Disaster - after checks before reuse

There is a good article on what should be done before using a facility after disaster occurs.The article quotes about list of safety tips from the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) that should be considered following a disaster:
One should be more cautious and check twice all systems in place for using a facility involved in a disaster than a new facility as one does not know about the extent of damage and condition of building, services, equipment, piping, safety systems, etc. Outwardly, building may appear in good condition, but not actually. It is like entering a devil's cave. We have to do tests like hammer test, ultrasonic tests, etc to know about invisible cracks and disintegration inside the columns and beams.

Gas leak and explosion at a refinery in Iran

A gas leak and subsequent explosion and fire at a refinery in Iran killed 4 people and injured 25 persons. It is reported that the incident occurred when the facility was made ready overnight for inauguration. If the facility is to be inaugurated for some reason, may be it can done without starting the facility, if systems are not in place. It is appropriate for authorities to enquire about status of the facility, obtaining of statutory clearances, systems in place, etc., before accepting invitation for inauguration as any incident like this can damage their reputation. I saw a CEO enquiring with the safety department head before inauguration about the safety readiness of the facility and whether they issued clearance for starting operations or not. There are instances of not accepting the invitation when safety clearances were not obtained. Though it looks strange for others, but it demonstrates concern about safety of the employees and public from the facility operations.

Penalty for delayed reporting of incident

As per reports, a gas production facility will be penalized upto  $ 50,000 for alerting the authorities 2 hrs late about bursting of gas and salt water from one of its wells. This appears to be of very high standards, as generally many incidents including gas leak go without reporting.  In another facility of the same facility, spilled diesel was contained and contaminated soil was removed. Again, this is also great as nobody cares about spillages even outside facilities and replacing the soil within the facility is a good move. Australian authorities appear to be strict in respect of rules and regulations and is better for safety of the people, if it is implemented in toto everywhere.

Air receiver blast

There was a blast during the cleaning of gas turbine in a polymers factory that makes cans, jars, etc. It is reported that the the valve of the gas turbine suddenly blew up that caused ripping of roof and fragments caused injury to a woman nearby. As per the news in a local news paper, due to malfunctioning of safety valve on the air receiver, the air receiver exploded. As Monday was holiday for the factory, it is reported that no injuries took place in the factory. It is luck that the person involved in the work is safe though the roof sheets blew off but did not fall on him. It is not known what precautions were taken before taking up the cleaning job, like, i) emptying the vessel and purging with inert gas and then purging with air, ii) positive isolation of all lines leading to and from the tank, iii) checking for presence of flammable concentrations in the tank, iv) checking for oxygen level, v) job hazard analysis, vi) supervision and so on.

As the work was taken up on factory holiday and incident happened, one should be careful when planning such maintenance jobs on holidays it should be ensured that safety work permit is obtained and supervision is provided.

Sharjah blast damages over 10 shops, 15 cars

Sharjah blast damages over 10 shops, 15 cars

There is a blast in a cafeteria due to gas leak from LPG gas cylinder that caused damage to 10 shops and 15 cars. We underestimate the destructive power of domestic LPG cylinders and nothing happened till now does not mean that we are safe. We have to check the condition of the cylinder, condition of the regulator and condition of the hose. We have to turn off the regulator when not in use. It is common only to close the knob on the burner instead of closing the regulator also. There were many incidents of passersby on the road getting injured/died because of fragments generated during the blast hitting them.

Ergonomics - an article in SafetyAtWorkblog

An interesting article on ergonomics appeared today in safetyatworkblog, which may stir the minds of professionals and others in the field of ergonomics and think deeply before advising measures to address problems attributed to poor ergonomics at work place.

Dead teach the living - A study on delayed effects of MIC

A study by ICMR on effects of MIC released during 1984 Bhopal accident published in The Hindu states that MIC and its degradation products cause edema and fibrosis. We use thousands of chemicals (more than 5,00,000) and but we know the properties and effects only for few thousands. As the old adage says "reinventing the wheel", for healthy life people are propagating organic farming, avoiding meat, eating fruits, doing simple exercises which our ancestors did in the form physical work at home and fields, walking, cycling and so on.
We need not overreact on knowing about dangers, but one should be careful and be judicious while dealing with any of the chemicals so that we can atleast sustain the environment for future generations.

A video on confined space hazards

A video on confined space hazards from youtube.

A video on compressed gas hazards

There is video available in youtube on dangers of compressed gas. Though the dangers are known, but by seeing the video everybody will remember forever the extent of injuries it can cause.

