Five workers die as wall collapses

During digging for a cellar under a building, five workers were buried alive due to caving in of adjacent excavated earth of 15 feet high and also collapse of side wall. 

I am unable to provide the link for the picture which I saw in the news paper (Times of India) in local edition that appeared on 13.04.2012 which opens the eyes of careless site engineers who do not bother to keep the excavated soil away from the trenches. As per good safety practices, the excavated soil should be kept atleast 1.5 m or 50% of the depth of the trench whichever is higher. Further, the angle of repose of the soil also should be taken in to account depending upon the nature of the soil/earth excavated. Generally, 15 degree (with horizontal) is the safe angle.
And, shoring as required also needs to be ensured so that there will not be any collapse.  In another incident reported few years ago, two persons working at a depth of about 3-5 feet were buried from the earth adjacent due to disturbance/vibrations caused. 

When people are covered even partially under the soil, it is difficult for them to come out of it and suffer due to the impact and pressure of the soil on their body leading to death. 

http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/2012/newsDetails130412k.php

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Five-workers-die-as-wall-collapses/articleshow/12645263.cms

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/article3310070.ece

Participative approach by workers: A Case of Two Chemical Accidents

The following link is about two facilities involved in same job but is about how participation by workers can make wonders for their own safety and of others and its contribution to the organization. Participative approach is an age old philosophy but is hardly practiced. But, when followed, it ensures a safe work place for all.
The Union Difference: A Case of Two Chemical Accidents

LINK

chemical accidents – Center for Health, Environment & Justice

As per an article appeared in the web, there are 483 chemical plants in US that can endanger more than 100,000 lives each. And there are many more chemical plants that use dangerous chemicals that can impact the lives of many in the vicinity of the plant. A statement is made that many of these are located in areas where low income and other groups do live. However, I think this statement may not be true. Generally, when any plant is located, it will be ensured that there is no habitation around, unless otherwise these plants are very old, say 50-60 years before. People try to live near the factories in which they are working for ease of mobility and access and thus over a period of time, factories will be surrounded by thick population who are not working in these plants. Initially, even factory managements encourage such growth as they get cheap man power quickly. But, once accidents start happening, same population and their bosses (read political leaders), environmentalists, etc will demand for shifting of the production facilities to remote places. Even if these are shifted, there is no guarantee that they will remain isolated forever. The story repeats.
There is also a statement in the report that some plants substituted poisonous chemicals with less harm or harmless chemicals. Elimination/substitution/operating at near atmospheric conditions/etc are most desirable methods to eliminate hazards and those plants which reduce dangers by any of the methods should be encouraged by way of tax relief for sometime so that others too get motivated.




chemical accidents – Center for Health, Environment & Justice

LINK

North Sea gas leak on March 25, 2012 at 4000 m below the surface

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21637-no-toxic-hydrogen-sulphide-in-north-sea-gas-leak.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21631-north-sea-gas-leak-venting-from-newly-disturbed-source.html
http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/scottish-headlines/north-sea-gas-leak-source-located-1-2199804#


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2121457/North-Sea-gas-leak-threatens-repeat-Piper-Alpha-oil-rig-disaster-Aberdeen.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Change of guard - impact on safety policies

Changes are imminent - whether it is the top man or at different levels. Every time, organizational change occurs particulary at top level, it is certain that the new management will review policies in all respects. People want to leave their imprint by thinking differently and this is one of the reason for shuffling of positions in any organization.
Depending upon the knowledge, experience, interests and targets of the person taking charge,  and also the advise provided by down under, unless otherwise it is one-man army as in small organizations, the policy shift can be either good or bad to the organization (and to the subordinates?). It may take sometime to see the results of these changes.
As per rules, whenever the occupier or safety in-charge changes, this information needs to be informed to regulators immediately. And, it is better if regulators keep a watch on the affairs of such organization(s) for a reasonable period, to ensure that the safety issues continue to get top priority inspite of the changes in the organization.

A capsule for removing radioactive contamination from milk, fruit juices, other beverages

A capsule for removing radioactive contamination from milk, fruit juices, other beverages

LINK

Who is responsible for delay in work? Regulators or managements?

Many times regulatory process is shown as a reason for delay in work progress or failure to achieve production targets or failure to start or complete projects in times or ending up in losses. However, they do not explain or do not want to see why proper planning and execution is not done to comply with applicable procedures and statutes. When procedures are not followed and if and when the regulatory body finds violations or finds new information, they are bound to issue notices. Had the entity disclosed the information fully about its intentions initially itself or complied with conditions subsequently, there would not have been any tussle or heart burn.
Companies blame that the information which is not asked earlier is being asked later and their works are being suspended or such new information is shown as a cause for stopping the work. As long as any activity got potential to cause harm to people and environment, it has to be addressed, even if not during application process.These systems are evolved over a period of time based on past experience and considerable forethought and can't be questioned for one's problems.
Economic growth or profits of the companies alone can't be a reason for bypassing/violation the regulatory process. Safety of the persons and environment should get top priority over other issues and nobody got any right in this regard.

