Metro passenger behaviors and their relations to metro incident involvement

An Improved Kinect Recognition Method for Identifying Unsafe Behaviors of Metro Passengers

In order to solve the problem of the low action recognition accuracy of passengers' unsafe behaviors caused by redundant joints, this study proposes an efficient recognition method based on a Kinect sensor. The method uses the pelvis as the starting point of the vector and high-frequency bone joints as the end point to construct the recognition feature vector. The joint angle difference between actions is obtained by using the cosine law, and the initial test result is converted into action similarity combined with the DTW similarity algorithm. Considering the combination of 3 angle features and 4 joint feature selection methods, 12 combined recognition models are formed. A comparative experiment was carried out to identify five types of unsafe behaviors of metro passengers-punch, one-armed call for help, arms for help, trip forward and trip backwards. The results show that the overall selection of joints has a poor similarity effect and cannot achieve the purpose of recognition. The overall recognition model effect of the local "pelvis divergence method" is higher than that of the local "adjacent joint method", and the local "pelvis divergence method" has the highest recognition result of the maximum angle difference model, and the recognition results of the five unsafe behaviors are 86.9%, 89.2%, 85.5%, 86.7%, and 88.3%, respectively, and the recognition accuracy of this method is 95.7%, indicating the feasibility of the model. The recognition results are more concentrated and more stable, which significantly improves the recognition rate of metro passengers' unsafe behavior.

The psychological mechanism of construction workers' safety participation: The social identity theory perspective

INTRODUCTION

Safety participation has gained increasing attention as an important dimension of workers' safety behaviors. Although previous studies attempted to identify factors affecting workers' safety participation, only a few studies paid attention to the psychological mechanisms behind it. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and test a research model that explains how management factors are implicated in workers' safety participation. Specifically, this study focused on project-based organizations (e.g., construction projects) because employee psychological mechanisms may have a unique nature in such transient employment.

METHOD

The hypotheses in the research model of the psychological mechanism of construction workers' safety participation are tested using survey data from 261 construction workers.

RESULTS

The results indicated that construction workers' safety participation is influenced by project identification after controlling the shared variance of safety compliance. Project identification also mediates the effects of transformational leadership and communication climate on safety participation.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This study offers researchers and practitioners an explanation of how management factors influence construction workers' safety behaviors and clarifies the role of project identification play in explaining the effects of management factors on safety compliance and safety participation.

Passengers’ Sensitivity and Adaptive Behaviors to Health Risks in the Subway Microenvironment: A Case Study in Nanjing, China

Passenger behavior in subways has recently become a matter of great concern, with more attention being paid to the health risks of the subway microenvironment (sub-ME). This paper aimed to provide guidance for subway passengers on better adapting to the health risks presented by the sub-ME. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in Nanjing, China, and descriptive analysis and a one-way analysis of variance were performed to understand the sensitivity levels of subway passengers and analyze their adaptive behaviors, based on their sensitivity to sub-ME health risks. The results showed that passengers over 66 years old and those who are frequently sick are more sensitive to the presented health risks. Additionally, passengers traveling for longer and those traveling in rush hours are more sensitive to sub-ME health risks. We also found that individual characteristics, knowledge structure, and information communication all influence passengers’ adaptive behaviors. It was ascertained that those with a positive attitude and those who had previously suffered from environmentally influenced diseases, as well as those who studied an environment-related subject, tended to demonstrate more adaptive behaviors. Moreover, passengers who are very familiar with the subway information communication channels and the related information adapted better to the health risks of the sub-ME. Our findings are beneficial for improving passengers’ adaptability to the health risks presented by the sub-ME and for promoting the sustainable operation of subway systems.

