INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LIMITED

GUJRAT REFINERY
FIRE & SAFETY DEPARTMENT

Monthly Safety Day (November’23)

Theme: “SAFE MATERIAL HANDLING AND SAFETY IN LIFTING
TOOLS AND TACKLES”
Incorrect manual handling is one of the most common causes of injury at work. It causes work-
related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) which account for over a third of all workplace injuries.
Heavy manual labor, awkward postures, manual materials handling, and previous or existing injury
are all risk factors in developing MSDs. The safe handling and storage of materials is key to any
safety program. The unsafe practices in storage and handling may lead to acute or chronic injuries.
The violation of safety procedure in mechanical handling of materials can be serious. The handling
of hazardous chemicals needs further training. By awareness and following the correct storage and
handling procedure the hazards can be kept at lower level and thereby injuries can be avoided.

Use correct method to lift the materials. Never bend on material to lift it, giving undue
pressure on your back bone. The materials should be lifted by shifting its load on legs.
When moving materials manually, workers should attach handles or holders to loads. In addition,
workers should always wear appropriate personal protective equipment and use proper lifting
techniques. To prevent injury from oversize loads, workers should seek help in the following:
 When a load is so bulky that employees cannot properly grasp or lift it,
 When employees cannot see around or over a load, or
 When employees cannot safely handle a load.

Mechanical Handling
Using mechanical equipment to move and store materials increases the potential for employee
injuries. Workers must be aware of both manual handling safety concerns and safe equipment
operating techniques. Employees should avoid overloading equipment when moving materials
mechanically by letting the weight, size, and shape of the material being moved dictate the type of
equipment used. All material handlings equipment has rated capacities that determine the maximum
weight the equipment can safely handle and the conditions under which it can handle that weight.
Employers must ensure that the equipment-rated capacity is displayed on each piece of equipment
and is not exceeded except for load testing.

Crane Safety
Only thoroughly trained and competent workers shall be permitted to operate cranes. Operators
should know what they are lifting and what it weighs. For example, the rated capacity of mobile
cranes varies with the length of the boom and the boom radius. When a crane has a telescoping
boom, a load may be safe to lift at a short boom length or a short boom radius, but may overload the
crane when the boom is extended and the radius increases. To reduce the severity of an injury,
employers must take the following precautions:
 Equip all cranes that have adjustable booms with boom angle indicators.
  Provide cranes with telescoping booms with some means to determine boom lengths unless
the load rating is independent of the boom length.
 Post load rating charts in the cab of cab-operated cranes.
 Plan lifts before starting them to ensure that they are safe.
 Take additional precautions and exercise extra care when operating around power lines.
 Outriggers on mobile cranes must rest on firm ground, on timbers, or be sufficiently cribbed
to spread the weight of the crane and the load over a large enough area.
 Always keep hoisting chains and ropes free of kinks or twists and never wrapped around a
load.
 Attach loads to the load hook by slings, fixtures, and other devices that have the capacity to
support the load on the hook.
 Pad sharp edges of loads to prevent cutting slings.
 Maintain proper sling angles so that slings are not loaded in excess of their capacity.
 Ensure that all cranes are inspected frequently by persons thoroughly familiar with the crane,
the methods of inspecting the crane, and what can make the crane unserviceable. Crane
activity, the severity of use, and environmental conditions should determine inspection
schedules.
 Ensure that the critical parts of a crane—such as crane operating mechanisms, hooks, air, or
hydraulic system components and other load-carrying components—are inspected daily for
any maladjustment, deterioration, leakage, deformation, or other damage.

Sling Safety
A competent person shall be designated to conduct inspections of slings before and during use,
especially when service conditions warrant. In addition, you must ensure that workers observe the
following precautions when working with slings:
 Remove immediately damaged or defective slings from service.
 Do not shorten slings with knots or bolts or other makeshift
devices.
 Do not kink sling legs.
 Do not load slings beyond their rated capacity.
 Keep suspended loads clear of all obstructions.
 Remain clear of loads about to be lifted and suspended.
 Do not engage in shock loading.
 Avoid sudden crane acceleration and deceleration when moving
suspended loads.

