INDUSTRIAL SAFETY

IMPORTANCE OF SAFETY IN INDUSTRIES

Modern industry with its sophisticated technique of manufacture
often possess the problem of safety in industrial establishments due to
different reasons.

The importance of industrial safety was realised after the occurrence

of millions of industrial accidents every year causing death or temporary or
permanent disablement of the employees.

The result is heavy financial loss due to loss of man-hours and

machine-hours both for employer and employees.

By studies, it has been found that for every 20 seconds of every minute
of every hour, throughout the world some one dies as a result of industrial
accident.
In India, out of 5 million industrial workers, about 700 die every
year and 2,20,000 receives injuries
So, the Factory Act stresses the management to provide safe working
conditions for the workers working in the factory also certain financial
responsibilities like compensation to be paid for the victims.

The management has got the moral responsibility of providing safety for
the workers.

Safety Provisions in the Factory Act:

The following important provisions for safety are provided in the Factory
Act,1948

1. Every moving part of machinery should be safe guarded by casing and

fencing.

2. Only trained adult male worker wearing tight fitting clothing should be
allowed to work on moving machinery

3. No women or young person shall be allowed to clean, lubricate or adjust

any part of prime mover or of any transmission machinery when it is in
motion
Safety Provisions in the Factory Act:

4. Devices for cutting off power from running machines in emergency shall
be provided

5. No young person shall work in dangerous machines unless he got trained

under adequate supervision

6. (a) Every hoist and lift shall be of good mechanical construction and
adequate strength and properly maintained.
(b) Every hoist way or lift way shall be sufficiently protected by an
enclosure fitted with gates.
(c) Every care has to be taken to avoid breakage of rope or chain by
providing two ropes or chains separately or rope shall be capable of
carrying the weight of the cage together with its maximum load.

7. All parts including working gears, lifting machines, chains, ropes or lifting
tackles shall be of good construction and of adequate strength and
thoroughly examined atleast once in a year
Safety Provisions in the Factory Act:

8. A detailed information should be affixed on every revolving machinery

indicating maximum speed of grinding wheels speed of the shaft upon
which the wheel is mounted

9. No person shall be employed in the factory to lift, carry or move heavy

loads which cause injury

10. The workers are provided with suitable goggles and screens to protect
their eyes from exposure to
(a) Welding rays, cutting metals with electric or acetylene flame
(b) Fettling. Rivet cutting. removal of scales, dressing of metals or
any other such process involving risk of injury to the eyes from the particles
thrown off in the course of process.
Safety Provisions in the Factory Act:

11. (a) No person is allowed to enter any space, tank or other confined
spaces in which dangerous fume are likely to be present unless measures
have been taken to remove fumes
(b) Portable electric light above 24 volts shall not be permitted to such
confined spaces.

12. Every factory shall be provided with the facilities to escape incase of fire
by providing fire warning signals, unlocked doors towards outside
workroom, free passage ways and easily open table windows, etc.

13. All boilers and pressure vessels must be kept in proper condition. Safety
valves, pressure gauges and water gauges, etc. must be examined
thoroughly at regular intervals.

14.Pits and openings in floors should be properly covered

 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS

Factory: It means any place where ten or more persons are working with
the aid of power and machines for manufacturing any product, or where
twenty or more persons are working without the aid of power for
manufacturing anything

Accident: An occurrence or an event which interrupts with the orderly

progress of work in an industrial enterprise.

The Factories Act, 1948 defined accident as

"Accident is an unplanned and uncontrolled event in which the action of an

object, person or radiation results in personal injury or the probability
thereof”
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
Frequency Rate: and Severity Rate:

Accident report and records are the foundation of a scientific approach to

accident prevention.

Frequency rate is defined as the number of accidents occurred per million

man hours worked, in a year.

No : of lost time accidents x 1000000

Frequency rate = --------------------------------------------------------------
Total no : of man hours worked
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
Severity Rate:

It is defined as the no: of man days lost per million man hours worked in an
year.
No : of man days lost x 1000000
Severity rate = --------------------------------------------------------------
Total no : of man hours worked

Incidence rate:
General incidence rate is the ratio of the number of injuries to the number
of persons during the period under review. It is expressed as the number of
injuries per 1000 persons employed.

