Drone technology has developed significantly in recent years. Lightweight quadcopter drones with quality cameras are now very affordable. The UK AAIB has been operating drones at aircraft accident sites for over 2 years and has used them at 23 different accident sites varying from fields to major airports. This paper presents some examples of images obtained by AAIB-owned drones that would have...

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) have the potential to accomplish a major contribution to road safety. This is valid for minor crashes to very severe accidents with personal injuries. The Allianz Centre for Technology attends the development of new driver assistance systems by carrying out accident analysis and estimating the efficiency of new ADAS. In this context new ADAS from differ...

An important question with respect to the Deepwater Horizon accident is whether the accident is a symptom of systemic safety problems in the deepwater drilling industry. An answer to such a question is hard to obtain unless the risk level related to major accident prevention, preparedness, and responses of the oil and gas industry is measured and evaluated over time. In this paper, we present i...

OBJECTIVE Analysis of major perioperative morbidity has become an important factor in assessment of quality of patient care. We have conducted a prospective study of a large population of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG), to identify preoperative risk factors and to develop and validate risk-prediction models for peri- and postoperative morbidity. METHODS Data on 4567...

Speeding is a major cause of traffic accidents and is estimated to be the cause of about 40% of fatalities in road accidents. Speed is a major accident risk factor and affects both rate and severity of traffic accidents. This importance has led to universal use of intelligent control systems for maintaining road safety by enforcing speed regulations. In this study, a modeling is carried out by ...

Accident reports play a key role in the safety of complex systems. These reports present the recommendations that are intended to help avoid any recurrence of past failures. However, the value of these findings depends upon the causal analysis that helps to identify the reasons why an accident occurred. Various techniques have been developed to help investigators distinguish root causes from co...

The nuclear accident at the Chernobyl plant in 1986 is described and a summary of its immediate effects on people and the environment outlined. Then there is a summary of the important parts of the literature on diseases and deaths resulting from radiation and mortalities to date and the way mortality data became increasingly conservative over the years is discussed. Today, there is still uncer...

Factors determining how much radioactive material people take into their bodies after a major nuclear disaster have not been well defined. In this issue of EHP researchers from the University of Tokyo identify risk factors for contamination among residents near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident. They conclude that with the right precautions people might be able to live continu...

This paper describes results of the radiation environmental monitoring performed in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ) during the period following the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. This article presents a brief overview of five comprehensive reports generated under Contract No. DE-AC09-96SR18500 (Washington Savannah River Company LLC, Subcontract No. AC55559N, SOW No. ON8778) an...