We are nothing after our death. Let us donate our body organs for the poor.

Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvelous work The moment you fear, you are nobody - Swamy Vivekananda

If you think safety is expensive, try an accident... - O.P.Kharbanda

Preventable accidents, if they are not prevented due to our negligence, it is nothing short of a murder - Dr. Sarvepalli Radha Krishna, 2nd President of India

Zero accidents through zero unsafe behaviors. Do not be complacent that there are no accidents. There may be near miss accidents (NMAs). With luck/chance, somebody escaped knowingly or unknown to the person. But, we can't be safe, if we depend upon the luck.

Safety culture is how the organization behaves when no one is watching.

We make No compromise with respect to Morality, Ethics, or Safety. If a design or work practice is perceived to be unsafe, we do not proceed until the issue is resolved. - Mission statement by S&B Engineers & Consultants Ltd. http://www.sbec.com/safety/

Human meat gets least priority - A doctor's comment on accidents

CSB video excerpts from Dr.Trevor Kletz, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQn5fL62KL8

Dec 14, 2013

Ensuring use of PPE (personal protective equipment) by employees - whose responsibility?

Recently, in a conversation during an audit, I heard the following instructions to supervisors and employees about the use of PPE:
  1. Tell the shopfloor incharge to check for wearing safety shoes by all as there are some visitors.
  2. Tomorrow, audit team is coming. Tell everybody to wear safety shoes and goggles.
  3. Arey baba, wear shoes. Otherwise, we will get non-conformity (NC) by the audit team.
  4. If you don't wear safety shoe, unnecessarily, safety man will write letter.
  5. etc
The above will only show (shoe) that we have to wear safety gear only to please somebody and that the manager will not get any remarks from visitors or audit / inspection team. Nobody thinks that PPE are required for our own safety. The way we wear our clothes without being told by anybody, why don't we tell that PPE are required to protect our body parts, but NOT to protect the skin of plant manager / supervisor.

This shows that though we shout from roof top that safety is our first priority, it is, in fact first from last. It is in a way, an abusive word. Or, hatred term. Some managers may even have hatredness by seeing the safety persons even from distance and may be cursing the fellow.

In such organisations, who can save the workmen. Even GOD can not save them, as they want to inflict injuries to their own workmen from whom they want to get better production. 

Here, even workmen should be blamed for not wearing PPE. Else, why one should tell or keep on telling wear this, wear that, and so on. Don't they know? Supervisors / managers / safety officers should only do monitoring job to correct the mistakes made unknowingly, not to tell everyday same thing to those who do not want to follow. Such persons should be removed from the work. Then only, others can be protected. Otherwise, youngsters who join the organization may pick up or learn the work to do in a wrong way. 

Here, the issue is not about wearing only safety shoe or helmet or something else. This way of working leads to wrong work practices and poor safety culture. 

And an expert defined safety culture as the way we work (or do things), even when nobody is watching.

Dec 8, 2013

Starting problem with vehicle not used for some time

I am having scooter which I sparingly use as I my regular use vehicle is a motor cycle. Today, I gave my motor cycle for servicing and I had the problem of starting my scooter. When I took it to mechanic, he examined and on enquiry with me about its use, told me that we should not leave petrol in the vehicle which is not in use for a long time. Instead, he suggested to fill the petrol as and when required and use it. He said that the evaporation of petrol coupled with degradation of lubricating oil which will be mixed with it during filling leads to this starting problem.
Another problem I find with battery start vehicles is discharge of battery.

This is a lesson learned today.

Nov 30, 2013

Safety education - a subject to be made compulsory at all levels in schools and colleges

Even after so many years of industrialization, with all available knowledge, still, accidents are taking place. This only shows that managements pay only lip service for safety in their organizations. 

It appears managements think that having a safety department means that it is the responsibility of safety department to ensure safety and that other departments like production, maintenance, quality, etc need to be told what is to be done for ensuring safety of all. 

This also means that safety is not part of all activities and it is seen as an additional activity like an extra organ in a body, which nobody likes. 

Though people like to remove the extra organ, if it is not possible to remove for any reason, then people bear with it, cursing it or their fate. It appears, safety department is also in a similar situation. One can not avoid it because it is mandatory to have certain number of safety officials as per the local government's legislation. At the same, like the extra organ people don't like it. 

