Spatiotemporal Associations between Local Safety Level Index and COVID-19 Infection Risks across Capital Regions in South Korea

This study aims provide understanding of the local-level spatiotemporal evolution of COVID-19 spread across capital regions of South Korea during the second and third waves of the pandemic (August 2020~June 2021). To explain transmission, we rely upon the local safety level indices along with latent influences from the spatial alignment of municipalities and their serial (temporal) correlation. Utilizing a flexible hierarchical Bayesian model as an analytic operational framework, we exploit the modified BYM (BYM2) model with the Penalized Complexity (PC) priors to account for latent effects (unobserved heterogeneity). The outcome reveals that a municipality with higher population density is likely to have an elevated infection risk, whereas one with good preparedness for infectious disease tends to have a reduction in risk. Furthermore, we identify that including spatial and temporal correlations into the modeling framework significantly improves the performance and explanatory power, justifying our adoption of latent effects. Based on these findings, we present the dynamic evolution of COVID-19 across the Seoul Capital Area (SCA), which helps us verify unique patterns of disease spread as well as regions of elevated risk for further policy intervention and for supporting informed decision making for responding to infectious diseases.

Development of system for selecting suitable landing location inside the local hazard area

In the area of successful landing and guidance of the aircraft on the route, flight safety is perceived as the highest rate of observation of all operational-control functions of the aircraft. The given functions of the aircraft are observable and identifiable by the systems and cognitive perceptions of the pilot. Situational control of the aircraft on the route with the identification of the danger, into which the pilot can get is perceived as an exact element of failure. If the pilot enters such a situation, apriori solutions are offered to him/her by the aircraft information system. The character and emergency solution in the highest criticism of the failure of aircraft systems is the controlled landing in the local safety corridor when guiding the aircraft on the selected route. The aim of the article is the theory of the solution for the introduction of an assistance element in small aircraft with a description of the solution of autonomous choice of geolocation in a defined local environment. By a heuristic experiment in the article, let’s prove the methods of selection of geographical areas for landing an aircraft with the possibility of introduction into the aircraft information system. The article presents the methodology of creation autonomous assistance system, based on the measurement of detection areas for landing with the collection of data from the GIS system. This system can assist in pilot training and real flights for small aircraft without difficulty. The effectiveness of such system and the parameterization of its data were shown and proved. The developed models may be further used for creation an autonomous selection system in the event of accidental aircraft failures

Application of Chemical Monitoring and Public Alarm Systems to Reduce Public Vulnerability to Major Accidents Involving Dangerous Substances

As a result of economic development and an increase in the volume of industrial production, the use of dangerous substances is increasing despite the fact that most industrial facilities are committed to the principles of environmental protection and sustainable development. Protection of human health and the environment is ensured at the local level by the local safety system. Major accidents typically have an off-site impact that also affects the general public. The most significant asymmetric event is when toxic substances are release into a populated area following a major accident. Early warning systems can significantly reduce the harmful consequences of major accidents that may occur. The operation of a reliable and effective chemical monitoring and public alarm system can be used as a basic device of defence. This ultimately means restoring the symmetry of the local safety system. It was an important scientific objective in Hungary to identify the facilities endangering the population where it is necessary to install chemical monitoring and early warning external protection systems. In this context, the main objective of this study was to present dangerous plant identification methodology and to analyse and evaluate the results of the application of this methodology.

Energy and Local Safety: How the Administration Limits Energy Security

Energy safety is multifaceted and is not limited only to nuclear plants. The research on local energy safety is not considerable. This article creates new ground by analysing the Polish local energy safety system in the cause–effect context. Consistent with an abductive approach, this paper’s insights have emerged iteratively based on the theory reviewed and the empirical case. The research aimed to determine whether the local administration negatively affected energy security and proposed preventive measures increased limited energy security. The findings show that flawed local government operations reduce local energy safety. Moreover, the State authorities did not recognise the weaknesses of the local energy safety system properly. The findings make two main contributions: first, they contribute to developing energy safety theory; and second, this article contributes to a further contextual diagnosis of the comprehensive energy system and can, in turn, be relevant for its further studies in worldwide context.

BIM and Computer Vision-Based Framework for Fire Emergency Evacuation Considering Local Safety Performance

Fire hazard in public buildings may result in serious casualties due to the difficulty of evacuation caused by intricate interior space and unpredictable development of fire situations. It is essential to provide safe and reliable indoor navigation for people trapped in the fire. Distinguished from the global shortest rescue route planning, a framework focusing on the local safety performance is proposed for emergency evacuation navigation. Sufficiently utilizing the information from Building Information Modeling (BIM), this framework automatically constructs geometry network model (GNM) through Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and integrates computer vision for indoor positioning. Considering the available local egress time (ALET), a back propagation (BP) neural network is applied for adjusting the rescue route according to the fire situation, improving the local safety performance of evacuation. A campus building is taken as an example for proving the feasibility of the framework proposed. The result indicates that the rescue route generated by proposed framework is secure and reasonable. The proposed framework provides an idea for using real-time images only to implement the automatic generation of rescue route when a fire hazard occurs, which is passive, cheap, and convenient.

Safeguarding in Australia’s new disability markets: Frontline workers’ perspectives

Despite significant efforts to end it, violence, abuse and neglect continue to contribute to preventable harms and deaths among people using disability services. To explore why these harms persist and what is needed to prevent them, we examine the safety-related attitudes and practices among frontline staff delivering services in the context of an individualized funding scheme, Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Analysis of survey data (n=2341) showed almost half of frontline disability workers were aware of harms affecting clients in the past year, and three in five felt their employers’ safety and incident reporting protocols were inadequate. Workers’ accounts of barriers to performing their safeguarding roles underline how government’s meta-regulatory approach is enabling provider organizations to prioritise financial concerns and tolerate high safety risks. We argue that advancing the rights of people with disability to be safe from harm whilst engaged in social services requires changes in their external regulatory environments and in structures of power between workers and managers, so that policy, funding and regulatory settings enable appropriate local safety practices to flourish.

First do no harm: practitioners’ ability to ‘diagnose’ system weaknesses and improve safety is a critical initial step in improving care quality

Healthcare systems across the world and especially those in low-resource settings (LRS) are under pressure and one of the first priorities must be to prevent any harm done while trying to deliver care. Health care workers, especially department leaders, need the diagnostic abilities to identify local safety concerns and design actions that benefit their patients. We draw on concepts from the safety sciences that are less well-known than mainstream quality improvement techniques in LRS. We use these to illustrate how to analyse the complex interactions between resources and tools, the organisation of tasks and the norms that may govern behaviours, together with the strengths and vulnerabilities of systems. All interact to influence care and outcomes. To employ these techniques leaders will need to focus on the best attainable standards of care, build trust and shift away from the blame culture that undermines improvement. Health worker education should include development of the technical and relational skills needed to perform these system diagnostic roles. Some safety challenges need leadership from professional associations to provide important resources, peer support and mentorship to sustain safety work.