No: of injuries x 1000

Incidence rate = ------------------------------------------
Total no : of employees
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
Accident Proneness

Examination of safety records often show that out of all the workers doing the
same job and being subjected to the same physical environments, only a few
have substantially, more accidents than the rest. Such few workers who are
found consistently to experience more accidents than the average workers
are classified as ACCIDENT – PRONE workers.

ACCIDENT PRONENESS may be defined as the continuing tendency of a person

to have more accidents as a result of his persisting characteristics.

It may be because of peculiar psychological and physiological aspects of

certain persons.
Causes of Accident Proneness :

1. Un attentiveness and day-dreaming

2. Poor eyesight and hearing and lack of stamina.
3. Poor adjustment of work: distaste for the job.
4. Too much sensitivity and tendency to get emotional easily
5. Dislike of the supervisor / foreman
6. Lack of training
7. Insufficient intelligence
8. Unsafe behavior of the worker
9. Low degree of muscular coordination
10. Immature age
11. Lack of health.
Methods to reduce Accident Proneness
1. Depending upon the job conditions select only those applicants
who possess appropriate standards of physical and mental ability
2. Transfer accident prone workers to comparatively less hazardous
job situations.
3. Impart adequate training to a recruit before putting him to a job.
4. Encourage employees working and see that they do not get
unnecessarily perturbed, frustrated or emotionally disturbed
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
Unsafe Acts and Unsafe conditions:
The accidents are caused mainly by
(a) Improper activities of a worker (unsafe acts).
(b) Improper working conditions (unsafe conditions)

(a) Unsafe Acts of a worker

These activities may be the result of inexperience, deficiency of knowledge, inadequate
training, These acts include
1. Casual behaviour of workers
2. Lack of interest and indifferent attitude of workers towards work.
3. Failure to use personal protective devices
4. Lack of experience for the job given.
5. Longer hours of continuous work without rest pauses
6. Loading the machines beyond capacity
7. Lack of attention and sleep.
8. Using unsafe speed.
9. Influence of drugs and drinks.
10.Ignorance and lack of training.
11.Carelessness and non-observation of safety rules.
12.Fatigue
13.Physical defects and bad state of health.
(b) Unsafe conditions:

1. Bad environmental conditions due to inadequate heating,

lighting and ventilation.
2. Defective equipment/machines
3. Complicated procedure of performing a job.
4. Inadequate safety devices.
5. Wrong and faulty layout of the production unit.
6. Improperly guarded equipment.
7. Poor house keeping.
8. Electrical failures
9. Improper disposal of waste products.
10.Long hours of continuous work.
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS

Job Safety Analysis:

Method study analyst breaks a job into elements and analyses for
better method and estimates their times by time study analyst.

It is the responsibility of a safety analyst to conduct job safety

analysis.

It includes the study of different materials, tools, processes to be used

by worker and how safe the worker when he is engaged in the job.

The safety analyst sees that safety measures are provided to worker,
at each and every stage of his function and further they see that
trained person should be appointed in the specified job.

This entire analysis is called job safety analysis

 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
Plant Safety Inspection:
Plant safety inspection is a method of discovering potential accident risks.

Its purpose is to find and remove all the unsafe conditions or unsafe practices in
the entire plant but the ultimate aim is to make all the operations safe and
efficient.

The safety officer, plant superintendent or other supervisory personnel

making the inspections could achieve the purpose of inspection better by
consulting the persons concerned in the shop and thus enlisting their co-
operation.

Consultations with the employees besides revealing the practical aspects of the
problem brings out useful suggestions from the employees, it is a sure way of
creating employees interest in safety.

A system of discovering the hazards in various jobs and taking prompt

corrective measures to eliminate those, serves indirectly to demonstrate
managements interest in safety to employees and thereby motivate them.
The employees in turn are encouraged to report the hazards in their job
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS

Industrial safety policy:

Managing the safety function must start with a written safety policy-
a definition of management's desires on safety.
Policy is defined as "a settled course adopted and followed by body“
The policy document should
 Explain the business commitment to manage their risks and meet their
legal duties for safety
 Tell people in the business, what are their duties for heath safety and
the environment.
 Explain the steps that they need to take to meet their duties.
The objectives of safety policy are
1. To promote standards of safety and health which comply fully with the
requirements of Factories Act 1948.
2. To maintain safe and healthy work places and safe systems and
methods of work.
3. To provide all concerned with the information, instructions training and
supervision they need to work safely.
4. To develop safety awareness
5. To make all concerned, aware of their individual responsibility to take
reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and others and
to cooperate with the management in matters of safety.
6. To encourage effective participation from employees on safety matters
 CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS:

