Death of crane operator

In a reported incident, a crane operator fell out on the road, after hitting another crane moving ahead on the road. The crane toppled and the person died under it.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/crane-driver-dies-in-freak-accident/articleshow/81280935.cms

It appears that the operator did not wear any seat belt. Safety requirements specify the use of a seatbelt to prevent such falls. It is often seen that operators of material handling equipment like cranes, forklift trucks, etc do not wear seat belts even though provided by the manufacturers. Some operators jump out sensing some trouble to protect themselves, but in the process, get injured from the crane/forklift or the load lifted falling on them. A seatbelt or restrain device keeps the person within the secured cabin.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/2019/jul/03/operator-dies-as-crane-overturns-in-hyderabad-1998767.html

Managers should ensure the use of seat belts to avoid such (fatal) incidents by education, supervision, and enforcement.

http://aluminiumplantsafety.blogspot.com/2019/11/crane-operator-dies-in-freak-accident.html

Power failure - exposure to toxic gases - deaths and injuries

As per reports on the internet, 5 persons died and 8 persons got injured on exposure to toxic gases. It is stated that a short circuit led to power failure, stoppage of exhaust systems. After the restoration of power, persons got exposed while entering the plant for work.

The preliminary reasons given indicate the importance of exhaust systems in chemical plants or in areas where toxic gases can accumulate (like in confined spaces, mines, etc).

The way it looks, risk assessment, and safety measures for protection appear to be inadequate. Power failure for about 90-120 minutes caused the work area to be filled with toxic gases. This indicates that workers were working in such hazardous environments with dependence on the functioning of exhaust systems. This plant area seems to be the most dangerous area with continuous generation and exhaust of toxic gases to maintain a breathable atmosphere. If this is the case, entry to such areas should be with breathing sets and for a short duration. These areas are not fit for long-duration works. There should have been online gas detectors with audio-visual alarms with emergency power backup.

https://www.shine.cn/news/nation/2102285210/

https://www.caixinglobal.com/2021-03-01/blackout-caused-gas-leak-results-in-five-deaths-at-northeast-china-factory-101668798.html

Significance of Leadership for Safety in Licensee Organizations: Self-Regulation

Yesterday, I listened to a seminar through virtual mode on the above topic. The message conveyed through all presentations was good. The presentations were also interesting and captured my attention. I attended a similar seminar a few years ago also. 

The important points to take home are as below:

1. Leadership is to be exhibited at all levels to ensure safety.
2. Self-regulation is important and is helpful to growing organizations.
3. Organizations shall have self-imposed goals and should work for them (self-regulation), rather than looking to the regulators to identify their drawbacks (here, third-party audits will be helpful, if the organizations do not have the competency to identify their problems).
4. The Decision-making process is an important activity to identify and correct the situation before it escalates.
5. We can't sit quietly by taking pride in our past successes. Our past weaknesses are there still and can endanger us.
6. Self-regulation through safety culture will help in safety management and lead the organizations to a successful path.

EHS article on, how to identify fake N95 masks

https://www.ehstoday.com/ppe/article/21155518/how-to-identify-fake-n95-masks?oly_enc_id=1936G3569489I9F

High levels of PM2.5 and PM10 during early hours - morning exercisers to protect themselves

It is reported that particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10 levels are very high even during early hours, particularly in winter. This is when there are no activities like construction or movement of vehicles. It is stated that condensation with low temperature leads to the formation of tiny particulate matter which suspended in air is leading to airborne matter.  High dust levels can also be due to the settling of fine particulate matter that got suspended during day time from various activities. Depending upon the size and wind speed, the particles are either carried from other places or taking the time. Temperature inversion can be another factor in delaying the settling of dust particles.

I too observed the air quality index levels in my mobile, which continued to be high in the night and early hours, though, not high compared to daytime levels. 

Another observation is the formation of a fine dust layer on the vehicles parked in garages and inside the houses after a few hours, even after wiping the surfaces in the night.

This indicates poor air that may not be suitable for us even in early morning hours and we can't go for outdoor exercises, particularly in winter. We may also get into respiratory problems by inhalation of condensed moisture as particulate matter. Maybe we have to cover the face with masks to avoid inhalation of harmful matter, not thinking that it is safe as there is no vehicle movement on the roads.

Importance of readily available data for preventing disasters - an article

Recently, I came across an article from Kinsmen Group, as given below. It discussed the importance of readily available data on workplace activities and incidents to prevent workplace disasters and protect the employees. It is called smart data, in the news item. 

