An accident is an unwanted
event that is never scheduled or planned. Many factors contribute to accidents'
occurrence; significant losses and even bodily injury can result following each
incident. These basic facts are well understood, yet accidents continue to
occur, property damage accumulates, work schedules remain interrupted, and
injuries reduce personal income.
Are accidents inevitable? Do they
occur as a natural consequence of a daily routine? Can they be avoided? All
accidents are caused. They are the result of human error, and they involve
unsafe behavior or an unsafe condition, or a combination of both. Process
improvement opportunities are always identified following an accident, and
prompt corrective measures are scheduled. Unfortunately, the inherent ability
of the environment or behavior that initially caused the accident is seldom
addressed in its entirety. Thus, we wait for the next accident in order to
identify the next required corrective action. Hindsight has future value, but
only after the accident occurs. The opposite of hindsight is foresight. With
foresight, you identify accident potentials; with hindsight, you investigate
accidents. Let us consider the value of each.
Safety
education for all levels of management personnel and for workers is vital for
the success of the safety education program. It can also be said that the
safety education in industry, is an activity which aims at practical results in
accident prevention.
The
following are the needs for the safety education program in an industry
a.
The specific accident causes cannot be
determined
b.
To be sufficiently specific with
regard to the safety problems of each worker.
c.
To educate each worker to be aware and
prevent avoidable things, and to conduct the work safely
d.
To provide immediate job knowledge
e.
To provide skills and methods of work
f.
To give understanding of the hazards
in the industry
g.
Impressing upon them the need for prompt
report of any personal injury
h.
For an understanding the causes of an
accidents and accident prevention methods, and techniques and
i.
To know the first aid techniques.
Review of
related literature is an important aspect of research. Research takes
advantages of the knowledge which has accumulated and the past as a result of
constant human endeavor. It can never be undertaken in isolation of the work
that has already been done on the problem which is directly or indirectly
related to the study proposed by the researcher. Successful research can be
carried out only through a process of integration of past research and
knowledge with current research.
Although
with the development of a new, integrated approach to system safety
engineering, the approach is illustrated with a case study involving the design
of a high-pressure experimental research facility. The system safety
engineering framework incorporates five main groups of activities including
I.
System design visualization,
II.
Failure modes and
III.
Effects analysis,
IV.
Multidisciplinary team formation,
benchmarking and enterprise management.
V.
Coupling systems engineering approach
with the recognized principle of failure mode avoidance was found to
significantly enhance the engineering design process.
Two
important decisions that need to be made are selection of appropriate risk
assessment techniques and implementing appropriate risk control measures usually
accidents that have low probability have high consequence incidents, despite
the growth of process safety over the last decade, serious accidents still
happen. The problem with multiple management systems is complexity and confusion
and the resulting errors. To avoid such problems, it may be best to develop one
management system that covers safety, health, environment and quality. An
effective safety, health, environment and quality management system features
basic components:
1.
Policy,
2.
Leadership and accountability;
3.
Organizational infrastructure;
4.
strategic planning; safety, health,
environment and quality management; customers, contractors and suppliers
5.
Performance monitoring; and continuous
improvement.
An effective
safety, health, environment and quality program is a good management system that
provides a method to translate safety, health, environment and quality varies
into concrete performance measures.
Occupational Safety and Health Act
(OSHA) Alliance Program has been working on Design for Construction Safety, an
initiative to reduce construction injuries arid fatalities through engineering
design. The same safety engineering principles being promoted by these efforts
can be applied to consumer safety as well. The most effective way to prevent
injuries and fatalities in the workplace is to address hazards in the design
phase rather than attempting to manage them after the fact. The first step in
any design is to create a preliminary design. The design for safety process
begins with an assessment of hazards and their associated risks. Once hazards
are identified, the design for safety methodology is applied.
American
Society of Safety Engineers in 2002 listed the traditional methods of
controlling workplace hazards includes;
1.
Engineering controls,
2.
Safety training and the
3.
Use of personal protective equipment.
From the
above three methods, safety training adjusted the most effective means for the reduction
of injuries.
ILO OSH in 2001 presents that a great
deal of effort has been made by both academic and regulators and industry to
investigate and develop approaches to address safety and the environment. The
approaches to safety seem to put emphasis on management functions, guidelines,
industry standards and quality principles to establish the safety management
system for each organization.
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