A V Sai Vandan Reddy

R16CV001
VI th sem ‘A’ sec
OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD AND INDUSTRIAL SAFETY ASSIGNMENT 1
1) Identify any one industrial disaster in India and world (except Bhopal gas
tragedy). Give a brief report on these disasters covering the background, causes &
measures taken. Suggest the preventive measures taken. Support the document
compulsorily with facts & figures.

Ans: Industrial disaster in India:

Korba chimney collapse (2009):

Background:
The 2009 Korba chimney collapse occurred in the town of Korba in the Indian state
of Chhattisgarh on 23 September 2009. It was under construction under contract
for the Bharat Aluminium Co Ltd (BALCO). Construction had reached 240 m (790 ft)
when the chimney collapsed on top of more than 100 workers who had been taking
shelter from a thunderstorm. At least 45 deaths were recorded.

Causes:
The incident happened during extreme weather conditions involving lightning and
torrential rainfall. Workers sought shelter from the rain in a nearby store room, and
a lightning strike at approximately 16:00 brought the chimney down on top of
them.
Later the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Raipur observed that the materials
were of substandard quality and technically faulty in design. NIT also concluded
that there was improper water curing and that soil at the site was not up to code.
Additionally, supervision and monitoring was found to be negligent.

Measures:
In November 2009, the project manager from GDCL was arrested, as well as three
officials from Vedanta Resources which manages Balco. Additionally, supervision
and monitoring was found to be negligent. On 11 January 2010, as a result of these
findings, three senior officials of Sepco, the Chinese company contracted to build
the chimney, were arrested and are being held without bail. One lakh rupees in
compensation will be granted to relatives of each of the dead.

Industrial disaster in world:

Tianjin explosions (2015):
Background:
Tianjin Dongjiang Port Ruihai International Logistics, or Ruihai Logistics, is a
privately held logistics company established in 2011. It handles hazardous
chemicals within the Port of Tianjin, such as flammable & corrosive substances,
oxidizing agents, and toxic chemicals. The company, which employed 70, is
designated by the Tianjin Maritime Safety Administration as an approved agent for
handling these hazardous chemicals at the port, and its operating license was
renewed two months prior to the explosions. Its 46,000-square-metre (500,000 sq.
ft) site contains multiple warehouses for hazardous goods, a fire pump and a fire
pond. The warehouse building, owned by Ruihai Logistics, is recorded in a 2014
government document as being a hazardous chemical storage facility for calcium
carbide, sodium nitrate, and potassium nitrate.

Causes:
The cause of the explosions was not immediately known, but an investigation
concluded in February 2016 that an overheated container of dry nitrocellulose was
the cause of the initial explosion. The final casualty report was 165 deaths, 8
missing, and 798 non-fatal injuries. On 12 August 2015, a series of explosions killed
173 people and injured hundreds of others at a container storage station at the
Port of Tianjin. The first two explosions occurred within 30 seconds of each other
at the facility, which is located in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China. The second
explosion was far larger and involved the detonation of about 800 tonnes of
ammonium nitrate. Fires caused by the initial explosions continued to burn
uncontrolled throughout the weekend, resulting in eight additional explosions on
August 15.
Measures:
On Thursday morning, the Chinese leaders ordered officers in the city to “make full
effort in rescuing the injured, and search for those missing,” according to The
Paper. Xi Jinping, the president of China, also said police should investigate the
cause of the incident and punish those responsible for the blast, including a team
from the International Atomic Energy Agency, began arriving in Tianjin to assess
the health risks from the chemicals being released into the atmosphere.
Government personnel set up twelve temporary monitoring stations near the blast
site with above-normal levels of pollutants being detected. A nearby drainage
outlet was also closed, and water quality tested.
2)Following hypothetical situations have been created as an exercise. Consider
them as a case study and support your answers by the use of relevant codes &
appropriate regulations.
i) Situation: assume that your plant has no medical or first aid services available to
its employees.
(a)Do the osha standards cover the medical services?
Ans: Yes, osha standards provide medical services to the employees in following
manner.
(b)What are the requirements for this situation under the regulations?
Ans: The requirements according to osha regulations are:
 ➢ General Industry (29 CFR 1910)
• 1910.151, Medical services and first aid.
• 1910.266(d)(2), First-aid kits
• Appendix A, First-aid kits.
• Appendix B, First-aid and CPR training.
• 1910.269, Electric power generation, transmission, and distribution
• 1910.269(b), Medical services and first aid.
• 1910.421, Pre-dive procedures.
➢ Shipyard Employment (29 CFR 1915)
• 1915.87, Medical services and first aid
➢ Marine Terminals (29 CFR 1917)
• 1917.26, First aid and lifesaving facilities
• Longshoring (29 CFR 1918)
• 1918.97, First aid and lifesaving facilities (see appendix V of this part)
➢ Construction Industry (29 CFR 1926)
• 1926.23, First aid and medical attention
• 1926.50, Medical services and first aid
ii)Situation: Your construction site has 100 employees. What are the management’s
responsibilities and requirements regarding employee emergency plans and fire
preventive plans?
Ans: The purpose of the fire prevention plan is to prevent a fire from occurring in a
workplace. It describes the fuel sources (hazardous or other materials) on site that
could initiate or contribute both to the spread of a fire, as well as the building
systems, such as fixed fire extinguishing systems and alarm systems, in place to
control the ignition or spread of a fire.

According to osha regulations:

1910.39(a): Application. An employer must have a fire prevention plan when an
OSHA standard in this part requires one. The requirements in this section apply to
each such fire prevention plan.
1910.39(b): Written and oral fire prevention plans. A fire prevention plan must be
in writing, be kept in the workplace, and be made available to employees for
review. However, an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the
plan orally to employees.
1910.39(c): Minimum elements of a fire prevention plan. A fire prevention plan
must include:
1910.39(c)(1): A list of all major fire hazards, proper handling and storage
procedures for hazardous materials, potential ignition sources and their control,
and the type of fire protection equipment necessary to control each major hazard.
1910.39(c)(2): Procedures to control accumulations of flammable and combustible
waste materials.
1910.39(c)(3): Procedures for regular maintenance of safeguards installed on heat-
producing equipment to prevent the accidental ignition of combustible materials.
1910.39(c)(4): The name or job title of employees responsible for maintaining
equipment to prevent or control sources of ignition or fires.
1910.39(c)(5): The name or job title of employees responsible for the control of fuel
source hazards.
1910.39(d): Employee information. An employer must inform employees upon
initial assignment to a job of the fire hazards to which they are exposed. An
employer must also review with each employee those parts of the fire prevention
plan necessary for self-protection.