Mobile applications for personal safety from Times of India

 The following article lists some applications for android, ios and blackberry based phone users. Somebody below the article brought to the notice of readers about mysecurity android application (free).

Thanks to him and Best of luck to all users.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/gadgets-special/Now-mobile-apps-for-your-safety/articleshow/17733303.cms

Infrared thermography - use it to know about impending electrical fire in your place

Yesterday (14.12.2012) there was an article in The Hindu, about infrared thermography and its use to detect  heating of electrical systems at the point of electrical cable input joints due to over load, loose contacts, improper wiring, etc. The heat emitted is read by the portable device and temperature is displayed to decide about whether it is within or above the limits. I also heard earlier from my colleagues that wall mounted thermography devices are also available to monitor continuously about critical electrical systems.
As most of the fire mishaps are attributed to electrical short circuit (more than 40%) that led to loss of lives, property damage, use of infrared thermography for electrical safety inspections in residential buildings, shops, public places, etc will help in saving us from the perils of fire.
For a long time, I had this question in mind about knowing the health of electrical wiring in my apartment. Fires in apartments, multi storey buildings endanger human lives of all and one should check about electrical safety aspects in the building.
From my electrician, I found that generally, the wiring lasts for 15-20 years, though industrial wiring lasts for more than 30 years as per information from colleagues in power supply department. However, these are theoretical and based on experience limited to specific conditions.
As the author in his article mentioned, over loading is a reason for electrical fires. Wiring gets deteriorated quickly  under excess loads and the general information about life of electrical cable can't be applied universally. And, it is human tendency to add electrical loads with or without knowledge about electrical safety. At least at home front, it is the lack of knowledge on electrical safety that keeps people to add electrically operated kitchenware, electronics, etc. Tripping of MCBs will not lead to thinking by the residents for reasons, and instead, they just put it back and resume with the work.
And, in factories, it is the greed to prolong till it breaks without understanding or may be underestimating the costs to be incurred in case of fire. It is good that insurance companies are giving a thought to electrical safety audits. In many of my posts in this blog and in my comments in newspaper websites, I stressed upon the role of government agencies, regulators and insurance companies for enforcing electrical safety audit without which heavy premiums, penalties and punishments should be the order of the day. Only then, everybody will become aware of electrical safety and other issues and save themselves from fire mishaps and its consequences.
As mentioned in the article, there is company called CSR Impex Private Limited (C.Vidyasagar Reddy, Ph: 040-65212780, 9440066907)  which is involved in use of this technology for the past ten years to inspect electrical panels of various establishments, especially software companies. (I did not check with the company but as I believe in electrical safety audits to know the healthiness of electrical systems, I thought that I can reproduce this information appeared in the newspaper for use by all).

Safety - who cares?

In an article that appeared in The Hindu today (23.12.2012), the author of the article, an Honorary Consultant to Tamilnadu Fire and Rescue Services talked about home safety, school safety, hospital safety, industrial safety, and need for training and engaging trained personnel in various jobs. Though laws, which are knowledge houses, are available, he lamented about the fact that implementation and enforcement is lacking. 

The article ends with the statement that, ' let not accidents teach us safety but at the same time let us learn safety from accidents'.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/why-safety-takes-a-back-seat/article4229877.ece

Safety Management of Contractor Manpower

Outsourcing of various industrial activities is common all over the world. It is rare to find organizations which do not follow this. This is done to overcome shortage of manpower, non-availability of experts in specific field, obligation to reduce permanent staff, financial considerations, etc. The skill sets of persons and duration vary with the requirement. Personnel from suppliers of equipment, instruments, etc too work in the premises for erection, commissioning, maintenance, etc. Thus other than regular employees, organizations deal with contractor manpower for housekeeping, maintenance, plant operations, erection/ commissioning, construction, material handling, canteens, etc in addition to the visitors like vendors, consultants, etc. Also, we find visitors, project students, apprentices, trainees, etc who stay in the organization for some duration.

