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EDITORIAL BOARD

R ParameswaranW A BalakumaranP ManoharanG S SwaminathanK N SenPrinted at Sunitha Printers, Chennai – 600 002

VOL: 14 No. 1 JANUARY – MARCH 2015

QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SAFETY ENGINEERS ASSOCIATIONBlock III , Flat No. 28, Maanasarovar Apartments, 11-A, Arcot Road, Chennai – 600 116.

Tel : 044-24764101 E-mail: info@seaindia.org Website: www.seaindia.org

INDIAN SAFETY ENGINEERSEA (INDIA)

Inside....Page

NEBOSH Course Update 1

From the Desk of President 2

Five ways to improve yourSafety Behaviour 3

Lightning Injury & Management 5

Factbox – Industrial accidentsin the Last two decades 6

FIVE Simple Steps to ReduceCarbon Footprint 7

Globally Harmonised Systems(GHS) pictures 8

CASE STUDY

A Fatal Accident Due To FallingIn A Quenching Tank ContainingHot Water 9

A Fatal Accident at aPackaging Company 11

What are MSIs? 13

IN THE NEWS

World Day for Safety and Healthat Work 14

Environment ministry plans torevise norms for pollutingindustries 14

Safety Workshop 15

(Regn No: 1391 / 2000)[Registered under Societies Act, 1975]

Newly purchased Ground Floor Flat forSEA (India) office at Virugambakkam, Chennai.

NEBOSH Course Update

Enquiries are received for conducting the next Batch of

Nebosh IGC course. As SEA (India) office bearers and the

Tutors were busy with purchase & registration of new office

premises for SEA, dates for the next batch could not be

finalized , immediately. Now, it has been decided to occupy

the new office premise in May 2015, and hence the next

batch of NEBOSH, IGC course can be conducted by

July 2015. Interested members can register their willingness

by sending their Name, Qualification, Contact number

and their Mail ID to paramesh48@msn.com or

seaindiachennai@rediffmail.com .

Other details like the course fees and dates may also be

obtained from them.

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FROM THE DESK OF PRESIDENT

Dear Members,

Greetings to all of you!!

Happy to share the latest de-velopment that our long feltdesire to shift our SEA officeto a more convenient and spa-

cious premises is now getting fulfilled. A ground flooroffice premises very near to Chandra Metro Mall(INOX Theatre), Virugambakkam, Chennai hasbeen purchased and the existing office premises atPorur has also been sold. We plan to shift our officeto the new premises shortly. Communication on thenew address and contact details will be sent to yousoon.

SEA has conducted a one day Safety Workshop atAnna University, Chennai on 04-03-2015 in com-memoration of National Safety Day and as part oftheir CHEMFLUENCE 2015. Senior officials ofSEA participated in National Safety Day celebra-tions held in different industries including“Technip”.

Executive Committee meetings of SEA were heldevery month during Jan 2015 to March 2015 todiscuss and decide decisive steps during the purchaseof the new office premises and sale of the existingoffice premises. Professional DevelopmentProgramme on “Safe Handling of Hazardous WasteMaterials and their Management” by Mr. S. Mani,President, SHE & CSR, Orchid Pharma Chennaiwho is also the Chairman of IWMS is scheduled on05-04-2015. Our quarterly journal “Indian Safety

Engineer” and the monthly ‘Safety Alerts’ arebrought out and distributed to Members periodically.Organsing a Factory visit programme is kept on holdas SEA office bearers were busy engaged in registra-tion of new office and sale of existing premises.

Mumbai Chapter of SEA and Students Chapter atAnna University, Chennai are active.

Discussions were held with Director, IndustrialSafety & Health (DISH) regarding organizing aSafety Professionals Meet during May 2015. Theprogramme is being designed to give opportunity forthe safety professionals and industry Reps. to havea face to face interaction with the regulators ofFactories Act and BOCW Act. Members are advisedto make use of this opportunity by attending theprogramme in large numbers.

Next Nebosh IGC course is being planned duringJuly 2015 and aspiring safety engineers may enrolltheir names with SEA office, as seats will be limitedto 20 on first come first served basis.

Our website www.seaindia.org is being redesignedto include more additional features including adver-tisements from safety service providers. The site isexpected to be launched shortly.

Members are advised to take active part in differentprogrammes of the association and contribute theirmite.

Best Wishes and Seasons Greetings!

S. UlaganathanPresident, SEA (India)

Kind Attention of Members....Of late, Safety Alert by e-mail and Journal through post return to the sender. Hence, SEA(India) members are requested to send their current postal address and active email ID(personal) to us at the earliest to:

seaindiachennai@rediffmail.com / safetyengineersindia@gmail.com

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FIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR SAFETY BEHAVIOUR

It is now common for safety pro-fessionals to look to improvesafety culture at their organiza-tion, as it is a critical factor inensuring continuous improvementin safety management programs.This paper will argue that one ofthe most effective ways of devel-oping a positive safety culture ina workshop is by looking at safetybehaviour, and will identify fiveways to ensure that safetybehaviour will improve over time.

What is Safety Behaviour &Why is it important?

