A place for my personal thoughts/views on safety, with focus on industrial safety.
We are nothing after our death. Let us donate our body organs for the poor.
Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvelous work The moment you fear, you are nobody - Swamy Vivekananda
If you think safety is expensive, try an accident... - O.P.Kharbanda
Preventable accidents, if they are not prevented due to our negligence, it is nothing short of a murder - Dr. Sarvepalli Radha Krishna, 2nd President of India
Zero accidents through zero unsafe behaviors. Do not be complacent that there are no accidents. There may be near miss accidents (NMAs). With luck/chance, somebody escaped knowingly or unknown to the person. But, we can't be safe, if we depend upon the luck.
Safety culture is how the organization behaves when no one is watching.
We make No compromise with respect to Morality, Ethics, or Safety. If a design or work practice is perceived to be unsafe, we do not proceed until the issue is resolved. - Mission statement by S&B Engineers & Consultants Ltd. http://www.sbec.com/safety/
Human meat gets least priority - A doctor's comment on accidents
CSB video excerpts from Dr.Trevor Kletz, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQn5fL62KL8
Jul 1, 2010
Management of Change (MOC) ?
Further they think that involving safety department is a waste of time or their work will be delayed because of possible discussions. Therefore they carryout changes without following the established safety procedures. Sometimes, there works give the desired results and therefore makes them to think that they are in right direction ALWAYS. This will set in wrong notions, disregard for safety procedures and will set a bad example for the others to follow the same methods.
Ultimately, a day will come when something goes wrong and blame game starts. Safety department says they are not aware of the change and plant executives say that safety department is not doing its job of surveillance and monitoring. If people do unsafe jobs and then wait for others to point out, then nobody can help. Safety departments are for providing advise and also monitor to caution the mangements. However, if people do works by hiding the information, they are doing so at their own peril.
So, change management should first be applied to persons' attitudes and understanding of safety procedures and then established MOC in the system will be followed by these people with complete understanding and regard for system.
Jun 29, 2010
Whether safety procedures cause stress at workplace
Some safety professionals too think that they get truth, if they pose like a tough guy. But, with my own experience, I can say that this is not true. Whatever the shopfloor person is willing to tell will escape from the scene next time as soon as he sees the tough talking safety guy. The smooth talking safety supervisors also should be careful that they are not taken for granted. They have to develop friendly networks in all departments so that before entering the shopfloor to enquire about unsafe conditions or investigate accidents / incidents, full information is obtained through these friendly networks.
When someone gives information on phone, safety person should not insist to know the name of the person so that he will feel secured and will have peace of mind. If he is willing, then safety person can declare his sources and also recommend for some appreciation and reward.
Stress will be felt by safety guys also when all shopfloor people surround him questioning his failure to identify and communicate hazards. This, I think should be handled by being visible in the shopfloor through frequent inspections,giving pep talks as often as it warrants and making the people to know about their responsibilities under law. Then, safety department persons will be viewed as their friends and get their help to solve safety issues at the shopfloor.
Workers will be stressed for other reasons also as it was mentioned in a news paper article today that spouse causes more stress than the boss. Again, males cause more stress to their spouse than the female. Other reasons for stress can be ill health, unfulfilled ambitions, family issues, etc
Jun 27, 2010
Safety violations are found, then why the plants are allowed to run?
If plant operations are stopped after allowing some time to correct, then everybody will fall in line and though it looks difficult to achieve safety discipline and people are scared of immediate losses, long term benefits will outweigh these losses and every one will follow the directions of regulators. Or they will not give chance for regulators to find safety violations and a system of identification and rectification will be established by the organizations themselves.
Jun 26, 2010
Poisonous fumes from incinerator near Indore - six lost vision?
If the companies do not follow safe procedures and do not ensure supervision, public will lose faith in the industry and whatever they do later will be of no use.
Further, such accidents will show that more inspectors are required to inspect more frequently the premises of the organizations, audit their systems and the findings have to be put in public domain. It may be remembered that though the auditors from head quarters of UCC reported serious nature of hazards in the Bhopal unit, as the report was not known to many, the inaction could not be questioned in time and only after the worst chemical disaster, all concerned started questioning.
Therefore, it should be made mandatory about making availability of audit findings (by regulators as well as certifying agencies) also public like the provisions of Factories Act 1948 under Chapter IV-A and should attract penal provisions like those for violations of Sec 41-B,C,H
Increase of fuel prices - what is its impact on safety?
Many people use vehicles, particularly 4-wheelers for joy rides. Two advertisements which I am seeing in TV channels for last few months depict the same. In one advertisement, a child is sad because he did not get good marks or so, so his father takes him on a ride and the child asks for one more ride. In another advertisement, I think a couple or would-be couple will be on a ride to come out of their moodiness. Actually, it appears many persons don't have any work and therefore wander aimlessly in bikes, cars, etc. Subsidising fuel for such people is a crime. Similarly, supplying subisidised fuel for cars and sports cars whose mileage is very less is also waste of public money which could have been sent on providing education to poor children. In fact, subsidies are becoming a headache for the governments in the long run and they are finding it difficult to come out of this expenditure.
My suggestion is to eliminate fuel subsidies totally. Government should subsidise only public transport to such an extent that people of all categories should feel it economical to travel in public transport than using their own transport. All students can be allowed to travel without paying during their college hours. A pass should be issued to each student and should be punched for one trip to college per day so that wandering by students for timepass can be avoided.
Like issuing licence for driving, governments can issue permits for private transport at a price. This will reduce traffic congestion, reduce pollution, leading to better environment and good health of people. Then, to take care of emergency requirements, government should strengthen ambulance services for medical care and run public transport throughout 24x7 so that people will not be at disadvantage.
Similarly, government should increase excise duty / sales tax on vehicles equivalent to the cost of the vehicle or more. Today, I read in the newspaper that in Nepal, 300% tax is levied on imported cars and thus the cost of Nano car at Nepal works out to INR 4.5 lac. We should tax at these hight rates for all vehicles that are made within the country also.
The decrease in vehicles on the road will also reduce road accidents also and will save many elders and dependents caused by deaths.
The money spent on fuel subsidies can be better used for providing education and public health care which are becoming costly. Though the oil companies claim huge losses on account of subsidies, I am unable to understand why their shares value somuch. The share value of any loss making company will not even quote at its face value but all oil shares trade at multiples of their face value. I have to understand why it is so. After freeing the fuel prices from control, by how much their shares will go up will tell the extent of losses suffered due to subsidies.
Nothing lasts forever. It is obvious that if not now, in another 25-50 years fossil fuels will not be available. As the reserves comedown, oil producing countries will increase their prices and atleast next generation has to pay higher prices because no government can subsidise forever. Instead of using recklessly the valuable resources, let us use them judiciously and increasing the prices is a forceful method for conserving the fuel resources.
Jun 24, 2010
Accident liability of independent directors
Though they are not in operation, but any influence of these independent directors in the decision making process of business towards profits, cost cutting measures, etc will have a direct bearing on the safety measures followed by plant operators and thus they are involved indirectly in day-to-day running of the plant. Therefore, it is not correct to exclude them from liability. If they are like ordinary public shareholders and not consulted or involved in any decision making process (in finance, technical,...), then they can be excluded.
All those who are involved in decision making of financial aspects should be made liable for accidents. The deactivation of safety systems at Bhopal was done to cut business losses with the assumption that a plant not in operation does not require maintenance of safety systems. The decision was made because of lack of technical knowledge on what can go wrong.
Any financial decision on plant operations should be supported by a report from operations in-charge (who should be a technical man) that was discussed by all directors and approved.
Jun 20, 2010
Compensation for victims of industrial accidents
In cases like Chernobyl, Bhopal and Seveso, the impact was immediate and is still continuing. In such cases, we can't decide compensation and cleanup costs immediately. The company has to pay for all victims. If the total compensation is limited to some amount, then in the cases like above, the amount received by the individual victims may become peanuts, whereas companies whose sole aim is to make profits will simply escape. When a company is in the business to make profits, then we can't allow them to make those profits at the cost of human lives, environment and property damages by following unsafe practices and procedures.
In fact, the certifying auditing agencies for quality, environment and safety practices of companies should be made accountable like financial auditors so that certificate can't issued / renewed without compliance with norms.
Now-a-days, the victims of road / rail accidents get Rs 2-10 lakhs from various agencies of the government. Sometimes, jobs are also offered for the next kin of the victims. Similar amount should be paid to the victims of industrial accidents apart from health treatment costs.
When the compensation will be decided for each victim instead of lumpsum per accident, then I am sure, companies will follow international safety practices everywhere and ensure safety of employees and public.
Jun 14, 2010
There are NO instant solutions for achieving safety - You can't see results immediately
Similarly, people will appoint safety professionals or somebody as safety officer and expect accidentfree workplace from the next moment.
Someothers reduce their alertness on safety and say that they contributed to profits (by reducing the expenditure on safety), as there were no accidents in the last few months.
In all above situations, expectations are to see immediate results. People forget that for any good or bad to happen, it will take some time for the system to develop in the direction of increase or deterioration levels. Normally, the time will be about five years, though this time can vary depending upon the commitment levels of the management and employees.
That's why when some company gets a safety reward or recognition, the CEO at that time thinks that its all because of his efforts after assuming the charge, though this is due to the efforts by the earlier CEO(s) for last few years. One may get certicate of ISO/OHSAS or something after one year effort, but the certification for the first time is mainly because of documentation (normally by consultants and therefore employees do not know anything) and management programmes listed in the manuals and resources allocated. By the time, the certificate comes for revalidation, if the CEO puts his heart into it and looks back, the improvements achieved would have been negligible and he chides his MR or safety manager for not followingup properly with the departments.
If at all there are any instant results, they will fall under corrective actions and not preventive actions. Therefore, similar incidents / accidents occur again and again and companies will get NC from auditors for not seeing any efforts for preventing the incidents.
Therefore, there are no immediate solutions and results for achieving safety, but efforts are required for permanent solutions and to be sustained.
LINK
Jun 5, 2010
Why people continue to do mistakes even after accidents take place
Sometimes, the top man gives importance to safety but the leadership one step below do not have such importance and drive field engineers for output at shortest time and this leads to accidents. Instead of penalising the department, if penalties are collected from the salaries of such leaders and field engineers as well as from payments made to the contractors, then people may listen. Otherwise, they do not bother about safety measures at site and contractors will continue to do the work that maximizes their profits. Possibly the money spent on accident victims treatment / compensation must have been less over a period of time for these contractors.
LINK
Apr 18, 2010
Learning from others-blogs or accidents whatever it is!
Jan 18, 2010
Accident prevention is cheaper than the accident
It is not uncommon to hear such news now and then. There are many unreported incidents as well. Some lucky ones were rescued safely and many unlucky children could not. It is outrageous that when a borewell is dug, till other piping work is completed, the well is to be capped and all it costs for a perfect capping is only about Rs 500. People spend thousands of rupees for sinking a borewell but think that it costs them to securely close. Now, see the cost of resources put into saving the child fell in the borewell.
- EMRI service 108 personnel spent more than 24 hrs in rescue efforts
- District collector and SP also spent considerable time
- Earth removers were engaged on the job (it costs about Rs 500-1000 per hour when you rent it and for 24 hrs, more than Rs 20000/- is spent and this amount alone can be used for capping 40 wells. If you add cost of personnel and medical emergency care engaged in the work, the rescue efforts amount to another Rs 20,000/-)
It is good that TV9 channel started a campaign to inform them about all open wells so that message can be driven into concerned officials for capping the wells and save other children.
In the field of industrial safety, it is known that cost of accident prevention is only 1/4 of direct cost of the accident. Infact, the savings accrued from accident prevention, over a period of time, will far exceed the money spent on accident prevention and thus experts say that SAFETY IS CHEAP AND COSTS NOTHING compared to the expenditure one has to incur once an accident occurs.
The persons responsible for leaving the borewells in open condition should be held responsible and should be made to pay for their lapse so that all others will realize and try to be vigilant in their actions.
Publicity and awareness campaigns like the one started by TV9 should be on continuous basis and voluntary and should not be like knee-jerk reaction.
Aug 10, 2009
Deaths in confined spaces
Some of the deaths were like this;
1. A Person want to see what is inside a tank from the top, to plan for the work. While looking down, he lost consciousness, fell down and died. Sometimes, to rescue the unconscious persons, others who tried for him also became victims.
2. A person went inside a rice brawn mill discharge storage tank. After some time, he became unconscious and was found dead.
3. A person went inside a water storage tank in the underground for cleaning and was found dead.
4. A person went inside a concrete mixing plant for cleaning. Not knowing this, soon after, the operator operated and the person inside died. Though in this case, it is not the hazardous atmosphere, but it is a confined space and a different type of hazard (Maintenance person's presence inside is not known to the operator).
5. Two persons were working in a trench and were buried alive by the loose soil heap that slid due to some disturbance.
There are many more such cases, mostly involving cleaning jobs inside waste storage tanks of rice brawn mills or septic tanks.
Earlier, while reading such news items, I used to think that my work place is safe and that I need not bother about confined space works. However, as I learn more and more deaths of people like above, whenever I get a work permit for work in a basement or tank, though it is fairly open to atmosphere, I get wild thoughts and sometimes I think whether I am thinking too much in visualizing the hazards. However, I stick to my wild thoughts and accordingly prepare precautions to be taken for the work.
Normally, the oxygen level in the work place will be checked before entry into such places. People say that it is fine if oxygen levels are between 19.5 % and 23.0%.
But in an article, the author advised to verify and find out the reasons for change in oxygen level from the normal levels. Though the general guideline says above 19.5% O2 levels are acceptable, but what are the other pollutant that brought down the O2 level from 21% to 19.5%? For example, if the pollutant is say CO, then we all know that CO is fatal at 0.5% (5,000 ppm) and it is not acceptable. Similarly, it may by H2S which is also a toxic gas.
Sometimes, our instrument may be wrong. In that case we can't depend on the values measured by it, because we do not know the error %. Sometimes, persons check O2 level at the entrance and then give clearance for the work. But, we should check O2 levels at the actual place of work and the measurement time should be reasonable. Instantaneous values may give us wrong picture. Again for checking O2 levels at work place, we should not enter and endanger our lives. Portable hand held instruments with suction pumps and connected hoses (even upto 100 ft) are availalbe at about Rs 30,000/- in the market.
We have to flush the work area continuously till we get O2 levels are as good as open atmposhere and should continue air supply till the work is over and all persons come out. If the work is to be carried for a long time with tea / lunch breaks, then the flushing and air supply should be continued during the breaks and before every entry, the O2 levels should be checked and ascertained that the work atmosphere is safe for work.
Sometimes, there may not be much head room available for free movement of the persons inside. In case of work inside chimneys or furnaces, the lining material may be loose and it may fall on the persons. There may be toxic gases (generated by the process) that are trapped in these lining material and if persons are working on these, they will be exposed to these toxic gases and may be overcome.
When persons work in open trenches, we know that the adjacent heaps of soil can be disturbed by heavy winds or from vibrations due to vehicular movement nearby. It is normally suggested to dispose the soil immediately to an earmarked place. Atleast, the soil should be kept atleast 1.5 m away from the trench and angle of repose should be considered for the soil. Again, as we go deep in the trenches, they should be supported on the sides to avoid collapse due to loads on the adjectent area by proper shoring. If long trenches are made, then for every 30 m, emergency escape ladders should be provided. Care should be taken that these trenches are not flooded by water / sewage lines and workers in it are taken by surprise. Earth moving equipment should be properly supported by outer rigs with proper base supports so that they do not topple due to loose soil and in the process endanger persons nearby.
With the availability of radio sets, workers inside should be in constant touch by the supervisor outside and buddy system should be followed on one-to-one basis i.e for every one person inside, there should be another person outside to monitor the condition and to provide immediate help. People may think it is waste of money, but in the event of some eventuality, the compensation claims and payments will put a big hole in the finances of the executors of the work and then they will regret for not taking protective measures.
However, the story repeats in the next job. BECAUSE, OUR MEMORY IS SHORT AND WE THINK THAT THOSE INCIDENTS ARE OF ONCE IN LIFE TIME AND THEY WILL BE CAREFUL THIS TIME.
Such persons should be put behind bars, with all their propery seized and utilized for helping the families of the victims.
Feb 14, 2009
Risk = Probability (???) x SEVERITY
Now, the question is not about space but on the events on the earth.
In any factory, accidents keep occurring. When somebody (normally safety officer / advisor) points out about unsafe acts / unsafe conditions in the shop floor / factory premises and asks for correction, the usual reaction is, a staring look and then the reply comes, "oh, we have been doing this for the last few years / we are doing like this from the beginning / who is expert -you are me - you safety people does not know any thing other than talking / I can't do - you come and do / so on...
How true are the words of the famous safety professional Trevor Kletz -
Corporates do not have memory.
We have done this way 100 times is not acceptable unless an accident on 101st time is acceptable.
We never imagined that satellite collision is possible. But, it happened. Where the chances are remote, still it happened and where the chances are high in our activities in the shop floor, we do not want to correct our selves.
If we see the accident history in any factory, after the accident, the usual sheepish answer from the injured or his colleagues or manager is that it happened for the first time, the person is experience, skilled, safety conscious, near retirement, he doesn't want to take official leave and will take personal leave for the period away from duty due to accident, so on.
In spite of all the above qualities, still accidents occurred, then imagine what can happen to others. It is the attitude that requires correction rather than any thing else.
When somebody narrates their own experience, people listen attentively, appreciate him that he came clean and after coming out from the room the listeners do the same old things. This is why accidents keep occurring again and again, if not to the same person / or same shop floor, they will be occurring somewhere else to some body else.
We love short cuts and feel that we are above all others, accident does not occur when we are working.
One of my colleague, who retired 4 years ago, used to tell in all his training classes, that we should leave the organization with same organs as we had when we joined.
Yes, it is true that no body wants to lose their organs and suffer. But, momentary decision without thought for consequences will lead to accidents.
Rarely, does the type of accident will be new in any factory that is few years old. May be after the accident, corrective actions are taken. But after few years, the corrected systems will be replaced because people forget the reasons for safe guards in place and meddle with the systems. They want to prove to their bosses that they are inventors and soon after their will be accidents and shop floor persons will be suffered. But, the so called inventor would have got his promotion or pay rise and even would have left the organization.
So, every body should work seriously on the hazards at the shop floor, let the probability is however less. Nobody says there is no (zero) probability of occuring for an accident. In fact the word probability it self gives meaning of some uncertainty. Hence, if the severity / consequence from even from remote probable event is not acceptable, without looking for chance of occurrence, we should eliminate all those hazards and make our work place safer.
Risk assessment and actions should concentrate more on consequence rather than on probability and make life safer for persons.
Feb 12, 2009
Location of industrial plants - safe distances
There were questions immediately about the wisdom of granting licence for setting up of factories in residential areas. Similar questions were raised even after the Bhopal incident in 1984.
This and such similar incidents always bring out few questions, like, which is first ?
The factory was set up first or residential buildings came up first?
In philosophy, a similar question is, seed first or (biological) plant first? OR egg first or chick first?
It is difficult to answer the philosophical questions as above. However, not so difficult for our question of factory or residential buildings, which is first? Even in the case of Union Carbide factory at Bhopal, as per the information available in various books, web sites, factory came up first. Shanties, hutments came up adjacent to the factory fence later. These habitats were not removed when they came up. The reason as mentioned in a famous book is that the management was also happy as cheap labour is available nearby. Apart from these, it is quite natural for development to take place near industrial set ups and this will lead to better realization of land and other properties.
