Deaths due to non-communicable diseases

A report in today's Times of India states that non-communicable diseases (NCD) cause more deaths than communicable diseases. As per latest data, in India, 80% of the deaths in urban areas are due to NCDs like cancer, heart ailment, respiratory disease and diabetes and 60% of deaths in rural areas. Globally, 36 million deaths are due to NCDs contributing 63% of all deaths. In India, in 2004, 7.3 lakh deaths are due to cancer, 27 lakh due to cardiovascular. i.e 34 lakh deaths are only due to these two diseases.  And India lost US$ 9 billion from heart disease, stroke and diabetes in 2005 which is a considerable amount.
It is not known about the causes for these NCDs, whether arising out of occupation or not. Heart diseases can be due to  life style, struggle for existence and to have minimum requirements of food, cloth and shelter, good education for children and so on.
The number of deaths appear to be much more than industrial accidents and road accidents put together. This requires initiative by government to provide better facilities for health, transport, education. Also managements of industrial establishments can participate in community activities in the form corporate social responsibility by adopting localities and engaging the people in the area for their betterment.

Industrial courts - concept from Australia

A company was fined by an industrial court for safety violations leading to a nearmiss incident that could have caused several fatalities. Exclusive industrial courts will help in speeding up the hearing and awarding judgement. If it goes to civil courts, with so many cases, industrial cases will be heard when their turn comes and justice will be delayed. Penalties also should be revised with emphasis on punishment in the form of imprisonment rather than on cash penalties which can lead to proactive measures rather than half-hearted measures.
After every accident, it is common to hear renewed commitment by the company management for health and safety of the employees and a list of measures taken or proposed for improving the workplace safety and environment.
In some industrial areas, the cost of establishing and establishing and maintaining local emergency response centers is borne by the industries in the area. Likewise, it should be made mandatory for industries in the area to contribute for industrial courts. If any company is found operating without contribution, it should be closed.
Relevant articles for this blog can be read here 1, 2, 3. 

Ground water pollution

Today an article appeared in Times of India about pollution of river due to discharge of effluents from dyeing units and resultant loss of crops, barren fields and loss of livelihood to those dependent of agriculture. Toxic discharges in Noyyal river by dyeing units in Tirupur caused the agricultural field to become barren as toxic water can not be used for cultivation and farm works. A case in the court by those who lost there fertile lands lead to closure of the units which do not have effluent treatment plants (ETP) and because of this even the workers in these factories also lost their jobs.

Business is done to get profit. But, profit making is not at the cost of endangering eco system. ETP must be set up to treat the effluents so that no harmful substances enter into rivers or ground water. One can't say ETPs are costly and affects their business. They should see that it affects health of others in the area including themselves. 

Earlier, similar situation was there in another place where tanning industry growth led to contamination of ground water. This made government to take stern action on pollutants to treat or shut policy.

Product safety: who’s watching? - Columns - livemint.com

Today an article on consumer product safety was published in MINT. I learned about product safety when I did my safety diploma few years ago. The Factories Act 1948 Section 7B is about product safety but for use in a factory. Apart from this, time to time we see awareness campaigns in the media by Ministry of Consumer Affairs under JAGO GRAHAK JAGO on various topics. But, as the author says in the MINT article, there is no agency for monitoring and implementation similar to Consumer Product Safety Commission of US. After purchase, we find the item with defects, not as per specifications, less weight, poor quality etc.Of late however, few online shopping websites are offering replacement guaranty within specified period. Some retail outlets also offer exchange, if brought within specified period. Hope this will spread and lead to practices as followed in US.

Product safety: who’s watching? - Columns - livemint.com

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Clothes caught in fire - STOP, DROP & ROLL

In an article, I read that two persons received severe burn injuries when their clothes caught fire and started running. The Chief of Fire Services said that fire will increase when you run due to fanning. He advised that to extinguish fires of clothes you are wearing, you should stop immediately, drop on the floor and roll.

The fire started when two highly volatile substances were used for cleaning after carpet removal by dissolving the adhesive with gasoline and turpentine. The vapors found ignition source and led to fire. The action by Fire Services is quick as the fire occurred at 1840 hr and fire was extinguished by 1859 hr.

Another news item on the above can be read here.

Safety Daily Advisor : Office Workers: The Forgotten Workforce?

Office safety is as important as industrial safety. Normally, our safety inspections, audits, training programmes are focused on production plants and seldom we think about administration block, canteens, parking areas, etc. We may not get any report on incidents that occurred in these places unless otherwise it is something of serious nature. Those working in these places also may not be aware of safety programme that's going on in shop floors.
Once, when I pulled upper drawer of a filing cabinet (with 4 compartments one above another), due to load, the filing cabinet tilted forward thereby causing all drawers to come out. I missed narrowly of getting hit.
Similarly, when you take out two cabinets and absentmindedly close the lower one, definitely you will injure your fingers.
Few years back, my younger boy tried to climb the open refrigerator and due to shifting of centre of gravity it started tilting forward. As I was nearby, immediately jumped and held the refrigerator. Else, it would have fallen on the kid.
It is common to hear fall of persons in the change rooms. Same thing can happen in wash rooms also.
We see dumping of files in loft / on cupboards / on tables, which can be a fire hazard. These files may fall on the persons below and injure them. Apart from these, there can be reptile movement or damage to files due to termites, and so on.
The article below stresses on importance of safety for office workers and a safety plan for them.

Safety Daily Advisor : Office Workers: The Forgotten Workforce?

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Safety Daily Advisor : Napping at Work? You’re Not Dreaming!

Taking a nap at work for sometime in between helps in reducing the errors and increasing the productivity, so says this article. It is well known that chinese will get time to sleep during the work. I also saw in a paint factory, when I went for inspection, that in the lunch time of 30 minutes they quickly finish their lunch and sleep. Exactly at 1230 hrs when they hear the siren sound, they get up and resume work. During this time, even if the top most person comes, they do not get disturbed. They switch off all lights and will have their nap.

Workers who had put long hours earlier will be unable to work continuously as they enter into fifties and definitely some rest in between helps the organisation more than the worker because if there is some mistake, then organisation also is at loss and may lead to shutdown of the plant for sometime depending of the severity of the consequence.

Then, it is wrong to assume that only those who do physical work will be strained/fatigued. It is also true for all as mental strain also can lead to tiredness, more errors and reduced output. The article mentions that tired doctors are prone to 700% errors and this can be true for other professions.

Safety Daily Advisor : Napping at Work? You’re Not Dreaming!

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Safety Daily Advisor : Six Steps to a Safer Workplace

Here are the six steps that can help providing a safe work place and result in higher productivity as well. It starts from commitment from top management to empowering line managers to take necessary actions on improving safety, monitoring and encouragement.

Safety Daily Advisor : Six Steps to a Safer Workplace

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Difference between danger, warning, caution

I was not clear about what is a danger sign, what is a warning sign and what is a caution sign, till I read this article in Safety Daily Advisor. It also explains about biological hazard sign and instructions.
Danger sign is about a hazard that can lead to death, warning sign is about potential hazard and caution sign is in-between.

Whatever be the display of signs, the articles mentions, that if one can't understand what it means and what should be done, then it serves no purpose.

It's better to provide training and provide booklets containing the information to all employees. Also, display the measures to be taken, near the area where it can be seen by the employees.

Failure to use PPE - associated hazards

I read an article about failure to use personal protective equipment (PPE) by workers for various reasons and the hazards associated with it. From the survey, it is found that one of the reasons for not using PPE is that it is not attractive. It appears some of the workers value their appearance more than their life. It is common to see motorists not wearing PPE; glass/sheet/stone/wood cutters not wearing goggles;  welders using a small piece of tint glass instead of face shield; many construction workers not wearing safety shoe, helmet; workers doing concrete mixing not wearing any gum boots, etc. At some construction sites, the helmet worn by the user will be of substandard quality which can pierce/break his head, if something falls from top. Even by appearance, these helmets look fragile(?), but it will have all stamps of compliance to applicable standards.
Though, PPE is the last resort of protection, neither other measures will be in place not PPE will be used, thereby endangering the invaluable lives of workers.