Fatality due to fall of tripod at construction site

A person died when a tripod kept above at a construction site for shuttering work fell down. In another accident, a drum kept at height for use as access fell down on a person causing minor head injury. Accidents like these are common at construction sites and minimum safety guidelines recommend use of safety nets, barricading the area below, posting danger signs, securing the loose items at top, supervision, etc and failure to comply with these recommendations will result in injuries and deaths at times like the first one. It is not clear whether the person died is a construction worker or not and whether he was wearing any safety helmet.

Lathe machine accident

A news paper report about 10 days ago mentioned about death of a sweeper near lathe machine in an engineering work shop. The lady sweeper was hit by pieces of drill bit that broke while threading a job piece on the lathe. It appears that excessive force was applied to do threading by the operator. While the woman died at the spot, the operator received serious injuries. This accident reminds about the need for job hazard analysis, proper training and supervision in any work.

Iron powder catches fire

A CSB investigation finding mentions that iron powder combustion lead to a fatality and injured another. The atomized iron powder dust dislodged during inspection by maintenance workers caught fire. Though, we know dust explosions, like ammonia fires/explosions, iron powder fire also is difficult to digest. Such information should be brought to the notice of all employees so that they will not be lax on their part.

Dust explosions are said to be more dangerous than normal explosions, as initiation of dust explosion can disturb the settled powder making it airborne and lead to secondary and tertiary explosions.
CSB mentions that metal powder dust flash fires and explosions cause more serious injuries than flammable gas or vapor fires because of radiant heat. A CSB study on 281 combustible dust fires and explosions during 1980-2005 indicate 119 deaths and more than 700 injuries due to these incidents.

The best way to avoid dust explosions is to have dust collections systems, regular wet mopping, flameproof electrical fittings, maintaining atleast 50% humidity, static charge discharge mechanisms, etc and maintaining records to ensure that safety systems are maintained.
A news item on the above is also available here(1), here (2) and here(3) , here(4)..

PCB order to close public sector manufacturer

A news item mentions about order of state pollution control board asking to close a public sector pesticide manufacturing facility for violating environment protection rules. Such closures involving public sectors are rare and this implies that private sector facilities should be more careful in their operations. One should not take things for granted and keep violating norms.
It is common to read/see reports of demolishing buildings for violating rules/not taking permission. Instead of penalising, total closure/demolition exhibit the determination of concerned authorities and alert other violators to put their house in order before they become targets.
Nobody is above law, let it be anybody.

Fall of woman from balcony

A news item mentions about fall of woman from balcony and succumbing to injuries. Most of the builders construct balconies of height about (3 1/2 ft) which appear to be dangerous for tall persons. Though children and medium height persons (about 5 ft) may not be in danger, but taller persons when they lean on to the balcony of this height are likely to loose balance and fall.

Nearmiss - my experience during rain and heavy wind

Last week I was on pilgrimage tour along with friends on a rented car. When we were nearing a temple town, there was heavy rain with winds. As we approached the temple, our driver stopped the car about 15 m away from a temporary structure made for temple function. Within 2 minutes, we saw the entire structure falling down on a car near, due to heavy winds. The occupants of the car ran away. Though, there was no damage, but it is an experience and we were saved by our driver's timely action.
We always tell workers at height not to work during rains/winds, but if people see the incident, I think, then only they will understand the meaning in it.

Electrical Safety – 10 Quick Tips

An article from safetyxchange. Simple and easy to understand. In safety, there is a word KISS - keep it simple stupid.

Electrical Safety – 10 Quick Tips

12 Fire Prevention Tips for Workers

An article from safetyxchange like the previous one.
12 Fire Prevention Tips for Workers

How to Use Safety’s Magic Metre

Here is an article on protecting oneself from hazards including workplace violence. Though, all of us know to maintain distance away from hazards, rogues, etc, it is presented in a knovel way by the author.
How to Use Safety’s Magic Metre

Tips for kitchen safety

I found an article on the above title. Can be of useful.

Gas cylinder leak

I heard an incident from my friend about LPG leak and fire. After the cylinder became empty, a filled cylinder was connected and when the burner was lit, leak was suspected. To ensure that the gas is leaking, they tested it by taking a lit match stick. Immediately, it caught fire at the regulator and they cried loud for help. Hearing the cries, a person outside, assuming robbery attempt, came with a stick. Seeing the fire, he hit the regulator with the stick which dislodged the regulator and gas fire also stopped.

Fire and fatalities during material movement in a lift

In an accident, two persons died while moving a medicine in large quantity through a material handling lift for repacking. It is stated that the material is combustible and the vapors caught fire and a spark caused fire and deaths.
As per the reports from various news papers, it appears that the material is combustible, volatile (vapour release), improperly packed, taken in large quantities, persons are inside a material handling lift, ignition source (spark) is present and trapped persons were unable to escape. 

