Building collapse in Delhi - narrow passage hinders rescue operations

As per Times of India report, a building collapsed in Delhi, where three women died and 10 were injured.

Fire department found it difficult to approach the area due to narrow passage.

National building code and local municipal authorities specify to provide offsets on either side of the road and also in front of the buildings. But, very few comply with the requirements. People question the authorities for such requirements. Further, encroachments, unauthorised activities in the name of temporary works, parking of vehicles on road sides instead of parking inside the buildings compound the issue making it difficult for rescue teams.

Collapse of buildings also lead to fall of walls/debris on road side and for this reason, if the offsets are adhered, atleast roads will be still available. But, many buildings are constructed upto the road particularly in inner lanes and the ramp of the house generally extends on to the road. Then, vehicles parked in front of their houses as above is another issue. 

I strongly feel that the authorities should confiscate such properties and government/courts should not entertain any appeal unless requirements for space are met.

Paramilitary troops die more in road accidents than in terrorist operations

As per Times of India report, more number of paramilitary troops died in road accidents than in terrorist operations.  They will be under more stress due to long hours of working, away from family for days and weeks, poor facilities at the place of stay, etc. They will be residing in harsh conditions during their work and are prone to attack from mosquitoes, insects, reptiles, etc. They live in such pathetic conditions and it is appropriate atleast to double their salaries like those of engineers, though money is not a true compensation.

Road accidents statistics - Times of India

As per report in Times of India, in 2014, 16 persons are dying in road accidents every year. 1,41,000 died in 2013. Over speeding is the main reason as per the data presented.

It appears more are dying from road accidents than any other factor and we worry more about dangers of setting up of industries.

More layers of dress leads to exhaustion in the mid air

In a report, a passenger collapsed of heat exhaustion in the mid air, after tried to avoid excess luggage fee to the airlines by wearing 12 layers of dress. With assistance, he recovered.

This is a lesson for us. I do not know that such a thing can happen.May be safety caution should be printed in this regard also on the ticket about not to wear more than one pair dress.

Read the report HERE.

Fall of bus silencer causes fatality

A person going on a bike comes under the bus tyre, after the silencer of the bus falls off on the bike rider. 

Difficult to predict such type of hazards.

Worker killed by robot...

As per a report,  worker was killed during installation of a robot in a car manufacturing firm. Though the title leads to wrong conclusion, robots are lifeless and brainless and any action is due to wrong programming/setting by the concerned programmers/assemblers.

The robot must have been in commissioning stage or under trial runs. One has to do thorough event tree and fault tree analyses before putting the logic into field use.

Nobody should be allowed to be within the reach of the machine and suitable physical barriers and sensors/interlocks should be incorporated.

Oil Tank Explosion

LINK

As per the commentary, once the temperature reaches 400 degree Celcius, the tanker blasts. Persons at 200 m distance suffered third degree burns.

BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) Demonstration - How it ...

LINK

Gas Safety Blanket Response to end of Pipe ammonia leak

LINK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03s0bXNUgOU

Something new and easy to use to control anhydrous ammonia leaks. Though the picture of the person is not shown fully in this video, the warning message at the end about not to enter without proper PPE should be followed.

International yoga day: Safety guidelines for yogasanas

Today is international yoga day. A recognition with more publicity for the science taught by our ancestors. 
A link below takes us to safety guidelines to be followed for practicing yoga. No amount of information is a substitute for teacher's advice. Just for information.

http://www.wailana.com/yoga/asanas/guidelines

Yesterday, I heard a lecture from which I learnt that doing yoga helps us to harmonize our thoughts and helps to have more concentration. A practical session for 10 minutes during the lecture also made me to realize the same. All participants were asked to close the eyes gently, to sit relaxingly, to concentrate inhalation and exhalation at the nose entrance. After 10 minutes, after rubbing the palms and touching the eyes, we opened the eyes. The question asked was, how much time we concentrated and observed inhalation/exhalation.
I pondered over this later also and thought that this practice will help us to realize about ourselves and try to get more concentration with practice.

Fire accident at TVS showroom in Anantapur - Tv9

LIN

Short circuit is suspected as the reason. About 200 out of 1000 bikes in the showroom got burnt. Fire Services is facing difficulty in entering the building.

Property of about rupees one crore got damaged.

Ammonia tanker stuck up under flyover, valve damage, 5 deaths, 140 injured near Ludhiana

In an incident of liquefied ammonia tanker driver trying to go through under a flyover, at 11.00 PM, the lid and the valves at the top got damaged, causing release of ammonia affecting several persons nearby.
See the photo here.
5 persons died and 156 got injured in the incident.

It appears that there are no warning signs or no height barriers to prevent overheight vehicles going under the flyover.

The tanker was carrying 22 T of anhydrous ammonia.

Police and fire brigade officials reached the spot to control the situation. 

Some of the affected had breathlessness, eye irritation, choked voice, etc. Few had bleeding from mouth and nose.

A senior police official and others controlling the situation were also affected in the incident as per the reports.

Tanker was moved to a vacant plot.  

Ammonia solubility in water is very high and is instantaneous at temperatures below atmospheric. Water was used to absorb leaking ammonia.

The odour was present for more than eight hours. The affected areas was about four kilometer radius around.

Dead animals/birds and vegetation/plants were seen.

Heavy rain later subsided ammonia in the environment by absorbing and washing.