Safety Daily Advisor : Facts About Shiftwork Health Problems

Safety Daily Advisor : Facts About Shiftwork Health Problems

Shift work introduces changes in our daily routine and this requires adjustment and tuning of our body to new pattern. How fast this occurs varies from individual to individual. There are many who continue to work in shifts for years. Even in some of those people, there are problems of adjustment and complaints about health. Apart from loosing their family life which they could have when they come in general shifts, they are also prone to accidents for a variety of reasons like health, lack of proper supervision in shifts, psychological, etc. However, one of my senior colleague told me that he could use day time to undergo many courses and acquire higher qualification which he could not have got, if he attended work in general shift. But, such people are less and generally one will be taking more time for rest when working in night shifts. Persons especially in night shifts are prone to accidents. Further, in some industries, as reported in news papers, workers are engaged to letout untreated effluents in public drains during night times when vigil is almost nil. This may induce them to develop unlawful attitude and indirectly affects their own lives also.

Who bears the most of the cost of a workplace accident? Employer ! Community!! Workers!!!

In a blog (safetyatworkblog.com), it is reported that 95% of the cost of a workplace accident is borne by the workers and community, whereas the employers incurs the balance. If this is true, then, employers are making profit at the cost of the society even during accidents. Though, it is not clear, how this data is arrived at, however, it is true that a business minded person passes on all his costs to his customers and he may add a percentage of the total costs (including those incurred due to incidents/accidents) as his profit. Can we draw from this, by stating that the higher the input costs, higher the profit. May be the breakeven period will be more, but afterwards, profits will be more. I am not an economist, but with my thought process, I am putting this analysis.

Rare surgery, thumb reconstructed from toe

In a rare surgery, a carpenter is able to write, hold and eat after his right hand thumb was reconstructed from one of his foot toes. The carpenter lost is thumb while working and six weeks after the surgery at Yashoda Hospital, Secunderabad, he could do most of the jobs. It is reported that such surgery was done 20 years before at NIMS (Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderbad, India), but public awareness about such rare surgeries is almost negligible.

Dangerous lift, boy looses life

A boy died in the lift of an apartment under construction while playing inside the lift. The lift moved with boy's leg between the lift door and the wall. The lift stopped after moving some distance by which boy died. A case was registered on lift maintenance agency under IPC for rash/negligent act.
It is not clear from the reports,  how the lift is allowed for use without interlock between lift movement and door position. It is not clear from the news, whether the door is foldable grill type and the boy while playing put his leg through openings of the grill and somebody in someother floor pressed the button causing the lift to move.

Confined Space Entry ,BP Guidelines

Confined space jobs are very dangerous as one has to work in unknown atmospheres. Here is a link to BP Guidelines on confined space entry, found at Petroleum Community forum.

Confined Space Entry ,BP Guidelines

LINK

List of issues to be looked for during safety inspection

Link for a post on the above topic appeared in the internet is given below.

http://www.chemicalplantsafety.net/safety-inspection/a-must-have-list-of-safety-inspection-checklist/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChemicalPlantSafety+%28Chemical+Plant+Safety+Resources%29

Mine accidents - a way to reach the trapped workers

This post is about a rescue operation of trapped miners about 45 years ago, narrated to me by a known person. He was working as a doctor in those mines. Some mine workers were trapped during drilling and authorities could not find it easy to rescue them. Then, based on the advise of an employee, they contacted local thieves, who used to steal valuables from the mines. One of them, confessed about a secret way to reach the location of mine collapse, by which all trapped miners were rescued within a day of the incident.

It is funny, but is a valuable lesson.

Charge the vehicle owners for parking on the roads

At many places, people park their vehicles in front of their houses on the roads, leading to narrowing of roads and accidents. It is mandatory to leave sufficient space (about 10 ft or more depending upon the plot area) in front of the house upto their compound wall. But, hardly this norm is followed. Overcome by greed, people leave little space and construct the houses upto their boundary, and may be sometimes encroaching their neighbour's area or public road. Naturally, this leads to no parking space and occupants park their vehicles on the roads. All such vehicles should be taken over by local authorities and charge heavy penalties. If there is no response within specified period (say two weeks), the vehicle should be put up for auction. There are thousands of vehicles of all categories that are parked on the roads and I feel this brings sufficient income for the local authorities and also bring discipline among the greedy.

Polluter pays - recovery of cleaning costs from company

In an incident involving overturning of tractor trailer leading to chemical spillage (50 gallons of tetra chloro ethylene) on the road, it is stated that the cost of cleaning, overtime charges of police personnel, cleaning personnel, emergency center setup expenses will be charged to the trucking firm. During clean up operations, the road traffic was stopped. Quantification of the loss incurred by those on the roads shutdown will be much higher than the bill that will be served to the trucking firm. However, billing is a good idea as many have scant respect for the national wealth spoiled by their acts.

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Did-you-cause-the-wreck-that-shut-down-I-10-for-3388775.php

Standing under the coconut tree - a nearmiss incident

Yesterday, I went to my friend's house and while leaving he came out upto the gate to see me off. While talking at the gate, all of sudden there was cracking sound and a dry big leaf (about 4 m long) of the coconut tree that is adjacent to the gate fell down, almost touching the backside of my friend. The tree is about 12-15 m high. When we saw up, one more such leaf is loosely hanging dangerously at the top and may fall any time due to heavy wind.
In the city where we do not see coconut trees due to apartment culture with no room left for trees, I forgot the dangers of standing under the tree, though we have a coconut tree at our house in the native place. My mother says, scorpions and even snakes are likely to be encountered when a person goes up to cut the coconuts from the tree or for removing the dried leaves. Same is the case with various types of palm trees. But their leaves are not as heavy as coconut leaves.
The incident is a near miss and a few millimeters made the difference to avoid getting hit by the coconut leaf.

