The structure of employee attitudes to safety: A European example

This paper concerns organizational safety culture and the structure or architecture of employee attitudes to safety as part of that culture. It begins by reviewing the somewhat scant literature relevant to this area, and then reports a study, conducted in a European company, which collected and factor analysed data on employee attitudes to safety. The framework provided for the study was that offered by Purdham (1984), and the results suggested that employees' attitudes to safety, within this company (across occupation/occupational level and country), could be mapped By five orthogonal factors: personal scepticism, individual responsibility, the safeness of the work environment, the effectiveness of arrangements for safety, and personal immunity. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, and attention is drawn to their subsequent use in an intervention to enhance safety culture within the organization by attacking supervisors' attitudes to safety.     

Treatment of Uncertainty in Performance Assessments for Complex Systems

When viewed at a high level, performance assessments (PAs) for complex systems involve two types of uncertainty: stochastic uncertainty, which arises because the system under study can behave in many different ways, and subjective uncertainty, which arises from a lack of knowledge about quantities required within the computational implementation of the PA. Stochastic uncertainty is typically incorporated into a PA with an experimental design based on importance sampling and leads to the final results of the PA being expressed as a complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF). Subjective uncertainty is usually treated with Monte Carlo techniques and leads to a distribution of CCDFs. This presentation discusses the use of the Kaplan/Garrick ordered triple representation for risk in maintaining a distinction between stochastic and subjective uncertainty in PAs for complex systems. The topics discussed include (1) the definition of scenarios and the calculation of scenario probabilities and consequences, (2) the separation of subjective and stochastic uncertainties, (3) the construction of CCDFs required in comparisons with regulatory standards (e.g., 40 CFR Part 191, Subpart B for the disposal of radioactive waste), and (4) the performance of uncertainty and sensitivity studies. Results obtained in a preliminary PA for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, an uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of the MACCS reactor accident consequence analysis model, and the NUREG-1150 probabilistic risk assessments are used for illustration.     

Fire Risks in Oil Refineries: Economic Analysis of Camera Monitoring

A probabilistic method is presented to evaluate the economic value of fire monitoring by closed circuit TV camera in petroleum refineries. The proposed model is restricted to the analysis of risk reduction in an area where fires can be caused either by pump failure or by failure of valves and lines. The benefits come from reducing the time during which the fire grows undetected. Fire growth and expected values of losses are analyzed by a Markov model that includes five phases: (1) active undetected growth, (2) detection, (3) fire growth at the beginning of the firemen's intervention, (4) fire control, and (5) fire extinction. The results (e.g., the expected net present value of the investment) show that the proposed monitoring investment is attractive for an illustrative example.     

Decision Analysis and Risk Management Decision Making: Issues and Methods

This paper provides an overview of decision analysis and its use in risk management decision making. The paper discusses the distinctive characteristics of decision analysis and compares these characteristics with those of its principal alternative—cost–benefit analysis. The paper also discusses each of the steps in a decision analysis and the strengths and limitations of the method.     

我国传媒业在"入世"之后面临的五大挑战

“入世”之后,境外媒体和强大的资本力量将不可避免地突入大陆传媒市场,在未来的竞争和对决中,我国媒体将遭遇强劲的挑战。这些挑战集中表现在五个方面:我国媒体的经济实力比较弱小,媒体和资本市场的结合存在着法律和政策的障碍,新闻管理体制改革相对滞后,新闻法制建设处于“失语”状态,新闻人才的使用和培养不适应现代媒体要求。欲使我国媒体业在未来的国内和国际竞争中立于不败之地,必须在上述五个方面进行体制创新,谋求跳跃式发展。     

管仲改革与梭伦改革之不同历史价值

管仲与棱伦分别是先秦齐国和古希腊城邦影响最大的政治家,也是中西政治思想史、化史上的重要人物。在二的改革与实践中,都蕴涵着极其丰富的历史价值。但是,由于管仲采取“法自君出”政策,强调君主专制制度;梭伦采取“主权在民”,建立民主制度;加之二改革所依托的社会载体不同,致使二的改革在民主思想观念等方面形成极大差异,也直接影响中西民主思想的历史进程。     

先秦诸子论礼与法(下)

法家以重“法”而称于世。梁启超说:“其发生甚早或竟在儒家前”,其确立则在儒墨道之后[1]（p78）。春秋至于战国,其代表人物多直接参与政治,为相于各诸侯国,如管仲、子产、李悝、吴起、申不害、商鞅等。而立言者则有慎到、韩非,又“《管     

探索有效途径 提高《法律基础》课教学效果

法律基础课是对青年学生进行马克思主义法学理论和法律常识教育的主渠道、主阵地。积极探索提高法律基础课教学效果的有效途径 ,是从事这项教学工作的教师必须认真思考和解决的问题。应从提高教师自身素质入手 ,紧密联系实际 ,注重培养学生的能力 ,切实提高法律基础课的教学效果。     

对保险公司上市之思考

改革开放以来,我国保险业得到了快速发展。随着业务规模的扩大及加入世贸组织后与外资保险机构竞争的加剧,我国保险业迫切需要开拓新的融资渠道。发行上市是我国保险业和证券市场发展的双重需要。但目前条件尚未成熟,还需保险公司、保监会、证监会等各方共同努力,尽早推出我国股市的“保险板块”。