Safety culture can be thought ofas the attitudes, beliefs and valuesheld by employees about safety.Unfortunately, attitudes, beliefsand values are very difficult tomeasure, but employees’s day-to-day behaviour can be monitoredand measured, and is a reliable in-dicator of their attitude to safetyin the workplace. If an employeebehaves in a way that valuessafety, then their attitude andbeliefs towards safety can be saidto be positive. Therefore, it can besaid that the more positive thesafety behaviour, the stronger thesafety culture. In effect, you needto have an understanding of whatemployees do from a safety pointof view, why they do it, and thentake action to improve thebehaviour to meet the company’ssafety goals and objectives.

Ofcourse, the knowledge thatsafety behaviour is important isonly useful if you have some ideahow to improve it. Of the manydifferent ways that you can lookto influence employee behaviour,five in particular are critical to the

success of any safety behaviourimprovement initiative.

1. Increase visiblity of Standardsand Impacts

Visibility is critical for improve-ment to be made. First, theorganization’s expectations regard-ing safety behaviour need to becommunicated as early and asregularly as possible. This commu-nication needs to be reinforcedrepeatedly from all levels of theorganization. Employees need tobe aware exactly what safetybehaviours are expected, howtheir behaviour is being moni-tored, and how they can improve.Without this knowledge, it is im-possible for employees to have anidea of how acceptable their cur-rent safety behaviour is.

Secondly, the impact of positivesafety behaviour needs to beshown. If employees are not awareof the positive outcome of safetybehaviour, it can be very difficultto motivate behavioural change.The greater the level of transpar-ency and visibility, the more suc-cessful your safety programs willbe.

2. Be Consistent and have Com-pany Commitment

Organizations also need to showconistency - both in communica-tion and application of safety stan-dards. Too often you will see asupervisor run over to talk to anemployee about not wearing thecorrect personal protective equip-ment, while the supervisor is alsonot wearing any PPE. This createsa toxic double standard. Commit-ment must be shown through ac-

tion and behaviour - every time ablind eye is turned to poor safetybehaviour, it is effectively condon-ing it as acceptable.

Upper levels of management mustlead from the front and be consis-tent about making a positivesafety behaviours a priority, boththrough their own actions andthose of the staff working belowthem. It is all too easy to delegateenforcement of safety standards,but if upper levels of managementtake the opportunity to discusssafety issues directly with frontlinestaff, it sends a powerful messageregarding the priorities within theorganization.

3. Increase Engagement andEmpowerment

Employees must be encouraged tocommit a great level of involve-ment in safety activities - andmore than simply being part of asafety committee. For example,employees should (of course), beencouraged to report safety haz-ards without fear of discipline, butthey should be encouraged to pro-vide innovatives ideas of how tofix safety issues. Rather than re-lying on the safety team and thesupervisor team to fix everything,the employees should be involvedin generating solutions to safetyproblems. In many cases they areclosest to where the incident hap-pened (or they are the injuredparty), so they have their ownintrinsic motivation to not getinjured again. Frontline employeesoften come up with ideas that thesafety team would have neverthought of.

(Contd. on next page)

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Engagement and Empowermentpromotes proactive behaviour in-stead of reactive behaviour.Rather than waiting for employeesto report hazards of recordinginjuries, once employees have thepower to identify and fix the prob-lems, they will begin seeing howto fix something before anyone ishurt.

Care must be taken, however, toprovide training and boundariesto ensure that suggested fixes areappropriate and within scope.Without this training, employeescan sometimes suggest prohibi-tively expensive solutions, or beupset if their suggested fix is notcarried out. The key is to em-power employees, but withinrange, and raise awareness of whatother resources are available if thecounter-measures that are sug-gested are costly, or would resultin a project that exceeds the ca-pabilities of the safety team toimplement.

When promoting proactivebehaviour rather than reactivebehaviour, you must avoid overly-aggressive discipline policies. Thisdoes not mean do not have anydiscpline policies, but you have tobe aware of the behaviours youare trying to encourage, and whattypes of discipline best supportsthem. An aggressive disciplinepolicy will foster a culture of fear,and will motive employees onlybecause they want to avoidtrouble. A better way is for the

motivation to come from a desireto keep themselves safe, and toimprove the safety of their co-workers. If you find your employ-ees are too scared to generate in-novative ideas to speak up toother collegues about safety, itmay be because they are moti-vated by fear, rather than wantingto improve safety.

4. Provide appropriate Recogni-tion for Positive Behaviour

Incentive programs should rewardinnovation and continuous im-provement, but focus should notbe placed on the reduction ofinjuries and accidents, as that willultimately discourage reporting.

Also care must be taking whendefining the value of the rewardsfor positive behaviour. Too small,and it will have no impact, butlarge rewards increase the risk ofthe system being gamed.

An incentive as simple as provid-ing on-the-spot gift card to em-ployees who demonstrate positivesafety behaviour can provide rein-forcement that the behaviour isnoticed by management and ap-preciated.

5. Measure and Monitor appro-priately

For safety behaviour to improve,you must promote open andhonest reporting. It can be all tooeasy to focus on accident rates,but you should instead look totrack proactive indicators such asthe number of spot checkscompleted (including how manyresulted in identifying good

behaviour vs those that identifiedneed for improvement), thenumber of innovative safety ideassubmitted or number of incidentscaused by employee behaviour.

