1.12 INDUSTRIAL SAFETY PRACTICES
If accidents occur in an industry, it is indication of poor
safety involvement of management. If safety programmes are operated in positive
manner, accidents are bound to be prevented. Safety matters need to be
analyzed, appraised and considered within the routine of business management.
Safety should appear as an integral part of the corporate system. While
machinery safeguarding, safety devices, and personal protective equipment are
essential for safety, human performance factor also deserves serious attention.
Ergonomic factors which affect human performance should be thoroughly analyzed
and workers be given total information and knowledge about their role and how
they have to perform their task. They must be very clear about the process and
how they have to react under emergency situations.
The development and application of safety standers, codes
and regulations enhances safety in workplace.
1.11 ACHIEVING SAFE ENGINEERING DESIGNS AND PROCESSES
There are certain capabilities and limitations of both men
and machines. Having understood these thoroughly, we can devise successful
combinations of men and machines to perform appropriately to obtain safe
designs and processes.
Characteristics of Men and Machines
|
Men
excel in
|
Machines
excel in
|
|
_Learn by past experience and alter the course of
action
_Ability to apply originality in problem solving
by perceiving alternatives and deciding best option.
_Ability to react to unexpected low-probability
events
_Ability to improvise and adopt flexible
procedures
_Ability to exercise judgment where events cannot
be completely defined
_Ability to memories lots of information for long
periods and recall them at appropriate times
_Sensitivity to an extremely wide variety of
stimuli
|
_Ability to operate in hostile environments and do
repetitive works untiringly
_Insensitivity to extraneous factors
_To do many things at a time
_Sensitivity to infrared and radio wave signals
_Ability to store and recall amounts of information
in short time periods
_Ability to respond quickly to control signals
_Perform routine, repetitive, precise and hard jobs
_Exertion of large force smoothly and with precision
_Performance of complex and rapid computation with high
accuracy
|
1.10 HAZARD IDENTIFICATION
If hazards are identified, chances of occurrence of
accident can be minimized. What is hazard – It is a workplace condition which
exists or can be caused in combination with other variables, which has the
potential for accidents, serious injuries, disease, and/or property damage.
With hazard identification, the safety programmes and records can be improved.
Examination of accident and injury records often points the way to where the
efforts should be focused.
Hazard identification analysis is a very careful
study of all the components of a work system in order to detect problems, to
understand the relationship between the system and the problem in order to
eliminate the problem and its potential consequences.
There are several methods for hazard identification,
each having its own contribution for specific tasks and hazard analysis. Most
commonly used methods are:
3. Hazard
and operability review (HAZOP). Adopted widely by
chemical plants to identify operation problems, HAZOP uses brainstorming
techniques, encouraging involvement and innovation, and generates ideas for
solutions.
4. Fault
tree analysis. A deductive reasoning technique which
assumes an undesirable event and proceeds in a logical manner to examine events
or combinations of events which must precede the occurrence of the top event.
It provides a graphic model that displays the various combinations of equipment
faults and/or failures that can cause the top event. Such analysis is possible
with complete and comprehensive understanding of the system/plant operation and
various equipment failure modes.
Hazard
control
Shows the elements involved in an effective
hazard control system
Safety
Programmes
The three phases of safety programmes are
1.
Safety
awareness. Educational on job instructional training, behavior,
ergonomics, job safety analysis techniques.
2. Safety
implementation. By all concerned.
3. Safety
programme preservation. To maintain enthusiasm and energy
levels which do not deteriorate with time.
1.9 ACCIDENT CAUSATION
Accident are Preventable and an accident can be
Prevented if we understand the underlying causes of accidents in order to
Prevent future accidents. An accident can occur by any unplanned and
uncontrolled event caused by human, situational or environmental factors, or
result in minor or major injury, illness, damage or undesired event. Any hazard
can result in an accident and thus safety programmes are hazard control programmes.
An accident can occur by the unsafe act of a person
or by existence of a mechanical or physical hazard. The motives or reasons that
permit the occurrence of unsafe acts of persons provide a guide to the
selection of appropriate corrective measures.
Human
error is often main reason for accidents. The three situations for human errors
are
¾ Overload
(mismatch between load and capacity of person at the time of action).