What can be done to prevent such accidents in our workplace?

LPG leak - lack of preparedness to attend emergency

As per reports (1, 2, 3, 4) appeared in news papers, an LPG tanker with 15 T of LPG, moving on the road had a brush with tree branches leading to crack on roto gauge and LPG release.
Immediately driver and a resident in the area informed it to the fire brigade. The fire brigade and the police after reaching the spot in 15 minutes, started spraying water to dilute gas concentration and informed the supplier who reached after three hours without needed tools/materials.

The driver covered the crack with a cloth and the local fire brigade covered the crack with M-seal and POP after moving the vehicle to a school, away from traffic. Locals were advised by fire brigade not to lit/smoke in the area to avoid fire/explosion. The traffic was stopped ahead and diverted.

Emergency - rumours

I received an e-mail which warned all people to stay indoor for the next 24 hr as radiation from Fukushima reactor explosion can spread across nearby nations. Even some friends also were seen discussing about the same. I do not know how is it possible when the incident is not like what happened in Chernobyl in 1986. A search in the internet reveals that this advise is for people staying within 30 km of the nuclear plant and not for everybody on the globe. The denial at BBC website is available here.

Ammonia explosion

I got this news item through google alerts. Many of us do not believe about explosion due to ammonia but this news item proves that it can happen. Personally, I too do not knew about it until I read about ammonia explosions in "What Went Wrong?" by Trevor Kletz. After a long time, I came across an ammonia explosion.

Nuclear emergency in Japan

The earthquake on 11.03.2011 followed with tsunami and nuclear emergency at Fukushima reminded me of Murphy's law. There was power outage. The pumps for cooling the reactors could not be operated by DG sets. The engineers of the nuclear plant are trying hard with available limited resources. Already there are reports of increase in radiation levels.

What lessons we can learn from this incident in a chemical plant?

Man Choked on HF acid cloud at refinery - experience briefing

Giant Acid Cloud in Nevada Desert

BBS-Reaction and Response

I read a post in http://www.lifeplan.co.nr/ dated 07.03.2011 on reaction vs response. It made be to realize about our behavior to different situations, let it be office or road or home. This can be used in safety training programmes also while talking about behavior based safety.

Spread of acid fumes from broken bottles to three villages

A news item in Hindu news paper today is about leakage and impact of acid fumes on residents of three villages. The leakage and spread of fumes from possible broken bottles containing bromine (HBr?) caused health complications such as irritation in the eyes, trachea and stomach, coughing, nausea, skin allergy. Another report says about the quantity stored as 40 bottles of each 750 ml. And as per another report, it is stored in 2 and 5 lit bottles and liquid bromine from one broken bottle reacted with husk in the area. I am unable to guess what quantity of the chemical leaked that caused spread of thick fumes to three villages affecting the people. 
A report on the same incident mentions

Height of guard railing

Last week, there was water drip in the bedroom from the indoor unit of split AC. I went to the outdoor unit located on the chajja (sun shade) outside in the balcony, suspecting water pipe choke. I found that somebody put the water pipe in vertical position and is above its elevation in the indoor unit. This chajja is accessible to anyone on the stairs of the apartment complex. While trying to put it horizontal on the window chajja by standing on the stairs floor and bending, I nearly lost balance.
I got doubt what should be the height of the guard rail and a search in internet and factory legislations mention

Competitive world - Stress on safe production

In his address to the National Governors' Association, President of USA said,

"We now live in a world that's more connected and more competitive than ever before. When each of you tries to bring new jobs and industries to your state, you're not just competing with each other but you're competing with China, you're competing with India, you're competing with Brazil, you're competing with countries all around the world".

And a US trade report states about increased US exports to India and Indian investment in US and the need for more responsibility by the emerging economies like India, China, etc towards global economic growth.

The message lays stress on competition.

Wrong signals - a nearmiss experience

Yesterday, I went  to see my friend staying about 20 km from my residence. I went on a 2-wheeler and stopped at a traffic signal. A car was on my right with right indicator blinking. When the traffic signal turned green, I moved straight and this car on my right instead of going straight or right turned left. I was just ahead of it and would have fell down had the left moving car bumped my vehicle. My heart pounded fast for few minutes.
A similar incident happened earlier few months ago which I mentioned in my earlier post wherein I was hit by a car and I fell on the road. Few years ago, when I was going to my office, again, I had a near miss, this time from another 2-wheeler with wrong signals. I was going straight and the scooter with left indicator ON, moved right. The driver shouted at me and when I pointed him to his left indicator, he laughed and drove off.

