sound methodology dictating the constraints on the system based on the capabilities of the human user. These limitations may be based on strength, mobility, dexterity, cognitive ability, etc. and combinations thereof. Data collected in an isolated environment to determine, for example, maximal strength or maximal range of motion would indeed be adequate for establishing not-to-exceed type design limitations, however these restraints on the system may be excessive over what is basally needed. Resources may potentially be saved by having a technique to determine the minimum measurements a system must accommodate. This paper specifically deals with the creation of a novel methodology for establishing mobility requirements for a new generation of space suit design concepts. Historically, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station vehicle and space hardware design requirements documents such as the Man-Systems Integration Standards and International Space Station Flight Crew Integration Standard explicitly stated that the designers should strive to provide the maximum joint range of motion capabilities exhibited by a minimally clothed human subject. In the course of developing the Human-Systems Integration Requirements (HSIR) for the new space exploration initiative (Constellation), an effort was made to redefine the mobility requirements in the interest of safety and cost. Systems designed for manned space exploration can receive compounded gains from simplified designs that are both initially less expensive to produce and lighter, thereby, cheaper to launch.

NASA's Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houts, Mike; Mitchell, Sonny; Kim, Tony; Borowski, Stan; Power, Kevin; Scott, John; Belvin, Anthony; Clement, Steve

2015-01-01

HEOMD's (Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate) AES (Advanced Exploration Systems) Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) project is making significant progress. First of four FY 2015 milestones achieved this month. Safety is the highest priority for NTP (as with other space systems). After safety comes affordability. No centralized capability for developing, qualifying, and utilizing an NTP system. Will require a strong, closely integrated team. Tremendous potential benefits from NTP and other space fission systems. No fundamental reason these systems cannot be developed and utilized in a safe, affordable fashion.

Large Scale System Safety Integration for Human Rated Space Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massie, Michael J.

2005-12-01

Since the 1960s man has searched for ways to establish a human presence in space. Unfortunately, the development and operation of human spaceflight vehicles carry significant safety risks that are not always well understood. As a result, the countries with human space programs have felt the pain of loss of lives in the attempt to develop human space travel systems. Integrated System Safety is a process developed through years of experience (since before Apollo and Soyuz) as a way to assess risks involved in space travel and prevent such losses. The intent of Integrated System Safety is to take a look at an entire program and put together all the pieces in such a way that the risks can be identified, understood and dispositioned by program management. This process has many inherent challenges and they need to be explored, understood and addressed.In order to prepare truly integrated analysis safety professionals must gain a level of technical understanding of all of the project's pieces and how they interact. Next, they must find a way to present the analysis so the customer can understand the risks and make decisions about managing them. However, every organization in a large-scale project can have different ideas about what is or is not a hazard, what is or is not an appropriate hazard control, and what is or is not adequate hazard control verification. NASA provides some direction on these topics, but interpretations of those instructions can vary widely.Even more challenging is the fact that every individual/organization involved in a project has different levels of risk tolerance. When the discrete hazard controls of the contracts and agreements cannot be met, additional risk must be accepted. However, when one has left the arena of compliance with the known rules, there can be no longer be specific ground rules on which to base a decision as to what is acceptable and what is not. The integrator must find common grounds between all parties to achieve concurrence on these non-compliant conditionsAnother area of challenge lies in determining the credibility of a proposed hazard. For example, NASA's definition of a credible hazard is accurate but does not provide specific guidance about contractors declaring a hazard "not credible" and ceasing working on that item.Unfortunately, this has the side effect of taking valuable resources from high-risk areas and using them to investigate whether these extremely low risk items have the potential to become worse than they appear.In order to deal with these types of issues, there must exist the concept of a "Safe State" and it must be used as a building block to help address many of the technical and social challenges in working safety and risk management. This "Safe State" must serve as the foundation for building the cultural modifications needed to assure that safety issues are properly identified, heard, and dispositioned by our space program management.As the space program and the countries involved in it move forward in development of human rated spacecraft, they must learn from the recent Columbia accident and establish new/modified basis for safety risk decisions. Those involved must also become more cognizant of the diversity in safety approaches and agree on how to deal with them. Most of all, those involved must never forget that while the System Safety duty maybe difficult, their efforts help to preserve the lives of space crews and their families.

48 CFR 1523.303-70 - Protection of human subjects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Protection of human... Hazardous Material and Material Safety Data 1523.303-70 Protection of human subjects. Contracting Officers shall insert the contract clause at 1552.223-70 when the contract involves human test subjects. ...

48 CFR 1523.303-70 - Protection of human subjects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Protection of human... Hazardous Material and Material Safety Data 1523.303-70 Protection of human subjects. Contracting Officers shall insert the contract clause at 1552.223-70 when the contract involves human test subjects. ...

48 CFR 1523.303-70 - Protection of human subjects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Protection of human... Hazardous Material and Material Safety Data 1523.303-70 Protection of human subjects. Contracting Officers shall insert the contract clause at 1552.223-70 when the contract involves human test subjects. ...

48 CFR 1523.303-70 - Protection of human subjects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Protection of human... Hazardous Material and Material Safety Data 1523.303-70 Protection of human subjects. Contracting Officers shall insert the contract clause at 1552.223-70 when the contract involves human test subjects. ...

48 CFR 1523.303-70 - Protection of human subjects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Protection of human... Hazardous Material and Material Safety Data 1523.303-70 Protection of human subjects. Contracting Officers shall insert the contract clause at 1552.223-70 when the contract involves human test subjects. ...

Expert systems applied to spacecraft fire safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Richard L.; Kashiwagi, Takashi

1989-01-01

Expert systems are problem-solving programs that combine a knowledge base and a reasoning mechanism to simulate a human expert. The development of an expert system to manage fire safety in spacecraft, in particular the NASA Space Station Freedom, is difficult but clearly advantageous in the long-term. Some needs in low-gravity flammability characteristics, ventilating-flow effects, fire detection, fire extinguishment, and decision models, all necessary to establish the knowledge base for an expert system, are discussed.

13C MRS of Human Brain at 7 Tesla Using [2-13C]Glucose Infusion and Low Power Broadband Stochastic Proton Decoupling

PubMed Central

Li, Shizhe; An, Li; Yu, Shao; Araneta, Maria Ferraris; Johnson, Christopher S.; Wang, Shumin; Shen, Jun

2015-01-01

Purpose 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of human brain at 7 Tesla (T) may pose patient safety issues due to high RF power deposition for proton decoupling. The purpose of present work is to study the feasibility of in vivo 13C MRS of human brain at 7 T using broadband low RF power proton decoupling. Methods Carboxylic/amide 13C MRS of human brain by broadband stochastic proton decoupling was demonstrated on a 7 T scanner. RF safety was evaluated using the finite-difference time-domain method. 13C signal enhancement by nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) and proton decoupling was evaluated in both phantoms and in vivo. Results At 7 T, the peak amplitude of carboxylic/amide 13C signals was increased by a factor of greater than 4 due to the combined effects of NOE and proton decoupling. The 7 T 13C MRS technique used decoupling power and average transmit power of less than 35 W and 3.6 W, respectively. Conclusion In vivo 13C MRS studies of human brain can be performed at 7 T well below the RF safety threshold by detecting carboxylic/amide carbons with broadband stochastic proton decoupling. PMID:25917936

Evidence Report: Risk of Inadequate Human-Computer Interaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holden, Kritina; Ezer, Neta; Vos, Gordon

2013-01-01

Human-computer interaction (HCI) encompasses all the methods by which humans and computer-based systems communicate, share information, and accomplish tasks. When HCI is poorly designed, crews have difficulty entering, navigating, accessing, and understanding information. HCI has rarely been studied in an operational spaceflight context, and detailed performance data that would support evaluation of HCI have not been collected; thus, we draw much of our evidence from post-spaceflight crew comments, and from other safety-critical domains like ground-based power plants, and aviation. Additionally, there is a concern that any potential or real issues to date may have been masked by the fact that crews have near constant access to ground controllers, who monitor for errors, correct mistakes, and provide additional information needed to complete tasks. We do not know what types of HCI issues might arise without this "safety net". Exploration missions will test this concern, as crews may be operating autonomously due to communication delays and blackouts. Crew survival will be heavily dependent on available electronic information for just-in-time training, procedure execution, and vehicle or system maintenance; hence, the criticality of the Risk of Inadequate HCI. Future work must focus on identifying the most important contributing risk factors, evaluating their contribution to the overall risk, and developing appropriate mitigations. The Risk of Inadequate HCI includes eight core contributing factors based on the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS): (1) Requirements, policies, and design processes, (2) Information resources and support, (3) Allocation of attention, (4) Cognitive overload, (5) Environmentally induced perceptual changes, (6) Misperception and misinterpretation of displayed information, (7) Spatial disorientation, and (8) Displays and controls.

Human aspects of mission safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connors, Mary M.

1989-01-01

Recent discussions of psychology's involvement in spaceflight have emphasized its role in enhancing space living conditions and incresing crew productivity. While these goals are central to space missions, behavioral scientists should not lose sight of a more basic flight requirement - that of crew safety. This paper examines some of the processes employed in the American space program in support of crew safety and suggests that behavioral scientists could contribute to flight safety, both through these formal processes and through less formal methods. Various safety areas of relevance to behavioral scientists are discussed.

77 FR 73289 - Hazardous Substances and Articles; Administration and Enforcement Regulations: Revisions to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-10

... recommends this approach to manufacturers who are labeling substances to indicate a hazard. Accordingly, the... test animals. Additionally, the routine use of topical anesthetics, systemic analgesics, and humane..., systemic analgesics, and humane endpoints to avoid or minimize pain and distress in ocular safety testing...

Classifying human operator functional state based on electrophysiological and performance measures and fuzzy clustering method.

PubMed

Zhang, Jian-Hua; Peng, Xiao-Di; Liu, Hua; Raisch, Jörg; Wang, Ru-Bin

2013-12-01

The human operator's ability to perform their tasks can fluctuate over time. Because the cognitive demands of the task can also vary it is possible that the capabilities of the operator are not sufficient to satisfy the job demands. This can lead to serious errors when the operator is overwhelmed by the task demands. Psychophysiological measures, such as heart rate and brain activity, can be used to monitor operator cognitive workload. In this paper, the most influential psychophysiological measures are extracted to characterize Operator Functional State (OFS) in automated tasks under a complex form of human-automation interaction. The fuzzy c-mean (FCM) algorithm is used and tested for its OFS classification performance. The results obtained have shown the feasibility and effectiveness of the FCM algorithm as well as the utility of the selected input features for OFS classification. Besides being able to cope with nonlinearity and fuzzy uncertainty in the psychophysiological data it can provide information about the relative importance of the input features as well as the confidence estimate of the classification results. The OFS pattern classification method developed can be incorporated into an adaptive aiding system in order to enhance the overall performance of a large class of safety-critical human-machine cooperative systems.

Recent progress and future directions for reduction, refinement, and replacement of animal use in veterinary vaccine potency and safety testing: a report from the 2010 NICEATM-ICCVAM International Vaccine Workshop.

PubMed

Stokes, W S; Kulpa-Eddy, J; Brown, K; Srinivas, G; McFarland, R

2012-01-01

Veterinary vaccines contribute to improved animal and human health and welfare by preventing infectious diseases. However, testing necessary to ensure vaccine effectiveness and safety can involve large numbers of animals and significant pain and distress. NICEATM and ICCVAM recently convened an international workshop to review the state of the science of human and veterinary vaccine potency and safety testing, and to identify priority activities to advance new and improved methods that can further reduce, refine and replace animal use. Rabies, Clostridium sp., and Leptospira sp. vaccines were identified as the highest priorities, while tests requiring live viruses and bacteria hazardous to laboratory workers, livestock, pets, and wildlife were also considered high priorities. Priority research, development and validation activities to address critical knowledge and data gaps were identified, including opportunities to apply new science and technology. Enhanced international harmonization and cooperation and closer collaborations between human and veterinary researchers were recommended to expedite progress. Implementation of the workshop recommendations is expected to advance new methods for vaccine testing that will benefit animal welfare and ensure continued and improved protection of human and animal health.

Fast 3D NIR systems for facial measurement and lip-reading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brahm, Anika; Ramm, Roland; Heist, Stefan; Rulff, Christian; Kühmstedt, Peter; Notni, Gunther

2017-05-01

Structured-light projection is a well-established optical method for the non-destructive contactless three-dimensional (3D) measurement of object surfaces. In particular, there is a great demand for accurate and fast 3D scans of human faces or facial regions of interest in medicine, safety, face modeling, games, virtual life, or entertainment. New developments of facial expression detection and machine lip-reading can be used for communication tasks, future machine control, or human-machine interactions. In such cases, 3D information may offer more detailed information than 2D images which can help to increase the power of current facial analysis algorithms. In this contribution, we present new 3D sensor technologies based on three different methods of near-infrared projection technologies in combination with a stereo vision setup of two cameras. We explain the optical principles of an NIR GOBO projector, an array projector and a modified multi-aperture projection method and compare their performance parameters to each other. Further, we show some experimental measurement results of applications where we realized fast, accurate, and irritation-free measurements of human faces.

Software system safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Uber, James G.

1988-01-01

Software itself is not hazardous, but since software and hardware share common interfaces there is an opportunity for software to create hazards. Further, these software systems are complex, and proven methods for the design, analysis, and measurement of software safety are not yet available. Some past software failures, future NASA software trends, software engineering methods, and tools and techniques for various software safety analyses are reviewed. Recommendations to NASA are made based on this review.

Safety Guided Design Based on Stamp/STPA for Manned Vehicle in Concept Design Phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ujiie, Ryo; Katahira, Masafumi; Miyamoto, Yuko; Umeda, Hiroki; Leveson, Nancy; Hoshino, Nobuyuki

2013-09-01

In manned vehicles, such as the Soyuz and the Space Shuttle, the crew and computer system cooperate to succeed in returning to the earth. While computers increase the functionality of system, they also increase the complexity of the interaction between the controllers (human and computer) and the target dynamics. In some cases, the complexity can produce a serious accident. To prevent such losses, traditional hazard analysis such as FTA has been applied to system development, however it can be used after creating a detailed system because it focuses on detailed component failures. As a result, it's more difficult to eliminate hazard cause early in the process when it is most feasible.STAMP/STPA is a new hazard analysis that can be applied from the early development phase, with the analysis being refined as more detailed decisions are made. In essence, the analysis and design decisions are intertwined and go hand-in-hand. We have applied STAMP/STPA to a concept design of a new JAXA manned vehicle and tried safety guided design of the vehicle. As a result of this trial, it has been shown that STAMP/STPA can be accepted easily by system engineers and the design has been made more sophisticated from a safety viewpoint. The result also shows that the consequences of human errors on system safety can be analysed in the early development phase and the system designed to prevent them. Finally, the paper will discuss an effective way to harmonize this safety guided design approach with system engineering process based on the result of this experience in this project.

Human Factors Research in Anesthesia Patient Safety

PubMed Central

Weinger, Matthew B.; Slagle, Jason

2002-01-01

Patient safety has become a major public concern. Human factors research in other high-risk fields has demonstrated how rigorous study of factors that affect job performance can lead to improved outcome and reduced errors after evidence-based redesign of tasks or systems. These techniques have increasingly been applied to the anesthesia work environment. This paper describes data obtained recently using task analysis and workload assessment during actual patient care and the use of cognitive task analysis to study clinical decision making. A novel concept of “non-routine events” is introduced and pilot data are presented. The results support the assertion that human factors research can make important contributions to patient safety. Information technologies play a key role in these efforts.

Human factors research in anesthesia patient safety.

PubMed Central

Weinger, M. B.; Slagle, J.

2001-01-01

Patient safety has become a major public concern. Human factors research in other high-risk fields has demonstrated how rigorous study of factors that affect job performance can lead to improved outcome and reduced errors after evidence-based redesign of tasks or systems. These techniques have increasingly been applied to the anesthesia work environment. This paper describes data obtained recently using task analysis and workload assessment during actual patient care and the use of cognitive task analysis to study clinical decision making. A novel concept of "non-routine events" is introduced and pilot data are presented. The results support the assertion that human factors research can make important contributions to patient safety. Information technologies play a key role in these efforts. PMID:11825287

SafeNet: a methodology for integrating general-purpose unsafe devices in safe-robot rehabilitation systems.