Also, whenever possible, youshould look to categorise rootcauses to identify if they arebehavioural issuses, or can beattributed to a non-behaviouralcategory, such as equipmentmalfunction or ineffectiveprocedures. The more data youcan collect and analyse aroundyour organization’s safetybehaviour, the more effective yoursafety decisions can be aroundimproving your safety system.

Conclusion

When your safety managementsystem is transparent and visible,engages and empowers youremployees and is shown to havethe backing and support of alllevels of management, employeeswill embrace safety practices overtime. By measuring, reporting andrewarding, based upon appropriatemetrics and incentives, positivesafety behaviour will become thenorm in your organisation.

This safety culture, crucially, willbe based upon a desire to keepcoworkers safe, rather thanthrough fear of punishment. It willbe safety culture that growsstronger over time and ensuresthat employee safety is a priorityfor everyone in your organization,not just those within the safetydepartment.

Five ways....(Contd. from previous page)

DISCLAIMER: All information contained in this Journal, were obtained from sources, believed to be reliable and are collated, based ontechnical knowledge and experience, currently available with the Editorial Board of SEA (India). While SEA (India) recommends referenceto or use of the contents by its members and subscribers, such reference to or use of contents by its members or subscribers or thirdparties, are purely voluntary and not binding. Therefore the Editorial Board of this Journal or SEA (India) assumes no liability or responsibilitywhatsoever towards any bad or undesired consequences.

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LIGHTNING INJURY & MANAGEMENT

Background

Lightning occurs when particlesmoving in a thunderstorm createstatic electricity and negative chargebuilds up at the bottom of the cloud.When the difference between thisand the positively charged groundis great enough, an electrical dis-charge occurs. Lightning strikes theearth more than 100 times eachsecond and 8 million times per day.There is a 1 in 2,000,000 chance ofbeing killed by lightning in the UK.The chance of being struck in-creases if the person is wet or carry-ing a metal object. Thus, hikers,campers, golfers and other outdoorsports enthusiasts most often sustainlightning injuries

Types of lightning strike

• Direct hits: occur outside, oftenwhen the person is carrying ametal object (umbrella or even ahair clip).

• Contact injuries: these can oc-cur when a person is touching anobject that is struck.

• Flash discharge: when a highresistance object close to thevictim (eg a tree) is hit, the re-sistance to direct current flow inthe air between the tree andvictim is less than that to directcurrent flow in the tree and, aslightning seeks the path of leastresistance, it will jump from thetree to the victim. This can alsohappen between people.

• Ground current phenomenon: ifa person is standing with theirfeet spread and is struck, theymay create a potential differencelarge enough to create a circuitbetween the legs and ground.This method of injury may ac-count for the high mortality(30%) of lightning victims with (Contd. on next page)

leg burns and for the fact thatburns to the arms and trunk arenot important predictors of mor-tality in lightning strikes.

• Blunt trauma: can occur if theperson is thrown by massive skel-etal muscle contraction.

• Flashover effect: this is where thecurrent passes over and aroundthe casualty's body but notthrough it. Clothes and shoes aretorn apart but there are only su-perficial skin wounds (unless theclothes catch fire and burn theskin before being blasted off).

Clinical effects

The clinical effects are very differ-ent from a high-voltage shock onaccount of the brief and instan-taneous time of exposure and thefact that it is a direct current.The flashover effect diverts thecurrent around the body and sointernal injury is spared. Thepopular belief that lightning isinvariably fatal is wrong (themortality rate is in fact about30%).

• Immediate effects - cardiac arrest(asystole) which may revert butwhich may be followed by a sec-ondary hypoxic arrest. Theremay be chest pains, muscle achesand neurological deficits (rang-ing from unconsciousness totransient muteness which tendsto resolve within 24 hours). Con-tusions and tympanic rupturehave also been reported.

• Delayed effects - limb paralysisis common with flaccidity alsobeing observed. The peripheralpulses may not be palpable andthe skin takes on a mottled blueappearance. 'Feathery' cutaneousburns (Lichtenberg flowers) mayoccur immediately or over sev-

eral hours but tend to heal well.Cataract formation, retinal de-tachment, optic nerve dysfunc-tion, myoglobinuria, sensorineu-ral deafness and vestibular dys-function have all been reported.

• Pregnancy - there is a high rateof fetal or neonatal death (about50%), even where maternal sur-vival occurs.

Most lightning strikes areunwitnessed and the patient maysimply present as unconscious orconfused - send to emergency de-partment for assessment.

Immediate management

• After the lightning has struck,the victim is safe to touch - checkfor responsiveness.

• Commence immediate cardiop-ulmonary resuscitation (CPR) -this may prevent the secondaryhypoxic cardiac arrest.

• Carry out CPR even if the casu-alty appears dead (pupils may befixed and dilated as a result ofmuscular paresis - they do notnecessarily represent braindeath).

• Be aware of the possibility of aspinal cord injury (evidence ofhead injury or tenderness orhaematomas of the neck or backnoted if the patient is conscious).

• If a group of persons is struck bylightning, direct attention tothose with no signs of life, be-cause the others will probablyrecover, although burns or inju-ries may need treatment.

