Fundamentals of Safety

Digvijay Kumar, Sr. Manager – Corporate Safety Dept.

02 January 2021
 TERMINOLOGY
• SAFETY
• Being Safe; Freedom from risk or danger (Dictionary).
• It is set of rules which is required to save the human life, equipments and
environment;
• Degree of freedom from harm or danger. (when you do some activities or you work
somewhere, then what is the freedom we enjoy from harm or danger? So, that is why that freedom is degree of
freedom. For example, if you are working in a control room, AC control room and you are working in a blast
furnace or you are you are operating a machine in works, in soft load or a person who is driving a car, or
someone who is basically launching a missile, or somebody who is basically cooking in the kitchen? So, you
find out that they do not expose to same amount of danger or risk. There is degree of difference. So, that degree
of freedom is safety.

HAZARD: to risk, to put in danger of loss or injury (Dictionary)

Any real or potential condition, that can cause injury illness death to personnel
damage to or loss of the system equipment property or damage to environment.
(MIL-STD-882-D)
• Accident
The undesirable event giving rise to death, ill health, injury,
property damage or other losses.
It is an unexplained event or series of events resulting in death
injury, occupational illness damage or loss of equipment or
property or damage to environment. (MIL-STD-882-D)

• Incident : Any event that could have resulted (near miss) or did
result (accident) in :
Injury or illness
Property damage
Environmental release
Adverse community reaction
Business interruption. (MIL-STD-882-D)

RISK= Accident severity (Consequences) X Probability

 Types of Accidents

 Non Reportable Injury:

Non-Reportable injury is an injury by reason of which
the person injured is prevented from working for a
period of less than 48 hours immediately following the
accident as per FA & Rules

 Reportable Injury:
An injury causing disablement extending 48 hours
beyond the day or shift on which the accident occurred
as per Factories Act & rules.
 Types of Accidents
 Near Miss Incident:
An event that had the potential to lead to an accident or an incident where no ill
health, injury, damage or other loss occurs is referred to near miss incident.
(Explanation: In near miss cases, event occurs but does not lead to an accident causing
injury, damage or loss.
Hazards may not be referred to as an near miss, as hazards are real or potential
condition, that can cause injury, damage or loss.)

 Dangerous Occurrence:
As prescribed under Section 88-A of the Factories Act and relevant Factories Rules:

Ex: Bursting of Pressure Vessel, Release of Toxic or harmful gases, collapse of

building, overturning of a crane etc. (without causing injuries)
Henrich Triangle
.
 Other Terminologies (IS 3786)
Disabling Injury (Lost Time Injury) - An injury causing disablement
extending beyond the day of shift on which the accident occurred.
NOTE - An ideal system of accident statistics would take into account every occurrence causing injury however
slight. Unfortunately, this is impracticable because the record of trivial injuries varies not only according to
the number sustained but also according to the strictness with which a firm insists on this being reported. On
the other hand. if an accident keeps a man away from work for a day or more, his absence is bound to be
noticed. In other words, the ‘one day’ or, ‘one shift’ accident has been chosen because it is a standard unit
which cannot vary to a great extent from firm to firm or from year to year. This is, therefore, used for
practical purposes as it is the nearest accurate figure to the ideal and is a very simple standard to use.

Safety module: Accident, Rev 0.0, Mar 2007

 Man-Hours Worked - The total number of employee-hours worked by all employees
working in the industrial premises. It includes managerial, supervisory, professional,
technical, clerical and other workers including contractors’ labour.

CALCULATION OF MAN-HOURS WORKED

Man-hours worked shall be calculated from the pay roll or time clock recorded including
overtime. When this is not feasible, the same shall be estimated by multiplying the total
man-days worked for the period covered by the number of hours worked per day. The
total number of man-days for a period is the sum of the number of men at work on each
day of the period. If the daily hours vary from department to department separate
estimates shall be made for each department and the result added together. When
actual man-hours are not used, the basis on which the estimates are made shall be
indicated.

Safety module: Accident, Rev 0.0, Mar 2007

 COMPUTATION OF FREQUENCY, SEVERITY AND INCIDENCE RATES:
Frequency Rate – No of loss time injuries per million manhour worked.
The frequency rate shall be calculated both for lost time injury and reportable lost time injury as follows:
FA= Number of lost time injury x 1 000 000/ Man-hours worked
FB= Number of reportable lost time injury x 1 000 000/ Man-hours worked

NOTE 1 - If the injury does not cause loss of time in the period in which it occurs but in a subsequent period, the injury should be
included in the frequency rate of the period in which the loss of time begins.
NOTE 2 - If an injury causes intermittent loss of time, it should only be included in the frequency rate once, that is, when the first loss of
time occurs.