PubMed

Vicentini, Federico; Pedrocchi, Nicola; Malosio, Matteo; Molinari Tosatti, Lorenzo

2014-09-01

Robot-assisted neurorehabilitation often involves networked systems of sensors ("sensory rooms") and powerful devices in physical interaction with weak users. Safety is unquestionably a primary concern. Some lightweight robot platforms and devices designed on purpose include safety properties using redundant sensors or intrinsic safety design (e.g. compliance and backdrivability, limited exchange of energy). Nonetheless, the entire "sensory room" shall be required to be fail-safe and safely monitored as a system at large. Yet, sensor capabilities and control algorithms used in functional therapies require, in general, frequent updates or re-configurations, making a safety-grade release of such devices hardly sustainable in cost-effectiveness and development time. As such, promising integrated platforms for human-in-the-loop therapies could not find clinical application and manufacturing support because of lacking in the maintenance of global fail-safe properties. Under the general context of cross-machinery safety standards, the paper presents a methodology called SafeNet for helping in extending the safety rate of Human Robot Interaction (HRI) systems using unsafe components, including sensors and controllers. SafeNet considers, in fact, the robotic system as a device at large and applies the principles of functional safety (as in ISO 13489-1) through a set of architectural procedures and implementation rules. The enabled capability of monitoring a network of unsafe devices through redundant computational nodes, allows the usage of any custom sensors and algorithms, usually planned and assembled at therapy planning-time rather than at platform design-time. A case study is presented with an actual implementation of the proposed methodology. A specific architectural solution is applied to an example of robot-assisted upper-limb rehabilitation with online motion tracking. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Embedding 'speaking up' into systems for safe healthcare product development and marketing surveillance.

PubMed

Edwards, Brian; Hugman, Bruce; Tobin, Mary; Whalen, Matthew

2012-04-01

Robust, active cooperation, and effective, open communication between all stakeholders is essential for ensuring regulatory compliance and healthcare product safety; avoiding the necessity for whistle-blowing; and, most essentially, meeting the transparency requirements of public trust.The focus here is on what can be done within a healthcare product organization (HPO) to achieve actionable, sustainable policies and practices such as leadership, management, and supervision role-modelling of best practice; ongoing process review and improvements in every department; protection of those who report concerns through robust policies endorsed at Board level throughout an organization to eliminate the fear of retaliation; training in open, non-defensive team-working principles; and mediation structure and process for resolution of differences of opinion or interpretation of contradictory and volatile data.Based on analyses of other safety systems, workplace silence and interpersonal breakdowns are warning signs of defective systems underlying poor compliance and compromising safety. Remedying the situation requires attention to the root causes underlying such symptoms of dysfunction, especially the human factor, i.e. those factors that influence human performance. It is essential that leadership and management listen to employees' concerns about systems and processes, assess them impartially and reward contributions that improve safety.Fundamentally, the safety, transparency, and trustworthiness of HPOs, both commercial and regulatory, can be judged by the extent of the freedom of their staff to 'speak up' when the time is right. This, in turn, consolidates the trust of external stakeholders in the safety of a system and its products. The promotion of 'speaking up' in an organization provides an important safeguard against the risk of poor compliance and the undermining of societal confidence in the safety of healthcare products.

Maximising harm reduction in early specialty training for general practice: validation of a safety checklist

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Making health care safer is a key policy priority worldwide. In specialty training, medical educators may unintentionally impact on patient safety e.g. through failures of supervision; providing limited feedback on performance; and letting poorly developed behaviours continue unchecked. Doctors-in-training are also known to be susceptible to medical error. Ensuring that all essential educational issues are addressed during training is problematic given the scale of the tasks to be undertaken. Human error and the reliability of local systems may increase the risk of safety-critical topics being inadequately covered. However adherence to a checklist reminder may improve the reliability of task delivery and maximise harm reduction. We aimed to prioritise the most safety-critical issues to be addressed in the first 12-weeks of specialty training in the general practice environment and validate a related checklist reminder. Methods We used mixed methods with different groups of GP educators (n = 127) and specialty trainees (n = 9) in two Scottish regions to prioritise, develop and validate checklist content. Generation and refinement of checklist themes and items were undertaken on an iterative basis using a range of methods including small group work in dedicated workshops; a modified-Delphi process; and telephone interviews. The relevance of potential checklist items was rated using a 4-point scale content validity index to inform final inclusion. Results 14 themes (e.g. prescribing safely; dealing with medical emergency; implications of poor record keeping; and effective & safe communication) and 47 related items (e.g. how to safety-net face-to-face or over the telephone; knowledge of practice systems for results handling; recognition of harm in children) were judged to be essential safety-critical educational issues to be covered. The mean content validity index ratio was 0.98. Conclusion A checklist was developed and validated for educational supervisors to assist in the reliable delivery of safety-critical educational issues in the opening 12-week period of training, and aligned with national curriculum competencies. The tool can also be adapted for use as a self-assessment instrument by trainees to guide patient safety-related learning needs. Dissemination and implementation of the checklist and self-rating scale are proceeding on a national, voluntary basis with plans to evaluate its feasibility and educational impact. PMID:22721273

The use of non-animal alternatives in the safety evaluations of cosmetics ingredients by the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS).

PubMed

Vinardell, M P

2015-03-01

In Europe, the safety evaluation of cosmetics is based on the safety evaluation of each individual ingredient. Article 3 of the Cosmetics Regulation specifies that a cosmetic product made available on the market is to be safe for human health when used normally or under reasonably foreseeable conditions. For substances that cause some concern with respect to human health (e.g., colourants, preservatives, UV-filters), safety is evaluated at the Commission level by a scientific committee, presently called the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS). According to the Cosmetics Regulations, in the EU, the marketing of cosmetics products and their ingredients that have been tested on animals for most of their human health effects, including acute toxicity, is prohibited. Nevertheless, any study dating from before this prohibition took effect is accepted for the safety assessment of cosmetics ingredients. The in vitro methods reported in the dossiers submitted to the SCCS are here evaluated from the published reports issued by the scientific committee of the Directorate General of Health and Consumers (DG SANCO); responsible for the safety of cosmetics ingredients. The number of studies submitted to the SCCS that do not involve animals is still low and in general the safety of cosmetics ingredients is based on in vivo studies performed before the prohibition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The First Development of Human Factors Engineering Requirements for Application to Ground Task Design for a NASA Flight Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dischinger, H. Charles, Jr.; Stambolian, Damon B.; Miller, Darcy H.

2008-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has long applied standards-derived human engineering requirements to the development of hardware and software for use by astronauts while in flight. The most important source of these requirements has been NASA-STD-3000. While there have been several ground systems human engineering requirements documents, none has been applicable to the flight system as handled at NASA's launch facility at Kennedy Space Center. At the time of the development of previous human launch systems, there were other considerations that were deemed more important than developing worksites for ground crews; e.g., hardware development schedule and vehicle performance. However, experience with these systems has shown that failure to design for ground tasks has resulted in launch schedule delays, ground operations that are more costly than they might be, and threats to flight safety. As the Agency begins the development of new systems to return humans to the moon, the new Constellation Program is addressing this issue with a new set of human engineering requirements. Among these requirements is a subset that will apply to the design of the flight components and that is intended to assure ground crew success in vehicle assembly and maintenance tasks. These requirements address worksite design for usability and for ground crew safety.

Topics on Test Methods for Space Systems and Operations Safety: Applicability of Experimental Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hirsch, David B.

2009-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews topics on test methods for space systems and operations safety through experimentation and analysis. The contents include: 1) Perception of reality through experimentation and analysis; 2) Measurements, methods, and correlations with real life; and 3) Correlating laboratory aerospace materials flammability data with data in spacecraft environments.

Understanding Human Autonomy Teaming Through Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aponso, B.; Stallmann, Summer; Lachter, Joel; Shively, Jay; Benton, J.; Kaneshige, John; Mumaw, Randy; Feary, Michael

2017-01-01

This presentation describes the development and demonstration of human autonomy teaming technologies for improving aviation safety and efficiency during nominal and off-nominal operations by developing and validating increasingly autonomous systems concepts, technologies, and procedures.

Active terahertz wave imaging system for detecting hidden objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gan, Yuner; Liu, Ming; Zhao, Yuejin

2016-11-01

Terahertz wave can penetrate the common dielectric materials such as clothing, cardboard boxes, plastics and so on. Besides, the low photon energy and non-ionizing characteristic of the terahertz wave are especially suitable for the safety inspection of the human body. Terahertz imaging technology has a tremendous potential in the field of security inspection such as stations, airports and other public places. Terahertz wave imaging systems are divided into two categories: active terahertz imaging systems and passive terahertz imaging systems. So far, most terahertz imaging systems work at point to point mechanical scan pattern with the method of passive imaging. The imaging results of passive imaging tend to have low contrast and the image is not clear enough. This paper designs and implements an active terahertz wave imaging system combining terahertz wave transmitting and receiving with a Cassegrain antenna. The terahertz wave at the frequency of 94GHz is created by impact ionization avalanche transit time (IMPATT) diode, focused on the feed element for Cassegrain antenna by high density polyethylene (HDPE) lens, and transmitted to the human body by Cassegrain antenna. The reflected terahertz wave goes the same way it was emitted back to the feed element for Cassegrain antenna, focused on the horn antenna of detector by another high density polyethylene lens. The scanning method is the use of two-dimensional planar mirror, one responsible for horizontal scanning, and another responsible for vertical scanning. Our system can achieve a clear human body image, has better sensitivity and resolution than passive imaging system, and costs much lower than other active imaging system in the meantime.

Review of Significant Incidents and Close Calls in Human Spaceflight from a Human Factors Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silva-Martinez, Jackelynne; Ellenberger, Richard; Dory, Jonathan

2017-01-01

This project aims to identify poor human factors design decisions that led to error-prone systems, or did not facilitate the flight crew making the right choices; and to verify that NASA is effectively preventing similar incidents from occurring again. This analysis was performed by reviewing significant incidents and close calls in human spaceflight identified by the NASA Johnson Space Center Safety and Mission Assurance Flight Safety Office. The review of incidents shows whether the identified human errors were due to the operational phase (flight crew and ground control) or if they initiated at the design phase (includes manufacturing and test). This classification was performed with the aid of the NASA Human Systems Integration domains. This in-depth analysis resulted in a tool that helps with the human factors classification of significant incidents and close calls in human spaceflight, which can be used to identify human errors at the operational level, and how they were or should be minimized. Current governing documents on human systems integration for both government and commercial crew were reviewed to see if current requirements, processes, training, and standard operating procedures protect the crew and ground control against these issues occurring in the future. Based on the findings, recommendations to target those areas are provided.

The History of Infant Formula: Quality, Safety, and Standard Methods.

PubMed

Wargo, Wayne F

2016-01-01

Food-related laws and regulations have existed since ancient times. Egyptian scrolls prescribed the labeling needed for certain foods. In ancient Athens, beer and wines were inspected for purity and soundness, and the Romans had a well-organized state food control system to protect consumers from fraud or bad produce. In Europe during the Middle Ages, individual countries passed laws concerning the quality and safety of eggs, sausages, cheese, beer, wine, and bread; some of these laws still exist today. But more modern dietary guidelines and food regulations have their origins in the latter half of the 19th century when the first general food laws were adopted and basic food control systems were implemented to monitor compliance. Around this time, science and food chemistry began to provide the tools to determine "purity" of food based primarily on chemical composition and to determine whether it had been adulterated in any way. Since the key chemical components of mammalian milk were first understood, infant formulas have steadily advanced in complexity as manufacturers attempt to close the compositional gap with human breast milk. To verify these compositional innovations and ensure product quality and safety, infant formula has become one of the most regulated foods in the world. The present paper examines the historical development of nutritional alternatives to breastfeeding, focusing on efforts undertaken to ensure the quality and safety from antiquity to present day. The impact of commercial infant formulas on global regulations is addressed, along with the resulting need for harmonized, fit-for-purpose, voluntary consensus standard methods.

Implementation science for ambulatory care safety: a novel method to develop context-sensitive interventions to reduce quality gaps in monitoring high-risk patients.

PubMed

McDonald, Kathryn M; Su, George; Lisker, Sarah; Patterson, Emily S; Sarkar, Urmimala

2017-06-24

Missed evidence-based monitoring in high-risk conditions (e.g., cancer) leads to delayed diagnosis. Current technological solutions fail to close this safety gap. In response, we aim to demonstrate a novel method to identify common vulnerabilities across clinics and generate attributes for context-flexible population-level monitoring solutions for widespread implementation to improve quality. Based on interviews with staff in otolaryngology, pulmonary, urology, breast, and gastroenterology clinics at a large urban publicly funded health system, we applied journey mapping to co-develop a visual representation of how patients are monitored for high-risk conditions. Using a National Academies framework and context-sensitivity theory, we identified common systems vulnerabilities and developed preliminary concepts for improving the robustness for monitoring patients with high-risk conditions ("design seeds" for potential solutions). Finally, we conducted a face validity and prioritization assessment of the design seeds with the original interviewees. We identified five high-risk situations for potentially consequential diagnostic delays arising from suboptimal patient monitoring. All situations related to detection of cancer (head and neck, lung, prostate, breast, and colorectal). With clinic participants we created 5 journey maps, each representing specialty clinic workflow directed at evidence-based monitoring. System vulnerabilities common to the different clinics included challenges with: data systems, communications handoffs, population-level tracking, and patient activities. Clinic staff ranked 13 design seeds (e.g., keep patient list up to date, use triggered notifications) addressing these vulnerabilities. Each design seed has unique evaluation criteria for the usefulness of potential solutions developed from the seed. We identified and ranked 13 design seeds that characterize situations that clinicians described 'wake them up at night', and thus could reduce their anxiety, save time, and improve monitoring of high-risk patients. We anticipate that the design seed approach promotes robust and context-sensitive solutions to safety and quality problems because it provides a human-centered link between the experienced problem and various solutions that can be tested for viability. The study also demonstrates a novel integration of industrial and human factors methods (journey mapping, process tracing and design seeds) linked to implementation theory for use in designing interventions that anticipate and reduce implementation challenges.

Designing for human presence in space: An introduction to environmental control and life support systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wieland, Paul

1994-01-01

Human exploration and utilization of space requires habitats to provide appropriate conditions for working and living. These conditions are provided by environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS) that ensure appropriate atmosphere composition, pressure, and temperature; manage and distribute water, process waste matter, provide fire detection and suppression; and other functions as necessary. The functions that are performed by ECLSS are described and basic information necessary to design an ECLSS is provided. Technical and programmatic aspects of designing and developing ECLSS for space habitats are described including descriptions of technologies, analysis methods, test requirements, program organization, documentation requirements, and the requirements imposed by medical, mission, safety, and system needs. The design and development process is described from initial trade studies through system-level analyses to support operation. ECLSS needs for future space habitats are also described. Extensive listings of references and related works provide sources for more detailed information on each aspect of ECLSS design and development.

On-Orbit Propulsion System Performance of ISS Visiting Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, Mary Regina M.; Swanson, Robert A.; Kamath, Ulhas P.; Hernandez, Francisco J.; Spencer, Victor

2013-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) represents the culmination of over two decades of unprecedented global human endeavors to conceive, design, build and operate a research laboratory in space. Uninterrupted human presence in space since the inception of the ISS has been made possible by an international fleet of space vehicles facilitating crew rotation, delivery of science experiments and replenishment of propellants and supplies. On-orbit propulsion systems on both ISS and Visiting Vehicles are essential to the continuous operation of the ISS. This paper compares the ISS visiting vehicle propulsion systems by providing an overview of key design drivers, operational considerations and performance characteristics. Despite their differences in design, functionality, and purpose, all visiting vehicles must adhere to a common set of interface requirements along with safety and operational requirements. This paper addresses a wide variety of methods for satisfying these requirements and mitigating credible hazards anticipated during the on-orbit life of propulsion systems, as well as the seamless integration necessary for the continued operation of the ISS.

Anatomically correct visualization of the human upper airway using a high-speed long range optical coherence tomography system with an integrated positioning sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jing, Joseph C.; Chou, Lidek; Su, Erica; Wong, Brian J. F.; Chen, Zhongping

2016-12-01

The upper airway is a complex tissue structure that is prone to collapse. Current methods for studying airway obstruction are inadequate in safety, cost, or availability, such as CT or MRI, or only provide localized qualitative information such as flexible endoscopy. Long range optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been used to visualize the human airway in vivo, however the limited imaging range has prevented full delineation of the various shapes and sizes of the lumen. We present a new long range OCT system that integrates high speed imaging with a real-time position tracker to allow for the acquisition of an accurate 3D anatomical structure in vivo. The new system can achieve an imaging range of 30 mm at a frame rate of 200 Hz. The system is capable of generating a rapid and complete visualization and quantification of the airway, which can then be used in computational simulations to determine obstruction sites.

