Private and Public Sector Employer Actions for Home Office Workers During the COVID-19 Epidemic

A research was conducted among the employees referred to work in the home office in connection with the announced state of the epidemic in Poland. The research was conducted using a questionnaire method, the study was attended by 199 respondents. The research is burdened with an error in the selection of statistical sample units, which resulted from the respondents’ involvement and their truthfulness. The aim of the article is to assess the activities of employers from the private and state sectors in Poland, related to the delegation of employees to work in the home office, and to analyze the skills and possibilities of self-organization of work by employees. An important result of the survey was to demonstrate the differences in the behavior of public and private sector employers. The study shows that the private sector has adapted better to sudden changes than the state sector.

Analysis of Options to Reduce Noise Exposure to Shooters on Sport Shooting Ranges

The intensive development of sport shooting and the significant increase in the number of people using sport and recreational shooting ranges also increases the risk of hearing damage to shooters, due to exposure to impulse noise from the shots of firearms. This article discusses the methodology for assessing shooters’ exposure to noise and identifies and extensively discusses possible ways to minimise this exposure. It then describes a research experiment carried out to measure and calculate the effectiveness of noise reduction by means of acoustic silencers when shooting with typical weapons in the most popular sporting and hunting calibres. The experiment also included firing tests with subsonic ammunition. On this basis, conclusions were drawn regarding the possibility of reducing impulse noise during shooting and the possibility of eliminating the risk of hearing damage.

Visual Monitoring as a Tool in Industrial Security Engineering. Case Study

The article presents the use of video monitoring in a production company on the example of municipal thermal power plant. After analyzing the hazards and work inconvenience occurring in the analyzed enterprise, video surveillance zones have been designated with the division into the indoor and outdoor monitoring system. Video surveillance is provided for production, auxiliary and delivery processes. Moreover, video monitoring performs a control function over the occupation health in workstations at risk of explosion or fire. In addition, observation points have been set up in the visual monitoring system, among which the internal ones are served by the dispatcher responsible for the production process, while the external are operated by security guards of the facility.

Building a Circular Economy Model for Managing Exploitation of Household Used Devices on the Example of Washing Machine Driven by DC Motor Along with Components

In the article, the authors describe, using the example of a selected class of technical means, their concept of replacing the “classical” linear management (exploitation) model with a circular economy (CE) model. An example of an object for which the authors plan to test the feasibility of the concept presented above is a household washing machine driven by a DC motor. The description of this object included in the article considers its complexity and multiplicity of assemblies, sub-assemblies, and elements. The DC electric motor driving the washing machine was considered the most important from the point of view of the created model, especially in terms of the possibility of maintenance and repair. For such an engine, the article presents the maintenance and disposal model as elements of the concept of building a ‘circular’ business model. The authors assumed that the formal basis for such a model would be the so-called circular model. The methodology and plan of the research carried out at Super Asia washing machine company in Pakistan were introduced, and the research results were shown. With the use of these results, an attempt was made to assess the requirements that the application of the CE business model places on manufacturers of a selected class of devices, both in their manufacture, repair, sharing and dematerialization. The concept of further research is described at the end of the article.

Spatial Analysis of the Availability of Health and Social Services for People with Special Needs

The health care system should offer and provide a variety of services without undue delay. Due to numerous technical, financial and human resource constraints, not all services can be offered both without restrictions and in equal measure in places of different sizes of residence. As a result of qualitative and quantitative research, a map of accessibility to social and health services was drawn up, taking into consideration the division of the country into voivodeships with different population. Spatial analysis showed great diversity in terms of service availability. Voivodships with the highest accessibility of health and social services are Dolnośląskie, Opolskie and Świętokrzyskie, while the worst situation is in Wielkopolskie. Moreover, the article identifies the main problems that people with limited functionality encounter when using health and social services.

The Way of Improvement of Quality of Life of Older Persons as Users and Maintainers of Technical Means

In the article the way of improvement quality of life as users and maintainers of technical means is presented. It is assumed that it is necessary to keep the fundamental of sustainable development. Therefore the application of the scheme of the process of satisfying needs is shown. It helps establish the activities necessary to achieve this goal and enables to plan required information resources. In the range of exploitation and design tasks the application of original strategy of exploitation by older persons was proposed. This strategy uses 6R method which in the future will be supplemented on elements commonly executed strategies and policies of exploitation. Decision making in accordance with proposed strategy will be possible by performing calculations and simulation with the use of multidisciplinary model, whose conception was indicated in the article and which uses matrix of assessment of the quality of life.