Holi (colours) festival - painful incidents

Every year Holiday will be celebrated in the country, by sprinkling colours on near and dear. Children and elders like the festival alike and play cheerfully, distributing sweets. People other than children also drink bhang and dance. At the end, they take bath to wash coloursAnd every year, there will be news of,

• persons admitted to hospitals because of effect of use of harmful colours, causing irritation, temporary/permanent damage to eyes, skin, etc
• persons vomitting because of excessive consumption or poor quality of bhang
• persons getting drowned in ponds and lakes as they do not swimming
• eruption of fights between groups of people because of indescent behavior

Like Diwali, this festival also some people suffer because of improper use of colours and others. Elders in the family should teach safety precautions and keep an eye so that Holi festival can be celebrated without pain.

Auto rikshaws - dangers due to narrow front

Sometimes, the drivers of autorikshaws on the roads take sudden unexpected turns on either directions leading to accidents. Any vehicle coming behind or along the auto-rikshaw will get involved in collision either from behind or on the sides resulting in verbal dual and traffic jams. For two wheeler drivers driving along, such turns lead to imbalance and falling on the road and getting over run by vehicles coming in opposite direction.

I feel there is a basic deign problem with auto-rikshaw. The driver takes turn as he wishes because he view is restricted both vertically and horizontally and being a narrow cabin in the front side, his perception of vehicle width is that of his cabin width and not that of passenger seat portion. If the autos are uniformly wide where the width of both driver seating area and passenger seat area are same, this perception problem will not exist. And there should two wheels in front also instead of single wheel and along with a steering instead of a handle to control directional movement will ensure safe driving.

Emergency exits - how they should be?

Recently, I attended a seminar and found the two doors marked as EXIT inside in the conference room, are leading to the same corridor. The conference room is located somewhat deep inside the building. I thought it is dangerous as any fire in the corridor will trap the seminar room occupants. Then during lunch time, I went behind the screens used for display of presentations and found two doors leading to outside of the building. Though, these doors are not marked as EXIT, still they serve the purpose. However, as they are not visible and there are no directional marks, people may or may not use them in an emergency.

Some of the guiding principles for emergency exits are,

1. doors should open outward
2. there should be one emergency exit for every 75 ft distance
3. emergency lighting along the corridor to maintain minimum illumination in case of failure of regular power supply
4. self glowing display signs (EXIT, arrow marking, etc)
5. availability of keys near the doors marked emergency exit, with hammer to break the box containing keys
6. not blocking the emergency exits
7. not having stairs in front of emergency exit doors

At some places, it looks funny to see signs of EXIT and directional arrows exactly on the doors instead of direction marks along the wall from inner rooms to outdoors. 

Only married men employed in a factory

In a Chinese factory that is engaged in manufacturing pesticides like guanidine nitrate, it is reported that only married men are employed. An explosion in the factory at about 0930 hr on 28th Feb 2012 led to 13 deaths and scores of injuries. The blast led to collapse of a workshop and breakage of window panes in 2 km radius. Tremors were felt by three villages nearby.
I am unable to guess the reason for only married male employees in the factory.

Huge propane storage tank in US to meet 6 month needs

A colorado based company proposes to have a 22.7 million gallon propane insulated tank. In the report, it is stated that locals will vote about the work on the project and describes about the facility, possible effects and measures. The report has some questions and some answers. It is an interesting article. I calculated fireball radius and its duration using the equations mentioned in "Major Hazard Control: A Practical Manual" published by ILO. The fireball radius is 803 m and its duration is 124 seconds. The impact distances for thermal radiation resulting from BLEVE/VCE extend much longer. It reminds me about the incident at New Mexico in the year 1984.
The owners must have taken suitable measures as per applicable NFPA and other regulations. Risk assessment of the proposed facility with its safety features, considering the presence of other manufacturing facilities and their impact will result in a meaningful conclusion.

Responsibility for failure to use PPE

In an article, the court dismissed the claim for the death of an employee as it is found that the employer did everything it can do to impart knowledge, train, issue PPE, conduct weekly meetings and toolbox meetings and so on.
Still, I feel effective supervision and not engaging the person when the employee refuses to wear PPE could have prevented such incident. Otherwise, why to engage supervisors. Apart from supervisors for safe production activities, site specific monitoring of safety supervision by designated persons will ensure accident prevention.

Road safety - Heavy penalties for traffic offences

As per a report in the year 2010, 1.3 lakh persons died due to road accidents. A study reveals road accidents cost the nation about Rs 1,00,000 crore.  There will be many road accidents which go unreported and authorities come to know of the accidents only when persons are seriously injured and require medical help.
Government proposes to penalize heavily those caught on the road with drunken driving/mobile use during driving/over speeding/jumping the signal/driving without helmet or seatbelt/using vehicle without registration. The government proposes penalties for first offence ranging from Rs 500 to 10,000 and for subsequent offences upto Rs 20,000. Dangerous driving and mobile use invite jail term also upto 2 years.
On this aspect, in earlier post way back in the year 2008-9, I felt the same.

Apart from penalising those with dangerous/unsafe driving, pedestrians crossing the roads without waiting for easing of road traffic, roadside business persons encroaching the roads, persons parking vehicles on the road also should be penalised heavily as they are also responsible for a number of road accidents and deaths.
And those caught with traffic offences should be forced to work on social service activities like cleaning the roads, schools, performing traffic control duties, etc.

Many times, to save the persons on the roads, vehicle drivers move away  and this during speed causes skidding/loosing control/hitting the road divider or street pole, etc leading to fall of the driver, toppling of the vehicle, hitting some other person/vehicle, etc and injury/death.

