• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.80-85
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• 2014

Background: Currently available questionnaires for evaluating the quality of worklife do not fully examine every factor related to worklife in all cultures. A tool in Thai is therefore needed for the direct evaluation of the quality of worklife. Our aim was to translate the Work-related Quality of Life Scale-2 (WRQLS-2) into Thai, to assess the validity and reliability of the Thai-translated version, and to examine the tool's accuracy vis-$\grave{a}$-vis nursing in Thailand. Methods: This was a descriptive correlation study. Forward and backward translations were performed to develop a Thai version of the WRQLS. Six nursing experts participated in assessing content validity and 374 registered nurses (RNs) participated in its testing. After a 2-week interval, 67 RNs were retested. Structural validity was examined using principal components analysis. The Cronbach's alpha values were calculated. The respective independent sample t test and intraclass correlation coefficient were used to analyze known-group validity and test-retest reliability. Multistate sampling was used to select 374 RNs from the In- and Outpatient Department of Srinagarind Hospital of the Khon Kaen University (Khon Kaen, Thailand). Results: The content validity index of the scale was 0.97. Principal components analysis resulted in a seven-factor model, which explains 59% of the total variance. The overall Cronbach's alpha value was 0.925, whereas the subscales ranged between 0.67 and 0.82. In the assessment results, the known-group validity was established for the difference between civil servants and university employees [F (7.982, 0.005) and t (3.351; p < 0.05)]. Civil servants apparently had a better quality worklife, compared to university employees. Good test-retest reliability was observed (r = 0.892, p < 0.05). Conclusion: The Thai version of a WRQLS appears to be well validated and practicable for determining the quality of the work-life among nurses in Thailand.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.327-335
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• 2021

Microcracks can rapidly grow and develop in high-strength steels used in offshore structures. It is important to render these microcracks harmless to ensure the safety and reliability of offshore structures. Here, the dependence of the aspect ratio (As) of the maximum depth of harmless crack (a_hlm) was evaluated under three different conditions considering the threshold stress intensity factor (Δk_th) and residual stress of offshore structural steel F690. The threshold stress intensity factor and fatigue limit of fatigue crack propagation, dependent on crack dimensions, were evaluated using Ando's equation, which considers the plastic behavior of fatigue and the stress ratio. a_hlm by peening was analyzed using the relationship between Δk_th obtained by Ando's equation and Δk_th obtained by the sum of applied stress and residual stress. The plate specimen had a width 2W = 12 mm and thickness t = 20 mm, and four value of As were considered: 1.0, 0.6, 0.3, and 0.1. The a_hlm was larger as the compressive residual stress distribution increased. Additionally, an increase in the values of As and Δk_th(l) led to a larger a_hlm. With a safety factor (N) of 2.0, the long-term safety and reliability of structures constructed using F690 can be secured with needle peening. It is necessary to apply a more sensitive non-destructive inspection technique as a non-destructive inspection method for crack detection could not be used to observe fatigue cracks that reduced the fatigue limit of smooth specimens by 50% in the three types of residual stresses considered. The usefulness of non-destructive inspection and non-damaging techniques was reviewed based on the relationship between a_hlm, a_NDI (minimum crack depth detectable in non-destructive inspection), a_{cr N} (crack depth that reduces the fatigue limit to 1/N), and As.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2013

Objectives: As quality of work-life (QWL) among nurses affects both patient care and institutional standards, assessment regarding QWL for the profession is important. Work-related Quality of Life Scale (WRQOLS) is a reliable QWL assessment tool for the nursing profession. To develop a Chinese version of the WRQOLS-2 and to examine its psychometric properties as an instrument to assess QWL for the nursing profession in China. Methods: Forward and back translating procedures were used to develop the Chinese version of WRQOLS-2. Six nursing experts participated in content validity evaluation and 352 registered nurses (RNs) participated in the tests. After a two-week interval, 70 of the RNs were retested. Structural validity was examined by principal components analysis and the Cronbach's alphas calculated. The respective independent sample t-test and intra-class correlation coefficient were used to analyze known-group validity and test-retest reliability. Results: One item was rephrased for adaptation to Chinese organizational cultures. The content validity index of the scale was 0.98. Principal components analysis resulted in a seven-factor model, accounting for 62% of total variance, with Cronbach's alphas for subscales ranging from 0.71 to 0.88. Known-group validity was established in the assessment results of the participants in permanent employment vs. contract employment (t = 2.895, p < 0.01). Good test-retest reliability was observed (r = 0.88, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The translated Chinese version of the WRQOLS-2 has sufficient validity and reliability so that it can be used to evaluate the QWL among nurses in mainland China.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.87-97
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• 1990

There is the need to balance safety, economy and serviceability in all phases of society problems. This is especially true in structural code formulation. where a framework is established by which practicing structural engineers can be assured of designing structures that reasonably meet the above three objectives. The existing design codes, which are generally based on the structural theory and certain engineering experience, do not realistically consider the uncertainties of loads and resistances and the basic reliability concepts. The purpose of the present study is therefore to develop the realistic reliability-based design criteria to secure adequate safety arid reliability, and to derive the models for partial and combined resistance factor formats. To this end, the reliability levels of our existing design code for concrete structures are first evaluated and the target reliabilities are determined, the new code formats are evolved from these target reliabilities. The present study indicates that the proposed formats exhibit relatively-uniform reliability and reasonably take into account the different material characteristics of concrete and steel in concrete structures.