Accident may be caused due to

1. Technical causes (unsafe conditions)

Mechanical factors
Environmental factors

2. Human causes (unsafe acts) -Personal factors.

Technical causes or unsafe conditions:

Reflect deficiencies in plant, equipment, tools, materials handling
system, general work environment. etc.

Human causes or unsafe acts :

By the person concerned are due to his ignorance or forgetfulness,
carelessness, day dreaming. etc
(a)Mechanical causes or factors

1. Unsafe mechanical design or construction

2. Hazardous arrangement (piling, over-loading. etc.)
3. Improper machine guarding.
4. Unsafe apparel.
5. Defective agencies or devices
6. Improper material handling
7. Broken safety guards.
8. Protruding nails.
9. Leaking acid valve.
10.Untested boilers or pressure vessels
(b) Environmental factors:

Environmental factors indicate improper physical and atmospheric surrounding

conditions of work which indirectly promote the occurrence of accidents.

1. Too low a temperature to cause shivering.

2. Too high a temperature to cause headache and sweating
3. Too high a humidity (in textile industry) to cause uncomfort, fatigue and
drowsiness (especially when the atmosphere is also hot).
4. Defective and inadequate illumination causing eyestrain.
5. Presence of dust, fumes and smoke (e.g. in foundry or welding shop) and
lack of proper ventilation.
6. High speed of work because of huge work load
7. More number of working hours and over and above them the tendency of
the employer to insist for over-time work
8. Inadequate rest pauses or breaks between the working Hours
9. Noise. bad odour and flash coming from the nearby machinery, equipment
or processes.
10. Poor housekeeping
(c) Personal factors

1. Age
2. Health
3. Number of dependents.
4. Financial position
5. Home environment
6. Lack of knowledge and skill
7. Improper attitudes towards work
8. incorrect machine habits.
9. Carelessness and recklessness.
10.Day-dreaming and unattentiveness.
11.Fatigue
12.High anxiety level
13.Mental worries.
14.Unnecessary exposures to risk.
15.Non-use of safety devices.
16.Working at unsafe speeds
17.Improper use of tools.
 4 ES OF ACCIDENT PREVENTION TECHNIQUE:
Safety programme includes mainly four E's of Accident prevention
techniques.
ENGINEERING
EDUCATION
ENLISTMENT
ENFORCEMENT are knows as 4 E's of Accident prevention
technique.
Engineering => Safety at the design and equipment
installation stage.
1. For preventing accidents, a good layout should be provided The layout
should be such that
(i) Every employee has enough space to move and operate
(ii) Passageways between working places. roads, tracks, etc. must be
provided.

2. The heights of the working rooms should be of 3 meters for adequate

lighting, ventilation, etc. Windows should be of adequate dimensions in order
to make full use of natural day light.

3. Floors must be non skid type, satisfactorily plane and must possess such
properties that they can be easily cleaned and absorb sounds

4. A worker operating on the machine should have easy access to the safety
switches provided on the machine/near workplace
Engineering => Safety at the design and equipment installation stage

5. A high noise level at the workplace endanger the workers. To reduce noise
level and to minimize detrimental effects (e.g, deafness) arising out of it
• Select, purchase and make use of machines and processes which
produce little noise.
• Isolate and keep noise producing machines in separate closed cabins.
• Use suitable machine mounts to damp down the vibrations

6. To avoid premature fatigue of transport workers, full use should be made of

mechanized material handling equipment

7. During transport, sharp materials, sharp edged goods poles. etc, should be
covered, placed in stable holders and retained by means of wires.

8. Goods should be piled up such that they do not collapse due to impact or
vibrations.
Engineering => Safety at the design and equipment
installation stage
9. Use personal protective devices for
(a) Head- helmets, hair nets, safety caps, ear protectors (ear plugs,
ear muffs).
(b) Face and Eye face masks, face shields goggles, welding helmets
etc
(c) Body - aprons, asbestos suits, safety belts, etc
(d) Hand, foot and leg - gloves, pads, wrist bands safety foot wear.
(e) Respiratory equipment Gas masks.