The procedure safety system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Obrien, Maureen E.

1990-01-01

Telerobotic operations, whether under autonomous or teleoperated control, require a much more sophisticated safety system than that needed for most industrial applications. Industrial robots generally perform very repetitive tasks in a controlled, static environment. The safety system in that case can be as simple as shutting down the robot if a human enters the work area, or even simply building a cage around the work space. Telerobotic operations, however, will take place in a dynamic, sometimes unpredictable environment, and will involve complicated and perhaps unrehearsed manipulations. This creates a much greater potential for damage to the robot or objects in its vicinity. The Procedural Safety System (PSS) collects data from external sensors and the robot, then processes it through an expert system shell to determine whether an unsafe condition or potential unsafe condition exists. Unsafe conditions could include exceeding velocity, acceleration, torque, or joint limits, imminent collision, exceeding temperature limits, and robot or sensor component failure. If a threat to safety exists, the operator is warned. If the threat is serious enough, the robot is halted. The PSS, therefore, uses expert system technology to enhance safety thus reducing operator work load, allowing him/her to focus on performing the task at hand without the distraction of worrying about violating safety criteria.

Bioprocessing strategies for the large-scale production of human mesenchymal stem cells: a review.

PubMed

Panchalingam, Krishna M; Jung, Sunghoon; Rosenberg, Lawrence; Behie, Leo A

2015-11-23

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), also called mesenchymal stromal cells, have been of great interest in regenerative medicine applications because of not only their differentiation potential but also their ability to secrete bioactive factors that can modulate the immune system and promote tissue repair. This potential has initiated many early-phase clinical studies for the treatment of various diseases, disorders, and injuries by using either hMSCs themselves or their secreted products. Currently, hMSCs for clinical use are generated through conventional static adherent cultures in the presence of fetal bovine serum or human-sourced supplements. However, these methods suffer from variable culture conditions (i.e., ill-defined medium components and heterogeneous culture environment) and thus are not ideal procedures to meet the expected future demand of quality-assured hMSCs for human therapeutic use. Optimizing a bioprocess to generate hMSCs or their secreted products (or both) promises to improve the efficacy as well as safety of this stem cell therapy. In this review, current media and methods for hMSC culture are outlined and bioprocess development strategies discussed.

Orion GN&C Fault Management System Verification: Scope And Methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Denise; Weiler, David; Flanary, Ronald

2016-01-01

In order to ensure long-term ability to meet mission goals and to provide for the safety of the public, ground personnel, and any crew members, nearly all spacecraft include a fault management (FM) system. For a manned vehicle such as Orion, the safety of the crew is of paramount importance. The goal of the Orion Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) fault management system is to detect, isolate, and respond to faults before they can result in harm to the human crew or loss of the spacecraft. Verification of fault management/fault protection capability is challenging due to the large number of possible faults in a complex spacecraft, the inherent unpredictability of faults, the complexity of interactions among the various spacecraft components, and the inability to easily quantify human reactions to failure scenarios. The Orion GN&C Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) team has developed a methodology for bounding the scope of FM system verification while ensuring sufficient coverage of the failure space and providing high confidence that the fault management system meets all safety requirements. The methodology utilizes a swarm search algorithm to identify failure cases that can result in catastrophic loss of the crew or the vehicle and rare event sequential Monte Carlo to verify safety and FDIR performance requirements.

A see through future: augmented reality and health information systems.

PubMed

Monkman, Helen; Kushniruk, Andre W

2015-01-01

Augmented Reality (AR) is a method whereby virtual objects are superimposed on the real world. AR technology is becoming increasingly accessible and affordable and it has many potential health applications. This paper discusses current research on AR health applications such as medical education and medical practice. Some of the potential future uses for this technology (e.g., health information systems, consumer health applications) will also be presented. Additionally, there will be a discussion outlining some of usability and human factors challenges associated with AR in healthcare. It is expected that AR will become increasingly prevalent in healthcare; however, further investigation is required to demonstrate that they provide benefits over traditional methods. Moreover, AR applications must be thoroughly tested to ensure they do not introduce new errors into practice and have patient safety implications.

Workshop on Flight Crew Accident and Incident Human Factors Proceedings (MS Word file)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-06-01

On June 21 - 23, 1995, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) Office of : System Safety, as part of its Human Factors Data Project, convened the Workshop : on Flight Crew Accident and Incident Human Factors at The MITRE Corporation in : McLean...

Investigation of safety analysis methods using computer vision techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirazi, Mohammad Shokrolah; Morris, Brendan Tran

2017-09-01

This work investigates safety analysis methods using computer vision techniques. The vision-based tracking system is developed to provide the trajectory of road users including vehicles and pedestrians. Safety analysis methods are developed to estimate time to collision (TTC) and postencroachment time (PET) that are two important safety measurements. Corresponding algorithms are presented and their advantages and drawbacks are shown through their success in capturing the conflict events in real time. The performance of the tracking system is evaluated first, and probability density estimation of TTC and PET are shown for 1-h monitoring of a Las Vegas intersection. Finally, an idea of an intersection safety map is introduced, and TTC values of two different intersections are estimated for 1 day from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

A new method for the assessment of patient safety competencies during a medical school clerkship using an objective structured clinical examination

PubMed Central

Daud-Gallotti, Renata Mahfuz; Morinaga, Christian Valle; Arlindo-Rodrigues, Marcelo; Velasco, Irineu Tadeu; Arruda Martins, Milton; Tiberio, Iolanda Calvo

2011-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Patient safety is seldom assessed using objective evaluations during undergraduate medical education. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of fifth-year medical students using an objective structured clinical examination focused on patient safety after implementation of an interactive program based on adverse events recognition and disclosure. METHODS: In 2007, a patient safety program was implemented in the internal medicine clerkship of our hospital. The program focused on human error theory, epidemiology of incidents, adverse events, and disclosure. Upon completion of the program, students completed an objective structured clinical examination with five stations and standardized patients. One station focused on patient safety issues, including medical error recognition/disclosure, the patient-physician relationship and humanism issues. A standardized checklist was completed by each standardized patient to assess the performance of each student. The student's global performance at each station and performance in the domains of medical error, the patient-physician relationship and humanism were determined. The correlations between the student performances in these three domains were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 95 students participated in the objective structured clinical examination. The mean global score at the patient safety station was 87.59±1.24 points. Students' performance in the medical error domain was significantly lower than their performance on patient-physician relationship and humanistic issues. Less than 60% of students (n = 54) offered the simulated patient an apology after a medical error occurred. A significant correlation was found between scores obtained in the medical error domains and scores related to both the patient-physician relationship and humanistic domains. CONCLUSIONS: An objective structured clinical examination is a useful tool to evaluate patient safety competencies during the medical student clerkship. PMID:21876976

The Future of Pork Production in the World: Towards Sustainable, Welfare-Positive Systems

PubMed Central

McGlone, John J.

2013-01-01

Simple Summary More pork is eaten in the world than any other meat. Making production systems and practices more sustainable will benefit the animals, the planet and people. A system is presented by which production practices are evaluated using a sustainability matrix. The matrix shows why some practices are more common in some countries and regions and the impediments to more sustainable systems. This method can be used to assess the sustainability of production practices in the future where objective, science-based information is presented alongside ethical and economic information to make the most informed decisions. Finally, this paper points to current pork production practices that are more and less sustainable. Abstract Among land animals, more pork is eaten in the world than any other meat. The earth holds about one billion pigs who deliver over 100 mmt of pork to people for consumption. Systems of pork production changed from a forest-based to pasture-based to dirt lots and finally into specially-designed buildings. The world pork industry is variable and complex not just in production methods but in economics and cultural value. A systematic analysis of pork industry sustainability was performed. Sustainable production methods are considered at three levels using three examples in this paper: production system, penning system and for a production practice. A sustainability matrix was provided for each example. In a comparison of indoor vs. outdoor systems, the food safety/zoonoses concerns make current outdoor systems unsustainable. The choice of keeping pregnant sows in group pens or individual crates is complex in that the outcome of a sustainability assessment leads to the conclusion that group penning is more sustainable in the EU and certain USA states, but the individual crate is currently more sustainable in other USA states, Asia and Latin America. A comparison of conventional physical castration with immunological castration shows that the less-common immunological castration method is more sustainable (for a number of reasons). This paper provides a method to assess the sustainability of production systems and practices that take into account the best available science, human perception and culture, animal welfare, the environment, food safety, worker health and safety, and economics (including the cost of production and solving world hunger). This tool can be used in countries and regions where the table values of a sustainability matrix change based on local conditions. The sustainability matrix can be used to assess current systems and predict improved systems of the future. PMID:26487410

Atmospheric effects on laser eye safety and damage to instrumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zilberman, Arkadi; Kopeika, Natan S.

2017-10-01

Electro-optical sensors as well as unprotected human eyes are extremely sensitive to laser radiation and can be permanently damaged from direct or reflected beams. Laser detector/eye hazard depends on the interaction between the laser beam and the media in which it traverses. The environmental conditions including terrain features, atmospheric particulate and water content, and turbulence, may alter the laser's effect on the detector/eye. It is possible to estimate the performance of an electro-optical system as long as the atmospheric propagation of the laser beam can be adequately modeled. More recent experiments and modeling of atmospheric optics phenomena such as inner scale effect, aperture averaging, atmospheric attenuation in NIR-SWIR, and Cn2 modeling justify an update of previous eye/detector safety modeling. In the present work, the influence of the atmospheric channel on laser safety for personnel and instrumentation is shown on the basis of theoretical and experimental data of laser irradiance statistics for different atmospheric conditions. A method for evaluating the probability of damage and hazard distances associated with the use of laser systems in a turbulent atmosphere operating in the visible and NIR-SWIR portions of the electromagnetic spectrum is presented. It can be used as a performance prediction model for directed energy engagement of ground-based or air-based systems.

An immunologically relevant rodent model demonstrates safety of therapy using a tumour-specific IgE.

PubMed

Josephs, Debra H; Nakamura, Mano; Bax, Heather J; Dodev, Tihomir S; Muirhead, Gareth; Saul, Louise; Karagiannis, Panagiotis; Ilieva, Kristina M; Crescioli, Silvia; Gazinska, Patrycja; Woodman, Natalie; Lomardelli, Cristina; Kareemaghay, Sedigeh; Selkirk, Christopher; Lentfer, Heike; Barton, Claire; Canevari, Silvana; Figini, Mariangela; Downes, Noel; Dombrowicz, David; Corrigan, Christopher J; Nestle, Frank O; Jones, Paul S; Gould, Hannah J; Blower, Philip J; Tsoka, Sophia; Spicer, James F; Karagiannis, Sophia N

2018-04-13

Designing biologically informative models for assessing the safety of novel agents, especially for cancer immunotherapy, carries substantial challenges. The choice of an in vivo system for studies on IgE antibodies represents a major impediment to their clinical translation, especially with respect to class-specific immunological functions and safety. Fcε receptor expression and structure are different in humans and mice, so that the murine system is not informative when studying human IgE biology. By contrast, FcεRI expression and cellular distribution in rats mirrors that of humans. We are developing MOv18 IgE, a human chimeric antibody recognizing the tumour-associated antigen folate receptor alpha. We created an immunologically congruent surrogate rat model likely to recapitulate human IgE-FcεR interactions, and engineered a surrogate rat IgE equivalent to MOv18. Employing this model, we examined in vivo safety and efficacy of anti-tumour IgE antibodies. In immunocompetent rats, rodent IgE restricted growth of syngeneic tumours in the absence of clinical, histopathological or metabolic signs associated with obvious toxicity. No physiological or immunological evidence of a 'cytokine-storm' or allergic response was seen, even at 50 mg/kg weekly doses. IgE treatment was associated with elevated serum concentrations of TNFα, a mediator previously linked with IgE-mediated anti-tumour and anti-parasitic functions, alongside evidence of substantially elevated tumoural immune cell infiltration and immunological pathway activation in tumour-bearing lungs. Our findings indicate safety of MOv18 IgE, in conjunction with efficacy and immune activation, supporting the translation of this therapeutic approach to the clinical arena. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Advanced Traveler Information System Capabilities : Human Factors Research Needs

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-11-01

As part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI) program, the Federal Highway Administration investigated the human factors research needs for integrating in-vehicle safety and driver information technologies in...

The NASA Aviation Safety Program: Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shin, Jaiwon

2000-01-01

In 1997, the United States set a national goal to reduce the fatal accident rate for aviation by 80% within ten years based on the recommendations by the Presidential Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. Achieving this goal will require the combined efforts of government, industry, and academia in the areas of technology research and development, implementation, and operations. To respond to the national goal, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed a program that will focus resources over a five year period on performing research and developing technologies that will enable improvements in many areas of aviation safety. The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) is organized into six research areas: Aviation System Modeling and Monitoring, System Wide Accident Prevention, Single Aircraft Accident Prevention, Weather Accident Prevention, Accident Mitigation, and Synthetic Vision. Specific project areas include Turbulence Detection and Mitigation, Aviation Weather Information, Weather Information Communications, Propulsion Systems Health Management, Control Upset Management, Human Error Modeling, Maintenance Human Factors, Fire Prevention, and Synthetic Vision Systems for Commercial, Business, and General Aviation aircraft. Research will be performed at all four NASA aeronautics centers and will be closely coordinated with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other government agencies, industry, academia, as well as the aviation user community. This paper provides an overview of the NASA Aviation Safety Program goals, structure, and integration with the rest of the aviation community.

Patient safety in otolaryngology: a descriptive review.

PubMed

Danino, Julian; Muzaffar, Jameel; Metcalfe, Chris; Coulson, Chris

2017-03-01

Human evaluation and judgement may include errors that can have disastrous results. Within medicine and healthcare there has been slow progress towards major changes in safety. Healthcare lags behind other specialised industries, such as aviation and nuclear power, where there have been significant improvements in overall safety, especially in reducing risk of errors. Following several high profile cases in the USA during the 1990s, a report titled "To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System" was published. The report extrapolated that in the USA approximately 50,000 to 100,000 patients may die each year as a result of medical errors. Traditionally otolaryngology has always been regarded as a "safe specialty". A study in the USA in 2004 inferred that there may be 2600 cases of major morbidity and 165 deaths within the specialty. MEDLINE via PubMed interface was searched for English language articles published between 2000 and 2012. Each combined two or three of the keywords noted earlier. Limitations are related to several generic topics within patient safety in otolaryngology. Other areas covered have been current relevant topics due to recent interest or new advances in technology. There has been a heightened awareness within the healthcare community of patient safety; it has become a major priority. Focus has shifted from apportioning blame to prevention of the errors and implementation of patient safety mechanisms in healthcare delivery. Type of Errors can be divided into errors due to action and errors due to knowledge or planning. In healthcare there are several factors that may influence adverse events and patient safety. Although technology may improve patient safety, it also introduces new sources of error. The ability to work with people allows for the increase in safety netting. Team working has been shown to have a beneficial effect on patient safety. Any field of work involving human decision-making will always have a risk of error. Within Otolaryngology, although patient safety has evolved along similar themes as other surgical specialties; there are several specific high-risk areas. Medical error is a common problem and its human cost is of immense importance. Steps to reduce such errors require the identification of high-risk practice within a complex healthcare system. The commitment to patient safety and quality improvement in medicine depend on personal responsibility and professional accountability.

Evaluation of a community based childhood injury prevention program.

PubMed Central

Bablouzian, L.; Freedman, E. S.; Wolski, K. E.; Fried, L. E.

1997-01-01

OBJECTIVES: This pilot study evaluates the effectiveness of a community based childhood injury prevention program on the reduction of home hazards. METHODS: High risk pregnant women, who were enrolled in a home visiting program that augments existing health and human services, received initial home safety assessments. Clients received education about injury prevention practices, in addition to receiving selected home safety supplies. Fourteen questions from the initial assessment tool were repeated upon discharge from the program. Matched analyses were conducted to evaluate differences from initial assessment to discharge. RESULTS: A significantly larger proportion of homes were assessed as safe at discharge, compared with the initial assessment, for the following hazards: children riding unbuckled in all auto travel, Massachusetts Poison Center sticker on the telephone, outlet plugs in all unused electrical outlets, safety latches on cabinets and drawers, and syrup of ipecac in the home. CONCLUSIONS: A community based childhood injury prevention program providing education and safety supplies to clients significantly reduced four home hazards for which safety supplies were provided. Education and promotion of the proper use of child restraint systems in automobiles significantly reduced a fifth hazard, children riding unbuckled in auto travel. This program appears to reduce the prevalence of home hazards and, therefore, to increase home safety. PMID:9113841

30 CFR 250.800 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Mineral Resources MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Oil and Gas Production Safety Systems § 250.800 General... manner to assure the safety and protection of the human, marine, and coastal environments. Production...

