- Tell the shopfloor incharge to check for wearing safety shoes by all as there are some visitors.
- Tomorrow, audit team is coming. Tell everybody to wear safety shoes and goggles.
- Arey baba, wear shoes. Otherwise, we will get non-conformity (NC) by the audit team.
- If you don't wear safety shoe, unnecessarily, safety man will write letter.
- etc
A place for my personal thoughts/views on safety, with focus on industrial safety.
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?
Dec 8, 2013
Starting problem with vehicle not used for some time
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
Nov 15, 2013
Cockroach chase leads to factory fire - how to eliminate cockroaches in your place?
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?
Nov 11, 2013
Chemical burns - why to wash a spilled chemical on the body 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
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 16, 2013
Oct 9, 2013
Government proposes safety rating system for chemical plants | Business Standard
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
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 6, 2013
Sep 1, 2013
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
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
Person dies after long hours of work
610 kg Saudi man forklifted to hospital
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
LINK
Aug 20, 2013
Stress management
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
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
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?
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
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
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 31, 2013
From Safety Smart - Machine Guard quiz
http://compliance.safetysmart.com/articles-insight/latest-headlines/name-that-machine-guard?utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Bongarde
The above link takes to the quiz from Safety Smart. I scored 8 out of 10. Good programme by Safety Smart.
Jul 28, 2013
Industrial accidents - No value for human meat?
Jul 26, 2013
Toilet break time is also official during work hours - tribunal judgement
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Soldier-taking-toilet-break-during-working-hours-should-be-considered-on-duty-Tribunal/articleshow/21350476.cms
Jul 25, 2013
Road safety - impatience of heavy vehicle drivers
Jul 24, 2013
Road safety: Heavy rains - pot holes - accidents
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 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
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
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"
LINK
In an article on burn injuries in The Hindu, following are stated:
- Out of 30 lakh burn injuries every year in India, 10 lakh victims die and most of them are women and children.
- Burn injuries can be from heat, electricity, chemicals, light or radiation.
- First degree burns involve upper skin (epidermis) and need about a week to heal.
- 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.
- Third degree burns involve deeper skin, charring the tissues and structures and may require three weeks to heal.
- Fourth degree burns involve subcutaneous tissue, tendons and even bone damage.
- Hot air inhaled during fire incidents damage respiratory tract and swelling and lead to complications.
- Beyond 40 degree centigrade, protein in the skin is coagulated causing tissue destruction.
- In chemical burns, protein is converted rapidly to salt causing same damage.
Alkali burns cause more destruction to eyes even to the extent of blindness.
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
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/health-club-fined-over-toxic-gas.21393479
New NIOSH Smart Phone App Addresses Ladder Safety
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-06-17-13.html
Jun 16, 2013
Scaffold erection - work at height - construction safety
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
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.
Jun 11, 2013
Work at height - Two Decisions and Two Outcomes
LINK
The above link shows necessity of using safety belt while working at height.
May 30, 2013
May 10, 2013
May 8, 2013
Forklift for transport of persons
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
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???
|
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
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
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
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.
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