Nuclear Fission Superior to Other Energy Sources | The Energy Collective

Nuclear Fission Superior to Other Energy Sources | The Energy Collective

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Six months later: The Fukushima nuclear disaster in retrospect - The Mainichi Daily News

A brief note on efforts of the plant to contain radioactive water containment:

Six months later: The Fukushima nuclear disaster in retrospect - The Mainichi Daily News

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Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill in India

Government of India introduced a Bill on Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority (NSRA) Act 2011 (link provided at the end of this article) in the monsoon session of the parliament (Lok Sabha) on Wednesday 7th September 2011. As per the report in livemint,  report in The Hindu, article in Power Engineering, the Bill provides for creation of a

1. Council of Nuclear Safety (CNS) with Prime Minister as Chair Person and other members including Atomic Energy Commission Chairman as ex-officio for nuclear/radiation safety policy review; 
2. an authority (NSRA) with offices at different places having a a chairperson, two whole-time members and up to four part-time members.The chairperson, reporting to parliament, would have to have at least 25 years' experience in nuclear science and technology, environmental science, engineering or related fields. The members would need to have at least 20 years' experience in these fields.; Chair Person and Members can serve for a maximum two terms with each at three years and upto a maximum age of 70 years; Member upto 65 years. The Chair Person is also Chief Executive Officer of NSRA with financial and administrative powers.
3. search committees for selection of Chair Person and Members of NSRA
4. an appellate authority with a Supreme Court judge or a High Court Chief Justice as Chair Person and two scientist who are experts in the field as its Members.

Atomic Energy Regulatory Boad (AERB) will be dissolved after establishment of the authority as per Section 18 of the proposed Act and Chairman & its members will be transferred to function as Chair Person and members of NSRA till search committees find persons for these posts. AERB Employees also will be transferred to NSRA and within three years they can decide to be part of NSRA or as any central government employee.
As per Section 19, the jurisdiction of the Authority shall extend to all areas to which this Act is applicable and activities relating to production, development or use of atomic energy and radiation in all its applications, or transport (within India or outside India), transfer by sale or otherwise, import, export or storage or disposal of nuclear and radioactive material.

The NSRA would decide on issues through a majority vote of the members, and if there is a tie, the chairperson or the senior-most member present shall have a second or casting vote, the bill has proposed. The CNS will be empowered to create the appellate for grievance addressal.

NSRA is the sole authority for administering Factories Act 1948 as per Section 23 of NSRA Act 2011. The authority can delegate its powers to any one including state government as per Section 24, except making regulations. Section 25 gives powers to central government to exempt facilities of national interest.

Section 40 states penalties of upto 5 years imprisonment and or fine for violations. Top to bottom, anybody responsible can be punished (Section 41). Section 44 says, Civil courts do not have jurisdiction on matters which NSRA or other regulatory bodies empowered under this Act.

Creation of this council got necessiated in the aftermath of Fukushima accident, the government's resolve to increase share of nuclear power, allow private operators for nuclear power generation and ensure safety.
After approval of the Bill, the NSRA has to notify any accident of significant risk within 15 days and should give wide publicity as per Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act,2010. It appears that the Bill is aimed at ensuring safety to employees, public and environment mainly during power generation keeping in mind of accidents occurred earlier like Chernobyl and Fukushima. As government intends to allow private operators in nuclear power generation, to avoid bypassing or short cuts on safety procedures, it proposes stringent provisions for safe generation of nuclear power. The penal provisions include jail term upto five years and also fines.

Council of Nuclear Safety:  Consist of the Prime Minister, the Union ministers of environment, external affairs, health, home affairs, science and technology, the cabinet secretary, the chairperson of the atomic energy commission, and eminent experts to be nominated by the central government.





THE NUCLEAR SAFETY REGULATORY AUTHORITY BILL, 2011

Related news items:

http://www.google.co.in/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1R2ADFA_enIN437&q=nuclear+safety+regulatory+authority+bill+2011
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/nuclear-safety-bill-tabled-in-lok-sabha/articleshow/9901420.cms
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/189375/revamped-n-safety-mechanism-cards.html
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws070911Nuclear.asp
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article2432732.ece

e-waste generation in India and its magnitude

An article today in livemint is about e-waste generation in the country and its way of collection and recycling mostly through scrap dealers. About 4.0 lac tonnes of e-waste is generated in the country and is growing at 10-15% per year. Struggle for existence makes availability of cheap labour and their exploitation. It may be that children are engaged for collection of scrap including e-waste. As this is unorganised sector, working conditions remain pathetic and out of purview of the regulators thereby endangering the health of the workers and surroundings. Effluents will be discharged into public sewage/drainage and thereby contaminating the ground and water bodies.

e-mail or phone?

