Chike Frigidian Oduoza

The use of modular combustion systems with multiple jets is an efficient and reliable solution for combined heat and power applications in the transition to clean and renewable energy for power generation in addressing climate change challenges.

Purpose: Deployment of health and safety standards in extremely hazardous work environments such as oil and gas sector, is essential to minimise accidents leaving employees permanently or temporarily incapacitated. The purpose of this research, is to understand why there are frequent accidents in case country's oil and gas sector, with a view to recommend solutions to mitigate problems.Design/methodology/approach: Research methodology involved extensive review of the literature to appreciate background, and current research on typical accidents and safety measures taken at oil and gas construction sites to minimise accidents in a middle east country. Interviews, questionnaires and case stidies were deployed to acquire data which highlighted major reasons for accidents occurrence at oil and gas construction sites, and safety tools and techniques that could reduce accident rate if adopted by companies. Findings: Findings, showed that oil and gas construction projects in case country were prone to health and safety related risks, challenges and accidents due to failure to comply with standards and legislation. Construction site teams and shop floor staff were rarely involved in development of safety policies, and some had no understanding of requirements and procedures underpinning safety during operations. Research recommended rapid application/adoption of international standards underpinned by ISO 45000 series and staff training at all levels. Deployment of robots and use of machine learning technology were suggested to implement risky tasks in the sector.Originality/value: Research was based on rampant accidents occurring in hazardous oil and gas sector in country studied. Enforcement of health and safety standards, and use of modern tools and techniques were recommended to minimise accident rate.

Mass production was part of the industrial revolution in 1870 and, with it, a huge step change in manufacturing processes. Its impact was ground breaking and became even more remarkable with automation in a business production environment. The chemical industry is one of the manufacturing sectors that has benefited from the technology of mass production achieved through automating the business process. In this era of industry 4.0 and with the associated advanced technologies of smart manufacturing, cloud computing, cyber physical systems and internet of things, mass production has been revolutionised but still faced issues such as quality control of the production process which was affected by supply chain management, customised production of commodity and specialty chemicals and huge demand from other chemical industry manufacturers. This chapter has reviewed the evolution of mass production during traditional manufacturing to the present day and carried out a risk assessment to quality of production in a mass production environment with a view to recommending adequate quality control of the production process. The chapter also included a case study for mass production of a pharmaceutical drug—Amoxicillin which was partly batch produced into dry powder and then mass produced using tableting and encapsulating machine, highlighting sources of contamination and inconsistency in tablet weight if adequate control measures were not put in place.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an effective framework for implementing Lean strategies in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Design/methodology/approach: Based on the integration of LM tools and techniques with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria a systematic Lean implementation framework for manufacturing SMEs has been proposed. The core values, drivers and tools of the proposed framework were further developed based on case studies in three SMEs in the KRI. Findings: Proposed framework is able to provide a simple pathway for SMEs to systematically implement Lean techniques in seven functional areas in order to create Lean culture in the organisation. Business performance measurement in terms of profitability, customer satisfaction, employee’s satisfaction, competitiveness growth and ergonomic improvement is presented in favour of evaluating Lean outcomes appropriately. It also presents the experience of small firms in implementing Lean programmes to show that Lean is valid in SMEs. Research limitations/implications: The framework concentrates only on the internal issues of the organisation, while external variables such as national culture and external support are excluded. Practical implications: The framework assists improvements in SMEs that either initially attempt to start Lean journey or those that are at more advanced levels towards excellent-Lean manufacturing. The framework can also be used as a self-assessment model to determine the degree of Lean readiness. Originality/value: To the best knowledge of the author, it is the first framework that integrates Lean techniques with MBNQA criteria to support Lean implementation in SMEs. It is also the first study regarding Lean-excellence in the KRI.

The need for leadership in the construction industry has been greater due to the fact that health and safety has become an important business tool to reduce accidents to save lives and minimise injuries. This chapter demonstrates the importance and role of leadership for manging risks associated with health and safety aspects in small construction companies. A case study of an Italian family run small construction company is investigated and reported. A diagnostic tool Leadership and Worker Involvement toolkit was administrated in the company. The toolkit had assessment levels (walking, running and sprinting). Analysis showed the company was at walking and running stages in various aspects. But the leadership aspiration of the company was to reach the ?sprinting? stage as a long-term target and sustain it to minimise health and safety risk. A holistic approach was developed to achieve the leadership aspirations of the company. In conclusion, the role of leadership in small companies is to understand the importance of H&S aspects and develop strategies which are then embedded in the processes of the companies to minimise H&S risks for their sustainability and competitiveness. This chapter is beneficial for professional at site, project and programme level and for leadership team.

Investing in construction projects is not without risks. Risk management is considered an important aspect when making decisions in the construction industry—as it determines whether the construction project will be successful or will fail. Effective decisions are made based on certain predetermined criteria such as investigating the construction project in detail, generating good alternatives to manage risk, exploring the best options, etc., whereas, decisions can fail when the best suitable alternatives to manage risk are not made clear at the onset of a construction project, or logical assessment of project-specific criteria are not considered part of the process. As a result, risks can possibly have an adverse effect on the delivery of construction projects with respect to its objectives. Therefore, this chapter will present the numerous tools and techniques that are available to support the various phases of the risk management process in construction projects.

In the wake of a number of catastrophic events, construction supply chain (CSC) vulnerability has become a major issue in the industry. Construction organisations today focus on strategies to minimise the impact of catastrophic events and manage risk by creating more resilient supply chains. However, there is lack of a mechanism to minimise the impact of catastrophic event on CSC. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the impact of catastrophic events on CSC and proposes a strategic framework to minimise their ultimate impact on the construction organisations. This aim is achieved through a comprehensive literature review, preliminary investigation and structured questionnaire survey. According to findings, most likely catastrophes that disrupt CSC are non-terrorist events and in fact are not always the most severe catastrophes. The aggregate effect of likelihood and severity revealed that disruption to transportation has the extreme risk level on CSC, while the most significant impact of catastrophic events is business failure and least significant impact is loss of focus to work. Thus, the catastrophic event risk minimisation strategic framework presented in this chapter will assist construction organisations to identify most suitable strategic actions to minimise the impact of catastrophic events on CSC in order to create resilient construction industry.

Engineering materials and composites are frequently exposed to aggressive and chemically toxic environments with high probability for rapid corrosion and consequent deterioration and catastrophic degradation. Occasionally, a new legislation regulates against the use of existing materials, necessitating thus development of new methodologies or new materials in order to reduce material corrosion rates. The aim of this study is to test the corrosion resistance of the copper tin alloy, a material that could replace nickel compounds, recently reclassified as suspected carcinogens. Standard sizes of pre-cut nickel and brass panels were produced and then plated with different thicknesses of copper tin alloy and chromium for additional protection. Evaluation of plated materials for corrosion rate and resistance was carried out using linear polarisation, electrochemical impedance and accelerated destructive testing. Corrosion testing of the materials assessed qualitatively and quantitatively, showed that corrosion resistance was dependent on a combination of factors, including the thickness of chromium plating, type of material, type of testing and duration in a corrosion chamber. While linear polarisation experiment was useful in establishing corrosion rate of sample, electrochemical impedance and accelerated destructive testing experiments assessed corrosion resistance of the materials.