Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin

A process mapping model for calculating indirect costs of workplace accidents

UNLABELLED This article follows an earlier one in which four criteria and four bases for the development of an indirect-cost calculation model adapted to the accuracy requirements and time constraints of workplace decision-makers were established. A two-level model for calculating indirect costs using process mapping of the organizational response to a workplace accident is presented. The model is based on data collected in interviews with those employees in charge of occupational health and safety in 10 companies of various sizes in different industry sectors. This model is the first to use process mapping to establish the indirect costs of workplace accidents. The approach allows easy identification of the duration and frequency of actions taken by stakeholders when a workplace accident occurs, facilitates the collection of the information needed to calculate indirect costs and yields a usable, precise result. A simple graphic representation of an organizations accident processes helps the user understand each accidents cost components, allowing the identification and reduction of inefficiencies in the overall process. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY By facilitating data collection and shortening the time needed to assess indirect costs of workplace accidents, this indirect cost calculation tool is better suited for workplace use than those currently available.

Cross-analysis of hazmat road accidents using multiple databases.

Road selection for hazardous materials transportation relies heavily on risk analysis. With risk being generally expressed as a product of the probability of occurrence and the expected consequence, one will understand that risk analysis is data intensive. However, various authors have noticed the lack of statistical reliability of hazmat accident databases due to the systematic underreporting of such events. Also, official accident databases alone are not always providing all the information required (economical impact, road conditions, etc.). In this paper, we attempt to integrate many data sources to analyze hazmat accidents in the province of Quebec, Canada. Databases on dangerous goods accidents, road accidents and work accidents were cross-analyzed. Results show that accidents can hardly be matched and that these databases suffer from underreporting. Police records seem to have better coverage than official records maintained by hazmat authorities. Serious accidents are missing from governments official databases (some involving deaths or major spills) even though their declaration is mandatory.

Public-Private Programs for Covering Extreme Events: The Impact of Information Distribution on Risk-Sharing

Recent extreme events have significantly raised the question of the role of public and private sectors in providing adequate financial protection to victims. Developing publicprivate insurance programs could constitute one of the most appealing ways to solve the problem of financing the consequences of those large-scale catastrophes. However, catastrophic risks present very specific characteristics which challenge any traditional economic approaches to analyzing them. Further, the government may have better information about the risk than insurers (e.g., national security). Currently, little has been done in the economic literature to better understand how this assumption impacts on how risks are shared between all stakeholders in such partnerships.This paper analyzes policy issues related to risk/information sharing between insurers and a dedicated State-backed governmental reinsurer, who are part of a national partnership program. The government develops a mandatory coverage against catastrophic risks and decides the level of premiums levied against the insureds. Using a game-theoretical approach, we show that a government can act to induce private insurers in the country to participate in the partnership instead of leaving the market. By modulating its premium policy, the government can also led them to adopt two different strategies: (1) behave as a simple financial intermediary between the insured and the public reinsurer so that the latter supports the largest portion of the risks or (2) conserve the largest part of risks to benefit from market conditions created by the government seeking to avoid its intervention ex post to bail out the public reinsurer. The paper also discusses the impacts of government information-sharing strategies on the game equilibrium. Illustrations are provided for natural hazards and terrorism risk.

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Reverse Innovation

OVERVIEW: The economic benefits of reverse innovation are intuitively compelling, but this new innovation strategy presents several challenges to established firms, ranging from fears of product cannibalization to not-invented-here syndrome. French ophthalmic lens maker Essilor has experimented with reverse innovation over several projects; an examination of its experiences suggests how the specific challenges of reverse innovation may be anticipated and overcome to allow companies to better leverage the results of their global innovation efforts.