Ensuring safety of all these persons is as important as regular employees. An analysis of accidents reveals that contractor workers are involved in 30-35% of accidents. The major reason for these accidents is lack of awareness about the hazards, supervision, failure to ensure supply and use of requisite safety gear to the workers both by the contractor and department in-charge.

Most of the occasions, persons engaged by the contractors are not same i.e floating workers and is difficult to ensure availability of same person for specific nature of work. This requires training of newly joined persons almost on weekly basis, if not every day and contractors exhibit resistance to send these newly joined workers for training.

The time needed by security personnel to permit contractor workers inside factory premises generally varies from 30 to 60 minutes depending upon the security level. The time available for work will reduce further after taking into account of time for training. As the attrition of employees is more, the working hours will reduce and this leads to shortcuts to avoid safety training of newly joined contractor workers.

It is observed that the small contractors generally deploy 2-10 persons in most of the works and generally he will have more than one work at site in his hand and he or his supervisor keeps shuttling between various work areas in the plant leading to poor supervision.

With increasing work load and reduction of manpower, plant in-charges too find it difficult to monitor all outsourced activities. Verbal communication instead of written communication also leads to misunderstanding of the task and wrongdoings during the work execution. To avoid any consequences, generally, following clauses will be included in the tender while outsourcing the activities.

·     Continuous supervision by the contractor,

·     Hiring technically suitable persons for the job,

·     Valid medical fitness certificate from qualified doctor for the persons to be employed,

·     Obtaining suitable insurance cover for the persons to be employed,

·     Prohibition of child labor,

·     Ensuring issue and use of PPE,

·     Sole responsibility of the contractor for all accidents and consequences arising out of it,

·     Use of tested and certified tools,

·     Bringing his own tools and equipment required for the work, etc

But, this is not suffice to ensure safety of these workers as we see violation of most of the clauses at many sites. To cut costs, apart from major machinery/devices offered by plant as per work order, contractors do not bring other tools, lifting tackles, weld sets, ladders, etc of their own and instead use from within the plant. In case of any accident, it is likely that concerned plant in-charge will be blamed for allowing using department material.

For civil works, it is common to see use of fire hydrant water or garden water. Fire hydrant water is for emergency use and garden water is generally recycled and treated water.

We find retired employees too taking up contract jobs in the organization and due to their familiarity with the plant and the staff, their seniority and that their peers/juniors will be working in the plant, some of them move as if they are department staff and this leads complacency / extra authority in using department materials and at the same time, when any accident takes place, they can easily influence and shift the blame.

Apart from these violations, it is likely that contractor works for jobs outside the scope of the work order. Unfamiliarity of workplace in these situations leads to accidents endangering both contractor workers and department staff.

When an accident takes place, in case of major treatment, question arises about who will foot the bill, as generally, small time contractors do not have requisite financial capability to bear the cost. Though, tender clause puts responsibility on the contractor, organizations end up in paying the bills in such situations. Sometimes, the cost of treatment exceeds the value of the contract itself, in which case recovery becomes difficult. To avoid these costs, contractor may takeout his injured person outside the premises from treatment and one will not find the injured again in the workplace. The reply usually given by the contractor will be that the person recovered and is working at some other site or that he went to his native place.

Now-a-days, many of the organizations have been certified for ISO/OHSAS and this requires ensuring safety of the persons in the organizations to whom we outsource or procure to meet our needs. With transparency being the buzzword, one should be more attentive because any incident is projected out of proportion, however small it is.

To ensure safety of contractor personnel working within / their own premises, organizations should have proper procedure for tendering, evaluation and selection of contractors who have, (i) well laid out policy for recruitment of manpower, (ii) regular training of man power, (iii) deployment of safety supervisor and (iv) defined  responsibility and accountability of all persons engaged. 

Organizations should have a designated person in every department / section, who should coordinate and obtain from all contractors working in their plant about (i)  number of persons engaged for each of the work with names, addresses, contact numbers, availability medical fitness certificates (ii) number of new persons brought in that day (iii) qualifications / experience (iv) tools brought to the specific workplace with relevant test certificates (v) issue of PPE to all persons (vi) facilities of the organization/department proposed to be used (vii) details of start and end date of the work, (viii) details of subcontractors, if any, etc.