Today in the news paper MINT, a syndicated column appeared on people tendency to use e-mail rather than phone for communication, though it is convenient to speak rather than type. Few months back, our boss also commented that, now-a-days, we are using e-mail more than the phone.
At workplace, I feel e-mail is more convenient to convey information to a group though it is easy to speak directly or over phone with limited number of persons. Moreover, e-mail is a written document which can serve as a proof of communication. Nobody can say that he/she did not received the mail. In case, e-mail ID is typed wrongly, then the sender will be at fault, else the receiver has to accept. If the mail ID is non-existent, then failure notice will appear in the sender's inbox. Verbal communication is like writing on the water.
Apart from communication to bulk, e-mail is also helpful to convey tough messages, or to those whom we do not want to talk but we have to communicate.
It is easy to organize the mails sent into different folders and can be retrieved easily with search words, whereas we have to spend more time in filing and tracing. We can also copy e-mails in portable storage media and use wherever required.
However, direct communication helps to convey what we want, remove any misunderstanding and help in improving relations. Urgent issues also have to be communicated directly. Sending e-mail in these cases will not ensure immediate attention of the receiver whether he is available near his computer or not.
At the same time, if we have to talk to nut cases (stupids), we have to use all our energy and time unsuccessfully and go home with disturbed mind.
Finally use of phone or e-mail depends on the importance of the issue, audience, time and our energy levels.

A fire incident

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A fire incident was reported which caused property loss of Rs 2-3 crore as per some reports. Other reports mention the loss at much higher level. The cause stated is short circuit during testing of electrical equipment. Others say it is due to sparks from welding in the area that is full of flammables. The fire spread through cables to nearby area. No  injuries are reported.
Generally, for any fire incident any where, it is common to attribute short circuit as the reason. Most of the time, the actual reason will be different.
If welding sparks are the reason, then before welding, one should check for presence of flammables atleast 15 m in the surrounding area as it is stated by experts in the field that weld sparks can fly about 15 m distance and can cause damage. If removal of flammables is not possible within this distance, then atleast they should be covered with fire resistant covers. If this is also not possible, worst case, ensure such hot works to be done only in the direct presence of Fire Service crew.

Following are some of the links on the same incident.
http://www.andhrawishesh.com/home/25660.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoE15SxbbUI

Find your web site is safe or not to access

Here are some of the web site services that check whether a particular site we want to access is safe or not. This information is available in cnet.com

Unmask Parasites. Do you know the dark side of your site?   LINK
Norton Safe Web
Hosts for your protection
Google safe browsing
http://google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site= followed by the site you want to check, such as google.com or an IP address

Increase in mesothelioma cases shows efforts to rid Australia of asbestos must continue - Australian Council of Trade Unions

Increase in mesothelioma cases shows efforts to rid Australia of asbestos must continue - Australian Council of Trade Unions

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Side effects of automation???

An article in Times of India on 31.08.2011 (Wednesday) on airplane accidents analyzed about how accidents are taking place due to too much dependence on auto piloting and how pilots are loosing their reflexes when they need in most critical situations.
It is our experience that even for simpler calculations, we use calculator or mobile phone instead of doing it mentally. If we want to know about something, we will not search books. Instead, we do google search or yahoo it. Even for meanings we fail to open dictionary. With such lifestyle, how wish to learn. Traditional methods of learning becoming extinct and getting addicted to NET. Less and less memory is being used and we do not play any mind games. The net result is loss of memory. After one or two generations, when creativity and intelligence is lost, I think we come back to square one and start reinventing the wheel.
I am not against automation. Automation should be designed, tested and implemented such that it is fool proof. We should use the technology for our advantage and should not blame it if there are accidents. Accidents occur because we fail to foresee, fail to plan, fail to use it the way it is required. It is easy to blame. But as an individual, as on authority, as on organization, what we are doing.
At home, we admonish our children, spouse, servant for some mistake. But, how many times we ourselves made mistakes. If we do mistakes, we call it experience and if others do it, we are ready to fire.
In the news item, it is mentioned that pilots use automated systems to fly airliners for all but about three minutes of flight i.e during take off and landing; that they have few opportunities to maintain their skills by flying manually as regulators do not allow manual flying.
In the same news item, at the end, it mentions about a fatal airline crash in the US, in 2009 caused after the co-pilot of a regional airliner programmed incorrect information into the plane's computers, causing it to slow to an unsafe speed, thereby triggering a stall warning. The panicked pilot bypassed two safety systems to control the plane unsuccessfully. In this case, even if the copilot fed wrong information, it appears, there are no program logic or supervision to verify about the wrong entry.
To address the complaint of pilots loosing reflexes of manual control due to automation, I feel that, after every fixed number of hours of flying, all pilots should be subjected to simulator training and examination for different types of scenarios and only those who passed with 100% should be put on roster.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Addicted-to-automation-pilots-forgetting-how-to-fly/articleshow/9804378.cms

Autonomous body for nuclear safety

A news item that appeared on Times of India on 31.08.2011 (Wednesday) states about cabinet approval for setting up an autonomous independent regulatory authority for monitoring nuclear safety. The Government of India decided for such authority in the wake of Fukushima incident caused by a series of failures after earthquake induced tsunami and to ensure safety and create confidence in the minds of all interested parties on nuclear power programme. 