The fact that there is lot of friction between safety and other departments in the organizations shows that there is no safety culture. And culture is defined by experts as the activity which one does even when nobody else is watching. Good culture leads to safe work behaviors and no accidents.

This is all because, it appears to me that safety is not taught from the childhood. If it is included as a subject like language / maths / science / etc, then it is imbibed in the minds and is treated with all respect it deserved. Safety management should not be thought as the work of safety department. It should be an integral part of all activities. 

Nov 15, 2013

Cockroach chase leads to factory fire - how to eliminate cockroaches in your place?

Today, I read in a forum, i.e indiansafetyprofessionals@yahoogroups.com, that a house wife died of burns when she sprayed a cockroach killer in the kitchen near the gas stove which was ON. The spray, being flammable caused explosion.
Husband of the lady who tried to extinguish flames is still in the hospital due to burns.

I too had similar experience, though without injury, which I posted earlier. http://safetychat.blogspot.in/2010/09/safety-of-cockroach-killing-sprays.html

Then, when I searched internet for similar incidents, following links were found.

1. Man sets his factory on fire to kill cockroaches.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2010/11/15/no-factory-smoke-without-roach-fire/

2. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-06-27/cockroach-spray-sparks-house-fire/2772730
http://www.mfb.vic.gov.au/News/Killing-cockroaches-with-aerosol-spray-starts-house-fire-.html


Best solution I found to get rid off the cockroaches is to use the latest HIT GEL and I am not finding any cockroach in my flat for the last few months (more than three months). Occasionally, when I find something, I use it and my house is free. Otherwise, there were hundreds of cockroaches, hidden behind tiles / corners / books / papers, etc and being in apartment complex, I thought no amount of treatment will solve my problem as they can come from other flats, even if I eliminate in my house.

The youtube video of the company can be seen in the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z9kv40SNpk

Some solutions given below:
1. http://housewifehowtos.com/clean/how-to-get-rid-of-cockroaches/
2. http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files/nr/2000/sp0007.pdf

Nov 12, 2013

Double riding on forklifts - is it acceptable?

Questions are raised on whether one can have a ride on the forklift apart from the forklift operator? Or, for that matter on any other material handling equipment like pallet truck or tractor, etc.
Anybody sitting next to the operator of the vehicle causes inconvenience that may lead to road accidents. Unless, the equipment is designed such that the vehicle controls are within the reach of the operator and that the sitting position of co-riders in noway obstructs operation/control of the vehicle, one should not permit riding on the vehicle.
It is quite common to see persons sitting on either side of the driver of tractors and sometimes on the connecting attachment between the tractor and the trailer, causing inconvenience to the driver. These person apart from causing inconvenience also cause diversion of driver's attention by talking among themselves and with the driver.
We should not add seats or modify the design of the vehicle on our own, unless it is permitted by the supplier. As said above, one should see whether the vehicle can be operated safely by the driver, with the changed design i.e addition of seats. Otherwise, we will be creating hazard for the persons in the factory.

I read sometime ago, that in some places, double riding is a punishable offence. A case study in the form of judgement teaches us that factory management also got responsibility  to create awareness among employees about do's and don't's for forklift use/operation.

Nov 11, 2013

Chemical burns - why to wash a spilled chemical on the body for atleast 15 minutes?

Recently, during an interaction with some trainees, nobody could understand the reason for washing a body part splashed with acid/alkali for atleast 15 minutes.
I read long ago that the studies showed removal of chemical by 93-95% even for washing this much time. Once, the reason is known, one will remember and follow the guidelines. Else, it will be like washing something that has fallen on the body which will not last more than a minute.
Time should not be lost between the splash and wash with water as damage will increase.
Further, any alkali in the eyes should be washed with more care as alkali can cause eye damage even to the extent of blindness.
As per standards, emergency shower and eye wash fountain should be located within 15 meters and atleast 16 lpm water in eye wash fountain and atleast 110 lpm in the shower at 196 kpa pressure. There should not be any obstruction the approach to the shower/eye wash should be straight so that the affected can quickly reach and use it.
The 15 m distance is not the straight distance (aerial), but it should be the total distance to be covered by the affected person.
The persons in the area should ensure its availability by testing in every shift and to allow the water to run off for sometime so that there will not be any foreign particles (rust, etc) that can cause damage to the person while using in real emergency.