It is worth remembering that 77%of patients with cardiopulmonary se-quelae die despite best resuscitativeefforts but, if they are to survive, itwill be due to this first and imme-diate response.

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FACTBOX – INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS IN THELAST TWO DECADES

Here is a look at some of the world'sworst industrial accidents in the last20 years after a deadly explosion andfire at a fertilizer plant in the smallTexas town of West .

May 1993 - Over 200 workers arekilled by a fire at a toy factory nearBangkok, Thailand.

November 1993 - Fire in a Sino-Hong Kong joint venture toy fac-tory in southern Shenzhen prov-ince, China, kills 84 workers.

November 1993 - Explosions andfire in the explosives workshop of achemical plant kill 61 workers incentral Hunan province, China.

December 1993 - Fire sweepsthrough the dormitory of a textilefactory in Fuzhou, China, killing 61sleeping women workers.

June 1994 - A textile plant atZhuhai, China, burns down and

then collapses. The official deathtoll was 76, but unofficial reports sayat least 200 died.

May 2000 - An explosion at S.E.Fireworks in Enschede in the Neth-erlands kills 20 people and injuresabout 1,000 as a fireball rips throughthe town, leveling more than 400homes.

August 2001 - Three people arekilled after an explosion at one ofEurope's largest gas-fired power sta-tions at Teesside, northern England.The 1,875-megawatt plant was op-erated by U.S. energy group Enron.

September 2001 - An explosion ata fertilizer factory in the Frenchtown of Toulouse run by AZF, adivision of TotalFinaElf, kills 30 andinjures 2,000 in surrounding areas.

October 2002 - At least two peopleare killed and 26 are injured whenan explosion rocks a coke plant run

by steelmaker Arcelor near the east-ern town of Liege in Belgium.

May 2004 - Nine people are killedin an explosion which flattens aplastics factory in the Scottish cityof Glasgow. More than 40 are in-jured. ICL Plastics and StocklinePlastics were in charge of the fac-tory.

July 2004 - At least 15 people arekilled and more than 100 injuredwhen an explosion rips through theunderground pipeline in the indus-trial zone of Ghislenghien, 25 miles(40 km) southwest of Brussels.

March 2005 - An explosion at BP'sTexas City, Texas, refinery kills 15workers and injures 180 in one ofthe worst industrial accidents inU.S. history. The explosion occurredwhen hydrocarbon liquid and vaporwas released from a "blowdownstack" and ignited.

(Contd. on next page)

Lightning....(Contd. from previous page)

Further management

• As described above, most strikesare unwitnessed. Tell-tale cluesinclude a casualty (or multiplecasualties) found outdoors on astormy day, exploded clothing,cutaneous burns (linear, punctateor feathery) and tympanic mem-brane rupture.

• Carry out full trauma assessmentto look for immediate effects andinitiate resuscitation as appropri-ate. ECG is mandatory and CTscan of the head may be indicatedwhere consciousness deteriorates.If the patient is conscious, don'tforget to document the visualacuities.

• Check tetanus prophylaxis status.

• Liaise with relevant departments(medical, renal, audiologicalmedicine and ophthalmology) formonitoring of delayed effects.

• Consider differential diagnoses,including cerebrovascular event,spinal cord injury, seizure, closedhead injury, Stokes-Adams at-tack, myocardial infarction, over-dose.

Outcome

This is generally excellent for thosewho survive the initial strike. Theoutcome is coloured by the quan-tity and severity of secondarytrauma. Permanent sequelae arefound in 70% of cases

Prevention

The best treatment for lightningstrike injuries is prevention:

• Remain indoors (or inside aclosed car), away from doors andwindows, fireplaces and metalobjects, to avoid side flashes.

• When outside and unable to findshelter, maintain distance fromtall trees, hilltops, or other ex-posed areas. A person caughtoutside in the open withoutcover should crouch on theground with his or her limbs closetogether.

• Do not swim in a lightning storm.

• Lightning strikes through an air-plane are not unusual and gen-erally cause little or no damage.

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FIVE SIMPLE STEPS TO REDUCE CARBON FOOTPRINTThere are simple steps anyorganization can take to reduce itscarbon footprint. Some strategiesinvolve an overall organizationaleffort, while others can be used toencourage employees to reducetheir individual footprints. Thereare 5 simple steps that can have animpact on a company's carbonfootprint.

Carbon footprint has threecomponents:

1. Direct emissions: From on-sitecombustion and mobile sources.

2. Indirect emissions: Frompurchased electricity and steam.

3. Optional emissions: Examplesinclude product transport,employee business travel, andemployee commuting.

5 Simple Steps to Reduce theCarbon Footprint at Work

1. Encourage employees to cutpaper use. Promote a "thinkbefore you print" mentality. Notevery document needs to beprinted. If something must beprinted, train your staff to use

"duplex printing," i.e., printingon both sides of the page.Documents that are for in-houseuse only can also be printedusing multiple pages per sheet.Train your employees on how toselect these options on theircomputers.

2. Make sure only the "right" paperis available. Purchase onlyenvironmentally preferablepaper, which requires only halfthe number of trees asconventional paper. Encouragerecycling by installing bins atseveral facility locations to makeit easier to collect paper forrecycling or reuse as notepaper.