10. Inflammable material should be stored separately and away from the
general store.

11. Electrical connections and insulation should be checked at regular

intervals

12. Fire extinguishers should be kept in proper condition and at key places.
Education => To teach the safe practices

The employees should be essentially educated, to think, act and

work safely so that the number of accidents can be minimized.
Safety education gives knowledge about safe (and unsafe)
mechanical conditions, personal practices and of the remedial
measures

Safety education involves:

(i)Induction and orientation of new recruits to safety rules and practices
(ii) Explaining safety function, during, on the job training.
(iii) Formulating employees safety committees
(iv) Holding of special employee safety meetings
(v) Displaying charts, posters, films etc. emphasize the need to act safely
Enlistment => To develop safety consciousness among
workers/employees

It is necessary to arouse the interest of employees in accident prevention

and safety- consciousness.

A worker will usually accept the use of a safety measure if he is convinced of

its necessity. Therefore, suitable measures should be adopted to increase
the awareness of a need for safety in the environment of work.

1. Display of safety posters and films to remind workers of particular

hazards/accidents
2. Providing simple and convenient safety devices
3. Providing allowance (in the standard time) to the worker for setting,
removing and replacing any necessary safety Devices.
4. Ask the employee from the first day he starts work to adopt safety
measures because a worker who has commenced work and has become
familiar with it would never feel the need for safety measures at a later
date.
 Enlistment => To develop safety consciousness among
workers/employees
5. Hold safety competition and award prizes to the winners
6. Give due respect and recognition to safe workers and creating employees a
feeling of pride in safe work
7. Elaborate on the safety theme until all the employees are safety conscious
8. Hold regular safety meetings. They stimulate ideas and workers get more safety
conscious as the time of meeting approaches near
9. Layout work areas to reflect safety considerations
10.Mail information and literature pertaining to safety at the homes of all
employees
11.Report safety activities to all employees.
12.Welcome all safety suggestions
13.Cross-mark all accident areas
14.Conduct safety training lectures periodically
Enforcement => Enforce adherence to safety rules and safe
practices

The safety maintenance, should be practiced by each and everyone in the

industry.
It is the responsibility of both the management and workers.

Hence, safety rules must be made compulsion and each and everybody
should practice them, and the people should be penalised, in any case, if
they violate, neglect safety practices.

At the same time, the employees should be rewarded or given due

recognition for their better contribution to implement safety rules and
practices.

These four E's, if they are strictly practiced in an industry, the accidents can
be reduced and further prevented.
 SAFETY ORGANIZATION
Employees at all levels of the organization are involved in practicing safety
procedures

Role of management in safety organisation

Top management must accept full responsibility and must apply a good
share of its attention to the safety that may eliminate almost all the
accidents

In order to achieve adequate safety performance and prevent accidents

management must
1. Make it clear to all levels of supervision and to all workers that
management is behind the safety program.
2. Provide a safe and healthy place to work, including
 Safe equipment and tools
 Safeguard machinery
 Processes and operations are planned and arranged with careful
attention to safety
 An inspection system to discover and correct all hazards
Role of management in safety organisation

3. Provide adequate training and supervision to develop safe

work habits in all employees
4. Organizing safety activities as a continuing function which
includes
 Investigating of all accidents
 Reporting of accidents to the proper authorities
 Development of accident statics as a means of
eliminating cause of injury
 First aid treatment
Role of safety officers in safety organisation :

The safety officers are specialists employed by management to direct

the work of employees and advice them with regards to safety.

Their main duties are

 Short term and long term planning of safety activities
 Monitoring safety performance continuously
 Advising managers in matters relating to safety
 Supervision of the work of safety committees
 Conducting safety inspections and accident investigations
 Overall direction of activities aimed at prevention of accidents
Role of supervisors and foremen in safety organisation

The role of management also apply to supervisors and foremen.

The persons who gives direct instructions to employees is in a key

position in reducing accidents, is closely associated with the work
force, knows them personally and is acquainted with then habits,
attitudes and personal qualities.

The intelligent support of able supervisors and foremen is essential to

any safety program.

Proper training of supervisors in safety programs is essential.