Trade off between production and safety

Safety is our first concern, so say, everybody in public forums. But, there is also something called, ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practicable). What is the measure of this ALARP. What is ALARP for me need not be the same for others. Still, we have to put our wisdom so that we do not endanger the lives of workmen, public and the environment. One should not go by apparent/immediate effects. Instead, one should see for invisible but disastrous and also long term effects.
Mostly, shop floor managers see the the visible effects whereas safety professionals see the invisible effects. Here comes the friction and safety managers will be pressurized to yield to the arguments of "there are no effects and not to imagine wildly".
Safety managers are treated as untouchables / non-entities and ridiculed at every next opportunity. It is known that every known hazard will not lead to a disaster and this gives strength to the arguments of short sighted shop floor managers and safety managers have to watch in despair.
One does not try to learn from the case studies and safety managers are shouted when pointed about similar occurrences and may be branded as brainless fellows.
But, when something happens, the black sheep will be the safety manager. At that time, again, safety managers are ridiculed for not foreseeing the hazards and that they do nothing.

The solution is to fix responsibility. If safety manager is lax, he should be responsible. If production  manager doesn't listen in spite of pointing out by safety, he should be responsible. Management should not try to protect production managers in those situations. And, every near miss/incident, irrespective of its severity, should be investigated and responsibility should be fixed. Only then, I feel that everybody understands safety and its benefits.

Oct 9, 2013

Government proposes safety rating system for chemical plants | Business Standard

Government likes to rate chemical plants based on 19 key performance indicators in order to create need for zero accidents in their plants with respect to safety and security and also to provide incentives to good organizations.

I feel this is a beginning and new idea from government. Government should further extend this and ask insurance companies to use this rating while assessing the premiums. Erring companies should be charged high premiums.

But, care is to be taken to ensure that (risk) assessment will be carried out by experts and these experts are selected based on strict parameters. Else, poor assessment leads to wrong faith in the capabilities of chemical plants and its management.

Government proposes safety rating system for chemical plants | Business Standard

The draft document is available from the link as below. Interested parties can send suggestions by  end of October 2013. Such suggestions can be sent by e-mail at dirrt1@rediffmail.com; arun.agarwal@nic.in or by post. The department after receiving the comments will incorporate to prepare final documents on “Chemical Plant Safety and Security Rating System”.

http://chemicals.nic.in/Forwd30092013.pdf


Sep 20, 2013

WTF Facts : funny, interesting & weird facts about probability, risk

WTF Facts : funny, interesting & weird facts

The above link gives information about the probability of some events (mostly death). Cancer death is most probable among the listed events and chance of being hit by a falling satellite is the least probable.


Sep 1, 2013

Chemical leak in Shanghai kills 15, sickens dozens

Chemical leak in Shanghai kills 15, sickens dozens

Ammonia leak from a food processing company led to deaths and many more were affected. About 200 fire fighters were involved in water spray to dissolve ammonia.

It is stated that earlier in June in some other company, an ammonia leak led fire and more than 100 died.

Incidents of ammonia fire are rare to find compared to toxic deaths.
LINK

Aug 22, 2013

NFPA fire statistics for the year 2011

http://www.nfpa.org/research/fire-statistics

One can see fire statistics, statistical reports, major causes, etc by clicking through different links. Very much useful to caution the people.

Aug 21, 2013

Rescue of persons from height in China - videos from Yahoo

http://in.screen.yahoo.com/dramatic-high-rise-rescues-caught-180152688.html

Person dies after long hours of work

An intern died after reportedly spending long hours of work. Legislations specify certain number of hours of work per day, per week, etc and limits on overtime hours also. However, these rules are mostly applied to factory workers and I am not sure whether they are applied to supervisors and blue collared employees in the same organization. 
This leads to spending long hours at work place by these people, either by force, or even if there is no requirement, may be to learn the work, or to get attention of higher authorities. This type of work is not possible forever. If somebody joins as trainee/apprentice and even for regular employees, managements of any establishment should strictly enforce working hours, instead of being a passive onlooker. Only then, these types of incidents can be avoided at the work place. It is all in work culture which is guided by safety culture of the organization. 