This type of driving with wrong signals is very dangerous and we have to be careful on the road, more so at junctions, irrespective of the indicators on the other vehicles.

Distraction during work

An article mentions about distractions and interruptions at work arising out of phone calls, visitors, etc and its impact on time to get back to work with same concentration. It says that on average, everyday a desk worker loses 2.1 hrs. Apart from colleagues in the same department, there will be visits by some unexpected visitors without notice which one has to give some time. Then there are some who keep talking on phone. You may want something, but

Population growth - impact on environment and safety

A report says that by the year 2050, our planet will have 9 billion people from 7 billion this year. As many experts says, increase in population will put pressure on scarce resources, environment damage, unemployment and so on. The report says that income will increase and this could lead to more consumption and stresses on finding better methods to produce as at present 7-8 pounds of grains are required for 1 pound of meat and 3-4 pounds for 1 pound cheese or eggs. This may be an indication to have vegetarian food instead of meat products but I do not know whether a person's needs are matched with equal quantity of either grains or meat.

Fall of persons and objects

A news item  mentions about suicidal death of a young lady software engineer by jumping from the 4th floor of a multilevel car parking building. What is stunning is the injury to a contract labourer as the lady fell on him during the jump.
This reminds me of an incident heard from my colleague in which a snake held by a bird flying in the sky slipped and fell on a person on the road and the person died due to snake bite.
The reasons for accidents are generally attributed to as 88% from unsafe acts, 10% from unsafe conditions and 2% from others. This type of accidents i.e injury to contractor worker or death of person on the road due to snake bite come under this 2% category.
Though we say all accidents can be prevented, it is difficult to imagine what can be done in these situations to avoid accidents. In the first case, may be, if the sidewalls of the terrace or road inside the parking building are raised to a height of - say 5 ft or more, could have prevented the person from scaling the height and protected the persons down below. But, in the second case, I do not know what can be done.
Such situations, even if brought out by any safety person, would have been laughed off as 'nonsense' and the person will be snubbed for thinking too wild. May be the risk level is very low, but not ZERO. As long as any opportunity is available to save the persons, the investment is worth as nobody can get back the life. The person's life may be valued at some amount and is compensated but he is more valuable to his family members than the compensation and this should be kept in mind. Else, surely there can be chaos and society has to bear it.

Hydrofluoric acid hazard potential

There is an article on HF hazard potential which I could not believe about its extent. What I know is that, if HF comes in contact with skin, it can cause burns, nasal rupture if inhaled, punctures and penetrates through the bone. But, the article mentions about its distance of impact of 2 miles from the source when travels as a cloud.
HF is used a catalyst in refineries to make high octane gasoline, as mentioned in the article. The IDLH is 30 ppm and it was found at 2 miles distance when 1000 gal was released from tanker containing 5000 gal at a pressure and temperature as used in refineries. The HF travelled as vapour and mist and needed 40 parts of water for every part of HF to dilute it, though the officials doing the experiment thought that it will remain as a liquid and can be contained. The article also mentioned about use of an additive to make HF less dangerous by way reducing its ability to form vapour cloud.
Few years ago, I read an article in the internet, in which a college girl died because of HF. When she was doing experiment, few HF drops splashed on her lab coat. She washed it with water for sometime and continued her lab work. She was found dead by her neighbours, the next day. The reason mentioned is that the vapour from lab coat was inhaled by the girl and this lead to oedema.
In a book on Bhopal accident, I read that few years before, in the same plant a similar death occurred from phosgene splash on the body. Here, the lesson is that we should not be complacent and assume that by washing for a minutes, the chemical can be cleaned. Once some chemical splashes, we should takeout the clothing. This should be followed with water wash.
Normally, as a safety precaution, one should wash for at least 15 minutes once any chemical splashes/falls on the body. Even then, studies show that only about 95% of the chemical on the skin can be washed off. During my safety lectures, I tell my audience that during the beginning of every shift, atleast once, they should check for availability of water in emergency shower/eye wash fountain and allow the water to run for few minutes so that any dirt/rust collected can run off. Else, the damage from this dirty water may be more than that from the chemical splash.

