Occupant protection

As any crash reconstruction specialist can verify, crashes are complicated. Consider a simple head-on collision between two vehicles. Following the initial high-force impact one or both cars may rotate and in the process hit each other again, or hit other objects, or be hit by other cars, or slide into a ditch by the side of the road and roll over, or any combination of the above. Thus, a crash is not a single event but a process that evolves over time albeit a very short time. But even a simple crash with a driver alone in a car striking a single stationary object is complex. That is because from the perspective of the occupants what we call a crash actually involves three or four collisions (Peterson et al, 1999). 

So what is the role of the driver and other occupants in mitigating the consequences of a crash Actually their role is quite crucial. First, they must take advantage of the best restraint systems that will keep them in their seats when a crash occurs. Second, the driver must compensate for these benefits by engaging in high risk behaviors that can increase the likelihood of a crash, or the impact speed if a crash occurs. If we now recall the risk homeostasis hypothesis (see Chapter 3), this means that drivers must be convinced not to increase their speed because their car can help them survive high speed crashes that were unsurvivable 30 years ago. Unfortunately not everyone takes advantage of the belts, and some occupants who do, still don t get all the expected benefits. Who these drivers and occupants are, why they behave this way and what can we do about it is the focus of this chapter. 

Active restraints are oecupant restraints that are effective only if the driver activates fiiem. The prime example is seat belt. By far the greatest contributor to injury reduction in file past few decades is the occupants use of seat belts. The current retracting three-point seat belt provides much more protection than the early fixed lap belts. But despite their proven effectiveness, some drivers and passengers are still reluctant to use them. 

Multiple independent analyses of seat belt effectiveness, using crash data from different countries, and different statistical methods have all yielded quite similar results, reducing fatalities and injuries by approximately 40-50 percent, as detailed in Table 10-1 (WHO, 2004). However, the exact numbers in the table, should be considered as potentially inflated estimates because they are based on police reports, and these are known to inflate the percent of belt use. This is because drivers - when they can get away with it - will report to the officer that they had their belt on (Li et al., 1999). Consequently as the injury severity decreases, the amoimt of over-estimation of belt use is most likely to increase. 

The most rigorous method to evaluate the contribution of belts to fatality reduction was developed by Evans (1986). With this method, known as the double pair comparison method, Evans first identified all fatal crashes involving cars with multiple occupants (where the driver was not necessarily the one who was killed). He then compared the fatality likelihood for drivers with and without belts relative to the likelihood of fatality of the other occupant with and without belts. The beauty of this approach is that there is no need for exposure measure, and hence no need to be concerned about exposure bias. Using the U.S. national Fatal Analysis Reporting System which documents every fatal crash in the U.S., Evans estimated that the 

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Elsewhere in The Chemistry of Functional Groups series appears a brief discussion on the stages in the lifetime of chemicals2. Organotin compounds are usually very toxic and they constitute a potential source of harmful pollution with both acute and longterm effects. Increasing concern with environmental and occupational issues has also contributed to the development of analytical methods. Table 1 lists organotin compounds that have found industrial application with references to occupational protection protocols where analytical methods for the particular compound can be found. 

Strandfoam cannot be produced with a varying cell axis direction. This means that it is unsuitable for curved products such as helmet liners, for which the high yield stress direction must vary in the product. In automobiles it is used for occupant protection complex shapes can be sawn from block, cut by abrasive wires, or thermoformed. 

Occupational Protection and Radiation Consideration. The main adverse factor during the mining and processing of uranium and uranium-containing minerals is airborne dust. Personal protection should be used. Finely divided uranium metal, some alloys, and uranium hydride are pyrophoric, therefore such materials should be handled in an inert atmosphere glovebox. 

Occupational and consumer protection are seen as technical exercises in France. The National Institute of Research and Security (INRS) and the Institute for the Industrial Environment and Safety (INERIS) may be aptly described as state apparatus to control costs to the state of poor regulation. INERIS plays little part in the development of risk-reduction strategies (RRS) because consumer protection and environmental protection follow directly from the risk assessment process. INERIS feeds relevant information directly to the MEDD. Because MESA acts only as a statistical and economic branch of occupational protection, responsibility for the development of occupational RRS is left to the INRS. 

When unemployment benefits were exhausted, the unemployed could apply for unemployment assistance which was still related to previous earnings but on a lower level. Although unemployment assistance was tax-funded, it was seen as a prolongation of unemployment insurance benefit (Karl et al. 2002). The equivalence principle was complemented by the principle of occupational protection that defined the suitable job an unemployed person had to accept as more or less adequate to the position held before becoming unemployed. Last but not least, persons relying on unemployment insurance benefits could also benefit from heavy investment in enabling active labour market policy schemes. These programs were not primarily used as a work-test but as instruments to stabilise human capital and restore benefit claims. 

However, in contrast to basic income protection, not all jobs are considered suitable for unemployment insurance beneficiaries. There is not only a minimum threshold of 15 h per week, but also a minimum level of earnings to be achieved that related to prior wages and to the benefit levels. In earlier times, the protection of an acquired earnings level and occupation was even stronger. But the principle of occupational protection had been eroded to a considerable degree in 1997 when new legislation stipulated that after 6 months of unemployment any job was suitable that provides earnings at least equivalent to unemployment compensation. 

Coal development and utilization must adhere to the scientific outlook on development in order to achieve safety, efficiency, greenness, economy, society coordination and sustainable exploitation. (Xie HePing, et al.2012) Strategic objectives should reflect the following five points first is the innovation model of coal development and utilization which stresses quality and benefit second is the extension of downstream industry chain to enhance coal s value, promote the transformation of coal s deep processing and increase economic added value third is the increase in studies on coal s basic theories and technology so as to achieve safe, efficient and clean digital mine forth is the realization of comprehensive occupational protection which attached importance to... 

Perhaps the ultimate low-weight use of foamed POs in vehicles comes in the form of expanded polypropylene (EPP) bead materials, which can be molded into cushioning materials for sound-dampening, seating, storage systems, energy absorption, and occupant protection. A couple of recent uses of EPP are covered in Case 13.2. 

Overall, it can be stated that the published body of knowledge concerning the risks to workers in the rubber industry has grown significantly in recent years based on animal experiments and epidemiological studies. Occupational protection and hygiene measures have now been developed to address most of the remaining problems effectively. 

Bandak, F. A. (1997). Biomechanics of Impact Traumatic Brain Injury. In Crashworthiness of Transportation Systems Structural Impact and Occupant Protection. Ambrosio, J. A. C, Seabra Pereira, M. F. O., Silva, P. F. (Eds) Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 53-93. 

Viano, D., King, A. I. Injury Mechanisms andBiofidehty ofDummies. In Crashworthiness of Transportation Systems Structural Impact and Occupant Protection. Kluwer Academic Publishers. 

This document identifies actions that a building owner or manager can implement withont nndue delay to enhance occupant protection from an airborne chemical, biological, or radiological attack. 

This Safety Guide does not address the monitoring of workers and the workplace, although its recommendations and guidance may be useful for the occupational protection of emergency workers in the event of an accident... 

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