The powers stated in the article are in line with The Factories Act, 1948.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cabinet-nod-for-autonomous-N-safety-regulator/articleshow/9802779.cms

Restrictions on entry of old ships on Indian waters

Mint magazine published an article on the proposal of Indian government to impose restrictions on entry of ships that are older than 25 years into Indian waters due to recent accident.
Regulations are lessons learned from incidents. I thought it is useful to post this article so that history can be remembered. Many times, production managers question the feasibility/utility of rules and regulations without knowing the reason for such issues. Though, they are statutory, but this questioning attitude and not implementing the rules lead to hazardous conditions and endanger the persons and environment. These questioning type are arrogant, no regard for safety and blind by their egos. They do not realize that law of the land is supreme and one has to follow it. People make fun of rules saying that it is not practicable. Threaten them to put behind bars for non-compliance, overnight, they show it how to implement.
Ships older than 25 years will be allowed when they meet certain criterion like, membership in international body, insurance for damage due to accident, registration of agent for foreign ships to deal with issues arising out of any incident. I feel that this move is good and protect waters from pollution which is seen due to oil spillages from damaged oil tankers, ships carrying hazardous goods, etc.

Road rage - a car accident

Today morning while going to my work place, while going over a rail over bridge, I saw a car that hit a truck on its rear side, possibly in the darkness. No idea about injuries. Yesterday, same time, I saw the truck at the same place in halt condition, due to some breakdown. The surrounding area was isolated by keeping some tree branches.
Normally, when some vehicle is under breakdown, the driver uses blinkers that are ON indicating about vehicle presence. Some keep stones upto some distance. Some use night reflectors to indicate presence of vehicle.
Nobody expects, vehicle parking on the rail over bridges, flyovers, etc and drive vehicle at full speed, particularly at night times due to little traffic. I suspect accident might have occurred for this reason.
Many times, I too had heart jump while driving on flyovers, as suddenly I find some one talking on mobile after taking sides to the extreme end; some repairing their vehicle; some stopping the vehicle and looking at the nature; and so on.
Some trucks while carrying lengthy rods, pipes, etc do not tie the red flags, do not switch on the blinkers, and those driving behind, if they do not recognize, surely they get involved in accidents.
Road safety is very important for every one and loosing concentration even for a second may lead to deaths.
Sometime back, a person driving his 2-wheeler on a main road died, as all of sudden a mini truck entered from side road to main road rashly, leaving little chance for the person to escape.
I feel there should be speed breakers on all branch roads just before joining the main road so that vehicle speed will come down drastically.
Some places, I found branch roads immediately at the end of the flyovers. This condition too can lead to accidents as those driving fast on flyovers will find vehicles entering from branch roads. This is my personal experience too. Once, I was driving my vehicle on a rail over over bridge. I saw a 2-wheeler raider in front of me skidded and fell down while applying brakes as he saw a vehicle entering from branch road. Seeing this another vehicle driver nearby also applied brakes and he too fell down. From then on, whenever I drive down on flyovers, I am going very slowly, though I drive at speed while driving up on the flyover.

Asphyxiation - death of persons

Today, in a lecture, I heard about asphyxiation deaths, in which two persons died in a manufacturing facility. The reason was that instead of air, nitrogen gas was admitted in the work space in which they were working. This happened due to lack of colour coding on pipelines carrying air and nitrogen. Effect of different oxygen levels on human beings is listed below.

     
     % of O2     Effect
20 – 21            Normal
12 – 15            Muscular coordination for skilled movement is lost
10 – 14            Conscious, but judgment is faulty and muscular effort leads to fatigue
  6 – 8              Collapse occurs rapidly, but quick treatment prevents fatal outcome
       ≤ 6            Death occurs in 6 – 8 minutes
   > 60             Inhalation for several days may cause lung damage
35 – 40            Permanent visual impairment / blindness

·         A common symptom at low levels of exposure is headache. 

·         Depletion of O2 by combustion in a confined space may cause adverse health effects Some metals burn intensely in oxygen rich atmosphere (ex: iron wires)

·         Lubricating oil undergoes exothermic reaction causing intense burning in the presence of liquid oxygen

People question the need for measuring oxygen levels with the routine reply that they worked like that in the last 10 years.The main reason for the accidents is not the lack of the knowledge in our work place activities. It is the lack of application of the knowledge we already have.

An activity is being done in a particular fashion without any accident for a few years does not mean that it is safe. We have to remember the words of renowned safety professional, Trevor Kletz, “We have done this way a 100 times without an accident is not acceptable, unless, an accident on the 101^st occasion is acceptable to all of us”.

