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We describe two well-established, practice-based Master’s programmes as examples of existing competence development opportunities for practitioners and how such links between theory and practice can be developed and taught within the Higher Education (HE) context. We hypothesise that learning from major failures is essential in linking theory with...
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... equivalent RBDs shown in Figures 3 and 4 present a very fragile interaction between the different events, owing to the high number of series connections. Just as in the case of FTA, most of the series connections are associated with evacuation of residents and emergency response, which make these crucial areas of the study. ...
Context 2
... the SCM has been criticised in terms of its way of representing failures; for example, it is not clear how the holes in the cheese line up, nor is the relationship between the holes clear. The RBD boxes in parallel, as shown in Figure 3, are equivalent to the cheese in the SCM model (safety barriers), and the boxes within each branch correspond to the holes within each barrier. Cut sets, which are defined as any group of boxes in the RBD (which, if all occur, will cause the top event in the FTA to occur), correspond to the alignment of a ray of light in the SCM model. ...
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A frequently mentioned factor holding back the introduction of new vaccines on the market are their prohibitively long development timelines. These hamper their potential societal benefit and impairs the ability to quickly respond to emerging new pathogens. This is especially worrisome since new pathogens are emerging at all-time high rates of over...
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... These events are perceived to have a low probability of occurring, but with severe consequences [2,3] . They are the 'Black Swans' and 'Black Elephants' [4] of the organisational world; Black Swans characterised by their rarity, unexpectedness, and unpredictability -albeit, oftentimes retrospective predictability [4−6] On 22 nd July 2011, the Norwegian society was faced with the 'unimaginable'; two successive terrorist attacks were carried out by an ethnic-Norwegian lone perpetrator [6] . In many countries this would not have been unexpected, but for Norway at that moment in time, it was a Black Swan event. ...
Disasters can have detrimental impacts on lives, reputations, trust, and resources. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how root cause analysis methods can be used to learn from failures in both security and safety domains. Utilising two case studies within the security and safety domains, respectively the 22-7 terrorism and Norway and the COVID-19 pandemic within the UK, we investigate how using a hybrid model approach consisting of Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Reliability Block Diagram (RBD) and Minimum Cut Set Analysis (MCSA), helps identify the causality between failures and the catastrophic events. Results illustrate the benefits of using a hybrid of root cause analysis techniques to extract learning lessons, in order to mitigate against future similar incidents. We applied techniques that can assist organisations to apply the concept of learning from failures in practice. More specifically, the Fault Tree Analysis - for analysing causality, Reliability Block Diagram - for analysing relationships between causal factors, and Minimum Cut Set Analysis - for analysing vulnerable scenarios, were applied to the two cases, demonstrating how these models can aid in their 'de-blackening'.
... Wan et al. 38 have stated that information systems should deliver a method for timely exchange of information and knowledge which allows users to reuse lessons that were previously learnt. 39 While these points highlight the importance of correctly set-up AIMS, there is much documented evidence on the associated challenges. A survey by O'Hanlon 40 showed that only 20% of respondents could describe their AIMS deployment as successful. ...
A correctly compiled asset register within an asset information management system (AIMS) provides the foundation for a successful asset data solution. The lack of correctly structured asset registers within organizations is acknowledged among research and communities of practice. A case study identified anomalies that emerge when using established standards, after which a comprehensive solution for hierarchies, naming conventions and attributes was offered. While standards such as BS ISO 1007 and ISO 14224 provide overarching solution principles, such provisions are not all‐encompassing and exist across several sources, which makes the task of developing asset registers error‐prone and laborious. Challenges associated with software applications were highlighted through combining personal industrial experience as well as consultations with the existing body of knowledge. Recommendations that enable successful deployment of AIMS, with emphasis on its accommodation of a reliable asset register were then proffered. Scalability was addressed which enables an asset register to expand. This study describes a novel and simplified approach embodied within a single document. Combining the prescriptions of this article with existing literature will ease the delivery of an asset register.