¾ Incorrect
response by the person to a situation (insufficient training, fatigue, anxiety
or other reasons could be responsible for this)
¾ Improper
activity.
The basic reasons for operators to choose to perform
the job un-safety are – priority systems, pressure for meeting production
deadlines, and peer influences.
The three interacting components in accident
situation are men, machinery, and environment changes in any of three
components or their interrelationships can alter the probability of occurrence
of an accident.
1.8 CREATING AWARENESS ABOUT PROCESS SAFETY
Process
safety is defined as the operation of facilities that handle, use, process or
store hazardous materials in a manner free from episodic or catastrophic
incidents. Knowledge of chemicals, process and plants in one of the prime
assets and is required for developing other modules of the management system –
process hazard analysis, operating procedures, training emergency preparedness
plans etc.
Complete and
accurate written information is required to be compiled for the following three
categories:
Process Chemicals. Hazardous/non – Hazardous category of chemicals
shall be defined. Data for all process chemicals (raw materials, intermediates,
products and chemicals) pertaining to process chemicals shall help in assessing
fire and explosion characteristics, reactive hazards, safety and health hazards
to workers and the corrosion and erosion effects on the process equipment. For
each process chemical, information in respect of (Physical properties, Boiling
point, Vapour Pressure, Melting/ Freezing point, Vapour Density and Specific
Gravity) is required.
In addition
information on fire and explosion hazards: (Flash point, Auto-ignition
Temperature, Explosive limits and burning rate) ; reactive hazards [The
tendency of the material to react violently when subjected to heat or the
presence of other process chemicals, water, air (oxygen) other possible
contaminates] ; Hazardous combustion/decomposition products ; Health Hazard
Data, [Personal] exposure hazard properties (long term and short time),
Information on Term Exposure Limit (STEL), Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL),
Lethal Dose 50 (LD50) etc.] also need to be maintained.
Process
Technology: Process
technology information should include :
(a) Written process description,
( (b) Process chemistry,
(c) Process Flow Diagrams (PFD),
( (d) Safe operating limits of process
parameters like pressure, temperature, flow rate etc. and the consequences or
results of deviation that could occur if operating beyond the established
process limit,
(e) Maximum inventory level for process
chemicals, and (f) Material and energy balances.
A process
flow diagram (PFD) shows major process equipment, valve on pipeline. Flow
rates, pressures, temperature and stream composition may be indicated for better
clarity. Process flow diagram (PFD) are more elaborate then block diagrams.
Piping and
Instrument Diagrams (P & IDs) are the detailed representation of the plant.
Each and every piece of equipment, pipelines, valves and instrument along with
their interconnection are shown and are most appropriate to show relationship
between equipment and instrument.
Process
Equipment. Process equipment includes columns,
vessels, heat exchangers, reactors, pumps and compressors, valves, piping,
drilling rigs and work-over rigs, cross country pipelines, tanks, loading and
un-loading facilities and other equipment that contains process chemicals.
Design data of process equipment should be documented and should include the
following:
(a) Materials of construction,
(b) Design specifications,
( (c) Codes, standards and industry
accepted engineering practices used for design and fabrication,
( (d) Electrical classification.
Planning for Safety . First concern of any management in
industry is to do business profitably. It is important for management to
understand that safety, health programming and care for environment embrace
profitable ways of operating effectiveness to achieve corporate goals. All
these three aspects need to be integrated into total management programmer and
objectives. Safety, health and environment are valuable and efficient business
tools today.
Efficient
production is the aim of industries to maximize profits. Efficient production
requires facilities, equipment, materials, and personnel. It is the duty of
management to supply these but in the process certain support services are also
needed. All these into support services have safety, health and environment
aspects. Incorporating them into support services allows us to involve safety,
health and environment at a function level, as an integral part of the operation.
These three important functions thus need to be built into support services,
organizational and personnel functions and then these needs to be continually
audited to ensure adequacy of controls. The company’s involvement in safety,
health and environment is essential.
The impact
of industry on the environment comes in the form of noise, hazardous
resistances, oil spills, ionizing, non ionizing radiation or thermal energy,
polluting air, water or soil. These sources must be identified and controlled
and the various programs needed for this must be established and used.