3. Encourage less energy-consuming commutes.Switching to publictransportation, car-pooling,biking, or telecommuting, cansave energy and reduce GreenHouse Gases (GHG) emissionson the way to and from work.You can offer your employeescommuter benefits that can:

a. Address limited or expensiveparking,

b. Reduce traffic congestion,

c. Improve employee recruitingand retention, and

d. Minimize the environmentalimpacts associated withdrive-alone commuting.

4. Think about purchasingENERGY STAR® products.Products bearing the ENERGYSTAR labels are more energyefficient than standard products.In general, ENERGY STARqualified products reduce energycosts by at least 30 percent. Inaddition, there have beensignificant reductions in GHGemissions because of the use ofENERGY STAR products inhomes, businesses, andindustrial operations.

Note: What is CO2E? Each GHGdiffers in its ability to absorb heatin the atmosphere. For example,methane traps 25 times more heatper molecule than carbon dioxide,

December 2005 - Fire breaks outafter a wave of explosions ripsthrough a fuel depot at HemelHempstead north of London. Policesaid the explosions, which injured43 people, one seriously, appearedto be an accident. The depot, thefifth largest in Britain, is jointly runby oil companies Total and Texaco.

January 2006 - Explosion and col-lapse of a coal mine in Sago, WestVirginia, kills 12 of 13 minerstrapped for two days.

August 2007 - Six miners die whenthe Crandall Canyon coal mine inUtah collapses. Three members of

a rescue crew die in a cave-in tendays later.

April 2010 - Explosion aboard theDeepwater Horizon drilling rig kills11 rig workers and unleashes theworst offshore oil spill in U.S. his-tory that spills 4.9 million barrels ofoil into the Gulf of Mexico.

June 2010 - At least 116 people arekilled in a fire which destroys shopsand housing in the Bangladeshicapital, Dhaka.

August 2012 - An explosion tearsthrough Venezuela's biggest refinery,killing 39 people, wounding dozensmore and halting operations at theAmuay refinery in Venezuela in theworst accident to hit the OPEC

nation's oil industry.

September 2012 - A fire racesthrough the Ali Enterprises garmentfactory in the Pakistani city ofKarachi, which made ready-to-weargarments for Western stores, killing289 workers and injuring 110 more.

November 2012 - A fire at theTazreen Fashions factory in Dhaka,kills 112 workers and injures morethan 150.

April 2013 - A deadly explosion ripsthrough a fertilizer plant in West,Texas, leveling dozens of homes andbuildings. The death toll is un-known. More than 160 people wereinjured.

Factbox....(Contd. from previous page)

(Contd. on next page)

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Five Simple....(Contd. from previous page)

and nitrous oxide absorbs almost300 times more heat per moleculethan carbon dioxide. The ability ofa GHG to absorb heat in theatmosphere is referred to as itsglobal-warming potential (GWP).Often, estimates of GHG emissionsare converted to units ofMMTCO2E, which account for

each GHG's GWP and allow forthe direct comparison of theimpacts of emissions and reductionsof different GHGs.

5. Track your GHG emissions.Develop and document a GHGinventory to ensure consistencyas your organization collectsdata each year to track progresstoward reaching an emissionsreduction goal.

Green strategies at work are notjust operational; they involveeducating employees and engagingthem in ideas and innovation.Many companies, both large andsmall, have taken up the charge tobe environmentally friendly andhave reported benefits that includea boost in employee morale,customer appreciation, andreductions in operation costs.

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CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY 1:

A FATAL ACCIDENT DUETO FALLING IN AQUENCHING TANKCONTAINING HOT WATER

A fatal accident occurred whileworking at the quenching tank ofthe heat treatment furnace in thefactory premises.

HISTORY:

The factory is involved in themanufacturing of the Aluminiumcastings components. The processwas as follows. The raw materialin the form of Aluminium ingotsare melted in furnace oil firedfurnaces. The molten metal wastransferred to the LPDC machines(Low Pressure Die CastingMachines), where Aluminiumcastings were formed. Thesecastings were subjected to fettlingoperation for removal of burrs,risers. Then these jobs were sentto heat treatment section. Theheat treatment operation involvedtwo processes- Heat Treatment-Solution and Heat Treatment-Aging. After heat treatment, thejobs are checked and dispatched. (Contd. on next page)

The Heat Treatment-Solutionplant was having a platform at aheight about 3.0 metre with threeopenings in it. Electrical resistivefurnaces were installed in eachopening. Each furnace wasprovided with a separateunderground quenching tank withits top open, which was right belowthe furnace. The quenching tankcontained full of water in it. A gatewas provided to the furnace at itsbottom. Two manually operatedloading trolleys were providedbeneath the platform. Rails wereprovided along the tanks, on whichtrolleys moved. Two cylindricalbaskets mounted one above theother were provided to eachfurnace in which jobs werecharged, which was further loadedto the furnace. A hydraulicmechanism was provided for themovement of the gate and basket.The Heat Treatment-Solutionprocess was as follows.

The baskets containing the jobs i.e.Aluminium castings were kept onthe loading trolley. The gate of thefurnace was opened and thebaskets were loaded into furnacefrom its bottom. After closing thegate operator started the heatingcycle. The temperature of theAluminium castings reaches to480o C. The furnace was kept onhold at this temperature foranother 2 hours & the heatingcycle was stopped. The workerspushed the loading trolley forwardand the quenching tank becameopen. Then operator opened the

gate of the furnace and lowered thebaskets to dip it into the quenchingtank containing water, with thehelp of hydraulic mechanism.After holding the baskets into thequenching water for 5 minutes, thebaskets were again lifted up. Theloading trolley was now againmoved on the quenching tank andthe baskets were kept on it. Thetrolley along with the baskets wasthen moved forward and anotherloading trolley along with basketscontaining next batch of jobs wastaken below the furnace. Whenthe hot jobs were quenched intowater, its temperature rises. Part ofthe water got evaporated. Thewater was added into the tank tomake up the water lost. Thetemperature of the water in thequenching tank remained about75o C. The process was repeatedfornext batch.

ABOUT THE ACCIDENT:

The injured worker was throughthe contractor and was working ashelper in the factory. On the dayof incidence, the injured workeralong with the other worker wasentrusted with the work at thequenching tanks of the HeatTreatment-Solution section. Thework involved was as under. Whenthe jobs were ready for quenching,they were pushing the trolleyforward by legs. After quenchingthe trolley was brought back on thetank by them and the basketcontaining jobs was kept on trolley.

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Case Study....(Contd. from previous page)

Then they were moving trolley outand sending it for next process.Then again, they were keepingnext batch, on another trolley forthe heat treatment process. Theheating cycle of the furnaces of theHeat Treatment-Solution wasstarted and continued. At the timeof accident, the jobs in furnacewere ready for quenching, so theoperator asked the injured andother worker to move the trolleyforward, so as to quench the jobsin the tank. So, the other workerfrom left side and the injured

worker from right side of thetrolley, started pushing the trolleyforward by legs. While pushing thetrolley, the injured worker lostbalance and fell into thequenching tank through its top,which became open as the trolleymoved forward. As the tankcontained the hot water havingtemperature about 75o C, hereceived 84-85 % burn injuries. Hesuccumbed to burn injuries, whileunder the treatment in thehospital.

OBSERVATIONS:

The plant was having a platformof size about 5200 mm L x 11500mm B x 3000 mm H. supported bypillars formed by m.s. channels.

There are 3 No. of circularopenings in which cylindricalshaped electrical resistive furnacesNo.1,2,3 were installed. Thefurnace was installed vertically insuch a way that 2000 mm of itslength above the platform and600mm of length below theplatform. A hydraulically operatedgate was provided at the bottomportion of the furnace. Ahydraulically operated mechanismis provided for the verticalmovement of the baskets. Twobaskets, one mounted above theother, were provided for chargingthe jobs and have total capacity of500 Kg. Beneath the furnace, therewas an underground quenchingtank having its top open. The sizeof the tank was about 2400 mmlength x 2400 mm breadth x 3000mm depth, which contained wateras a quenching medium. There wasa pair of rails, which was laid alongthe tank. The front side of thecompartment was open throughwhich there was an access to thetank. The rear side was providedwith a removable m.s.bar (pipe) ata height about 900 mm. The leftand right sides of the compartmentwere provided with the m.s. bar ata height of about 1050 mm. Therewas access to the tank from lowerportion of the bar provided at left,right and rear sides. A waterfeeding arrangement was providedto each tank. The temperature ofthe quenching water remained 75o

C. The loading trolley is manuallyoperated. It was formed by weldingm.s. plate on the frame of m.s.channels and is provided with 4no. of wheels. The size of the (Contd. on next page)

trolley is about 2450 mm L x 2450mm B x 150 mm H.

WHAT WENT WRONG:

The injured and other worker wasrequired to push the trolleyforward & reverse over thequenching tank of the furnace.When the trolley was moved, thetop of the quenching tank becameopen. The temperature of hotwater in the quenching tankremains about 75oC during theoperation. Thus the undergroundquenching tanks in the HeatTreatment-Solution Plant byreason of its depth, situation, andcontents were a source of danger.The fatal accident to the workeroccurred while pushing the trolleyover the quenching tank of thefurnace. The quenching tankought to have been securely fencedby providing adequate guards forpreventing access to thequenching tank. But there was anaccess to the quenching tank fromall sides.

REMEDIAL MEASURESSUGGESTED:

i) The portion below theplatform shall be provided withadequate fencing by usingstrong metallic guards fromboth sides and remainingportion of the front and rearportion shall be securelyfenced. The height of guard railshall not be less than 1 metre.

ii) The loading trolley shall beprovided with railings guardfrom all sides.

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(Contd. on next page)

Case Study....(Contd. from previous page)

View of the storage tank involved in the explosion

SEVEN KEY LESSONSFROM RECENT HOTWORK ACCIDENTS:

1. Use alternatives – wheneverpossible, avoid hot work andconsider alternative methods.

2. Analyze the Hazards – Priorto the initiation of hot work,perform a hazard assessment

that identifies the scope of thework, potential hazards, andmethods of hazard control.

