5 Ladder Safety Training Tips » SafetySmart

5 Ladder Safety Training Tips » SafetySmart

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Gear Maintenance Key to Fall Arrest » SafetySmart

Gear Maintenance Key to Fall Arrest » SafetySmart

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Accidents are more in construction industry compared to others because of large number mobile workforce as well as the need to work at heights. Unless proper arrangements are not made for secured access,  guarded working areas and availability of personal protective equipment, accidents are likely. The above link provides some information about inspection and maintenance tips for fall arrest equipment.

SafetySmart Compliance » Blog Archive 17 Things to Do to Survive an Earthquake

SafetySmart Compliance » Blog Archive 17 Things to Do to Survive an Earthquake

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SafetySmart Compliance » Blog Archive 12 Emergency Eyewash Station Do’s & Don’ts

SafetySmart Compliance » Blog Archive 12 Emergency Eyewash Station Do’s & Don’ts

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Strange encounters to a common man on the road

Recently I read that a person while walking on the road side was hit with a falling tree branch and was hospitalized. Few days back, when I went to an industrial unit, I was told that many years ago a boy playing in the ground died due to lightning strike. In the same area, when my self and a friend were going on evening walk, my friend had bird drops on his head twice within a span of ten minutes, and myself being just a feet or two away had narrow escape.  There were reports of fall of snake being carried by an eagle in the sky  on a person below and biting him to death. Personally, about an year ago, I had a near miss from a falling temporary structure, which fell about 10 feet in front of me while I was sitting in a vehicle. The structure was erected in front of a temple and it fell on another car below it but its passengers walked out without any injury.

Vehicles coming from a side lane or opposite and killing the riders on the main road is a regular news item. Uneven surfaces/pot holes/unmarked speed breakers on the road in the darkness unnerve the vehicle riders particularly two wheelers as they approach closer,  and may even lead to their fall. Splashing of water from the roads onto the persons by speeding vehicles on the road is another danger which can distract and can lead to accidents.
In some photos I saw deers and other animals hitting the cars while crossing the road and leading to major road accidents. There will be many such unknown dangers, but some of them can be learned before hand by making a research about the area to be visited and take measures to avoid such encounters.

Explosion and hydrofluoric acid gas leak near Gumi city in South Korea

In an incident of explosion in a chemical factory near Gumi in South Korea led to release of dangerous hydro fluoric acid gas and caused five deaths and affected more than 3000 persons apart from animals and crops in 524 acres. Some nearby factories in the affected area also shutdown their operations after the incident. The incident happened on 27.09.2012 and it is reported that the evacuation was done after villagers request.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/277261/news/world/thousands-treated-after-toxic-gas-leak-in-s-korea
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/10/08/south-korea-belated-response-to-toxic-gas-leak-affecting-thousands/
http://news.ph.msn.com/regional/thousands-treated-after-toxic-gas-leak-in-s-korea-reports
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/09/south-korea-declares-area-hit-by-toxic-chemical-leak-special-disaster-zone/

Jail term upto 7 years for sharing porn online

The union cabinet meeting under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister approved an amendment to Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 (IRWA) with penalty up to Rs 5.0 lac and 7 years imprisonment for sharing porn through video or MMS. In present form it was applicable only to print media which is now brought to audio-visual and electronic media also. The proposal will be put up to parliament for making it into law. The amendment is a must in view of trouble and stress created by failed lovers and others who want to take revenge on their friend/partner/others for not accepting their proposals for some gains. Even capturing / shooting videos without consent also should be included in the amendment to protect the persons and till it is made into law, an order in this regard can be passed.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/soon--jail-term-for-sharing-porn-online--mms.html

CNET article on Ten simple, common-sense security tips for computer users

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57528141-285/ten-simple-common-sense-security-tips/

The article from the above link educates us about LXQUICK meta search engine which does not use our IP address, howsecureismypassword.net indicates strength of our password, use of virtual private network for secured internet connections, etc.