Based on the above data, head of section/department should assess the need and ensure job specific training, safety measures to be taken, issue of specific PPE for work in different areas, availability of requisite safety permit and supervision for ensuring safety and issuing warning letters in case of violations. In case of work on machinery, material handling equipment, etc., he should ensure their safe working condition before allowing the contractor personnel for work.

Safety in-charge should obtain weekly/monthly reports about various outsourced activities, manpower engaged, permits issued and closed, etc. He should interact with concerned plant in-charges about safety issues specific to the workplace, reporting of incidents/occurrences and their investigation for corrective and preventive measures.

Following measures will be helpful in ensuring safety of contractor persons at workplace.

1.        Identification of jobs to be outsourced with job hazard analysis, safety measures to be taken, assessment of training requirements, supervision.
2.               Insertion of appropriate clauses in the tender and work order for penalties against violation of stated safety provisions. Though penalty clause is available, it is questionable on how many occasions this is used as one can find a number of violations every day. At the same time, when contractor appeals for cost escalation, the proposal is evaluated without considering the penalty amount to be recovered for stated violations. If a person is deployed specifically for safety supervision and recording the violations and issue notices for recovery, it will act as a deterrent and ensure safety at workplace.   
3.                Ensuring different colored uniform for persons engaged in outsourced activities for easier identification and monitoring.
4.          Ensuring contractor supervisor for every work undertaken by him in the site.
5.                   Valid medical fitness certificate for the job for all persons engaged, irrespective of the nature and duration of the work.
6.                   Maintaining register for outsourced works with details of contractor, number of persons engaged, availability of PPE, supervision, violations, etc.
7.                Records of pep talk and training with respect to the work, safety and emergency procedures.
8.                   Preparation of checklist based on job hazard analysis and safety work permit conditions for use by contractor.
9.                   Ensuring adequate insurance cover for the persons.
10.                   Compulsory medical examination of injured persons of the contractor after treatment.
11.                Maintaining first aid box by the contractor at the workplace.
12.                    Ensuring availability of sufficient clean drinking water at the workplace.
13.                    Ensuring change rooms for contractor workers with provisions for bathing.
14.                   Ensuring use of separate dress for persons engaged and their washing.
15.                   Display of warning signs, caution boards.
16.                  Checking of all permitted equipment, tools, etc by department persons before start of work every day for safe use by the contractor and maintaining the record with observations.
17.                   Display of safe operating instructions, safe operating procedures, do’s and don’ts in languages understood by the persons engaged for the work.
18.                   Prohibition of unauthorized use of facilities like water, electricity, forklifts, cranes, lifting tackles, weld sets, etc not covered in the work order.
19.                    Prohibition of use of fire hydrant water and garden water for any purpose other than intended.
20.                    Ensuring availability of proper access, use of tubular scaffolding, safety shoe, helmet, safety belt, anchoring provision, etc for civil works.

            In some organizations, all tender/work order proposals will be referred to safety department to study for assessing the safety measures taken by the proposer and advise necessary clauses for incorporation before release of tender / issue of work order. The main grouse of the contractors is that additional costs are imposed on them in the name of safety and this is due to improper documentation / clarity in the requirements stated in the tender document. To avoid this, plants are encouraged to send their draft proposals for tender for review and suggestion to insert appropriate safety clauses in the document before its release for enquiry. This results in proper cost estimates by contractors before quoting and enables provision and compliance for safety.  

Following are some of the general practices to be ensured/followed to reduce injuries/improve safety performance.

1. Plants should continuously put efforts to reduce outsourcing of activities by automation or other methods.
2. Plant in-charges shall ensure that only those outsourced activities as specified in the scope are executed with all safety provisions.
3. Work order should be cancelled for any work taken up beyond the scope of the work order.
4. Supervision by both department and contractor has to be ensured.
5.  Plant in-charge should be held responsible for initial and monthly training of the manpower engaged for outsourced activities.
6. Plant in-charge should ensure use of PPE like safety shoes, gloves, helmets, goggles, face shield, aprons, etc as required for the work, by the man power engaged in the outsourced activities, even if it is in the scope of the contractor.
7. For outsourced work, supervision from atleast shift in-charge should be ensured..
8. No outsourced work is permitted in night shifts.
9. No woman should be allowed to work on or near machinery in motion as per Factories Act.
10. Skills and qualifications for various categories of persons engaged during outsourcing should be specified.
11. Safety work permit should be taken before start of work by submitting, (i) job hazard analysis, (ii) valid medical fitness certificate, (iii) name/designation of the department person responsible for supervision and also for ensuring use of PPE. 

With the above, I am sure that safety of the contractor persons can be ensured.

Laughter - the medicine for a lean body and good health

In a regional news paper, it is reported that as per scientists, one can have lean body by whole hearted laugh.  Laughing 100 times a day, whole heartedly, is equivalent to cycling for 15 minutes, exercise for 10 minutes on rowing machine, etc. Laughter reduces stress causing hormone activity.
It is also reported that taking bath with cold water too gives same result as shivering with cold water bath is like an exercise burning some calories, increase in blood circulation.

Try the above with caution.

Toilet cleaning with acid - fumes affect students

In an incident reported, fumes from toilet cleaning with acid in a religious place affected students in the adjacent school causing hospitalization. Some students vomited while the teacher became unconscious.

Status on the persons cleaning the toilet is not known. 

It's my personal experience wherein acidic fumes during toilet cleaning cause severe lung congestion, respiratory problems, etc and we stopped using acid and instead we are using toilet cleaners that are mild and also have perfume smell. 

Further, frequent cleaning does not require application of more acid.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/andhra-pradesh/six-teachers-33-students-hospitalised-after-inhaling-acid-fumes/article4226807.ece

Internet addiction

Sometimes I feel that I waste lot of time in front of computer in searching for information which is not required immediately or any time. Like an aimless wanderer on the road, I keep surfing from one page to another page by using the links available and realize later that I spent more than one hour without gaining any thing.
There are people who keep on checking mails, posts, tweets, etc frequently and some persons even have provision for alerts though it may not be so urgent to read whatever is posted. This leads to stress affecting the health. It should not lead to compulsory obsessive disorder as we had life when all these were not available and heavens will not fall if we do not check the information so frequently. One should allot only limited time say half-an-hour or so per day to check these things and proceed with other issues to have peaceful life.
Once, we went on holiday tour to a place by going through a river for two hours and stayed in bamboo huts overnight, roamed around the area in day time and returned back. For more than 24 hours we were without any connectivity with outside world and it is an experience. The tour guide alone carried a satellite phone.

How can we reduce unsafe acts on the roads and avoid accidents?

It is common to see various unsafe acts by vehicle drivers on the roads, like, talking on mobile while driving, driving in the wrong direction, parking the vehicles on the roads at unauthorized places, overloading, jumping the signals, etc.  A large number of vehicles are parked on the roads, causing congestion. Taxis, etc are parked near bus stops to pickup prospective customers, leading to reduced road width for other commuters. This is because no proper space is left during construction of houses, shopping malls, theaters, etc to maximize returns for them while not bothering about safety for public on the roads.
These acts endanger the vehicle drivers as well as other vehicle drivers and pedestrians. And it is not possible for the traffic police to catch all of them at all times.
Common public should be encouraged to take photographs of such unsafe acts along with readable vehicle numbers and local government should create a website for uploading of such photos by public and ensure some responsible authority in the control room to verify, prepare and issue penalty notices.   Surely, local authorities can make a killing by collecting parking fee on the roads instead of their own buildings because of parking everywhere on the roads. Non-payment should result in attaching the vehicle and/or property of the offenders.
Only when such public participation is ensured, road safety for all can be a reality. Else, it will be difficult for anybody to control and avoid accidents on the road.

28 years after Bhopal accident - lessons not learnt by others

It is 28 years now after the occurrence of Bhopal accident on 2/3 Dec 1984. As is widely reported, it happened because of,

1. engaging no so well versed technicians at the time of the incident
2. no proper training to employees, local government agencies including health department, nearby residents
3. storage of excessive quantities of MIC
4. non-availability / switching off of safety systems, like, refrigeration to maintain at 2 deg C temperature, maintenance taken up for scrubber and flare systems
5. starting of cleaning of lines also during the non-availability of emergency systems
6. any safety permit was taken for cleaning of lines (is not known)

Murphy's law was proved in this accident. None of us learnt the lessons from this accident. Though, there was initial euphoria, it did not last long. Though the scale of the accidents is not like Bhopal accident, we read / learnt about occurrence of so many accidents.

We continue to engage cheap labour, without providing them any training. Most of the labour are daily workers. A person coming today may not be coming tomorrow or next week. The safety systems provided are not tested, or, they are only show pieces for regulatory agencies. The large number of accidents that appear in media is a proof of this as in many of the organizations in which accidents occur engage short term workers. The reasons for many of these accidents are also simple and are avoidable. It is not that some complex and unknown thing happened leading to such accidents.

We also continue to discharge effluents / offgases / solid wastes into environment. Large quantities of dangerous materials are transported through public domain, probably, without the knowledge of local government agencies. All these can affect the health of the people if not immediately, but over a long period of time.

The most common finding of CSB during their investigations is lack of training. Training and retraining programmes should be established and examinations should be conducted for the employees to put them in to service. It is not sufficient to cut the incentive which is paid for acquiring and renewing operators' licence after passing out the examinations. Such failed employees should not be engaged for plant operations till they pass out. And while evaluating the performance, it should be ensured that they answer all questions and not that because they answered 50% or so, they can be passed. Because, any mistake can lead to accidents greatly affecting the people and environment.

Plants should have policy of not operating the plant in case of failure of any of the safety systems. And ensure monitoring of the plant even when it is under shutdown.

Plants should realise that safety department alone can't guaranty safety as they are not operating the plant and they do not have the knowledge as good as actual plant operators. Further, how many organisations give serious thought to the advice of safety department. Many times, they are projected as hindrance for production and any production loss is attributed to as obstacles from safety department.

Government and regulators should make start a website with different categories and or key words for publishing all accidents, investigation reports from both the concerned company as well as regulators/government agencies. Governments should encourage all companies to upload about accidents and incidents in government website as per the category and should assure that those who reveal accidents immediately after occurrence in the website and also upload investigation reports say within 3-6 months will not be prosecuted for criminal proceedings. But penalties and compensation as applicable have to be borne by the company.
We can't expect organisations to run for charity, but they should ensure safety of their employees, public and environment and in this process they should not bypass safety procedures. 

Five die in an apartment complex fire

A film shooting set erected adjacent to an apartment complex caught fire yesterday at about 2045 hr and spread to the apartment. Five persons from the apartment complex died mainly due to suffocation and few others received burn injuries. The combustible material of the film set could have caught fire due to short circuit (most suspected reason for most of the fire incidents). It is not clear what type of electrical fittings and how safely the electrical wiring and connections were made. Fire fighters could not rescue initially due to thick smoke.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/five-persons-perish-in-blaze-at-manikonda/article4134053.ece

It is also reported that the security guard who helped more than 10 residents to escape by alerting died in the lift due to asphyxia. When a house lady told him that she did not shut off gas line, he went to her flat, and while coming back in the lift, somebody switched off the power supply to lift fearing the worst and not knowing about the security guard in the lift.

Hit by beam, person driving on the road dies

In an incident, an engineer driving a bike along Rapid Metro corridor under construction, was hit by an iron beam of 19 ft length, fell down and died of injuries before taken to hospital. It is stated that he hit a labourer carrying the beam and fell down. But, as per eye witnesses, beam fell from top and initial forensic reports based on helmet damage state that the person was hit by an object from height.
It is unknown as how a labourer can carry a 19 ft long iron pipe, where he was walking with the pipe (as it is stated that bike rider hit him) and whether the work area is marked or barricaded, or, not. Though, people can claim no negligence, then how the incident happened is to be investigated.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Engineer-21-killed-in-freak-Metro-accident/articleshow/17354580.cms?

A day full of nearmisses

Today is not a good day for me with respect to my safety on the road. I started on bike in the morning to drop my child to school and we almost lost balance when front wheel of my bike went on a joint between two blocks of the concrete road. I regained my balance immediately due to reflex action of my left foot to take support on the road.

Later, when I started to go to my factory, en route, all of a sudden a school bus from my left side came closer to me to take right turn without any indication. The road is about 30 feet and there are no lanes to follow. I slowed down to allow the school bus to move past and avoid getting hit.

After 5-6 km bike ride, a car first and later a bus from opposite direction, one after another crossed the double mark on the road encroaching the road meant for vehicles moving in opposite direction. Again, I escaped when I swerved left and those vehicles immediately went within the otherside of the line. At that moment, if any vehicle coming behind me could have hit mine due to my movement leftside, but, as my luck was with me still, there were no vehicles behind.

In all above incidents, I was driving cautiously at about 30-35 km speed and thus could avoid my fall or hit against other vehicles. Still, I am unable to think what I should have done to avoid these near misses except in the first incident, wherein, I could have avoided entering into the road joint.

Two weeks ago, when I was travelling in a company vehicle to airport in Mumbai, the driver commented that one should avoid driving closer to the road divider particularly during night and early hours as it is likely that some drivers under the influence of alcohol or those driving at high speeds can loose control on the wheel and cross over the road divider and hit opposite coming vehicles travelling adjacent to the road divider.

Soon after, when I reached my place and was coming out of the airport, I saw a car landed in the thick bushes between the opposite roads, being towed away by traffic police. It appears that some rash driver could not take turn along the road curve due to high speed driving and ended up in the bushes on the roadside. The car exactly stopped at the other side of the edge of the road divider. If it moved a foot distance further, it could have hit easily any of the vehicles in opposite direction as it is a busy airport road.

The above is a lesson for me that we should not drive too close to the road divider.

Fall from height - wrong use of forklift - firm penalized

In an incident, two staff of a door fitting firm strapped a wooden crate to a forklift to go up and fix a motor on the wall for a rolling shutter. The person was lifted on the attachment made to forklift and when he turned to pick tools, the crate tipped, person fell by 5 m height after losing balance and received fracture injuries. He was operated upon. HSE investigated the incident, prosecuted the employer and imposed a fine of 1000 pounds and 1870 pounds for costs because of poor planning for work at height and violation of work at height regulations.
In many work places, it is common to see abuse of forklifts. They are used for double/triple/ quadruple riding, joy riding, to go to other departments on personal work, use forks for reaching an elevation instead of using ladder, etc. Employees also do not listen to safety supervisor's objection and it is distressing to watch that even in-charges also take it as normal and no other go option.
In a regional movie which I saw several years ago, the hero who is MD of a soft drink company (brand displayed is reputed) and his friend both stand on the forks with hands resting on the body and moving around. I do not understand how the company allowed such act in their premises, while permitting the film unit for shooting.
Fatalities, injuries like amputation due to trapping between moving fork and stationary mast, hit against, loss of control due to driving at speed, toppling while driving on inclined roads or at high speed or loose ground, etc were reported and one can find such case studies in internet. Still, people take it as one-off incident or of the attitude that it will not happen to them.
Safety at work place can be improved only when fellow employees question unsafe practices and force the violators to stop such acts.Good words and rules will have impact on those who listen but not on wishful violators.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/rnn-em-173.htm?eban=rss-

Measures to be taken before a plant shutdown

The following link provides good information on the above topic. 
It suggests that one should engage experience technical persons for shutting down a plant and equipment conditioning, which may not be required to operate in the near future, but may be required at a later date. All process holdups should be drained, cleaned, protective coats applied, instruments/sensors kept in dry condition and kept in good condition so that when plant is to be restarted, it can be done with minimal costs, head aches and damage. One should also record all measures taken during shut down and to be taken while restarting as it is likely that same technical persons may not be available in the future. Cannibalizing also should be avoided so that plant can be restarted at short notice without searching for missing motors, pumps, valves, vessels, etc. One should also ensure periodical maintenance of the equipment and auxiliaries of plant that was shutdown. Else, we have to be satisfied in getting scrap value by sale instead of its full value.

http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/28796/do-before-plant-closure

Can we have better surveillance cameras to monitor secured areas?