3. Monitor the Atmosphere –Conduct effective gasmonitoring in the work area

iii) There shall not be any accessto any person to the quenchingtank, while in operations.

iv) Precautionary notices shall bedisplayed in the languageunderstood by the workers.

v) The temperature of thequenching water shall bemonitored by providing fixedtemperature metre near therespective tanks.

CASE STUDY 2:

A FATAL ACCIDENT AT APACKAGING COMPANY

Three workers were killed in anexplosion at a fibre board manu-facturing facility in USA whilethey were welding on a temporary

metal clamp to stablise a damagedflange connection. The flange waslocated on top of an 80 foot tallstorage tank that contained re-cycled water and fiber waste.

Facility personnel were unaware ofthe potential presence of flam-mable gas from the decompositionof the organic material in thetank, and combustile gas monitor-ing was not typically required orperformed prior to starting work.At the time of the accident, threeworkers were on a catwalk abovethe tank; one begain welding theflange in to place when sparksfrom the welding ignited flam-mable vapours inside the tank.The resulting explosion rippedopen the tank lid, knocking twoof the workers to the ground 80feet below. All three workers diedof traumatic injuries. A fourthworker, who had been observingthe work from a distance, survivedwith minor injuries.

The chemical analysis of the tank

contents determined that anaero-bic bacteria multiplied inside theand water recycle system overtime, feeding on organic wastematerial. The bacteria likely pro-duced hydrogen, a highly flam-

mable gas, which ignited duringthe welding work. The chemicalanalysis found that at the time ofthe incident, supervisors andworkers were unaware of the risksof flammable gas production fromanaerobic bacteria growth. Theydid not perform a hazard analysisor recognise fiber waste tanks aspotentially hazardous. Combus-tible gas monitoring was not re-quired for the work.

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using a properly calibratedcombustible gas detector priorto and during hot workactivities, even in areas wherea flammable atmosphere is notanticipated.

4. Test the area – In workareaswhere flammable liquidsand gases are stored andhandled, drain and/or purgeall equipment and pipingbefore hot work is conducted.When welding on or in thevicinity of stroage tanks and

other containers, properly testand if necessary continuoslymonitor all surrounding tanksor adjacent spaces (not justthe tank or container beingworked on) for the presence offlammable and eliminatepotential sources offlammables.

5. Use Written permits – Ensurethat qualified personnelfamiliar with the specific sitehazards review and authoriseall hot work and issue permitsspecifically identifying the

Case Study....(Contd. from previous page)

work to be conducted and therequired precautions.

6. Train thouroughly – Trainpersonnel on hot workpolicies/procedures, proper useand calibration andcombustible gas detectors,safety equipment, and jobspecific hazards and controlsin a language understood bythe workforce.

7. Supervise contractors –Provide safety supervision foroutside contractorsconducting hot work. Informcontractors about site-specific

hazards including the presenceof flammable materials.

The importance of the lessons isevident upon review of the 11accidents briefly described here.While each lesson will reduce thelikelihood of a catatrosphic hotwork accident, special attentionshould be paid to Key lessons #2and # 3 – the importance ofanalyzing the hazards and utilizinga combustible gas detector tomonitor for a potential flammableatmosphere.

While the OSHA standardprohibits hot work in an explosiveatmosphere, it does not explicitlyrequire the use of a combustiblegas detector. However, other goodpractice guidance documentsfrom the authorised sources stressthe need for gas monitoring toprevent fires and explosions. Forexample, use of gas detectorswhen conducting cleaning,repairs, or hot work on or insidetanks and containers that hold orhave held flammables. Gas testingmust be conducted “before andduring any hot work, cutting,welding, or heating operations”.

If the Lower Explosive Limit(LEL) rises to 10%, all workshould be stopped and source ofthe flammable atmosphere locatedand eliminated or controlled.

An appropriate safetymanagement system including ananalysis of the hazards and theproper use of combustible gasdetector, would likely have alertedworkers to the presence of aflammable atmosphere beforedisaster occurred.

Avoid hot work of any kind in areas handling, processing or storing flammable liquidsor gases”.

Use of portable combustible gas analyzer before and during the work. If anydetectible readings are obtained, then work cannot begin or continue until the sourceis found and suitably mitigated such that the contentration is maintained below 10%of the Lower explosive limit (LEL).

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WHAT ARE MSIs?

Musculoskeletal injuries or MSIsinvolve the muscles and bones inthe body, as well as the nerves,ligaments, blood vessels, and ten-dons.

MSIs occur when the demands ofwork exceed the capacity of thebody.

Types of MSIs

Ligament sprain

Ligaments attach from bone tobone.

Sprains often caused by rapidoverstretching, abnormal twistingor bending.

Common injury: A carpenterclimbing down a stepladder stepson piece of wood on the floor,turns an ankle and suffers anankle sprain.

Tendon or muscle strain or tear

Tendons attach from bone tomuscle.

Strains are often caused by rapid

overstretching, overloading orabnormal twisting.

Common injury: Industrial painterusing an extension pole for longperiods strains the rotator cuffmuscles of the shoulder.

Tendonitis

Tendons often rub against bonystructures and become swollendue to repeating similarmovements.

