1.0 PREAMBLE
Safety is a
panacea for the sustenance of life and property, without safety there will be
no security anywhere, be it at home, school, industry, hospital, offices etc.
Upon this backdrop, there is a growing emphasis on the place of safety in the
workplace. Laws, conventions, regulations and guidelines have continued to
build up dealings with safety issues.
Organizations
are increasingly being held responsible and accountable for safeguarding the
health and safety of their employees and the environment. Since industry is a
conglomerate of workers, environment and machinery it becomes pertinent that industrial safety must be a
watch word in action and deed.
2.0 INTRODUCTION
2.1 Safety is defined as a state of
being free and protected from dangers, hazards or accidents arising from the
environment or workplace (Laboratory, workshop, house, road, school etc).
It is
generally concerned with the prevention of accidents, promotion of occupational
health, prevention of environmental pollution and security of entire workforce
or equipment.
Safety also
deals with freedom from hazards or conditions that possesses the potentials for
causing injury, disease, economic loss or damage to properties and the
environment. Thus matters dealing with safety often tends to broaden the
concept to include issues of health, Safety , Environment and Security (HSES).
3.0 EVOLUTION
OF SAFETY SCIENCE
3.1 Accidents were generally unknown during the
pre-industrial era, there were no records. Man had minimal activities and
exposures, his operations were centered around his neighbourhood. Man used
sticks, stones and horns as weapons. Animals such as camels and horse were used
for transportation purposes. All these changed following the 18th
and 19th century industrial revolution with evolution in science and
technology.
With the
explosion of industries, came quest to invent new methods, materials tools and
products. Thus man began to spend more hours in the laboratories and factories.
This gave rise to fatigue, mistake and increased accidents at the workplace.
There were also the total absence of protective safeguards and devices. The
escalating death tolls, loss of man-hour and loss to equipment and infrastructure
led to the protests by workers, which later gave birth to trade unionism and
some safety associations.
3.2 Some of
these associations include:
v National
Safety Council
v Association
of Safety Professionals
v American
Association of Safety Engineers etc.
Other notable
milestones in the evolution of safety sciences are;
1802 - Parliament in England
1867 –
American factories started the use of factory inspectors to ensure safety of
factory workers.
1911 – The
first workman’s Compensation Act was
passed in Wisconsin , USA
1974 –
British parliament passed the Health and Safety at Work Act. This Act was also
vital for Nigeria
1980 – European
Economic Community (EEC) published directive on the protection of workers from
risk; related to exposure to chemicals, physical and biological agents at work.
1989 – EEC
specific directive on employers obligations for improving the safety and health
of workers.
Back Home: Nigeria
v Workman
Compensation Decree 1987
v The
Factories Decree 1987
v The Mineral
Oils (Safety) Regulations of 1963 Revisited in 1995.
v The Federal
Environmental Protection Agency Establishment Decree 1988.
v The Road
Traffic Law and Federal Road
4.0 FEATURES
OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
4.1 The main features involved in the
industrial revolution were technological, socio-economical and cultural.
4.1.1 Technological
features:
v The use of
new basic materials, for example iron, steel.
v The use new
agency sources including both fuels and motive power such as coal, steam
engine, electricity and the internal combustion engine.
v The
invention of new machines such as the spinning jenny and the power loom for
increasing product.
v A new
organization of work known as the factory system which entails increased
division of labour and specialization of functions.
v Increased
application of science to industrial technology.
4.1.2 Socio-Economic
Features
v Agricultural
improvement that made possible the provision of food for a larger
non-agricultural population.
v Economic
changes that resulted in wider distribution of wealth and increased
international trade.
v Political
changes reflecting the shift in economic power.
v Social
changes including growth of cities.
4.1.3 Cultural
Features
v The workers
acquired new distinctive skills.
v The workers
tasks shifted from being a craftsman working with hand tools to machine
operator subject to factory discipline.
The word
revolution therefore, suggests sudden, violent, uprising emergent change
whereas the transformation was to a large extent gradual.
5.0 SURVEY OF
SOURCES OF COMMON ACCIDENTS
5.1 Apart from death, through illness, the
other quickest means human can attract death is by engaging in unsafe acts.
Unsafe acts ranges from removing a pot of boiling water from fire with bare
hands, to being careless on the highway while driving. Even walking through a
factory with flying dress or apparel exposes the individual to dangers.
6.0 THE
INDUSTRY AND SAFETY
6.1 Industry can generally be defined as any
environment where work/duties are carried out for achieving a specific goal.
The productivity of any industry world seriously depend on the existing work/
environmental conditions. An industry comprises the workers, materials and
machinery (Equipment).
6.1.1 Industrial Safety:
Industrial
safety therefore, could be defined as a practice or science of making a work
environment or working process devoid of avoidable danger, injury, damage and/
or ill-health. Generally, it is all about the health, safety, environment and
the security of the entire workforce (HSES).
Injuries
caused by accidents are preceded by unsafe acts/ conditions, while ill-health
results from unsafe exposure to industrial materials and activities. Therefore,
safety in the industry should be concerned with freedom from conditions that
posses the potential for causing harm, injury to workers and/ or damage to
materials and equipment.
6.2 Accidents prevention and Control
According
to the Nigerian Institute of Safety Professionals (2003), General safety
measures, also called good housekeeping, is defined as an orderly arrangement
of operations, tools, equipment, storage facilities, and supplies. It is a
practical method of getting high productivity, low accident rates and improved
employee morale.
6.2.1 Safety
Measures include:
i. Clean up the
workplace, to remove litter, trash, dirt and accumulated junk.
ii. Put tools back
in the rack or tool box when through with them, and not have them scattered on
the floor.
iii.