Technical Barriers to Trade: A Canadian Perspective on Ecolabelling

Abstract Ecolabelling is a market-based instrument and an important element of international environmental policies. In our day and age, there is a wide range of ecolabels, which may complicate the decision-making process when looking for the best outcome for consumers and producers. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) suggest a solution to align the various ecolabelling programs. For instance, ISO launched the ISO 14,001 framework, which includes the requirements for Environmental Management Systems (EMSs). The GEN harmonizes international ecolabelling schemes and improves exchanges of information among its country members. This article addresses how unaligned and aligned regulations impact international trade. Consequently, a database including the ISO 14,001 certifications of all countries and containing the exports from 153 countries to Canada from 2001 to 2015 as a dependent variable was created. The remaining variables will serve as independent variables, including gravity variables such as market size, market similarity, distance, and some other core variables such as GEN membership of the exporting country, WTO membership, binding in Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA) with Canada. Findings show that holding ISO 14,001 certifications has a positive impact on exports to Canada; however, these impacts are not significant enough. Therefore, there is not strong evidence that ISO 14,001 creates barriers to export to Canada. In addition, GEN membership significantly promotes exports to Canada, especially for countries binding in an FTA or MRA with Canada.

Risk-management in health care systems: Lessons from the nuclear industry

Health care delivery today entails complicated technology and numerous interactions among health care practitioners. Adverse events can occur anywhere within the health care system. Although some accidents are caused by technical and mechanical problems, most are attributable to human error and health care system failures. In most industrial accidents, human and system errors are rooted in organizational factors; the same appears to hold true in the health care industry. Therefore, health care systems could greatly benefit from the lessons of safety and risk-management other industries provide. We present a model to analyze accidents, based upon traditional human factor methodologies used in the French Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) and adapted to Quebecs health care system.

A global perspective on sulfur oxide controls in coal-fired power plants and cardiovascular disease

Sulfur oxides (SOx), particularly SO2 emitted by coal-fired power plants, produce long-term risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We estimated the relative risks of CVD and ischemic heart disease (IHD) attributable to SOx emission globally. National SOx reduction achieved by emissions control systems was defined as the average SOx reduction percentage weighted by generating capacities of individual plants in a country. We analyzed the relative risk of CVD incidence associated with national SOx reduction for 13,581 coal-fired power-generating units in 79 countries. A 10% decrease in SOx emission was associated with 0.28% (males; 95%CI = −0.39%~0.95%) and 1.69% (females; 95%CI = 0.99%~2.38%) lower CVD risk. The effects on IHD were > 2 times stronger among males than females (2.78%, 95%CI = 1.99%~3.57% vs. 1.18%, 95%CI = 0.19%~2.17%). Further, 1.43% (males) and 8.00% (females) of CVD cases were attributable to suboptimal SOx reduction. Thus, enhancing regulations on SOx emission control represents a target for national and international intervention to prevent CVD.

An Empirical Analysis of Risk Aversion in Malware Infections

We present in this paper the results from a field study we conducted over a 4-month period. The experience aimed at evaluating the impact of the technological and human factors on the risk of getting infected by malware.

A bi-level representational model of hazardous material supply chains

Modelling the transportation and storage tasks associated with supply chains is usually based on a tacit or mathematical representation of physical flows. However, remaining at this level of representation seems inadequate for risk management. This study proposes to insert new graphical tools into the models to improve the representation of hazardous material supply chains. This representational model enables us to show physical flows and contractual flows at the same time, and highlights the responsibility interactions and risk transfers among the numerous stakeholders involved: producers, carriers, storage enterprises, intermediaries and consumers.

Accident and incident analysis in hospitals: how to transfer the RECUPERARE method from nuclear industry

Health care delivery today entails complicated technology and numerous interactions among health care practitioners. Adverse events can occur anywhere in the health care system. Although some accidents are caused by technical and mechanical problems, most of the accidents are attributable to human error and health care system’s failure. In most of industrial accidents, these errors are rooted in organizational factors. It seems to be the same in the health industry. We will present a model used in the French Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) we adapted to the Quebec’s health care system.