We are nothing after our death. Let us donate our body organs for the poor.

Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvelous work The moment you fear, you are nobody - Swamy Vivekananda

If you think safety is expensive, try an accident... - O.P.Kharbanda

Preventable accidents, if they are not prevented due to our negligence, it is nothing short of a murder - Dr. Sarvepalli Radha Krishna, 2nd President of India

Zero accidents through zero unsafe behaviors. Do not be complacent that there are no accidents. There may be near miss accidents (NMAs). With luck/chance, somebody escaped knowingly or unknown to the person. But, we can't be safe, if we depend upon the luck.

Safety culture is how the organization behaves when no one is watching.

We make No compromise with respect to Morality, Ethics, or Safety. If a design or work practice is perceived to be unsafe, we do not proceed until the issue is resolved. - Mission statement by S&B Engineers & Consultants Ltd. http://www.sbec.com/safety/

Human meat gets least priority - A doctor's comment on accidents

CSB video excerpts from Dr.Trevor Kletz, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQn5fL62KL8

Oct 23, 2011

No increase in brain cancer from mobile phone use - Danish study

Earlier, we read from WHO study that mobile phone may cause brain cancer. Now, a Danish study says no increase in brain cancer due to mobile phone use. There are conflicting statements/reports from different study groups. Whatever it is, as electromagnetic energy can have biological impact, it is better to minimize exposure and follow the principle of ALARA i.e as low as reasonably possible.
If you are a business man and sitting at one place use fixed phone instead of mobile phone. If you are on the move, you can postpone your conversation till you reach your residence or office. If you are a marketing executive on the move, use earphones that are declared safe. Use of mobile phone on move also introduces other hazards like lack of concentration and can involve you in road accidents.
You may be lured by mobile applications, but the time spent on surfing or learning the applications is more than the actual gains and burning the pocket.

Oct 22, 2011

What is the safe voltage to work?

Many assume 24 V power supply is safe to handle. But an article in the link below shows that shock is possible even at 12 V, some sensation can be felt and secondary effects of such shock can endanger the person.
Even for DC supply, with a body resistance of 500 ohms in wet condition and 41 mA DC current leading to painful shock to women means 500 x 0.041=20.5 V.
People are reluctant to have earthing for the machinery saying that the voltage is less but we do not know what can happen and are ready to trade safety for a worst experience (shock!!!).
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_3/4.html

Electrocution during cleaning of welding machine

In an incident reported in a local news paper, a person died of electrocution while cleaning the welding machine in the morning. This implies damaged cables and improper/no earthing to the machine. Possibly the power supply was not switched off the previous day and in the same condition, the person would have carried out cleaning of the machine.
It is common to see use of structural columns as return lines and no earthing will be available neither for the machine nor the job on which welding will be done. Sometimes when proper length of cable is not available, people use rods or sheets or similar metal pieces as return lines. It is difficult to ensure safety in unorganized sector and even in organized sectors when the work is outsourced.

Fire accident in a ship at Kakinada port during welding

During welding in a ship, a fire incident took place leading to gutting of some rooms. During any welding, experts advise to maintain atleast 15 m distance around free from combustibles as sparks can travel this much distance. Otherwise, all combustibles in the area likely to be affected should be covered with fire resistant cloth and fire crew should be available in the area to avoid such incidents.

The Hindu : States / Andhra Pradesh : Fire accident in a ship at Kakinada port

LINK


Post Fukushima, Indian nuclear power plants step up safety measures

Post Fukushima, to face such situations, new safety measures were implemented in Indian nuclear power plants (INPPs) for alternate cooling water supply and power backups (diesel generators and batteries). A study shows that INPPs can withstand massive seismic shocks and their low vulnerability to tsunamis.
Indian+N-plants+step+up+safety+measures

LINK

Oct 21, 2011

Cylinder explosion during unloading - 2 deaths, 1 injured

The incident of LPG cylinder explosion while transported with oxygen cylinders, root cause analysis, measures to be taken and a PDF file containing some photos are available at the link below.
http://www.citehr.com/360198-cylinder-explosion.html
(The content is reproduced as the author permitted sharing this information without restrictions when some other interested reader enquired in the forum in which this article appeared. Thanks to the author.)

INCIDENT :

Two fatalities & one serious injury occurred in one of the major steel plant, while unloading of gas cylinders from the truck as seen in the photographs.


Brief Description :

During unloading the Oxygen cylinders from a truck which is loaded with 95 Oxygen & 5 LPG cylinders, the oxygen cylinder hit the neck ring of LPG cylinder which gave way its welding causing LPG leak followed by explosion & fire.
Further the valve of the oxygen cylinder too got damaged & leaked causing explosion & the cylinder flown like a rocket. Two persons who were engaged for unloading were died & one person met with serious injuries.

Probable Causes :

1) The oxygen cylinders were stored in horizontal position & without protective caps.
2) LPG cylinders were kept along with oxygen cylinders.
3) Smoking in the area.

Lessons to be Learnt :

1) Gas cylinders need to be transported in vertical position
2) No gas cylinder is to be transported / handled without its protective cap. No cylinders should be received in our premises without having its cap.
3) Oxygen cylinder should not be transported along with cylinders containing flammable gas like LPG, Acetylene etc.
4) No smoking need to be strictly followed during transportation / handling the gas cylinders.
5) Gas cylinders need to be unloaded using standard method & not by throwing them.

Pl review the existing practices and takes appropriate actions. Please communicate to all, own / contractor employees about this incident.



Chlorine gas release - Over one hundred fall sick

As per the report (Toxic gas runs havoc) rupture of rusted pipeline carrying chlorine gas leads to atmospheric discharge and over one hundred persons from the factory, fire service and locals fall sick. The gas causes discoloring of leaves of the trees in the area.

 The pipeline ruptured with a bang and workers inform that the pipeline is old and rusted. The fact that many of the sick were from the factory implies lack of communication, poor awareness about emergency actions and protective measures to be followed by the individuals.

Generally, vessels containing chemicals are tested but not the associated piping. Testing of piping along with containers should be made mandatory and the violators should be punished for endangering the safety of the living beings and the environment.

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