Following are some of the issues and observations made (data seems to be for USA):

1. As per OSHA and Labour department, in the year 2019, more than 5000 persons died 9,00,000 were injured at workplace.
2. Companies spend an average USD 7,500 for each lost-time workplace injury (we can call this as direct cost). Other costs consist of replacement of damaged equipment, reconstruction of facilities, compensation, etc. (As per theory, direct cost is only like a tip of the iceberg. And, cost of preventing an accident will be only about one fourth of the direct cost).
3. As per National Safety Council, cost of workplace injuries in the year 2018 was USD 170 billion.
4. Each fatality costs USD 1.0 million in medical costs, employer costs, and wage losses
5. In a fatal fire and explosion incident, it seems, the emergency personnel do not have information of chemicals involved, otherwise, they could have saved the lives. 
6. Digitization and availability of data easily is not yet compulsory by many certification agencies. Organizations follow data retrieval in general age old methods like physical search instead of going for easy methods by using the computer/cloud technology/internet
7. Data should be latest

Many of us definitely would have spent a lot of time in search of some information. It is my personal experience that on most of the occasions, I spent more than two hours to retrieve, and sometimes more than one person was engaged for information retrieval. And, on some occasions, I didn't find what I want. Availability of signed information will help us to support what remember/believe and use it to convince others for implementation of safety or whatever we would like to.

Digitizing the records with a provision to search will be helpful for us and our future generation. Some believe digitization means scanning the documents. But scanning without search option makes it useless. It is a primitive form. Instead of paper search, we have to search in computer page by page. Indexing these types of scanned pages may make life somewhat better. But, if scanning of documents is in readable text form to enable search with key words, and is available in encrypted form in cloud, like dropbox, mega, onedrive, pcloud, etc and is accessible with password protection to prevent unauthorized access, it will help a lot for productive use. 

Searchable scanned records helped us greatly in the analysis of similar incidents and find suitable solutions to prevent recurrence of the incidents for a safe workplace  

Updating of data is a continuous process. 

Knowledge management is very important and critical to ensure safe productivity. World renowned safety professional Dr Trevor Kletz stated in one of his books (What Went Wrong) that incidents keep repeating either in the same or different similar organizations. We have to learn from them and implement measures to prevent recurrence.

Another safety professional Mr O.P.Kharbanda stated in a booklet about Bhopal accident, that Safety is not costly. In fact, it is free. What we need is the will to implement. 

In one of the investigation reports, EPA made an observation which states, it is not the lack of knowledge that is responsible for the accident. It is the lack of use of the available information that is responsible for the accident.

How we can get the information at first place. If it is made available in a readily searchable form and is known the personnel how to use it, then this information management will help to achieve what we intended to.

Qualified technologies and personnel should be assigned for this and definitely organizations will reap the benefits from this.

https://www.prweb.com/releases/two_strategies_help_prevent_workplace_disasters_protect_employees_with_smart_data/prweb17681313.htm

Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services (TSDRFS) Department - achievements

The department during the year 2020 attended 7,899 calls as per the data published in its site. 

Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department

With its dedicated efforts, it saved 1005 lives and saved property worth Rs 960 crores. 

During the last seven years, it saved 2,301 lives and property worth Rs 4,667 crore in more than 62,000 calls attended.

Majority of the fires took place in residences, factories, storage yards, etc. Two major reasons for the fires are electrical short circuit and careless smoking habits. 

As is a common feature, many times, the approach of emergency services to the fire site will be delayed due to traffic, encroachments, parking of vehicles on the roads,  etc. Many do not keep parking areas within the buildings. Instead, public areas are used for parking. The entrance steps and/or ramps to many buildings will be on the road, thereby reducing the road width. 

When buildings collapse due to fire or other reasons, because of above reasons, the available road will be filled with debris or parked vehicles prevent approach of fire services and this makes the fire fighting / rescue task very difficult. 

National Building Code gives the requirements clearly with sufficient offsets / margins. Similarly, while seeking approvals from local government authorities, these margins may be shown in the drawing, but when comes to subsequent construction, hardly any space is kept free.

But, who will suffer. These building owners and tenants only will suffer in an emergency due to restricted access. But, the department and police will receive flak for not reaching in time or not able to extinguish / contain the fire.

Inspite of all these limitations, still the above numbers speak the invaluable contribution. And, one should not forget the risk taken by them. While risking their lives, they struggle to protect the lives and property. One may comment that they take salary, but who will risk their life for salary. It is their selfless dedicated action in the service of the public, that needs appreciation.

Death of a person due to swollen abdomen - cirrhosis

Recently, there was a death of an aged person (> 85 years) in our family. He was in the hospital on two occasions within a month before the death. He had a history of cellulitis to lower legs, with one leg is more severe than the other. Otherwise, perfectly healthy. After observing fluid bleeding from one lower leg through a node, swelling of feet, and slight fever, he was taken to the hospital and was admitted for investigations and treatment. With bed rest and treatment, the swelling has come down and was taken back home with prescribed bed rest and medication for home treatment. Doctors have informed that water from the abdomen may lead to chest and heart complications.  He was alright, only that he was unable to sit for long periods and started sleeping for longer hours. After about two weeks, with the complaint of chest pain, he was again admitted. This time he experienced breathing problems and could not take food. Blood pressure was controlled with medicine. Food was given through a tube inserted. After ten days in the hospital, he slipped to unconsciousness, had heavy and noisy breathing. And, died within 24 hours of going into unconscious state.

The reason understood was that the swelling of the abdomen is because of cirrhosis which was caused in turn by hepatitis C. However due to age factor, transplantation of the liver could not be thought off. 

Some useful links to the above observations are given below.

https://www.healthline.com/health/abdomen-swollen#treatment

https://www.healthline.com/health/cirrhosis#prevention

https://www.healthline.com/health/abdominal-tap#outlook

Similar number of covid cases - then and now - change of fear factor

Present day's covid cases are similar to those about a year ago. Even lesser, earlier. But, everyone was scared. Everyone suspected even their neighbors and stopped communicating, stopped exchanging the things that were practice before.

But, with similar cases now, hardly, anybody cares. Even the basic best practices like wearing a mask, social distancing, and sanitizer use has come down. Many are not following these practices. 

With respect to numbers, more deaths took place in road accidents, medical reasons (other than covid), etc. But, we were scared to covid and now it has become common to accept as others.

Same is true in industry. We cared less for accidents of repetitive nature, but glorified those which may not happen again. Even today we blame chemical and nuclear industries, citing Bhopal and Chernobyl mishaps, but take less care in activities like driving, construction, etc. We care more to protect that do not have value more than human life, like memorabilia, vehicles, etc.

It's all in our mind.  Though value of life is same in all cases, our perception makes us accord a different weightage, case to case.

We can truly improve and ensure safety only when we give same importance in all activities, and not accepting any unsafe act or condition.

Work for improvement - not for records - it will follow

Sound from washing machine use - findings

Recently, when our washing machine was in use, I heard a sound that is similar to the one generated due to the rotation of some coin or similar one or from the impact of fashionable hangings on clothes, in the drum. I removed all clothes from the drum, drained the water, but could not find any.  Tried again with clothes and water in the drum and the same sound was heard. Then, I made empty runs of the drum with water alone and the sound could be heard again. But, there were no openings under the pulsator (shown below). Another attempt at the empty run with water gave sound again. Then, I tried to remove the pulsator, without success. But, I could remove the filter over the drain inside the drum, as shown with an arrow, and then operated the machine with water. After a few minutes, I saw, suddenly, a one rupee coin pushed into the drain (as in the picture). I am clueless still, how this coin found way to down below. But, my problem is solved and then I fixed back the filter again, though with some difficulty. 

As the saying goes, listen to the machine to understand the problem, I could find the problem from the sound and thus avoid damage to the machine. Posted for information.

Effective use of resources - an article from Times of India

I read an article in Times of India about wastage of time and other resources with some meetings that may not be required or could have been done with short duration, thereby saving the time of so many. I used to observe TV visuals of meetings where several people will be sitting, while one or two will be talking, and others are seen looking at. Many times, people may be wondering what for they are called for the meeting. A meeting may last for sometime. But, preparation, mobilizing the persons (related or not) to the meeting, involve lot of time compared to  that of the meeting. Virtual meeting platform, that has become popular due to restrictions from covid pandemic impact, helped many to shift and thus save lot of time in travel. Also, those who have to participate with little or no inputs required, can do their work parallelly and save the time. The article referred can be read as below:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/cos-can-halve-busyness-by-reducing-needless-meetings/articleshow/80354226.cms#:~:text=As%20yet%20another%20year%20picks,not%20business)%20in%20their%20culture.

Leadership - misconceptions

Leadership is a team effort. It is the outcome of collective effort by all concerned with the roles and responsibilities assigned explicitly or implicitly.

One should not see only at the CMD or CEO. In case of administration of public, only secretary or minister or higher level alone cannot bring changes. Generally, those in top echelons, may provide direction, some times, from their own ideas or in consultation with others. But implementation and achieving the goals depends on collective effort from top to bottom.

Thus, it is wrong to hold one person responsible for failure or success. If resources are not provided even after request, and available, then, top level can be at fault. But, with everything available at our disposal, still, if there is no output, then, others are more responsible for not utilising the resources.

Certification

As a part of operation of a production unit, we need to maintain several records. Some of these are made or updated by internal staff, while others require examination and certification by external/authorised officials.

The intention is to ensure safe and healthy work place. The records should be genuine. If any malpractice is there, like a spoiled child, organization also goes in to gutter, at some point of time, if not immediately. 

One should not be happy with immediate effect, rather the focus should be on long term basis. Internal mechanism to check authenticity of the books shall be strong and robust to detect mistakes from short-sighted officials. Such persons need to be corrected with appropriate actions to discourage others. Even, if it delays the regular work. Then only, the culture of the organisation can be strong for the better.

The first impression of a visitor to the organisation will reflect the organisation's culture and values.

Repetition of similar incidents - need for continuous reminder

When we read or hear about accidents or incidents, immediately, we remember or feel that a similar one happened earlier somewhere, either in our premises or outside. 

Generally, there's nothing new that caused the incident. We only do not follow what is already known. This calls for continuous reminder and thus retraining of persons.

And, HR department faces the problem of not getting the participants inspite of training calendar and listing of employees for training. This is because of not relieving these listed persons by respective incharges for various reasons like production or other jobs, or participants themselves not having interest

I feel that pay rise and promotions should be linked to attendance in training programmes as well as passing the exams conducted at the end of training. 

Also, action should be taken on persons found  responsible for incidents in the form of pay cut, collecting or recovering the loss suffered and initiating legal proceedings. 

This may look absurd, but without accountability and responsibility, we will continue to see occurrence of incidents for which root cause are already known. They happen only because someone ignored and failed to take precautions.

2020: A review

This year's happenings are like those that happen once in a lifetime. It can be like those faced during world wars. With the imposition of lockdown in the country to tackle the covid pandemic, we could not go out for days together, and then we hand night curfews, limited mobility, etc. We do not have any idea about the extent to which the virus can harm. Hence, there were rifts even families about measures to be taken. 

Coming to industrial safety, with the shutdown of operations, movement of many migrant workforce to their native places, these persons suffered to reach their destination. And then the organizations too suffered due to lack of working hands. 

In some organizations, due to not following safe procedures for shutdown, emergency maintenance, or safe restart, a few incidents took place leading to loss of lives or injuries. Still, many organizations are having problems reaching the state of pre-covid. 

And, then a covid variant surfaces now, as a parting gift of the year. What comes in the new year, we have to wait and see. 

However, some benefits are also accrued as organizations tried to have work from home wherever possible, or implementation of remote work methods to avoid movement/contact and in the process reducing operational costs. 

There is a saying which goes, whatever happens, is for our good. May be present phase is also like that. Let us hope for the best.

Distraction to drivers from bill boards on the roads

Today, I was driving to workplace. Enroute, while glancing at advertisements, I narrowly missed hitting a pedestrian. The lady crossing the road stopped and was looking at me, whereas I was watching billboard located at height, thereby missing the road view totally. It is mistake on my part. I also felt like there should not be any distraction to the drivers. Drivers should concentrate on the road traffic and possibly these billboards for others in the vehicles. Else, there can be accidents or near miss incidents like I had today.

Safety in stories - a medium to convey hazards in confined spaces like tunnels

Last week, I  went to my home town and read a novel during the time. In the story, enemies plant a time bomb in a tunnel right under the building where a meeting with several important personalities is in progress. The main character working in the country's premier investigating agency suspects the location and tries to reach the spot through a tunnel. These lines are also punctured to release the gas. This tunnel also has gas lines and bomb explosion at a scheduled time will lead to a gas explosion with consequences for large scale destruction.

Anywhere, when a person has to enter a confined space like the tunnel described above, oxygen and other gas levels have to be checked first and take measures. As the issue in the story is of national importance, personnel enter inside, get exposed to the gas. Still, they go ahead and one of the person in the team, an expert in bomb disposal safely makes it inactive. Though the person gets unconscious, brought out by team members, finally survives and receives a medal.

The lesson for the readers is that, persons in tunnels can risk their lives due to gas or lack of oxygen. Though, initially I thought that the author should have considered safety aspects while continuing with the story, on brighter side, those who understand the dangers faced by the characters will atleast remember the same.

Control panel alarms - Do not acknowledge or reset unless action is taken

As the title goes, with huge control panels having several parameters to monitor, it becomes routine for operators to acknowledge the error message alarms. The intention is to take note of it or taken action if required. However, with work stress, it is likely that we may forget to take action. Then next high-level alarm will come, and by this time, we would have lost some precious time. It is suggested to take necessary action where it is to be done manually and then acknowledge instead of the other way. No doubt, audio alarms, make the person mad. But, if action to be taken is forgotten, it will have wider implications. May be in such places, shift hours can be shorter than normal 8 hours or more number of qualified persons are engaged with work definition.

Everything looks fine - Are you Okay?

Do not be complacent.

Life is going fine. In this serious pandemic situation everywhere also, I am healthy. Does it mean we can ignore all measures taken till now? 

Same is the question, every manger has to ask himself about work place safety. No accidents or injuries till now does not mean that he can relax procedures and allow shopfloor personnel to work the way bypassing safety procedures. 

Actually, a sense of well being,  sometimes, induces complacency instead of motivating personnel to work better.

Initially, it starts with occasional  incidents which may not go to the notice of the manager or they are covered or ignored as one time affair. And, then the frequency increases and finally the organization will be in big soup with irreparable damages.

Let us not forget the hard work and culture created before reaching the heights and we should not have fall from that height. Instead, aim for bigger goals.Let us try to become a leader in the industry regarding safety at the work place. 

At no time we should think after an incident without injury or loss, that today, we are saved by luck. Dump the luck factor and work hard.

Safety performance as criteria for outsourcing jobs

Present circumstances are creating jobs only for durations to the extent required. Organizations may or may not have considered training aspect in the contract duration. It is like instant / ready to deploy state where persons taken on outsourcing are expected to work from the time they join.

To avoid surprises, organizations have to make prior assessment for knowledge, skills, experience and past performance w.r.t. work output, quality of work, and safety performance. Medical or health records are also to be verified to ensure that persons are healthy and ready to work with 100% deliverables. Health issues should not impede performance. i.e. to say, person may be at site but output should be same as that of perfectly healthy professional.

Supervision is also essential and an effective supervision is highly appreciated. Many failures are due to non consideration of these aspects. One can have performance review on daily/weekly basis depending upon the nature and duration of the job. Frequent assessment during initial period will help to guide the persons in right direction and will same time and money.

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. 

Occupational Safety Videos | Pharmaceutical

LINK

Industrial safety and lockdown - An analysis from ORFONLINE

The following weblink is about subject topic from Observer Research Foundation (orfonline.org). 

The article is about analysis of few accidents that took place when plants were preparing for operation after government gave permission. The article ends with advice for betterment.

https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/industrial-safety-and-lockdown-the-cause-behind-visakhapatnam-gas-leak-tragedy-67339/?amp

Leadership and management for safety - an article from IAEA

Today, I read a very good article about above topic, which is simple to understand and to follow. 

The link is given below to go through.

https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/leadership-and-management-for-safety

Rains - corona - transmission

Now that we are having rains, it is pestering my mind about whether the corona virus can be transmitted through splashes from rain water on the road or that whether rain droplets can be carriers.

Recently I attended a webinar and posted this question, but, may be because of many questions posted before, my turn did not come.

From information on net, it is understood that this virus can be active for upto 72 hours on different carriers / surfaces. 

May be if these are coming in contact with rain water and then if it splashes because of vehicles passing over the pools of water, we can get affected.

Like, aerosols can be a source, this form of transmission too may be possible.

Reaction - Ethanol based santizer use by persons taking disulfiram for alcohol addiction treatment

https://medicaldialogues.in/medicine/news/indian-doctor-reports-case-of-hand-sanitizer-induced-disulfiram-ethanol-reaction-67515

Corona - lockdown - restricted hours of movement

Governments have imposed restricted hours to conduct personal business. In the initial days, it helped to create awareness among public about the virus, its impact and measures to be taken like, use of mask, social distancing, frequent hand wash, etc. 

Continuation of restricted hours, I feel, will lead to increased traffic on roads and crowding in shops as purchases are to be done whether lockdown is there or not. Restriction of hours of business will only lead to all the public who would have done shopping/movement spread in the time period, say 0600-2300 hr to those limited hours. It may be worthwhile to permit shops to be opened 24 hr whomsoever are willing. This can reduce crowds and social distancing can be better.

Importance of communication in safety

Communication is an important aspect in every part of life.

As all of us know, even a dot or comma in written communication can change the whole meaning.

It should be in simple language, shorter, to the point.

Then, it will be easily understood.

Some accident takes place and if location is not told exactly, valuable time is lost by emergency services in reaching and rescuing.

Sometimes, persons have the habit of talking for longer time, which could have been completed in 1-2 minutes.

Saying same in different forms will only make the listener to loose interest.

Say what to convey in very few sentences and then monitor for proper implementation. 

Sending circulars, use pictures, which are easy to understand.

Review what you are sending or talking to avoid confusion.

How many lessons and how many times we should get?

It is saddening to see news item on one accident or other regularly in print/electronic media. 