Operational Tests of a Modular Installation and Transport Assembly of Steel Arch Support in Underground Excavations

The roof support, especially the ŁP yielding steel arch support, is transported and assembled in the face with the use of auxiliary machines. This activity in Polish underground mines causes numerous problems, which until present have not been solved. Currently, transport and assembly are carried out manually, while the roadheader and suspended rail are used only to a small extent. Therefore, the modular installation and transport assembly was developed jointly by FAMA Sp. z o. o. and AGH University of Science and Technology. The solution in question enables performing a number of functions (including transport and assembly of all kinds of support arches), which are not available in currently manufactured equipment. The proposed manipulator solves numerous problems occurring during the installation of the steel arch support in an underground mining excavation and significantly improves the process of drilling galleries. This innovative solution considerably differs from the existing ones, and its greatest advantage is versatility with regard to the cross-section and equipment of the roadway, as well as a wide range of functions. In addition, it can also be used for reloading works. The modular installation and transport assembly together with a platform, a temporary mechanized roof support and a mining machine, make up a mechanizes roadheader complex, which enables continuous mining, loading and installing the permanent support in underground workings.

Analysis of the Possibility of Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Thermovision for the Stocktaking of Big Game

Classic methods of stocktaking big game living in a given area have many disadvantages. The main result is the need to ensure appropriate terrain and weather conditions and also require the involvement of a large number of people, so-called observers. The development of technology makes it possible to create new stocktaking methods that will not have as many of the above-mentioned disadvantages, while reducing the cost of stocktaking and increasing its accuracy. This paper presents an analysis of the possibility of using unmanned aerial vehicles, so-called drones, in combination with the observation of game in the infrared wave range with the use of a thermal imaging camera. The paper presents the concept of such a solution, which will of course be further developed. Raids are planned with the use of thermal cameras over areas according to strictly defined transects and subjecting the obtained images to analysis, also with the use of artificial intelligence methods. This article was written as part of the PBL project carried out by a group of students from the Silesian University of Technology under the supervision of dr inż. Arkadiusz Boczkowski.

Modeling and Simulation of the Methane Risk in the Mining Production Process

The mining production process is of particular importance for the area of Upper Silesia, as well as a very significant impact on the economy of the entire country. One of the most common and most dangerous threats to this process is the methane hazard. It is related to the presence of methane in coal seams, which under appropriate conditions is a flammable and explosive gas. Events related to the methane hazard constitute a huge threat to the life and health of the crew as well as the infrastructure and equipment of excavations. Therefore, they have a huge impact on the efficiency of the entire mining production process. In order to ensure the safety and continuity of the production process, it is necessary to prevent the formation of dangerous methane concentrations in the area covered by the operation. One of the tools that can be used to assess the state of methane hazard are model studies supported by numerical simulation. Based on these studies, the article analyzes the distribution of methane concentration in the mining area. This area included an actual mining excavation in one of the hard coal mines. The model tests were carried out with the use of the finite volume method in the ANSYS Fluent software. The obtained results can be used for preventive measures and constitute an important source of information for the assessment of the methane hazard state.

Problems of Quality Assurance and Selection of Control Criteria in Laser Cutting Operations of Wood and Wood-Like Materials

The paper presents the problem of quality assurance of the laser cutting process of wood and wood-like materials and the selection of optimal processing conditions with respect to the required evaluation criteria. An experiment conducted to identify processing difficulties and potential causes of defects is described. Samples of three materials: pine wood, hardwood plywood and mixed wood HDF with a thickness of 4 mm were cut with a CO2 laser and visually inspected and the width of the slit was measured. It was found that there was a relationship between the laser operating parameters and the obtained slit width. The higher the cutting speed, the narrower the slit. The obtained numerical results allowed to formulate technological guidelines on the selection of laser parameters depending on the material. In turn, based on the visual inspection, defects depending on the material properties were identified. An example of a non-conformity identification manual was developed, which includes illustrations to enable comparative analysis in production. It was found that in the studied process, different criteria can be adopted to qualify a product as compliant or non-compliant. A dilemma may then arise as to which criterion is more important. Therefore, a quality evaluation criteria verification sheet was proposed. Furthermore, due to the fact that the success of the laser cutting process is also dependent on other factors, a list of risks to the process was made.