Rules of incidental operation risk propagation in metro networks under fully automatic operations mode

The frequent interruptions of network operation due to any incident suggest the necessity to study the rules of operational risk propagation in metro networks, especially under fully automatic operations mode. In this study, risk indicator computation models were developed by analyzing risk propagation processes within transfer stations and metro networks. Moreover, indicator variance rules for a transfer station and different structural networks were discussed and verified through simulation. After reviewing the simulation results, it was concluded that under the impacts of both sudden incident and peak passenger flow, the more the passengers coming from platform inlets, the longer the non-incidental line platform total train operation delay and the higher the crowding degree. However, train headway has little influence on non-incidental line platform risk development. With respect to incident risk propagation in a metro network, the propagation speed varies with network structure, wherein an annular-radial network is the fastest, a radial is moderately fast, and a grid-type network is the slowest. The conclusions are supposed to be supports for metro operation safety planning and network design.

Gray relational analysis based assessment of escalator accident risk in subway stations

In order to better achieve active defense in the escalator risk management, this study based on the vulnerability theory, task driven theory, management error theory, proposed a Gray Relational Analysis (GRA) based fuzzy assessment of escalator accident risk approach. The risk assessment index system of subway station escalator accident was constructed based on the commonness and essence of management defects; the weight of risk index was calculated scientifically and reasonably by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP); escalator accident risk was evaluated by the combination of GRA and Fuzzy approach. The results show that escalator equipment, environment, safety knowledge of riders are all in good condition in the station. However, ‘Maintenance’ of escalator in the Beijing subway station is in an extremely high risk level. The contributions of this studies are: (1) general risk elements analysis model for escalator accidents which enable to compose any risk factor possible to induce escalator accident in subway station; (2) GRA based risk assessment approach can avoid the problem when expend the range to left and right. It can also judge whether the continuous improvement effect of the object is significant by the difference degree of each risk level before and after.

Exploring the Effects of Safety Climate on Worker’s Safety Behavior in Subway Operation

The safety climate is becoming more and more important in the processes of subway operation safety management due to various accidents. The research objective of this study is to explore the effects of safety climate and personal factors on safety behavior in subway operation. First, a conceptual model is developed based on the literature review and expert experience. Then, data are collected from 352 workers in the Xuzhou subway operation company by questionnaire survey. Third, the structural equation model is employed to do model analysis based on SPSS and AMOS, and the final model is achieved through a serious of model tests and modification. At last, the quantitative effect of safety climate on worker’s safety behavior in subway operation is obtained and analyzed. The results show that the descending order of total influence effect of safety climate on safety behavior is safety attitude (0.36), safety communication (0.265), safety policy (0.238), safety education and training (0.1), management commitment (0.099), and safety participation (0.073), respectively. The total influence effects of mediator variables (safety awareness and safety ability) are 0.242 and 0.194, respectively. This study would be beneficial by offering recommendations in regard to worker’s safety behavior to raise the safety level in subway operation.

An analysis of escalator-related injuries in metro stations in China, 2013-2015

In order to reduce the probability and severity of escalator-related injuries and enhance the safety of passengers, this study analyzed 950 escalator-related injuries in Guangzhou metro stations to identify the characteristics and the risk factors associated with escalator-related injuries in China. The data extracted from Management Information System of Guangzhou Metro covers the site and time of the accident, age and gender of the victims, escalator condition and injury information. The results from the statistical analysis indicated that the majority of the escalator-related injuries was caused by failing to stand firm (287 cases, 30.2%), passengers carrying out other tasks (214 cases, 22.5%), not holding the handrail (168 cases, 17.7%) and unhealthy passengers (18 cases, 9.3%). Age was associated with all factors except for need for an ambulance and the distribution law of these factors differed with age groups. Elderly passengers (aged 66 years and above) accounted for the highest proportion of all injuries (49.1%), and failing to stand firm (18.63%) was the main cause of escalator-related injuries of elderly passengers. The most common mechanism of injury for all age groups was a fall, accounting for (51.0%) injuries. Proportion of injuries caused by a fall increased with age, whereas injuries attributed to entrapment decreased. Female passengers (65.9%) were more likely to be involved escalator-related injuries than male passengers (34.1%), while male passengers were more likely to have accidents caused by unhealthy physical condition than female passengers. These results based on the analysis of current accident data can be used to help metro operation corporation develop effective injury prevention measures and document the need for continued improvement of escalator safety in metro stations.