Conference-Journal Paper

In everyday life, play important role rescue services such as fire-fighters, paramedics and police. Rescuers at their work oftenforgot on their own security. Overall, this problematic is neglected in these services, whether it's a matter of law but in practice,especially in the intervention itself. This issue is important for the protections of life rescue themselves, but also rescued. In manycases, the imperfect process of each rescue activity or the use respectively not use of personal protective equipment. The actuallegislation in the Slovak republic does not specify procedures for each activity respectively to the general definitions of eachactivity. In this article, we specify a group of fire-fighter and respect the basic rules of OSH in their activities such as fire, trafficaccident, natural disaster, and many others.

The present paper considers the application of Bayesian Probabilistic Networks (BPN’s) in risk manage-ment for portfolios of structures subject to earthquake hazards. The BPN’s facilitate that risks are assessed in a generic framework using indicators to relate the generic representation to the specific condition prevailing a given site, soil conditions, structure class, occupancy, etc. Initially a summary of previous workin the area of earthquake risk management is provided. Thereafter the general problem framework for management of earthquake risks is introduced for three different decision situations; before, during and after an earthquake. Following this, a basic introduction on BPN’s is provided and it is outlined how the concept of indicators provides an efficient means of representing risks generically and for updating generic models in accordancewith site specific information. A generic structural modelling framework is described which facilitatesthe automatic generation of input files for non-linear structural response analysis using the open source finiteelement software OpenSees. This framework makes it possible in a straight forward manner to analyse andgenerate vulnerability curves for several structure classes with a minimum use of man-hours.
The application of the methodology is illustrated considering the decision problem of whether or not to ret-rofit a specific class of structures. The structures within the considered class represent low-rise, bare frame re-inforced concrete structures located on a site close to the western part of the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey. The example describes how vulnerability curves are produced for both original and retrofitted structures andbased on a simplified consequence model illustrates how the BPN’s can be used to support decision making.

In this article we describe a project “Competency Based e-Portal of Security and Safety Engineering” – eSEC portal approved by The Education, Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), developed in the period between 10/2009 and 10/2012. The eSEC portal is one of 10 centralised multilateral projects approved in 2009 by EACEA and only one with the University of Zilina as a coordinator, with total budget 356.138 Euros. The EACEA is responsible for the management of certain elements of the EU's programs in the fields of education and culture. The idea for the eSEC project originated from the demand to increase the quality of education in the field of security and safety. One of the key problems of the education is disparity between the knowledge received from educational institutions and the practical requirements. It is necessary to redefine how students are prepared for the challenges of the labour market: identifying competencies that are currently in demand and how it would be possible to link the educational systems of various institutions more efficiently. The aim of the eSEC project was to develop the competencies of students, teachers, researchers and professionals working in the field of security and safety, within the EU and the world. To achieve these objectives, an electronic portal was developed at www.esecportal.eu. The portal was launched in May 2012, hopefully starting the way to become an established and well known Internet portal on the security and safety education. Keywords: Competency Based e-Portal, Security Education, eSEC.

The behavior of a particular reinforced concrete structure that was fire exposed after seismic action is presented in this paper. The seismic response of the structure is evaluated using a pushover analysis, while the displacement demand under the corresponding seismic event is determined using the recommendations implemented in Eurocode 8. The earthquake-induced damage in the structure is determined and, as next step, the structure is exposed to Standard fire ISO 834. For that purpose the program FIRE, based on FEM, is used. The program FIRE carries out the nonlinear transient heat flow analysis and nonlinear stress-strain response associated with fire. The solution technique used in FIRE is a finite element method coupled with time step integration. The computer modulus FIRE-T solves the governing differential equation of heat transfer in conduction. The response of a reinforced concrete elements and plane frame structures exposed to fire is predicted by modulus FIRE-S. This modulus accounts for: dimensional changes caused by temperature differences, changes in mechanical properties of materials with changes in temperature, degradation of sections by cracking and/or crushing and acceleration of shrinkage and creep with an increase of temperature. Pushover analysis, representing dynamic effects of an earthquake via static nonlinear procedure, is incorporated in the program as an option that precedes the postearthquake fire analysis.

Dynamical development of technologies is a result of man’s desire to achieve higher living standard. Themodern technologies are becoming still more complicated and may lead to industrial accidents. Slovakrepublic has its own history of industrial accidents. Risk management activities and spending of funds toprevent major industrial accidents is far from being popular among public and government unless some crisisevent occurs. Safety in industrial plants is being improved and modified as a result of growing number ofindustrial accidents. Implementation of SEVESO II directive in EU member countries is fundamental forserious industrial accidents prevention. The need for risk assessment and management is supported also bythe investigations on the European but also on national level. In this paper the selected conclusions whichaffect the adoption and adaptation of the legal environment in the Slovak Republic are based on a statisticalresearch realized during 2012–2013 in the framework of the MOPORI project.Based on the results achieved in the framework of the statistical survey, the results were implemented inthe Comprehensive Model for the Risk Assessment and Management of the Industrial Processes. The issuewas to insert the methods to individual steps of the comprehensive model which were implemented into themodel on the basis of the legal requirements and results of the survey. The analysis of the questionnaireyielded some interesting conclusions which have not been included in this paper, not only due to its extent,but also due to the need to bring the results the attention of as wide a group of readers as possible andmaintain its consistency and clarity. These unpublished results will be used as the base for achieving furthergoals of the MOPORI project.