Fire in a pharma company - same short circuit reason

In an incident of fire and explosion in a pharma company in the early hours on 09.10.2012, waste solvent drums, diesel drums, generator, cables, etc got burnt leading to a loss of about Rs. 2.0 crores. Window panes in and in neighboring plants were shattered due to the blasts. The reason cited is same as in many fire incidents, that is, of short circuit. A good electrical job would have not cost Rs 2.0 crores that was lost in the fire. Keeping all combustibles at one place is not a recommended practice.
Experts say that the cost of preventing an accident is nominal compared to the loss arising out of accidents and still we allow accidents to occur.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Series-of-blasts-rock-Pharma-City/articleshow/16745498.cms

Explosion in the plant leads to HF gas release

In an explosion in a chemical plant, HF gas leaked causing 5 deaths, injuries to 18 persons and hospitalization of more than 3500 persons. It is stated that the half life of HF is two years and requires monitoring of all affected persons for many years and also ground water contamination.


http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2012/10/202_121828.html

What drives a person to go for safety profession?

Appointment of safety officers/supervisors/captains/coordinators by production facilities under Factories Act is a mandatory requirement. A number of institutions offer certificate/PG courses with duration ranging from one week to two years. There is no bar on educational qualifications or experience for some of these courses. For awareness, I feel this is alright. However, for those for appointment as safety officers, prior experience in plant operations should be a must before joining the course, without which they can't understand the operations and theoretical knowledge alone will not be sufficient.

Though, the respect for safety professionals in reality is not much and is a thankless job as those in other professions feel that safety procedures and advice are only a bottleneck for achieving higher productivity, the reasons for taking up this profession can be many, like, self interest, advice from family members / friends / teachers / others, job opportunities, compulsion (transfer from one post to another or promotion within the organization), notion that work will be less / no responsibility, etc. Salary is generally good and is comparable up to certain level with other professions and is even stated in similar lines in the Factories Act. Monthly salary varies from Rs 5,000/- for freshers/trainees to few lakhs of rupees  for senior positions.

However, last week my colleague who retired from service told his reasons for joining the safety department three decades ago, which I liked very much and felt that without this one can't do justice to the safety profession.

The reasons my colleague stated are,

• love for the profession
• opportunity to help others to identify hazards and suggest measures for their safety
• satisfaction from preventing accidents/losses and feel of social service
• opportunity to interact with all employees and many outsiders 
• opportunity to learn continuously from different situations
• excitement from different problems and situations instead of doing routine work for long periods
• opportunity to teach in training programmes and help the participants to have focused view on 'safe production'

Everyday, safety professionals will be facing tough situations at all levels from bottom to top levels leading to arguments, sometimes by facing rebuke and heart burn. One may become pessimistic and frustrated and carry negative thoughts to home at the end of the day and make life miserable for him/her and family also. But if we realize the importance of safety for the organization, possibly, we may not carry the thoughts and derive satisfaction that from whatever we did, we were able to prevent something which is not desirable for the organization.

If the top management commitment and support is available, then the life of safety professional will be easy. 

Risk Management and Safety Management - How Do They Correlate?

The following article as appeared in Safety Center  Inside Safety Newsletter Vol 12, Issue 9 October 2012 is posted. 

The article is written by

By Ann Richey, ARM-P

Risk Management Director

City of Ontario, CA

Risk Management (according to Wikipedia) is defined as the identification, assessment and prioritization of risks, followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events.  Safety Management is the identification and mitigation of hazards, through proper training, correct equipment and engineering controls.  In other words, Risk Management assumes bad things will happen so it puts appropriate responses in place, and Safety Management strives for the elimination of accidents altogether.

So, which approach is correct?  The answer is they both are correct.  As a former Safety Manager from 1991 to 2002, and a Risk Manager from 2002 to present, I have found there are a vast variety of unanticipated events with unfortunate repercussions, and there truly is no way to prevent or even predict all of them.  Having said that, I still hold firmly to the belief that employees can work injury-free and accident-free if provided the correct equipment, training and working conditions.  The Risk Management approach is very different from Safety Management, and depending on the size of the organization, it may take two people to maximize their effectiveness.

Risk Management looks at situations from a dispassionate, objective, global viewpoint. Safety is just one of many components of Risk Management. Risks, or losses, will happen - so you need to decide whether you will transfer that risk, insure it, or mitigate the cost. An effective Risk Manager works closely with department heads to develop contracts requiring a Certificate of Insurance so that if something does go wrong, you have the ability to successfully reject or transfer the claim over to the contractor. For losses where it is not possible to transfer the risk, then the necessary insurance coverage must be in place. An effective Risk Manager always looks for better ways to insure, from reviewing limits and deductibles, to purchasing coverage as part of a pooled program. When things go terribly awry and you are handling a lawsuit, Risk Managers strategize with legal counsel whether to pursue mediation, arbitration or try the case and weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each.