Government proposes to use 50% of the fines collected to use for road safety fund. Apart from this, I wish government gives 25% of the fines collected as incentive to the traffic police. In my earlier posts on the same topic, I opined to give some basic salary to the traffic police and allow them to take penalty amount as their income. This will also reduce burden on the government to maintain huge staff and encourage to recruit more and more traffic police all over the country by respective authorities. I also suggested in earlier posts to takeover properties of offending drivers/vehicle owners to teach lessons for life. In a situations where words are not enough, only actions / measures like above will control road accidents and save lakhs of lives.

Fire from weld sparks causes 6 injuries, Rs 10 crore property damage

In a fire due to weld sparks on top floor of a shrimp feed factory falling on the plastic bags kept below causes injuries to six employees and property damage worth Rs 10 crore. Three workers fainted due to smoke from the fire and another three were injured due to fall while climbing down. It is reported that fire extinguishers in the factory did not function at the time of the incident, indicating poor upkeep of safety systems.
Any hazardous work in a factory requires following safety permit systems which helps in hazard assessment and taking suitable safety measures for the work. Weld sparks can fly off about 15 m distance and hence the area within this should be free from combustibles. It is better to spray water in this area before hot work. If it is not possible to remove combustibles within this area, they should be covered with fire resistant cloth.
In this incident, sparks fell on the combustible material in the floor below. As the extent of damage is huge and fire extinguishing took about 5 hours, it indicates lack of supervision.
There should be a program to check fire extinguishers at regular intervals, say, once in a quarter. In extinguishers containing CO2 cartridge, the quality of these should be checked as it is likely that any defect renders fire extinguisher useless.
Regular training of all employees or identified employees and ensuring their availability atleast in minimum number in every shift also must be ensured.

Bath tub paint stripper is harmful

Methylene chloride (MC) is used to remove the paint of bath tub for renovation. It is reported that 13 deaths occurred while using this. The main hazards stated are from inhalation and skin exposure and it is a carcinogen.
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/methylenechloride/

Permissible exposure is 25 ppm (TLV-TWA) for 8 hr and 125 ppm (TLV-STEL) for 15 minute period
It is anaesthetic and inhalation can cause mental confusion, light-headedness, nausea, vomiting, headache. Continued exposure may cause increased light-headedness, staggering, unconsciousness, and even death. High vapor concentrations may also cause irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract. Exposure to MC may make the symptoms of angina (chest pains) worse. Skin exposure to liquid MC may cause irritation. If liquid MC remains on the skin, it may cause skin burns. Splashes of the liquid into the eyes may cause irritation.
Long-term (chronic) exposure: Studies on rats, mice indicate MC causes cancer.
OSHA interprets results to mean that there is suggestive (but not absolute) evidence that MC is a human carcinogen.
Generally bathrooms are small and the ventilation in it will be poor. While cleaning, it is likely that the doors also will be closed and persons working inside will be exposed to vapors.
One has to wear suitable respiratory protection and skin protection and someone must keep watch on the person doing the cleaning job.

Many chemicals used for cleaning jobs at home cause skin burns or atleast itching and not much awareness is seen in this aspect. I saw some books for home safety. But, every chemical can/container for home use shall have hazards and safety precautions printed in readable font size so that users can take care of themselves.

Plan in advance to fill vacant posts

In any organization, manpower attrition is a continuous phenomenon. People retire and new persons fill in those posts. However, there will be a gap when we do not get persons as skilled as those who retired or moved out. It may be difficult to find who will be resigning, as generally, we do not get information in advance. However, we know who is going to retire as per the organization's service norms. If we fill the posts after the retirement, then there will be skill gap and plant operations will be at risk. 

To avoid such issues and also to take care of attrition due to resignations/deaths, it is better to have a reserve strength (like bench in software companies) to make use of these persons any time as the need arises. 

Therefore, it is always preferable to have posts, say 5 % of total organizations strength, particularly in technical field as reserve/bench. The cost of maintaining this reserve strength with needed skills though, may appear costly / avoidable to the finance managers, will prove to be advantageous when we are in neck deep trouble because of lost productivity, or regulatory issues arising from incidents resulting due to poor skills of freshly recruited persons employed in place of experience hands, etc.

Afterall, one can't compromise with safety.

Prison fire in Honduras

A prison fire in Honduras caused more than 300 deaths. Reports say that fire was initiated on Tuesday night by an inmate by burning the mattress. The jail is overcrowded at the time of the incident. Some died in the cells due to burns and or suffocation before they could be freed. More than 475 escaped. Delayed justice is shown as the reason for overcrowding of prisons in the country. It is stated that some inmates escaped by pushing roof panels.
Though the fire started by burning mattress, it is not clear how it could have spread without presence of combustibles in the entire prison in continuity. Else, fire could have been limited to the cell in which it was initiated. This shows lack of monitoring by jail staff or there could have been some help within. It is also not clear whether any fire detection and sprinkler system is available in all cells which is required as per NFPA for residential and commercial buildings.

Office safety

An article in smartplanet.com states that those working for long hours in offices are likely to have increased levels of polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in their blood. Though the sample size of 31 is small, if we look at it in a spirited manner, the study says that those in new buildings wherein use of furniture with PFC is more, have more PFC in their blood stream compared to others.
Hence, if the sample is size is more, the percentage of persons exposed to PFC may be high or low. Whatever the statistics say, even if a fraction is exposed and risks the health of the persons, then measures have to be taken to protect these people.
Apart from this, it is well known that carpets are a major source for germs that affect the health of the persons. Further, in closed buildings, where air is recirculated will also have an effect on the health of the persons. When we enter conference rooms that are not in regular use and where ventilation is switched only before use, we get foul smell. Added to these, the new finding of PFCs will add to workers woes in offices.