The present script serves as study guidance for the students taking the course on Risk and Safety in Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering. It provides information concerning the: Aim of the course, Structure and organisation of the course, Educational support material for the course, Mode of examination, Lecture notes for each of the 13 lectures with bibliography and index.

Fire resistance testing is intended to provide criteria and verification methods for stopping of fire spread between fire compartments. It has been used with success for this purpose for decades. The principle, testing schemes, and criteria do not provide information about tenability conditions in adjacent fire compartments however. This drawback has become increasingly obvious as fire safety engineering started to make it possible to evaluate tenability conditions using data on smoke emissions from construction materials and products, and as construction products with potency to emit significant amounts of opaque and toxic effluents found the way to building systems including those providing fire resistance. Findings of fire resistance testing of six non-loadbearing walls made of commonly used composite metal faced sandwich panels, two filled with mineral stone wool as core insulation (MW), and four filled with polymer polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation material, demonstrated these effects. The project has been recently expanded by additional measurements of gas and particle effluents. This paper deals with new information reflecting back on original test results.

Proceedings of the 15th International Conference of ASECU

Following the devastating consequences of the Banda Aceh with the Earthquake followed by thetsunami in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, focus has been directed towards the high vulnerability andlow robustness of the affected societies, infrastructure and natural resources in regard to natural hazards.A proposal for an ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) lead project in partnership with AIT (the AsianInstitute of Technology) and ADPC (the Asian Disaster Prevention Centre) is presented. The aim of the projectis on a medium to long term to improve the basis for sustainable management of risk due to natural hazardsthrough improved decision support tools, improved understanding of the risks, knowledge dissemination andeducation. A risk management framework is proposed considering three distinct decision situations namely,before, during and after the event of a natural hazard. Use of the risk management framework is envisaged toprovide decision support for decision makers at international, national, regional as well as municipal levels.Furthermore the decision support tool may also greatly enhance education and training as it facilitates that theconsequences of various risk management strategies may be quantified and compared.

The authors deal with the importance and significance of fire retardants for fire protection in practice. The main aim of this paper is to inform the readers about the possibilities of wood modifications by fire retardants. The authors present the experiment of testing wood specimens applying the experimental scientific method of test for limited flame spread on the test bench under laboratory conditions. The results of the experiment represent fire-technical characteristics that describe the wood behavior during the process of combustion. Different types of fire retardants are evaluated according to the selected evaluation criterion - the weight loss of test specimens. The conclusion summarizes the results of the experiment and recommendations for fire retardant modification in practice.

In January and February 2010, Albania experienced several flooding event, which causes depend partly on climate change. The aim of this paper is to discuss their financial costs and their effects on the state budget and on macroeconomic indicators. In addition, we have analyzed possible financing solution to natural disasters caused partly from climate change factors. Finally, we have proposed some adaptation measures on this matter. The paper concludes with recommendations regarding financial preparedness for natural disasters due to climate change in Albania, based on the experience of developed countries.

To date, there is no International standard on procedures and tests to assess the verification and validation (V&V) of building fire evacuation models. Often it is the case that model testers adopt inconsistent procedures, or tests designed for other model uses or they do not test them for all features embedded in their model. For instance, the tests presented within the MSC/Circ.1238 (Guidelines for evacuation analysis for new and existing passenger ships) provided by the International Maritime Organization are often employed for the V&V of models outside their original context of use (e.g. building fires instead of maritime applications). This document is intended to open a discussion on the main issues associated with the definition of a standard procedure for the V&V of building fire evacuation models...

Natural disasters cause major impacts on the economic performance of developing countries and on the livelihoods of millions of poor people around the world. With economic development and growing investment (especially in coastal regions and agriculture), along with growing risk of extreme weather events, disaster and insurance costs are projected to increase rapidly over the decades. Insurance will become much more expensive, or simply unavailable, for people living in areas increasingly prone to fire, flooding, or high winds. An appropriate evaluation of the costs of natural disaster is necessary to guide the decision-making process. Models for disaster losses estimation have already been developed, which might be used for evaluation purposes. Albania is affected by a considerable number of natural disasters. With a changing climate is expected that the frequency of extreme weather events will increase seriously. Thus, the necessity to take measures and prevent the impacts on environmental resources is compelling. Dealing with the consequences requires a multidimensional approach. This paper will discuss approaches for modifying public policies, changing individual behavior, implementing adaptation measures and finding and implementing financing sources.