This paper presents a decision-making support system for situation risk assessment associated with critical alarms conditions in a gas facility. The system provides a human operator with advice on the confirmation and classification of occurred alarm. The input of the system comprises uncertain and incomplete information. In the light of uncertain and incomplete information, different uncertainties laws have been associated with the probabilistic assessment of the system loops which combine data of several sources to reach the ultimate classification. The implemented model used Observe-Orient-Decide-Act loop (OODA) combined with Bayesian networks. Results show that the system can classify the alarms system.

Purpose

The increasing complexity of industrial systems is at the heart of the development of many fault diagnosis methods. The artificial neural networks (ANNs), which are part of these methods, are widely used in fault diagnosis due to their flexibility and diversification which makes them one of the most appropriate fault diagnosis methods. The purpose of this paper is to detect and locate in real time any parameter deviations that can affect the operation of the blowout preventer (BOP) system using ANNs.

Design/methodology/approach

The starting data are extracted from the tables of the HAZOP (HAZard and OPerability) method where the deviations of the parameters of normal BOP operating (pressure, flow, level and temperature) are associated with an initial rule base for establishing cause and effect of relationships between the causes of deviations and their consequences; these data are used as a database for the neural network. Three ANNs were used, the multi-layer perceptron network (MLPN), radial basis functions network (RBFN) and generalized regression neural networks (GRNN). These models were trained and tested, then, their comparative performances were presented. The respective performances of these models are highlighted following their application to the BOP system.

Findings

The performances of the models are evaluated using determination coefficient (R2), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) statistics and time execution. The results of this study show that the RMSE, MAE and R2 values of the GRNN model are better than those corresponding to the RBFN and MLPN models. The GRNN model can be applied with better performance, to establish a diagnostic model that can detect and to identify the different causes of deviations in the parameters of the BOP system.

Originality/value

The performance of the trained network is found to be satisfactory for the real-time fault diagnosis. Therefore, future studies on modeling the BOP system with soft computing techniques can be concentrated on the ANNs. Consequently, with the use of these techniques, the performance of the BOP system can be ensured performing only a limited number of monitoring operations, thus saving engineering effort, time and funds.

The exploitation of fossil fuels is causing global warming whose negative effects have recently been felt all over the world. Therefore, the search for new sources of energy, renewable and respectful of the environment is crucial for manufacturers. The concept of Best Available Techniques (BAT) presents an adequate solution for manufacturers, for the control, elimination or reduction of the harmful impacts of their activities on the environment. This concept, known as Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), was introduced and imposed from 1996 in Europe. This paper aims to introduce the possibility of transferring the IPPC approach and BAT concepts to Algeria. Therefore, the main objective is to propose some recommendations to optimize the technical and environmental performance of hybrid solar-gas systems, by treating as a case study the first hybrid solar-gas power plant SPPI (Solar Power Plant One) near Hassi R’mel in the south of Algeria. A gap analysis of the Algerian environmental policy compared to the IPPC system, and an assessment of technical and environmental performance of the “SPPI” plant in terms of regulation and BAT are developed in our study.

Introduction: Modern approaches to Occupational Health and Safety have acknowledged the important contribution that continuous improvements to working conditions can make to the motivation of employees, their subsequent performance, and therefore to the competitiveness of the company. Despite this fact, organizational change initiatives represent a path less traveled by employees. Specialized literature has drawn on the fact that employees’ satisfaction presents both the foundation and catalyst for effective implementation of improvements to working conditions. Method: This paper conceptualizes the alignment of employees through measurement of job satisfaction and uses the Bayesian Network to assess the influence of human factors, particularly the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects. Toward this aim, the Bayesian Network is evaluated through a cross-validation process, and a sensitivity analysis is then conducted for each influential dimension: emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. Results: The results reveal that these three dimensions are interrelated and have a direct influence on job satisfaction and employees’ alignment during the organization change. Further, they suggest that the best strategy for enhanced alignment and smooth conduct of organizational changes is simultaneous enhancement of the three dimensions. Practical applications: This study shows the influence of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions on job satisfaction and employees’ alignment during the organizational change. Furthermore, it elaborates the way to develop efficient and effective strategies for a successful change implementation and sustained alignment.