Product safety - recall of coffee makers

http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2012/02/10/200823.htm

A coffee maker agency is recalling its equipment as there were reported incidents of splashing of coffee during brewing causing burns. I think, research departments of manufacturers should test thoroughly their products before releasing into the markets to adhere to the deadlines. Heavens will not fall if deadlines are skipped for genuine reasons. However, the initiative of recall is good on the part of the agency.

Some maths on environment damage costs in China

http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/international/2012/02/08/200548.htm

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/business/2012-02/07/content_14550738.htm

As per reports, in the year 2011, there were 542 environment related accidents out of which 60% are from road and process related accidents. It is estimated that the loss due to these accidents resulting in environment damage is about US$ 220 billion and this cost does not take into account of impact on public health and loss of productivity from farm land contamination. The number of accidents causing damage to environment is on rise.

I am not an economist and can't think much. But, it appears that countries while setting ambitious export targets are overusing the available limited natural resources and giving less importance to safety of employees and environment protection. When everybody tries to flood markets with their products, costs will come down, but this will also lead to wasting of resources and loading the environment. 

One of the units to measure development in an area is that of per capita energy consumption. This unit neither takes into account of effective use of energy not actual need for the energy consumed. 

Instead of craving for tags/labels of development, one should use available resources judiciously to provide necessary comfort for all.

Tech strives to raise awareness, minimize risks after series of laboratory explosions | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Tech strives to raise awareness, minimize risks after series of laboratory explosions | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/chem-labs-now-stricter-to-prevent-accidents-1.2761539#.TzaJS8Xro2c

After three incidents in the university laboratory, several measures like forming a lab safety committee, regular meetings, forming guidelines to handle the chemicals safely, safety inspections, identification of hazards, identification incompatible chemicals and disposal, labeling of chemicals, location of chemicals at proper places, color coding, disposal of unused chemicals lying for a long time, enforcing use of full hand lab coat instead of apron while working in lab, having full shoe, emergency plan, linking safety awareness to career progress, etc were taken to avoid future accidents.
LINK

Lab safety: Stringent safety measures in place to avoid life-threatening accidents

ISAT: Stringent safety measures in place to avoid life-threatening accidents - The Breeze: News

The above is an article about lab safety. Many do not think of following safety rules while working or doing experiments in a laboratory. But, we have to understand that those working in the laboratory do not have any practical knowledge and are unable to assess the magnitude of the danger which they will be exposed to. Many universities developed lab safety procedures. But many more do not consider safety in lab as an essential practice.

Job-related injuries and illnesses estimated to cost nation $250 billion per year

Job-related injuries and illnesses estimated to cost nation $250 billion per year

The cost is several times more than that of cancer, diabetes, strokes.

Sizing up a world of 7 billion people

Offbeat math: Sizing up a world of 7 billion people - Technology & Science - CBC News

LINK

No emergency doors - 2 die in a pharma fire

In a fire in a pharma factory two persons were charred to death. One of the died persons is a partner in the company. The incident occurred on a sunday evening. The fire resulting from a reactor explosion spread to neighboring areas. The fire was brought under control after five hours of struggle by fire services. It is said that the absence of emergency escape doors led to the deaths of the two persons. The deaths were identified only when the two did not return home and the police went to the factory and saw the skeletons. As usual, the reason stated for explosion is electrical short circuit.

As per Factory Rules, there should be atleast an emergency exit for every 22.5 m (75 feet) distance and the exit doors should open outward. There should not be any stairs immediately outside the emergency doors. These doors should not be locked and the escape routes should be free from any obstruction. The exit routes should be clearly identified and marked. The routes should be illuminated sufficiently.

Generally, we see the fire hydrants, fire extinguishers, emergency escape routes locked or blocked or covered thus making it a life and death question in times of emergency.


http://www.andhrawishesh.com/movies/Hyderabad/22542:two-killed-in-fire-at-rantus-pharma-factory.html

Fire in under-construction hotel

In a fire incident during the early hours in an hotel under construction, two construction workers became unconscious. It is suspected that a cigarette butt thrown by some worker or short circuit aided with presence of lot of decorative material and construction wood, etc led to this incident. Little care is taken generally during construction phase as such incidents occur regularly in various parts of the world. Electrical connections used for portable tools are generally without any plug and socket arrangement, no proper earthing, damaged/twisted cables, etc and it is accepted as a practice in the construction industry. People also store paint and thinner tins, wood, etc in a congested room and this can lead to fire incidents.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/11/20/stories/2010112064960700.htm (with photo)
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-29/hyderabad/30454315_1_fire-safety-major-fire-short-circuit
http://expressbuzz.com/topic/fire-mishap-in-fivestar-hotel/338176.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P64aZ1i6y1I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraj_Al_Bait (a fire incident involving construction wood)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bally's_Las_Vegas (85 deaths in the fire incident that caused improvements in hotel fire safety worldwide)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Salle_Hotel (61 deaths in the fire leading to development of new codes for hotels in Chicago)

