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The objective of the article was to describe the importance of a good technically and economically planned process for purchasing a rail vehicle. Compliance with this process with safety standards and energy efficiency is crucial regarding effectiveness in the long-life cycle cost of a rail vehicle. Methods that were used focused on audit and document analysis. In the result based on a specific audit of a railway company, some non-compliances were found, and it was methodically proven that they are significant risk factors in terms of performing such processes in the future. Major conclusions regarded the importance of fulfilling legal requirements of SMS for purchase purposes, involvement of a safety engineer post in this process, and usage of technical feedback regarding previous operation of railway vehicles and operational findings from the past. The transport policy of the EU and other developed countries sets ambitious goals for reducing energy consumption in transportation activities, which is linked to the aim of reducing environmental burdens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: Airborne LiDAR data are used to assess defoliation in old-growth forest stands in Warsaw, Poland It was found that defoliated trees are often of old age and cause severe risks to visitors in the two assessed urban nature reserves. Both reserves were affected by a severe winter storm and closed to visitors and old trees valuable for biodiversity were cut at a high rate, respectively. The proposed methodology helps predict risks to visitors and can be used to develop precise visitor management, visitor information, and other targeted measures to ensure trade-offs between biodiversity potential and visitor risks are minimal. Urban nature reserves in Poland are precious relics of ancient nature with preserved biodiversity. They consist of valuable trees several 100 years old, are biodiverse, and are valuable recreational spaces right in and around cities. It is therefore critical to manage tradeoffs between visitor safety due to, e.g., falling dead branches and the need for old-grown trees for biodiversity conservation. This study aimed to determine whether airborne laser scanning data (LiDAR) can confirm that trees exhibiting the worst crown defoliation are the first to be damaged in storms. Our results show that during Storm Eunice in 2022, the detected defoliated trees, in fact, were damaged the most. Despite such evidence available to the city, no targeted changes to the management of the reserves were taken after the storm. One of the forests was completely closed to visitors; in the other forest, areas with damaged trees were fenced off, and then, the remaining branches and fallen trees were removed to make the forest available for recreation. Using available evidence such as LiDAR data, we propose more targeted and nuanced forms of managing biodiversity conservation in conjunction with visitor safety. This includes the establishment of priority areas, visitor information, and visitor management. This way, airborne laser scanning and Geographic Information Systems can be used to balance management needs accounting for both biodiverse old-grown forest structures while at the same time providing added safety for visitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to define the risk factors in rail transport and to show that the lack of sufficient identification of risks in individual phases affects the implementation of this type of transport. A literature study has been conducted to identify key risk factors and their impact on rail transport in Poland. For this purpose, a list of railway accidents in 2010–2020 in which people were injured, or there were significant losses in terms of the environment was presented. The realization of the objective focused on research proceedings covering the theoretical and cognitive sphere. This study included an analysis of the existing theoretical heritage in the area of risk management processes in rail transport, as well as a survey of the empirical research, which concentrated on the identification and assessment of key factors that influence the realization of rail transport in Poland. The work is of a utilitarian nature, as the need for conscious risk management has been demonstrated in rail transport, and guidelines for risk management in rail transport have been developed. In addition, the paper presents the possibilities offered by modeling a problem situation with the help of network thinking methodology for solving complex problems, including supporting creativity on the example of railroad transport in Poland. To define problem situations in the studied area, a complex process of a multifaceted approach to the analyzed issue is required. When assessing the effectiveness of risk management in rail transport, one should take into account the adverse factors influencing the studied phenomenon. The main sources used to write this article were the available literature in the field of emergency management and publications on railroad transport. The conclusions have been based on the results of logical analysis, verified empirically with the use of statistical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The globally increasing healthcare expenditures related to the need to treat the consequences of adverse events, as well as the number of claims filed by patients (or their families) and remuneration paid as their result mean that the interest in the subject of adverse event cost management is increasing. An increase in the number of cases concerning medical errors has also occurred in Poland in recent years. The newest statistics from the Ministry of Justice demonstrate that the courts are awarding increasingly higher amounts. The goal of this work was an attempt to approximate, based on our own experiences, the impact of adverse events on the expenditures of the healthcare system in Poland, including the costs of treatment of the consequences of such events, described by the authors as "secondary harm"., Methods: Based on the analysis of 100 cases for compensation for the occurrence of a medical event, an initial estimate of the costs of primary (initial) treatment, which resulted in the occurrence of the adverse event, and the costs of subsequent hospitalisations/stays, which were its consequences. The study was conducted in the period from October 2020 to November of 2021., Results: The statistical analysis of the examined cases enabled establishing that in 62% they concerned women. Only 38% were events which applied to men. The highest number of cases concerned events which occurred in the last years, that is 2018 (35%), 2019 (23%), and 2017 (17%). The most frequent events included those related to incorrect diagnosis (the lack of correct diagnosis), which resulted in appropriate activities not being undertaken and a lack of appropriate treatment, e.g., lack of diagnosis of cancer, myocardial infarction, appendicitis, or fracture (26%). The next one was incorrect surgical treatment (17%)-the consequence of which was most frequently a need for repeated surgery and an incorrect conservative treatment of injuries. The obtained results demonstrate that significantly higher funds are spent by medical entities for "restorative" actions (on average EUR 1433, which attempt to mitigate against the negative consequences of incorrect decisions or actions in the original treatment (average cost of EUR 814))., Conclusions: The consequences of adverse events include not only health-related harm for the patient, but also long-term social, familial, or professional results. The authors of the article are of an opinion that all the conducted analyses and conclusions drawn from them should serve the improvement of patient safety. They also form an initial point for establishing recommendations and advice for the improvement of safety and quality of medical services and the reduction of healthcare-related costs. The authors propose covering the parties injured by an adverse event (subjected to "secondary harm") with a unique, innovative programme of post-accident health care, "Health Reconstruction".

Gen Z, people born in the Internet age, are entering the labour market and soon will be responsible for public administration. Such a situation creates the need to study their professional motivations and competencies. We aim to determine: (1) What are the motivating factors of Gen Z representatives? (2) What is the factor's structure of competencies of Gen Z employees? (3) Do Gen Z's interest in public administration result from their needs to realise the public interest? These questions are fundamental for the strategy of hiring and training newcomers. This original paper's insights have emerged iteratively based on a systematic literature searching method and data obtained from the surveys ( n = 335). Research of Polish representatives of Gen Z showed that their expectations are similar to those found in other countries. However, their responses suggest that ethical issues are not the most important for them. The presence of generation G on the labor market will generate a paradigm shift in the activity of companies and public institutions that will be the employers of these young people. Reconfiguration of the principles of human resource management is necessary so that organizations benefit from the qualities of generation Z-they gravitate towards gamified processes because of mobile-centricity; they are natives of global communication, self-learners, and self-motivators; they appreciate transparency.