610 kg Saudi man forklifted to hospital

This may be an exceptional case. But, people should not draw inspiration to use forklift for personal movement. Forklifts are for material handling. A number of persons got injured while riding on forklift. If the person standing on the forks near mast does not remove his hand, he may get finger amputation during mast movement.
Remember the injury to Imran Khan, famous cricketer and politician in Pakistan who fell down and got injured due to imbalance while standing on a forklift.
610 kg Saudi man forklifted to hospital

Saudi Civil Defense members use a forklift to move Khaled Mohsen Shaeri from his apartment in the Saudi city of Jizan, and to be airlifted to the capital Riyadh for medical treatment, on August 19, 2013.
LINK

Aug 20, 2013

Stress management

In the childhood, we do not know what we are doing, though we are pleasurable (or nuisance) to others by our deeds. Later as we grow, we may not remember what enjoyed or suffered at that age. In the childhood, we are influenced / disciplined by others.

The day we start realizing what we want, we put lot of efforts voluntarily to reach the goal. This leads to stress when we are controlled by others also, like, parents, teachers, friends, bosses, etc.

We put so much effort to get good work/job, and once we get work, we become eligible to have a life partner. So much advice pours in from all directions, and one day, we marry some one.

By the time we understand each other and settles in the married life, offspring will lead to pleasure initially associated with stress on their studies and future. All along with this, we will have constant work pressure. Any headache from work place also will lead to troubled life at home as we find it difficult to put a stop or zip the thoughts of work. Though, people preach we should balance work and family life, our craving for excellence in both will not lead to any happiness anywhere.

To climb up the steps in work place, we do more work and a performer will always get more work and any drop will wipe out all hard work done all long till that time. So continuous stress will be there on us from work place activity.

Family pressure to take care of spouse and children and sometimes unnecessary fears, only compound our stress.

Experts advise to visit religious places, do exercise, take breaks from routine life, change food habits, develop hobbies like book reading, social service, etc but nothing will relieve stress permanently and bring happiness. Whatever we do, we keep on thinking about work and family in the mind.

We have to take stress part of life and live with it. If we observe others, for a given task, stress levels are not same in all persons. Again, with age and experience, our stress levels will change.

Something stressful today may not be causing same level of stress tomorrow. Many suicides can be stopped, if persons with suicidal tendency do not take hasty decisions. Just leave the so called  problem to its fate. May be solutions can be found in a day or two. Sometimes, the problem on its own disappears. Other times, it may persists, but we may get some more time to solve. At the most, we may loose something, like, money, reputation, etc. But, definitely, we will get much more later by our hard work. At this point of time, i.e. after lapse of time, when we look back, we may laugh at our own rash decisions/thoughts.

Just sit back and think about future. After all hard work, at the end of our active work life, what we want. We might have lost all our valuable time (read personal happiness), by the time we reached the fag end of our work life. The way we left our parents, in pursuit of our goals, our children also will leave us. May be spouse also, will leave us forever, or will stay with the children and we have to spend lonely life.

With all money and so called higher prestigious positions we reached, nothing will be useful when we are at say 55 or 60 years. In the young age, while spending long hours at work, we would have missed many lunches. But, when we reach certain age, even if we get time, we can't eat because of the health problems.

Finally, our hard earned money will be useful to family members and others. May be we derive satisfaction that they are happy. But, they too will be unhappy and you will not get any appreciation for your efforts, because their ambitions are much higher as their start point is more than yours.

A disciplined life, without too much ambition, will make us to live with peace of mind. Though, people advise to dream to achieve, our dreams should be in line with our limitations. Building castles in the air will not help us, unless we don't mind with the results and be happy with whatever we get.



Aug 18, 2013

Understanding self may help to reduce violence

Greed and ambition are turning us to go to any length to get what we want. Short cuts are taken in the form of physical abuse in this regard. This is making us to be like beasts in the wild life.

If we sit quiet and think what is that we want, whether really we should have those and whether possession of the same will bring happiness forever, and if we compare with those already we possessed by similar desire, we find we are not having happiness and peace of mind.

Whatever we already possessed by various means would have brought only momentary or short living pleasures.

For these temporary gratifications, we go to any extent, if we are not in proper frame of mind. As the media reports we see, many killings are happening, to steal or to settle some issue.

All these to satisfy this body. But, do we really know what is our body and what is that inside. If we know, probably, violence may come down, because our beautiful body on outward appearance is actually containing parts which we may not like to see, if our skin is not present.

Imagine the world, where we don't have skin and have to live without skin. In such an imaginary condition, if it is real, whether we really try to behave the way what we are doing now. It is my belief that our mental state will become balanced and try to live without harming others. What we have to struggle is to satisfy our hunger and minimal needs.

Mahatma Gandhi said that this world is having enough to satisfy our needs but not the GREED.

If, one sees medical education videos available in youtube, like, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTbhWxEu27I, and similar ones, our thought process will change and definitely, it will be for a better world than what is today.

Aug 17, 2013

Fire while working on a gas line

A fire erupted when persons were working in a hole (pit) on gas line. A person with minor burns on face and hands went to hospital. The flames caused damaged to electric lines above.
It is reported that the crew searched for nearby shutoff valve to stop the fire. It appears that the crew did not do their job hazard analysis properly. Whether any safety permit is taken also is not clear.
This work, ie. working on a gas line that too in a pit is nothing but a confined space work and also working on line filled with gas.
One should have stopped gas flow and evacuated the line with inert gas before start of work. For safety, slip plate also should be inserted on either ends of the gas line to avoid passing or accidental flow. Emergency plan also should be in place which prepares the persons involved what to do in real emergency situation.
Searching for shutoff valve only indicates poor planning.

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/north/10011420876346/gas-main-break-leads-to-manhole-fire-in-bedford/

Aug 14, 2013

Hazards in the job of trainers?

Recently, I delivered a talk in a safety training programme. After the lecture, I went out of the training hall, and tried to talk to my office for vehicle pickup to my workplace. One of the participants came to me and advised me to remove portable microphone, which was given to me before the talk. My phone conversation was audible in the training hall.

This is a lesson for me. I should have switched off the mic and handed over to the program coordinator. I forgot this. The other side is whatever I utter also will be audible and any loose talk (which may happen) would have put me in shame, if not in trouble.



Aug 12, 2013

Picture This! Shocking Video Debunks Workplace 'Accidents' » SafetySmart

Picture This! Shocking Video Debunks Workplace 'Accidents' » SafetySmart

In the video, a woman carrying hot water slips on a smooth surface having some spillage and the hot water splash on her body causes scalds.
The video in the above link is old and seen earlier also. However, it is important to note that many do not care about smooth slippery surfaces that are because of surface finish, spillage of liquids, etc. Use of improper shoe, or presence of congested areas, etc add to the hazard. Many even question about considering such surfaces as hazard.

Pray God that nobody should undergo such punishment.

Aug 11, 2013

Dangers of hydro fluoric acid HF

Recently, I had an interaction with some persons in a training programme. During the discussion, a person narrated his experience with HF handling three decades ago.

The person was asked to take a plastic bottle from one place to another. He held the bottle at the top and it crumbled and in the process, he had splashing of some contents on his thumb. Not knowing what it is, he washed and continued his work. Later, in the evening he had swelling and pain for which he consulted the doctor.

On enquiry, it came out that the bottle contained some HF.

After a week of exposure to HF, the injured could see the bone of the thumb and it took a long time for recovery.

Though, I could not make out the injury from the normal appearing thumb, but the pain underwent is visible, when he narrated the incident to the audience.

Search from internet shows incidents, wherein, innocent persons just washed off the spillage with some water and continued their work, but were found dead in the sleep.

As per standard practice, in case of any chemical splash, remove the clothing and wash the affected organs for atleast 15 minutes and consult the doctor. Even after 15 minutes wash, only about 95% of the chemical is removed and thus care is very much required. One should not ignore the advice by experts.

Jul 28, 2013

Industrial accidents - No value for human meat?

Today, I attended a one-day medical education programme. In one of the sessions, a speaker, while speaking about industrial injuries and care to be taken, lamented that we value animal meat whereas no importance/value is given to human meat. 
This statement is very much appropriate considering the fact that little care is taken to protect workers and this is the reason for occurrence of so many injuries every year in industrial establishments. Lucky are those who retire, without disfiguring their organs.

Jul 25, 2013

Road safety - impatience of heavy vehicle drivers

Today, I went out to take admission for my son. My wife was on the wheel. While returning, on a busy road, a state government bus driver kept honking and we could not give way, as the road ahead is not free. After a while, that driver overtook us from left side and drove to right past of our vehicle, threatening to crush our car. While overtaking, he waved his right hand furiously.
I could not understand, how one will get moving space when the road is full of traffic. All vehicle drivers need psychology classes, road accident data, reasons for road accidents and stress levels to all on the road. As per data, most of the road victims are due to hit by state buses.
Recently, a college girl died (see my previous post) when hit from behind by a state run bus. 

Jul 24, 2013

Road safety: Heavy rains - pot holes - accidents

A school girl died when she fell from pillion seat due to pot holes and was hit by the bus behind. The roads were damaged due to rains and municipal authorities say that they have to wait for dry weather for road repairs.
The quality of the road is very important and it should not be some temporary patch work. Otherwise, this will repeat with every rain.
Though some quality professionals do not agree that quality and safety are interlinked, the above incident shows that both are linked. No quality means no safety.
The contractors should be penalized for bad work and bank guarantees should be obtained for specific period.

Jul 11, 2013

Manholes: an open sore - The Hindu

Manholes: an open sore - The Hindu

Manholes like bore wells are death traps. Poor maintenance, removal of manhole (possibly clogged) cover by somebody to allow draining of water stagnated in front of their house/building, theft of manhole covers, not putting back after dechoking, etc are some of the reasons which lead to fall of persons when it is even dry or not known to persons when covered with water, particularly in rains.
Few years ago, a person was washed off through the coverless storm water drain and his body was found few kilometres away in open canal.

Jul 10, 2013

Radiological Safety Officer - training programme

 http://www.iarp.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/details_about_nucleonic_gauge_training_course.pdf

The above gives details of eligibility, course topics, application form, etc about training course on "Radiation Safety Aspects of Nucleonic Gauges" conducted in Mumbai. Qualifying the training course makes one eligible to work as Radiological Safety Officer (RSO) which is a statutory requirement for facilities dealing with radiation.

Jul 4, 2013

Control room safety - Hospital 'Alarm Fatigue' Killing Patients » SafetySmart

Hospital 'Alarm Fatigue' Killing Patients » SafetySmart

Control room safety issues:

How much is TOO MUCH? There is a limit for everything, but what is the limit is the main question and it may depend on person to person.
Lack of or overdose of information also do lead to dangerous practices in a workplace.
Few years ago, I saw a number of information bulletins in a factory which I visited as a part of my safety diploma course and I thought that nobody will see those bulletins as people will not find time unless 15-30 minutes is spent in that place. And shop floor supervisor will not allow his worker to stand and read for so much time.
Information should be crisp and to the point.
Similarly, number of indications and alarms in control room of a plant also should be judicious. If more number are to be provided, then there should be more number of persons in the control room, i.e limit the indications and alarms to be taken care by each person. May be 3-5 monitor screens (monitor size also matters!!!) per person to be viewed for action.
Else, one will not be attentive and is lost in the maze of so many parameters to be monitored, leading to a dangerous situation.

Jun 25, 2013

Burn injuries - an article from The Hindu titled "A burning question"

A burning question - The Hindu

LINK

In an article on burn injuries in The Hindu, following are stated:
  1. Out of 30 lakh burn injuries every year in India, 10 lakh victims die and most of them are women and children.
  2. Burn injuries can be from heat, electricity, chemicals, light or radiation. 
  3. First degree burns involve upper skin (epidermis) and need about a week to heal.
  4. Second degree burns involve upper skin (epidermis and and portions of dermis), sweat glands, hair follicles, etc leading blister formation, swelling and pain and require two weeks to heal.
  5. Third degree burns involve deeper skin, charring the tissues and structures and may require three weeks to heal.
  6. Fourth degree burns involve subcutaneous tissue, tendons and even bone damage.
  7. Hot air inhaled during fire incidents damage respiratory tract and swelling and lead to complications.
  8. Beyond 40 degree centigrade, protein in the skin is coagulated causing tissue destruction.
  9. In chemical burns, protein is converted rapidly to salt causing same damage.
Burn injuries also affect psychology of the persons and require care and counselling.

During acid splash, generally persons wash with some water and do their business. But until unless total chemical is washed, it will continue to cause destruction. There can be delayed effects from inhalation of vapors from the dress material that is soaked with the chemicals like HF, phosgene, etc leading to deaths in the sleep.
Alkali burns cause more destruction to eyes even to the extent of blindness.
Therefore, removing the clothes with chemicals, continuous washing for atleast 15 minutes (even then only about 93-95% chemical is washed off) is necessary and this information should be spread among all persons working with chemicals.
In case of flash burns from arc flash, the temperature can be 20000 degree centigrade and can lead to deaths.
Then, immediate treatment to burn victims is also a must. As it gets delayed, damage will be more and chances of recovery will come down. One should know, whom to contact, which hospital to be referred and action should be taken to quickly shift the victim with care.

