Communicating and learning maritime safety culture—development and evaluation of a didactic design based on an interactive module

To be able to disseminate knowledge about maritime safety culture and safety management to different actors in the Swedish maritime sector, a didactic design was developed and evaluated. The didactic design includes an interactive scenario-based module and a teacher’s guide and is based on a model for experience-based learning that connects theory and practice by a cyclic approach. Students at upper-secondary maritime schools were chosen as a user group and the didactic design was adapted for them. The didactic design was tested in a classroom setting including interaction with the students and a follow-up 1 week later. The didactic design was successful in immediately creating a relevant discussion about safety culture, and the student group could, on the whole, remember and describe all scenarios a week after the presentation of the material. The results were overall positive regarding usability and user experience with a potential for further development and implementations. The participating teacher at the school was also very positive and felt he would be able to apply the didactic design with support of the teacher’s guide.     

Inhalable railroad particles at ground level and subterranean stations - Physical and chemical properties and relation to train traffic

The paper compares PM10 concentrations in railroad environments with EU air quality standards and characterizes particle concentrations and particle properties in relation to train traffic. The results show that PM10 concentrations in ground-level railroad environments do not exceed the EU directive 24-h limit value, while on the platforms of the two subterranean stations PM10 concentrations were far above the outdoor limit value. Diurnal and weekly patterns in PM10 concentration could be identified, co-varying with train traffic intensity. The particle mass size distribution peaked at around 2-6 μm. The elemental composition of PM10 at the subterranean stations was dominated by Fe.     

Cultural heritage connectivity. A tool for EIA in transportation infrastructure planning

The paper is concerned incorporating landscapes’ ecological and cultural values in infrastructure planning. We focus on cultural heritage connectivity in the context of environmental impact statements in transportation infrastructure planning. Using a case study from south-central Sweden cultural heritage indicators from maps were defined, and a GIS-based automated search tool is developed for analysing cultural heritage connectivity from an antiquarian perspective. Analyses of cultural heritage connectivity can inform about the historical and/or present function of the landscape and its social and economic conditions. While this type of connectivity can be searched out using information from maps, a difficulty lies in communicating the knowledge in an interesting way to non-experts.     

Off-road vehicle fatalities: A comparison of all-terrain vehicle and snowmobile accidents in Sweden

This study investigates accident fatalities involving two types of off-road vehicles: snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). All snowmobile fatalities in Sweden from the 2006/2007 season through the 2011/2012 season, and all ATV fatalities from 2007 through 2012, were retrospectively examined. A total of 107 fatalities—57 snowmobile-related and 50 ATV-related—were found. Most deaths occurred on weekends (71% of the snowmobile-related and 72% of the ATV-related). A majority of the fatalities were males (91% and 94%), with the largest share in the age group 40–49 years (19% and 24%). The most common causes of death were blunt trauma (56% and 66%), drowning (30% vs 6%), and traumatic asphyxia (9% vs 14%). Among victims who were tested (95% vs 92%), a very high share was found to be inebriated (59% vs 61%), and mean blood alcohol concentration was also high (1.9 vs 1.7 g/l). Forty-seven percent of snowmobile-related fatalities and 48% of ATV-related fatalities had a blood alcohol concentration above 1.0 g/l. This means that there was a very strong association between off-road vehicle fatalities and drunken riding; steps to prevent riding while intoxicated seem to be the most important preventive measure. Automatic measures such as alcolocks are probably the most effective. The obvious at-risk group to target is middle-aged men with high alcohol consumption.     

Decreasing oxygen concentrations in the Gullmar Fjord, Sweden, as confirmed by benthic foraminifera, and the possible association with NAO

The deep Gullmar Fjord on the Swedish west coast may be subject to a trend of decreasing oxygen content of the bottom-water. Due to a non-uniform frequency of oxygen measurements before and after 1980, and small differences in the minimum concentrations, it is difficult to assess with certainty if this is true or not. We have used benthic foraminifera from three ultra-high resolution sediment records to try to find out if such a trend exists. The sediment records comprise the time between 1930 and 1996, with an almost year-based temporal resolution. The foraminiferal records show a significant change in faunal composition during the mid-1970's when it altered from a common Skagerrak fauna to an assemblage characterized by an opportunistic, low oxygen tolerant species; Stainforthia fusiformis. This species is an indicator of low oxygen environments of many Scandinavian fjords. The timing of this faunal change coincides with one of the first recorded severe low oxygen events in the Gullmar Fjord in the winter of 1973/1974. The change suggests that the Gullmar Fjord has actually been subject to a decrease in bottom-water oxygen concentrations. The reason for this change is not clear but here, for the first time, we present sediment records that suggest that there is a causal relation between variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) indices and the marine environment. In the early 1970s the NAO-indices altered from a mainly negative phase towards a mainly positive period which is still ongoing. Positive NAO-indices (winter values) in the Skagerrak region are generally marked by westerly winds which normally prevent the exchange of bottom-water in the fjords, i.e., the oxygenation of the sea floor and the supply of oxygen to benthic life.     

