Assessment of the Degree of Guilt of the Participants in an Industrial Incident at Hazardous Production Facilities of the Oil and Gas Complex

In the analyzed materials of industrial incidents investigations, there is an incomplete volume of the established facts of the incidence and the causes of its occurrence. Often, when establishing the causes of incidents, biased decisions are made to establish the degree of guilt of the injured person in case of his gross negligence (from 5 to 100 %). The reason for this is the lack of regulatory and methodological documents regulating the procedures for establishing the fact of gross negligence and assessing the degree of guilt of the injured person as a percentage in an industrial incident. All this leads to an increase in the court proceedings, causing moral and material harm to the injured persons. The purpose of the work is to develop a methodology for assessing the degree of guilt of the injured person (insured) in case of his gross negligence based on of the equity principle of all the persons established by the commission for the investigation of an industrial incident in violation of the occupational safety requirements. The methodology is based on the methods of expert, point estimates and methods of incident analysis. Using this methodology, based on the materials of the investigation of a serious personal injury — the fall from the height that occurred with the driver of the tanker as a result of slipping on the slippery surface without the use of personal protective equipment, the main and related reasons of the incident were identified, the degree of guilt of the injured person and other participants of the event was established as a percentage. The developed methodology is aimed at the implementation of Article 229.2 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, makes it possible to bring clarity and transparency into the procedure for establishing the degree of guilt of the injured person (insured). The methodology will be useful for specialists in the field of occupational and industrial safety, state labor inspectors, insurers, representatives of the trade union organizations, i.e. all those who are directly involved in the commission for the investigation of industrial incidents.

Leaving no one behind: a methodology for setting health inequality reduction targets for Sustainable Development Goal 3

Objectives. To present a methodology for the simultaneous setting of quantitative targets that reflect both an improvement in the national average of an indicator for Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3), as well as a reduction in its geographic inequality. Methods. A five-step algorithm was developed: (a) calculate the national average annual percent change (AAPC) for an SDG3 indicator; (b) normatively define geographic strata from the subnational distribution of the indicator in a baseline year; (c) apply a proportional progressivity criterion to the AAPC to project the stratum-specific indicator value for the target year; (d) set the national target as the weighted average of the indicator in the subnational territorial units for the target year; and (e) set the inequality reduction targets by calculating the absolute and relative gaps between the bottom and top strata for the target year. Results. The algorithm was applied to SDG indicator 3.1.1 (maternal mortality ratio, MMR), disaggregated by Guatemala’s 22 departments at the baseline year 2014 (MMR = 113 per 100,000 live births). By sustaining the AAPC rate attained from 2009 to 2014 (-4.3%) and focalizing its actions with territorial progressivity, by 2030 the country could reduce its MMR to 53 per 100,000 and its absolute and relative inequality gaps by 72% and 48%, respectively. Conclusions. The proposed methodology allows for simultaneously setting targets for overall progress and inequality reduction in health, making explicit the primacy of the equity principle contained in the SDG commitment to leave no one behind, whose urgency takes on renewed relevance in the current pandemic scenario.

Among equity and dignity: an argument-based review of European ethical guidelines under COVID-19

Background Under COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations developed guidelines to deal with the ethical aspects of resources allocation. This study describes the results of an argument-based review of ethical guidelines developed at the European level. It aims to increase knowledge and awareness about the moral relevance of the outbreak, especially as regards the balance of equity and dignity in clinical practice and patient’s care. Method According to the argument-based review framework, we started our research from the following two questions: what are the ethical principles adopted by the ethical guidelines produced at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak related to resource allocation? And what are the practical consequences in terms of 'priority' of access, access criteria, management of the decision-making process and patient care? Results Twenty-two ethical guidelines met our inclusion criteria and the results of our analysis are organized into 4 ethical concepts and related arguments: the equity principle and emerging ethical theories; triage criteria; respecting patient’s dignity, and decision making and quality of care. Conclusion Further studies can investigate the practical consequences of the application of the guidelines described, in terms of quality of care and health care professionals’ moral distress.

