Safety illusion and error trap in a collectively-operated machine accident

Workplace accidents involving machines are relevant for their magnitude and their impacts on worker health. Despite consolidated critical statements, explanation centered on errors of operators remains predominant with industry professionals, hampering preventive measures and the improvement of production-system reliability. Several initiatives were adopted by enforcement agencies in partnership with universities to stimulate production and diffusion of analysis methodologies with a systemic approach. Starting from one accident case that occurred with a worker who operated a brake-clutch type mechanical press, the article explores cognitive aspects and the existence of traps in the operation of this machine. It deals with a large-sized press that, despite being endowed with a light curtain in areas of access to the pressing zone, did not meet legal requirements. The safety devices gave rise to an illusion of safety, permitting activation of the machine when a worker was still found within the operational zone. Preventive interventions must stimulate the tailoring of systems to the characteristics of workers, minimizing the creation of traps and encouraging safety policies and practices that replace judgments of behaviors that participate in accidents by analyses of reasons that lead workers to act in that manner.

A formação de personalidades éticas: representações de si e moral

O artigo apresenta os estudos de uma investigação atual entre 75 adolescentes de 12 a 15 anos, estudantes de colégios particulares da cidade de Campinas, que tem como principal objetivo constatar a possível correspondência entre os julgamentos morais e as representações que os sujeitos têm de si mesmos. A partir de um questionário, os estudos destacam as representações desses sujeitos e respondem a um questionamento de que teriam um caráter ético ou não e se corresponderiam a seus julgamentos morais. Os resultados apontam para uma correspondência entre aqueles cujas representações de si são caracterizadas por conteúdos éticos e julgamentos mais evoluídos quanto à sensibilidade aos sentimentos dos personagens envolvidos nas situações descritas. Tais estudos validam a intenção deste artigo de discutir as correspondências entre ética (como o sujeito se vê) e moral (como julga as situações morais).

Visual timing and adaptive behavior in a road-crossing simulation study

In this road-crossing simulation study, we assessed both participant's ability to visually judge whether or not they could cross a road, and their adaptive walking behavior. To this end, participants were presented with a road inside the laboratory on which a bike approached with different velocities from different distances. Eight children aged 5-7, ten children aged 10-12, and ten adults were asked both to verbally judge whether they could cross the road, and to actually walk across the road if possible. The results indicated that the verbal judgments were not similar to judgments to actually cross the road. With respect to safety and accuracy of judgments, groups did not differ from each other, although the youngest group tended to be more cautious. All groups appeared to use a strategy to cross the road based both on the distance and the velocity of the approaching bike. Young children waited longer on the curb before crossing the road than older children and adults. All groups adjusted their crossing time to the time-to-arrival of the bike. These findings are discussed in relation to the ecological psychological approach and the putative dissociation between vision for perception (i.e. verbal judgment) and vision for action (i.e. actual crossing). (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The reliability of experts' opinions in constructing a composite environmental index: The case of ESI 2005

The complexity of the environment demands a well-constructed composite environmental index (CEI) to provide a useful tool to draw attention to environmental conditions and trends for policy purposes. Among the common difficulties in constructing a proper CEI are uncertainties due to the selection of the most representative underlying variables or indicators. A degree of uncertainty accompanies experts' judgments, and to deal with vague, subjective or inconsistent information, logic other than classic is required. This study analyzes a procedure that uses different experts' opinions in constructing a CEI. with the use of paraconsistent annotated logic. For this, a sensitivity analysis of the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI 2005) was used as an example to assess the reliability of experts' opinions. The uncertainty due to the disagreement in experts' opinions clearly indicates that the forms we presently use to measure and monitor the actual environment are insufficient, that is, there is a lack of a "science of sustainability". (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring the efficiency of outsourcing: An illustrative case study from the aerospace industry

Outsourcing is related to the action which an organization deals with its suppliers through a kind of business contract where a specific activity or service has been hired to be made. The outsourcing of some activities has become a common practice in the industry, nowadays. It reduces costs, significantly, in the production process and, at the same time, adds some values to the business organization. However it is necessary to measure the performance of these activities. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a non-parametric method useful to measure comparative performance. It has a wide range of applications measuring comparative efficiency. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a multiple criteria decision-making method that uses hierarchic structures to represent a decision problem and then develops priorities for the alternatives based on the decision-maker's judgments. This paper presents an integrated application based on DEA and AHP to evaluate the efficiency of subcontracted companies in a Brazilian aerospace factory. © 2007 Springer-Verlag London Limited.

Identificação precoce do risco para transtornos da atenção e da leitura em sala de aula

In this his study the accuracy was investigated of collective pedagogical activities, based on phonological judgments by matching figures and figures to spoken words, to identify students at risk for reading and/or attention disorders. Forty-five second graders (mean age of 7 years, 29 males) were divided into two groups, a control group, without reading difficulties (n=32), and an at-risk group, with reading difficulties (n=13). The low-achievement on these collective activities, defined by scores more than 1.65 SD below the mean of the control group, presented good sensitivity (true positives) and specificity (true negatives) in the early identification of at risk students.

As mulheres de Klaxon: o universo feminino a partir dos modernistas

Pós-graduação em Artes - IA

Percepção da distância egocêntrica em idosos ativos e sedentários

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Mundo da vida e intersubjetividade linguística à luz da teoria evolutiva de Habermas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A traição na canção de Gesta Renaut de Montauban: herança neotestamentária, ética cavaleiresca e evolução política na França do século XIII

Pós-graduação em História - FCLAS

Kant e Habermas: a relação sujeito-objeto e a construção do conhecimento

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos e o Tribunal Europeu de Direitos Humanos: uma comparação sob o ponto de vista da aplicabilidade do princípio da primazia da norma mais favorável ao indivíduo

Pós-graduação em Ciências Sociais - FFC

O ceticismo em John Dewey: a busca da certeza

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Desenvolvimento moral e preconceito: um estudo sobre os juízos de crianças do ensino fundamental de uma escola inclusiva

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC

A generosidade no exercício da autoridade em professores de educação infantil

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC