Search results for " quality."

Challenges influencing the safety of migrant workers in the construction industry: A qualitative study in Italy, Spain, and the UK

2021

Abstract The construction industry is notoriously high risk for accidents, injuries, and deaths, particularly for non-national or migrant workers, who comprise a significant proportion of the workforce. This paper presents an international, qualitative study focused on exploring the challenges which influence the safety of migrant construction workers in Italy, Spain, and the UK. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature, we formulated two research questions about the challenges relating to safety that migrant workers face and the challenges to safety training effectively improving migrant workers’ safety behaviours. We present our template analysis of semi-structured interviews and…

2019

Final disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from nuclear power plants (NPPs) is an ethical issue with implications within and across generations. We address this issue from the perspective of nuclear communities that host nuclear waste disposal sites. These are primarily the communities that face injustice due to the potential radiological risks. A resident survey (n = 454) was conducted in two Finnish nuclear communities, i.e. Eurajoki and Pyhajoki, that are being considered as alternative sites for a second repository for SNF. The nuclear waste management (NWM) company Posiva is already building a repository in Eurajoki, the first in Finland. These communities are in different stages of th…

Safety regulations : implications of the new risk perspectives

2016

Abstract The current safety regulations for industrial activities are to a large extent functionally oriented and risk-based (informed), expressing what to achieve rather than the means and solutions needed. They are founded on a probability-based perspective on risk, with the use of risk assessment, risk acceptance criteria and tolerability limits. In recent years several risk researchers have argued for the adoption of some new types of risk perspectives which highlight uncertainties rather than probabilities in the way risk is defined, the point being to better reflect the knowledge, and lack of knowledge, dimension of risk. The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority has recently implement…

Making sense of crises: the implications of information asymmetries for resilience and social justice in disaster-ridden communities

2017

New information and communication technologies (ICT) have enabled communities to collect and share information and tap into a network of peers in unprecedented ways. For more than a decade, informa...

The influence of oversizing on maintenance cost in wastewater treatment plants

2021

Abstract Management of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) is a complex process, not only from a technical point of view but also from an economic point of view. There are several factors that influence the wastewater treatment process and can cause an increase in management costs. One of these factors is the treatment capacity, in particular the WWTPs’ oversizing problem. The difference between the design population equivalent (p.e.) and the actual p.e. treated generates imbalances in the wastewater treatment process costs. This paper analyses the influence that oversizing has on the maintenance costs for WWTPs in the Valencia region (Spain). Through an econometric approach, the behaviour …

Preventive maintenance versus cost of repairs in asset management: An efficiency analysis in wastewater treatment plants

2020

Abstract The operation and management of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) is of paramount importance to guarantee the sustainability of water resources. Just like any other production process, wastewater treatment process involves different costs, such as: energy, personnel, maintenance and reagents. Regarding maintenance costs, they have become an issue of great concern to many operators in the last years. Maintaining the facilities in good condition ensures the proper performance of these infrastructures and reduces the risk of failures. It should be known that equipment breakdowns imply an increase in operating costs, with a high risk of generating an environmental damage due to the m…

Terrorism in the Website

2020

Without any doubt, terrorism causes higher levels of anxiety and very well enhances our fears as never before. The post 9/11 context witnesses the multiplication of xenophobic expressions, such as Islamophobia or tourist-phobia, only to name a few. These expressions result from a culture of intolerance, which not only was enrooted in the ideological core of western capitalism but was accelerated just after 9/11. Some voices emphasize the needs of employing technology to make this world a safer place. This chapter goes in a contradictory direction. The authors focus on the ethical limitations of technologies when they are subordinated to the ideals of zero-risk society. Echoing Sunstein and …

Measuring the quality of humanitarian information products: Insights from the 2015 Nepal earthquake

2018

Information plays a critical role in humanitarian assistance. It has become a product that is shared for multiple purposes such as situational awareness, decision-making, coordination, reporting, and attracting funding. In the aftermath of sudden onset disasters, humanitarians are constrained with huge workload, time pressure, and uncertainties and thus, information products are often criticized with respect to quality issues. In this paper, we aim at developing an empirically grounded framework that can measure the quality of information products through accuracy, objectivity, completeness, and consistency. We validate the framework with the help of practitioners and apply it to the inform…

Life satisfaction of refugees living in Germany

2021

Since 2015, Germany has been hosting noticeable incoming flows of refugees and asylum seekers, leading, in 2020, the ranking of European countries and being the fifth in the world ranking for the number of hosted refugees. Despite the quality of life of refugees is expected to be improved in the aftermath of their arrival to Germany, refugees are still facing several problems of integration and economic deprivation (e.g., about 90% are unemployed). Hence, it is a worthwhile exercise to study how satisfied they are with their present life. Using a sample of 3,408 individuals from the German IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees (regarding refugees and asylum seekers who came to the country betwee…

Study of consumer perception of healthy menus at restaurants

2017

Abstract To improve food-away-from-home nutritional quality, not only must healthy food options be available but also consumers must respond by making those choices. However, this is not always possible, as consumers believe healthy foods are loss tasty. A new concept of gastronomy focused not only on sensations but also on nutrition and health is necessary. The aim of this research is to evaluate whether offering a healthy menu based on nutritional claims would be an interesting option for restaurants as well as to check the impact of proposed nutritional improvements on consumer’s acceptability of menus. 300 customers of a specific restaurant located in Valencia city center (Spain) partic…