Safety in Stacking & Storing

Stacking materials can be dangerous if workers do not follow safety guidelines. Falling materials
and collapsing loads can crush or pin workers, causing injuries or death. To help prevent injuries
when stacking materials, workers must do the following:
 Ensure that stacks are stable and self-supporting.
 Do not store pipes and bars in racks that face main aisles to avoid creating a hazard to
passersby when removing supplies.
 Stack bags and bundles in interlocking rows to keep them secure.
 Stack bagged material by stepping back the layers and cross-keying the bags at least every
ten layers (to remove bags from the stack, start from the top row first).
 All Materials should be properly stored/ stacked at their designated location.
 Where materials are kept at rack, each rack should be identified and marked with its load
bearing capacity.
  Proper and safe access to each rack must be ensures. Precaution should be taken to avoid
rolling/ toppling of materials from rack.
 No material should be protected from the rack.
 The chemicals should be kept in earmarked areas.
 Different type of chemicals should be stored separately depending on their compatibility.
 Each chemical container should be identified and marked properly as per norms w.r.t.
hazards and risk associated with it.
 The safe materials storage and handling procedure with dos and don’ts should be displayed
in area.
 Each type of gas cylinders should be stacked separately according to norms. Filled and empty
cylinders should be kept separately.
 Cylinders valves should be capped (if shrouds are not provided over valve) and all cylinders
should be chained at its storage place.
 The testing certificate for each cylinder must be available with the user.
 Never block the normal and emergency Exits of the store area.
 Maintain free access for all firefighting facilities/ emergency equipment all the time.

SAFE RIGGING PRACTICES

The handling, setting and erection of materials and equipment is a hazardous occupation. Each
operation presents its own peculiar problems and no two jobs are alike. With proper consideration
taken, each job can be performed free of bodily harm to the employee and without damage to the
equipment.

The person authorized and qualified to do rigging must always pay close attention to details. One
careless moment or act can result in serious injury or death and tremendous property damage. Proper
rigging is an art and should never be left to the inexperienced. If you don’t know how to do it
properly, then don’t attempt it.

Basic Sling Operating Practices (ANSI B30.9)

Whenever any sling is used, the following practices shall be observed!

1. Slings that are damaged or defective shall not be used.
2. Slings shall not be shortened with knots or bolts or other makeshift devices.
3. Sling legs shall not be kinked.
4. Slings shall not be loaded in excess of their rated capacity.
5. Slings used in a Basket Hitch shall have the load balanced to prevent slippage.
6. Slings shall be securely attached to the load.
7. Slings shall be padded or protected from the sharp edges of their loads.
8. Suspended loads shall be kept free of obstructions.
9. All employees shall be kept clear of loads about to be lifted and of suspended loads.
10. Hands or fingers shall not be placed between the sling and its load while the sling is being
tightened around the load.
11. Shock loading is prohibited.
12. A sling shall not be pulled from under a load when the load is resting on the sling.
Case Study - I
Case Study - II
 Case Study - III

Place of
BOOT-3 Product area
Incident
Date & Time 29-Jul-2023 12:50 Hrs.
 Construction of Additional tankages by agency M/s B&R and composite work by
agency M/s Sopan were being carried out at BOOT-3 Product area.
 Dumper truck (HYVA) with Registration No. OD-09U-1277 of agency M/s Sopan,
loaded with Wet Mix Macadam (WMM) reached near new culvert of Alkylate tank
area.
 During the course of unloading of WMM by raising the hydraulic lifting jack, half of
the material was unloaded.
Description
 For facilitating the unloading of remaining material, driver was slightly moved the
of Incident
vehicle forward by turned the front tyre of the vehicle at the right side by keeping
the lifting jack in raised condition.
 Eccentric loading on the lifting jack of the vehicle and subsequently the hydraulic
jack failed.
 Resulting in toppling of the Vehicle.
 Immediately the area was barricaded and the toppled dumper truck was lifted
using hydra and crane. Then the dumper truck was sent outside for repair.
 Breakage of hydraulic lifting jack due to wrong positioning of vehicle.
Root Cause
 Failure to assess the risk by the HYVA operator.
Immediate-
Lesson • HYVA operators to be trained on safe operation of the heavy vehicle.
Learnt • Proper supervision required for material supplier’s vehicle during vehicle
movement & loading/unloading activities.
• Penalty to be imposed on agency for lack of supervision.
 Case Study - IV

Place of
HDT Unit Compressor Shed
Incident
Date &
30.05.2023 at 11:30 Hrs
Time
 While operating EOT crane to remove metallic parts from HDT compressor shed,
Description a minor spark was observed on above EOT crane.
of Incident  EOT stopped working after that.
 Safety chain and one of the wheels of EOT got dislodged.
Stuck up of Roller No. 03 leading to damage of safety chain between Roller No-01 & 02
Root Cause
and trailing cable.
Immediate:
• The damaged cable fault to be rectified
Lesson
• All damaged rollers along with safety chain to be checked and replace wherever
Learnt
required
• Checking of rollers for trailing cable and safety chain to be included in the
checklist during PM job