Person consumes cow dung powder and dies

A woman consumes cow dung powder and dies on the way to the hospital. She did this as her husband found that she had drawn Rs 50,000/- from his bank account using his ATM card without his knowledge and came to know later. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Wife-who-defrauds-husband-kills-self/articleshow/13577962.cms

http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=9&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=TOIH&mydateHid=28-05-2012&pubname=&edname=&publabel=TOI

I am unable to find the words of consuming cow dung powder in the above links, but in print version it is mentioned.  Myself  and my friends too are totally surprised that cow dung consumption can cause death. We tried to find the reason unsuccessfully. Now, we have to keep cautioning the persons about possible contamination of food with cow dung also to avoid illness/deaths. 

Dust explosions: little known hazards

Hazards of dust and consequences arising out of dust explosions are still little understood by manufacturing facilities that handle dust of variety of materials, let it be, sugar, plastic, floor (wheat/maize/corn/...), metals (iron, zirconium, thorium,uranium, titanium,...), etc. Otherwise, there would have not been so many incidents every year leading to injuries and deaths of so many.
Proper measures like closed ventilation, maintaining humidity, earthing and bonding, flameproof electrical fittings, static discharge stations, cotton uniforms, periodical cleaning,etc will prevent dust explosions and its consequences.
Proper collection and disposal of dust needs to be given due attention.
An article in the following link is good reading material. There are few reports and video in www.csb.gov on the same subject.
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/05/29/8957/unchecked-dust-explosions-kill-injure-hundreds-workers?utm_source=iwatchnews&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=rss

Subsidies by governments - what about safety investment?

In an article today, I understood where the huge amounts of subsidies allocated/borne by the government are utilized. Some amount goes to help the poor / middle class people. In this, some amount is also being spent on those who does not deserve because of their high income but possibly because of the difficulty in providing targeted distribution system, such leakages are happening. It is stated that Rs 5,29,000 crore is being the tax breaks given by the government to the corporations, which result is reduced cost of production thus the cost of product sold in the market.
I feel government should also include provision for exemptions on the money spent to improve safety in the work place. And while filing their tax returns, they should include the safety performance by way cost of the accidents (direct and indirect) and this much should be penalized for poor safety. This equivalent amount should be credited in to safety promotion fund account managed by the government for appropriate use. And those who do not incur any cost due to accidents, government can give some exemption either a % of their profits or the amount spent on safety betterment as safety reward by proper adjustment in balance sheets.
I am not an economist, but I feel such measures help in improving safety for the workers in the company.

Something about "Don't scratch silver foil coat with nails"

Today, I saw an e-mail with the following information:

ATTENTION!

Medical research authority of the US have found new cancer in human being caused by silver nitro oxide..

Whenever you buy recharge cards don’t scratch with nails as it contains silver nitro oxide coating and can cause skin cancer...Share this msg with your loved ones ...
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When I tried to know about information about silver nitro oxide, I found the following blogpost on the same subject, as per which the above information is totally wrong.

http://cyberworldfrauds.blogspot.in/2011/08/scratching-recharge-card-coating-silver.html
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Search from internet on the same topic (hazards of sliver coat on recharge cards in google search engine) took me to the following post, which is a health study on scratch cards in Nigeria that concludes heavy metal contamination of food after scratching the cards.

http://www.academicjournals.org/jece/PDF/pdf2011/April/Okunola%20et%20al.pdf
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Anyway, leaving the information out, we can use some coin to remove the coat on the recharge cards or scratch cards, etc instead of using our nails. The coat is some chemical compound and is better to avoid contact with any chemiclas whenever / wherever it is possible.
If we have to recharge our mobile, we can do the same with credit cards or at the street shop by going physically or if we developed some rapport with him, he can do based on our phone call.

About probability of reactor accidents based on past accidents

In an article, it is stated that the probability of contamination in severe accidents like that of Chernobyl and Fukushima will be far higher than earlier estimates. Though various conditions lead to the probability, the calculation described in the articles gives us an idea of probabilities. Numbers look absurd, but nothing is wrong in being pessimistic and try to improve safety systems.
http://cleantechnica.com/2012/05/24/likelihood-contamination-severe-nuclear-reactor-accidents-higher-expected/

Payback from safety - calculation

http://www.safetyxchange.org/financing-safety/measure-roi-safety-program

Mine accidents - a way to reach the trapped workers

This evening, I was talking about this blog to my father-in-law who is a retired doctor. He told me about his initial working years after education,  about 45 years ago. At that time, he served as a doctor in a hospital located in mines. He told me about an incident involving collapse of mine during drilling in which few miners were trapped. The trapped miners were safe and a way has to be found to reach and rescue them. The authorities tried all possible methods unsuccessfully. Then, on the advise of an employee, they contacted local thieves who used to steal the valuables and make money. One of them, honestly, told the authorities about their secret way to reach the location. Using this approach, all the trapped miners were rescued within a day.

I thought this information though funny but is valuable.