Deaths due to non-communicable diseases

A report in today's Times of India states that non-communicable diseases (NCD) cause more deaths than communicable diseases. As per latest data, in India, 80% of the deaths in urban areas are due to NCDs like cancer, heart ailment, respiratory disease and diabetes and 60% of deaths in rural areas. Globally, 36 million deaths are due to NCDs contributing 63% of all deaths. In India, in 2004, 7.3 lakh deaths are due to cancer, 27 lakh due to cardiovascular. i.e 34 lakh deaths are only due to these two diseases.  And India lost US$ 9 billion from heart disease, stroke and diabetes in 2005 which is a considerable amount.
It is not known about the causes for these NCDs, whether arising out of occupation or not. Heart diseases can be due to  life style, struggle for existence and to have minimum requirements of food, cloth and shelter, good education for children and so on.
The number of deaths appear to be much more than industrial accidents and road accidents put together. This requires initiative by government to provide better facilities for health, transport, education. Also managements of industrial establishments can participate in community activities in the form corporate social responsibility by adopting localities and engaging the people in the area for their betterment.

Industrial courts - concept from Australia

A company was fined by an industrial court for safety violations leading to a nearmiss incident that could have caused several fatalities. Exclusive industrial courts will help in speeding up the hearing and awarding judgement. If it goes to civil courts, with so many cases, industrial cases will be heard when their turn comes and justice will be delayed. Penalties also should be revised with emphasis on punishment in the form of imprisonment rather than on cash penalties which can lead to proactive measures rather than half-hearted measures.
After every accident, it is common to hear renewed commitment by the company management for health and safety of the employees and a list of measures taken or proposed for improving the workplace safety and environment.
In some industrial areas, the cost of establishing and establishing and maintaining local emergency response centers is borne by the industries in the area. Likewise, it should be made mandatory for industries in the area to contribute for industrial courts. If any company is found operating without contribution, it should be closed.
Relevant articles for this blog can be read here 1, 2, 3. 

Ground water pollution

Today an article appeared in Times of India about pollution of river due to discharge of effluents from dyeing units and resultant loss of crops, barren fields and loss of livelihood to those dependent of agriculture. Toxic discharges in Noyyal river by dyeing units in Tirupur caused the agricultural field to become barren as toxic water can not be used for cultivation and farm works. A case in the court by those who lost there fertile lands lead to closure of the units which do not have effluent treatment plants (ETP) and because of this even the workers in these factories also lost their jobs.

Business is done to get profit. But, profit making is not at the cost of endangering eco system. ETP must be set up to treat the effluents so that no harmful substances enter into rivers or ground water. One can't say ETPs are costly and affects their business. They should see that it affects health of others in the area including themselves. 

Earlier, similar situation was there in another place where tanning industry growth led to contamination of ground water. This made government to take stern action on pollutants to treat or shut policy.

Product safety: who’s watching? - Columns - livemint.com

Today an article on consumer product safety was published in MINT. I learned about product safety when I did my safety diploma few years ago. The Factories Act 1948 Section 7B is about product safety but for use in a factory. Apart from this, time to time we see awareness campaigns in the media by Ministry of Consumer Affairs under JAGO GRAHAK JAGO on various topics. But, as the author says in the MINT article, there is no agency for monitoring and implementation similar to Consumer Product Safety Commission of US. After purchase, we find the item with defects, not as per specifications, less weight, poor quality etc.Of late however, few online shopping websites are offering replacement guaranty within specified period. Some retail outlets also offer exchange, if brought within specified period. Hope this will spread and lead to practices as followed in US.

Product safety: who’s watching? - Columns - livemint.com

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Clothes caught in fire - STOP, DROP & ROLL

In an article, I read that two persons received severe burn injuries when their clothes caught fire and started running. The Chief of Fire Services said that fire will increase when you run due to fanning. He advised that to extinguish fires of clothes you are wearing, you should stop immediately, drop on the floor and roll.

The fire started when two highly volatile substances were used for cleaning after carpet removal by dissolving the adhesive with gasoline and turpentine. The vapors found ignition source and led to fire. The action by Fire Services is quick as the fire occurred at 1840 hr and fire was extinguished by 1859 hr.

Another news item on the above can be read here.

Safety Daily Advisor : Office Workers: The Forgotten Workforce?

Office safety is as important as industrial safety. Normally, our safety inspections, audits, training programmes are focused on production plants and seldom we think about administration block, canteens, parking areas, etc. We may not get any report on incidents that occurred in these places unless otherwise it is something of serious nature. Those working in these places also may not be aware of safety programme that's going on in shop floors.
Once, when I pulled upper drawer of a filing cabinet (with 4 compartments one above another), due to load, the filing cabinet tilted forward thereby causing all drawers to come out. I missed narrowly of getting hit.
Similarly, when you take out two cabinets and absentmindedly close the lower one, definitely you will injure your fingers.
Few years back, my younger boy tried to climb the open refrigerator and due to shifting of centre of gravity it started tilting forward. As I was nearby, immediately jumped and held the refrigerator. Else, it would have fallen on the kid.
It is common to hear fall of persons in the change rooms. Same thing can happen in wash rooms also.
We see dumping of files in loft / on cupboards / on tables, which can be a fire hazard. These files may fall on the persons below and injure them. Apart from these, there can be reptile movement or damage to files due to termites, and so on.
The article below stresses on importance of safety for office workers and a safety plan for them.

