Development of a Workplace Risk Advisor for Human Engineering Design Review ofSystem Maintenance. Phase 1

摘要

There is an increasing need to assess and manage workplace risk due to thepresence of chemical hazards. Both strong regulatory requirements and the need to maximize worker productivity sustain this need. The lack of effective tools for handling the imprecise information frequently available for such assessments has prevented the development of comprehensive tools in the past. This study determined the feasibility for developing a Task-based Risk Assessment and Management (TRAM) System. As envisioned, TRAM would be a software system designed to provide industrial hygienists, human factors specialists and process engineers with a Windows-based graphical environment for assessing the health and safety risks posed by the use of hazardous chemicals. This would all occur in a three-dimensional graphical simulation environment. It was concluded that a feasible approach would utilize fuzzy logic, case-based reasoning, Monte Carlo simulation and queuing theory to support the underlying analysis. To use TRAM, the user would set up the simulation by specifying the industrial process and worker tasks in a flow charting environment, including workplace environmental parameters and chemicals of concern. Simulation and analysis could then occur in several stages, including material balance, hazard identification, exposure analysis, computation of a risk index, and presentation of risk management strategies.