The accident at LG Polymers was a jolt to all. 

But, in succession, there were accidents at different places. 

Though the reason stated is lock down, this can't be a reason for not ensuring safety. 

If not lock down, there can be other reasons like strike or operators resigning, so on.

When a factory is set up, before operation, we have to identify all possible ways by which something can go wrong and have an emergency procedure prepared and rehearsed on regular basis.

It is not that somebody has to ask.

Afterall, so much money is poured.

Why can't we check and have a list of critical areas / parameters for inspection at a frequency they deserve to ensure safety.

I remember a statement from one of US EPA's investigation report, the reason for accidents is not the lack of knowledge, but lack of application.

The great safety professional, Trevor Kletz in one of his books mentioned that accident recur at regular intervals, if not in same plant, it may occur in similar some other plant.

If somebody thinks, accidents are unavoidable, then, let us remember the quote from our former President, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, "Preventable accident, if not prevented due to our negligence, is nothing short of murder".

From my experience, and being in safety profession for last twenty years, I feel that, safety shall be part of curriculum in all courses, starting from play school, LKG, UKG, ... degree.

The extent of content can be decided upon the standard.

Initially, it can be a line or para in the chapter.

After, 12th standard, it can be a compulsory paper. 

Else, I feel, importance of safety will not be pushed into the learning minds.

When I studied my chemical engineering, it was a chapter in a paper in my final year. 

But, I might have skipped the question, if any, was there in my examination, which I do not remember.

But, I understood about safety only after posted in safety department.

Legal aspects also should be taught atleast in courses after 12th standard, where the pass outs from these courses, can be supervisors or managers and may lead the organizations in front after few years of experience.

The awareness about events and euphoria is also less or short lived. 

We soon forget about the incident and its impact.

Do we need kicks in our back regularly.

When somebody joins an organization, he should be rotated through, HRD, safety and finally in production. Maintenance experience also helps to do better in production.

Persons posted after initial training, should be authorized or certified for the job.

Retraining or recertification is also required, say, once in three years, without which, persons should not be given pay rise or promotion.

Let us be attentive to our surroundings and take care of ourselves and neighbourhood.

The Meer decision and tank farms: Part two

The Meer decision and tank farms: Part two: Which EPA Risk Management Plan tier level fits your facility?

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Occupational Safety and Health Tips for Workplaces

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Corona virus - lockdown - employment - financial management - some thoughts

Now, a month of lockdown period is experienced by us with not much physical activity. Don't know how many more days it will continue. Seeing what was done in its origin, may be we have to undergo another month or more like this.

One observation made is that public is not going for panic stocking of house hold items. As promised by governments, vegetables, fruits, groceries are available, though shopping time is limited. I feel that restriction of timings for purchase of these items by public should not be limited. Limited time means crowds in shops thereby defeating the norm of social distancing. To avoid public roaming around in the name of shopping, present checks by police shall be continued. Persons found at distance far off than from their residence (3 km) shall be charge sheeted unless valid reason as required by government is available. 

I also feel that keeping the vehicles caught on roads by police will be a headache for them. Instead, hefty penalties shall be collected on the spot to discourage them. The amounts can be like Rs 2000 for person plying on the road without valid need, additional amounts for having more than one on bike and more than two in four wheeler, like wise. In addition, routine penalties like not having helmet, or not wearing seat belt, over speeding, etc amounts shall be charged. 

It is observed in some places that vehicles were parked on the road. Public road can't be a parking place for private vehicles. Owners of these vehicles shall be charged for this and asked to remove them. They can't make profits at the cost of public.

Industries in which chemical storages are in place shall have proper surveillance round the clock to ensure that there will not be any untoward incident. No operation does not mean that everything will be safe. House keeping shall be ensured at all times. Protections systems like fire detection and alarm system, fire extinguishing system etc shall be checked for their functionality. Weekly checks shall be done for this. Necessary permissions shall be taken from local authorities for personnel engaged in these essential services to attend their duties.

Government suggested not to operate canteens in industrial premises. But, I feel that under proper checks, persons shall be engaged for operating canteen services. There can be several issues in bringing the food from home. They can be odd hours, stress on the person making food, etc. Canteens can serve food packets to make it easier for preparation as well as for employees. 

Regarding continuation of personnel in the jobs, tt will be stressful for both the management as well as employees under conditions when plants are not operating, but management has to pay salaries without getting any income. At the same time, if they want to remove persons, it will be painful to the employees and their families. It is also problem for the managements to hire such trained and skilled persons, once things become normal. Governments advised not to remove anybody from service and to ensure monthly payment. I read somewhere that even few decades ago during lockdown because of cholera, the then governments gave paid leaves.

