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Construction plant and equipment accident statistics suggest constant re‐evaluation of health and safety (H&S) systems is beneficial. This paper aims to process analyse plant and equipment H&S management systems on UK construction sites, with a view to applying information and communication technology (ICT) to them as an improvement mechanism.

Five construction project case studies drawn from members of the former Major Contractors Group yield rich H&S process data. These are analysed using data flow diagram (DFD) techniques, to evaluate processes and proffer system improvements incorporating ICT.

Causes of unsafe practice regarding management of construction plant and equipment are found to include: aspects of the plant itself, management processes and operator competence. A new ICT “process paradigm” is suggested, the architecture of which incorporates mobile computing, automatic identification and data collection and a management information system.

Findings contribute particularly to the fields of plant and equipment; and managing H&S.

Suggested ICT direction might form the basis of commercial interest in developing an all‐embracing H&S control mechanism for plant and equipment operations.

Application of DFD analysis in this setting is quite new.

The Reprocessing Engineering Division of British Nuclear Fuels undertakes the design of nuclear chemical plants for construction and subsequent operation at the Sellafield Works of the Reprocessing Operations Division. Plant construction cannot take place until it has been demonstrated that the chosen design will allow the plant to operate in an adequately safe manner, corresponding to an extremely low level of risk. Risk, or the cumulative frequency and consequences of all potential hazards, is evaluated by means of probabilistic risk assessments (PRA).

Argues that there is no guarantee that it will be possible to maintain the present situation, with regard to energy, in an enlarged EU. Indeed, the enlargement has heightened concerns that the current approach may be undermined. Deplores the absence of a clear safety framework for EU nuclear installations and further details the problems, in full, in the article.

Many companies in industry concentrate a lot of energy on drawing up training programmes which tackle the difficult problem of making workers conscious of the dangers confronting them in their place of work. Many programmes include aspects of accident prevention dramatically illustrated by “what happens when …” situations, appeals to safety observers to drive home to fellow‐workers the necessity of wearing goggles, ear plugs, safety shoes etc. In other words, the primary task of the safety observer is to observe skilfully and prevent unsafe acts which could endanger health and safety at work. How often, however, is the safety observer himself fully aware of the role which he has accepted? How beneficial can role‐awareness be in carrying out safety training measures at shop‐floor level? Finding an answer to this question was, for us, the basic part of a new approach to safety training which was to be tested with a group of safety observers in one of our production plants.

The aim of this study is to establish a framework with which process plants can evaluate the performance of their turnaround maintenance (TAM) projects at the end of the event without making reference to previous events.

This is a case study. The study involved the case studies of six process plants in the UK. Three sources of evidence were used in this study including; interviews, direct observation and official documents.

The case studies show that TAM projects can be evaluated by assessment of the management performance and the resultant benefits realised. The uses of generic project success measures are not very adequate for TAM.

The study developed success measurement criteria for TAM projects. Instead of comparing performance of TAM projects with previous ones to assess how successful the outcome is, organisations can evaluate their TAM project's performance based on the current TAM using the criteria developed in the framework. In addition, these success criteria will enable the organisation to evaluate the benefits expected from the TAM project outcome at hand‐over of the plant from the TAM project management to the operations management.

Operators of process plants and hence engineering facilities still measure the outcome of TAM using measures that are generic for EPC projects. Considering the peculiar nature of TAM, this study has developed success measurement criteria for TAM projects specifically.

The national governments of the European Union (EU) are finding it increasingly difficult to provide their populations with cheap and reliable sources of electricity. There is a highly controversial technology available within the EU which could overcome this problem – nuclear generated electricity. The purpose of this article is to question the extent to which it is possible to reconcile the views of those citizens who object to the use of nuclear electricity with views of those who support the use of nuclear electricity as a competitive, sustainable and secure electricity supply within an open and competitive European energy market.

This article adopts an inter‐disciplinary approach to the analysis of the issues.

Political, economic and environmental pressures are combining to constrain the opportunities for national governments to enable citizens’ preferences with regard to the nuclear sector to be maintained. What is argued in the article is that all the tools which are available to the EU to overcome any lack of democratic decision making in the nuclear sector must be utilised to their full potential, including the legal framework provided by the often overlooked EURATOM Treaty.

The research will be of value to academic lawyers and political scientists investigating the problematic relationships which exist between the national and supranational levels of governance in the EU.

Industrial marketing is generally viewed from the vantage point of firms marketing to other firms. Yet organizations devote extensive resources to situations where managers market their capabilities to other units within the same firm. Presents a case study of industrial health and safety to emphasize internal marketing concepts that managers and staff professionals should use to strengthen their internal contribution to company objectives. The case has implications for managers who deal with internal marketing problems of many in‐house services such as information systems, market research, data processing, education and training and other functions. Staff unit managers in a range of disciplines who want to serve internal publics better can effectively market their services internally by understanding and responding to internal decision processes and expectations. Moreover, internal customers will receive higher quality services if these staff functions focus their capabilities on meeting or exceeding management expectations.

Drawing on the findings of coronial investigations, this research aimed to investigate the circumstances and causes of fatal incidents involving plant in the Australian construction industry. The analysis sought to provide greater insight into how and why fatal incidents occur and to inform recommendations for the prevention of fatal incidents involving plant.

Fatal incidents involving plant were identified from the National Coronial Information System. In each case, the decedent was a construction worker and the incident occurred at a construction worksite. A systemic incident causation model developed by Loughborough University informed the identification of originating influences, shaping factors and immediate circumstances in each incident.

Most of the incidents involved excavators, trucks and cranes, and different classifications of plant were associated with different types of incident. The most common incident types involved people being run over by moving plant or struck by a moving object. Site layout and unsafe actions were the most commonly identified immediate circumstances. Shaping factors included site constraints and the design of plant, particularly visibility issues relating to “blind spots”. Originating influences included the design of the permanent work and construction process.

The research highlights the usefulness of systemic incident causation models, such as the “Loughborough Model”, in the analysis of the causes of fatal incidents involving plant in the construction industry.

The results indicate that plant‐related fatalities occur as a result of a complex interplay of different causes, some of which are “upstream” of the construction work. The use of innovative new site planning methods and active monitoring technologies to reduce the risk of collisions between people and plant should be considered.

The analysis provides a more detailed qualitative analysis of the causes of fatal incidents involving excavators than would be possible using national compensation data, which restricts analysis to a classification of the mechanism and agency of injury.

There are over 400 nuclear reactors operating worldwide of which over 30 are in UK power stations. Describes the efforts made since Chernobyl to improve and control standards of safety in the UK’s nuclear plants. Discusses the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE’s) stringent imposition of its requirement to reduce risks as far as reasonably practical. Looks at safety requirements for older UK nuclear installations and the initiatives of the HSE, through its Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, towards improving safety standards internationally.

The concept of company culture is now playing an ever‐increasing role in the continuing endeavour to work towards ever better company management, particularly in the industrial field. This monograph reviews the history and development of both national and company cultures, and then goes on to demonstrate the significance of a culture to proper company management. Well‐managed companies will have both a “quality culture” and a “safety culture” as well as a cultural history. However, it has to be recognised that the company culture is subject to change, and effecting this can be very difficult. Of the many national cultures, that of Japan is considered to be the most effective, as is demonstrated by the present dominance of Japan on the industrial scene. Many industrialised nations now seek to emulate the Japanese style of management, but it is not possible to copy or acquire Japan′s cultural heritage. The text is illustrated by a large number of practical examples from real life, illustrating the way in which the company culture works and can be used by management to improve company performance.