Common injury: Swinging asledgehammer repeatedly canresult in tendonitis of the elbow.

Bursitis

Bursae are sacs filled with fluidand located between a bone anda tendon or muscle in order toreduce friction.

Bursitis occurs when the bursabecome swollen due to repeatingsimilar movements.

Common injury: Bursitis in theknee is common among carpet

layers who kneel for long periodsand use their keen as a hammer.

Herniated intervertebral disc

Discs located between the bonyvertebrae in the back consist of a

soft core surrounded by a toughouter shell.

Sudden twisting or bendingmovements or a slowdeterioration can cause the disc tobulge and compress the nearbyspinal nerves.

Common Injury: Labourerscommonly hurt their backs byphysically carrying heavy ackwardloads.

Nerve entrapment

Nerve supply the muscle withsignals of when to contact andwhen to relax.

Nerves become compressed byswelling of surrounding tissue.

Common injury: Road workers maysuffer from Carpal TunnelSyndrome in the wrist when theyroutinely tie rebar by hand.

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IN THE NEWS

World Day for Safety and Health at Work: Message from ILO

The theme of the campaign for 2015 is: Join in building a culture of preventionon OSH.

A national occupational safety and health culture is one in which the right toa safe and healthy working environment is respected at all levels, wheregovernments, employers and workers actively participate in securing a safeand healthy working environment through a system of defined rights,responsibilities and duties, and where the highest priority is accorded to theprinciple of prevention.

This year, we will improve the SafeDay web page with new and user-friendlyinformation to design your own campaign. You will be able to download anumber of other key documents including the trilingual poster. However therewill not be a report as in previous years. We invite you to visit our interactive web page as from beginning of April 2015. Pleasekeep us informed on the activities that you will develop in this context.

The ILO celebrates the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on the 28 April to promote the prevention of occupational accidentsand diseases globally. It is an awareness-raising campaign intended to focus international attention on emerging trends in the fieldof occupational safety and health and on the magnitude of work-related injuries, diseases and fatalities worldwide.

Environment ministry plans to revise norms for polluting industries

The environment ministry is considering revisiting the system of categorising industries that seek permission to set up and operateunits. It has suggested giving higher consideration to air pollutants, effluents and nature of waste - hazardous or otherwise - producedas part of an industrial unit's operations.

The proposed system, which will be discussed with the states, will be basedon "scores" that industrial units will be given on the basis of these pollution-related parameters. The new classification is part of the ministry's effort to putin place a system that is responsive to environmental challenges while providingindustries with a more conducive set up. The proposed classification will be onthe basis of a composite score - comprising 40% weightage for air pollution,40% for water quality and 20% for nature of waste.

The parameters will include toxic pollutants, besides the standard basket ofparticulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide, benzene, ammonia, the pH(to ascertain the level of acidity of water quality), total suspended solids andlevel of dissolved oxygen. Industries that score more than 60 will be classifiedas red, those from 30 to 59 as orange, from 15 to 29 as green while units with less than 15 will be considered as non-polluting.

Consent to operate will be specified for a time limit, after which there will be a review -red category industries will be given consentfor five years and orange for eight. Green categories will require a one-time consent for the life cycle of the unit, while nonpollutingindustries will not require any consent.

Industries are currently classified into three categories in decreasing order of severity of pollution - red, orange and green. Introducedin 1989, this system was geared to link the pollution potential of industries at a particular location to help people understand theseverity of pollution from a specific industry. Given the location-specific component, it is not possible to have a uniform classificationthroughout the country, although the Central Pollution Control Board has tried to harmonise the industries in the three categories.

The environment ministry is of the view that the present system does not take into account sector specific plans for controllingpollution and instead classifies industries and industrial activities on the basis of size, manpower and consumption of resources.

The view in the ministry is that pollution parameters and their impact on health are not considered primary criteria in this classification.The ministry has proposed that no red-category industries will be permitted to set up units in urban, eco-sensitive and protectedareas.

The classification of industries will be undertaken by a team comprising officials from the central pollution board, state boardsand the ministry.

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A Safety Workshop was conducted on March 4, 2015 as a part of Chemfluence'15 in Alagappa

College of Technology, Anna University. Nearly 80 students from various colleges participated

in the workshop. The main focus for the workshop was to understand, analyse the current

safety scenario and action to be taken to improve safety and to reduce the risk in chemical

industries. The students have gained good knowledge in various topics such as safety in

chemical industry present and future; safety considerations from design to disposal; hazard

identification and risk analysis; disaster management and control by Mr W A Balakumaran,

Mr R Parameswaran safety professionals both from Safety Engineers Association (India) and

Miss T Santhoshini Priya, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Anna

University. And also the students were asked to analyse and present their findings on the

case studies which were given to them. The evaluation of the analysis was done by the chief

guests, Mr S Ulaganathan, President, SEA (India) and Mr GMEK Raj, Adviser, SEA (India).

The team which gave the best analysis of the case study was selected as "BEST SAFETY

TEAM". Prizes and certificates had been distributed to the participants at the end of the day.

Faculty & Participants at the Safety Workshop at Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University,Chennai on the Safety Day, March 4th 2015.

SAFETY WORKSHOP

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