As a middle level solution, I feel that industry should have two types of components in the salary package. One is minimum pay which will be paid irrespective of person is working or not. It is like the pay for qualification and experience. This can include PF, house rent allowance and medical insurance/allowance. Second payment is for the performance. That is for the output delivered when works are allotted. This can include various perks like transport allowance, performance incentives, LTC, etc. When person is not given work, but to retain talent, the assured pay can make the employee to be available and even can motivate him to acquire additional skills so that he can make himself more useful to the organization and that he will be engaged so that he can get performance pay. In order to retain the person, certain minimum number of days / weeks of work can be assured in the offer letter. This way, I feel both the organization and employees should find it reasonable and will not cause much problem financially. 

If organizations are forced to make pay irrespective of whether persons are working or not, it can lead to bankruptcy and can lead to closure and employees will become jobless.

Concern about impact of switching off lights on grid on 05.04.2020, 2100 hr for 9 minutes

To express solidarity and commitment to fight present pandemic conditions, Prime Minister asked everyone to switch off lights in their homes, and show candles, mobile flash, etc on 05.04.2020, 2100 hr for 9 minutes.

There are concerns about impact on power grid by the act of public as above.

A clarification with suggestions is released as per news item below assuring about preparedness.

https://m.timesofindia.com/india/pm-modis-blackout-appeal-no-need-to-switch-off-appliances-at-home-clarifies-centre/articleshow/74982311.cms

It is mentioned that lights in essential service buildings, street lights, power consuming appliances in houses like computers, air conditioning, refrigerators, etc can be ON and the appeal is only for lights in the houses. The appeal is also for maintaining social distance during this and other times.

An incident in my house - in geyser

Today, while our bathroom electrical geyser (G) (instant) (3 lit, 3 KW) was ON  After some time,  bubbling sound was heard from the overhead tank (T) containing cold water,  located at about 0.5 m height. The outlet from geyser was opened and initially there was no flow but within 15-20 seconds, steam started coming out from this bottom outlet as well as thro' vent. The steam along with few water droplets spew from the vent (V). After 1-2 minutes, I switched off power to the geyser sensing, it may explode. 

The piping is like this: Bottom outlet from cold water tank supplies water to the geyser and hot water can be collected in two bath rooms located side by side.A parallel connection from the outlet of the overhead tank is also connected to one tap in each of these bath rooms. A vent is let above tank height. The tank is rectangular, 300 lit.

The geyser got thermo stat to cut of power supply once water is heated up. This is functioning and was checked after the incident by trial run. And, it started heating the water normally as before the incident.

My experiences during lock down and curfew conditions for protection against COVID 19 corona spread / consequences

I read about this COVID 19, corona few weeks ago in whatsapp and news papers. Also saw the videos on isolation of families / citizens in China. I thought it strange and got a doubt about similar action in my place.

Then came the announcement from our state Chief Minister on 21.03.2020 in his televised address about Janata Curfew for 24 hr starting from 22.03.2020, 0600 hr. Chief Minister explained about possible repercussions from the pandemic conditions and requested the public to observe isolation in the houses during this period, not to come on roads, maintaining hygiene, etc 

Soon, it was followed with Prime Minister's appeal to the nation for 14 hr lock down from 22.03.2020, 0600 hr. PM requested all citizens to observe this and encourage health care workers by clapping / whistling from their houses at 1700 hr on 22.03.2020.

Essential services like shops for groceries, milk products, medical, media, etc per exempted.

This day was special for our family for a personal reasons. My wife invited few friends and relatives about a week before for a gathering. Upon learning lock down, she requested them not to come to our house. We brought some cake after the announcement and had midnight celebration arranged by our children.

So far so good. As per TV visuals, here and there, some persons were found on the roads and caught by police, giving advise. At about 1650 hr, I heard start of clapping, whistles, beating the metal plates, etc. Our floor families also came out and joined in this standing at their respective main doors.

Later, however, we saw in TV visuals, crowding of persons on the roads for clapping. Some followed social distancing during clapping. The whole purpose of maintaining social distancing was defeated in this act. These persons did not follow PM's advice of clapping from houses and instead came out. 

I went to work site on the following day. Then came the announcement of lock down for 21 days in continuation of this 14 hr / 24 hr period. I came back to house in the afternoon after we were advised to work from home and to maintain only skeletal staff for essential works.

3-4 days before, my younger son was given his computer to work from home by his company and I thought it is a different experience.  Now, I too joined this. Whereas my son's work is in IT, mine is in industrial safety. But, we picked up to manage. As per advice to maintain bare minimum staff, only 1-2 persons were put in roster for duties for monitoring in field and rest to interact with these 2 persons. 

