Environmental Risk Assessment—Health and Safety

A special issue of Safety (ISSN 2313-576X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 May 2024 | Viewed by 3959

Special Issue Editor


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Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania
Interests: environmental health and safety; impact and risk assessment; environmental quality monitoring and sustainable management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, safety is an emerging topic that needs to be deeply scientifically approached all over the world, beyond the country, language or cultural barriers. Thus, there is one major question—how can environmnetal health and safety be globally assured? Various pollutants highly influence environmnetal quality, with strong negative effects on ecosystems and human health as well. Safety should be the first approach in an industrial or economic activity with the final purpose to protect environmental quality, occupational health and industrial hygiene. There are regulations stating that new developments must consider the impact and risk assessment before implementing an industrial activity or any new project. This should generally be  agreed when establishing new policies or strategies for sustainable development, and environmental health and safety.

In this context, this Special Issue covers the following topics: risk assessments, occupational and environmental health and safety, public and industrial safety and human health and safe mobility.

Thus, scientists and practitioners are encouraged to publish their experimental and applied research relating to public or industrial science and technology, and contribute to promoting and improving the environment and human health and safety.

Dr. Brindusa Sluser
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Safety is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • environmental risk assessment
  • health and safety
  • environmental management
  • sustainability assessment and eco-innovation
  • environmental performance
  • policies and strategies
  • environmental decisions making

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3920 KiB  
Article
Inertial Motion Capturing in Ergonomic Workplace Analysis: Assessing the Correlation between RULA, Upper-Body Posture Deviations and Musculoskeletal Discomfort
by Steven Simon, Jonas Dully, Carlo Dindorf, Eva Bartaguiz, Oliver Walle, Ilsemarie Roschlock-Sachs and Michael Fröhlich
Safety 2024, 10(1), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety10010016 - 02 Feb 2024
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Abstract
(1) Background: Mobile movement analysis systems, for example, those based on Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), enable digital real-time methods of collecting data in workplace ergonomics, but the relationship between observational method scores such as Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), upper-body posture, and their [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Mobile movement analysis systems, for example, those based on Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), enable digital real-time methods of collecting data in workplace ergonomics, but the relationship between observational method scores such as Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), upper-body posture, and their influence on musculoskeletal discomfort, has not yet been well investigated. This field study aimed to evaluate the relationship of these variables in two different target groups: production and office workers. (2) Methods: There were 64 subjects (44 men and 20 women) participating. Data collection was divided into two categories: (1) Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) (n = 64) and 3D stereophotogrammetric posture analysis (n = 58), and (2) Investigation of workload via IMU-based motion capture (MoCap) and the Borg CR-10 body map (n = 24). Correlation tests and regression analysis were performed using SPSS and MATLAB software to examine the relationship between the upper-body posture and RULA. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was applied to examine group differences. (3) Results: The findings did not support the authors’ hypothesis that posture risk at work significantly correlates with static upper-body posture and musculoskeletal discomfort. Pelvic tilt had a weak but significant influence on RULA. The data revealed interesting trends in physical exertion, musculoskeletal discomfort, and differences between production and office workers. However, the statistical analysis did not support this. Such approaches have the potential to enhance the accuracy of assessment outcomes and, in turn, provide a stronger foundation for enhancing ergonomic conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Risk Assessment—Health and Safety)
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25 pages, 3370 KiB  
Article
Methodology for Risk Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Virus Transmission in Hospital Buildings
by Thaysa V. da Cunha, Laryssa F. C. Willcox, Bruno B. F. da Costa, Mohammad Najjar, Carlos A. P. Soares and Assed N. Haddad
Safety 2023, 9(4), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety9040078 - 04 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1618
Abstract
Considering the impact of COVID-19 on hospital facilities and the relevance of risk management and occupational health and safety within this context, this study introduces a method to assess the SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission risk in a toilet. The proposed method is based on [...] Read more.
Considering the impact of COVID-19 on hospital facilities and the relevance of risk management and occupational health and safety within this context, this study introduces a method to assess the SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission risk in a toilet. The proposed method is based on a risk tripod involving environmental, human, and transmission factors. For this, risk assessment methodologies were applied, such as Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA), which allowed the identification of risk indicators, and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), which allowed the identification of transmission routes of COVID-19 in toilets. Subsequently, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to find each transmission route weighting for calculating the Risk Score. The results indicated that the design of sanitary equipment, with an emphasis on washbasins and toilets, especially in health or large circulation establishments, is of paramount importance in the dissemination of pathogens. Safe habits and the use of protective gear must be continuously encouraged, but greater attention must be paid to technical and engineering issues. Furthermore, the developed method proved to be an applicable tool to identify the main sources of risk and prioritize the implementation of control measures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Risk Assessment—Health and Safety)
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