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| 2. |
- Franca, Josue, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Analyzing non‑technical skills in the sharp end of facilities/utilities operations in onshore and offshore O&G process plants
- 2023
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In: Environment Systems and Decisions. - : Springer. - 2194-5403 .- 2194-5411. ; 43, s. 251-264
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is on the sharp end of the O&G operations where the real work happens, but also where the highest risks and system demands are placed. Understanding the skills - technical and non-technical - necessary to perform efficiently and safely is not only needed to maintain the business and assets, but also to ensure the safety of lives and the environment. Accidents such as Piper Alpha (1988), P-36 (2001) and Deepwater Horizon (2010) highlight the importance of understanding the real role of the human element in these events, from the highest hierarchical levels to the sharp end, where the work as done takes place. This article presents a non-technical skills analysis focused on the sharp end of O&G operations, specifically in the facilities/utilities operations, onshore (refineries) and offshore (production platforms). The findings show the importance and presence of certain non-technical skills, as well as the need for improvement of others in the daily routine and in emergencies.
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| 3. |
- Juhola, Sirkku, et al.
(author)
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Adaptation decision-making in the Nordic countries: assessing the potential for joint action
- 2014
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In: Environment Systems and Decisions. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2194-5403 .- 2194-5411. ; 34:4, s. 600-611
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In a global context, the outlook for the Nordic region is relatively favourable, given its relatively stronger resiliency to climate change impacts in comparison to many other geo-political regions of the world. Overall, the projected climatic changes include increases in mean temperatures and in precipitation, although regional variations can be significant. The countries’ robust institutions and economies give them a strong capacity to adapt to these changes. Still, the need for adaptation to the changing climate has been and still is substantial, and in most of the region, there has been progress on the issue. This paper explores the potential for Nordic cooperation on adaptation; specifically, for the development of a regional adaptation strategy. In particular, it addresses two questions (1) What is the current state of adaptation in the Nordic countries? and (2) What are the potential benefits and weaknesses of a Nordic strategy for adaptation? In order to answer these two questions, this paper examines reviews the current national adaptation policies of each Nordic country and discusses the challenges facing a Nordic strategy and finally assesses the potential for common Nordic adaptation policy and further cooperation.
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| 4. |
- Lindhe, Andreas, 1981, et al.
(author)
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Uncertainty modelling in multi-criteria analysis of water safety measures
- 2013
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In: Environment Systems & Decisions. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2194-5403 .- 2194-5411. ; 33:2, s. 195-208
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Water utilities must assess risks and make decisions on safety measures in order to obtain a safe and sustainable drinking water supply. The World Health Organization emphasises preparation of Water Safety Plans, in which risk ranking by means of risk matrices with discretised probability and consequence scales is commonly used. Risk ranking enables prioritisation of risks but there is currently no common and structured way of performing uncertainty analysis and using risk ranking for evaluating and comparing water safety measures. To enable a proper prioritisation of safety measures and an efficient use of available resources for risk reduction, two alternative models linking risk ranking and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) are presented and evaluated. The two models specifically enable uncertainty modelling in MCDA and they differ in terms of how uncertainties in risk levels are considered. The need of formal handling of risk and uncertainty in MCDA is emphasised in the literature and the suggested models provide innovations that are not dependent on the application domain. In the case study application presented here, possible safety measures are evaluated based on the benefit of estimated risk reduction, the cost of implementation and the probability of not achieving an acceptable risk level. Additional criteria such as environmental impact and consumer trust may also be included when applying the models. The case study shows how safety measures can be ranked based on preference scores or cost-effectiveness and how measures not reducing the risk enough can be identified and disqualified. Furthermore, the probability of each safety measure being ranked highest can be calculated. The two models provide a stepwise procedure for prioritising safety measures and enable a formalised handling of uncertainties in input data and results.
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| 5. |
- Norén, Viveca, 1972-, et al.
(author)
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Drinking water risk assessment in practice : the case of Swedish drinking water producers at risk from floods
- 2016
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In: Environment Systems and Decisions. - : Springer. - 2194-5403 .- 2194-5411. ; 36:3, s. 239-252
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To achieve a safe and reliable drinking water supply, water producers need to manage a large range of risks regarding both water quality and quantity. A risk management approach where risks are systematically identified and handled in a preventive manner is promoted by the World Health Organization and supported by researchers and drinking water experts worldwide. Risk assessment is an important part of such a management approach, and a variety of tools for risk assessment are described in the literature. There is, however, little knowledge of how drinking water risk assessment is performed in practice, including which tools that are actually used. This study investigates the use of risk assessment tools, and the approach to risk management, on a local level in the Swedish water sector. It is based on interviews with key persons from a targeted selection of water producers. We find that the application of tools as well as the approach to risk assessment and management differs considerably between the water producers. The tools most frequently used are mainly the ones promoted or required by Swedish national organizations. Although many of the water producers have done some kind of risk assessment, most have not implemented a risk management approach. Furthermore, their knowledge of the concepts of risk and risk management is often limited. The largest challenge identified is to prioritize risk assessment, so that it is actually performed and then used as a basis for managing risk in a systematic way.
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| 6. |
- Santos, Felippe, et al.
