The evolution of the manufacturing industry may be viewed as proceeding from Dedicated Manufacturing Systems (DMS) to Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS). Customer requirements change unpredictably, and so DMS are no longer able to meet modern manufacturing requirements. RMS are designed with the focus of providing rapid response to a change in product design, within specified part families. The movement from DMS to RMS facilitates mass-production of custom products. Custom parts require inspection routines that can facilitate variations in product parameters such as dimensions, shape, and throughputs. Quality control and part inspection are key processes in the lifecycle of a product. These processes are able to verify product quality; and can provide essential feedback for enhancing other processes. Mass-producing custom parts requires more complex and frequent quality control and inspection routines, than were implemented previously. Complex, and higher frequencies of inspection negatively impact inspection times, and inherently, production rates. For manufacturers to successfully mass-produce custom parts, processes which can perform complex and varying quality control operations need to be employed. Furthermore, such processes should perform inspections without significantly impacting production rates. A method of reducing the impact of high frequency inspection of customized parts on production rates is needed. This dissertation focuses on the research, design, construction, assembly, and testing of a Non- Contact Automated Inspection System (NCAIS). The NCAIS was focused on performing quality control operations whilst maintaining the maximum production rate of a particular Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) cell. The CIM cell formed part of a research project in the School of Mechanical Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal; and was used to simulate mass-production of custom parts. Two methods of maintaining the maximum production rate were explored. The first method was the automated visual inspection of moving custom parts. The second method was to inspect only specified Regions of Interest (ROIs). Mechatronic engineering principles were used to integrate sensor articulation, image acquisition, and image processing systems. A specified maximum production rate was maintained during inspection, without stoppage of parts along the production line occurring. The results obtained may be expanded to specific manufacturing industries. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The aims of the study were to review the literature on the currently known adverse health effects of formaldehyde vapour exposure, to measure environmental formaldehyde levels before and after engineering controls were implemented, to measure symptoms of formaldehyde exposure when compared to non - exposed controls and to evaluate the effectiveness of engineering controls in reducing the symptoms associated with formaldehyde vapour exposure in anatomy students at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Natal. Pre and post intervention environmental monitoring surveys were conducted over the period July 1993 to September 1995 in the aforementioned Human Anatomy Laboratory using passive diffusion badges which were then analyzed by an approved laboratory in Johannesburg. Ambient air temperature, humidity and ventilation rates were measured simultaneously using appropriate instruments. Self-administered questionnaires, relating to the symptoms of exposure to formaldehyde vapours, were obtained from all anatomy students over a two year period before or after as well as during their exposure to the laboratory environment, as well as from all exposed staff members (including their control group). Nasal epithelial scrapings of staff members and a control group were subjected to cytological examination by the Cytology Department of the Provincial Pathology service, at the pre - intervention phase. The environmental monitoring data of 1993 and 1994 indicated that the ambient levels of formaldehyde vapour exceeded the American (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV) and thus posed a potential health risk to students and staff, this was due to inadequate ventilation in the Human Anatomy Laboratory. An intervention in terms of ventilation controls was implemented and proved to be effective in reducing formaldehyde vapour levels and reported symptoms in the cohorts studied, comparing each group to themselves, however, the reported symptom levels did not drop significantly in the group exposed after the intervention compared to the group surveyed at the pre - intervention phase. Whether this reduction is sufficient to prevent long term health effects such as neoplasms and sensitization remains to be established. Hence it is recommended that alternative control methods should be considered. / Theses (M.Med.)-University of Natal, 1996.