Analysis of Distributional Equity of Public Physical Infrastructure in Pakistan

The significance of public physical infrastructure (PPI) is hard to brush aside. Whereas, misallocation of PPI tends to overshadow the growth as well as creates disruption and unrest among the territories. The theory of public choice proposes that embracing the equity effect in distribution of PPI can improve overall economic growth as well as concord the economic well-being. The current study has empirically tested the equity approach in distribution of PPI among the provinces of Pakistan. We have adopted an innovative approach by analyzing the equity principle. Panel data for provinces of Pakistan has been employed for the period of 1988-2018. The stationarity of the variables has been checked through Levin, Lin & Chu test. As we get mixed order of integration, panel ARDL is used to estimate the results. The study concludes that the distribution of PPI in provinces of Pakistan is based on the equity principle. Whereas the other economic indicator efficiency is traded off against equity. The short run negative and significant ECT term also confirms the existence of long run relationship between variables. These results ensure that despite the heterogenous characteristics of each province, the distribution of PPI is done to equalize the living standards across the country.

Initial Allocation Model of CO2 Emission Allowances Based on the Equity-Efficiency Tradeoff

Reasonably and fairly allocating carbon intensity reduction targets among Chinese provinces is a key problem in effectively controlling and reducing CO2 emissions. This study establishes the ZSG-DDF model combining the Zero-Sum Gains DEA and the Directional Distance Function to study the CO2 emission allowance allocations from the perspective of maximum efficiency. This model can discriminate desirable and undesirable outputs and solve the problem of total CO2 emission amount control. Then, we add the equity principle to the constraint conditions, namely, the proportion of carbon emission allowance approaching the proportion of GDP. Finally, we establish a CO2 emission allocation scheme based on the equity-efficiency tradeoff while considering the relationship between economic development and carbon emissions as well as achieving maximum efficiency. We use this new model to allocate CO2 emission allowance during the Chinese 13th Five-Year Plan, and compare it with the other two allocation schemes, including National allocations during the 13th Five-Year Plan, allocation scheme from the perspective of efficiency maximization. The results have a certain significance for government departments to formulate the allocation scheme of CO2 emission allowance.

Anthropocene, Emissions Budget, and the Structural Crisis of the Capitalist World-System

This paper evaluates the implications of global emissions budget distribution between three large geographical areas (China, OECD countries, and the rest of the world) in the context of Anthropocene and the structural crisis of the capitalist world system. Two plausible emissions distribution principles are considered. Under neither the inertia principle nor the equity principle, can continuing economic growth be made compatible with requirements of climate stabilization in all three regions. This conclusion does not change significantly when plausible acceleration of emissions intensity reduction in the future is taken into account. To limit global warming to not more than 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, at least two of the three large regions need to reorganize their economies to operate with zero or negative growth. Such a reorganization cannot be achieved under a capitalist economic system given the inherent tendency of capitalism towards endless accumulation. Neither is it likely to be achieved under any conceivable economic system dominated by market relations.

More Doctors Program: health work process and socioeconomic indicators

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE To analyze the working process of the professionals of the More Doctors Program and its relationship with socioeconomic indicators. It is a quantitative study, in which secondary data from supervision reports of PMM were used. The dependent variable was the quality of work processes in Primary Care facilities, and the independent ones were the type of municipality, education, Gini index, Primary Health Care investments, and health facilities coverage. Data were analyzed with multiple modeling based on Poisson regression with robust variance. RESULTS 16,000 doctors within 3816 municipalities were analyzed. Variables related to the working process the remained significant in the final model were the investments in Primary Health Care and the health facilities coverage. The results expressed the equity principle, as those municipalities with more vulnerable conditions and with higher coverage are prone to perform more activities in their working process. CONCLUSIONS The implementation of the More Doctors Program and hence the provision of doctors in deprived regions promoted the consolidation of three main aspects, namely the health working process, primary health care and equity, making it possible to carry out a health working process focused on PHC. This implies performing a greater number of activities that are inherent to PHC, which were not carried out due to the absence of doctors. The More Doctors Program fulfills its role in the combat of inequalities, particularly regarding more vulnerable municipalities.

Transitional justice for women: Acknowledge the past, fix the present, prevent repetitions in the future

Ramona Vijeyarasa recently published in this journal an article advocating for the law in general, and legislation in particular, to be gender responsive. She argued that to redress gender inequality, the law must address the different needs and position of women. Here I propose a bigger scope for the intervention needed to redress legally-originated gender inequality. I contend that a system of transitional justice for women is necessary. This intervention, based on the equity principle of fairness and a need to repair a damage caused by the law, is proposed as a temporary measure until adequate redress is provided.