In the case of accident mentioned at the beginning also, as is seen, the factory was set up in an industrial area about 7 years ago. However, by that time already the entire area is surrounded with thousands of residential buildings. Apart from this factory, there were other factories that were set up much before. I do not know whether at those times, the residential buildings existed or not. However, I am sure from hearsay that 35-40 years ago, this area was totally isolated from the city and is like a jungle and persons were afraid to reach other factories in the area after the sun set. Few less courageous persons used stay in side those factories in the night after their second shift (ends around 2200-2300 hrs) and go home only in the morning.
Now, these areas are so developed that it is difficult to get land and the price is as good as in the heart of the city, though these are located at about 10-15 km away from the railway station.
Then, the questions about why permission was granted look silly though the question about how safe is a safe distance for a factory remains. For this, the Environment Protection Act 1986 and the rules made under it will help. One has to prepare safety report and has to revise it atleast once in three years or if any additional information is available, it has to be revised even earlier also. Once, the distance of impact is known from toxic releases / fire / explosion, then a safe zone has to be maintained considering the future expansion of the factory as well as population growth in the area. However, preparation of safety reports are mandatory only when the chemical inventory / handled exceeds a threshold quantity. I feel, these limitations should be removed and should be made compulsory for chemicals of any quantity. If a factory is proposed to be set up, then impact distances and safe distances have to be determined and maintained for the chemicals, whatever be the quantity to be handled. Due consideration should be given to the domino effect that is effect of incidents in the proposed factory on the factories that are already in existence and if an incident occurs in the neighbouring factory due to the incident in the proposed factory, then what is the impact.
I also blame the greediness of people in the neighbourhood of the industrial areas. It is not correct to say that they do not know about factories. People spend so much time about genuiness of a property before purchase but care little about other factors. People buy vacant lands when they sense that some development activity is going to occur in the area, the activity can be any thing - setting up of factory / colleges / highway / railway station / etc. Then definitely, the greed is to also to be blamed when persons in residential areas are affected due to industrial activity in the neighbourhood, though the main blame goes to the factory management. When factories have to be set up, land should be enough for plant building area and this should be surrounded by forest cover upto the safe distance. The fence of the factory should be at the safe distance outer boundary. No expansion of factory should take place unless these two aspects are covered. If any violation occurs, the concerned persons should be tried by special courts, whether such expansion caused injury or not or plant operations are carried out without valid permissions.
When the profits are more compared to penalties, then people always prefer penalty. Here, I mean penalty in terms of money. If the penalty includes imprisonment or seizing of the total property of owners and their spouses (apart from the factory), then persons will not dare to do such acts.
Similarly, somebody puts up residential buildings within the impact distance, they should be demolished and persons responsible for granting permission should be taken to task.
Now, what to do with establishments already came up and later residential buildings came up.
Talk to concerned establishments for shifting to safe area in a reasonable time or if it is not feasible, then remove encroachments / take possession of residential and other buildings up to the safe distance as is done for expansion of roads / railway tracks. OR live with it and repeat the blame game as and when accidents occur.
Jan 19, 2009
Why Gas cylinders should be kept in sun shade?
Recently, I was on a visit to one of our sites under construction. After my visit to the construction site, at about 1230 hrs in the noon, I was going back to the office where I normally sit. I don't have permanent table and chair as I visit the site occasionally and there are permanent safety officers already appointed at site. On the way, I saw some argon cylinders stored on the road side under direct sun light, without valve caps. I enquired with the contractor nearby about the cylinders and I was told that they are empty and are to be sent to the supplier. On close observation, I found that the valve discharge nozzle is having some water (there was rain on previous night) and small bubbles were being formed continuously.