NASA System Safety Framework and Concepts for Implementation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dezfuli, Homayoon

2012-01-01

This report has been developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) Risk Management team knowledge capture forums.. This document provides a point-in-time, cumulative, summary of actionable key lessons learned in safety framework and concepts.

Obstetric Safety and Quality.

PubMed

Pettker, Christian M; Grobman, William A

2015-07-01

Obstetric safety and quality is an emerging and important topic not only as a result of the pressures of patient and regulatory expectations, but also because of the genuine interest of caregivers to reduce harm, improve outcomes, and optimize care. Although each seeks to improve care by using scientific approaches beyond human physiology and pathophysiology, patient safety methodologies seek to avoid preventable adverse events, whereas health care quality projects aim to achieve the best possible outcomes. It is well-documented that an increasingly complex medical system controlled by human workers is a circumstance subject to recurrent failure. A safety culture encourages a proactive approach to mitigate failure before, during, and after it occurs. This article highlights the key concepts in health care safety and quality and reviews the background of the quality improvement sciences with particular emphasis on obstetric outcomes and quality measures.

NASA Safety Manual. Volume 3: System Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1970-01-01

This Volume 3 of the NASA Safety Manual sets forth the basic elements and techniques for managing a system safety program and the technical methods recommended for use in developing a risk evaluation program that is oriented to the identification of hazards in aerospace hardware systems and the development of residual risk management information for the program manager that is based on the hazards identified. The methods and techniques described in this volume are in consonance with the requirements set forth in NHB 1700.1 (VI), Chapter 3. This volume and future volumes of the NASA Safety Manual shall not be rewritten, reprinted, or reproduced in any manner. Installation implementing procedures, if necessary, shall be inserted as page supplements in accordance with the provisions of Appendix A. No portion of this volume or future volumes of the NASA Safety Manual shall be invoked in contracts.

Human factors in aircraft incidents - Results of a 7-year study (Andre Allard Memorial Lecture)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Billings, C. E.; Reynard, W. D.

1984-01-01

It is pointed out that nearly all fatal aircraft accidents are preventable, and that most such accidents are due to human error. The present discussion is concerned with the results of a seven-year study of the data collected by the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). The Aviation Safety Reporting System was designed to stimulate as large a flow as possible of information regarding errors and operational problems in the conduct of air operations. It was implemented in April, 1976. In the following 7.5 years, 35,000 reports have been received from pilots, controllers, and the armed forces. Human errors are found in more than 80 percent of these reports. Attention is given to the types of events reported, possible causal factors in incidents, the relationship of incidents and accidents, and sources of error in the data. ASRS reports include sufficient detail to permit authorities to institute changes in the national aviation system designed to minimize the likelihood of human error, and to insulate the system against the effects of errors.

Safety-I, Safety-II and Resilience Engineering.

PubMed

Patterson, Mary; Deutsch, Ellen S

2015-12-01

In the quest to continually improve the health care delivered to patients, it is important to understand "what went wrong," also known as Safety-I, when there are undesired outcomes, but it is also important to understand, and optimize "what went right," also known as Safety-II. The difference between Safety-I and Safety-II are philosophical as well as pragmatic. Improving health care delivery involves understanding that health care delivery is a complex adaptive system; components of that system impact, and are impacted by, the actions of other components of the system. Challenges to optimal care include regular, irregular and unexampled threats. This article addresses the dangers of brittleness and miscalibration, as well as the value of adaptive capacity and margin. These qualities can, respectively, detract from or contribute to the emergence of organizational resilience. Resilience is characterized by the ability to monitor, react, anticipate, and learn. Finally, this article celebrates the importance of humans, who make use of system capabilities and proactively mitigate the effects of system limitations to contribute to successful outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Towards a framework of human factors certification of complex human-machine systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bukasa, Birgit

1994-01-01

As far as total automation is not realized, the combination of technical and social components in man-machine systems demands not only contributions from engineers but at least to an equal extent from behavioral scientists. This has been neglected far too long. The psychological, social and cultural aspects of technological innovations were almost totally overlooked. Yet, along with expected safety improvements the institutionalization of human factors is on the way. The introduction of human factors certification of complex man-machine systems will be a milestone in this process.

Design of admission medication reconciliation technology: a human factors approach to requirements and prototyping.

PubMed

Lesselroth, Blake J; Adams, Kathleen; Tallett, Stephanie; Wood, Scott D; Keeling, Amy; Cheng, Karen; Church, Victoria L; Felder, Robert; Tran, Hanna

2013-01-01

Our objectives were to (1) develop an in-depth understanding of the workflow and information flow in medication reconciliation, and (2) design medication reconciliation support technology using a combination of rapid-cycle prototyping and human-centered design. Although medication reconciliation is a national patient safety goal, limitations both of physical environment and in workflow can make it challenging to implement durable systems. We used several human factors techniques to gather requirements and develop a new process to collect a medication history at hospital admission. We completed an ethnography and time and motion analysis of pharmacists in order to illustrate the processes used to reconcile medications. We then used the requirements to design prototype multimedia software for collecting a bedside medication history. We observed how pharmacists incorporated the technology into their physical environment and documented usability issues. Admissions occurred in three phases: (1) list compilation, (2) order processing, and (3) team coordination. Current medication reconciliation processes at the hospital average 19 minutes to complete and do not include a bedside interview. Use of our technology during a bedside interview required an average of 29 minutes. The software represents a viable proof-of-concept to automate parts of history collection and enhance patient communication. However, we discovered several usability issues that require attention. We designed a patient-centered technology to enhance how clinicians collect a patient's medication history. By using multiple human factors methods, our research team identified system themes and design constraints that influence the quality of the medication reconciliation process and implementation effectiveness of new technology. Evidence-based design, human factors, patient-centered care, safety, technology.

A Methodology for Validating Safety Heuristics Using Clinical Simulations: Identifying and Preventing Possible Technology-Induced Errors Related to Using Health Information Systems

PubMed Central

Borycki, Elizabeth; Kushniruk, Andre; Carvalho, Christopher

2013-01-01

Internationally, health information systems (HIS) safety has emerged as a significant concern for governments. Recently, research has emerged that has documented the ability of HIS to be implicated in the harm and death of patients. Researchers have attempted to develop methods that can be used to prevent or reduce technology-induced errors. Some researchers are developing methods that can be employed prior to systems release. These methods include the development of safety heuristics and clinical simulations. In this paper, we outline our methodology for developing safety heuristics specific to identifying the features or functions of a HIS user interface design that may lead to technology-induced errors. We follow this with a description of a methodological approach to validate these heuristics using clinical simulations. PMID:23606902

Display system replacement baseline research report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-12-01

This report provides baseline measurements on the Display System Replacement (DSR). These measurements followed six constructs: : safety, capacity, performance, workload, usability, and simulation fidelity. To collect these measurements, human factor...

Automation of closed environments in space for human comfort and safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cogley, Allen C.; Tucker, Nathan P.

1992-01-01

For prolonged missions into space and colonization outside the Earth's atmosphere, development of Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) are essential to provide astronauts with habitable environments. The Kansas State University Advanced Design Team have researched and designed a control system for an ECLSS like that on Space Station Freedom. The following milestones have been accomplished: (1) completed computer simulation of the CO2 Removal Assembly; (2) created a set of rules for the expert control system of the CO2 Removal Assembly; (3) created a classical controls system for the CO2 Removal Assembly; (4) established a means of communication between the mathematical model and the two controls systems; and (5) analyzed the dynamic response of the simulation and compared the two methods of control.

Incorporating Road Crossing Data into Vehicle Collision Risk Models for Moose (Alces americanus) in Massachusetts, USA.

PubMed

Zeller, Katherine A; Wattles, David W; DeStefano, Stephen

2018-05-09

Wildlife-vehicle collisions are a human safety issue and may negatively impact wildlife populations. Most wildlife-vehicle collision studies predict high-risk road segments using only collision data. However, these data lack biologically relevant information such as wildlife population densities and successful road-crossing locations. We overcome this shortcoming with a new method that combines successful road crossings with vehicle collision data, to identify road segments that have both high biological relevance and high risk. We used moose (Alces americanus) road-crossing locations from 20 moose collared with Global Positioning Systems as well as moose-vehicle collision (MVC) data in the state of Massachusetts, USA, to create multi-scale resource selection functions. We predicted the probability of moose road crossings and MVCs across the road network and combined these surfaces to identify road segments that met the dual criteria of having high biological relevance and high risk for MVCs. These road segments occurred mostly on larger roadways in natural areas and were surrounded by forests, wetlands, and a heterogenous mix of land cover types. We found MVCs resulted in the mortality of 3% of the moose population in Massachusetts annually. Although there have been only three human fatalities related to MVCs in Massachusetts since 2003, the human fatality rate was one of the highest reported in the literature. The rate of MVCs relative to the size of the moose population and the risk to human safety suggest a need for road mitigation measures, such as fencing, animal detection systems, and large mammal-crossing structures on roadways in Massachusetts.

Food safety issues associated with products from aquaculture. Report of a Joint FAO/NACA/WHO Study Group.

PubMed

1999-01-01

The past decade has seen rapid expansion in aquaculture production. In the fisheries sector, as in animal production, farming is replacing hunting as the primary food production strategy. In future, farmed fish will be an even more important source of protein foods than they are today, and the safety for human consumption of products from aquaculture is of public health significance. This is the report of a Study Group that considered food safety issues associated with farmed finfish and crustaceans. The principal conclusion was that an integrated approach--involving close collaboration between the aquaculture, agriculture, food safety, health and education sectors--is needed to identify and control hazards associated with products from aquaculture. Food safety assurance should be included in fish farm management and form an integral part of the farm-to-table food safety continuum. Where appropriate, measures should be based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) methods; however, difficulties in applying HACCP principles to small-scale farming systems were recognized. Food safety hazards associated with products from aquaculture differ according to region, habitat and environmental conditions, as well as methods of production and management. Lack of awareness of hazards can hinder risk assessment and the application of risk management strategies to aquaculture production, and education is therefore needed. Chemical and biological hazards that should to be taken into account in public health policies concerning products from aquaculture are discussed in this report, which should be of use to policy-makers and public health officials. The report will also assist fish farmers to identify hazards and develop appropriate hazard-control strategies.

Improvement of driving safety in road traffic system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ke-Ping; Gao, Zi-You

2005-05-01

A road traffic system is a complex system in which humans participate directly. In this system, human factors play a very important role. In this paper, a kind of control signal is designated at a given site (i.e., signal point) of the road. Under the effect of the control signal, the drivers will decrease their velocities when their vehicles pass the signal point. Our aim is to transit the traffic flow states from disorder to order and then improve the traffic safety. We have tested this technique for the two-lane traffic model that is based on the deterministic Nagel-Schreckenberg (NaSch) traffic model. The simulation results indicate that the traffic flow states can be transited from disorder to order. Different order states can be observed in the system and these states are safer.

Autonomous Control of Nuclear Power Plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Basher, H.

2003-10-20

A nuclear reactor is a complex system that requires highly sophisticated controllers to ensure that desired performance and safety can be achieved and maintained during its operations. Higher-demanding operational requirements such as reliability, lower environmental impacts, and improved performance under adverse conditions in nuclear power plants, coupled with the complexity and uncertainty of the models, necessitate the use of an increased level of autonomy in the control methods. In the opinion of many researchers, the tasks involved during nuclear reactor design and operation (e.g., design optimization, transient diagnosis, and core reload optimization) involve important human cognition and decisions that maymore » be more easily achieved with intelligent methods such as expert systems, fuzzy logic, neural networks, and genetic algorithms. Many experts in the field of control systems share the idea that a higher degree of autonomy in control of complex systems such as nuclear plants is more easily achievable through the integration of conventional control systems and the intelligent components. Researchers have investigated the feasibility of the integration of fuzzy logic, neural networks, genetic algorithms, and expert systems with the conventional control methods to achieve higher degrees of autonomy in different aspects of reactor operations such as reactor startup, shutdown in emergency situations, fault detection and diagnosis, nuclear reactor alarm processing and diagnosis, and reactor load-following operations, to name a few. With the advancement of new technologies and computing power, it is feasible to automate most of the nuclear reactor control and operation, which will result in increased safety and economical benefits. This study surveys current status, practices, and recent advances made towards developing autonomous control systems for nuclear reactors.« less

The Penn State Safety Floor: Part I--Design parameters associated with walking deflections.

PubMed

Casalena, J A; Ovaert, T C; Cavanagh, P R; Streit, D A

1998-08-01

A new flooring system has been developed to reduce peak impact forces to the hips when humans fall. The new safety floor is designed to remain relatively rigid under normal walking conditions, but to deform elastically when impacted during a fall. Design objectives included minimizing peak force experienced by the femur during a fall-induced impact, while maintaining a maximum of 2 mm of floor deflection during walking. Finite Element Models (FEMs) were developed to capture the complex dynamics of impact response between two deformable bodies. Validation of the finite element models included analytical calculations of theoretical buckling column response, experimental quasi-static loading of full-scale flooring prototypes, and flooring response during walking trials. Finite Element Method results compared well with theoretical and experimental data. Both finite element and experimental data suggest that the proposed safety floor can effectively meet the design goal of 2 mm maximum deflection during walking, while effectively reducing impact forces during a fall.

Preliminary Results Obtained in Integrated Safety Analysis of NASA Aviation Safety Program Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

This is a quarterly listing of unclassified AGARD and RTO technical publications NASA received and announced in the NASA STI Database. Contents include 1) Sensor Data Fusion and Integration of the Human Element; 2) Planar Optical Measurement Methods for Gas Turbine Components; 3) RTO Highlights 1998, December 1998.

Basic Collision Warning and Driver Information Systems: Human Factors Research Needs

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-11-01

As part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI) program, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) investigated the human factors research needs for integrating in-vehicle safety and driver information technolo...

Analysis of older driver safety interventions : a human factors taxonomic approach

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-03-01

The careful application of human factors design principles and guidelines is integral to : the development of safe, efficient and usable Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). One : segment of the driving population that may significantly benefit ...

Active muscle response using feedback control of a finite element human arm model.

PubMed

Östh, Jonas; Brolin, Karin; Happee, Riender

2012-01-01

Mathematical human body models (HBMs) are important research tools that are used to study the human response in car crash situations. Development of automotive safety systems requires the implementation of active muscle response in HBM, as novel safety systems also interact with vehicle occupants in the pre-crash phase. In this study, active muscle response was implemented using feedback control of a nonlinear muscle model in the right upper extremity of a finite element (FE) HBM. Hill-type line muscle elements were added, and the active and passive properties were assessed. Volunteer tests with low impact loading resulting in elbow flexion motions were performed. Simulations of posture maintenance in a gravity field and the volunteer tests were successfully conducted. It was concluded that feedback control of a nonlinear musculoskeletal model can be used to obtain posture maintenance and human-like reflexive responses in an FE HBM.

Real-Time Safety Risk Assessment Based on a Real-Time Location System for Hydropower Construction Sites

PubMed Central

Fan, Qixiang; Qiang, Maoshan

2014-01-01

The concern for workers' safety in construction industry is reflected in many studies focusing on static safety risk identification and assessment. However, studies on real-time safety risk assessment aimed at reducing uncertainty and supporting quick response are rare. A method for real-time safety risk assessment (RTSRA) to implement a dynamic evaluation of worker safety states on construction site has been proposed in this paper. The method provides construction managers who are in charge of safety with more abundant information to reduce the uncertainty of the site. A quantitative calculation formula, integrating the influence of static and dynamic hazards and that of safety supervisors, is established to link the safety risk of workers with the locations of on-site assets. By employing the hidden Markov model (HMM), the RTSRA provides a mechanism for processing location data provided by the real-time location system (RTLS) and analyzing the probability distributions of different states in terms of false positives and negatives. Simulation analysis demonstrated the logic of the proposed method and how it works. Application case shows that the proposed RTSRA is both feasible and effective in managing construction project safety concerns. PMID:25114958

Real-time safety risk assessment based on a real-time location system for hydropower construction sites.