Blast during cleaning of dryer unit in a bulk drugs company

In an incident at about 0615 hr, a chemist and two helpers received 85% burns during the cleaning of a dryer unit in a pharma firm that makes bulk drugs. A worker of the factory said that such incident never took place in the dryers of the pharma units in the industrial area.
A fire resulting after the explosion spread quickly due to chemicals and solvents in the area. The reason could for the incident could not be ascertained.
As it happened during dryer cleaning, the reason could be the static electricity and dust explosion. As solvents in the area caught fire, it is presumed that the workers might have used some solvent to clean the dryer. It is likely that the static electricity produced during cleaning might have discharged in the form of a spark. The dryer unit might have lot of loose particles in the form of dust and any disturbance during cleaning might have caused the dust airborne and to catch fire from the discharge of static electricity leading to dust explosion. Or, if they used large quanity of solvent inside the dryer, the vapors also might have caught fire leading to explosion in the confined space.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIqbwSmd_LY
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-11-28/news/30450554_1_blast-three-persons-facility

A report on explosion in West Pharmaceutical Services can be read here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Pharmaceutical_Services_explosion

Man electrocuted while hooked to laptop

A person was found dead in his house, with headphones to his ears and laptop connected to the charger. The front portion of the body was found with some burn injuries, the laptop was partially burnt and the power chord is charred. Short circuit is suspected as the reason for the incident.
There are similar such incidents earlier also, like modem explosion, laptop fire, etc causing injuries/deaths. If we do not use substandard products, similar incidents are likely to occur again and again. Recently, when I read a book on electrical safety, I came to know that, loose contact is a major cause for many electrical incidents. If there is no proper electrical protection in the system, it can lead to sparking and arcing, causing serious injuries. Further, it is stated that the electrical cables are to be replaced atleast once in 15 years to avoid electrical fires.

Do business unless proven harmful?

Recently, there was a proposal for foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail sector and for various reasons, it did not happen.
Some opined in support of this proposal that, one should not be prevented without a good reason in setting up a business unless it is proven that it causes more harm than good for economy.
This not an acceptable opinion. Though competition is good for the economy, brings the best out, worldwide, there are various forms of protection provided to local businesses and direct/indirect subsidies to help them. May be in some countries, FDI in retail proved beneficial to the farmers and direct producers by eliminating the intermediaries. But, it varies from region to region.
If FDI in retail is allowed and caused harm to the economy, can we remove FDI and reverse it. At that time, same people may opine that it is a retrograde step and reversal of reforms. By the time we realized the harm, many retail shops and small players would have closed due to losses leading to creation of monopoly or formation of syndicates.
Generally, to gain market share, new entrants offer their services at much lesser prices, sometimes even below the cost of the product. At the same time, the cost of the same product offered by the same company in some other city may be higher. When small business houses unable to bear the onslaught of big houses close the shop, these big companies increase the prices of their products and people will be left with little or no choise but to pay the price.
What happened in telecom, airline and other sectors is known to everybody. Though, public got benefited due to tariff wars between the companies in the industry, the industry as a whole is bleeding and the lenders are terming the loans and investment in these companies as non-performing asset. In an extreme situation, those who took loan will file bankruptcy. Again, recently few companies in telecom sector increased their tariff to reduce losses. But, finally, it is the the common man, who has to bear the loss in the form of lost investment for their betterment. There is no difference between such companies and conmen. One cheats in the name of business and the other cheats the individuals directly.

As safety professionals, all of us are against any activity till the hazards are identified and eliminated/ controlled. If we wait for harm to happen, I am sure there will be many Bhopal like accidents in any business. Though the harmful effects of Bhopal accident is limited to town, Chernobyl accident is limited to few villages, atomic bomb explosion is limited to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, playing with economy can lead to kneeling down of entire nation.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/What-s-FDI-in-retail/Article1-775543.aspx
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-29/india/30453728_1_retail-sector-small-retailers-global-retail-giants
http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-fdi-in-retail-kiranas-unfazed-ask-what-the-fuss-is-all-about/20111206.htm

Online frauds: got e-mail/SMS about winning a prize?

Last few years, all of us would have received a number of e-mails and sometimes an SMS also from big names in the world that we are lucky winners of a lottery which we never purchased, or our e-mail was selected for a prize amount, or some big hearted agency decided to remind us about an amount in a bank which we forgot to draw, or somebody donated only to us, or somebody wants to share the amount which was not claimed, and so on. I started getting such mails for more than 7 years. I also started reading how innocent (or greedy?) persons lost huge money sent for legal costs or some other reasons, to get the big prize.
These mails/SMS ask for our name, address and bank account number to send the money. How believe that the sender of the e-mail/SMS is able to send without knowing our name or contact ID/number.
Though the people present innocence to investigating agencies and blame police, after they lost large amounts, one should not show any sympathy to them because these are all greedy persons.
As a part of awareness campaign, Reserve Bank of India in their circular dated 05.12.2011, listed 34 nodal agencies in various states of India for registering complaints with regards to such fictitious lottery wins, cheap money, communication from bank about updating password, etc. Individuals have to register their complaints with these nodal agencies to enable them for necessary action.
We should remember that nothing comes free in this world unless it is inherited through natural process. Now a days, even rich families leave only a fraction to their children and use the remaining for philonthropy/charity.
http://www.livemint.com/2011/12/11202751/Won-an-online-lottery-Inform.html?atype=tp

Chemical explosion in university lab

In an explosion in a university laboratory, a student working with sodium azide received injuries on his face, arms and body. The fire responder too received burns on his face and eyes and this was suspected due to travelling of chemicals with sweat downwards. The student was wearing goggles and the responder,a face mask at the time of the incident.
It is reported that in the same lab earlier in October, an explosion took place when a student was scrapping the azide residue on the flask. The shattered glass pieces caused injury to face and was without any personal protective equipment.
In another explosion few months before, another student suffered serious cut injury on the arm, while mixing water with hydrochloric acid and titanium tetra chloride in a jar.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120111/ARTICLES/120119873?tc=obinsite
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120112/ARTICLES/120119832/1109/sports?p=1&tc=pg page-1
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120112/ARTICLES/120119832/1109/sports?p=2&tc=pg page-2
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120112/ARTICLES/120119832/1109/sports?p=3&tc=pg page-3

It is assumed generally that nothing will happen in lab. But, because of research with little information available, the hazards are more in lab work. Further, students do not have much knowledge/awareness about safe practices and their concentration is only about carrying out experiment/studies.