From this I understood that though the cylinder is empty, it is not 100% empty and some leftover gas in the cylinder is getting expanded due to rise in ambient temperature. As the valve is not totally closed, the expanded gas is leaking out as bubbles through the water in the discharge nozzle.
This clearly demonstrates that though we assume empty cylinders are safe, they are not actually 100% empty and if the gas is toxic, then the little amount of gas leaking out due to sunlight exposure can harm the persons nearby. If the cylinders are full then they are hazardous and can endanger the persons around.
Similarly, being found on the roadside, any damage to the valve (breakage) can rocket the cylinder like missile and can hurt persons / damage equipment or property nearby or can have a domino effect. For this reason, the rules are specific that the unused cylinder valves should be protected with valve caps so that valves can't be exposed directly.
People talk about safety culture so much, but these small issues like valve caps, cylinder storage under sunshade, chaining the cylinders to prevent their fall, etc are not given due attention. Lip service alone will not improve safety culture. May be, talking about safety will bring admiration from listeners and even some appreciation by way of reward, but this will not help in improving the safety at ground level and all this admiration / appreciation / rewards will be washed off by any single accident and the same persons will admonish the in-charges of the area for not visualizing the hazards and not taking corrective measures for the safety of the people.
Jan 17, 2009
Gas cylinder Explosion
Dec 15, 2008
Importance of Learning
Accidents and near misses are the result of mistakes committed by some one.
On human errors, there is a quotation by the great safety professional, Mr Trevor A. Kletz (retired from ICI, UK and now is about 90 years old),
“Mistakes occur because someone does not know what to do. To prevent them we need better training or instruction or changes to the plant design or work method so that the task is easier”.
It can be due to shop floor person, supervisor, officer during operation, issue of instructions or during design. A mistake can be a part of the system right from the beginning or it could have been committed subsequently.
We all make mistakes. However we can become wise and knowledgeable only when we learn from these mistakes.
Experience makes a man wise. However, experience is not desirable in all aspects.
Again in the words of Mr Kletz in his book, “Still Going Wrong”,
“A high price was paid for safety information mentioned in various sources (like books, films and internet). People were killed or injured and billions of dollars worth of equipment was damaged. Someone has paid the TUTION FEES. There is no need for you to pay them again”.
It only takes one apple to spoil the whole barrel as the old saying goes, and this is time when a group of humans gather together. If one friend or family member is not happy, then their unhappiness can spread to infect the others in the group.
Same can be applied to safety. If a person is unaware / not bothered about safety, he will endanger others also.
If we see the accidents that occurred in any particular industry from its inception or even for that matter for the last few years, can we say that all those accidents that occurred were of first time in nature? It is unlikely and I am sure nobody agrees with this statement. Most of the accidents are of repetitive nature, if not exactly, slightly in a different manner. If we go through the accident and near miss records, we can find similarity in the type of accidents. May be it is not in the same plant but in some other plant under the management of same organization.
Dissemination of information is vital so that all of us can study the accidents and near misses and can see whether IS IT POSSIBLE IN MY PLANT FOR OCCURRENCE OF SUCH AN ACCIDENT. It is important in safety committee meetings held every month that the discussions should be on accidents and near misses occurred in the plant or other plants. Instead, the observation is that mostly discussion goes on pending safety related deficiencies (SRDs) which were already brought to the notice of the plant management by the safety officer and by allocating necessary resources (responsible person, man power, finance, etc), these SRDs can be corrected. Information on accidents, near misses, unusual occurrences etc is normally compiled at corporate level and are sent to all units under the organization after review. This is one valuable source of information on accidents. Similarly, we read such incidents in the newspapers that there is some fire, explosion, electrocution, fall of person, etc with some details. Therefore media is another source. Similarly those who had access for other sources like books (library) or internet can get valuable information.
Seminars can be conducted for employees in which those who were actually involved in accidents directly or witnessed can explain their experience in accidents with the noble cause of saving their colleagues from such accidents. Discussion of these in such seminars, plant meetings, etc creates an awareness about safety and can ignite our minds to take necessary corrective measures so that we can maintain a safe work place.
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