OSHA 40 Years Old and Aging Fast

The link below is about OSHA and the views of a safety professional about its efforts in the field of safety. It also describes, how OSHA is losing its influence due to various factors.

http://www.thesafetybloke.com/osha-40-years-old-and-aging-fast/

Side stand for two wheelers - their hazards

It is reported yesterday that a person fell from his two wheeler on the road divider and died on the way to hospital. The person fell because he parked his two wheeler on side stand and while taking the vehicle, he forgot to lift the side stand back to its position. When he was driving the vehicle, he drove over a speed breaker which hit the side stand that was in downward position and caused imbalance leading to fall of the driver. This side stand for two-wheelers appears to be very dangerous. On few occasions, I myself forgot to lift the stand and only when it hit something on the road, I realized my mistake and put it back to its rest position. And I watched many vehicle drivers, driving the two wheelers with side stand in downward position and passersby tried to point out the hazard to drivers.
Though parking a two wheeler on side stand is common, easy and may be a style statement, vehicle manufacturers should review this because of the danger it creates. At least some audio alarm should be provided when the side stand is in downward position when the ignition is switched ON. Best is to remove the side stand so that it will be safe and will not add to hazard potential of two wheeler driving.

Emergency escape routes - not available during emergency

Recently, a fire incident was reported in the basement  of an office building in which three persons lost their lives. The reason for the death is not due to burns but because of asphyxiation. It is also reported that the fire fighters were unable to carryout rescue operations due to blocking of access and ventilation systems. About 10 years ago, a restaurant in Delhi airport also caught fire which started from the kitchen and people were unable to switchoff the exhaust (that spread the fire) as the switch was located at height and was not accessible.
Emergency accessories like manual call point, fire extinguishers, outward opening doors (emergency doors), stairs are those which we do not use day-to-day and it is seen in most of the establishments particularly in office buildings that these are blocked with junk items. The space under stairs is normally used as junkyard to keep mostly discarded chairs, tables, files, etc which are combustible. In basement areas, any fire involving these materials spreads fast due to natural draft and the same stairs which are required for fire fighting can't be used due to smoke coming up and due to poor visibility.
If fire fighters are equipped with fire resistant suits, self contained breathing apparatus and infra red cameras, only then they can approach the source to extinguish the fire. Else, they can become mute spectators. But, the building owners  and others find it easy to blame the fire fighters for not doing anything, though the reason is because of greediness and shortsightedness of the building owners to ensure free access, maintain the areas free from combustibles and keeping constant vigil in these areas.
Some establishments provide fire extinguishers only to satisfy municipal authorities but they can be found behind some tables, or they are used to hold personal belongings like shirts, bags, etc and make them invisible. Sand buckets are generally used by employees as spittoons. If any construction or minor civil works are to be done, then these sand buckets are used for taking water, concrete, etc. The valve of the fire hydrant in the building (if provided) will be normally blocked with chairs. Or, the hydrant may not be in charged condition. Or, there is no water in the sump meant for this fire hydrant system.
In some buildings, the doors to emergency stairs are locked and this defeats the basic purpose of providing alternate stairs for use during emergency.
Many times the reason for fire is attributed to short circuit. A factory inspector in Tamilnadu based on his personal experience said that actually this is not at all the reason and if people can't find the reason, then they say short circuit as the reason. If short circuit is the reason, then all electrical wiring should be checked every year for their healthiness as we check earth pit resistance and electrical continuity between the switch and the earth pit. It should be made mandatory and checking should be done by only by approved third parties. Insurance companies should insist on these checks before providing the insurance cover. All basement areas and important rooms should be provided with CCTV cameras for surveillance. All corridors should have fluorescent (radiant) markings in the direction of nearest exit so that even in case of power failure one can see the glowing signs and escape. Emergency lights should be provided in the corridors and along the escape routes to provide minimum illumination. These lights should be capable of functioning atleast 30 minutes so that rescue operations also can be conducted. For high rise buildings, these lights should function for more duration as assessed by the fire services or similar agency.

Some pictures are shown below where fire fighting accessories are blocked/misused.Such conditions can be avoided and fire safety awareness can be increased among all employees including those in administration and similar services to ensure availability and misuse. These photos were collected from various online safety resources and their effort to create safety awareness and ensure safe workplace is acknowledged.

Fire extinguishers as door stopper

FE in safe custody?

Unsafe storage of chemicals

Bocked emegency door

Emergency exit?

Safety implementation - We are as good (and bad) as those in developed countries

I read a blog post today where it is mentioned that i) many managers consider safety implementation as a nuisance, reduces productivity ii) enforcement agencies are short of man power, iii) long battles in courts to penalize, iv) penalties are considered as added cost to the product rather than a warning for not following safety, and so on. The situation is not different here also.
Let it be any country, whatever be the rules and penalties or punishments are, it is the commitment of the management and its support that ensures safety at the workplace and this in the long run reduces the cost of production. Very few understand this as bypassing safety shows immediate increase in output, but in the long run leads to accidents as a result of fall in safety standards and reduces the productivity. One must remember that what we see today is the result of efforts (constructive or destructive) made in the past. One must not be elated and relax when going is smooth (safe) and should be on constant vigil and be committed to improve safety.
The blog post and comments under suggested that penalties should be on the persons rather than on the organization to warn the erring persons to implement safety. Though, we say occupier (the one who got ultimate control over the day-to-day affairs of the organization) is responsible, long delays in punishing the culprits are allowing them to run the organization as per their wishes. In this regard, the blog post suggested need for having industrial courts to handle such cases and give verdict quickly. Along with person based penalties, awarding of punishments also will act as a deterrent for the people to run organizations only for profit and drive them to implement good safety practices.