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International air transport has grown at a staggering rate over the last 50 years and the industry which supports it, now bears little resemblance to that which existed even twenty-five years ago. As the number of operators and the size of their respective fleets have increased, so too have the pressures on the infrastructure which support them. Particularly affected are the major airports where runway, apron and terminal capacity are limited. Unlike other elements of the aviation infrastructure, airport capacity is physically constrained and therefore capacity increases can only be obtained through further development or through more efficient uses of existing resources. As the first option is politically controversial and the latter only provides for incremental increases, the air transport industry, through IATA, has developed an allocation mechanism to distribute available capacity based on historic precedence. This thesis reviews the main issues surrounding the current regime. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Background: The burden of fatal and non-fatal injury for the New Zealand construction industry is larger than most other industrial sectors. Injury preventions efforts for construction have however been hampered because of insufficient, industry-specific, surveillance data that is essential for the effective targeting and evaluation of interventions. Aim: This thesis aimed to describe and test a feasible framework of Injury Surveillance for the New Zealand construction industry. Accordingly, the specific objectives to accomplish this aim were: To identify an optimal surveillance dataset for New Zealand construction injuries; To assess potential sources of data and collection methods; To describe an ideal study design for undertaking injury surveillance; To implement an operational design based on industry stakeholder input; To undertake and evaluate an injury surveillance trial; and To suggest how a viable surveillance system could be permanently established. Method: A trial injury surveillance system was developed by identifying known construction injury risk factors from the literature, reviewing the data collection practices of the New Zealand industry and other potential data sources and consulting with industry stakeholders about the most feasible collection methodology. This surveillance framework was then tested by combining national data from routine Government sources and data from 3 construction companies that employed approximately 720 workers between them. National construction injury data was obtained from the Accident Compensation Corporation, the Department of Labour and the Injury Information Manager. The trial Surveillance System was then evaluated in terms of its ability to collect the full range of an optimal dataset, the quality and completeness of information actually collected, the ability to identify and monitor injury priorities for the industry, and the future viability and acceptability of this surveillance design to the industry. Results: A total of 468 medically treated injuries were recorded by the participating companies, with 15 (3.2%) considered to be Serious Harm injuries as defined by the Health and Safety in Employment Act. The level of data completeness across companies was especially low, with on average 18 out of 34 data fields (53%) completely unrecorded. The data from one company was sufficiently complete (i.e. 63% across all fields) to allow individual risk factor analyses to be conducted, whereas the absence of complete denominator data prevented the completion of the same analyses for the other two companies. Viewed overall, Government agency data was sufficiently detailed to estimate national longitudinal trends, injury agency and mechanism priorities for specific occupations and industry subsectors, and allowed a rudimentary evaluation of a national intervention programme. However, questions about data accuracy, completeness and under-reporting were raised for each of the Government data sources used. Conclusions: Using data entirely from Government sources appears to be the most immediately viable framework of Injury Surveillance for the New Zealand construction industry. As such, the relevant range of analyses demonstrated by this study should be continued, expanded and improved. In contrast, obtaining injury surveillance data from companies in the manner that was tested does not appear to feasible, given the difficulty in recruiting companies and the poor data completeness of those companies that did participate. However, the increased range of prevention targets identified by the company that did largely contribute data as intended, demonstrated that company surveillance had merit relative to existing procedures. Suggested steps toward implementing viable construction injury surveillance within New Zealand are outlined, including a recommendation to the industry�s Health and Safety organisation, SiteSafe, to investigate the most feasible data collection protocol for its members.

Over the centuries, the assessment of risk has become an integral part of the decision process. Assessment techniques have developed to meet different applications, but all have problems and none is entirely suited to the assessment of risks relating to fire. This dissertation examines the development of risk assessment processes and frameworks, identifying common features and problems and key differences in approach. Despite generically similar approaches, different applications have led to the development of many different paradigms, none of which appears to be entirely suitable for application to building and infrastructure fires. Current fire risk assessment methods which incorporate important advances in fire modelling and Monte Carlo simulation, rely on a fire engineering approach. They tend to consider only the limited range of fire safety systems that are directly involved in construction, failing to address many of the procedural and other activities that can overwhelm traditional controls, and taking insufficient account of interactions between different controls and the factors that influence them. Further, comparative risk levels are generally evaluated against the ill-defined scenario of current practice, as defined in outdated prescriptive regulations. The result is that catastrophic consequences continue to occur, despite the presence of traditionally accepted controls. The problem is to find a framework that evaluates the sensitivity of levels of risk in fire against a defined, uncontrolled state, taking into account the effects of a comprehensive range of factors and controls. A new approach to risk assessment that addresses a comprehensive set of factors and controls and evaluates the event without, and with, controls, is considered. The framework, together with the steps for its implementation, appears to provide a versatile and flexible method of risk assessment. It is likely that the framework can be applied to all risk assessment situations. A study is undertaken to investigate the impact of factors and interactions that are not commonly taken into account in fire risk assessment. The chosen situation is a fire in the driver???s cab of a train. Current driver procedures are examined, and fire growth rates for specified materials are considered. Using the fire spread model CFAST, conditions in the cab for a range of ventilation conditions and fire growth rates are calculated. Threshold levels that determine response times for engineered and human controls and tenability, and common factors that influence consequences, can play a critical role in modelling the decision process. A driver???s decision model is proposed that determines the impact of the driver???s decisions to adjust ventilation by opening or closing windows and doors, and to extinguish the fire. The model takes into account time to respond and time to perform the necessary activities. The study shows that, even with a limited choice of actions, the decisions of the driver can have a critical effect on the outcome of a fire in the driver???s cab, altering the situation from a controlled to an uncontrolled state. Recommendations are made for further development of the new risk assessment framework, and for the development of fire modelling for risk assessment purposes. Finally, recommendations are made for the continuation of the development of the train driver response model that would result in the generation of driver decision support software.

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21, [58] leaves : ill. ; 28 cm.