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

Jul 17, 2016

Explosion in petrol pump - tank thrown 500 m away


In an explosion in petrol pump, the tank was thrown 500 m away, captured by a passerby in mobile.

One person died and 17 injured in the incident. Flying of the tank can be seen in the video linked above.

Jul 11, 2016

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 persons. Some of them used to look at me in a way not giving much attention to my words and said that they are elder and senior enough by experience and know what they are doing.  I thought, I should look elderly by appearance. I allowed my body to shape bigger, sometimes, by forcing my tummy bulge. I was happy with increase in waist, chin bags, etc.

28 years ago, I was 65 kg when I completed my college studies and joined for work and was 75 kg, 21 years ago. My weight was in early eighties about 6-8 years ago. I used to compare my weight with one of my senior colleagues who too weighed nearer to me and was happy. I never bothered about my weight.

One day, about 9 months ago, my weight was 95.6 kg. I thought, soon I will touch 0.1 Ton (100 kg). And I was proud. But, soon, I realized that this is not correct.

I am living with hypothyroid for the last 4-5 years. I was told that I can’t reduce my weight due to this. I too thought that bringing down my weight to eighties may be a dream and wondered whether I can reduce my weight to 84 or 85 kg.

My senior colleague used to wear a health band that reads steps/distance through bluetooth on the mobile phone. He advised and convinced me to buy and use a health band. I purchased, but did not use for few weeks. Even if I used, it was only sparingly.  But, once I saw my weight at 95.6 kg, I thought I should do something.

Long ago, I heard many lectures on exercise, health, weight reduction etc. But, call it lethargy or something, I found excuses not to exercise and continued to gain my weight.

I realized that I should reduce my weight; else, I may become burden for somebody. Whatever, my excuses earlier, I kept aside and started various methods to reduce my weight.

As per the advice of a friend in Mumbai, which worked for him, after getting up from bed, I started taking a spoon of honey, spoon of lemon squeeze and half to full spoon of dalchin (cinnamon) powder in a glass of luke warm water. This I tried for about three months without success. I got despaired and slowly stopped this. After few days like this, again I motivated myself to do something. I recollected the lectures on health which I heard on many occasions earlier and started combination of walking and food control, every day. Also, followed some other methods (all listed below), if not every day, but atleast on few occasions in a week.
Following are the methods I followed during the last 9 months.
1.     Walking: Walked every day (but for 2-5 occasions a month) atleast 10,000 steps (my average is about 12,200 steps/day, 11 km/day as on date, averaged for last 9 months) that included about 8250 steps at a single stretch and others logged during my work. Due to difficulty in getting up in the morning at 0500 hr, stray dog menace on the roads and due to other commitments to take care of my children needs, I walked generally in the evenings. I avoided vehicle for my visits inside the plant.  Generally used stairs instead of lift, even if it meant walking 7-8 floors. I walked about 3000 km in these 9 months. I purchased good walking shoes and changed as soon as they started skidding/slipping during the walk. Each pair of shoes generally lasted for about 600-900 km.
2.     Food control: I am a vegetarian and non-alcoholic. In order not to waste food, I used to consume whatever left on the plate, though stomach is full, thus making it a dustbin. (I read a telugu story on this about an year ago, but did not follow at that time).
a.     But, now, I made a point to eat upto the point of first signal of stomach getting full and adhered to it generally for most of the occasions.
b.     Stopped eating junk food like mixture, khara, etc and instead started taking 1-2 bananas/apples or some other fruit, a day. I stocked fruits in the house. I heard a proverb, which read, “do not bargain to buy fruits”. This is because, we should not stop buying fruits just because they are costly; as not eating fruits will have more severe consequences on our health. Also, buying fruits from a street vendor does not make him rich. But, we buy many things including junk food at MRP without bargain from super markets.
c.      I reduced my rice intake by a third and substituted with vegetable salads or fruits.
d.     Sometimes, I carried a keera (cucumber), an apple / papaya pieces for lunch.
e.      I carried lemons to office with lunch box. I get a cup of curd every day, squeeze a lemon in it, prepare butter milk of about 500 ml and consumed between lunch time and upto leaving the office (during 1300-1700 hr). I read that this helps in better digestion, increases metabolism.
f.       I heard that banana helps in reducing tummy fat, helps to get away from thyroid related problem, and the material sticking to its peel helps to protect against paralysis.
g.     Generally, I avoided high calorie items like samosa/chocolates/wafers/chips etc served during meetings or at home.
h.     Initially, I starved but this did not help much. Instead, taking a bit less than usual intake appeared a better option. Garlic, onions, chilly powders too are part of my food during dinner.
i.       Wherever available, during meetings / parties / seminars, etc, I avoided rice/roti totally and instead took only soup, salads, curries, etc.
j.       Overall, reduced rice items and increased curries/sambar/rasam/butter milk.
3.     I took about 2 liters of water every day.
4.     Beverages:  Normally, I don’t take any coffee / tea during work. But, to avoid empty stomach, I started taking tea without sugar (though I am not diabetic) at about 1100 hr and at 1500 hr. I preferred green tea without sugar, with honey and lemon, wherever available.
5.     Dry nuts: Sometimes, I took dry nuts like 8-10 almonds a day. I kept pea nuts in the office, which I munched whenever I felt hungry.