Jun 23, 2013

Mixing of chemicals - chlorine release


Chlorine gas released in to atmosphere affected persons, when staff of a health club accidentally mixed polyaluminium chloride with the swimming pool disinfectant sodium hypochlorite
 
Poor management and control of hazardous substances was found as the cause for the occurrence of the incident during investigation.
        
Proper training, testing of understanding and retraining are most important in handling chemical substances and only those who qualify and are certified for hazardous substance handling should be engaged in such works.      


http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/health-club-fined-over-toxic-gas.21393479

New NIOSH Smart Phone App Addresses Ladder Safety

The following links to the subject matter. While I copied this application in my android tablet and phone, I found a number of android applications useful for safety professionals, like checklists, API pressure vessel questions, dangerous goods manual, physics equations, chemistry equations, heat exchanger, cylindrical tank volume, valves, sound meter, light meter, speed meter, HSE news, etc. And all these and many more are free.

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-06-17-13.html

Jun 16, 2013

Scaffold erection - work at height - construction safety

I booked a flat and work is in  progress (for last three years!!!). Today, I attended a meeting of flat owners with the builder. Like earlier times, again date for handover was extended by a month. The reason told was that because of rains and high velocity winds at height, and as it involves erection of scaffolds i.e work at height, construction activity was stopped.

Whatever was in other owners' minds, as a safety professional, I was glad to hear such a thing that builder stopped his work inspite of project delay. Already, he is running beyond the agreed possession date which was almost two years ago and is liable to pay some compensation as per the agreement.

How many will take such a decision though it is well known fact that any untoward incident will lead to project delays due to enquiries by police and municipal authorities.

Construction is an activity in which large number of accidents take place and the work force is also mobile with little protection for their lives.

Jun 13, 2013

Bank employee takes a nap on keyboard, transfers millions | The Hindu

Bank employee takes a nap on keyboard, transfers millions | The Hindu

293 million US dollars were transferred by a bank employee who was asleep while on the job. Imagine what can happen if somebody on the job in the control room of a chemical plant sleeps.

All plant employees should be healthy, and had sufficient rest before attending their duty. In some plants, workers have long working hours and on few occasions, they have to continue if reliever does not come, doing overtime.

Legislations specify number of working hours (8-9.5 hr) with rest in between and also the number of hours which a person can work continuously in a day and number of hours in a week, quarter and so on to ensure that they get sufficient rest and are not forced or lured for extra money they get. It is not possible to work more hours continuously and this will lead to mistakes and accidents.

May 8, 2013

Forklift for transport of persons

 Most famous cricketer and politician, Imran Khan fell from a makeshift platform on the forks of a forklift, while moving up to reach election campaign stage. The video (http://vimeo.com/65647621) and (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AlUH9vqCf5g)  show clearly that already, it was used to move some people on to the stage before the incident happened. There were 6-7 persons including Imran Khan on the forklift, and while fifth person tried to go up, the group lost balance and fell from a height of about 5 m.
The idea of using forklift instead of erecting steps to reach the stage is a misconceived one and in the process caused injuries to the cricketer and politician. In industries, use of forklift for other than material handling/movement is viewed seriously.

May 1, 2013

Bursting of empty plastic chemical drum while removing the lid with a hot rod




Three children aged 8, 10 and 12 years were mildly injured when they tried to remove the cover of the empty plastic drum that was used for storing chemicals. As soon as they inserted a hot rod through the top cover, the drum got burst.   The children were offered Rs. 10/- to remove the top cover by a person. The hole mark is visible near the ruptured portion. 




Safety work permit - violation of conditions

 Safety work permits are issued after ensuring that the site conditions are suitable for safe work. Check points are verified and are certified for start of work. However, still sometimes accidents take place indicating that either job hazard analysis is not done properly, conditions are altered during the course of work, workmen are not briefed about hazards and measures to be taken, many times they are not aware of what is written in the permit and simply do the work as they were told or as they can do, lack of supervision, etc.
In a huge manufacturing facility, a number of works will be going on and generally, the supervisor will be monitoring more than one work at any given time. In such a condition, at least, emphasis should be given to training to the persons engaged. All are not of superman category.
But, when earnings are motive, all other aspects take back seat. Many times, procedure for selection of the contractor or agency to do the outsourced work is the culprit. If selection is made without assessing the competency of the person/agency for safe execution of work, without checking the credentials, without giving proper description of the work, then we will get a wrong person in most of the cases.
In some cases, trainees are placed directly on to the job without proper class room training and supervision. This also leads to accidents as they are in the organization to learn, initially in the class room and then to have on the job training under supervision. Sometimes, these trainees even will be manning the shifts, particularly at night times when availability of regular work force is less and may be when nobody watches. Though, this is disastrous, shop floor managers take such decisions without taking the concurrence of higher ups. If seniors also give consent, then it is silly and such persons should be terminated or they should be asked to supervise instead of posting trainees for manning the shifts / works.