Proper
planning and organization are essential for any effective safety, health and
environment programed. Planning aspect involves appropriateness of programme,
fixing responsibility and accountability of senior management, delegation of
duties, identification of key personnel to carry out plan job descriptions
prescribing relationships between management, staff and line personnel, means
of measuring responsibilities, support of management, plans for identifying/
controlling/ auditing hazards, monitoring, information system, training,
resources, and defining objectives.
Medical Services . Occupational health programme needs
to be provided by management to deal constructively with
the health of employees in relation to their work. Apart from curative
medicine, health programme should also include prevention and maintenance of
health.
With increasing
use of synthetic chemicals in industry, it has become essential to make use of
services of full time industrial hygienists.
Periodic
health examination to detect underlying, potentially correctible diseases for
early treatment is nowadays essential. All employees need to be trained,
educated and motivated to use good health and safety practices both on and off
the job.
Industrial
hygienist must carry out work site inspection and monitor to detect and
appraise health hazards, and make appropriate recommendations for corrective
measures.
To reduce
absenteeism during an epidemic, employees should be offered inoculations on
company premises.
Special
programme to tackle emotional problems, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc. should
also be organized.
A great
emphasis needs to be given on prevention and research programmes for keeping
people healthy. Preventive medicine starts with health education,
lectures/films, periodical examination, and health counseling services.
Companies can provide facilities for employee physical conditioning programmes
(gyms, tracks, athletic fields, swimming pools, yoga and meditation classes)
for improved health and morale of employees which result in lower absenteeism
and higher production. Wellness is not merely an absence of disease but the
active pursuit of good health through improvement in lifestyle. If people are
well, they are on the job and productive. Strategies directed to lifestyle
improvement have been found to be more advantageous then efficient health care
systems.
1.7 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR SAFETY
Responsibilities of supervisors
Divisional heads, departmental heads, line
engineers and other supervisors have the defi-nite responsibility of ensuring
the following.
(b)
Necessary protective equipment and its use.
(c)
Properly maintained tools and equipment.
(d)
Properly planned work performed in a safe
manner.
(e)
Application of the general and special safety instructions
by their workman.
(f)
Assignment of employees to jobs which they are
capable of doing safely.
(g)
Immediate steps to correct any violation of
safety rules observed or reported to them. Supervisors will be held responsible
for seeing that work under them is done in safe manner.
Each supervisor should
make certain that his man understand the following.
(a)
Work to be done.
(b)
Hazards that may be encountered.
(c)
Proper procedure for doing the work safely.
Frequent periodic inspections of construction, operation and
maintenance equipment, materials, work areas, conditions and methods should be
made by supervisors as a part of their routine duty. Such inspections are
essential to prevent fires and accidents
Responsibilities of individuals.
1)
An individual’s definite responsibility is to
act so as to provide.
b)
Safety to his fellow employees
c)
Protection to the public
d)
Protection to the company property
e)
Protection to the general environment.
2)
Every employee is expected to study the Safety
Manual, familiarize with its contents and apply them. Ignorance of rules and
regulations will result in accidents to self and co-workers.
3)
Whenever in doubt regarding any rules and
regulations, employees should consult their Engineer or Supervisor.
4)
Before attempting any work under conditions that
is considered to be unsafe, employees are required to call these conditions to
the attention of the person-in-charge of work and seek his/her advice.
5)
It will be the duty of every employee to report
promptly to his/her Engineer or Supervisor any dangerous or improper condition
of company apparatus or equipment, which comes to his/her notice.
Personal Conduct
1)
Use of intoxicating liquor and drugs while on
job is strictly prohibited. Should report for work while under the influence of
liquor, and no Engineer or other Supervisor and Security on duty should
knowingly permit a person to go to work which comes to his/her notice.
2)
Practical joking and horseplay or gossiping
while on the job is strictly prohibited.
3)
No employee should distract the attention of
another worker from his job unless he thinks that the worker is doing
something, which is dangerous or risk either to self or equipment.
4)
Any employee who endangers own or others safety
and lives by violating the foregoing requirements of personal conduct should be
rendered liable to disciplinary action.
5)
Security on duty should not allow any person
under the effect of liquor/ drugs to enter the company premises.