PubMed

Jiang, Hanchen; Lin, Peng; Fan, Qixiang; Qiang, Maoshan

2014-01-01

The concern for workers' safety in construction industry is reflected in many studies focusing on static safety risk identification and assessment. However, studies on real-time safety risk assessment aimed at reducing uncertainty and supporting quick response are rare. A method for real-time safety risk assessment (RTSRA) to implement a dynamic evaluation of worker safety states on construction site has been proposed in this paper. The method provides construction managers who are in charge of safety with more abundant information to reduce the uncertainty of the site. A quantitative calculation formula, integrating the influence of static and dynamic hazards and that of safety supervisors, is established to link the safety risk of workers with the locations of on-site assets. By employing the hidden Markov model (HMM), the RTSRA provides a mechanism for processing location data provided by the real-time location system (RTLS) and analyzing the probability distributions of different states in terms of false positives and negatives. Simulation analysis demonstrated the logic of the proposed method and how it works. Application case shows that the proposed RTSRA is both feasible and effective in managing construction project safety concerns.

Use of disinfectants in open-air dairying.

PubMed

Hutchinson, R E

1995-06-01

Disinfection systems are essential in providing dairy foods which are safe for consumption by all sectors and age groups of the human population. The New Zealand dairy industry ensures quality competition under International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) general systems standards (ISO 9002 and ISO Guide 25) and is subject to food safety assurance legislation (Dairy Industry Regulations 1990). This latter regulation requires that safe foods be produced in accordance with Product Safety Programmes approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Safety can be demonstrated by compliance with the Codes of Practice of the industry. Farm dairy detergents and sanitisers must be approved for use. These disinfection systems are described.

High-Temperature Short-Time Pasteurization System for Donor Milk in a Human Milk Bank Setting

PubMed Central

Escuder-Vieco, Diana; Espinosa-Martos, Irene; Rodríguez, Juan M.; Corzo, Nieves; Montilla, Antonia; Siegfried, Pablo; Pallás-Alonso, Carmen R.; Fernández, Leónides

2018-01-01

Donor milk is the best alternative for the feeding of preterm newborns when mother's own milk is unavailable. For safety reasons, it is usually pasteurized by the Holder method (62.5°C for 30 min). Holder pasteurization results in a microbiological safe product but impairs the activity of many biologically active compounds such as immunoglobulins, enzymes, cytokines, growth factors, hormones or oxidative stress markers. High-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurization has been proposed as an alternative for a better preservation of some of the biological components of human milk although, at present, there is no equipment available to perform this treatment under the current conditions of a human milk bank. In this work, the specific needs of a human milk bank setting were considered to design an HTST equipment for the continuous and adaptable (time-temperature combination) processing of donor milk. Microbiological quality, activity of indicator enzymes and indices for thermal damage of milk were evaluated before and after HTST treatment of 14 batches of donor milk using different temperature and time combinations and compared to the results obtained after Holder pasteurization. The HTST system has accurate and simple operation, allows the pasteurization of variable amounts of donor milk and reduces processing time and labor force. HTST processing at 72°C for, at least, 10 s efficiently destroyed all vegetative forms of microorganisms present initially in raw donor milk although sporulated Bacillus sp. survived this treatment. Alkaline phosphatase was completely destroyed after HTST processing at 72 and 75°C, but γ-glutamil transpeptidase showed higher thermoresistance. Furosine concentrations in HTST-treated donor milk were lower than after Holder pasteurization and lactulose content for HTST-treated donor milk was below the detection limit of analytical method (10 mg/L). In conclusion, processing of donor milk at 72°C for at least 10 s in this HTST system allows to achieve the microbiological safety objectives established in the milk bank while having a lower impact regarding the heat damage of the milk. PMID:29867837

High-Temperature Short-Time Pasteurization System for Donor Milk in a Human Milk Bank Setting.

PubMed

Escuder-Vieco, Diana; Espinosa-Martos, Irene; Rodríguez, Juan M; Corzo, Nieves; Montilla, Antonia; Siegfried, Pablo; Pallás-Alonso, Carmen R; Fernández, Leónides

2018-01-01

Donor milk is the best alternative for the feeding of preterm newborns when mother's own milk is unavailable. For safety reasons, it is usually pasteurized by the Holder method (62.5°C for 30 min). Holder pasteurization results in a microbiological safe product but impairs the activity of many biologically active compounds such as immunoglobulins, enzymes, cytokines, growth factors, hormones or oxidative stress markers. High-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurization has been proposed as an alternative for a better preservation of some of the biological components of human milk although, at present, there is no equipment available to perform this treatment under the current conditions of a human milk bank. In this work, the specific needs of a human milk bank setting were considered to design an HTST equipment for the continuous and adaptable (time-temperature combination) processing of donor milk. Microbiological quality, activity of indicator enzymes and indices for thermal damage of milk were evaluated before and after HTST treatment of 14 batches of donor milk using different temperature and time combinations and compared to the results obtained after Holder pasteurization. The HTST system has accurate and simple operation, allows the pasteurization of variable amounts of donor milk and reduces processing time and labor force. HTST processing at 72°C for, at least, 10 s efficiently destroyed all vegetative forms of microorganisms present initially in raw donor milk although sporulated Bacillus sp. survived this treatment. Alkaline phosphatase was completely destroyed after HTST processing at 72 and 75°C, but γ-glutamil transpeptidase showed higher thermoresistance. Furosine concentrations in HTST-treated donor milk were lower than after Holder pasteurization and lactulose content for HTST-treated donor milk was below the detection limit of analytical method (10 mg/L). In conclusion, processing of donor milk at 72°C for at least 10 s in this HTST system allows to achieve the microbiological safety objectives established in the milk bank while having a lower impact regarding the heat damage of the milk.

Risk management systems for health care and safety development on transplantation: a review and a proposal.

PubMed

Pretagostini, R; Gabbrielli, F; Fiaschetti, P; Oliveti, A; Cenci, S; Peritore, D; Stabile, D

2010-05-01

Starting from the report on medical errors published in 1999 by the US Institute of Medicine, a number of different approaches to risk management have been developed for maximum risk reduction in health care activities. The health care authorities in many countries have focused attention on patient safety, employing action research programs that are based on quite different principles. We performed a systematic Medline research of the literature since 1999. The following key words were used, also combining boolean operators and medical subheading terms: "adverse event," "risk management," "error," and "governance." Studies published in the last 5 years were particularly classified in various groups: risk management in health care systems; safety in specific hospital activities; and health care institutions' official documents. Methods of action researches have been analysed and their characteristics compared. Their suitability for safety development in donation, retrieval, and transplantation processes were discussed in the reality of the Italian transplant network. Some action researches and studies were dedicated to entire national healthcare systems, whereas others focused on specific risks. Many research programs have undergone critical review in the literature. Retrospective analysis has centered on so-called sentinel events to particularly analyze only a minor portion of the organizational phenomena, which can be the origin of an adverse event, an incident, or an error. Sentinel events give useful information if they are studied in highly engineered and standardized organizations like laboratories or tissue establishments, but they show several limits in the analysis of organ donation, retrieval, and transplantation processes, which are characterized by prevailing human factors, with high intrinsic risk and variability. Thus, they are poorly effective to deliver sure elements to base safety management improvement programs, especially regarding multidisciplinary systems with high complexity. In organ transplantation, the possibility to increase safety seems greater using proactive research, mainly centred on organizational processes together with retrospective analyses but not limited to sentinel event reports. Copyright (c) 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc.

NASA aviation safety reporting system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Billings, C. E.; Lauber, J. K.; Funkhouser, H.; Lyman, E. G.; Huff, E. M.

1976-01-01

The origins and development of the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) are briefly reviewed. The results of the first quarter's activity are summarized and discussed. Examples are given of bulletins describing potential air safety hazards, and the disposition of these bulletins. During the first quarter of operation, the ASRS received 1464 reports; 1407 provided data relevant to air safety. All reports are being processed for entry into the ASRS data base. During the reporting period, 130 alert bulletins describing possible problems in the aviation system were generated and disseminated. Responses were received from FAA and others regarding 108 of the alert bulletins. Action was being taken with respect to 70 of the 108 responses received. Further studies are planned of a number of areas, including human factors problems related to automation of the ground and airborne portions of the national aviation system.

The Five Key Questions of Human Performance Modeling.

PubMed

Wu, Changxu

2018-01-01

Via building computational (typically mathematical and computer simulation) models, human performance modeling (HPM) quantifies, predicts, and maximizes human performance, human-machine system productivity and safety. This paper describes and summarizes the five key questions of human performance modeling: 1) Why we build models of human performance; 2) What the expectations of a good human performance model are; 3) What the procedures and requirements in building and verifying a human performance model are; 4) How we integrate a human performance model with system design; and 5) What the possible future directions of human performance modeling research are. Recent and classic HPM findings are addressed in the five questions to provide new thinking in HPM's motivations, expectations, procedures, system integration and future directions.

A critical review about methodologies for the analysis of mucoadhesive properties of drug delivery systems.

PubMed

Bassi da Silva, Jéssica; Ferreira, Sabrina Barbosa de Souza; de Freitas, Osvaldo; Bruschi, Marcos Luciano

2017-07-01

Mucoadhesion is a useful strategy for drug delivery systems, such as tablets, patches, gels, liposomes, micro/nanoparticles, nanosuspensions, microemulsions and colloidal dispersions. Moreover, it has contributed to many benefits like increased residence time at application sites, drug protection, increased drug permeation and improved drug availability. In this context, investigation into the mucoadhesive properties of pharmaceutical dosage forms is fundamental, in order to characterize, understand and simulate the in vivo interaction between the formulation and the biological substrate, contributing to the development of new mucoadhesive systems with effectiveness, safety and quality. There are a lot of in vivo, in vitro and ex vivo methods for the evaluation of the mucoadhesive properties of drug delivery systems. However, there also is a lack of standardization of these techniques, which makes comparison between the results difficult. Therefore, this work aims to show an overview of the most commonly employed methods for mucoadhesion evaluation, relating them to different proposed systems and using artificial or natural mucosa from humans and animals.

Identifying and preventing medical errors in patients with limited English proficiency: key findings and tools for the field.

PubMed

Wasserman, Melanie; Renfrew, Megan R; Green, Alexander R; Lopez, Lenny; Tan-McGrory, Aswita; Brach, Cindy; Betancourt, Joseph R

2014-01-01

Since the 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report To Err is Human, progress has been made in patient safety, but few efforts have focused on safety in patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). This article describes the development, content, and testing of two new evidence-based Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) tools for LEP patient safety. In the content development phase, a comprehensive mixed-methods approach was used to identify common causes of errors for LEP patients, high-risk scenarios, and evidence-based strategies to address them. Based on our findings, Improving Patient Safety Systems for Limited English Proficient Patients: A Guide for Hospitals contains recommendations to improve detection and prevention of medical errors across diverse populations, and TeamSTEPPS Enhancing Safety for Patients with Limited English Proficiency Module trains staff to improve safety through team communication and incorporating interpreters in the care process. The Hospital Guide was validated with leaders in quality and safety at diverse hospitals, and the TeamSTEPPS LEP module was field-tested in varied settings within three hospitals. Both tools were found to be implementable, acceptable to their audiences, and conducive to learning. Further research on the impact of the combined use of the guide and module would shed light on their value as a multifaceted intervention. © 2014 National Association for Healthcare Quality.

42 CFR 82.15 - How will NIOSH evaluate the completeness and adequacy of individual monitoring data?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES METHODS.... For internal exposure, the methods used to analyze bioassay samples will be reviewed to determine...

Reliability enhancement of APR + diverse protection system regarding common cause failures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oh, Y. G.; Kim, Y. M.; Yim, H. S.

2012-07-01

The Advanced Power Reactor Plus (APR +) nuclear power plant design has been developed on the basis of the APR1400 (Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MWe) to further enhance safety and economics. For the mitigation of Anticipated Transients Without Scram (ATWS) as well as Common Cause Failures (CCF) within the Plant Protection System (PPS) and the Emergency Safety Feature - Component Control System (ESF-CCS), several design improvement features have been implemented for the Diverse Protection System (DPS) of the APR + plant. As compared to the APR1400 DPS design, the APR + DPS has been designed to provide the Safety Injectionmore » Actuation Signal (SIAS) considering a large break LOCA accident concurrent with the CCF. Additionally several design improvement features, such as channel structure with redundant processing modules, and changes of system communication methods and auto-system test methods, are introduced to enhance the functional reliability of the DPS. Therefore, it is expected that the APR + DPS can provide an enhanced safety and reliability regarding possible CCF in the safety-grade I and C systems as well as the DPS itself. (authors)« less

Multimodal Perception and Multicriterion Control of Nested Systems. 2; Constraints on Crew Members During Space Vehicle Abort, Entry, and Landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Riccio, Gary E.; McDonald, P. Vernon; Irvin, Gregg E.; Bloomberg, Jacob J.

1998-01-01

This report reviews the operational demands made of a Shuttle pilot or commander within the context of a proven empirical methodology for describing human sensorimotor performance and whole-body coordination in mechanically and perceptually complex environments. The conclusions of this review pertain to a) methods for improving our understanding of the psychophysics and biomechanics of visual/manual control and whole-body coordination in space vehicle cockpits; b) the application of scientific knowledge about human perception and performance in dynamic inertial conditions to the development of technology, procedures, and training for personnel in space vehicle cockpits; c) recommendations for mitigation of safety and reliability concerns about human performance in space vehicle cockpits; and d) in-flight evaluation of flight crew performance during nominal and off-nominal launch and reentry scenarios.

Safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of RSLV-132, an RNase-Fc fusion protein in systemic lupus erythematosus: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

PubMed

Burge, D J; Eisenman, J; Byrnes-Blake, K; Smolak, P; Lau, K; Cohen, S B; Kivitz, A J; Levin, R; Martin, R W; Sherrer, Y; Posada, J A

2017-07-01

Blood-borne RNA circulating in association with autoantibodies is a potent stimulator of interferon production and immune system activation. RSLV-132 is a novel fully human biologic Fc fusion protein that is comprised of human RNase fused to the Fc domain of human IgG1. The drug is designed to remain in circulation and digest extracellular RNA with the aim of preventing activation of the immune system via Toll-like receptors and the interferon pathway. The present study describes the first clinical study of nuclease therapy in 32 subjects with systemic lupus erythematosus. The drug was well tolerated with a very favorable safety profile. The approximately 19-day serum half-life potentially supports once monthly dosing. There were no subjects in the study that developed anti-RSLV-132 antibodies. Decreases in B-cell activating factor correlated with decreases in disease activity in a subset of patients.

Exploring Facilitators and Barriers to Initiation and Completion of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Series among Parents of Girls in a Safety Net System

PubMed Central

O’Leary, Sean T.; Lockhart, Steven; Barnard, Juliana; Furniss, Anna; Dickinson, Miriam; Dempsey, Amanda F.; Stokley, Shannon; Federico, Steven; Bronsert, Michael; Kempe, Allison

2018-01-01

Objective: To assess, among parents of predominantly minority, low-income adolescent girls who had either not initiated (NI) or not completed (NC) the HPV vaccine series, attitudes and other factors important in promoting the series, and whether attitudes differed by language preference. Design/Methods: From August 2013–October 2013, we conducted a mail survey among parents of girls aged 12–15 years randomly selected from administrative data in a Denver safety net system; 400 parents from each group (NI and NC) were targeted. Surveys were in English or Spanish. Results: The response rate was 37% (244/660; 140 moved or gone elsewhere; 66% English-speaking, 34% Spanish-speaking). Safety attitudes of NIs and NCs differed, with 40% NIs vs. 14% NCs reporting they thought HPV vaccine was unsafe (p < 0.0001) and 43% NIs vs. 21% NCs that it may cause long-term health problems (p < 0.001). Among NCs, 42% reported they did not know their daughter needed more shots (English-speaking, 20%, Spanish-speaking 52%) and 39% reported that “I wasn’t worried about the safety of the HPV vaccine before, but now I am” (English-speaking, 23%, Spanish-speaking, 50%). Items rated as very important among NIs in the decision regarding vaccination included: more information about safety (74%), more information saying it prevents cancer (70%), and if they knew HPV was spread mainly by sexual contact (61%). Conclusions: Safety concerns, being unaware of the need for multiple doses, and low perceived risk of infection remain significant barriers to HPV vaccination for at-risk adolescents. Some parents’ safety concerns do not appear until initial vaccination. PMID:29360785

Development of an FAA-EUROCONTROL technique for the analysis of human error in ATM : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-07-01

Human error has been identified as a dominant risk factor in safety-oriented industries such as air traffic control (ATC). However, little is known about the factors leading to human errors in current air traffic management (ATM) systems. The first s...

Human error in hospitals and industrial accidents: current concepts.