(author)
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Analysing the drivers for sustainable public procurement
- 2024
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In: Environment Systems and Decisions. - : Springer. - 2194-5403 .- 2194-5411.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sustainable public procurement (SPP) is aimed at using government purchasing power to foster sustainable production and consumption and develop more sustainable business models. The implementation of SPP has been undertaken through several disciplinary approaches, including practical and research efforts based on organisational change management (OCM). Although there is a growing body of literature on OCM for SPP, research on this topic is still limited and mostly focused on a single-country context. This paper aims to fill this research gap by analysing the drivers for changes towards SPP from two different world regions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve Brazilian and ten Swedish SPP professionals. The interviews were analysed using Grounded Theory’s constant comparative method. From the interviews, 46 drivers were collated, then ranked in order of importance, and categorised according to their level (external, connecting, and internal). From the interviews, twenty-two new drivers were identified. The findings show that drivers for SPP are context-specific and can be organised in a continuum of change approaches between praxis-driven and policy-driven. This study highlights the contextual influence on drivers for the SPP process. A holistic approach is needed for changes towards SPP, considering internal, connecting, and external drivers in the spectrum from praxis to policy.
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| 7. |
- Singh, Prasannjeet, et al.
(author)
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Using log analytics and process mining to enable self-healing in the Internet of Things
- 2022
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In: Environment Systems and Decisions. - : Springer. - 2194-5403 .- 2194-5411. ; 42:2, s. 234-250
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly developing in diverse and critical applications such as environmental sensing and industrial control systems. IoT devices can be very heterogeneous in terms of hardware and software architectures, communication protocols, and/or manufacturers. Therefore, when those devices are connected together to build a complex system, detecting and fixing any anomalies can be very challenging. In this paper, we explore a relatively novel technique known as Process Mining, which—in combination with log-file analytics and machine learning—can support early diagnosis, prognosis, and subsequent automated repair to improve the resilience of IoT devices within possibly complex cyber-physical systems. Issues addressed in this paper include generation of consistent Event Logs and definition of a roadmap toward effective Process Discovery and Conformance Checking to support Self-Healing in IoT.
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| 8. |
- Stenholm, Daniel, 1989, et al.
(author)
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A framework of practices supporting the reuse of technological knowledge
- 2019
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In: Environment Systems & Decisions. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2194-5403 .- 2194-5411. ; 39:2, s. 128-145
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Technology-intensive companies invest considerable of resources in product development to bring competitive products to market. Since market demand is continuously changing, the capability to renew offerings quickly and at low cost is an important source of competitive advantage. Even if components and designs may need to be updated when releasing new products, their underlying technologies and designs can usually be reused to enable fast and cost-efficient development. To be proficient in practices that support reuse of technologies thus constitutes an important organizational capability, but identifying and assessing these practices has not been a straightforward task for technology developers and managers. This paper presents a literature review regarding technology reuse in four main dimensions; Strategy, Process, Culture, and Information Technology. The dimensions are further decomposed into a framework with twelve principles that supports this technology reuse capability, including technology platform strategy and reusability assessment. Besides providing a theoretical overview of practices supporting the reuse of technology, the framework can also be used in practice to facilitate the assessment of the current reuse capability of an organization. Industrial cases, illustrating real technology development issues, are used to highlight the principles of the framework. Further, a self-assessment scorecard is demonstrated with data from two companies that develop and manufacture high-tech products.
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| 9. |
- van der Merwe, Susara E., et al.
(author)
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Sensemaking as an approach for resilience assessment in an Essential Service Organization
- 2020
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In: Environment Systems and Decisions. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2194-5403 .- 2194-5411. ; 40:1, s. 84-106
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Essential service organizations are interested in approaches to assess and build infrastructure resilience to ensure an uninterrupted supply of services, such as electricity or water. This study applied a sensemaking approach to assess the nature of social resilience in a national essential service organization in South Africa. It used the SenseMaker tool to collect and surface patterns from a set of micro-narratives collected in response to a national emergency simulation exercise. Findings show that participants utilized specified resilience resources, such as procedures and protocols, while general social resilience resources, such as social network integration and agency, which would have contributed to the response, did not feature significantly. Participants’ sense of coherence—how they comprehend, manage, and find meaning amidst life’s challenges—had a positive bearing on preparedness, involvement, and expectation of outcome in the context of the emergency simulation exercise and appear to be the organization’s strongest social resilience resource. This study suggests that a sense of coherence can inform resilience-building interventions, and be used as a measure of effective sensemaking towards more resilient outcomes.
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| 10. |
- Vastveit, Kirsti Russell, et al.
(author)
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Critical reflections on municipal risk and vulnerability analyses as decision support tools : the role of regulation regimes
- 2014
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In: Environment Systems and Decisions. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2194-5403 .- 2194-5411. ; 34:3, s. 443-455
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Risk and vulnerability analyses are a required decision support tool in processes to improve societal safety and crisis preparedness at national, regional and local levels in several European states. Analyses result in risk images, which are the stakeholders’ views of events that must be addressed in planning processes related to topics such as land use and crisis management. Hence, risk and vulnerability analyses are used to support decisions regarding which issue areas to prioritize, as well as to choose between alternatives. In Norway and Sweden, municipal risk and vulnerability analyses are mandated and described in regulations, laws and guidelines. This article examines how the two countries’ regulation regimes address, characterize and facilitate risk-based decision-making. We found that the Swedish regulation regime emphasizes use of risk and vulnerability analyses in decision-making regarding emergency preparedness. In Norway, this is also an important issue, but decision-making with regard to long-term and strategic planning is also emphasized. In both regulation regimes, decision-makers must determine on their own how they should use the analyses as a foundation for decision-making regarding emergency preparedness and societal safety. While the regulation regimes contain method and content prescriptions, they do not specify how criteria regarding desirable levels of preparedness and societal safety should be determined, nor who should be involved in such processes. These are challenges that should be addressed in regulation guidelines and in audits carried out by regional authorities.
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