Improvements to health and safety at work constantly involve organizational changes (OCs). However, the OC initiatives often fail at achieving their intended goals despite efforts to draw knowledge from various disciplines, such as sociology, psychology and information sciences, to guide the change implementation. This paper proposes a temporality approach to manage the resistance during an OC project based on the capitalization of the actors' behaviors (i.e. alignment/resistance) for successful OC implementation.
Employees in an industrial company (N = 186) undergoing an OC answered a questionnaire survey. The statistical analysis approach was used to measure the influence of the constructs of the proposed temporality capitalization approach on the OC conduct.
Results indicate that the considered constructs have positive and significant correlations with OC development. It has also been found that the employees' alignment is highly correlated with the opportunities they might gain from the OC.
The proposed temporality capitalization approach shows that providing the employees with clear objectives is not sufficient to support the change, and it is suggested that the change management has to move a step further and seek to target the perspectives of the employees to energize them around the OC and maximize their alignment.
In this paper, change management is approached through the temporality capitalization that confirms the importance of monitoring the change development through the alignment. In other terms, the curve of the adaptation of the change receivers matters and should attract more attention rather than the change implementation speed.

In the petroleum industry, equipments must be maintained properly to meet the adequate reliability standards in order to achieve the desired business goals in terms of productivity, safety and environmental protection. This article offers a new approach focused on risk analysis to select a better maintenance strategy. The proposed approach consists of three stages. In the first step, we identify the accident scenarios that could lead to the loss of production and damage to the environment. In the second step, we estimate the frequency of occurrence of these scenarios. In the third step, we calculate the economic losses and environmental taxes. Finally, an appropriate maintenance strategy is proposed, taking into account the evaluation results obtained by the previous steps. A case study illustrates the proposed approach and shows that the latter constitutes an important decision support tool to improve the existing maintenance strategy to comply with regulations and standards in term of productivity, reduction of costs and environmental protection.

In the petroleum industry, equipments must be maintained properly to meet the adequate reliability standards in order to achieve the desired business goals in terms of productivity, safety and environmental protection. This article offers a new approach focused on risk analysis to select a better maintenance strategy. The proposed approach consists of three stages. In the first step, we identify the accident scenarios that could lead to the loss of production and damage to the environment. In the second step, we estimate the frequency of occurrence of these scenarios. In the third step, we calculate the economic losses and environmental taxes. Finally, an appropriate maintenance strategy is proposed, taking into account the evaluation results obtained by the previous steps. A case study illustrates the proposed approach and shows that the latter constitutes an important decision support tool to improve the existing maintenance strategy to comply with regulations and standards in term of productivity, reduction of costs and environmental protection.

Workplace accidents (WAs) are and will remain a major concern for organizations’ managers. Their control requires putting in place a prevention strategy framed by several factors (human / social, economic, regulatory ...). The successful implementation of this strategy is conditioned on the ground, by the junction of three essential stages, namely: the analysis, evaluation and control of WAs. These three stages are interdependent where a successful control of an action plan is conditioned by a thorough assessment of an accident risk criticality. The latter depends on a good analysis of the accident. Indeed, a good analysis of WAs largely conditions their prevention strategy and that is why the analysis of WAs occupies a prominent place in such strategies. WAs analysis is conducted using appropriate models referred to as "WAs analysis models". Among those cited in the literature, we quote the model 24 that is a contemporary and more systematic model compared to other models. In this context that this article fits in, which aims to highlight its multiple contributions for the analysis of WAs.