Safety Daily Advisor : Office Workers: The Forgotten Workforce?

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Safety Daily Advisor : Napping at Work? You’re Not Dreaming!

Taking a nap at work for sometime in between helps in reducing the errors and increasing the productivity, so says this article. It is well known that chinese will get time to sleep during the work. I also saw in a paint factory, when I went for inspection, that in the lunch time of 30 minutes they quickly finish their lunch and sleep. Exactly at 1230 hrs when they hear the siren sound, they get up and resume work. During this time, even if the top most person comes, they do not get disturbed. They switch off all lights and will have their nap.

Workers who had put long hours earlier will be unable to work continuously as they enter into fifties and definitely some rest in between helps the organisation more than the worker because if there is some mistake, then organisation also is at loss and may lead to shutdown of the plant for sometime depending of the severity of the consequence.

Then, it is wrong to assume that only those who do physical work will be strained/fatigued. It is also true for all as mental strain also can lead to tiredness, more errors and reduced output. The article mentions that tired doctors are prone to 700% errors and this can be true for other professions.

Safety Daily Advisor : Napping at Work? You’re Not Dreaming!

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Safety Daily Advisor : Six Steps to a Safer Workplace

Here are the six steps that can help providing a safe work place and result in higher productivity as well. It starts from commitment from top management to empowering line managers to take necessary actions on improving safety, monitoring and encouragement.

Safety Daily Advisor : Six Steps to a Safer Workplace

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Difference between danger, warning, caution

I was not clear about what is a danger sign, what is a warning sign and what is a caution sign, till I read this article in Safety Daily Advisor. It also explains about biological hazard sign and instructions.
Danger sign is about a hazard that can lead to death, warning sign is about potential hazard and caution sign is in-between.

Whatever be the display of signs, the articles mentions, that if one can't understand what it means and what should be done, then it serves no purpose.

It's better to provide training and provide booklets containing the information to all employees. Also, display the measures to be taken, near the area where it can be seen by the employees.

Failure to use PPE - associated hazards

I read an article about failure to use personal protective equipment (PPE) by workers for various reasons and the hazards associated with it. From the survey, it is found that one of the reasons for not using PPE is that it is not attractive. It appears some of the workers value their appearance more than their life. It is common to see motorists not wearing PPE; glass/sheet/stone/wood cutters not wearing goggles;  welders using a small piece of tint glass instead of face shield; many construction workers not wearing safety shoe, helmet; workers doing concrete mixing not wearing any gum boots, etc. At some construction sites, the helmet worn by the user will be of substandard quality which can pierce/break his head, if something falls from top. Even by appearance, these helmets look fragile(?), but it will have all stamps of compliance to applicable standards.
Though, PPE is the last resort of protection, neither other measures will be in place not PPE will be used, thereby endangering the invaluable lives of workers.

Electrocution

A person died due to electrocution, as reported in a news paper. He received electric shock when he tried to cross a water pool and held nearby signboard rod for support. Due to rain, the signboard is wet. It is not clear why earth fault did not cut off power supply when current was passing through pipe and the water pool below.

Activities that burn your calaries

An article in Times of India on 5th July 2011 is about guidelines of Hyderabad based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) for changing the lifestyles and help in maintaining better health. Following is the calorie consumption for different activities.
Sleeping, resting, relaxing-1.0 kcal/min
Sitting (light activities like eating, reading, writing, listening and talking)-1.5 kcal/min
Standing (light activities like washing face, shaving, combing, watering plants)-2.3 kcal/min
Walking (slow), driving, dusting, bathing, dressing, marketing, childcare-2.8 kcal/min
Light manual work, sweeping, cleaning utensils, washing clothes, other household chores-3.3 kcal/min
Warm-up and recreational activities, walking up and down the stairs, cycling, fetching water-4.8 kcal/min
Manual work (moderate pace), loading/unloading, walking with load, harvesting, carpentry, plumbing-5.6 kcal/min
High intense manual work and sports activities - tournaments, wood cutting, carrying heavy loads, running and jogging-7.8 kcal/min

From the above, one can calculate energy requirement for their routine. There is an article to find energy requirements in the internet.
Recommendations: Consumption of 300 gm/day of vegetables, 6 gm/day of salt
Use of large amounts or big pieces of food items in microwave oven are discouraged as heating may not be same for entire quantity and cold spots can lead to entry of bacteria into human body. Similarly, cooking frozen food in microwave oven directly is not recommended.
A calorie calculator may be useful for assessing daily needs.

Food calories charts are available here to plan for food intake as per requirement.