ATTENTION ONLY TO PRODUCTION CAN LEAD TO DETENTION.
ATTENTION TO SAFE PRODUCTION WILL SURELY LEAD TO CONGRATULATIONS.

Apr 29, 2013

Sun burns on banana - Banana burns???

I went out with my family for some work and parked the car under direct sun as it was open ground and there is no shaded parking available. I carried some banana with me and left the remaining inside the car. After coming back 4 hours later, I found banana peels got burnt as above. For comparison, two bananas which I carried with me are shown adjacent. Only peels turned black and inside, fruit is good though some softening took place. Outside temperature was 40 degree Celsius. The window panes were kept about 0.5 inch down from the top instead of fully closing while leaving the car to allow escape of hot air. Still, the above incident took place. I do not know what will happen, if we sit for four hours in the car in those conditions. Atleast second degree burns!!! We have to give a thought about safety against sun exposure and sun stroke.

Banana peel that got burnt after exposure to sun at 40 deg C for about 4 hours


Investigators: Rail car, ammonia tank did not explode at West plant - WacoTrib.com: Fire

Investigators: Rail car, ammonia tank did not explode at West plant - WacoTrib.com: Fire

LINK

At the end of the article in the above link, it is stated that there is no water in the hydrant.

Apr 28, 2013

Playing in the mud is good for health

An article in a vernacular daily says that allowing children to play outside is good for them in all respects. Playing with others leads to developing bond. Mud smell keeps the mind pleasant. Playing outside helps them to understand nature. The brain activity increases as they make some pictures, dolls, etc with mud. Further, the mud contains good bacteria that increases body resistance to diseases. So, says the article as per the doctors in Mumbai.
Whereas video games make the children to be aloof, to stay indoors, eating all junk food while playing leading to obesity and other health problems.

Disastrous effects of sitting for long hours

 Sitting is the new smoking - a health alert in Times of India daily reads. As per research for 15 years studying the effects of sitting for long hours, it is found that sitting for more than four hours causes obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, multiple cancers, etc. It is advised to set an alarm to go around and have some exercise. Sitting makes metabolic system to sleep whereas small movements will help to keep metabolic system recharged.
My ex-boss (20 years ago), used to take water as soon as he comes to office and relieves pressure in half-hour to one hour. Before coming to seat, he will take a glass or two of water and resumes work. This makes him to get up again after sometime. I find this is very good method to avoid sitting for long, immersed in the work.
However, with my personal experience, I used to hold the pressure for sometime (even 3 hours) because of work pressure. I do not know the health effects, but definitely not good for the body.

Apr 25, 2013

Let us thank those who find our mistakes

We will be hurt and get irritated too when somebody points out our mistakes. This happens in our annual performance assessment report, audits, discussions (arguments?) with colleagues / partners / spouse / children / etc.

However, there is a saying, "It is easy to find mistakes in others, Difficult to find our own mistakes".

When we take it positively, look at it with a peace of mind, we feel we should thank those who find our mistakes because they have done our job.

As per another saying, " a problem found is as good as half of the work is done, we only have to find a solution". The problem is our inability to find the problem.

Recently, I watched a movie titled, "Hot Shots! Part Deux" in TV. A dialogue in the movie is, 'we all have permission to make mistakes. It is called learning".

A long time patient sometimes, is better than a doctor.

Learning from past accidents (mistakes) is what we should do. Like we can't have life long schooling, we can't be continuous learners, making same mistakes again and again. We have to learn from our mistakes and those of others who suffered.

Safety officers/inspectors during inspection / audit find the deficiencies and communicate to plant in-charges. Plant in-charges should thank these lot for finding the deficiencies and for helping them to work for a better workplace.

Featured Post

Reduced my weight from 96 to 76 kg and tummy from 38-40 to 34-35 inches in about 9 months

I am working in the safety department of a government organization. As a part of the job, I used to go around and interact with person...