Influence of human factors on risk associated with pressure equipment.

Objectives. The analysis of previous research shows that indicators of human factors have not been sufficiently integrated into the models for risk assessment of pressure equipment to date. Therefore, the goal of this article is the creation of a universal measurement scale to assess the current condition of the impacts of human factors on the risk of pressure equipment exploitation in factories and plants. Methods. A research instrument with nine constructs and 61 dimensions was designed and tested on a sample size of 268 companies, by reliability, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results. The final model contains exact quantification of nine constructs described by 27 influencing human factors on risk associated with pressure equipment exploitation. Conclusions. The most influencing construct is 'communication', whereas the construct 'organizational change management' is the least influencing. Also, applying Pareto analysis shows that the most important constructs identified are 'communication', 'safety and health at work', 'potentially hazardous materials and equipment', 'maintenance/inspection', 'human error' and 'trainings and competences of employees for crisis situations'. It is a recommendation for the process industry enterprises, where pressure equipment is in operation, to include the obtained model in the risk assessment processes they are using.

Managers safety attitudes as organizational factors and pressure equipment risk predictor.

BACKGROUND: Change in current approach to develop methodologies for process risk assessment, where it is commenced from the process industry and exclusively hazardous materials are dealt with, into the approach where it will be commenced from pressure equipment within any context and both technical and organizational aspects are considered, can lead to the orientation of a more comprehensive approach to risk assessment, and thereby to better results in this area. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study implies the creation of a universal measurement instrument that will measure and quantify organizational factors impact on the risk of pressure equipment exploitation. METHODS: The research instrument was drawn from previous research and tested by the multivariate statistical methods using the sample size of 253. RESULTS: The confirmatory factor analysis conducted shows that the most influencing organizational factor is 'subcontractors for works from other enterprises' with maximum value of 104, whereas the factors 'maintenance/inspection', 'safety and health at work' and 'human error' are by 10% to 20% less influencing. There then follow 'training and competence of employees for crisis situations', communication', 'potentially hazardous materials and equipment' and 'organizational change management' and the factor 'conducting investigation after accidents' with the lowest value of 29. Pareto analysis indicates that the factors 'communication', 'subcontractors for works from other enterprises', 'organizational changes management', 'potentially hazardous materials and equipment', and 'training and competence of employees for crisis situations' participate with 80%, and they should be given special attention in practice. CONCLUSION: The instrument offered can ensure proactive information on the influence of organizational factors as risk predictors of pressure equipment operation, before given influences lead to accidents with severe consequences.

Differences in attitudes of operators and managers on risk management of pressure equipment.

Objectives. Previous research indicates that models for risk assessment of pressure equipment have not sufficiently or adequately integrated indicators of human factors and organizational factors. Methods. The goal of this article is to check the differences in attitudes of operators and managers engaged in the area of pressure equipment risk management. A questionnaire was designed and data were then collected from 253 operators and managers working with the same pressure equipment in Serbia. By applying a paired t test, differences in their attitudes were checked for issues described by the constructs of communication (COM), potentially hazardous materials and equipment (PHME), process safety (PS), safety and health at work (SHW), organizational change management (OCM), maintenance/inspection (MI) procedures, human error (HE), trainings and competences of employees for crisis situations (TCECS) and conducting research after accidents (CRAA). Results. It is statistically evident that the coincidence of attitudes accounted for less than 20% of questions. The highest coincidence is shown for PHME and TCECS, where one-half of the dimensions of the given constructs indicate that there are no statistically significant differences. Conclusions. The differences found could be used as an explanation for high-risk levels of pressure equipment exploitation and how they influence it.

Crane cabins' interior space multivariate anthropometric modeling.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that today's crane cabins fail to meet the needs of a large proportion of operators. Performance and financial losses and effects on safety should not be overlooked as well. OBJECTIVE: The first aim of this survey is to model the crane cabin interior space using up-to-date crane operator anthropometric data and to compare the multivariate and univariate method anthropometric models. The second aim of the paper is to define the crane cabin interior space dimensions that enable anthropometric convenience. METHODS: To facilitate the cabin design, the anthropometric dimensions of 64 crane operators in the first sample and 19 more in the second sample were collected in Serbia. The multivariate anthropometric models, spanning 95% of the population on the basis of a set of 8 anthropometric dimensions, have been developed. The percentile method was also used on the same set of data. RESULTS: The dimensions of the interior space, necessary for the accommodation of the crane operator, are 1174×1080×1865 mm. The percentiles results for the 5th and 95th model are within the obtained dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study may prove useful to crane cabin designers in eliminating anthropometric inconsistencies and improving the health of operators, but can also aid in improving the safety, performance and financial results of the companies where crane cabins operate.

Workspace design for crane cabins applying a combined traditional approach and the Taguchi method for design of experiments.

Procedures in the development process of crane cabins are arbitrary and subjective. Since approximately 42% of incidents in the construction industry are linked to them, there is a need to collect fresh anthropometric data and provide additional recommendations for design. In this paper, dimensioning of the crane cabin interior space was carried out using a sample of 64 crane operators' anthropometric measurements, in the Republic of Serbia, by measuring workspace with 10 parameters using nine measured anthropometric data from each crane operator. This paper applies experiments run via full factorial designs using a combined traditional and Taguchi approach. The experiments indicated which design parameters are influenced by which anthropometric measurements and to what degree. The results are expected to be of use for crane cabin designers and should assist them to design a cabin that may lead to less strenuous sitting postures and fatigue for operators, thus improving safety and accident prevention.