The above incidents call for safety programme implementation in educational institutions also, like in any industrial set up and appointment of a full pledged safety officer to ensure implementation of safety programme.

Toxic gas (CO?) leak - deaths due to suffocation

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/01/4-die-in-gas-leak/: 4 people die and one become unconscious in the generator room in which they slept after forgetting to switchoff the generator before sleep. Though, it is stated as suffocation, the fact that they died in the sleep indicates deadly carbon monoxide release in the room and that the exhaust of the generator is within the room instead of letting out of the room. Carbon monoxide, an odorless gas can lead to asphyxiation and the exposed do not realize that they are inhaling this toxic gas. This clearly indicates wrong design of exhaust system. Otherwise, the exhaust system must have been developed leaks inside the room. 
Had it been suffocation, they would have got up from the sleep and tried to come out of the room. Being winter, they would have felt comfortable in the warm room before sleep and subsequently died in the sleep.

In another similar incident, http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/01/toxic-gas-suffocates-family-kills-three-children/, three children die and another three children become unconscious, when they slept in the room that was kept warm by coal burning in a pot. This is also because of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Incidents like the above happen regularly at different parts of the world. Few years ago, following incidents were reported, which are all due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

• Inmates of a car died when switched on air conditioner and slept. Carbon monoxide buildup inside the car due to recirculation of air was stated as the reason.
• Car inmates died due to carbon monoxide buildup, after they closed all windows and stayed inside because of heavy rain outside and flood waters caused traffic jam.
• A person died in his closed garage, when he was trying to repair his vehicle with engine in running condition.
• A person working outside at terrace level became unconscious and died as the exhaust from wood fired room heater was nearby.

The above incidents indicate the need for educating the people about carbon monoxide poisoning and care to be taken.

The Ten Most Important Safety Lessons-SafetyXChange

The Ten Most Important Safety Lessons I Know SafetyXChange

LINK

Some messages behind the bikes - what it means?

For more than a year, while going to my office, I noted following messages displayed above the number plate of the bikes, that appeared to be funny, entertaining and thought provoking.

1. All girls are my sisters except U
2. Don't worry girls, I will be back
3. Romeo should die
4. Ask ur sister who I am
5. Who's next (to ride on pillion?)
6. Don't look at me, I am not your girl friend
7. I am with your mother, I warn you
8. Love is strong. If it has broken, it is painful
9. Love is like a war, easy to start, hard to end, impossible to forget, so never love any time
10. No girls, no tensions
11. Don't believe girl's smile
12. Don't believe smiling girls
13. GIRL - Ghost In Real Life
14. Love is Trash, Girls Need Cash
15. Girls R like medicine, they come with an expiry date
16. Trust dogs, not girls
17. No fear
18. My bike rages the road
19. Everybody wants to go hell, But nobody wants die
20. Don't touch me
21. Don't follow me, my way is Dangerous
22. Keep distance for your safety
23. You r responsible for ur safety
24. I am bad with my new rule
25. I am not as innocent as I look
26. Hell is full. So, I am back
27. Mom's gift, Father's petrol, My enjoyment
28. Legends live longer. I am a living example
29. Legacy never dies
30. Past is a lesson. Today is yours. So work on it
31. Small things bring big changes

The number of bikes with above displays are very less. Apart from the above, there are regular messages on a large number of bikes, like, Mom's gift / Dad's gift.

A study of these messages reveals that many bike riders are grateful to their parents for gifting them a bike. But,  other messages reveal, hatredness towards girls, love failures, fear, their road rage behavior, road safety concern, philosophers, want to show girls about their machoism, warn others about themselves, their funny side, and so on. 

Some messages, at first instance, even enrage the readers and appear vulgar. 

May be, one can judge the person, depending upon the type of message behind the vehicle and take suitable precaution while dealing with them.

Insurance

Everybody tells us to take life insurance. Elders advise insurance even as a saving measure for future. Insurance agents showcase benefits of insurance to dependents after our death. And eventually, all those having regular income will take life cover for huge amounts and end up paying premiums.
But, we ignore insurance cover for our property. We try to avoid insurance for vehicles.
The loss from property damage can cause huge setback and often will be difficult to earn and build again. If we take loan for purchase of property, we take insurance to the extent of loan amount for loan period. But, as we repay, loan amount will reduce but our exposure to risk will increase. Unless we take insurance for entire property value, we will be taking risk with our hard earned money put in the property.
Similarly, we should take vehicle insurance both for the value of the vehicle and compensation to be paid to the persons in case of any accident. If we look at the amount saved by not taking insurance cover, in times of any accident, we may end up paying all our savings, may also incur loans and receive punishment.

Which accidents are acceptable?