... Guided by this principle, such complex information and geographic information systems can be analysed using the simplest dichotomy scheme and the system can be considered as a conceptual one, consisting of many triads formed from two elements and implying the third part as the first two unity. An information system dichotomous analysis [5][6][7] is simpler than a geographic information system. This is due to the GIS work specifics and the geodata special organization [8], which integrate data' different types into a single complex. ...
System stratification is constructing its structure method in the connected layers form. Stratification is often used as a classifying or obtaining homogeneous sets method from a heterogeneous sets collection. The article examines the systems qualitative features classified according to the trinitarian dichotomy scheme. The dichotomy is based on identifying and contrasting the qualitative features of the system under study and the subsystem. The article describes the information and geoinformation systems dichotomous division basic principles using the Trinitarian opposition dichotomy principle. In a geographic information system, stratification is used additionally when organizing data. The article describes the parsing tree used in the dichotomous complexity analysis. A method for determining the system qualitative characteristics strata is shown. A criterion for assessing the system complexity is given. An information system dichotomous analysis principle application is shown on a specialized geographic information system example for maintaining an address register.
... Another work by Esotu and Kaltingo [6] proposed a quantitative and qualitative hybrid model that analyzes the criticality assessment values of major overhauls, outages, shutdowns, and turn-arounds (MOOST) activities that effectively benefits from criticality assessment to reduce task uncertainties in a system, either in plants or businesses. To properly increase sustainability and improve reliability, plant disaster and system failure analysis should be ensured [7]. ...
The supply of PV power that satisfies the needs of customers is heavily dependent on the
reliability of the generating plants. However, irrespective of the robustness of the design of such physical industrial assets, they tend to depreciate with usage and/or age which, in turn, increases the allowance between the design and the operational capabilities. Therefore, to ameliorate the reliability of the system, a combination of selective and preventive maintenance actions were planned by determining the best combination (optimal preventive maintenance intervals, optimal replaced components). In this work, we developed an optimal preventive maintenance strategy with minimal repair using the iterative numerical technique for a PV plant, with and without considering the in-
fluence of environmental conditions on the system. An algorithm was developed on MATLAB to determine the optimal number of preventive maintenance actions that yields the maximum availability by selecting the components to be maintained based on the reliability threshold, without considering the environmental impact on the components. The environmental elements’ criticality was introduced, and the reliability reiterated based on the new technique. Finally, by maximizing the availability of the system, an optimal preventive maintenance for a finite horizon was established.
... Hurricanes are the most devastating and most frequently occurring natural disasters in the U.S [4,12]. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was a major category 3 hurricane according to the Saffir-Simpson scale [13], and it was one of the costliest in the history of the U.S. in terms of the number of deaths, extent of the damages, and economic losses ($125 billion) [14,15]. Within the past ten years, several more extreme hurricanes have occurred in several states in the U.S. (Maria, Harvey, Irma, Florence, Michael, Sandy, etc.), each causing fatalities and rampant destruction [4], and recovery decision makers and experts have made serious efforts to return the hurricane-affected communities to their pre-disaster lifestyle [7]. ...
The general public and experts in post-disaster recovery see the barriers to effective and timely post-recovery processes from different viewpoints, and it is important to understand the differences in their observations and in the ways that they prioritize the barriers. The aim of this study was to (1) determine the experts’ and public’s perspectives or barriers to timely post-recovery, (2) prioritize the identified barriers, and (3) perform a comparative analysis of them. The authors identified 62 barriers to timely post-recovery and distributed a survey to experts and the public to determine their assessments of the importance of the barriers. The research team used a Relative Importance Index (RII) analysis to prioritize the barriers and found that the experts consider “undefined roles and responsibilities in the process of recovery” as the highest weighted barrier, while the public ranks “insufficient built infrastructures” as the top barrier. In the comparative analysis of the perspectives, the barrier that was perceived the most differently was “damage to major transportation systems.” The results of this study will help educate researchers about the different views that the experts and the public have of post-recovery barriers.