The workplace, and more particularly the healthcare sector, has recently experienced a staggering increase in violence. These aggressive behaviors are resulting in considerable consequences on healthcare workers, both in terms of mental and physical health. In light of this observation, this study aims to provide a quantitative analysis of the potential causes leading to violence in Algerian hospitals, which have become the place where tensions arise, especially during these uncertain times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we started with conducting a field survey, in order to highlight the main causes behind this violence, as well as the strategy in terms of how it is managed as a risk. Then we used ISHIKAWA diagrams to classify predefined causes into several categories and anticipate the likelihood of such violent behaviors. Finally, the results of this study revealed that working conditions were the main cause of violence in Algerian hospitals. In order to remedy this gap, we recommend improving the healthcare staff well-being, as well as prioritizing proactive measures preventing violent behaviors.

The Safety Instrumented System (SIS) is an automated system used to implement one or more safety instrumented functions. A SIS, like the Emergency Shutdown (ESD) system, consists of any combination of sensor(s), safety PLC(s) and final element(s) (e.g. ESD valves). ESD valves are the last line of defense against risks, although the ESD valve has high performance, the data (based on expert judgment and OREDA database) indicates that ESD valves failures are the most critical in the ESD systems. In order to improve the reliability and safety of these valves, we applied the FMEDA diagnostic technique. We started with a decomposition of the ESD valve to the subsystems and we identified their functions. Then we described the failure modes, their mechanisms, their sites and their effects. Then we identified the impact of each failure mode according to the criticality classes and identified the failure rates and their class according to the criticality and the detectability by automatic diagnosis of each mode and from the failure rates we calculated the Safe Failure Fraction (SFF) and Safety Integrity Level (SIL) required and we concluded that the actuator subsystem is the most critical system. Finally, we proposed preventive and protective measures to eliminate or reduce the risk of failure.

In the petroleum industry, equipments must be maintained properly to meet the adequate reliability standards in order to achieve the desired business goals in terms of productivity, safety and environmental protection. This article offers a new approach focused on risk analysis to select a better maintenance strategy. The proposed approach consists of three stages. In the first step, we identify the accident scenarios that could lead to the loss of production and damage to the environment. In the second step, we estimate the frequency of occurrence of these scenarios. In the third step, we calculate the economic losses and environmental taxes. Finally, an appropriate maintenance strategy is proposed, taking into account the evaluation results obtained by the previous steps. A case study illustrates the proposed approach and shows that the latter constitutes an important decision support tool to improve the existing maintenance strategy to comply with regulations and standards in term of productivity, reduction of costs and environmental protection.

The Safety Instrumented System (SIS) is an automated system used to implement one or more safety instrumented functions. A SIS, like the Emergency Shutdown (ESD) system, consists of any combination of sensor(s), safety PLC(s) and final element(s) (e.g. ESD valves). ESD valves are the last line of defense against risks, although the ESD valve has high performance, the data (based on expert judgment and OREDA database) indicates that ESD valves failures are the most critical in the ESD systems. In order to improve the reliability and safety of these valves, we applied the FMEDA diagnostic technique. We started with a decomposition of the ESD valve to the subsystems and we identified their functions. Then we described the failure modes, their mechanisms, their sites and their effects. Then we identified the impact of each failure mode according to the criticality classes and identified the failure rates and their class according to the criticality and the detectability by automatic diagnosis of each mode and from the failure rates we calculated the Safe Failure Fraction (SFF) and Safety Integrity Level (SIL) required and we concluded that the actuator subsystem is the most critical system. Finally, we proposed preventive and protective measures to eliminate or reduce the risk of failure.

In the petroleum industry, equipments must be maintained properly to meet the adequate reliability standards in order to achieve the desired business goals in terms of productivity, safety and environmental protection. This article offers a new approach focused on risk analysis to select a better maintenance strategy. The proposed approach consists of three stages. In the first step, we identify the accident scenarios that could lead to the loss of production and damage to the environment. In the second step, we estimate the frequency of occurrence of these scenarios. In the third step, we calculate the economic losses and environmental taxes. Finally, an appropriate maintenance strategy is proposed, taking into account the evaluation results obtained by the previous steps. A case study illustrates the proposed approach and shows that the latter constitutes an important decision support tool to improve the existing maintenance strategy to comply with regulations and standards in term of productivity, reduction of costs and environmental protection.