In industrial establishments, as per history, a plant shutdown does not mean it is safe. One should be more vigilant to ensure safety of pressure systems like gas cylinders, storage bullets, piping, and chemical storages; observation of safety rules by persons when nobody is watching them, so on. It should be like factory still operating with a reduced manpower instead of full scale. Shutdown does not mean relaxation of safety rules / practices. It is also known that many accidents happened during startup and we should resume operations not based on what we thought it was, but only after thorough checking of all systems in the field.

Generally, I purchase provisions for a month in the first week of the month. After this 21 days lock down announcement, we checked stocks and replenished some items like cereals, cooking oil, detergents, and most importantly medicines as I got hypo hypothyroidism and severe joint pains, for a month.

A week went by and the situation in the factory was well managed by all departments. Work from home led to more working hours i.e. instead of 8 hr, we were in touch from morning to midnight. Generally, my mobile use is very less in normal conditions. It is only an instrument at home for some emergency. I used to charge this phone once in 2-3 days. But, now, because of usage, I am charging sometimes, once twice a day. 

Search for news on this virus has increased a lot. I am following covid19india.org and worldometer sites to understand the severity of the issue. 

Now, lock down is extended for another 3 weeks and hope everything will be alright. Our state government even imposed curfew during 1900-0600 hr as some persons are not heeding to the appeal of not coming out unless it is essential. Police check posts were put on the roads, patrolling is increased, and humanitarian help to those needy also is being done by these personnel as seen in social media.

One can help financially by contributing to India's  Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) and / or Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and tax exemption under 80 (g) is available for the contributions made. Please check for secure link of the sites before making contribution so that it will not go to fakes. One can even do it from his/her bank account and using link provided in the bank site after login to own account for secured payment. I did like that so that I don't worry about so many links appeared soon after the appeal by the Honourable Prime Minister of India.

Safety of workers in difficult times

https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/health-and-safety/workers-highlight-safety-fears-as-busy-sites-stay-open-23-03-2020/

Naming the safety violators had positive impact

As per a study, violations have come down when OSHA named safety violators.

Please see the news here.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-09/osha-shaming-tactic-improved-workplace-safety-before-trump

Use of masks for protection

With the ongoing talk about spread of viruses, the discussions are taking place in all forms of social media, print, electronic, etc. It is advised by these media for use of masks. As per supply and demand, the rates of masks have skyrocketed. A simple rectangular filter paper like mask with elastic bands on either side and nose strip, which normally used to cost at about Rs 1.50-2.00 is sold at Rs 7 to 20. The cup type mask normally priced at about Rs 30-35 is being sold 2-6 times the price. This is nothing but exploitation. Being in the field of industrial safety, aware of costs of these protective gear, I felt that public are taken for a raid.

A field day for shops. Make hay while the sun shines.

I read in messages that these are to be used carefully, not to touch, and then dispose safely. How many will throw in dust bin after use, once or more times in a day after buying at prices like above. Further, safe disposal of these masks itself may present a headache to municipal authorities. May be now, these authorities have to set up bins in public places for collection of these masks and then incinerate at high temperature like biohazard waste.

At other times, many persons used to cover their nose / face with hand kerchief or some other cloth,   can also be used safely. I feel this is better than so called masks as above. Because, we can wash these cloth covers and are good for health.

In addition, it is better to follow other good hygiene practices, like washing of hands, face and feet soon after coming to house from outside, before and after eating, changing the outside dress before eating, etc as our elders did.

Whatever we use, let us also ensure to clean it regularly for our own health. We should not get panicked with messages / rumors and use our common sense to help ourselves.

Following regulations and guidelines will not reduce productivity

There is always a tussle between the production manager and that of safety / regulator. It may not appear openly, but in private discussions, this is the reality. Each will have choicest words or opinions about the other.

When role reversal happens, they will assume new position and behave accordingly. This is because of short term / immediate gains one may achieve by overlooking SOPs or due to the infrequent losses suffered from incidents/accidents by not following safety which they feel that it can be absorbed.

Production managers realize only when the losses are huge and may lead to framing of charges or closure of the factory. But, it will be late.

It is proven that following safety always makes sense and leads to increase in productivity.
And this can be made realized by charging penalties on every violation from the salary of the individuals and as a percentage of turnover  of the factory.

This will help in creating work atmosphere safe as well as for public also and at the same time will make others to learn from the sufferers.

Doctor's health

A news item today in Deccan Chronicle about doctors to take care of themselves in light of stressful conditions faced by them.

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/200120/doctor-first-heal-thyself-ek-doctor-ki-maut-physicians-must.html