Dust explosion in grain elevator - 3 dead, 3 missing

An apparently dust explosion in a grain elevator in US caused 3 deaths and many unconfirmed injuries. 3 persons are missing. The blast effect could be felt upto 4 miles from the place of the incident. The incident occurred while loading corn into a train.The full story is available here.

Drinking water or chemical in a water bottle?

Today in a local daily, I read a person died two days after drinking sanitary fluid phenyl, assuming it as fruit juice. Earlier, I heard from a friend about his relative drinking hydro chloric acid (HCl) in a bottle assuming it as water and developing blisters in the mouth. Before that, I heard another incident of a boy taking water from a jug placed on a water cooler, that was used earlier for phenyl and had symptoms of stomach burning for few days.  There were many lab incidents due to the use of a chemical that is not same as the label on the bottle.
All above incidents stress on importance of proper labeling, safe procedure for handling of chemicals, proper hygienic practices and supervision. Otherwise, such incidents keep recurring at regular intervals.

Can Disobeying a Safety Rule Be Safer than Obeying It?

Can Disobeying a Safety Rule Be Safer than Obeying It?

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The dos and don'ts of weight loss - Yahoo! Lifestyle India

Now-a-days, I am concerned about over weight and its impact on working styles. Found an article in yahoo. The link is given below.

The dos and don'ts of weight loss - Yahoo! Lifestyle India

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To Prevent Accidents, We Must Change Attitudes

We develop attitudes over a period of time due to our past experience and as the experience repeats, beliefs are reaffirmed. Attitudes also develop due to influence from others. Wrong attitudes are due to wrong advice and changing these attitudes requires a lot of effort. It requires teaching with examples, being a role model, and may be some admonishing at the end. The article at the following link dwells upon changing the attitudes for accident prevention.

To Prevent Accidents, We Must Change Attitudes

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There are no exceptions. Follow the Rules, even if it is an emergency

In an incident, a coworker was assisting a crane operator in lifting the injured, by standing on a steel structure without a safety belt or any other protective gear. The employer was charged by OSHA for the violation.
This is an emergency case. But, many times, showing some reason or the other as emergency or important, people wilfully disobey the rules trading for short term gains. Even the experienced and senior colleagues preach such practices citing the urgent requirement. Funnily, the activities which were not attended for weeks will become suddenly urgent on the day they propose to take up and do not follow any safety procedure because they do not have time at that moment.
The example in the link below will serve as an eye opener to those who take chance by not following safety.
Lessons from a California Case

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Safety incentives: Boon or bane?

Any incentive to employee towards safety programme implementation will help only in the beginning. Later on, they demand more and more which becomes a vicious circle and is like opening so called Pandora's box. If you try increase the standards after attaining and maintaining certain level, you will face resistance from the employees. In fact, as the article says, they may hide the issues and do not report, not only for getting the incentive, but that they may be rebuked by colleagues, if the person is involved/reported accident/near miss and deprived others of the incentives.

http://safetydailyadvisor.blr.com/archive/2011/10/17/safety_management_incentives_pros_cons.aspx#comments?Source=SDF&effort=13

No increase in brain cancer from mobile phone use - Danish study

Earlier, we read from WHO study that mobile phone may cause brain cancer. Now, a Danish study says no increase in brain cancer due to mobile phone use. There are conflicting statements/reports from different study groups. Whatever it is, as electromagnetic energy can have biological impact, it is better to minimize exposure and follow the principle of ALARA i.e as low as reasonably possible.
If you are a business man and sitting at one place use fixed phone instead of mobile phone. If you are on the move, you can postpone your conversation till you reach your residence or office. If you are a marketing executive on the move, use earphones that are declared safe. Use of mobile phone on move also introduces other hazards like lack of concentration and can involve you in road accidents.
You may be lured by mobile applications, but the time spent on surfing or learning the applications is more than the actual gains and burning the pocket.

What is the safe voltage to work?

Many assume 24 V power supply is safe to handle. But an article in the link below shows that shock is possible even at 12 V, some sensation can be felt and secondary effects of such shock can endanger the person.
Even for DC supply, with a body resistance of 500 ohms in wet condition and 41 mA DC current leading to painful shock to women means 500 x 0.041=20.5 V.
People are reluctant to have earthing for the machinery saying that the voltage is less but we do not know what can happen and are ready to trade safety for a worst experience (shock!!!).
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_3/4.html

Electrocution during cleaning of welding machine

In an incident reported in a local news paper, a person died of electrocution while cleaning the welding machine in the morning. This implies damaged cables and improper/no earthing to the machine. Possibly the power supply was not switched off the previous day and in the same condition, the person would have carried out cleaning of the machine.
It is common to see use of structural columns as return lines and no earthing will be available neither for the machine nor the job on which welding will be done. Sometimes when proper length of cable is not available, people use rods or sheets or similar metal pieces as return lines. It is difficult to ensure safety in unorganized sector and even in organized sectors when the work is outsourced.

