Accidents outdoor

When we go outdoors, we are worried about our safety. Although the anxiety regarding the occurrence of an accident outdoors is estimated by using statistical data and so on, there are few reports that discuss the degree of anxiety regarding involvement in such accidents when someone is about to leave the place. Therefore, an examination of whether the new degree of anxiety can express the appropriate degree of anxiety is indispensable. 

Occupational and environmental exposure to chemicals can take place both indoors and outdoors. Occupational exposure is caused by the chemicals that are used and produced indoors in industrial plants, whereas nonoccupa-tional (and occupational nonindustrial) indoor exposure is mainly caused by products. Toluene in printing plants and styrene in the reinforced plastic industry are typical examples of the two types of industrial occupational exposures. Products containing styrene polymers may release the styrene monomer into indoor air in the nonindustrial environment for a long time. Formaldehyde is another typical indoor pollutant. The source of formaldehyde is the resins used in the production process. During accidents, occupational and environmental exposures may occur simultaneously. Years ago, dioxin was formed as a byproduct of production of phenoxy acid herbicides. An explosion in a factory in... 

Accidents due to naturally occurring conditions resulting from the structure of tlie land or from tlie ravages of weatlier were reviewed briefly in Cluipter 5. Outdoor processing, coninion in industries using hazardous chemicals, increases... 

These process safety management systems help ensure that facilities are designed, constructed, operated, and maintained with appropriate controls in place to prevent serious accidents. However, despite these precautions, buildings close to hazardous process plants have presented serious risks to the people who work in them. This observation is prompted by the fact that some buildings, because of their design and construction, have collapsed when subjected to comparatively moderate accidental explosions, with serious injury or fatality to the occupants. Conversely, experience indicates that personnel located outdoors and away from such buildings, if subjected to the same blast, may have a lower likelihood of serious injury or fatality. 

Seascale, Cumbria and Leeds after the Windscale accident (Booker, 1958 Burch, 1959) and near Seascale and Harwell after Chernobyl (Fulker, 1987 Cambray et al., 1987). The values are lower than the theoretical curve, especially those derived from the Chernobyl fallout, which mostly occurred in heavy rain. As another example, in the Karlsruhe district of Germany, the fallout of 131I in the first few days of May 1986 was 10 kBq m-2. The peak activity in the milk of cows feeding outdoors was 47 Bq l-1 (Doerfel Piesch, 1987), giving a normalised Ci max) of only 5 x 10-3 m21-1. 

Challenge 6.1. Anxiety regarding involvement in an accident in outdoors... 

Figure 6.5 Anxiety-probability curve in the case of accident in outdoors.

Some kinds of chemical accidents or attacks may make going outdoors dangerous. Leaving the area might take too long or put you in harm s way. In such a case, it may he safer for you to stay indoors than to go outside. 

Episodes that lead to acute, non-lethal events are many and varied. They range from accidents in the home with household products to consumption of plant and animal toxins from industrial and transportation accidents to skin contact with certain plants such as poison ivy from consumption of too much alcohol to inhaling of certain air pollutants, both outdoors and indoors, that have for some reason accumulated to unusually high levels. 

This chapter focuses on safe practice in relation to educational activities and experiences that take pupils away from the school and into the outdoor classroom. Here, the complex interplay of human and environmental factors is a significant issue and one which differentiates the learning context from that found on the school site and within the classroom. Drawing on case studies and research on accidents in the outdoors, this chapter begins by considering the unique nature of the outdoor classroom and what can be learned from tragedy in terms of understanding accidents in the outdoors. It also identifies supervision as the basic principle of safe practice and discusses elements of this and the... 

Finally, analysing the anatomy of accidents in the outdoors reveals that certain combinations of environmental factors can lead to dynamic circumstances (see Hale, 1983 Priest, 1996 Thomas and Raymond, 1996). Factors such as the weather, environmental vagaries and seasonal variations are significant considerations for those who work in the outdoor classroom because they create dynamic and sometimes unpredictable hazards for the unwary. Many incidents affecting pupils have occurred by or in the sea and open water environments are particularly susceptible in this respect and are, therefore, potentially very hazardous. It is the presence of... 

Knowledge of how and why accidents happen can, therefore, raise generic principles related to safe practice in the outdoors and provides an effective basis for modifications to practice that should minimise the occurrence of injury. Similarly, understanding the factors contributing to accidents allows them to be foreseen and anticipated, so that the focus is proactive and preventative rather than reactive. 

Experience in the management and organisation of school trips, along with case study analysis of some accidents to pupils while in the outdoor classroom (Thomas, 1994), suggests that it is important to consider general supervisory issues as well as those in relation to specific elements of the trip or activity. Although there are areas of overlap, supervisory considerations should relate to the following ... 

Accidents If large amounts of this compound are inhaled, move the person to fresh air and seek medical attention at once. In the event of an acetylene leak, shut down and remove aU ignition sources and ventilate the area at once to prevent flammable mixtures from forming. Carefully remove cylinders with slow leaks to remote outdoor locations. Limit access to an affected area. Respiratory protection may be necessary in the event of a large release or a leak in a confined area. 

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