Role of workers in safety organisation
The workers are directly involved in the work, to avoid themselves being
injured, they have to follow safety programs.
 Every worker should report unsafe working conditions which are
outside his own control to the supervisor.
 They should not interface in the work of fellow employees in a way
liable to create hazards
 They should not allow other employees to interface with their own
work in such a way
 The have to strictly follow the safety programs designed by
management, safety officers and supervisors.

Role of trade unions in safety organisation

Trade unions are recognised unions of workers (group of workers) whose
main aim is to protect the rights and duties of workers.

Members of trade unions should participate directly or through their

representatives in safety inspections, in formulating safety rules and
making recommendations
 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE:
Preparedness for emergencies is a tool for bringing people principally
company staff, community representatives and local authorities,
together to allow effective communication about risk and planning for
emergency response.

Successful industry require the support of the communities in which

they operate and emergency response partners.

Fire department and police

 Public health authorities.
 Transport companies and suppliers
 Emergency health services
 Welfare services.
 Environmental agencies.
 Public information authorities and media organisations, etc
 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

A fast and effective local response to an incident can be the most

important factor in limiting injury to the people as well as damage to
property and the environment.

Key elements and elements that need to be covered in emergency

response plan include
 Criteria for triggering alarm signals
 Clear reporting procedures.
 Communication equipment that can reach all participants,
such as mobile phones, pagers
 Adequate emergency equipment
 PRECAUTIONS TO BE OBSERVED WHILE WORKING IN AN HAZARDOUS
ENVIRONMENT:

Though the management takes utmost care to implement safety rules and safety
practices, accidents do occur, because of negligence of workers/employees when
they are working in hazardous environment.

1. All the moving parts of the machines which are like cause accidents must be
properly guarded

2. While the overhead cranes are operating, sufficient precautions are to be taken
to keep the personnel alert who are directly under the moving objects and such
machine is to be thoroughly checked and kept in condition.

3. For high pressure units like boilers and pressure vessels proper devices like
safety valves and alarms are to be provided to indicate danger, if any, and they are
to be installed at a distant place from the main concentration point.

4. As the fatigue is one of the reasons to cause accidents, it should be removed by

giving rest pauses to the workers during their working hours
 PRECAUTIONS TO BE OBSERVED WHILE WORKING IN AN HAZARDOUS
ENVIRONMENT:

5. The workers should be properly trained on the machines what they use.

6. The work should be allotted according to the physical and mental abilities

7. Proper temperature are lighting should be provided in the mental abilities of

the worker

8. The ground should always be kept clean from oily or slippery matter

9.The machines should be correctly loaded and the speeds and feeds are also to
be maintained at the recommended levels

10. Posters depicting safety measures and slogans on prevention of accidents are
to be prominently displayed at salient points in the industry.

11. Fire extinguishers are to be installed at suitable places to meet in case of fire
hazards

12. Ample exit is to be provided to evacuate the workers rapidly, in case of fire
PRECAUTIONS WHEN HANDLING ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT (SAFETY
RULES UNDER INDIAN ELECTRICITY ACT, 1923)
The various safety rules under Indian Electricity Act, 1923 generally called
as, IE Rules, are

1. AlI the electrical supply lines and apparatus shall be of sufficient

mechanical strength and meet specific power ratings

2. Service lines are to be provided with suitable cut-out devices.

3. Bare electrical conductors should be inaccessible to human contact and

switches are provided in readily accessible position.

4. Every electrical appliance should have name plate showing the rated
voltage, power, amperage, ete

5. First-aid boxes, fire buckets and fire extinguishers should be provided at

the work place
 PRECAUTIONS WHEN HANDLING ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT (SAFETY
RULES UNDER INDIAN ELECTRICITY ACT, 1923)

6. Only the authorised and licensed electrician should do the electrical

works such as installations, repairs and maintenance

7. Every installation should periodically tested and inspected atleast for

every 5 years

8. Sufficient clearances from the ground level are to be provided when

electrical overhead lines are running

9. All conductors of overhead lines should have a good breaking strength

10. Whenever necessary, lightening arrestors are to be provided to ensure

protection against electrical surges and subsequent damages to building and
human life.

11. Any person commits break of these rules shall be punishable for every
such break with a fine upto Rs 300/-,