This paper details a methodology for the mapping and prioritization of needs for research and innovation across a multi-disciplinary topic area. The methodology is applied to needs arising from the field of Arctic maritime safety and security, in order to provide a roadmap for an ongoing multi-national European Union (EU) funded research project. A needs hierarchy containing topics, needs and sub-needs is first formed by utilization of multiple sources including facilitated stakeholder workshops, literature review and semi-structured questionnaires. A further round of stakeholder opinion is then sought in order to ascertain the importance and level of challenge involved in solving each identified sub-need. This information is utilized to form a PICK (Possible, Implement, Challenge, Keep Back) chart in order to visualize and categorize the sub-needs. A goal programming knapsack model is formulated to select a set of priority needs that satisfy goals relating to the maximization of overall importance, the balance between topics at the first level of the need hierarchy and the balance between more challenge (for longer term research) and implement (for shorter term implementation) needs. Sensitivity analysis is conducted around the number of chosen projects and the goal programming weights. Conclusions are hence drawn with respect to the methodology and the Arctic maritime safety and security field of application.
Over the past few years there has been a significant change in fire safety design and management. As the possibility of safe escape is the most crucial aspect of a building’s fire safety features, the understanding of human behaviour under fire conditions is important for a successful evacuation. Previous research studies have developed models, prototypes, and serious games that help engineers/architects to design or firefighters to improve design so that the building facilitates a smooth evacuation process. Although these studies have looked into human behaviour, perceptions of important stakeholders (such as occupants, structural engineers, fire engineers, facility managers) are still not understood. These perceptions are important for the appropriate application of technology for evacuation. The broader research effort, of which this paper is part, stems from the premise that bespoke evacuation instructions can be sent directly to evacuees’ smartphones. Information from a BIM model with the aid of sensors can be used to customise these evacuation instructions. The prospect of information being delivered to occupants during a fire emergency is still at its premature phase and more research is needed. Twenty-three interviews were conducted with occupants who currently live in high-rise residential buildings in Egypt and the United Kingdom to understand their views of using smartphones to assist during fire evacuations. The sampling strategy targeted occupants who currently live in high-rise residential buildings but have not necessarily experienced a fire evacuation. The research clearly shows the importance of smartphones during evacuation and the role they can play in assisting occupants to find the fastest and safest egress route. The interview findings will assist in future research to develop an evacuation framework system that could be implemented for high-rise residential buildings.
Geopolymer concrete possesses superior fire resistance compared to ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-based concrete; however, there are concerns regarding its vulnerability when exposed to real fire events. In the present study, the fire resistance of fly-ash-based geopolymer concrete was evaluated relative to that of OPC-based concrete. Concrete specimens of standard strength grades of 20, 40, and 60 MPa were exposed to fire at 500 and 1200 °C for 2 h to simulate real fire events. Visual observation was performed, mass loss and residual compressive strength were measured, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses were conducted. OPC-based concrete suffered major cracks accompanied with spalling for the high-strength specimen, while geopolymer concrete experienced minor cracks with no spalling. Mass losses of the geopolymer concrete—of 1.69% and 4%, after the exposure to fire at 500 and 1200 °C, respectively—were lower than those of the OPC-based concrete. More than 50% of the residual compressive strength for low- and medium-strength geopolymer concrete, after the exposure to fire at 1200 °C, was maintained. After the exposure to fire at 500 °C, the residual compressive strength of the geopolymer concrete increased from 13 to 45%, while the OPC-based concrete was not able to sustain its compressive strength. SEM images showed that the matrix of the geopolymer concrete, after the exposure to fire, was denser than that of the OPC-based concrete, while the FTIR spectra of the geopolymer concrete showed a minor shift in wavelength. Hence, our findings indicate that fly-ash-based geopolymer concrete has an excellent fire resistance as compared to OPC-based concrete.