A case was registered under Sec 304 of IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) on the absconding driver.

http://www.ibtimes.co.in/ludhiana-ammonia-gas-leak-tanker-kills-6-over-100-affected-635709

Toxic gas leak from neighbor factory affects 60 in a garment factory

Some workers of a garment factory sensing strong smell of a gas tried to runaway from workplace but fainted before reaching the gate. A taxi driver outside, seeing them call the help services. Security guards from neighboring factory said that there was a gas leak. About 60 persons were affected in this incident.

From the above, it is important to all persons working in a cluster of factories to know about hazards and emergency actions not only from their work place but from surrounding factories also.

Ammonia leak from food freezing system from the neighboring factory is suspected in this incident.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/60-garment-workers-faint-in-southern-vietnam-after-toxic-gas-leak-43833.html

http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/52-garment-workers-hospitalized-again-one-day-after-toxic-gas-leak-in-vietnam-43906.html

For information - safety statistics by ILO from The Nation, Nigeria

The link to the information is here.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/6000-die-daily-in-work-related-accidents/

As per ILO, following are the work place related injuries, deaths, accidents and loss.

1. Every second 15 persons die, 6000 a day and 2 million a year due to accidents/diseases. This data is from reported data. There can be many more.
2. In addition, 268 million non-fatal accidents and 160 million new cases of work related illness also occur.
3. The direct and indirect loss due to accidents and diseases is 4% of global gross domestic product or USD 2.8 trillion.

Bus accident

During bus driving, a driver wants to spit by bending outside his side window. With his unsafe behavior, he loses control over the bus and rammed a lorry coming opposite. In this accident, 4 persons died and few passengers received injuries. Generally, vehicle drivers keep chewing betal leaf or pan masala, particularly during night driving.

Driver should have observed before spitting outside. Some drivers keep a bottle/tin with them to spit instead of doing the same outside.

Professional hazards - thief trapped in chimney

In a local newspaper, it is reported that a thief tried to enter a locked house through the chimney and got trapped. 

The residents came next day morning and found the person trapped inside.

The chimney was broken to rescue and handed over to police.

Liquor bottle in trouser pocket breaks - person dies

A person kept liquor bottle in his trouser pocket. He ran when it rained and fell. Liquor bottle broke and its pieces injured private parts. Person died while undergoing treatment.

Source: Times of India, 18.05.2015

Sometimes, it may not be possible to assess the hazards. Atleast one can learn from others experience.

Gas leak

Dupont is cited by US for gas leak that killed four persons, with fines totalling USD 99,000.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-cites-dupont-gas-leak-killed-workers-31056772

Short circuit initiated fire in Haryana transport office

A fire incident reported due to short circuit from old electrical wire cause damage of records, files, computers, etc. It is reported that recommendations of investigation committee on a fire incident in some other building last were not implemented.

Some of the recommendations are as follows:

1. ensuring obstruction free passage of 6 m width for fire tender movement
2. ensuring no parking zones around buildings for fire fighting
3. clearing / pruning trees/lobbies/extensions, etc for fire ladder movement
4. removing wooden partitions thus reducing fire load
5. regular checking 
6. keeping balconies/staircases/emergency escape routes free from obstructions (it is common to see many office building corridors filled with broken chairs, cupboards, coffee/tea vending machines, old record bundles, etc)

Apart from the above, we have to ensure availability and functioning of fire detectors and fire fighting system (hydrants, hoses, fire water storage, pumps, emergency power supply to these pumps, fire hoses, training). Regular drills should be conducted to know drawbacks in the system and make improvements.

Lessons learnt from process safety accidents - an article from insurancenewsnet.com

A good article is found on the above title, narrating lessons from five less known accidents. The lessons are,

1. containment of water from fire fighting operations to avoid contamination of water sources in the rundown 
2. to consider all auxiliary equipment also as important as main plant equipment for understanding hazards
3. not to ignore hazards and need for monitoring even during shutdown 
4. positive isolation, purging and checking for hazardous atmospheres (using flame is not a correct check for presence of flammable atmosphere)
5. follow written approval system to override interlocks
6. follow safety permit procedures
7. identify the correct equipment before taking up work
8. communicate with clear identification while handing over the equipment for maintenance
9. ensure physical check by another agency before permitting equipment operation/maintenance
10. hazards from dust, propagation of dust explosions
11. preparation of emergency response management, with detailed instructions for every type of emergency
12. good house keeping
13. establish process safety management procedures
14. inculcate good safety culture, starting from the top management

Fire & Explosion Prevention Strategy in Refineries

Please see the LINK on the above article with download link. The download PDF document lists hazards in LPG bullet area, fireball radius, thermal radiation, probability lethalities, etc

Two persons killed, three injured during LPG line cleaning

Two persons standing in front of gas piping during cleaning were hit by cleaning device at high pressure, hit the compound wall and died. There was no fire or explosion. Only mechanical impact caused the incident.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/two-killed-in-accident-at-gails-lpg-pipeline-in-telangana/

The reason reported was nonisolation of pressurized gas supply to the pipeline, though it was assured (?). On any energized system, before working, one should do positive isolation and vent and flush the system, which seems to be not done in this case. Assurances alone will not help.

http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/2015-04-05/Negligence-behind-the-mishap-in-GAIL-gas-leak--142181