1
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Introduction
2
Industrial occupation enhances the economic prosperity of the
people & the country by generating broader employment
opportunities
But at the same time, these industries may create unsafe work
and work environment because of the inherent sources of hazard
present in their material, process, technologies or products
These inherent sources of hazards in one hand may pose the risk
of accidents and disease to the people within the industrial
premises whereas in the other to the general public in the
surrounding areas and the environment in large
Introduction
3
Safe work and workplace is the contemporary base for increased
production and enhanced productivity
Occupational health and safety cannot be isolated from other problems
like wages or job security
Management has both legal & moral responsibilities to provide a safe &
healthy workplace
Safety & accident prevention is of concern to managers at least partly
because of the shocking number of deaths & accidents occurring at work
Supervisors play a key role in monitoring workers for safety
Safety Hazards & Health Hazards
4
Safety hazards are aspects of the work environment that have the potential of
causing immediate & sometimes violent harm or even death.
E.g. poorly maintained equipment, unsafe machinery, exposure to hazardous
chemicals, etc.
Potential injuries include loss of hearing, eyesight, cuts, sprains, bruises,
electric shock
Health is a state of physical, mental & social well-being
Health hazards are aspects of the work environment that slowly &
cumulatively lead to deterioration of health
The person may develop a chronic or life-threatening illness or become
permanently disabled
Causes may be toxic chemicals, stressful working conditions
Effects may be cancer, respiratory disease, psychological disorders,
depression, etc.
Who Is Involved with Safety & Health
5
The success of a safety & health program requires the support
& cooperation of managers
Top management must support safety & health with an
adequate budget
Operating managers are also responsible, since accidents &
injuries will take place & health hazards will exist in the work
unit
Specialists can help them reduce accidents & occupational
illnesses
Suggestions for keeping healthy environment
6
Making sure workers get enough fresh air
Providing enough light and illumination
Avoiding unsafe building materials and furnishings
Testing new buildings for toxins before occupancy
Providing a smoke-free environment
Paying attention to workers’ complaints
Costs of Accidents
7
Workers’ compensation premiums;
Time lost due to injury;
Time to investigate/report accidents;
Damage to equipment/materials;
Work stoppages/personnel changeover
Causes of Accidents and Illnesses
8
Human causes responsible for majority of accidents due
to carelessness, day dreaming, inability, human deficiency
Environmental causes include: tools; equipment; physical
plant; general work environment
Working conditions include excessive work hours, leading
to fatigue, noise, boredom, lack of proper lighting, etc.
Chance Occurrences: Such as walking past a window just
as someone hits a ball through it
Preventive Measures
9
Education: create awareness with news, articles, or placing
signs at the accident prone area
Skill training: can prevent accidents
Engineering: job and equipment design reducing fatigue and
boredom. E.g. changing poor lighting into specific lighting
Protection devices: shoes, gloves, safety glasses and other
necessary items
Regulation enforcement: E.g. Not smoking in "No smoking"
zones
Preventive Measures
10
Reducing unsafe acts through selection & placement: Identify traits that
might predict accidents on the job. E.g. Employee Reliability Inventory (ERI)
Reducing unsafe acts through motivation: Posters, incentives, positive
reinforcement
Conduct safety & health audits & inspections: Employee safety committees
Employee participation: Employees involved in designing the safety program
Management needs feedback from inspections, reports, and observations
Safety should be part of organizational culture
Top management must be committed to safety
Emerging Issues in OHS
11
Alcoholism
Drug abuse
Stress
Emotional illness
Computer related health problem
HIV/AIDS
Smoking
Violence related work problems.
