Improving Remedial Measures from Incident Investigations: A Study Across Ghanaian Mines
Background Learning from incidents for accident prevention is a two-stage process, involving the investigation of past accidents to identify the causal factors, followed by the identification and implementation of remedial measures to address the identified causal factors. The focus of past research has been on the identification of causal factors, with limited focus on the identification and implementation of remedial measures. This research begins to contribute to this gap. The motivation for the research is twofold. First, previous analyses show the recurring nature of accidents within the Ghanaian mining industry, and the causal factors also remain the same. This raises questions on the nature and effectiveness of remedial measures identified to address the causes of past accidents. Secondly, without identifying and implementing remedial measures, the full benefits of accident investigations will not be achieved. Hence …
Improving Sales and Marketing Collaboration: A Step-By-Step Guide
Improving the safety of smoked fish through kiln design the case of FAO-Thiaroye technique in Ghana
Smoked fish is a major source of animal protein for Ghanaians. However, traditional methods for processing the commodity potentially expose consumers to food safety risks. The methods typically rely on burning wood as fuel to cook and flavour fish. This practice is known to result in high amounts of carcinogens known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the smoked fish, with the consequence that the products could endanger public health and have reduced market access. An innovative processing system, called the F AO-Thiaroye Processing Technique (FTT), was launched in 2014 in Ghana to address concerns linked to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. It was envisaged that the design characteristics ofFTT and its reliance on alternative fuel use would reduce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons levels in smoked fish. This study therefore investigated the efficacy of the innovation through comparative fish smoking tests between FTT and the traditional kilns. Data obtained show that products from traditional kilns had polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons levels up to 33 times the globally referenced European Union maximum limits for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons regulation, whereas products from FTT had lower values than European Union maximum limits. The results demonstrate the efficacy of FTT to reduce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in smoked fish and thus improve the safety and market access of the products
Kennedy Bomfeh, B DeMeulenaer, L Jacxsens, WK Amoa-Awua, I Tandoh, EO Afoakwa, Y DieiOuadi, E GarridoGamarro
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
Incident causal factors and the reasons for conducting investigations: a study of five ghanaian large-scale mines
Background This research sought to understand the perspective of mineworkers regarding incident investigations, with the objective of identifying incident investigations improvement opportunities. First, through interviews, the research sought to identify the causal factors considered during investigations and the reasons for conducting investigations in the Ghanaian mining industry. Secondly, through questionnaire surveys, the study focused on understanding the extent to which a large sample of mineworkers considered the identified causal factors and investigation reasons relevant and applicable in their mine. Method Data were collected from 41 participants through interviews and 659 respondents through surveys, and the data were analyzed through thematic, content, and statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and correlation analysis. Result The interviews led to the identification of five and nine categories of incident causal factors and reasons for investigating incidents, respectively. The results suggested a focus on workers’ unsafe acts as the main incident causal factor and identifying the person who caused the incident as one of the major reasons for investigating incidents, as these two factors where the modal choice from both the interviews and survey across all five mines. The results further showed that concerning the accident causal factors and the reasons for investigating incidents, no significant difference was observed between the perspectives of mineworkers involved in investigations and mineworkers with no investigation responsibilities. Conclusion It can be concluded from the results that talking …
Eric Stemn, Florence Ntsiful, Marconi Afenyo Azadah, Theophilus Joe-Asare
Industrial chocolate manufacture–processes and factors influencing quality
Industrial Cybersecurity. Efficiently monitor the cybersecurity posture of your ICS environment
Fundamental of Cybersecurity (Cybersecurity)
Influence of cocoa butter refining on the quality of milk chocolate
A refining step is often crucial for the removal of undesired components in fats and oils. More flexible refining technologies are required due to a global decline in cocoa butter quality and to meet industry’s demand for cocoa butters with improved properties. The aim was to investigate the impact of the cocoa butter refining process on milk chocolate quality. Therefore a crude cocoa butter was subjected to a steam refining at different temperatures and this with or without a silica pretreatment. The major effect of the silica pretreatment was the complete removal of phosphorus (thus phospholipids), iron and alkaline components. During the steam refining step mainly Free Fatty Acids (FFA) were removed at increased temperatures (T⩾200°C). The refining of the cocoa butter influenced the rheological properties of the chocolate. An increased packed column temperature, coinciding with the removal of FFA, resulted in a …
Nathalie De Clercq, Kim Moens, Frédéric Depypere, José Vila Ayala, Gijs Calliauw, Wim De Greyt, Koen Dewettinck
Influence of Country of Origin on Brand Evangelism (E-WOM): The Mediating Role of Consumer Engagement in an Emerging Market
This study investigates the impact of country of origin (COO) on consumer attitudes and brand evangelism in Ghana’s telecommunications industry. The research uses a multi-study approach, examining three telecom brands (A, B, and C) in Ghana. The data was collected online and offline, with a month delay to reduce method bias. The study found that the COO significantly influences consumers’ affective and cognitive engagements with telecom brands A and B, but does not directly impact behavioral engagement of any of the brands. The study emphasizes the importance of emotional and cognitive connections in driving brand evangelism as behavioral engagement alone may not translate into evangelism. The findings suggest that telecom brands can leverage their COO to enhance consumer engagement and foster brand evangelism by emphasizing positive associations with their origin. This research fills a …
George Kofi Amoako, Hayford Amegbe, Antoinette Yaa Benewaa Gabrah, Innocent Senyo Kwasi Acquah, Joshua Kofi Doe
Influence of enzymatically produced sunflower oil based cocoa butter equivalents on the phase behavior of cocoa butter and quality of dark chocolate
The two enzymatically produced sunflower oil based cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs) were blended with cocoa butter (CB) at varying concentrations (g/100 g). The peak maximum decreased significantly upon the addition more CBE due to the presence of the low-melting TAGs. However, the melting heat and the melting onset temperature were comparable to CB up to 25 g CBE/100 g blend. The iso-solid diagram showed monotectic behavior with softening effect proportional to CBE increase. A significant decrease in SFC was observed at all temperatures for the blends in which the CBE ratio was above 25 g/100 g blend. The second part of this study was set out to determine the performance of CBE replacement in chocolates and compounds at 20 °C. All the chocolates and compounds even in the level of 5 g CBE/100 g blend had significantly lower Casson yield stress than reference chocolate. However, the …
Sheida Kadivar, Nathalie De Clercq, Mansura Mokbul, Koen Dewettinck
Influence of fermentation and cowpea steaming on some quality characteristics of maize-cowpea blends
Fermentation and cowpea steaming can be used to improve the protein quality and quantity of fermented maize dough. In the production of maize-cowpea blends, it is important that the quality characteristics are evaluated to determine their functionality in the products. A 5x4x2x2
Samuel Sefa-Dedeh, Yvonne Kluvitse, Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa