Safety managers need not shout to make a point

It is a misconception that regulators need to be vocal while discharging their duties. Many consider a soft spoken regulatory representative as worthless. The point is that there will also be psychological barriers when enforcement agency is not approachable and there is every possibility of hiding of information. 

All those in enforcement responsibilities must have observed this during investigations. General comment is that, "sorry, I was not there, or, no, I did not see though I was nearby, etc". People should not be afraid. If fear factor is there, then, listening to the requirements even for the safety of the employees or public also will be less. 

It is better to have coordial approach with persons as long as they do accept the need for implementation of regulatory requirements. Those who do not listen can be dealt with sternly. 

Training with exhibits

As everybody agrees, training plays an important role to ensure safe production. Generally, training will be in the form of lectures with the help of power point presentations or sometimes, with some demonstrations. Though this is better than verbal methods, impact of training can be enhanced by having 3D models, or taking to shopfloor and giving a problem to the participants and getting answers by interactive discussions. Workshops too will help to understand better. Duration of training is better to be about one hour. It is observed that the participants loose interest in extended training periods. Shopfloor managers can allot 1-2 sessions in a week with each session upto one hour for shopfloor training. This may also generate new ideas for improving productivity. 

Rains - flooding - submergence of equipment and power supply systems - cleaning, checking, safe restart

Heavy rains are causing havoc in many residential areas. Many areas are inundated with water and are experiencing stagnation. What to do if the same happens in industrial plants. Recently, government issued guidelines for safe restart after long shutdown due to declaration of lock down to contain spread of covid. A similar procedure needs to be followed in this scenario also. Though there were no reports of any accidents due to flooding of industrial areas, one should not ignore the lessons. 

All submerged equipment and associated piping, instruments, access areas, etc have to be cleaned and checked for meeting functional requirement. Similarly power supply systems have to be checked for its integrity to avoid short circuit or arc flash hazards.

Only after checking everything, more than as we do for a new plant, and satisfying ourselves, energization and connecting loads to be done gradually. It is always better to go slow instead of hurrying so that there will not be setbacks later. Whatever we do at home in such scenario, same concepts can be followed.