(MS-101) HEALTH, SAFETY

AND ENVIRONMENT

Lecture 7 – Industrial Safety-b

(Health, Safety and Environment)

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 CONTENTS
 Layers of protection
 Accidents
 Accidents/Incident analysis
 Causes of accidents
 Remedial/Reformative measures

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 LAYERS OF PROTECTION
One traditional approach of risk management is to control the hazard by providing layers of
protection between it and the people, property and surrounding environment to be
protected. These layers of protection may include:
● Operation supervision, control systems, alarms, interlocks etc.
● Physical protection devices (relief devices, dykes).
● Emergency response systems (plant emergency response, community emergency
response).

The layers of protection concept include examples which might be found in a chemical plant.
It has significant disadvantages:

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 LAYERS OF PROTECTION

 The layers of protection are expensive to build, maintain through out the life of the
process. Factors include initial capital expenses, operating costs, safety training cost,
maintenance cost and diversion of the scarce and valuable technical resources (human
and others) into maintenance and operation of layers of protection.
 The hazard remains, and some combination of failures of the layers of protection may
result in an accident. Since no layer of protection can be perfect, there is always some
risk that an incident will occur.
 Because the hazard is still present, there is always a danger that its potential impacts
could be realized by some unanticipated route or mechanism. Accidents can occur by
mechanisms that were unanticipated or poorly understood.

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 LAYERS OF PROTECTION

● For these reasons, the inherently safer approach should be an essential aspect of any

safety program. If the hazard can be eliminated or reduced, the extensive layers of

protection to control those hazards will not be required.

● There can be much discussion about whether a particular safety feature in a plant is

‘inherent’ or not, as different people can view the same thing in different ways.

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 ACCIDENTS

Accident: An accident is an abnormal event or happening whether it causes injuries, damage

or not. When it does not cause any harm, or it is a ‘Near-Miss’, it is known as an ‘Incident’.

Disaster: this means a major accident or natural event or natural calamity involving loss of
lives (human and other creatures), property and resources. It could be a natural or
manmade disaster.
Accident process:

An accident is a three-step process:

1) Initiation: the event that starts the accident.

2) Propagation: the events that maintain or expand accidents.

3) Termination: the events that stop the accident or diminish it in size.

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 ACCIDENTS

1. Initiation:

The initiation can be diminished, for example in a chemical industry; through effective
training, maintenance, process design and providing up-to-the-mark grounding, bonding,
inerting, explosion-proof electrics, guide rails and guarding wherever required.

2. Propagation:
propagation could be diminished by reducing inventories of flammable material, providing
effective mechanisms for quick transfer in emergency, by providing adequate space in the
layout and using nonflammable construction materials.

3. Termination:

Quick termination of an accident could be achieved through effective fire fighting, relief and
sprinkler systems and also by the installation of check and emergency shutoff valves.

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 ACCIDENTS

 Inherently safer strategy can impact or influence the accident process at any of the three
stages. The most effective strategy will prevent initiation of accident. Inherently safe
design can also reduce the potential of propagation of an accident, or provide an early
termination of the accident sequence before there are major impacts on property,
people or the environment.
 Accidents cannot be totally eliminated due to the fact that plant, logistics, operations
and maintenance are designed, constructed, operated, and maintained by human beings
and human beings are not perfect. All accidents can be traced back and one would find
human failure at their origin, which could be poor judgment, forgetfulness, ignorance,
incapacitation, alcohol or drug dependence, fatigue etc.

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 ACCIDENTS/INCIDENT ANALYSIS

The purpose of incident reporting and analysis is to:

 Learn from mistakes
 Prevent re-occurrence
 Increase level of safety awareness
 Demonstrate commitment to continuous improvements

Causes: Substandard acts, substandard conditions and their underlying causes such as
individual and work factors. Individual refers to inadequate knowledge, skill, motivation,
capability, strength, and attitude.

Work factors: inadequate training, supervision, working conditions, design, layout,

inspection, Inadequate tools, appliances and their improper use.

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 ACCIDENTS/INCIDENT ANALYSIS

Figure 8.3 Strategies to minimize accidents and losses

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 ACCIDENTS/INCIDENT ANALYSIS

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 ACCIDENTS/INCIDENT ANALYSIS

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 CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS

Causes would differ from one project to another or one industry to another. Listed below are
some common areas, or heads, to describe them:

Haulage: Over speed, improper turns & gradient, inadequate safety fittings or their failures.