NDTV Video of LPG Tanker explosion

There is a video of an LPG road tanker explosion occurred in Turkey. The video was captured in a cell phone camera. It shows the impact of pressure wave generated by the explosion in the form of fall of persons, light emitted during explosion, widespread damage to property and a crater in the road.
This reminds me of an incident where an LPG tanker toppled and fell on the road. Without understanding the hazard of explosion any time, passersby gathered around. Even the company officials took more than a day to put it on the road and tow away.
In another incident an ammonia tanker fell on the road. However, in this case, the road was blocked, the company officials promptly transferred the content to another vessel and cleared the area in a few hours.

Though everyone should be careful, it is the responsibility of the transporter and the manufacturer of the chemicals to ensure that transport containers are fit for road journey, the drivers know what to do in an emergency and are trained to handle the situation. Normally, the behavior of the public at large is to gather and watch. So, the driver of the vehicle, in an emergency, should caution and drive away the public to safe distance so that they are safe in case of any eventuality.

Cell tower radiation and its impact on health

There is an article in Times of India in which it is stated that apart from the heat generated during the use of mobile causing ill health, the electro magnetic effect on the body cells is more harmful. The symptoms of cell radiation is in the form of burning and tingling sensation in the skin of the head, fatigue, sleep disturbances, dizziness, lack of concentration, ringing in the ears, reaction time, loss of memory, headache, disturbances in digestive system and heart palpitation, etc.The recommended SAR of 1.6 watt/kg will help in reducing these effects, the report says. 
Though many these symptoms are known to appear even because of pollution, lack of good diet, workload at office, stress due to boss/peers, etc, the disappearing of doves and even pigeons, as reported in a news paper recently, adds strength to these findings. But, the above report is based on one professor's research report. The report also says to use speakers, restrict cell phone use to 6 min/day. I am not sure whether the study includes observations and measurements are result of studies conducted in less polluted areas like villages where though roads and transport is not available but cell towers and use of mobiles exists. As I said above, due to overlapping nature of symptoms from different sources (pollution, stress, etc), to understand the real reason i.e impact of cell towers and mobile use, the study should be conducted in an environment where pollution, work stress, etc are not present.
The first news paper article states that Indian cell phone users are more at risk for adverse affect of radiation due to hot tropical climate, low BMI and low fat content. On lighter side, we may conclude that, obese people are less prone to cellphone radiation effects. So, if you can't avoid cell phone use, increase your BMI, but face all problems due to high BMI.
Another report says Wi-Fi radiation is killing trees based on a study by exposing the trees to this radiation.

One thought that is in my mind for last few years is, though we say EMF due to cell towers poses health hazards to persons in the vicinity, we are not bothered about the radio waves that our body is constantly exposed whether we use cell phone or not. I feel that like cosmic radiation, the waves in the air also pose health hazards to entire humankind. When someone makes a call from his phone, as I understand, the signal from the cell tower hunts the destination mobile number and in the process like sun light falling on every person on the earth, in a similar fashion, all of us are exposed to these signals (or waves?).

Gas leaks, crude method of testing, gas poisoning/fire

There is a news item which mentions about the death of 2 persons and hospitalization of 2 more due to inhalation of poisonous gas from a manhole. One of the deceased went inside the manhole to check gas leak. As it appears, no PPE was used by the victims. Few years back, I read a similar incident wherein one auto driver opened the petrol tank lid and tried to check the petrol with the help of a lit match stick which resulted in burn injuries on the face. Similarly in another incident, a person died when he tried to see the water level in an underground water reservoir. The person died though he was sitting on the top of the tank and lowered his head without actually entering into it.
The safe practice is to lower the gas monitoring instrument / gas drawing tube to the place of work and check for levels rather than allowing the person to enter in to it. If it is not possible for any measurement due to complexity of the approach for the instrument, then a person should enter only after wearing self contained breathing apparatus and safety belt and communication system under the watchful eye of another person at the entrance of the opening.
Few years back, I saw in NGC in a "Seconds from Disaster" episode, where flammable gas leaked from the line (which was deep inside a river), diffused into a weak sewage water line adjacent to it, passed through sewage line network, leaked outside through open manholes of the city and caused widespread explosions after it found an ignition source in the form of a spark generated by lifting and dropping of manhole by one of the municipal employee. This type of fire and explosion is beyond imagination of persons. But, there was an accident reported where sparks from gas cutting work ignited a gas leak. Rules insist upon maintaining minimum 15 m radial distance around hot works, to be free from any flammable materials/storages. There is nothing wrong in covering flammable material containers with asbestos cloth / wet cloth to prevent spraks falling on them and there is no need to feel shy of being extra cautious about safety.
Though, people doing/permitting such hot works without safety precautions question about the wisdom of maintaining safe distances, occurrences of fire incidents remind us to be extra cautious and to know that "Rules are for all to implement" and only fools (though they claim that they are knowledgeable and are in good management position because of their so called hard work) violate the rules.