Fire accident in a ship at Kakinada port during welding

During welding in a ship, a fire incident took place leading to gutting of some rooms. During any welding, experts advise to maintain atleast 15 m distance around free from combustibles as sparks can travel this much distance. Otherwise, all combustibles in the area likely to be affected should be covered with fire resistant cloth and fire crew should be available in the area to avoid such incidents.

The Hindu : States / Andhra Pradesh : Fire accident in a ship at Kakinada port

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Post Fukushima, Indian nuclear power plants step up safety measures

Post Fukushima, to face such situations, new safety measures were implemented in Indian nuclear power plants (INPPs) for alternate cooling water supply and power backups (diesel generators and batteries). A study shows that INPPs can withstand massive seismic shocks and their low vulnerability to tsunamis.

Indian+N-plants+step+up+safety+measures

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Cylinder explosion during unloading - 2 deaths, 1 injured

The incident of LPG cylinder explosion while transported with oxygen cylinders, root cause analysis, measures to be taken and a PDF file containing some photos are available at the link below.
http://www.citehr.com/360198-cylinder-explosion.html
(The content is reproduced as the author permitted sharing this information without restrictions when some other interested reader enquired in the forum in which this article appeared. Thanks to the author.)

INCIDENT :

Two fatalities & one serious injury occurred in one of the major steel plant, while unloading of gas cylinders from the truck as seen in the photographs.

Brief Description :
During unloading the Oxygen cylinders from a truck which is loaded with 95 Oxygen & 5 LPG cylinders, the oxygen cylinder hit the neck ring of LPG cylinder which gave way its welding causing LPG leak followed by explosion & fire.Further the valve of the oxygen cylinder too got damaged & leaked causing explosion & the cylinder flown like a rocket. Two persons who were engaged for unloading were died & one person met with serious injuries.

Probable Causes :

1) The oxygen cylinders were stored in horizontal position & without protective caps.
2) LPG cylinders were kept along with oxygen cylinders.
3) Smoking in the area.

Lessons to be Learnt :
1) Gas cylinders need to be transported in vertical position
2) No gas cylinder is to be transported / handled without its protective cap. No cylinders should be received in our premises without having its cap.
3) Oxygen cylinder should not be transported along with cylinders containing flammable gas like LPG, Acetylene etc.
4) No smoking need to be strictly followed during transportation / handling the gas cylinders.
5) Gas cylinders need to be unloaded using standard method & not by throwing them.

Pl review the existing practices and takes appropriate actions. Please communicate to all, own / contractor employees about this incident.

Chlorine gas release - Over one hundred fall sick

As per the report (Toxic gas runs havoc) rupture of rusted pipeline carrying chlorine gas leads to atmospheric discharge and over one hundred persons from the factory, fire service and locals fall sick. The gas causes discoloring of leaves of the trees in the area.

 The pipeline ruptured with a bang and workers inform that the pipeline is old and rusted. The fact that many of the sick were from the factory implies lack of communication, poor awareness about emergency actions and protective measures to be followed by the individuals.

Generally, vessels containing chemicals are tested but not the associated piping. Testing of piping along with containers should be made mandatory and the violators should be punished for endangering the safety of the living beings and the environment.

Four Dead From Toxic Gas Incident at Shipyard | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

Deaths due to insufficient oxygen - a case of confined space death. Victims were inside the scrapped ship as per the report below.

Four Dead From Toxic Gas Incident at Shipyard | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine

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Union Carbide and the Bhopal Disaster

Union Carbide and the Bhopal Disaster

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http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27161

Lab safety - CSB advice

Safety is talked much in industries and followed to some extent. But, the research facilities and academic institutions, where experiments are carried out, this important activity is normally left to the wisdom of the individuals. No study is carried out about hazards in the experiments.

Chemical Safety Board of US recommends the following for improving lab safety.

1. Laboratory safety management plans must include physical as well as chemical exposure hazards.
2. Institutions should ensure that research-specific hazards are evaluated and mitigated.
3. Laboratory researchers need guidance documents to help manage hazardous chemicals that are unique to their research environments.
4. Research-specific written protocols and training are necessary to manage laboratory research risk.
5. Academic institutions must ensure that safety inspectors report directly to those with authority to implement improvements.
6. Incidents and near-misses should be documented, tracked, and communicated.

The full article can be read here. http://pubs.acs.org/cen/government/89/8943gov1.html

Chlorine leaks - impact on people's lives

Following is link that depicts shattering of many lives in US and this is true wherever chlorine and other chemicals are handled.

