Industrial Safety: Definition, Need and Programmes for Industrial Safety

Definition:
 The importance of industrial safety was realized because of the fact that every
year millions occupational/ industrial accidents occur which result in loss of
production time equivalent to millions of man hours, machine hours etc.

 Of these about one-fifth production time is lost by those actually injured due to
temporary and permanent disablement and the remaining production time is lost
by fellow operators/ people in helping the injured, in taking care of the damage
caused by accident etc. the loss to the industrial unit would appear much more
alarming when death cases due to accidents are considered.

 It is therefore essential to identify/examine the causes of industrial accidents and take

steps to control them.
 Many disciplines are concerned with this safety approach. Industrial engineering is one
field which deals with design of efficient work place, equipment and industrial layout
design.
 Other disciplines which can contribute to safe working environment are psychology,
sociology and Medicare science.
The following steps may be taken to effectively and efficiently
eliminate an unsafe working environment:
(1) Elimination if possible of the causes of accidents.

(2) If it is not possible to eliminate the cause of accidents, make arrangements to shield
the hazardous place by guards, enclosures or similar arrangements.

Need for Safety:

 In view of above discussion, need and concern for safety is therefore need of the
hour.

 There are some direct costs/ effects of an accident but there are certain indirect
costs involved in it also e.g. machine down time, damage to machine, ideal time
of nearby equipment and horror created among workers, loss of time etc. in aid
cost compensation, legal implications and allied costs etc.

 So safety measures would not only eliminate/ avoid above cost but would mean
performing their moral responsibility towards workmen/operators also.
  An accident is by virtue of unsafe factor he results of an unsafe condition it may
be the combined effect of two.

 An unsafe act results in the form of operator/people doing thing without proper
authority, misuse of safety devices, ignoring warnings and precautions etc.

 An unsafe condition may be present in various forms e.g. faulty or defective

electrical fittings, inadequate maintenance of gang way.

 Use of defective tools etc. So to prevent the occurrence of accidents, unsafe acts
have to be avoided/ eliminated or checked.

 An accident is by virtue of unsafe factor he results of an unsafe condition it may

be the combined effect of two.

 An unsafeact results in the form of operator/people doing thing without proper

authority, misuse of safety devices, ignoring warnings and precautions etc.

 An unsafe condition may be present in various forms e.g. faulty or defective

electrical fittings, inadequate maintenance of gang way.

 Use of defective tools etc. So to prevent the occurrence of accidents, unsafe acts
have to be avoided/ eliminated or checked.

Unsafe acts:
For rectification of the causes because of unsafe acts attention must be paid
to following factors:
(1) Personnel adjustment:
 If a foreman/supervisor identifies that a worker is unfit either physically or mentally
or a job/ task, he should be quickly taken off the work in consultation with the
personnel department.

(2) Method/technique used:

  Some techniques requiring change should be replaced by safe methods.

(3) Operator training:

 Job method may be safe or unsafe but the operator must be trained to perform
the job.

(4) Publicity and education about accident prevention:

 The workers/ people are led by the skill, energy and leadership of
foreman/supervisor.

 So it is the duty of these people to educate the workmen about prevention of

accidents.

 The aim is to teach them to become safety conscious so that they are able to
recognize an unsafe act or situation and act in such a manner that accident is
avoided.

The unsafe conditions:

 To avoid accidents due to unsafe conditions, various provisions have been
discussed in the “Factories Act” these may be concerned with moving parts of
prime movers, electrical generators and transmission machinery: fire protection
devices, control of dangerous fumes, lifting of excessive weights and safe guards
over lighting machines, chains and ropes etc.
Thus safety in industry helps:
(i) Increasing the production rate.

(ii) Reducing the cost of production.

(iii) Reducing damage to machinery and equipment.

(iv) Preventing unwanted suffering and pain to employees of the organization.

(v) Preventing premature/untimely death of talented workers who may be an asset to the
enterprise and society.

Safety Programmes:
A safety programme intends to identify when where and why accidents occur. On the
same lines a safety programme aims at reducing accidents and associated losses. A
safety programme is initiated with the assumption that it is possible to prevent most
work connected accidents.
A safety programme is a continuous process and tries to be decrease the influence of
personal and environmental factors which cause accidents. Normally a safety programme
consists of providing safety equipment’s and special training to workmen or employees.

Indian standards Institute has done commendable job in this context and lays down as
follows:
(i) Safety precautions to be taken during manifesting operations.

(ii) Standards for proper lighting, ventilation and proper layout of the industrial unit.

(iii) Standards and specifications of safe industrial operations and practices etc.

(iv) Requirements for effective maintenance of tools and equipment’s.

(v) Guidance on safe cutting and welding processes.

(vi) Guidance on use of powered industrial trucks, belt conveyors and fire protection
equipment’s.

(vii) Safety requirements for personal protective equipment’s.

(viii) Classification of hazardous chemicals and provision of accident provision tags.

(ix) Markings for handling and labelling of dangerous items/ goods.

(x) Standards for safety:

(a) In industrial building

(b) Safety procedures to be followed in electrical work

(c) in use of electrical appliances in hazardous area and explosive atmosphere.

(xi) Specifications for protective clothing, safety helmets face shields and safety
equipment for eyes ears lags hands and feet etc.