Sleep walk, sexsomnia, etc

A news item in Times of India today is about the innocence of a person suffering from sexsomnia. Experts told the court that the person will be telling the truth about his problem. The wife and ex-girl friend too supported the case with similar events in their life with him. Wikipedia has an article on the subject along with diagnosis methods. It is not clear why the person did not go for treatment when ladies in his life already encountered such behaviour and because of continued disorder, a girl has become victim. Letting of people with disorders can create law and order problem as people can misuse. Persons suffering from such disorders should be sent to hospitals for treatment and till it is cured, they should be under supervision.

Similarly, people suffering from sleep walk can create problems to the society by their actions, not known to them consciously. Whether such problems lead to split personalities and pose problem to others is not clear. Hypothetically, if we assume existence of such workers in the workplace, imagine what are the consequences and impact on coworkers and public outside factory premises.

Trench cave-in

The following article appeared in free e-mail news letter of bongrade.com on Wednesday,July 6, 2011, Volume 2, Issue 27. The important points to be noted for any worker in trenches are marked in different colour. One should be grateful for publishers of the news letter. Trench workers can learn a lesson from this and follow good safety practices at their workplace.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sight was enough to make three grown men cry. Their co-worker was chest-deep in mud and only a few inches from death.

Glen D. Rogers of Elsah, IL, said the trench cave-in at his worksite felt like an entire football team had piled on top of him. He couldn’t move and could barely breathe.

“I thought I was going to die…I just wanted to talk to my wife and kids.”

Those were his desperate thoughts as co-workers and firefighters worked feverishly to save him.

Not long before that, Rogers, 34, was busily working in a trench to tap into a sewer line for a new house. He had just cleared off a section of pipe and began walking away when a contractor yelled that the trench was collapsing. Rogers looked behind him and then at his feet, which were buried in mud. Seconds later his legs disappeared, followed by his waist.

At one point, co-workers quickly jammed a couple of boards in the hole to offset the pressure that was crushing Rogers. Both Rogers and his wife believe this is what saved him from certain death.“His co-workers basically saved his life. If they hadn’t done that (with the boards), he would be dead,” said wife Audrey Stewart.

A grateful Stewart said all employees should receive some type of emergency rescue training.

For Rogers, the cave-in fortunately stopped at his chest, but with every breath he took, the dirt acted like a vice tightening around him.Rogers instructed his co-workers to begin a rescue plan by digging a ditch on the other side of the trench he was in. When firefighters arrived, they continued the work.“They dug down to my waist and the blood rushed back into my legs. I thought I had lost my legs because I looked down and they were flat.”

The rescue took about four hours. Luckily, Rogers recovered quickly and was back on light duty a few days later.

Since the ordeal, Rogers and fellow workers have adopted a new sense of job safety by taking nothing for granted and always wearing their safety gear.

“I now find myself green again, being real cautious about where I walk”, Rogers said.

BLEVE explanation with video

The following link gives explanation for BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion). The explanatory text below states that BLEVE is possible even with nonflammable liquids which should be noted. Many experts differ with this statement and they talk firmly that BLEVE is possible only with flammable substances. Though, the phenomena is same whether it is with flammable or non-flammable substances, I do not understand why some experts in the field differ about BLEVE with non-flammables. If the substance is flammable, then BLEVE is followed with a fireball, else no fireball. Thermal radiation from fireball can trigger secondary fires (domino) if flammables are present nearby.

http://my.firefighternation.com/video/bleve-explanation

Some statements on safety

Following are some of the statements in "Process Safety Analysis - An Introduction"  by Bob Skelton published by Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK.

