Ann. occup. Hyg., Vol. 47, No. 7, pp. 541-547, 2003
© 2003 British Occupational Hygiene Society
Published by Oxford University Press
Solbase: A Databank of Solutions for Occupational Hazards and Risks
1 Safety Science Group, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5015, NL-2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands; 2 Sheila Pantry Associates, Sheffield, UK
Received 28 January 2003; in final form 19 February 2003
Several attempts have been made to develop strategies for an effective control of workplace hazards. This paper will focus on the results of a European project called Solbase, which is a databank for solutions to occupational hazards and risks. The Safety Science Group of Delft University of Technology in collaboration with TNO Work and Organisation (formerly NIA-TNO) designed Solbase in a series of projects funded by the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and the European Commission. It consists of the design of and software for a databank with an intelligent navigation system allowing users two principal entry points, which correspond to two basic types of solutions. The first entry point is based on the production process, subdivided into the production principle and production function. This entry point provides the dissemination of solutions within and between branches of industry. The second entry point includes the hazard and its emission and transmission as an access point for more conventional occupational hygiene control measures. With the partners of the consortium, from Spain, Italy, Ireland, Germany, the UK and The Netherlands, 535 new and existing solutions throughout Europe and the world were gathered to test the software and the solutions during a field study. Despite the relatively small number of ‘test solutions’ used, 54% of the search actions in the field study resulted in a useful and suitable solution which the company could actually put into practice. The companies characterized the software as very user friendly. The reproducibility of the coding system for solutions, the classification tree, was satisfactory. Most coders chose the same keywords from the classification tree to describe a corresponding solution. Solbase is a good searching machine for workplace solutions. Especially, the classification of production processes is an inherent guarantee of an exchange of information across the borders of a specific company or branch of industry.
Keywords: data bank; solutions; control measures in production processes
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  W. Fransman, J. Schinkel, T. Meijster, J. Van Hemmen, E. Tielemans, and H. Goede Development and Evaluation of an Exposure Control Efficacy Library (ECEL) Ann. Hyg., October 1, 2008; 52(7): 567 - 575. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Swuste, M. Dahhan, and A. Burdorf Linking Expert Judgement and Trends in Occupational Exposure into a Job-Exposure Matrix for Historical Exposure to Asbestos in The Netherlands Ann. Hyg., July 1, 2008; 52(5): 397 - 403. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|