Fire during solvent transfer in buckets from drums

2-3 days back, I read a news item in a regional news paper that there was fire while transferring a solvent with a plastic bucket from drums. There were sparks followed by big fire.
It is clearly due to static charge builtup during dipping of plastic bucket in drums containing solvent. Static charge is generated due to friction between conducting (metal drum) and non-conducting (solvent, bucket) media. For solvent transfer, one should provide proper piping arrangement with earthing and bonding to dissipate the charge accumulated.
Few years back, I read a case study in which a fire occurred while transferring the solvent through braided plastic hose. Investigation revealed that the electrical continuiity was broken as there was no contact between the nozzle and the metal braid reinforcement to the hose. During transfer for extended time, the accumulated charge on the hose discharged as spark causing fire.
Hence, earthing and bonding are important aspects and one should avoid short term measures like bucket transfer to avoid recurrence of such fire incidents. Further, the operators should not wear synthetic dress (wear only cotton dress), wear antistatic foot wear, ensure turbulence, nozzle spray, etc to avoid static charge generation/accumulation.

Fatigue and reasons for it

There is an article in Safetyatworkblog on fatigue and the reasons for it. Based on a survey, it mentioned that this is due to workplace and some of the reasons are,

1. reduced head count - more work, less people i.e overload
2. overlapping of office and home life - taking the work to home, ignoring family members which can lead to increase of distance with family members. Only after retirement, one will realize the distance but it is too late.
3. part time job after regular job - taking up additional jobs to get more income can increase take home pay but this stretches the person's ability to do to the maximum and after sometime, he will fail to deliver the targets and may be fired
4. nature of the person to do entire work - due to lack of confidence on others. (I do this as I think that scribbling on a paper or giving dictation for the clerk to do typing puts additional work on me to correct again and again. Further, if I type the report on my own, I can incorporate my thoughts during typing itself. Else, I have to do correction in the typed matter by others. May be, I am ineffective in giving dictation or writing the draft)
5. staying extra time - some employees stay extra time to do more work. This is like S.No.3 above. The reason can be to reach target in time or before time; or to be in the good books of the boss; or to use internet; or he did not have any work at home. This will lead others also to stayput extra hours, but at the cost of losing relaxation and increasing the mental stress (there is an article circulating in the Groups reportedly written by Infosys Chief on the impact of this and his advise to stay in office only as per working hours)
6. using the leave - I was told by one my very senior officer that one should use the paid leave to relax to get charged and do productive work

The above are the reasons as well as solutions to avoid fatigue. One may think only physical work is strenuous. But, mental exhaustion also leads to tiredness and incapacitates the person to do anything at home for the family. Fatigue in any form can lead to accidents either at the work place or during travel to reach home at the end of the day.

Effect of diesel subsidies on environment

There is an excellent article on damage to environment due to artificially cheap fuels. It is an eye opener for common man how indirect free lunches are doled out to those who have enough money in hand. Many middle income group and above will come into these beneficiary list. It is unfortunate that because of wrong focus, the aim of improving the life of common man is still a dream.
The article also mentioned about efforts required to develop rail freight corridor to transport goods economically rather than depending upon inefficient road transport system. This road transport with diesel driven trucks is contributing to huge pollution burdening the environment. With the addition of more vehicles every year, the life of the roads also shortened and more and more money is spent on repairs / relaying of the roads. If they are not repaired, then the mileage will comedown, trucks get damaged and this again leads to pumping more money and reducing its availability for social development. Many state government run bus transport organizations are bleeding due to control of fares, poor occupancy and are unable to replace inefficient buses due to lack of funds.
Another point brought out is smuggling of the fuel to neighbouring countries due to price difference, indirectly financing their economies instead of our poor people.
We subsidize many things apart from fuels. The cost of a single tea even on a road side shop is costlier than the postcard. The actual user of the cards may not be intended people but those who participate in various entertainment programmes and subsidies go to them.
Thousands of crores of rupees is pumped into aviation sector to cater to a minuscule population. Such financing is avoidable and better utilized to avoid starvation deaths, rescue poor farmers who are the backbone for our survival. Else, sooner or later the food prices will spiral and there will be more deaths even in middle income groups and lead to law and order problem to lay hands on available food items.
As suggested in the article, it is better to remove all subsidies and support the farmers by increasing MSP.
In many states, governments provide housing to the poor. This can be little modified by constructing townships and banning the registrations to avoid change of hands.