1. A good safety culture ensures that both the spirit and the letter of the law are fulfilled.
2. Attitude to safety should be highly visible and shared at all levels within the company.
3. A well managed company is almost invariably not only a profitable company but a safe company.
4. Changes in existing plant are costlier than that introduced in design stage.
5. Design should be such that operator intervention is not needed for at least 30 minutes after an incident. Experience has shown that operators can not always be relied upon to make the correct decisions under immediate post-accident conditions.
6. Safety in design must be both proactive and reactive. Changes, once a plant is built, are very expensive compared with changes at the design stage.  It is not sufficient and cost efficient to make safety review after completing the design and then BOLT ON safety devices. It will not be cost effective. Engineered safety is BOLT ON safety. Engineered protective devices can fail and never place too much reliance on BOLT ON safety.
7. Commissioning is one of the most hazardous parts of any process plant operation. Not only do design errors which escaped previous checks manifest themselves but problems due to construction errors also become obvious. In addition commissioning generates hazards of its own as the plant moves from construction to operating status. It is essential that a formal set of checks be carried out before process fluids are introduced for the the first time.
8. Fire and explosions can be prevented  by not exceeding 25% of LEL. Flammable atmospheres can be avoided by ensuring that fuel lines and tanks are pressurized so the flammable material leaks out rather than air leaking in. good ventilation of vessels and plant areas can maintain safe working conditions.
9. Dust explosions are best prevented by good housekeeping - that is, by keeping the concentrations of dust down and perhaps keeping the dust damp. Inerting by dilution with non-combustible dust is another effective technique, frequently used in coal mines.
10. The risk is serious in case of static electricity, if the relative humidity is below about 60%.
11. Explosives manufacturing facilities are usually designed so that the buildings are separated by safe distance, surrounded by earth mounds so that any explosion will go upwards rather than affect other plants in the area. In addition there is usually a limit on the number of people allowed in a building.
12. Fire fighting water causes more damage than the fire itself, when polluted water is let into rivers. There may be a conflict between accepting the atmospheric pollution caused by letting the fire burn out and the water-borne pollution caused by fighting it.
13. Non-process hazards account more than 70% of all accidents in process plant.
14. Many of the worst accidents in the process industries are the result of bad maintenance practice. Ex: Piper Alpha and Flixborough
15. As many people die by asphyxiation as from toxic gases.
16. A good health and safety policy is always cost effective; most organisations grossly under estimate the cost of accidents, often by an order of magnitude. The organisation should be such that the attitude to safety is highly visible and shared at all levels within the company. Active participation is encouraged to promote the objectives of not just preventing accidents and industrial illness but motivating and empowering everyone to work safely.
17. A safety culture, once established, must be maintained, any any tendency to careless practices stamped out at once. Experience shows that 80% of accidents tend to happen to 20% of the workforce - the young and the old being particularly vulnerable.  Many accidents are caused by operators not fully appreciating the significance of small, but nevertheless important changes.
18. A good system of accident reporting is proactive and reactive, whereas most tend to be purely reactive.
19. Effective safety at all stages of a project - from inception to demolition - can only be achieved if there is a commitment at all levels. The senior management must see health and safety as being just as important as profitability and they must make certain that all their workers are aware of this fact.
20. A well managed company is almost invariably not only a profitable company but a safe company.
21. In hazard analysis, a distinction must be made between routine operator action and operator intervention in an emergency.  For routine operator action, the operator can usually take time and is under no great stress. Safety assessments involve the prediction of the likelihood of errors when the operator is taking corrective action against alarms. The time for corrective action may short, the operator is liable to be under some stress and so the probability of errors is greater.
22. Total elimination of human error will never be possible. Use must be made of the science of ergonomics to ensure that everything possible is done to enhance the strengths of human operators whilst at the same time allowing for the weaknesses.
23. The most important rule is, 'inherent safety is better than engineered safety', ' what you have not got can not leak'. Even elaborate safety devices can't reduce risk to zero due to the escape of a noxious substance, but replacing a noxious substance by a more benign one could well eliminate that risk altogether.

 

Green Chemistry

There is an article in Chemical & Engineering News on 27.06.2011 about green chemistry, the history behind its development, 12 principles of green chemistry, sustainability and its role in accident prevention and environment protection and its use in business.

Home poisons - tips to handle the dangers

There is an article in The Phillippine Star about 10 most common poisons at home that are likely to harm children health and one of the poison in the list is paracetamol, though I do not know how it can cause harm. An article in internet is given here about paracetamol use and hazards. The other items in the list include kerosene, caustic, paint thinner, pesticides and button cell batteries. Tips given for preventing poisoning include reading product labels about hazards, usage and disposal, personal hygiene, proper storage, etc.

Slipping on ice

Last week I was on a personal tour and walked a bit on snow mountains. I saw water flowing down under ice and some of the tourists are sliding from heights on a sledge nearby. There were no barricades to prevent accidental fall into flowing water from ice melting, ending up under ice in-between and resurfacing at distance away. If any anybody looses control during sliding/skating, he/she may not be alive as it is likely that the passage under the ice is not big enough to allow onto the other end and one can not climb back as the water is flowing at great force. This is first time I went to snow mountains and is a lesson for me.

Heavy winds upturn 7 containers and flyoff 2 drivers

There were reports of heavy winds in Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh, India on 10.06.2011. Seven containers on the road were upturned, two drivers on the road flew 20 feet high and fell down receiving injuries and broken bones/joints, many electric poles, houses and trees were uprooted. The wind speed was about 500 kmph. Incidents like this are rare in India.
Now imagine if somebody is working on the building roof (work at height jobs) or trestles. Normally in coastal areas, wind speeds are very high and may reach even 200 kmph. This, if coupled with low pressure and accompanying heavy winds can lead to above incidents. In maintenance jobs of roofs, safety advisor will not allow work on roof during winds and rain because of the apprehension that asbestos/metallic sheet roofs can fly off, persons at the top will not have strong foothold, asbestos sheets can become soft due to rain and lead to fall of persons. But maintenance department views such advise as hindrance to work and pass sarcastic comments. The video link is to be seen by such people so that they can be careful in future.