PubMed

Spencer, F C

2000-10-01

Most data concerning errors and accidents are from industrial accidents and airline injuries. General Electric, Alcoa, and Motorola, among others, all have reported complex programs that resulted in a marked reduction in frequency of worker injuries. In the field of medicine, however, with the outstanding exception of anesthesiology, there is a paucity of information, most reports referring to the 1984 Harvard-New York State Study, more than 16 years ago. This scarcity of information indicates the complexity of the problem. It seems very unlikely that simple exhortation or additional regulations will help because the problem lies principally in the multiple human-machine interfaces that constitute modern medical care. The absence of success stories also indicates that the best methods have to be learned by experience. A liaison with industry should be helpful, although the varieties of human illness are far different from a standardized manufacturing process. Concurrent with the studies of industrial and nuclear accidents, cognitive psychologists have intensively studied how the brain stores and retrieves information. Several concepts have emerged. First, errors are not character defects to be treated by the classic approach of discipline and education, but are byproducts of normal thinking that occur frequently. Second, major accidents are rarely causedby a single error; instead, they are often a combination of chronic system errors, termed latent errors. Identifying and correcting these latent errors should be the principal focus for corrective planning rather than searching for an individual culprit. This nonpunitive concept of errors is a key basis for an effective reporting system, brilliantly demonstrated in aviation with the ASRS system developed more than 25 years ago. The ASRS currently receives more than 30,000 reports annually and is credited with the remarkable increase in safety of airplane travel. Adverse drug events constitute about 25% of hospital errors. In the future, the combination of new drugs and a vast amount of new information will additionally increase the possibilities for error. Two major advances in recent years have been computerization and active participation of the pharmacist with dispensing medications. Further investigation of hospital errors should concentrate primarily on latent system errors. Significant system changes will require broad staff participation throughout the hospital. This, in turn, should foster development of an institutional safety culture, rather than the popular attitude that patient safety responsibility is concentrated in the Quality Assurance-Risk Management division. Quality of service and patient safety are closely intertwined.

Machinery safety of lathe machine using SHARP-systemic human action reliability procedure: a pilot case study in academic laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suryoputro, M. R.; Sari, A. D.; Sugarindra, M.; Arifin, R.

2017-12-01

This research aimed to understand the human reliability analysis, to find the SHARP method with its functionality on case study and also emphasize the practice in Lathe machine, continued with identifying improvement that could be made to the existing safety system. SHARP comprises of 7 stages including definition, screening, breakdown, representation, impact assessment, quantification and documentation. These steps were combined and analysed using HIRA, FTA and FMEA. HIRA analysed the lathe at academic laboratory showed the level of the highest risk with a score of 9 for the activities of power transmission parts and a score of 6 for activities which shall mean the moving parts required to take action to reduce the level of risk. Hence, the highest RPN values obtained in the power transmission activities with a value of 18 in the power transmission and then the activities of moving parts is 12 and the activities of the operating point of 8. Thus, this activity has the highest risk of workplace accidents in the operation. On the academic laboratory the improvement made on the engineering control initially with a machine guarding and completed with necessary administrative controls (SOP, work permit, training and routine cleaning) and dedicated PPEs.

GMP-compliant human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells for cellular therapy.

PubMed

Aghayan, Hamid-Reza; Goodarzi, Parisa; Arjmand, Babak

2015-01-01

Stem cells, which can be derived from different sources, demonstrate promising therapeutic evidences for cellular therapies. Among various types of stem cell, mesenchymal stem cells are one of the most common stem cells that are used in cellular therapy. Human subcutaneous adipose tissue provides an easy accessible source of mesenchymal stem cells with some considerable advantages. Accordingly, various preclinical and clinical investigations have shown enormous potential of adipose-derived stromal cells in regenerative medicine. Consequently, increasing clinical applications of these cells has elucidated the importance of safety concerns regarding clinical transplantation. Therefore, clinical-grade preparation of adipose-derived stromal cells in accordance with current good manufacturing practice guidelines is an essential part of their clinical applications to ensure the safety, quality, characteristics, and identity of cell products. Additionally, GMP-compliant cell manufacturing involves several issues to provide a quality assurance system during translation from the basic stem cell sciences into clinical investigations and applications. On the other hand, advanced cellular therapy requires extensive validation, process control, and documentation. It also evidently elucidates the critical importance of production methods and probable risks. Therefore, implementation of a quality management and assurance system in accordance with GMP guidelines can greatly reduce these risks particularly in the higher-risk category or "more than minimally manipulated" products.

14 CFR 415.204-415.400 - [Reserved

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Subsystem Design Information 10.4Flight Safety System Analyses 10.5Flight Termination System Environmental... Analysis 4.1.1Flight Safety Sub-Analyses, Methods, and Assumptions 4.1.2Sample Calculation and Products 4.1.3 Launch Specific Updates and Final Flight Safety Analysis Data 4.2Radionuclide Data (where...

14 CFR 415.204-415.400 - [Reserved

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Subsystem Design Information 10.4Flight Safety System Analyses 10.5Flight Termination System Environmental... Analysis 4.1.1Flight Safety Sub-Analyses, Methods, and Assumptions 4.1.2Sample Calculation and Products 4.1.3 Launch Specific Updates and Final Flight Safety Analysis Data 4.2Radionuclide Data (where...

14 CFR 415.204-415.400 - [Reserved

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Subsystem Design Information 10.4Flight Safety System Analyses 10.5Flight Termination System Environmental... Analysis 4.1.1Flight Safety Sub-Analyses, Methods, and Assumptions 4.1.2Sample Calculation and Products 4.1.3 Launch Specific Updates and Final Flight Safety Analysis Data 4.2Radionuclide Data (where...

Incidence of patient safety events and process-related human failures during intra-hospital transportation of patients: retrospective exploration from the institutional incident reporting system.

PubMed

Yang, Shu-Hui; Jerng, Jih-Shuin; Chen, Li-Chin; Li, Yu-Tsu; Huang, Hsiao-Fang; Wu, Chao-Ling; Chan, Jing-Yuan; Huang, Szu-Fen; Liang, Huey-Wen; Sun, Jui-Sheng

2017-11-03

Intra-hospital transportation (IHT) might compromise patient safety because of different care settings and higher demand on the human operation. Reports regarding the incidence of IHT-related patient safety events and human failures remain limited. To perform a retrospective analysis of IHT-related events, human failures and unsafe acts. A hospital-wide process for the IHT and database from the incident reporting system in a medical centre in Taiwan. All eligible IHT-related patient safety events between January 2010 to December 2015 were included. Incidence rate of IHT-related patient safety events, human failure modes, and types of unsafe acts. There were 206 patient safety events in 2 009 013 IHT sessions (102.5 per 1 000 000 sessions). Most events (n=148, 71.8%) did not involve patient harm, and process events (n=146, 70.9%) were most common. Events at the location of arrival (n=101, 49.0%) were most frequent; this location accounted for 61.0% and 44.2% of events with patient harm and those without harm, respectively (p<0.001). Of the events with human failures (n=186), the most common related process step was the preparation of the transportation team (n=91, 48.9%). Contributing unsafe acts included perceptual errors (n=14, 7.5%), decision errors (n=56, 30.1%), skill-based errors (n=48, 25.8%), and non-compliance (n=68, 36.6%). Multivariate analysis showed that human failure found in the arrival and hand-off sub-process (OR 4.84, p<0.001) was associated with increased patient harm, whereas the presence of omission (OR 0.12, p<0.001) was associated with less patient harm. This study shows a need to reduce human failures to prevent patient harm during intra-hospital transportation. We suggest that the transportation team pay specific attention to the sub-process at the location of arrival and prevent errors other than omissions. Long-term monitoring of IHT-related events is also warranted. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sarrack, A.G.

The purpose of this report is to document fault tree analyses which have been completed for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) safety analysis. Logic models for equipment failures and human error combinations that could lead to flammable gas explosions in various process tanks, or failure of critical support systems were developed for internal initiating events and for earthquakes. These fault trees provide frequency estimates for support systems failures and accidents that could lead to radioactive and hazardous chemical releases both on-site and off-site. Top event frequency results from these fault trees will be used in further APET analyses tomore » calculate accident risk associated with DWPF facility operations. This report lists and explains important underlying assumptions, provides references for failure data sources, and briefly describes the fault tree method used. Specific commitments from DWPF to provide new procedural/administrative controls or system design changes are listed in the ''Facility Commitments'' section. The purpose of the ''Assumptions'' section is to clarify the basis for fault tree modeling, and is not necessarily a list of items required to be protected by Technical Safety Requirements (TSRs).« less

Integration of MSFC Usability Lab with Usability Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheng, Yiwei; Richardson, Sally

2010-01-01

As part of the Stage Analysis Branch, human factors engineering plays an important role in relating humans to the systems of hardware and structure designs of the new launch vehicle. While many branches are involved in the technical aspects of creating a launch vehicle, human factors connects humans to the scientific systems with the goal of improving operational performance and safety while reducing operational error and damage to the hardware. Human factors engineers use physical and computerized models to visualize possible areas for improvements to ensure human accessibility to components requiring maintenance and that the necessary maintenance activities can be accomplished with minimal risks to human and hardware. Many methods of testing are used to fulfill this goal, such as physical mockups, computerized visualization, and usability testing. In this analysis, a usability test is conducted to test how usable a website is to users who are and are not familiar with it. The testing is performed using participants and Morae software to record and analyze the results. This analysis will be a preliminary test of the usability lab in preparation for use in new spacecraft programs, NASA Enterprise, or other NASA websites. The usability lab project is divided into two parts: integration of the usability lab and a preliminary test of the usability lab.

Sensitivity-Enhanced Wearable Active Voiceprint Sensor Based on Cellular Polypropylene Piezoelectret.

PubMed

Li, Wenbo; Zhao, Sheng; Wu, Nan; Zhong, Junwen; Wang, Bo; Lin, Shizhe; Chen, Shuwen; Yuan, Fang; Jiang, Hulin; Xiao, Yongjun; Hu, Bin; Zhou, Jun

2017-07-19

Wearable active sensors have extensive applications in mobile biosensing and human-machine interaction but require good flexibility, high sensitivity, excellent stability, and self-powered feature. In this work, cellular polypropylene (PP) piezoelectret was chosen as the core material of a sensitivity-enhanced wearable active voiceprint sensor (SWAVS) to realize voiceprint recognition. By virtue of the dipole orientation control method, the air layers in the piezoelectret were efficiently utilized, and the current sensitivity was enhanced (from 1.98 pA/Hz to 5.81 pA/Hz at 115 dB). The SWAVS exhibited the superiorities of high sensitivity, accurate frequency response, and excellent stability. The voiceprint recognition system could make correct reactions to human voices by judging both the password and speaker. This study presented a voiceprint sensor with potential applications in noncontact biometric recognition and safety guarantee systems, promoting the progress of wearable sensor networks.

Trichinella diagnostics and control: mandatory and best practices for ensuring food safety.

PubMed

Gajadhar, Alvin A; Pozio, Edoardo; Gamble, H Ray; Nöckler, Karsten; Maddox-Hyttel, Charlotte; Forbes, Lorry B; Vallée, Isabelle; Rossi, Patrizia; Marinculić, Albert; Boireau, Pascal

2009-02-23

Because of its role in human disease, there are increasing global requirements for reliable diagnostic and control methods for Trichinella in food animals to ensure meat safety and to facilitate trade. Consequently, there is a need for standardization of methods, programs, and best practices used in the control of Trichinella and trichinellosis. This review article describes the biology and epidemiology of Trichinella, and describes recommended test methods as well as modified and optimized procedures that are used in meat inspection programs. The use of ELISA for monitoring animals for infection in various porcine and equine pre- and post-slaughter programs, including farm or herd certification programs is also discussed. A brief review of the effectiveness of meat processing methods, such as freezing, cooking and preserving is provided. The importance of proper quality assurance and its application in all aspects of a Trichinella diagnostic system is emphasized. It includes the use of international quality standards, test validation and standardization, critical control points, laboratory accreditation, certification of analysts and proficiency testing. Also described, are the roles and locations of international and regional reference laboratories for trichinellosis where expert advice and support on research and diagnostics are available.

Quality and Safety as a Core Leadership Competency.

PubMed

Bleich, Michael R

2018-05-01

A leader's toolbox of competencies comprises knowledge, skills, and abilities in clinical care, finance, human resource management, and more. As essential as these are, a strong command of quality and safety competencies is sovereign in leading and managing, ensuring an optimal patient experience. Four core areas of quality and safety competencies are presented: systems science, knowledge workers, implementation science and big data, and quality safety tools and techniques. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2018;49(5):200-202. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

Formal Verification of Complex Systems based on SysML Functional Requirements

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-23

Formal Verification of Complex Systems based on SysML Functional Requirements Hoda Mehrpouyan1, Irem Y. Tumer2, Chris Hoyle2, Dimitra Giannakopoulou3...requirements for design of complex engineered systems. The proposed ap- proach combines a SysML modeling approach to document and structure safety requirements...methods and tools to support the integration of safety into the design solution. 2.1. SysML for Complex Engineered Systems Traditional methods and tools

[Experience feedback committee: a method for patient safety improvement].

PubMed

François, P; Sellier, E; Imburchia, F; Mallaret, M-R

2013-04-01

An experience feedback committee (CREX, Comité de Retour d'EXpérience) is a method which contributes to the management of safety of care in a medical unit. Originally used for security systems of civil aviation, the method has been adapted to health care facilities and successfully implemented in radiotherapy units and in other specialties. We performed a brief review of the literature for studies reporting data on CREX established in hospitals. The review was performed using the main bibliographic databases and Google search results. The CREX is designed to analyse incidents reported by professionals. The method includes monthly meetings of a multi-professional committee that reviews the reported incidents, chooses a priority incident and designates a "pilot" responsible for investigating the incident. The investigation of the incident involves a systemic analysis method and a written synthesis presented at the next meeting of the committee. The committee agrees on actions for improvement that are suggested by the analysis and follows their implementation. Systems for the management of health care, including reporting systems, are organized into three levels: the medical unit, the hospital and the country as a triple loop learning process. The CREX is located in the base level, short loop of risk management and allows direct involvement of care professionals in patient safety. Safety of care has become a priority of health systems. In this context, the CREX can be a useful vehicle for the implementation of a safety culture in medical units. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Polar bear attacks on humans: Implications of a changing climate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilder, James; Vongraven, Dag; Atwood, Todd C.; Hansen, Bob; Jessen, Amalie; Kochnev, Anatoly A.; York, Geoff; Vallender, Rachel; Hedman, Daryll; Gibbons, Melissa

2017-01-01

Understanding causes of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) attacks on humans is critical to ensuring both human safety and polar bear conservation. Although considerable attention has been focused on understanding black (U. americanus) and grizzly (U. arctos) bear conflicts with humans, there have been few attempts to systematically collect, analyze, and interpret available information on human-polar bear conflicts across their range. To help fill this knowledge gap, a database was developed (Polar Bear-Human Information Management System [PBHIMS]) to facilitate the range-wide collection and analysis of human-polar bear conflict data. We populated the PBHIMS with data collected throughout the polar bear range, analyzed polar bear attacks on people, and found that reported attacks have been extremely rare. From 1870–2014, we documented 73 attacks by wild polar bears, distributed among the 5 polar bear Range States (Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and United States), which resulted in 20 human fatalities and 63 human injuries. We found that nutritionally stressed adult male polar bears were the most likely to pose threats to human safety. Attacks by adult females were rare, and most were attributed to defense of cubs. We judged that bears acted as a predator in most attacks, and that nearly all attacks involved ≤2 people. Increased concern for both human and bear safety is warranted in light of predictions of increased numbers of nutritionally stressed bears spending longer amounts of time on land near people because of the loss of their sea ice habitat. Improved conflict investigation is needed to collect accurate and relevant data and communicate accurate bear safety messages and mitigation strategies to the public. With better information, people can take proactive measures in polar bear habitat to ensure their safety and prevent conflicts with polar bears. This work represents an important first step towards improving our understanding of factors influencing human-polar bear conflicts. Continued collection and analysis of range-wide data on interactions and conflicts will help increase human safety and ensure the conservation of polar bears for future generations.

Cockpit Human Factors Research Requirements

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1989-04-01

The safety, reliability, and efficiency of the National Airspace System (NAS) depend upon : the men and women who operate and use it. Aviation human factors research is the study of : how people function in the performance of their jobs as pilots, co...