OHS and Nepal
12
The ILO estimates that around 250 million workers
meet occupational accidents &160 million suffer
occupational diseases each year
Out of that, around 1.1 million people die of
occupational accidents & diseases each year worldwide
In Nepal, it is estimated that each year around 20,000
workers meet workplace accidents & because of which
around 200 lives are lost
Legal Provisions in Nepal
13
The Labour Act of 1992 (Chapter 5) provides basic
requirements for OSH to be implemented in industrial
establishments
The main officers responsible for implementation of the OSH
provisions of the law are the labour officers and factory
inspectors
A number of regulations and technical standards are expected
to be issued in order to specify measures to be taken
14
The Ministry of Labour has, therefore, secured a modest budget for
monitoring equipment
This is an initial step in establishment of the national OSH Center
In 1996, the National Occupational Safety and Health Project was
set up and its activities were started that is to play a key role in
promoting OSH in Nepal
The main objective and activities of the National OSH Project are
to compile data on OSH in Nepal, including measurement of the
levels of noise, lighting, dust and chemicals in industrial
establishments, with a view to developing national standards
15
Its activities include:
Procuring basic equipment, including those for the measurement of noise, lighting,
dust, toxic substances in the air and thermal conditions at workplaces, as well as
equipment so that a laboratory can be established
Developing standard formats or checklists for conducting surveys on toxic
substances in the air, noise, lighting, dust, chemicals and the working environment
at industrial worksites
Collecting relevant standards and information on practices followed in other
countries
Analyzing the data compiled as a result of the national survey and setting national
standards, taking full account of the feasibility of implementation in the national
context
Conducting awareness campaigns by organizing seminars and workshops for the
managers and workers from selected industrial fields
Developing OSH information sheets dealing with practical preventive measures
Occupational Health Safety in the Labor Act, Nepal
16
Arrangement relating to health and safety:
Neat and cleanliness of work environment
Arrangement for noise pollution
Drinking water facility
Sufficient water for emergency, fire, or toxic hazards
Separate, toilet for male and female
Declaring all or some part as no smoking zone
Compulsory medical check ups for each employee
each once in a year
Contd.
17
Protection of eyes: equipments for eye protection
Protection from chemical substance
Arrangement and equipments for protection from
fire
Dangerous machinery to be fenced
Lifting and carrying excessive loads not allowed
Pressure plants: measures against ensuring safe
working plants
Contd.
18
Power issue order to make arrangements for safety
Labor office has this power
If not followed, labor office can order close down unsafe parts
Duty to inform
Company should notify labor office if any worker dies or is injured within
three days
If employee is contracted with occupationally related disease labor office
should be notified within 7 days
Labor office can investigate the incident
Power to determine standard
Necessary standards will be published in the Nepal Rajpatra
Extra Reading:
On 2 December 1984 the worst accident in history occurred:
Poisonous methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a storage tank at a Union Carbide
plant in Bhopal, India, killing 3,000 people (both employees and people living
near the plant).
Another 300,000 were injured. The accident was the result of operating errors,
design flaws, maintenance failures & training deficiencies.
Bhopal Gas Disaster
When over 40 tonnes of highly poisonous methyl isocyanate gas leaked out of the
pesticide factory of Union Carbide at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh state. Thousands
immediately died of poisoning. At least 20,000 have died in the years since, and
ten more die every month due to exposure-related diseases.
In the scandal that followed the disaster the company was taken over - chairman,
Robert Kennedy who had 35,000 shares in the company, profited by $70,000.
19
Union Carbide’s policy at the plant was to switch off the refrigeration unit to
save about Rs.700 (US $50) per day. If the cooling unit had been switched
on, a runaway reaction could have been delayed or prevented. The factory
workforce had been halved to maximize profits, training was reduced from
six months to 15 days, and routine maintenance was very slack.
Equally over-confident was J. Mukund, Carbide’s works manager, who said,
“The gas leak just can’t be from my plant. The plant is shut down. Our
technology just can’t go wrong. We just can’t have such leaks.” As soon
as it was confirmed that the gas was from the Union Carbide plant, the chief
medical officer denied that the gas was fatal, instead he described it as a
minor irritant.
The 120,000 victims who survived however face a future of misery. They
suffer from acute breathlessness, brain damage, menstrual chaos, and loss of
the body’s immune system leading it to be dubbed chemical AIDS.
20
The first claim against Union Carbide sued for damages of up
to $15 billion. Then without any consultation with victims’
representatives, the government reduced the claim to just over
$3 billion. Four years later with no consultation, the
government settled for $470 million.
A less damaging incident had occurred in 1982, but despite the
warning this should have given the company, T S Viyogi,
Labour Minister at the time said, “A sum of Rs. 25 crore
[US$17.8 million at 1982 exchange rates] has been invested in
this unit. The factory is not a small stone, which can be shifted
elsewhere. There is no danger to Bhopal, nor will there ever
be.”
[Source: ALU Issue No. 39, April - June 2001]
21