Dust explosion

There is one more dust explosion at Hoeganaes facility, Tennessee on May 27th in which two persons died and another is seriously injured. Earlier in the explosion on 31st January, two persons died and a person was injured during the flash fire on 29th March. My post on 14th May gives some details of iron dust explosion provided at CSB website. The latest incident appears to be initiated by hydrogen gas leak from 3x7 inch hole on a hydrogen pipe in a trench. The trench also contains nitrogen and water lines. After hearing hissing sound from the trench, nearby annealing furnace operators informed maintenance who unsuccessfully tried to remove the trench cover. Later tried to open with the metal chain hooked to a forklift and during cover opening, a flash and explosion occurred. The statement for news conference on June 3, 2011 by CSB gives status of their investigations and a short video (1:16 min) on iron dust flash fire experiment.
The shortfalls at the plant identified are poor containment of dust, improper dust collection, thick layers of dust, unsuitable electrical fittings and availability of various ignition sources nearby.These types of causes are well reported and NFPA Standard 484 and we fail to take measures to eliminate these types of causes.
Providing dust containment and collection, elimination of ignition sources, flameproof electrical fittings, providing and maintaining obstruction-free aisles, regular wet mopping and incineration of mops at safe distance, testing of electrical continuity between equipment and earth pits, maintaining 50-60% humidity, use of antistatic uniform and PPE are some of the measures that will surely help in avoiding such incidents.

17 year old dies during height increase exercise

A 17 year old boy dies due to entanglement of nylon cloth sari. He used to practice height improvement exercise by hanging from ceiling and at the time of the incident nobody was present in the house. As the local inspector found this during his initial investigation means that others in the house know about this. The boy should have been counselled to desist from such so called exercises. It is unfortunate to have such accidents and we can't call this type of accident as freak. Children, if not corrected at young age, will develop wrong attitudes and their whole life will be at risk.

Protect children from pollution - a cartoon in Deccan Chronicle

A cartoon on pollution in the cities and protecting school going children from pollution.
Counterpoint Deccan Chronicle

LINK

Electrocution of two contract workers

As per news paper report, two persons died while climbing down the electric pole after doing repair jobs on a 11 kv feeder line. As per the reports, after the incident, other contract employees disconnected the power supply. It is a basic rule to deenergize the lines before taking up any maintenance jobs on or near electrical lines, electrical fittings and restore power supply only after ensuring that the planned work is completed and persons landed down safely.
As I mentioned in my earlier posts, one should not opt for shortcuts. There is no urgency in restoring the power supply, when lives of workers on the line are at risk. If the rules are not followed, then incidents like this continue to occur. Rules are repository of experiences so many persons who lost their lives and we need not learn afresh by endangering our own lives. Proper supervision is also required, particularly when we engage contract workers as they live on daily wages and do not have facilities like those regular employees. We should not cut cost at the cost of valuable lives.

Fall and death of a boy in corn machine

As mentioned in a local news paper report, a boy died due to fall in the corn processing machine while adding corn to the machine. The 14 year old boy went to fields with his buffaloes and he was engaged in the machine feeding job. The boy's head and part of the body got crushed in the machine. As per the picture, it appears that there is no proper access and platform for doing the job, and no guard rail/barricade to prevent fall of persons. I am not clear whether Factories Act and Rules can be applied or not, but the spirit of the rules can be followed in all walks of life. As per the rules, children should not be engaged for work on or near moving machinery. Even local government rules prohibit engaging child labour. The news paper report in local language can be read here. 

Case study - compressed air turns man into a balloon

All of us know the hazards of compressed air when targeted on persons. Here is an incident which almost lead to bursting of the person. Though the action is not intended by the victim, still one needs to learn from this incident and should secure pressurised hoses to avoid like in this news item.

Static electricity experience

Yesterday, I was talking to my colleague sitting in a plastic chair. When he got up to go out, his fingers touched my shoulder and I felt needle like pricking. He also felt sudden shock and could hear some sound. We thought this may be due to static charge on the body as he was sitting on a plastic chair and during movement, and may be because of synthetic dress, some charge accumulated on the body discharged in the form of sparkling sound.
Few times, I feel pain at the edges of the fingers when I touch clothes in the spinner of the washing machine. Reason may be same, due to charge accumulated during the spinning action.

Apple probes blast at Chinese plant linked to iPad | Deccan Chronicle

There is a blast in a plant that makes ipad2 for Apple company, during which 2 persons died and another 16 were injured. What I appreciate is the statement by the company about halting the production till the investigation is completed. How many companies stop production like this. Stopping the production because of regulator is different to stopping production voluntarily by the management. Demonstration of commitment to safety will be reflected by such acts and employees will get moral boost that company management cares for them and this lead to increased productivity. The details are available in the following link.

Apple probes blast at Chinese plant linked to iPad Deccan Chronicle
An analysis of the attitude of MNCs towards of safety of employees in their outsourced site jobs appeared in Mint magazine on 04.06.2011.

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.