Health and Safety Books

The book is a compilation of 22 "human factors" research projects in nuclear power plants, performed to address the issues of safety and risk reduction. The papers are written by a variety of internationally known nuclear experts, and represent the most current studies available in one source. The focus of the research is the affects of human interaction with engineered technology.

Unfortunately, because of the narrow scope of interest in this book, it is unavailable in most academic libraries. This is probably the most expensive book I have ever purchased. With that in mind, I must say I have no regrets. To purchase these studies separately through information services such as NTIS, would like cost about $40 each ($880 total). The information is solid and credible, and will likely serve as validators to my masters thesis.

As a student at Carleton College in the 70's, I took a seminar called Science and Society co-led by professors from the chemistry and religion departments. That class informed my entire life on the ethical dilemmas posed by "technological advances".
Reading Nuclear Witnesses revives my commitment to questioning the wisdom of modern scientific advances. This twenty year old book is especially vital to the realization that 20/20 hindsight is not a luxury humanity can afford when it comes to nuclear power.
As mankind continues to put material wealth and power over environmental health and spiritual values, it is even more important that we baby boomers and those coming of age study the recent past and maintain perspective on the promotion of the next panacea that will permit the persistence of the Western civilization's excess. New threats to our environment are extant with Bush II's repudiation of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and his cavalier attitude to the environment (Kyoto Protocols, and Alaskan drilling)
What is so compelling about Nuclear Witnesses is the first person account of those close to the nuclear industry--the Navaho who mined uranium, the U.S. Army serviceman who witnessed atmospheric atomic tests, the carpenter and millwright who built defective nuclear plants and the scientists who were pressured and sometimes physically threatened to falsify their findings.
These real time first person accounts are even more frightening read in retrospect as we have lived through more peacetime nuclear scares since Three Mile Island and witnessed the arrogant accumulation of nuclear arms in non signatory nations (and non-nations, -Al Qaeda?) in under-developed parts of the world.
Read this 1982 book with 2002 eyes against the backdrop of military exercises conducted by two Third World nations with nuclear capability-India and Pakistan.
Read it and weep.

This is one of the best technical books I've ever read on any subject--and I've read many of them! It should be must reading not only for those who conduct transportation safety studies--the subject of the book-- but also for those conducing any observational study ("before/after study"), whether safety-related or not.

This book is a valuable and much-needed contribution to the technical literature. The book begins by showing how classical statistical techniques are often misused in observational studies. Classical techniques assume a rigorous experimental design, with random assignment to treatment and non-treatement groups. These conditions do not apply to observational studies, such as those determining the influence of smoking on health. Errors such as assuming safety in the immediate "before" period is a good predictor of safety in the "after" period are discussed. The book then goes on to provide valid techniques that work. It shows how to compare the what would have been the safety in the after period without treatment, to the safety that was achieved. Complications of assessing the safety in the before and after periods are addressed.

The book is not only an important technical contribution, it is also extremely well-written. The author's writing style is extremely lucid and should serve as an example to others. The first section of the book provides a qualitative description of the material. Subsequent sections then repeat the material, but with mathemtatical rigor. Numerous numerical examples (some with real-world data; others with hypothetcial data for simplicity sake) make the material clear. Mathematical dervivations are provided for rigor, but isolated from the rest of the text to keep from overwhelming the reader.

The author writes with a conversational style, frequently re-emphasizing important points. He takes care to show at all points where he is in the logical discussion and how the current topic fits in to the overall picture. Some of the words are written tongue in cheek. My favorite is his description that
"they do not have a problem of congnition, but only of brittle bones".

In short, the book is outstanding for both its technical content and for the way the material is presented.

Allard Dembe's first book is very good. It is very detailed. It explains the subject in a intresting manner. It is a good book for scholoars and teachers of the subject.

Book in very good condition and sent in the time fram. Received in good condition

Dear Thomas,

You have done a wonderful job! The material is clear and concise. Easily understood by all. I have the utmost respect for your work in the field and as an author.

Sincerely,

Starrie

Finally, a practical, down-to-earth, common sense ergonomics guide for business. Written for the layman, Dan MacLeod's Office Ergonomics Kit is just that. It's a kit with all the essential parts to get a company's ergonomics program up and running.The book provides ample support and guidance for every aspect of managing an ergonomics program.

It's easy to get a program started with this manual. Employee and management training is a breeze with the slides that are provided on a floppy disk. You can tailor the Power Point presentation to your company needs. Another disk is full of helpful planning and program management aids. What a bonus!

As manager in corporate safety of the world's leading express freight company, I have found this guide to be invaluable. We use this kit as the basis for our ergonomics program.

On Those Runaway Days is a children's picturebook created especially to help teach children to see running away for what it truly is: a dangerous means of avoiding problems rather than learning how to confront and fix them. The straightforward text offers young readers simple means with which to constructively deal with problems instead. "When I feel scared or upset, that 'uh-oh' feeling starts inside me. It's a signal that reminds me to get out of the situation right away and find an adult I trust. My 'uh-oh' feeling is telling me this is one of those times. I need to stop running away and talk about how I feel." The simple color illustrations add a comforting touch to this highly recommended picturebook, ideal for parents (or teachers) to read aloud to children as a lead-in to talking about tough issues, and as a preventative to teach children about better options than running away before a crisis happens.

I actually got this from the Library first. I had to read it to my daughter every night for a week or so. She was just so excited to hear about Dragon and the little girl going through the tales. Its layed out in a Fairy tale fashion with a main focus on the all the strangers that existed. I was surprised at first since I had these very stories read to me as a child. I never viewed all the characters the girl and the dragon meet to be a stranger. But Jean had a very good idea to lay the stories out that way. This one I will be buying.

I believe this book fills a need that engineers always had. It explains in a very clear way how to do procedures in field operations and how to resolve different situations that can appear in oil and gas well testing... I really recommend it to the oil industry.