Safety management, on the other hand, is more intimate.  Effective safety management means getting involved with the using departments, so you are able to view the workplace through their eyes. Then you apply your knowledge to their work environment and come up with ways to work more effectively and with far fewer accidents. Creating a working safety program that is meaningful and practical is just one of the ways good safety managers make their mark on using departments. Another is being a resource for employees who might have safety concerns and do not feel comfortable reporting their concerns to their supervisor. Providing training, monitoring the working environment and equipment to give intelligent feedback to management is crucial to achieving lower injury rates without spending money unnecessarily.  Safety management requires constant involvement, physical presence and ongoing feedback.

If you are responsible for both safety and risk management tasks, it is vital that you dedicate time to anticipating risk as well as being the safety person.  Enlist representatives from various departments to assist in the distribution of materials and provide insight into what is going on in their area. Remember, you chose safety as a career because you are passionate about it.  Nobody else will stay committed to safety if you are not - you must lead by example. 

For further information on Workplace Safety training, please contact Quen or Kei at 916-366-7233. Want to sign up for a class, click here for more info.

Loss Causes: Placing Unreasonable Pressures or Demands on Employees

The following article appeared in Safety Center Inside Safety Newsletter Vol 12, Issue 9 October 2012:

Loss Causes: Placing Unreasonable Pressures or Demands on Employees   

By Bob Lapidus, CSP, CSMS 

In previous Points to Ponder articles, reasons for making wrong and potentially unsafe decisions were discussed to include:

1. Improperly evaluating a problem
2. Not creating expectations, policies, procedures or rules
3. Creating improper expectations, policies, procedures or rules
4. Not giving employees authority to take preventive action

We make thousands of decisions in any given day.  We know that not all our decisions are correct.  That's the way it is.

Nevertheless, when it comes to safety, being right is the only way to go.

Being wrong can lead to injury, accident or other catastrophic consequences.

In addition to the previously discussed reasons for making wrong and unsafe decisions, sometimes we do so because of unreasonable pressures or demands.  Those pressures or demands can be so powerful that we take unacceptable risks to get the job done as quickly as possible, disregarding what we know to be the safe and correct way of working.

Such pressures or demands may come from those people to whom we report.  Pressure has been put on them to get the job done regardless of what it takes.  That means short cuts must be taken to gain speed rather than to maintain caution to prevent employee injuries and property and equipment damage.

Such pressures may come from our peers.  Someone has a game or a concert to go to after work and needs to get the job done faster than the safe rate of speed.

Such pressures may come from ourselves.  Something urgent in our own lives is pressing upon us to get the job done quickly so we can get to whatever else is putting demands on us.

No matter from where the pressure emanates, pressure pushes us to work at an unsafe pace and/or in a way that stops us from working safely, using the correct equipment, following the established safety procedures or even working through an unsafe situation that needs corrective action to be taken now rather than waiting until an accident happens.

Have you ever heard an organization proclaim Safety First? 

Such a proclamation sounds good, but often does not play out in real life.  Safety First occurs when nothing else is present to take its place.  When something is present to take its pace, like getting the job done faster due to pressures and demands, then safety is no longer priority #1.  It is priority nothing. 

Safety needs to be part of the mission of the organization, part of its values, rather than given a superficial priority that only exists when everything is perfectly right.  Safety is not just for the ideal situation.  Not even unreasonable pressures or demands should permit anyone to do the work in an unsafe manner.  Working safely is all the time.

Make Correct Safety Performance Matter on 
a Moment to Moment Basis!

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The ideas for Points to Ponder articles come from Safety Center's 12-day Safety Management Specialist Certificate (CSMS) program, and from Safety Center's short course entitled Safety Management for Employees Who Supervise.  Check out these course descriptions-- Professional Safety Management or contact Quen Cach in the Northern California office at 800-825-7262 or Gayleen Grigoreas in the Southern California office at 909-625-9650.