Personal Caution and Self Awareness
It is workman’s own interest to exercise utmost
personal caution as indicated below so as to prevent and injury.
1)
Every employee should consider the result of
each act and no chances should be taken that will endanger either workman’s own
or other employees lives.
2)
Always Be Careful (ABC) ; the workman should
place himself in a safe position while working to avoid falling, stumbling,
slipping or moving backwards against live parts.
3)
The workman should satisfy regarding the safe
working conditions before starting the work. The care exercised by others
should be checked.
Physical Fitness
1)
Before and during employment, every employee
should be given a physical examination and must be certified by the company’s
Medical Officer as being physically qualified for the work he/she is expected
to do.
2)
Any employee who is unable to perform duties due
to illness or other disability should promptly report the condition to
immediate supervisor.
3)
After absence from work due to illness or
injury, an employee may be required to pass a physical examination to determine
fitness for duty.
Reporting Hazardous Conditions or Practices
1)
All hazardous conditions should be reported to
the Supervisor and engineer on duty.
2)
Hazardous conditions should be eliminated as
soon as they as discovered. Where a hazard cannot be removed, taking reasonable
and precautions can prevent accidents.
Accident Reports, Records and Investigation
1)
Accident records are essential to the prevention
of accidents. They show the type of accidents most frequently encountered where
they occur and their relative severity. A study of these records will emphasize
common hazards, and prompt a better understanding of the causes of accidents and
most effective methods for preventing them.
2)
All accidents which results in injury or not or
however small the accident may be shall be promptly reported to Engineer or
Supervisor and operation Engineer on duty. Many near misses/ near accidents,
which are not reported, recur with serious injuries.
3)
All accidents to the public involving company
personnel, equipment or property should be reported promptly.
4)
Accidents should be investigated to determine
the cause and what steps are needed to prevent a recurrence. It shall be the
responsibility of the person-in-charge of the job to get a complete, detailed
story of the accident as soon as possible after it occurs.
5)
Accidents, whether they result in personal
injury or not, should be promptly investigated by the Divisional Head.
1.6 IMPORTANT POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION FOR SAFETY
¾
Prevention of accidents required the
wholehearted co-operation of all members of the organization. A capable
mentally alert employee will avoid accidents. An unsafe person is a liability
to the company. Such person is danger to self, fellow workers, the public and
to the general environment.
¾
Accident Do Not “Just Happen” – Accidents are the results of unsafe
conditions or a combination of both.
¾
Unsafe Acts, which cause majority of accidents,
include the following :
(a)
Operating without authority or warning such as
closing switches, operating valves without authority and poorer line up, operating hoists and cranes without
warning, failure to block or guard equipment against unexpected movement,
failure to place caution boards or signal persons where needed.
(b)
Operating or working unsafely such as driving
too fast, throwing material or tools at other workers, jumping from vehicles or
platforms, or unnecessary haste.
(c)
Making safety devices inoperative such as using
oversize fuses, blocking safety valves, defeating or bypassing interlocks.
(d)
Using unsafe equipment or using equipment
improperly such as using dull cutting tools, using excess leverage instead of
hand force where required, wrong tool for the job, using hands instead of hand
tools. Tools without proper insulation or defective tools.
(e)
Unsafe loading, placing or mixing such as
overloading cranes and winches, carrying too heavy a load, leaving objects
where they are likely to fall, improper packing, combining chemicals to from a
dangerous mixture.
(f)
Acquiring unsafe position or posture such as
walking under suspended loads or too close to openings, lifting while in
awkward position, riding on running boards or other unsafe places on vehicles.
(g)
Working on dangerous equipment such as cleaning,
oiling or adjusting moving machinery and working on live electrical equipment that
could conveniently be reenergized.
(h)
Distracting, teasing, starling such as practical
joking, horseplay quarrelling or annoying.
(i)
Failure of use of Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) or safe clothing such as failure to use use rubber gloves on energized
equipment, and failure to use goggles, helmet, safety shoes, gas mask,
respirator or gloves when necessary and wearing loose sleeves, neckties or
jewelry near moving machinery.
(j)
Use of rings in fingers, carrying metallic pen,
wristwatch, coin, keys in the pocket while working inside any panel, open tank,
exposed equipment etc,
(l)
Use of jhoola while working at height.
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