Human Rating Requirements for NASA's Constellation Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berdich, Debbie

2008-01-01

NASA s Constellation Program (CxP) will conduct a series of human space expeditions of increasing scope, starting with missions supporting the International Space Station and expanding to encompass the Moon and Mars. Although human-rating is an integral part of all CxP activities throughout their life cycle, NASA Procedural Requirements document NPR 8705.2B, Human-Rating Requirements (HRR) for Space Flight Systems, defines the additional processes, procedures, and requirements necessary to produce human-rated space systems that protect the safety of crew members and passengers on these NASA missions. In order to be in compliance with 8705.2B the CxP must show appropriate implementation or progression toward the HRR, or justification for an exception. Compliance includes an explanation of how the CxP intends to meet the HRR, analyses to be performed to determine implementation; and a matrix to trace the HRR to CxP requirements. The HRR requires the CxP to establish a human system integration team (HSIT), consisting of astronauts, mission operations personnel, training personnel, ground processing personnel, human factors personnel, and human engineering experts, with clearly defined authority, responsibility, and accountability to lead the human-system integration. For example, per the HRR the HSIT is involved in the evaluation of crew workload, human-in-the-loop usability evaluations, determining associated criteria, and in assessment of how these activities influenced system design. In essence, the HSIT is invaluable in CxP s ability to meet the three fundamental tenets of human rating: the process of designing, evaluating, and assuring that the total system can safely conduct the required human missions; the incorporation of design features and capabilities that accommodate human interaction with the system to enhance overall safety and mission success; and the incorporation of design features and capabilities to enable safe recovery of the crew from hazardous situations.

Chapter 42 - Methods in Environmental Toxicology

EPA Science Inventory

Testing of chemicals for their toxic effects traditionally focused on safety and effects in humans using surrogate species. Beginning in the 1960’s, the recognition that chemicals in the environment can have effects on non-human receptors has led to the emergence of the subdiscip...

[Transports: a strategic sector for our society].

PubMed

Giordano, R

2012-01-01

Transports are transmission belt of economies of different Countries. The time is the key variable, hence the economic finalism of transports that now is a theme of economic policy. The road transport sector, passengers and goods, is still a dominant sector that needs to be regulated in a market logic under the safety constraint understood in a system logic: infrastructure-vehicle-driver. The safety factor, understood as road and job safety, remains centered on the policies of intervention related to driver, whereas the most accidents in fact are due to factors related to human error and they cost in terms of social cost about 30 billion per year. The drivers' safety of commercial vehicles, professional vehicles, is a "human capital" that is little explored and that must be preserved.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae show low levels of traversal across human endothelial barrier in vitro.

PubMed

Pérez-Torrado, Roberto; Querol, Amparo

2017-01-01

Background :   Saccharomyces cerevisiae is generally considered safe, and is involved in the production of many types of foods and dietary supplements. However, some isolates, which are genetically related to strains used in brewing and baking, have shown virulent traits, being able to produce infections in humans, mainly in immunodeficient patients. This can lead to systemic infections in humans. Methods : In this work, we studied S. cerevisiae isolates in an in vitro human endothelial barrier model, comparing their behaviour with that of several strains of the related pathogens Candida glabrata and Candida albicans . Results : The results showed that this food related yeast is able to cross the endothelial barrier in vitro . However, in contrast to C. glabrata and C. albicans , S. cerevisiae showed very low levels of traversal. Conclusions : We conclude that using an in vitro human endothelial barrier model with S. cerevisiae can be useful to evaluate the safety of S. cerevisiae strains isolated from foods.

Exploring Reactions to Pilot Reliability Certification and Changing Attitudes on the Reduction of Errors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boedigheimer, Dan

2010-01-01

Approximately 70% of aviation accidents are attributable to human error. The greatest opportunity for further improving aviation safety is found in reducing human errors in the cockpit. The purpose of this quasi-experimental, mixed-method research was to evaluate whether there was a difference in pilot attitudes toward reducing human error in the…

Estimation of adhesive bond strength in laminated safety glass using guided mechanical waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huo, Shihong

Laminated safety glass is used in the automobile industry and in architectural applications. Laminated safety glass consists of a plastic interlayer, such as a layer of poly vinyl butyral (PVB) or Butacite, surrounded by two adjacent glass plates. The glass can be float glass, plate glass, tempered glass, or sheet glass, and the plastic interlayer is made of a viscoelastic material with relatively high damping. The level of adhesive bond strength between the plastic interlayer and the two adjacent glass plates has a significant role in the penetration resistance against flying objects and is a critical parameter towards ensuring the proper performance of safety glass. Therefore, estimation and control of adhesive bond levels in laminated safety glass is a critical issue. There are several destructive testing procedures used to quantify the adhesion level in laminated safety glass. These tests include the tension test, the peel test, the impact test, and the pummel test. All these tests have drawbacks including the pummel test method, which has been the most widely used in industry for over 80 years. The primary drawbacks of the pummel test method are that it is destructive and subjective (i.e., involves individual human judgment), which precludes this method for use as an on-line test method for quality control. Consequently, a quantitative nondestructive testing method to evaluate adhesion levels would be an asset to the laminated safety glass industry. In this study, adhesion levels in laminated safety glass samples, i.e., windshields, have been assessed using the guided mechanical wave method. To study the adhesive bond strength analytically, the imperfect interfaces between the plastic interlayer and the two adjacent glass plates in laminated safety glass are modeled using a bed of longitudinal and shear springs, and their stiffness characteristics are estimated using fracture mechanics and atomic force microscopy (AFM) surface measurements. The atomic force microscopy measurements are used to estimate the contact area at the imperfect interfaces between the plastic interlayer and the two adjacent glass plates for each of the laminates. The spring layers are then embedded in the global matrix method, which is used to predict the guided wave dispersion behavior of the laminated system. Based upon the guided wave energy velocity predictions for each of the laminates with different levels of adhesion, the S0 mode was selected as the most promising for use in nondestructively estimating adhesion levels in laminated safety glass. The predicted energy velocities (obtained using this multilayered model) were validated using guided wave energy velocity experimental measurements. The experimentally obtained velocity measurements are in good agreement with the predicted values. Guided wave attenuation in laminated safety glass is primarily due to the viscoelastic material properties of the PVB plastic interlayer. The attenuation properties of S1 mode were also explored to estimate the adhesive bond strength between the plastic interlayer and the two adjacent glass plates. Results show that the combination of both the energy velocity and attenuation methods has promise towards replacing the pummel test method to estimate the adhesion level in laminated safety glass.

Aviation Safety Reporting System: Process and Procedures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connell, Linda J.

1997-01-01

The Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) was established in 1976 under an agreement between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This cooperative safety program invites pilots, air traffic controllers, flight attendants, maintenance personnel, and others to voluntarily report to NASA any aviation incident or safety hazard. The FAA provides most of the program funding. NASA administers the program, sets its policies in consultation with the FAA and aviation community, and receives the reports submitted to the program. The FAA offers those who use the ASRS program two important reporting guarantees: confidentiality and limited immunity. Reports sent to ASRS are held in strict confidence. More than 350,000 reports have been submitted since the program's beginning without a single reporter's identity being revealed. ASRS removes all personal names and other potentially identifying information before entering reports into its database. This system is a very successful, proof-of-concept for gathering safety data in order to provide timely information about safety issues. The ASRS information is crucial to aviation safety efforts both nationally and internationally. It can be utilized as the first step in safety by providing the direction and content to informed policies, procedures, and research, especially human factors. The ASRS process and procedures will be presented as one model of safety reporting feedback systems.

Development of an Automatic Testing Platform for Aviator's Night Vision Goggle Honeycomb Defect Inspection.

PubMed

Jian, Bo-Lin; Peng, Chao-Chung

2017-06-15

Due to the direct influence of night vision equipment availability on the safety of night-time aerial reconnaissance, maintenance needs to be carried out regularly. Unfortunately, some defects are not easy to observe or are not even detectable by human eyes. As a consequence, this study proposed a novel automatic defect detection system for aviator's night vision imaging systems AN/AVS-6(V)1 and AN/AVS-6(V)2. An auto-focusing process consisting of a sharpness calculation and a gradient-based variable step search method is applied to achieve an automatic detection system for honeycomb defects. This work also developed a test platform for sharpness measurement. It demonstrates that the honeycomb defects can be precisely recognized and the number of the defects can also be determined automatically during the inspection. Most importantly, the proposed approach significantly reduces the time consumption, as well as human assessment error during the night vision goggle inspection procedures.

Production roll out plan for HANDI 2000 business management system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Adams, D.E.

The Hanford Data Integration 2000 (HANDI 2000) Project will result in an integrated and comprehensive set of functional applications containing core information necessary to support the Project Hanford Management Contract (PHMC). It is based on the Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) product solution with commercially proven business processes. The COTS product solution set, of Passport (PP) and PeopleSoft (PS) software, supports finance, supply, human resources, and payroll activities under the current PHMC direction. The PP software is an integrated application for Accounts Payable, Contract Management, Inventory Management, Purchasing and Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). The PS software is an integrated application for Projects,more » General Ledger, Human Resources Training, Payroll, and Base Benefits. This set of software constitutes the Business Management System (BMS) and MSDS, a subset of the HANDI 2000 suite of systems. The primary objective of the Production Roll Out Plan is to communicate the methods and schedules for implementation and roll out to end users of BMS.« less

Return to the Moon: NASA's LCROSS AND LRO Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morales, Lester

2012-01-01

NASA s goals include objectives for robotic and human spaceflight: a) Implement a sustained and affordable human and robotic program to explore the solar system and beyond; b) Extend human presence across the solar system, starting with a human return to the Moon by the year 2020, in preparation for human exploration of Mars and other destinations; c) A lunar outpost is envisioned. Site Considerations: 1) General accessibility of landing site (orbital mechanics) 2) Landing site safety 3) Mobility 4) Mars analog 5) Power 6) Communications 7) Geologic diversity 8) ISRU considerations

"Watching the Detectives" report of the general assembly of the EU project DETECTIVE Brussels, 24-25 November 2015.

PubMed

Fernando, Ruani N; Chaudhari, Umesh; Escher, Sylvia E; Hengstler, Jan G; Hescheler, Jürgen; Jennings, Paul; Keun, Hector C; Kleinjans, Jos C S; Kolde, Raivo; Kollipara, Laxmikanth; Kopp-Schneider, Annette; Limonciel, Alice; Nemade, Harshal; Nguemo, Filomain; Peterson, Hedi; Prieto, Pilar; Rodrigues, Robim M; Sachinidis, Agapios; Schäfer, Christoph; Sickmann, Albert; Spitkovsky, Dimitry; Stöber, Regina; van Breda, Simone G J; van de Water, Bob; Vivier, Manon; Zahedi, René P; Vinken, Mathieu; Rogiers, Vera

2016-06-01

SEURAT-1 is a joint research initiative between the European Commission and Cosmetics Europe aiming to develop in vitro- and in silico-based methods to replace the in vivo repeated dose systemic toxicity test used for the assessment of human safety. As one of the building blocks of SEURAT-1, the DETECTIVE project focused on a key element on which in vitro toxicity testing relies: the development of robust and reliable, sensitive and specific in vitro biomarkers and surrogate endpoints that can be used for safety assessments of chronically acting toxicants, relevant for humans. The work conducted by the DETECTIVE consortium partners has established a screening pipeline of functional and "-omics" technologies, including high-content and high-throughput screening platforms, to develop and investigate human biomarkers for repeated dose toxicity in cellular in vitro models. Identification and statistical selection of highly predictive biomarkers in a pathway- and evidence-based approach constitute a major step in an integrated approach towards the replacement of animal testing in human safety assessment. To discuss the final outcomes and achievements of the consortium, a meeting was organized in Brussels. This meeting brought together data-producing and supporting consortium partners. The presentations focused on the current state of ongoing and concluding projects and the strategies employed to identify new relevant biomarkers of toxicity. The outcomes and deliverables, including the dissemination of results in data-rich "-omics" databases, were discussed as were the future perspectives of the work completed under the DETECTIVE project. Although some projects were still in progress and required continued data analysis, this report summarizes the presentations, discussions and the outcomes of the project.

“Watching the Detectives” Report of the general assembly of the EU project DETECTIVE Brussels, 24-25 November, 2015

PubMed Central

Fernando, Ruani N.; Chaudhari, Umesh; Escher, Sylvia E.; Hengstler, Jan G.; Hescheler, Jürgen; Jennings, Paul; Keun, Hector C.; Kleinjans, Jos C. S.; Kolde, Raivo; Kollipara, Laxmikanth; Kopp-Schneider, Annette; Limonciel, Alice; Nemade, Harshal; Nguemo, Filomain; Peterson, Hedi; Prieto, Pilar; Rodrigues, Robim M.; Sachinidis, Agapios; Schäfer, Christoph; Sickmann, Albert; Spitkovsky, Dimitry; Stöber, Regina; van Breda, Simone G.J.; van de Water, Bob; Vivier, Manon; Zahedi, René P.

2017-01-01

SEURAT-1 is a joint research initiative between the European Commission and Cosmetics Europe aiming to develop in vitro and in silico based methods to replace the in vivo repeated dose systemic toxicity test used for the assessment of human safety. As one of the building blocks of SEURAT-1, the DETECTIVE project focused on a key element on which in vitro toxicity testing relies: the development of robust and reliable, sensitive and specific in vitro biomarkers and surrogate endpoints that can be used for safety assessments of chronically acting toxicants, relevant for humans. The work conducted by the DETECTIVE consortium partners has established a screening pipeline of functional and “-omics” technologies, including high-content and high-throughput screening platforms, to develop and investigate human biomarkers for repeated dose toxicity in cellular in vitro models. Identification and statistical selection of highly predictive biomarkers in a pathway- and evidence-based approach constitutes a major step in an integrated approach towards the replacement of animal testing in human safety assessment. To discuss the final outcomes and achievements of the consortium, a meeting was organized in Brussels. This meeting brought together data-producing and supporting consortium partners. The presentations focused on the current state of ongoing and concluding projects and the strategies employed to identify new relevant biomarkers of toxicity. The outcomes and deliverables, including the dissemination of results in data-rich “-omics” databases, were discussed as were the future perspectives of the work completed under the DETECTIVE project. Although some projects were still in progress and required continued data analysis, this report summarizes the presentations, discussions and the outcomes of the project. PMID:27129694

Benchmarking road safety performance: Identifying a meaningful reference (best-in-class).

PubMed

Chen, Faan; Wu, Jiaorong; Chen, Xiaohong; Wang, Jianjun; Wang, Di

2016-01-01

For road safety improvement, comparing and benchmarking performance are widely advocated as the emerging and preferred approaches. However, there is currently no universally agreed upon approach for the process of road safety benchmarking, and performing the practice successfully is by no means easy. This is especially true for the two core activities of which: (1) developing a set of road safety performance indicators (SPIs) and combining them into a composite index; and (2) identifying a meaningful reference (best-in-class), one which has already obtained outstanding road safety practices. To this end, a scientific technique that can combine the multi-dimensional safety performance indicators (SPIs) into an overall index, and subsequently can identify the 'best-in-class' is urgently required. In this paper, the Entropy-embedded RSR (Rank-sum ratio), an innovative, scientific and systematic methodology is investigated with the aim of conducting the above two core tasks in an integrative and concise procedure, more specifically in a 'one-stop' way. Using a combination of results from other methods (e.g. the SUNflower approach) and other measures (e.g. Human Development Index) as a relevant reference, a given set of European countries are robustly ranked and grouped into several classes based on the composite Road Safety Index. Within each class the 'best-in-class' is then identified. By benchmarking road safety performance, the results serve to promote best practice, encourage the adoption of successful road safety strategies and measures and, more importantly, inspire the kind of political leadership needed to create a road transport system that maximizes safety. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced uncertainty modelling for container port risk analysis.

PubMed

Alyami, Hani; Yang, Zaili; Riahi, Ramin; Bonsall, Stephen; Wang, Jin

2016-08-13

Globalization has led to a rapid increase of container movements in seaports. Risks in seaports need to be appropriately addressed to ensure economic wealth, operational efficiency, and personnel safety. As a result, the safety performance of a Container Terminal Operational System (CTOS) plays a growing role in improving the efficiency of international trade. This paper proposes a novel method to facilitate the application of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) in assessing the safety performance of CTOS. The new approach is developed through incorporating a Fuzzy Rule-Based Bayesian Network (FRBN) with Evidential Reasoning (ER) in a complementary manner. The former provides a realistic and flexible method to describe input failure information for risk estimates of individual hazardous events (HEs) at the bottom level of a risk analysis hierarchy. The latter is used to aggregate HEs safety estimates collectively, allowing dynamic risk-based decision support in CTOS from a systematic perspective. The novel feature of the proposed method, compared to those in traditional port risk analysis lies in a dynamic model capable of dealing with continually changing operational conditions in ports. More importantly, a new sensitivity analysis method is developed and carried out to rank the HEs by taking into account their specific risk estimations (locally) and their Risk Influence (RI) to a port's safety system (globally). Due to its generality, the new approach can be tailored for a wide range of applications in different safety and reliability engineering and management systems, particularly when real time risk ranking is required to measure, predict, and improve the associated system safety performance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Models Extracted from Text for System-Software Safety Analyses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malin, Jane T.