• International Journal of Railway
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.8-17
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• 2009

The wheelset, its functions and position under the train is the prime safety-critical component. Whether in design, qualification, manufacturing or maintenance, the wheels and axles have been the focus of special attention at SNCF for over 25 years and the French Railways are actively involved in various Research and Development work towards interoperability between the railways, railway reliability and running safety.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.4A
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• pp.323-329
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• 2011

Most current design codes of concrete structures adopt the partial safety factor format to assure the proper safety margin or reliability against various limit states as a practical design tool. The safety factors, load and resistance factors and so on, are determined based on the theory of structural reliability, which takes into account the statistical uncertainties of both loads and resistances. The establishment of statistical models for load and resistance should be preceded the application of reliability theory. In this paper, especially the influence of the statistical variations of resistance models, which are described in terms of strength of concrete, strength of reinforcements and sectional dimensions and so on, are examined and the probabilistic models for resistance of reinforced concrete members were developed. The statistical data were collected on local tests and experiments in Korea and the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) technique was used. The results of this paper may be useful and valuable in calibration of design code in this country.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2009

This paper focuses on techniques of improving refinery reliability, availability, and profitability. Our team developed a corrosion control document(CCD) for processing of the crude distillation unit(CDU). Recent study shows the loss due to corrosion in US is around $276 billion. It's a big concern for both managers and engineers of refinery industry. The CCD consists of numerous parts namely damage mechanism(DM), design data, critical reliability variable(CRV), guidelines, etc. The first step in the development of CCD is to build material selection diagram(MSD). Damage mechanisms affecting equipments and process need to be chosen carefully based on API 571. The selected nine DM from API 571 are (1) creep/stress rupture, (2) fuel ash corrosion, (3) oxidation, (4) high temperature sulfidation, (5) naphthenic acid corrosion, (6) hydrochloric acid(HCL) corrosion, (7) ammonium chloride(salt) corrosion, (8) wet $H_2S$ corrosion, and (9) ammonia stress corrosion cracking. Each DM related to corrosion of CDU process was selected by design data, P&ID, PFD, corrosion loop, flow of process, equipment's history, and experience. Operating variables affecting severity of DM are selected in initial stage of CRV. We propose the guidelines for reliability of equipments based on CRV. The CCD has been developed on the basis of the corrosion control in refinery industry. It also improves the safety of refinery process and reduces the cost of corrosion greatly.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.108-116
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• 2018

Objectives: This study investigated to the analytical work environment, analyst's expert and status of analytical instrument in the designated organization's laboratory for measuring work environment, and carried out to ensure reliability of analytical results. Methods: This study was conducted by 114 analysts who work in designated organization's laboratory for measuring work environment. Information on the working environment and personal characteristics of the analysts were collected using a self-reported questionnaire and were analyzed using the SPSS program through analysis of frequency and t-test. Results: The speciality of subjects was occupational health(57.0%), environmental health(38.6%) and environmental engineering(4.4%), and they had a higher level of academic ability than workers in other industries. Analysts had to handle a large number of sample analysis and many tasks other than analytical work. The analysts answered that it was difficult to analyze organic substances than inorganic substances, and the difficult parts were the analytical methods setting of new substances(55.3%), instrument analysis(24.6%) and principle of analysis(23.7%). Analytical instruments mainly have legally required instruments. The difficulty of the analysis is solved from the senior analyst in the laboratory and analytical information is mainly exchanged through seminar organized by the Association of Occupational Health Analysts. The analysts who are planning to move or considering the company were 48.2%, and the reasons for moving the company were difficult to work(14.0%), low salary(9.6%), employment type(8.8%) and job stress(7.0%). Conclusions: The conclusions of our study were that it was possible to secure reliability by solving the problems such as implementing professional education to improve expertise of analysts, strengthening analytical instruments through institutional improvement and improving work environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1037-1042
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• 2009

Safety regulation of railway embankment is restricted by safety factor in dry season or rainy season in Korea. Safety factor which is results from the limit equilibrium analysis is varied by various external conditions. And because it has no reflection point, it is very difficult to manage the safety of trains. Safety regulation such like warning sign, reduce speed and train stop is the best choice to reduce the damage of embankments where it is worried about occurrence of disasters. In this study, additional index is proposed to support present safety standards based on unsaturated soil mechanics and reliability analysis. It is velocity of failure probability. It has an apparent reflection point near present safety regulation. It is possible to modify the regulation for safety management and monitoring system of embankments by using this index.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.97-103
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• 2015

Background: This paper describes the development of a scale for measuring safety climate. Methods: This study was conducted in six manufacturing companies in Iran. The scale developed through conducting a literature review about the safety climate and constructing a question pool. The number of items was reduced to 71 after performing a screening process. Results: The result of content validity analysis showed that 59 items had excellent item content validity index (${\geq}0.78$) and content validity ratio (> 0.38). The exploratory factor analysis resulted in eight safety climate dimensions. The reliability value for the final 45-item scale was 0.96. The result of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the safety climate model is satisfactory. Conclusion: This study produced a valid and reliable scale for measuring safety climate in manufacturing companies.