Machines & Equipment (Hardware): Failures due improper maintenance & operation.

Structural Failures: Inadequate structures, design defects etc.

Slips or Falls by Workers: Slippery roads, inadequate width of workings & roads.

Material Handling: toxic, nontoxic, hazardous materials such as explosives, tools and
appliances.

Improper supervision: incompetent, negligent, overstressed, miscommunication and

coordination.

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 ACCIDENT COSTS

 Injury, loss of body parts, disability; the greatest loss having practically no substitute.
 Absence from duty, delays, loss of time.
 Loss of morale, loss of efficiency of crew/workers.
 Loss of material, property, equipment.
 Cost of treatment, cost of production loss, overtime payment.
 Cost of replacement, clean ups, repair, standby etc.
 Fines or penalties by the Government/safety authorities.
 Cost of legal assistance.
 High premium by insurance companies.

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 REMEDIAL MEASURES
The following steps are helpful in minimizing accidents:

1) Conceptual planning, detailed design and evaluation

2) Compliance with design specifications

3) Safe working conditions – lighting, ventilation, sanitation

4) Safe equipment – fittings, design, maintenance

5) Safety wear, detectors and warning mechanisms

6) Precautions and measures against fires and explosions

7) Training, education and refresher courses

8) Emergency measures

9) Accident analysis and preventive measures

10) Risk analysis.

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 REMEDIAL MEASURES
Some of the items listed above are discussed below.

1) Conceptual planning, detailed design and evaluation:

Current trend divides any project into four phases:

● Planning and design
● Construction
● Operation
● Post operation period

The planning and design phase is considered to be the most risky, as major decisions are
taken during this phase. During this phase the conceptual model is first prepared and it is
then evaluated using different alternatives and schemes.

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 REMEDIAL MEASURES
● During this phase detailed drawings, equipment specifications, resources required and
budget are forecast. Any deficiency could result in problems and delays during the
construction phase.
● It could even become a cause of failures during the operational lifetime. It is important to
plan and take into account the cost of ultimate closure of the industry as per the
prevalent legislation of the land. This is known as ‘Life Cycle’ approach, as described in
the preceding sections.
● It is important have a close liaison and collaborative efforts between designers,
manufacturers, engineers, and all those who are involved with the project. This could
minimize risks. There is considerable scope for improvement in standards of health and
safety in the prevalent technologies applied to various industries worldwide.

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 REMEDIAL MEASURES

2) Training and Education:

 In any organization the most important task is to appoint the best-fitted person for a job,
and make use of this human resource, which is most valuable.
 He/she may be raw (fresher), semi-skilled, skilled or even highly skilled, or an executive
of a company. With time, the methods, techniques, equipment, procedures, laws,
regulations, policies, and job-related parameters change.
 To make oneself capable of performing the job in the right and efficient manner, every
one needs some degree of training and education.
 For a company, to extract the maximum from its employees, it becomes almost
mandatory to train and educate them. Education means updating the knowledge that is
required to run the organization in the best possible manner.

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 REMEDIAL MEASURES
3) Personal protective equipment (ppe):

PPE is defined as equipment designed to be worn by personnel to protect themselves

against work related hazards, which may endanger their health or safety. The list of items
below covers most of them.
● Head Protection
● Eye and Face Protection
● Body Protection
● Fall Protection
● Hearing Protection
● Hand and Arm Protection

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 REMEDIAL MEASURES
Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE):
● Dust Masks
● Air Purifying Respirators (Filter Masks)
● Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)
● Supplied Air Breathing Apparatus (SABA)
● Emergency Escape Breathing Apparatus (Escape Set)

It is important to use them in the right way and then maintain them. Replace them if
damaged, or at the end of life.

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 REMEDIAL MEASURES
4) Risk Analysis:

Any industrial establishment involves huge investment and input of resources, man, machine
and equipment for long durations. One traditional approach to risk management is to
control the hazard by providing layers of protection between it and the people, property and
surrounding environment to be protected. These layers of protection may include:
 Operational supervision, control systems, alarms, interlocks etc.
 Physical protection devices (relief devices, dykes, pillars, barriers).
 Emergency response systems (plant/project emergency response, community
emergency response).

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 REMEDIAL MEASURES

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