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