Parametric roll mitigation using rudder control

Severe roll angles can be developed by parametric excitation in relatively moderate weather without any apparent pre-warning for the crew onboard. In this study the prospect of using rudder control to mitigate parametric roll was investigated using multi-degree of freedom simulations. A typical modern Pure Car and Truck Carrier was considered and modelled by coupling a roll model with a planar motion manoeuvring model. The combined model was calibrated using in-service, full-scale trials and model tests. Irregular variations of the metacentric height were applied to simulate recorded, full-scale events of parametric roll that have occurred with the considered design. These simulations with rudder roll control showed promising results and demonstrate that the approach could be very efficient for mitigation of parametric roll.     

Ventilation of bottom water in the North Sea–Baltic Sea transition zone

The transition zone between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea is a highly dynamic region where a general estuarine circulation forms a regional scale frontal system from northern Kattegat to the Arkona Sea. This system is characterized by an upper low saline out?owing Baltic water mass from the in?owing saline Skagerrak bottom water to the Kattegat and Belt Sea area. Large and rapid ?uctuations of the frontal system are caused by barotropic transports, forced by changing sea level difference between northern Kattegat and the western Baltic Sea, and this results in high variability of the hydrographic conditions and also in frequent in- and out?ow events to the Baltic. The dynamics in the region are here analyzed by a regional model of the transition zone, covering the area from the northern Kattegat to the Arkona Sea. The model is validated against water level, temperature and salinity measurements from the region, and the transports through the Danish straits are related to previous estimates and empirical relations. A sensitivity study quantify the role of bathymetry, the tidally induced mixing and the in?owing Skagerrak bottom water for ventilating the bottom water with Skagerrak water or surface water.Furthermore, the dynamics in the region is analyzed with tracers representing the age of the water. The distribution of age tracers with different boundary conditions are analyzed, and the role of advection and mixing for ventilating the bottom water is quanti?ed in terms of the water age. It is shown that the Great Belt area is a very dynamical area where bottom water is ventilated with surface water. The interannual variation of the ventilation of bottom water in the period 2001–2003 is analyzed by various age tracers and related to observed oxygen conditions, and it is shown that the extreme hypoxic event in the autumn 2002 in the southern Kattegat, the Great Belt and in the western Baltic Sea coincide with an unusual low vertical ventilation rate in the Great Belt area, but normal advection rates of bottom water from the northern Kattegat. This indicates that during this particular event, and probably in general, ventilation of bottom water in the Great Belt has signi?cant in?uence on oxygen conditions in the southern part of the region and for ventilation of bottom waters in the western Baltic Sea. In contrast, the central Kattegat is primarily ventilated by advection of bottom water from the Skagerrak. An age tracer representing the ventilation rate of bottom water with either Skagerrak water or surface water is shown to be inversely correlated to the observed oxygen distribution in the region.     

Fatigue in transport: a review of exposure,risks, checks and controls*

Human fatigue continues to threaten safe transport. There are claims that employers of operators should do more to mitigate the risks, and several regulators are promoting fatigue-risk management in the context of safety management systems (SMS). The current paper reviews fatigue-related risk and exposure factors and control measures for operators of land- and sea-based transport forms. Our review identifies 13 types of measures for the monitoring or control of fatigue risks: optimal staffing; optimal schedule design; optimisation of breaks/naps; monitoring of actual hours worked; optimisation of work content; monitoring and feedback of actual sleep; health screening and treatment; promotion of recovery from work; fitness-for-duty testing; monitoring of fatigue symptoms while operating; control of fatigue while operating; performance monitoring and assistance; and fatigue-proofing. We also identify two systemic measures needed to anchor risk mitigation in SMS: organisational learning and training/other. By structuring monitoring and control measures along Dawson and McCulloch’s [Managing fatigue: It’s about sleep. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 9(5), 365–380] fatigue-risk trajectory, a framework is obtained that acts as a guide for fatigue-risk management by transport employers. To inform transport managers further, evaluations are needed of the effectiveness of individual control measures as well as whole fatigue-risk management interventions.     

Analysis and optimisation of objective vehicle dynamics testing in winter conditions

Objective testing of vehicle handling in winter conditions has not been implemented yet because of its low repeatability and its low signal-to-noise ratio. Enabling this testing, by identifying robust manoeuvres and metrics, was the aim of this study. This has been achieved by using both experimental data, gathered with steering-robot tests on ice, and simulation models of different complexities. Simple bicycle models with brush and MF-tyre models were built, both optimally parameterised against the experimental data. The brush model presented a better balance in complexity performance. This model was also implemented in a Kalman filter to reduce measurement noise; however, a simpler low-pass filter showed almost similar results at lower cost. A more advanced full vehicle model was built in VI-CarRealTime, based on kinematics and compliance data, damper measurements, and real tyre measurements in winter conditions. This model offered better results and was therefore chosen to optimise the initial manoeuvres through test design and simulations. A sensitivity analysis (ANOVA) of the experimental data allowed one to classify the robustness of the metrics. Finally, to validate the results, the proposed and the initial manoeuvres were tested back to back in a new winter campaign.