As per recent medical checkup, all health parameters are good. I do not feel any weakness, though many friends and colleagues said that I looked like a patient.

With the above, now I weigh about 76 kg. And, I am continuing with my regime. My BMI reduced from 28.9 to 23.1 (acceptable range is 18.9-24.9).  Recently, I resized few of my trousers from 38-40 inches to 34-35 inches and purchased some more of size 34. I am also wearing t-shirts which I avoided earlier due to bulging tummy.

Initially my target was 84-85 kg. I revised it to just below 80 kg. Now my target is 72 kg, to be in the middle of BMI range. Though, I reduced my weight considerably and reduced my tummy also by 4-5 inches, still I have to do something to reduce my tummy from 34-35 inches to 32 inches. When I pull the skin at tummy, it comes out by 1-2 inches. I am hopeful of reducing to my target levels, if not immediately, may be in the next 6-12 months.

Many of my colleagues as well as neighbors noticed the change in my body and enquired about my health and then they learnt about my intentional weight reduction practices. I am happy with the way I am doing in this aspect and hopeful of sustaining, if not reducing further.

There were periods of no change or increase in weight which made me frustrated. But, the overall trend is downwards. Also, the appreciative words of others also made me to get motivated again and to continue without losing hope.

Some other tips taught to us in childhood/from internet/etc:
1.     Chew for long (32-50 times) to feel eating for long time and reduce intake, as signal about stomach full goes to brain only after about 20 minutes of starting eating.
2.     Take water 30 minutes before or after taking the food to avoid dilution of digestive juices.
3.     Reduce the stomach by shrinking it gradually over a long period of time so that we can feel stomach full after taking food lesser than what we had earlier days/weeks/months. Starvation will not help.
4.     Eat lesser quantities of food for more times (4-6) in a day to keep the stomach occupied instead of taking large quantities when are hungry.
5.     Not to go for fried items, so called fast foods, oily items, etc.

6.     Exercise as exercise appears as burden. Instead, if we enjoy the surroundings, nature, do walking meditation, introspection of our life, etc, then we can enjoy. And, I am doing this. I got addicted to walking now. If I do not walk, I feel numbness in my feet. Exercise is not like a medicine to be done only when we are not well. It is part of our every day routine. Like we take food every day, sleep every day, exercise too needs to be done every day.

Initially, I did not record my weight. Later, based on the advice my senior colleague, I started recording and plotting, which is reproduced below.

From the above, one can conclude that, my weight is fairly maintained between 73-76 kg range for the last 6-9 months.










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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...