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2011/chlorine-accidents

Instantaneous release of chlorine from normal tonners containing about 900 kg chlorine can impact living beings even at a distance of 10 km under worst conditions i.e overcast sky, no wind; with fatalities upto 1 km. Unless otherwise the safe handling procedures are not practiced, these chemicals are much danger than explosives that affect people and property only upto few meters whereas these chemical releases impact persons staying even hundreds of meters away.

How to Measure the ROI of Your Safety Program

A link on measuring payback from safety program implementation is available below.
How to Measure the ROI of Your Safety Program

Though, many times it is difficult to calculate the money spent on safety program,cost of accident, benefits accrued by implementation of safety programme, with extra efforts one can calculate and prove that the organization benefits from a safety programme that gets wholehearted support from all.

The link for indicators to be observed is given below. Meaningful quantification of these indicators can help in calculating cost benefits to the organization.

http://www.safetyxchange.org/financing-safety/achievementbased-safety-metrics?utm_source=emailmarketer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3802

Hot water causes death of a boy

An young boy died from scalds due to fall of hot water bucket while playing nearby. The boy died two days after the incident while undergoing treatment. Many such incidents occurred as hot containers are within the easy access of innocent children who are not aware of the hazards. Neither the elders take care to keep such containers at height nor have watchful eye on the toddlers.
It may be noted that skin can withstand temperature only upto 42oC. Hot water at 70oC in 1 sec causes a complete loss of skin thickness in adults and 0.5 sec in kids (skin has cooling mechanism like blood circulation, sweating).

The remedial measures to be taken can be found in internet. One such link is listed below.
http://www.burnremedies.com/Scald-Burn.html

NDMA Guidelines and videos

Various guidelines of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on floods, tsunamis, earth quakes, chemical disasters, chemical terrorism, etc and videos can be found at the following links.
http://ndma.gov.in/ndma/guidelines.html
http://ndma.gov.in/ndma/videogallery.html

Honey bee attack - death of a boy

A boy died as his friends threw stones at a honey beehive and the disturbed bees attacked the boy nearby. It is common to see beehives outside many buildings and innocent persons become victims and many such incidents were reported in the press. As a student I heard an incident in which a person was attacked on the head by bees and there after the person used to cover the head with a cloth because of less hair. These beehives can be safely removed by getting expert help from pest control shops and is better to plan such activity when it is a weekend holiday.

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/boy-dies-after-attack-by-bees/851830.html

Lessons from Fukushima incident - A report at HSE.GOV.UK

Y'day (11.10.2011), a report (6.24 MB) from HM Chief Nuclear Inspector on lessons from Fukushima and implications for the UK nuclear industry is made available. One can draw lessons for their own organization from similar incidents. A video (41.4 MB) from the Chief Nuclear Inspector is also available.
Report:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/fukushima/final-report.htm

Video:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/fukushima/final-report-video.htm

Gas leak - six injured

An incident of gas leak and explosion was reported in the newspaper. Not knowing about the gas leak, in the early hours, the person lit a match stick to light a beedi that resulted an explosion with a loud sound and injured six in the house. An adjacent wall of the room collapsed in the incident.

As per another version in another newspaper, the house wife called her husband after smelling the leaking gas, who lit a match stick to see the gas leak.

Normally, there will be reports of cylinder explosion or stove explosion. But, in this report, it is clearly stated that the gas leaked, found ignition source, gas caught fire and exploded.

The incident is a lesson to learn about safe handling procedure for gas leak. After getting the gas smell, one should not switch ON or OFF the electrical appliances, open the windows and doors to allow escape of gas, take the cylinder to open area away from the residential buildings or cover the gas cylinder with a wet cloth, caution others about gas leak and avoid ignition sources and then call the gas cylinder supplier for necessary help.

Communication gap-Overhead electrical car rams trolley in a tunnel - 5 deaths

An overhead electrical (OHE) car that went for electrical track repairs rams a push-pull trolley with a supervisor and 4 gangmen who were on the daily check of the track. It is reported that it happened at a turning in the tunnel where gangmen might be unable to see the head lamp of the OHE car, unable to hear the sound because of electrically operated car and that there are no signals to use walkie-talkies being carried by both parties. Further there is communication gap between these parties and the adjacent station master. The OHE car was going towards Araku and is on downward gradient while the trolley was coming from Tyda. It is lack of understanding as two parties moving in opposite directions on the same track for the assigned jobs.
The news item can be read here (::The Hans India::).
http://www1.lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=8&edlabel=TOIH&mydateHid=06-10-2011&pubname=Times+of+India+-+Hyderabad+-+Times+City&edname=&articleid=Ar00800&format=&publabel=TOI&max=true
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4shared folder - Safety Videos to Share

4shared folder - Safety Videos to Share

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