NOTE 3 - Since frequency rate FB is based on the lost time injuries reportable to the statutory authorities, it may be used for official
purposes only. In all other cases, frequency rate FA should be used for comparison purposes.

Severity Rate: Total Man-days lost due to injuries per million manhour worked.
SR=(Total Man Days lost x 1,000,000) / (Total Man-hours worked)

Safety module: Accident, Rev 0.0, Mar 2007

Cause of Accidents
 ORIGIN OF FAULTS

HUMAN FAILURE

UNSAFE ACTS UNSAFE CONDITION

ACCIDENT

INJURY
 Unsafe Act of Persons 88 %
Unsafe Mechanical /
Physical Condition 10 %

Natural Calamities 2%

98 % OF THE ACCIDENTS CAN BE PREVENTED.

Safety module: Accident, Rev 0.0, Mar
2007
 Domino Theory
First Scientific Approach to Accident/Prevention – H.W. Heinrich

An accident is one factor in a sequence that may lead to an injury. The factors can be visualized as a series
of dominoes standing on edge, when one falls, the linkage required for a chain reaction is completed.
Each of the factor is dependent on the preceding factors.
He concluded that 88 per cent of accidents
resulted from 'unsafe acts' and 10 per cent
from 'unsafe conditions', making a total of
98 per cent judged to be preventable, with
the remaining 2 per cent judged as
unpreventable.
 Causes of an Accident
 Unsafe Act: A departure from an accepted, normal or
• Examples of unsafe acts:
correct procedure or practice which has in the past
• Improper PPEs
actually produced injury or property damage or has the • PPEs not being used
• Use of non insulated tools
potential for producing such loss in the future.
• Use of plier for pulling of fuses
• Fuses kept in compartments
• Tools not suitable for Environment
Conditions
• Colour coding,voltage, technical details
Causes that Lead to Unsafe Acts not displayed
• PTW system not followed
• Lack of knowledge or skill (Unaware of safe • Casual approach in isolation
practice, unskilled etc.)
• Over confidence
• Improper attitude (disregard of instruction etc.) • Behavioral aspects
• Working in drunken condition
• Physical or mental deficiency (defective eye sight or
hearing, fatigue etc.)
 Causes of an Accident
 Unsafe Conditions: Any physical condition
which deviates from accepted norm or
practice and has the potential to
cause accident.
- Inadequate working conditions
- Controllable
Examples of unsafe condition:
1. Inadequate / lack of guards
2. Defective tools / equipments
3. Unsafe / no scaffold
4. Lack of shield
5. Defective vehicles
6. Lack of electrical earthing
7. Congested areas
8. Poor illumination
9. Lack of insulation on hot and cold
surfaces
10. Lack of cordoning
 Hazards at
Construction Sites
Construction of Thermal Power Plants

Nature of Activities
• Deep Excavations and Blasting Operations
• Civil Foundations
• Building & Roads
• High-rise Steel Structures
• Heavy and Precision Machines
• Large Tanks and Vessels
• High Pressure and Temperature Pipelines
• Chimney and Cooling Towers
• Electrical Installations and Equipment
 Construction of Thermal Power Plants

Site Environment
• Construction is complex and varying in nature
• Has practically all types of construction works
• Manpower during peak activities – 3,000 to 6,000
• Percentage of local (unskilled) labor high
• Arrangement of scaffolds / staircase temporary in nature
• Urgency / forced to complete the job
• Multi agencies in one complex
• Enforcement of PPEs not there
• Poor supervision
• Violation of safety rules / legal provisions
Hazards in Construction of Thermal Power Plants
Hazards in Construction of Thermal Power Plants

• Deep Excavations
• Working at Heights
• Temporary Work Platforms and Scaffolding
• Welding and Gas-cutting Operations
• Electrical Hazards
• Construction Equipment (Cranes, Derricks and Hoists)
• Lifting and Rigging Appliances
• Motor Vehicles and Mechanized Equipment
• Hazardous Materials and Chemicals
• Confined Spaces (Tanks and Vessels)
• Fire Hazards
• Housekeeping
METHODS OF ACCIDENT
PREVENTION
Less supervision

Strict supervision
 Thank You

Any further clarification @

digvijaykumar01@ntpc.co.in