Now a days, people are opposing setting up of every factory.  The reasons cited are accidents, pollution, etc. Projects are delayed and costs run high. Opposition is expressed going to the extent of damaging public property. At the same time, governments are blamed for unemployment, inability to provided public amenities, and so on. Where from funds will come for governments to spend. Only when overall development happens, taxes are paid honestly and participate in  programmes, governments can do something to its people.

Everybody is concerned about accidents. But, concerns are very high about industrial accidents particularly those related to chemical industry, which are rare. Everyday, many persons die/get injured in road accidents. Many die due to  alcohol/tobacco/drug use, adventure sports, cancer, pollution, different lifestyles, etc. The number of persons affected with these are very high compared to those due to industrial activities.  

This makes us wonder which accidents are acceptable/normal and which are not? Are we accepting regular/routine deaths and illness due to our own making in the course of having our own lifestyle and taking them in our stride as a part of life. And, fear about others.

We enjoy our lifestyle every moment and therefore its ill effects are acceptable? Whereas direct benefits from industries are less visible though indirect benefits are huge and can become apparent only when they are closed.

Every activity will have both positive and negative aspects and we draw a line. But, we magnify the events in industries and ignore those outside. 

We should have realistic approach so that industries can be setup incorporating all measures for safety of people and environment. While issuing clearances, authorities have to ensure that clearances are not issued in violation of rules or by finding loop holes in the law.

Accidents during training

A navy officer drowned, when the commander asked him to jump into sea, as a part of training. Contradicting reports state about divers in the sea waters before start of exercises. It is stated that the navy officer was not wearing any life jacket at the time of the incident.
Such accidents can occur in any where, if proper precautions are not taken. Statistics on industrial accidents reveal that most of those injured are trainees/apprentices/contractor workers or those who were allotted new jobs different from what they were doing earlier. It is likely that to cut costs, companies engage trainees/apprentices/contractor workers for skilled jobs. In the absence of proper training, lack of knowledge on hazards involved in the operations and hesitation by these persons to ask for information lead to accidents endangering their lives and that of others. The accidents that are reported regularly in the media confirm this practice.
To avoid such accidents, irrespective of the nature of the job and position of the person, compulsory training shall be provided to them and necessary safety instructions in the form safe operating procedures, checklists, data sheets, emergency procedures, etc should be taught and documents are issued for ready reference.
Managements will certainly reap the benefits of such training provided in the form of safe work atmosphere and better productivity.

Role of behavior in accident reduction

I read an article in (India) Industrial Safety Review (June 2011) on the role of behavior in accident reduction. One particular statement in the article is true for all organizations. The statement reads as, "showing zero accidents record and international certifications do not really ensure safe organization unless we target zero unsafe behaviors at workplaces".
In many organizations, their address will also contains about ISO/OHSAS certification. With the mushroom growth of certifying agencies, competition to get business and marketing skills, these certificates appear to be only for name sake. It is not possible for certifying agencies also to check thoroughly for compliance with applicable requirements, as their audits are based on random sampling. Instead of relying on these certificates, many organizations are developing their own systems to verify the credentials of the company with which they intend to deal with by site visits, field inspections, data collection, interaction with teams of production, quality, safety and health to assess compliance with standards and their own requirements. Certificates also induce a false sense of security/safety among the employees and lead to bad work culture.

In this context, I liked the above statement. Though every organization targets zero accident status, as the author said correctly, the approach should be, intolerance to unsafe behaviors rather than aiming to prevent major accidents. It is true that, to have such status coupled with rewards linked to accident-free working periods, the accidents are not reported.
To achieve true zero accident status, the author suggested, i) forming teams, ii) observing the work for some time, iii) not to blame the persons for at-risk behaviors, iv) interacting with the persons to find the cause for behavior, v) getting suggestions/feedback, vi) maintaining list of critical behaviors, vii) implementing measures for correct behavior by way of training, awareness, monitoring and feed back.
It is stated in an article that the returns will be 3-6 times for every dollar spent on training. Safety inspections by safety department are nothing but monitoring/policing. Any unsafe act or condition observed by safety department will be corrected at that time and it will repeat again, the moment safety inspector leaves the workspot. Unless the persons actually performing the work are aware of their risky behavior, and correct themselves, accidents can't be brought down to zero level by safety department alone.

Nuclear power: The case for a safe, alternative energy source

Wish you all a happy and safe new year 2012.

An article in The Washington Times briefs about nuclear energy as an alternate safe power. Though, every individual sees nuclear energy in his own way, still, it appears as the future alternative after all fossil fuel resources are exhausted in the coming decades.
As an engineering student twenty five years ago, I read about the limited availability of fossil fuels and that they will last only for about twenty years. But, new finds take us to next forty to fifty years. However, the projected solar and wind power as future energy at that time are still nowhere to meet even a fraction of the energy demand. Further, pollution from fossil fuel usage is affecting all walks of life and there is a wide spread global movement for gradual reduction of emissions.
Finally when a day comes with no fossil fuels, we can't start construction of nuclear reactors at that time and keep our fingers crossed. Like water wars, there can be more energy wars in the next fifty years. Already, countries are in search of whatever energy sources available to acquire and secure their future safe. When no other alternate energy sources are availabe to meet growing demands, we have to go for nuclear energy.
Worldwide, thousands of persons work in nuclear power plants and there is not much evidence/data to say that these workers are affected. The risk levels in nuclear industry are far less than that in other industries. It appears that we accept the injuries and deaths in other industries as they occur regularly and fear about the rare events in nuclear industry.

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/21st-century-pacifist/2011/dec/28/case-safe-alternative-energy-source-nuclear-power/
Nuclear power: The case for a safe, alternative energy source

LINK