It is common to see CCTV cameras at important places to monitor the movements of suspicious persons. These are located in super markets, restricted areas, traffic zones, bus stations, railway stations, airports, etc. On many occasions, after the occurrence of an incident, the footage from these helped to nab the culprits. But, the videos that we see in TVs are of poor resolution and less speed. It is beyond my knowledge why it is so and why high resolution cameras can't be installed for surveillance. Normally, the domestic cameras which we use provide good pictures of objects that are at distance, when we zoom. No doubt, the memory occupied by these high resolution pictures will be more and thus require large storage space, but it is affordable and cost should not be an issue when it is with regards to security and safety.
During accidents / incidents, cameras installed at important and critical operation areas also show how they occurred, even if the employees lie about them fearing punishment. This will help in accident investigation and help the organization to take preventive measures.

Better results for voluntary compliance instead of enforcement

Many times we do things because we were told to do so. Else, there may be repercussions in the form of penalties or punishment. When we work in such an environment, at the slightest opportunity, we try to avoid, which otherwise the enforcing agency (parents/boss/regulator/police/court/etc) wants us to do. This way things will not yield good results in the long term because it is not coming from our heart. This is because either we did not understand why somebody is asking us to do in particular manner or we had wrong perceptions. If somebody asked us to do in a particular fashion, let us try to understand why? It is the experience of somebody, somewhere. We need not learn again by doing things in a wrong manner and get affected whatever the loss others suffered. This is called learning from history. Rules and regulations are nothing but experiences (bad and good) of so many over a long period.
When we make voluntary efforts without others saying so, we can see positive developments in our work atmosphere. Because we fail to do so, rules and regulations have come and this is the first stage in the line of growth. When we comply with all statutory requirements, we can set our own goals much better than statutes and improve further. This is the second stage. When we repeat this towards better workplace, we can become role model in our industry / region. This is the third stage. These three stages are discussed in detail in INSAG-15 document (International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group).
Many of us are in the first stage for so many decades. Though we obtain certifications for compliance with ISO/OHSAS/IS/BS/FDA, etc, still at heart, we like to bypass procedures and this does not augur well for us as individuals and the organization, as a whole. We think government organizations does not have any dearth of funds and thus they can implement this philosophy. Similarly, we think private organizations are profit oriented and thus do not like to spend. But both are wrong perceptions. There good and bad organizations both in government and private sectors.
It is 'I' who matters in implementation. This I is everybody from top to bottom. The top management should know about rules and regulations and a vision to ensure safety at the work place. And they should convey their intentions to down below and allocate required resources with rewards and punishments to ensure safety.
As long as I am not convinced, I try to do things other way and continue to suffer myself and as a consequence, I put the organization also in a fix not to grow. It is said that safety is not costly, but in fact it is free when implemented in full. It also fetches returns over a long period of time. Just we do not have enough patience to wait for and want to see the results immediately which is not possible. One year when we work with good production, no accidents, better profits, we claim that our work only fetched results and next year when it does not repeat, we blame all sundry instead of taking responsibility for the same. One should realize that our today's results are hard work of somebody in the past.