LPG cylinder burst - 5 injured - police book case

In an incident, 5 kids were injured as the mini gas cylinder on which the house wife was preparing food at the time of the incident. Leaking gas caught fire and the house wife tried to extinguish the fire by turning upside down of the cylinder and rubbing over the mud floor. She also put a blanket and poured soap water to extinguish fire unsuccessfully.
The cylinder burst and metal fragments pierced into the bodies of the neighbouring children gathered around the spot. Police booked case against the house wife for causing injuries due to negligent act.
This incident is posted here as many times, cylinder blast is not detailed clearly in the reports. Whether it is gas explosion or bursting of the cylinder will not be stated clearly. Sometimes, people even say gas stove explosion leading misunderstanding of the terms and facts.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/article3439539.ece
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-05-21/hyderabad/31799865_1_cylinder-sridevi-lakshmi

Molten metal contact with water-blast-2 deaths

In an incident, while removing the stuck slag from a blast furnace with the help of a poclainer and rod, the slag along with molten metal steel came out and came in contact with the water resulting in a blast. A worker and a supervisor died in the incident due to fall of hot molten metal. The poclainer also got partially melted.
The furnace was commissioned recently.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/article3374003.ece

It is reported that the contract labour use for critical jobs also is a reason for such accidents. Unless proper training and supervision is not ensured, such incidents are bound to repeat.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/article3379616.ece

Hydrogen balloon fireball injures 140 in Armenia

Balloon fireball injures 140 in Armenia: More than 140 people have been injured after gas-filled balloons exploded at a concert in the Armenian capital ahead of parliamentary polls, officials say.
"The balloons exploded and caught fire after people holding the bunches released them from their hands into the air," a witness told AFP.
From the witness statement, it can be said that the friction between balloons in the bunch while going up could have caused this. As hydrogen can easily diffuse through rubber, it could have caught fire from the friction as the ignition energy for hydrogen is as low as 0.0017 mJ and this could have resulted in bursting of balloons and fireball. One may recall the famous Hindenburg disaster in 1937. Only the quantity of flammable substance differs but reason can be same, that of static charge generated due to friction.
Such incidents were also reported at several places. In an incident, the hydrogen balloons burst in the hands of children who suffered burn injuries.

LINK

Short circuits main cause of fire - is it so?

It is reported that 45% of the fire accidents in Hyderabad are due to short circuits and another 31% are due to lighted cigarette butts. As rightly pointed out by Addl Director of Disaster Response and Fire Services department, people tend to buy cheap quality electrical cables and equipment for buildings resulting in early damage leading to such fire incidents. It is common for investigators to conclude majority of fires to short circuit but the root cause lies in use of improper electrical wiring, switches, and other electrical fittings. Also, people fail to ensure checking the healthiness of cables and others in their building and one should remember that even the best will not come for life. It should be made mandatory to check the healthiness of electrical systems after first 15 years and thereafter once in every five years. It is better to change electrical fittings at regular periodicity, say once in 15 or 20 years. Insurance companies should not pay any compensation if the fire is due to short circuit and they should insist on certificate for healthiness of electrical systems before renewing the policies.


http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-23/hyderabad/31386060_1_fire-accidents-fire-incidents-fire-safety

Contractor and mason arrested for building collapse

In an incident of building collapse in which five workers were buried alive, police arrested the contractor as well as the mason of the building and charged them under section 304 of Indian Penal Code for causing death. Construction safety draws little attention unless otherwise reputed agencies are involved and these agencies takeup projects  only when they are of high value.
Being daily wagers, labourers are unable to demand safety at work and work under dangerous conditions to fill their stomachs. Though, Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996 and Rules are in existence for more than a decade, its implementation is still questionable. Safety officers working for construction agencies are also toothless and they work or forced to work to the wishes of their employer and little attention is paid to the safety of the workers. Safety in such works can be improved only when the government inspectors conduct more inspections and penalize violators instead of charging the violators after the occurrence of the incidents.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-24/hyderabad/31391977_1_building-collapse-town-planning-school-building

Your Place: Rid your home of toxic chemicals - KansasCity.com

Your Place: Rid your home of toxic chemicals - KansasCity.com

LINK

Chemical agent plant construction paused to improve safety » Local News » The Richmond Register

Construction of a pilot plant was stopped by Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass to review safety systems, procedures, create safety awareness among the employees, etc after the occurrence of four accidents involving cuts and bruises and two near miss incidents. This action is commendable, as normally nobody stops the work even after the occurrence of major accidents and try to bargain with regulators to start the work at the earliest. Such actions will resulting in increased confidence among the employees and help in achieving a better work place.


Chemical agent plant construction paused to improve safety » Local News » The Richmond Register

LINK

Thai PM orders assessment of all factories every 3 months

To assess the risk of chemicals used in the factories, quarterly assessment by factory visits was order by Thai PM. Though, this may happen in the beginning, it is difficult to sustain in the long run unless otherwise, sufficient number of factory inspectors with authority are available. Governments should also consider safety promotion by penalizing/rewarding the factories. If a factory's safety performance is consistently good over a period of time, say five years without any accident, tax benefits or discounts in insurance premiums  may be provided. Similarly,  if safety performance is not good, they should be taxed more or insurance premium should be enhanced. This may lead to hiding the accident data. Therefore, all accidents should be registered by factories in a government website and be publicly available. If there is any non-reporting, it can be brought to the notice of the government and they should be rewarded sufficiently and their identity be protected governments can announce rewards to factory workers to bring to their notice, by giving cash rewards. Further, the identity of these persons should be protected.
PM orders assessment of all factories every 3 months

LINK