2010-01-01

This presentation describes extraction and integration of requirements information and safety information in visualizations to support early review of completeness, correctness, and consistency of lengthy and diverse system safety analyses. Software tools have been developed and extended to perform the following tasks: 1) extract model parts and safety information from text in interface requirements documents, failure modes and effects analyses and hazard reports; 2) map and integrate the information to develop system architecture models and visualizations for safety analysts; and 3) provide model output to support virtual system integration testing. This presentation illustrates the methods and products with a rocket motor initiation case.

Understanding the Current State of Infection Prevention to Prevent Clostridium difficile Infection: A Human Factors and Systems Engineering Approach

PubMed Central

Yanke, Eric; Zellmer, Caroline; Van Hoof, Sarah; Moriarty, Helene; Carayon, Pascale; Safdar, Nasia

2015-01-01

Background Achieving and sustaining high levels of healthcare worker (HCW) compliance with contact isolation precautions is challenging. The aim of this study was to determine HCW work system barriers to, and facilitators of, adherence to contact isolation for patients with suspected or confirmed Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) using a human factors and systems engineering approach. Methods Prospective cohort study from September 2013 to November 2013 at a large academic medical center (hospital A) and an affiliated Veterans Administration (VA) hospital (hospital B). A human factors engineering (HFE) model for patient safety – the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model – was used to guide work system analysis and direct observation data collection. 288 observations were conducted. HCWs and visitors were assessed for compliance with all components of contact isolation precautions (hand hygiene, gowning, and gloving) before and after patient contact. Time required to complete contact isolation precautions was measured and adequacy of contact isolation supplies was assessed. Results Full compliance with contact isolation precautions was low at both hospitals: hospital A, 7%; hospital B, 22%. Lack of appropriate hand hygiene prior to room entry (Compliance: hospital A, 18%; hospital B, 29%) was the most common reason for lack of full compliance. More time was required for full compliance as compared to compliance with no components of contact isolation precautions before patient room entry, inside patient room, and after patient room exit (59.9 sec vs. 3.2 sec; P < .001; 507.3 sec vs. 149.7 sec; P = .006; 15.2 sec vs. 1.3 sec; P < .001). Compliance was lower when contact isolation supplies were inadequate (4% vs. 16%; P = .005). Conclusions Adherence to contact isolation precautions for CDI is a complex, time-consuming process. HFE analysis indicates multiple work system components serve as barriers and facilitators to full compliance with contact isolation precautions and should be addressed further to prevent CDI. PMID:25728149

Development of a large-scale isolation chamber system for the safe and humane care of medium-sized laboratory animals harboring infectious diseases*

PubMed Central

Pan, Xin; Qi, Jian-cheng; Long, Ming; Liang, Hao; Chen, Xiao; Li, Han; Li, Guang-bo; Zheng, Hao

2010-01-01

The close phylogenetic relationship between humans and non-human primates makes non-human primates an irreplaceable model for the study of human infectious diseases. In this study, we describe the development of a large-scale automatic multi-functional isolation chamber for use with medium-sized laboratory animals carrying infectious diseases. The isolation chamber, including the transfer chain, disinfection chain, negative air pressure isolation system, animal welfare system, and the automated system, is designed to meet all biological safety standards. To create an internal chamber environment that is completely isolated from the exterior, variable frequency drive blowers are used in the air-intake and air-exhaust system, precisely controlling the filtered air flow and providing an air-barrier protection. A double door transfer port is used to transfer material between the interior of the isolation chamber and the outside. A peracetic acid sterilizer and its associated pipeline allow for complete disinfection of the isolation chamber. All of the isolation chamber parameters can be automatically controlled by a programmable computerized menu, allowing for work with different animals in different-sized cages depending on the research project. The large-scale multi-functional isolation chamber provides a useful and safe system for working with infectious medium-sized laboratory animals in high-level bio-safety laboratories. PMID:20872984

Researching Seeds: Films, Sanitation Methods, Microbiological Growth, Viability, and Selection for New Crops

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Padgett, Niki; Smith, Trent

2018-01-01

A major factor in long-term human exploration of the solar system is crop growth in microgravity. Space crops can provide fresh, nutritious food to supplement diets for astronauts. Important factors impacting space plant growth and consumption are water delivery to root zone in microgravity, sanitation methods for microbiological safety, plant responses to light quality/spectrum, and identifying optimal edible plants suitable for growth on the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts growing their own food on the ISS provides necessary data for crop production for long duration deep space missions. The seed film project can be used in Advanced Plant Habitat and Veggies that are currently being utilized on the ISS.

Age determination of unaccompanied asylum seeking minors in the European Union: a health law perspective.

PubMed

Abbing, Henriette D C Roscam

2011-01-01

In the European Union, unaccompanied asylum seekers below 18 years of age are entitled to specific treatment. Age assessment practices to verify the age-statement by the asylum seeker differ between EU Member States. Medical methods in use raise questions about accuracy, reliability and safety. The medical, legal and ethical acceptability of invasive methods (notably X-rays) in particular is controversial. Human rights are at stake. The lack of common practices results in different levels of protection (discrimination). The absence ofstandardisation is an obstacle for the functioning of the Common European Asylum System. EU Best Practice Guidelines should remedy the situation; such guidelines should reflect the best interest of the child.

Future challenges to microbial food safety.

PubMed

Havelaar, Arie H; Brul, Stanley; de Jong, Aarieke; de Jonge, Rob; Zwietering, Marcel H; Ter Kuile, Benno H

2010-05-30

Despite significant efforts by all parties involved, there is still a considerable burden of foodborne illness, in which micro-organisms play a prominent role. Microbes can enter the food chain at different steps, are highly versatile and can adapt to the environment allowing survival, growth and production of toxic compounds. This sets them apart from chemical agents and thus their study from food toxicology. We summarize the discussions of a conference organized by the Dutch Food and Consumer Products Safety Authority and the European Food Safety Authority. The goal of the conference was to discuss new challenges to food safety that are caused by micro-organisms as well as strategies and methodologies to counter these. Management of food safety is based on generally accepted principles of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points and of Good Manufacturing Practices. However, a more pro-active, science-based approach is required, starting with the ability to predict where problems might arise by applying the risk analysis framework. Developments that may influence food safety in the future occur on different scales (from global to molecular) and in different time frames (from decades to less than a minute). This necessitates development of new risk assessment approaches, taking the impact of different drivers of change into account. We provide an overview of drivers that may affect food safety and their potential impact on foodborne pathogens and human disease risks. We conclude that many drivers may result in increased food safety risks, requiring active governmental policy setting and anticipation by food industries whereas other drivers may decrease food safety risks. Monitoring of contamination in the food chain, combined with surveillance of human illness and epidemiological investigations of outbreaks and sporadic cases continue to be important sources of information. New approaches in human illness surveillance include the use of molecular markers for improved outbreak detection and source attribution, sero-epidemiology and disease burden estimation. Current developments in molecular techniques make it possible to rapidly assemble information on the genome of various isolates of microbial species of concern. Such information can be used to develop new tracking and tracing methods, and to investigate the behavior of micro-organisms under environmentally relevant stress conditions. These novel tools and insight need to be applied to objectives for food safety strategies, as well as to models that predict microbial behavior. In addition, the increasing complexity of the global food systems necessitates improved communication between all parties involved: scientists, risk assessors and risk managers, as well as consumers. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Viewpoint on ISA TR84.0.02--simplified methods and fault tree analysis.

PubMed

Summers, A E

2000-01-01

ANSI/ISA-S84.01-1996 and IEC 61508 require the establishment of a safety integrity level for any safety instrumented system or safety related system used to mitigate risk. Each stage of design, operation, maintenance, and testing is judged against this safety integrity level. Quantitative techniques can be used to verify whether the safety integrity level is met. ISA-dTR84.0.02 is a technical report under development by ISA, which discusses how to apply quantitative analysis techniques to safety instrumented systems. This paper discusses two of those techniques: (1) Simplified equations and (2) Fault tree analysis.

Conceptual compression discussion on a multi-linear (FTA) and systematic (FRAM) method in an offshore operation's accident modeling.

PubMed

Toroody, Ahmad Bahoo; Abaei, Mohammad Mahdy; Gholamnia, Reza

2016-12-01

Risk assessment can be classified into two broad categories: traditional and modern. This paper is aimed at contrasting the functional resonance analysis method (FRAM) as a modern approach with the fault tree analysis (FTA) as a traditional method, regarding assessing the risks of a complex system. Applied methodology by which the risk assessment is carried out, is presented in each approach. Also, FRAM network is executed with regard to nonlinear interaction of human and organizational levels to assess the safety of technological systems. The methodology is implemented for lifting structures deep offshore. The main finding of this paper is that the combined application of FTA and FRAM during risk assessment, could provide complementary perspectives and may contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of an incident. Finally, it is shown that coupling a FRAM network with a suitable quantitative method will result in a plausible outcome for a predefined accident scenario.

Risk Perceptions That Effect Behavior and Attitudes in Safety Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-01-01

Turner, B.A. (1978), Man-made Disasters. London, Wykeham. Van Manen , Max. 1990. Reasearching lived experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. New York: State University of New York. ...method employed tried to capture the “essence” of lived experiences, which may have an impact on aviation safety. In Max Van Manen’s book

A Multi-Methods Approach to HRA and Human Performance Modeling: A Field Assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jacques Hugo; David I Gertman

2012-06-01

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) is a research reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory is primarily designed and used to test materials to be used in other, larger-scale and prototype reactors. The reactor offers various specialized systems and allows certain experiments to be run at their own temperature and pressure. The ATR Canal temporarily stores completed experiments and used fuel. It also has facilities to conduct underwater operations such as experiment examination or removal. In reviewing the ATR safety basis, a number of concerns were identified involving the ATR canal. A brief study identified ergonomic issues involving the manual handlingmore » of fuel elements in the canal that may increase the probability of human error and possible unwanted acute physical outcomes to the operator. In response to this concern, that refined the previous HRA scoping analysis by determining the probability of the inadvertent exposure of a fuel element to the air during fuel movement and inspection was conducted. The HRA analysis employed the SPAR-H method and was supplemented by information gained from a detailed analysis of the fuel inspection and transfer tasks. This latter analysis included ergonomics, work cycles, task duration, and workload imposed by tool and workplace characteristics, personal protective clothing, and operational practices that have the potential to increase physical and mental workload. Part of this analysis consisted of NASA-TLX analyses, combined with operational sequence analysis, computational human performance analysis (CHPA), and 3D graphical modeling to determine task failures and precursors to such failures that have safety implications. Experience in applying multiple analysis techniques in support of HRA methods is discussed.« less

Risk assessment of component failure modes and human errors using a new FMECA approach: application in the safety analysis of HDR brachytherapy.

PubMed

Giardina, M; Castiglia, F; Tomarchio, E

2014-12-01

Failure mode, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) is a safety technique extensively used in many different industrial fields to identify and prevent potential failures. In the application of traditional FMECA, the risk priority number (RPN) is determined to rank the failure modes; however, the method has been criticised for having several weaknesses. Moreover, it is unable to adequately deal with human errors or negligence. In this paper, a new versatile fuzzy rule-based assessment model is proposed to evaluate the RPN index to rank both component failure and human error. The proposed methodology is applied to potential radiological over-exposure of patients during high-dose-rate brachytherapy treatments. The critical analysis of the results can provide recommendations and suggestions regarding safety provisions for the equipment and procedures required to reduce the occurrence of accidental events.

Designing for Humans in Autonomous Systems: Military Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

attentional control, and gaming experience are important determinants of how well humans interact with agents supervising multiple assets . 6 4...mission performance, operator workload, trust, SA, and, most important , how they affected human safety. The initial experiments were conducted in a...that humans can also play an important role by being able to identify these objects (perception by proxy). Therefore, human involvement is useful

The Role of Probabilistic Design Analysis Methods in Safety and Affordability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Safie, Fayssal M.

2016-01-01

For the last several years, NASA and its contractors have been working together to build space launch systems to commercialize space. Developing commercial affordable and safe launch systems becomes very important and requires a paradigm shift. This paradigm shift enforces the need for an integrated systems engineering environment where cost, safety, reliability, and performance need to be considered to optimize the launch system design. In such an environment, rule based and deterministic engineering design practices alone may not be sufficient to optimize margins and fault tolerance to reduce cost. As a result, introduction of Probabilistic Design Analysis (PDA) methods to support the current deterministic engineering design practices becomes a necessity to reduce cost without compromising reliability and safety. This paper discusses the importance of PDA methods in NASA's new commercial environment, their applications, and the key role they can play in designing reliable, safe, and affordable launch systems. More specifically, this paper discusses: 1) The involvement of NASA in PDA 2) Why PDA is needed 3) A PDA model structure 4) A PDA example application 5) PDA link to safety and affordability.

Automation of closed environments in space for human comfort and safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

This report culminates the work accomplished during a three year design project on the automation of an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) suitable for space travel and colonization. The system would provide a comfortable living environment in space that is fully functional with limited human supervision. A completely automated ECLSS would increase astronaut productivity while contributing to their safety and comfort. The first section of this report, section 1.0, briefly explains the project, its goals, and the scheduling used by the team in meeting these goals. Section 2.0 presents an in-depth look at each of the component subsystems. Each subsection describes the mathematical modeling and computer simulation used to represent that portion of the system. The individual models have been integrated into a complete computer simulation of the CO2 removal process. In section 3.0, the two simulation control schemes are described. The classical control approach uses traditional methods to control the mechanical equipment. The expert control system uses fuzzy logic and artificial intelligence to control the system. By integrating the two control systems with the mathematical computer simulation, the effectiveness of the two schemes can be compared. The results are then used as proof of concept in considering new control schemes for the entire ECLSS. Section 4.0 covers the results and trends observed when the model was subjected to different test situations. These results provide insight into the operating procedures of the model and the different control schemes. The appendix, section 5.0, contains summaries of lectures presented during the past year, homework assignments, and the completed source code used for the computer simulation and control system.

Rural Hospital Patient Safety Systems Implementation in Two States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Longo, Daniel R.; Hewett, John E.; Ge, Bin; Schubert, Shari

2007-01-01

Context and Purpose: With heightened attention to medical errors and patient safety, we surveyed Utah and Missouri hospitals to assess the "state of the art" in patient safety systems and identify changes over time. This study examines differences between urban and rural hospitals. Methods: Survey of all acute care hospitals in Utah and…

Quality management and perceptions of teamwork and safety climate in European hospitals.

PubMed

Kristensen, Solvejg; Hammer, Antje; Bartels, Paul; Suñol, Rosa; Groene, Oliver; Thompson, Caroline A; Arah, Onyebuchi A; Kutaj-Wasikowska, Halina; Michel, Philippe; Wagner, Cordula

2015-12-01

This study aimed to investigate the associations of quality management systems with teamwork and safety climate, and to describe and compare differences in perceptions of teamwork climate and safety climate among clinical leaders and frontline clinicians. We used a multi-method, cross-sectional approach to collect survey data of quality management systems and perceived teamwork and safety climate. Our data analyses included descriptive and multilevel regression methods. Data on implementation of quality management system from seven European countries were evaluated including patient safety culture surveys from 3622 clinical leaders and 4903 frontline clinicians. Perceived teamwork and safety climate. Teamwork climate was reported as positive by 67% of clinical leaders and 43% of frontline clinicians. Safety climate was perceived as positive by 54% of clinical leaders and 32% of frontline clinicians. We found positive associations between implementation of quality management systems and teamwork and safety climate. Our findings, which should be placed in a broader clinical quality improvement context, point to the importance of quality management systems as a supportive structural feature for promoting teamwork and safety climate. To gain a deeper understanding of this association, further qualitative and quantitative studies using longitudinally collected data are recommended. The study also confirms that more clinical leaders than frontline clinicians have a positive perception of teamwork and safety climate. Such differences should be accounted for in daily clinical practice and when tailoring initiatives to improve teamwork and safety climate. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.

48 CFR 323.7100 - Policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 323.7100 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY, RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, AND DRUG-FREE... Preferable Products and Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.” The APP encompasses...