Communication - its importance in personal and official matters

There is no news paper delivery today as it was a declared holiday yesterday on the occasion of Sankranthi festival. I was going through yesterday's Times of India news paper and read about the advice of a famous couple of Hindi cinema (bollywood) to be successful in life. They mentioned about the need for PROPER communication between the persons and not to take for granted just because they are known to you. It is true in every sense.

Let it be at residence, or office or on the roads, when we watch the way we talk with strangers/seniors, we find that we talk with respect, use good language, take efforts to explain and make them understand. And when it comes to our family members, all this will be missing and will be trying to show (may be unconsciously) who is the boss at home. Most of the time our talk will be in harsh language and will be shouting without reason. If sense prevails, atleast after sometime, we will apologize for the way we talked.

This is true at office also. When we talk with subordinates, we talk differently and while talking with boss, we are subdued. This leads to lot of communication gap and failure to achieve what we want. Before saying, for a moment, let us enter into other's shoe and visualise how our directions will be received/understood. If we are clear, then we can say what we want. If not, then we have to do communication the way it gets the result what we want.

In safety issues also, communication plays a great role. If there is no proper communication, then operators assume something and things may go wrong. Blaming the operator after an incident will not serve any purpose. Operators also should be bold to ask when they do not know what to do or how to do. Similarly, when we, the safety professionals do not communicate, or fail to communicate in simple language, then we can't expect safety at the shopfloor. We have to explain to the plant managers, contractors, occupier about their responsibilities w.r.t safety and advise them how to do in safe manner. Training, news letters, etc are aids in communication. Safety work permits, clearances are also form communication, but for the particular job/modification/new work. Many accident investigations stress about lack of communication/coordination.

Collective wisdom is available in the form of legislations. We have to communicate these to shopfloor people so that they can understand and implement. Of course, there will be few rebels who do not want to follow the rules and regulations and for them, we have to take into confidence of the management and punish them by caution, warnings, penalties and termination in that order.

Some more short videos on safety

Causes may appear simple and we find them every day but can lead to major accidents as some of the incidents depicted in the videos of the following link. http://www.safetyvideoshop.com.au/free-safety-videos.php

Video on Manual Handling

Improper manual handling can break the backs of workers and here is a video on manual handling which can be viewed in the following link.

http://www.manualhandlingguidance.net/Index.htm

Equipment/structure failure - Fabrication details are also required

A belated new year greetings.

Of late, I am not getting any motivation to blog as what I see every day are nothing but same issues on which I already mentioned in my earlier blogs. People talk on safety but do not care to implement; talk on safety culture but do not follow; utter chaos on the roads with least regard for traffic rules or pedestrians; no respect for signals even by pedestrians who cross the roads even when signage is ON for vehicles, etc.

Now, the discussion on the title of this blog: Quite a few occasions, I read about collapse of buildings/ overhead structures/bridges, failure of equipment (leakages/rupture/bursting/collapse), and a few years ago I even heard from my wife that the chassis of a two-wheeler scooter of 1 year old broke at the centre, etc.
Though, people claim that the design is as per applicable codes like, NBC, ASME, IS, etc, still if the failures are taking place implies that the fabrication/manufacturing/usage is not proper (assuming design is perfect). It also means that quality checks are not proper, even if fabrication/construction is to be blamed.

Many times people rely on the designs and assume that everything is going to be alright giving not much attention to other aspects.

It is sad that though people chant, "SAFETY FIRST, QUALITY NEXT & PRODUCTION LAST" on list of priorities, actually it is the other way. One can not say that quality gets second priority to safety, as both safety and quality are interlinked and are integral. Safety during construction/fabrication ensures well being of the workers on the shopfloor/in the plant at that time, but a product with poor quality endangers the lives of users and those around. Factory workers are aware of hazards in their job, but not the public who use the produce.
The number of persons going to be affected can also be a huge number depending upon the product we consider. A poor quality waist belt may affect the user alone. But, a poorly constructed building/bridge can affect many lives.

Hence, we have to give top priority for quality also to ensure safety of all.