Letter about the experiences on lab safety

The link below takes to a letter published in Chemical Engineering News about lab safety, experience about lab safety in the college. Lab safety may be followed to a great extent in developed countries, but my personal experience during my college days is that we were never told about hazards, safety procedures, precautions to be taken in the laboratory. Now, I feel how I went through those days and what could have happened if I did something wrong.
As a safety professional, now I feel that college laboratories should have documented safety programme and should be monitored for implementation. Students should know about properties, hazards, material safety data sheets, procedures for storage-handling-disposal, emergency procedures, proper use of PPE, etc.
When we take chemicals in to a bottle or container, we should ensure that the bottle was used previously for the same chemical or better use only cleaned bottles. Otherwise, it is likely that we will be adding a chemical to the bottle that contains or was used for a chemical that is not compatible and a runaway reaction may take place leading to rupture of bottle, splashing of chemicals, hit with glass splinters, etc.
We should use proper bottle holder to move the bottles instead of holding the bottle at its lid or neck which may lead to fall of the bottles.
When chemical splashes, we should remove the contaminated cloth and wash thoroughly for atleast 15 minutes immediately and consult doctor for further treatment. There were reports in which a student received HF splash on her lab coat. Instead of removing the coat, she washed the splashed portion of the coat with some water and continued her work. She was found dead in her apartment later. The reason listed was that though the contaminated coat was washed, the vapors continued to emanate from her coat which she did not notice but inhaled and this caused edema. Chemicals like HF, phosgene, etc exhibit delayed effects causing respiratory problems and eventually lead to death.
Studies show that even after 15 minutes of thorough wash, only about 95% of the splashed chemical can be washed. Hence, prominent display of 'wash for atleast 15 minutes' should be displayed in the lab and near the emergency shower/eye wash fountain or the rack containing eye wash bottles.




http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i44/Lab-Safety-UCLA-Accident.html

About HF spill in Gumi City - updates in Chemical World

The report in the following link gives some important information about leakage of eight tonnes of HF. The police stated that workers did not follow safety procedures for unloading to save some time. The company or local government does not have slaked lime for neutralization of HF and they could get the same only after one day of the incident. The fire fighters are not aware of the chemical spilled or the hazards of HF as they came with normal fire fighting and personal protective equipment.
It is stated that as per CCTV footage seen, workers tried to transfer the HF from tanker by connecting an air hose to a valve in the tank and the white vapors at high pressure from the tank engulfed the workers. And, when firefighters sprayed the water, the spilled acid spread further.
Pressure transfer system is fraught with dangers and many incidents were reported in such transfers across the world.
The above incident is a lesson for us that

• we should review chemical transfer methods
• carry HAZOP study to know the hazards, consequences and measures to be taken
• train the workers and supervisors about the hazards and procedures to be followed
• ensure display of procedure, material safety data sheets for the chemicals used
• provide sufficient capacity of secured collection pit for collecting neutralized acid or for collecting acid and they to do neutralization
• ensure availability of scrubbing/neutralization system for maximum credible scenario
• ensure supervision during the work, etc

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2012/11/hydrofluoric-acid-gumi-korea-leak-hube
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/pdfs/76-143f.pdf

Picture This! Three Little Words Versus One Big Risk-Taker » SafetySmart

Picture This! Three Little Words Versus One Big Risk-Taker » SafetySmart

What we say is not always followed.

Two employees receive chemical burns - firm is fined

It is reported that a cleaning firm was fined after two of its employees received chemical burns in two separate incidents. The firm was fined for lack of enforcing supervision. Though there are no details about the extent of injuries or procedure followed, it appears that the accidents could have been due to (i) lack of procedure or violation of procedure, or (ii) hiring of persons without knowledge about the work, or (iii) lack of training, apart from the lack of supervision.

Training and supervision are generally the two most commonly found recommendations made by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) of US in their investigation of several accidents. And, these are also statutory requirements. 

We have to ensure proper selection of persons, training, job hazard analysis, safe operating procedure, do's and dont's material safety data sheets and supervision to carryout given task safely.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10845300

5 Ladder Safety Training Tips » SafetySmart

5 Ladder Safety Training Tips » SafetySmart

LINK

Gear Maintenance Key to Fall Arrest » SafetySmart

Gear Maintenance Key to Fall Arrest » SafetySmart

LINK

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

LINK

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

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

LINK

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!

*     *     *     *     *

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.