Keep floors, guagways, passages and staircases clean
and free from oil or grease and clear of all obstructions.
iv.
Provide suitable bins for the disposal of cleaning
materials, oil rigs, cotton waste and other refuse.
v.
Repair loose steps, unstable handrails and loose
walkways.
vi.
Keep water, air and other service hoses coiled up when
not in use.
vii.
Cooperate with material handling crew to see that
temporary storage areas are positively identified and easy to use.
viii.
Permit nothing to be stored on window edges or hung
from walls, even temporarily.
ix.
Check equipment that use coolants to ensure that oil,
coolant or water does not leak on the floor. See that absorbents are handy for
soaking up spilled liquids.
x.
Be sure flammable solvents are kept in approved
containers and are used only when needed.
xi.
Encourage employees to report conditions that
contribute to disaster.
xii.
Review accident records to determine if facility
housekeeping was a contributing factor.
xiii.
Most importantly, set a good example; Do not hesitate
to pick up unused odds and ends or litter from the floor and put them in the
dustbin. This impresses people who work for you.
6.3 Advantages
of Good Housekeeping:
A well
planned and administered housekeeping programme brings immediate and long-term
results. Some of which are:
i. Reduced operating cost: Once an
operation is clean, less time and effort is required and the cost of operation
is reduced.
ii. Increased Production: Good housekeeping
eliminates interference or delay in production, thereby increasing
productivity.
iii. Conservation of material and parts: Unused
materials and parts are stored and conserved instead of leaving them to waste.
They are used as improvise or reconstructed for other uses.
iv. Better Use of Floor Space: Clean areas
permit free movement of operators and afford easy access to machines and
equipment.
v. Low Accident Rate: A well cleaned
environment and orderly arrangement of materials/ equipment lowers accidents
rates.
vi. Save Production Time: The time that is
usually wasted searching for ill-kept tools, parts or materials is saved.
vii. Improved Employee Morale: Clean
surrounding and comparative freedom from injury improves employee morale and
enhances respect for the company’s safety programme.
6.4 Safety Equipment (Personal Protective Equipment)
The
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) requires that employers conduct a
hazard assessment to identify the appropriate personal protective equipment
(PPE) for each work activity.
6.4.1 Types of
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
1. Head Protection: Helmets or Hard hats
are designed to protect the head, skull and brain from vertical impact,
horizontal impact and in some cases contact with electricity. Safety hats shall
be non-metallic and of international standard.
2. Eye Protection: There are four types of
eye and face protection. These are: spectacles, goggles, face shield and hoods.
They protect the eye and face from chemical splashes, gases, vapour, foreign
bodies blood and body fluids in the operating theatre. Infrared light and
microwave, sparkling light etc.
3. Hearing Protector: Hearing protectors
are generally designed to block the air conduction path that noise takes into
the ear. It should be chosed to protect sound above 85dB. (decibel).
They are in
forms of disposable and non-disposable, earmuffs (attached to helmets).
Selection
criteria are:
i.
It should be capable of attenuating sound pressure.
ii.
Acceptance to users
iii.
Comfortable to users
iv.
Fit the worker
4. Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE): There
are two types of respiratory equipment. These are air purified respirators and
air supplied respirators.
5. Hand Protection (Upper Arm): The hands
are most frequently injured part of the body. The PPE (hand gloves) is used in
protecting the hands against a variety of hazards, such as abrasion,
laceration, incision (cuts) puncture, avulsion, chemical and thermal burns,
corrosion etc.
Depending on
the work done; Different types of gloves worn are: rubber gloves, PVC polymer,
leather gloves, cloth gloves.
6. Foot (Leg) Protection (Lower Arm): Protective
footwear are designed to protect the feet against injuries resulting from a
variety of hazardous such as falling objects, rolling objects, objects that can
pierce the sole, corrosive chemicals, electricity, burns from malton metals
etc.
The most
commonly used form of protective footwear is the steel toe-shoe (Booth).
7. Protective Clothing (Skin Protection): There
are different types of skin protective wears depending on the hazard. They may
be in form of coveralls and aprons. These protective clothing are designed for
passing through flames and fire with in built breathing equipment.
6.5 Safety
Signs and Symbols
Safety
signs are common sights in all industrial workplaces. There are sings and
symbols for the fire safety, electrical, chemical, biological and other
hazards. Every such safety sign however must have certain composition in order to
be an effective workplace safety sign.
Safety
signs are visual alerting device for a potential hazard, each safety sign being
made up of a key components to convey this message effectively in an emergency.
All safety signs need a signal word and a message panel or pictorial symbol in
specific colours that alert and inform workers and observers of cautions,
dangers and hazards. The word has to be printed inside a field of a certain
colour. The colour and word combination are:
v Danger and
red; Both the word and the colour need to signal an immediate hazard that can
result in death or serious injury.
v Warning and orange; warning printed in orange
tells observers of a potential hazard that could result in death or serious
injury.
v Caution with Yellow; Caution and
yellow warns of a potential hazard that could cause minor or moderate injury.
v Green; Green is for safety equipment
identification and can be used to label all safety equipment, first aid kits
and emergency egress.
Apart from
signal words, industrial safety signs are always in rectangular shape and have
vertical or horizontal wordings with accompanying symbols or pictorials.
However, not all are rectangular some chemical safety signs such as flammable
materials are usually diamond shaped.
REFERENCES
Collier P.
and Parkinson B. (1980). Workshop Process and Materials (1st Level) Hutehinson and Co. Publishers
Ltd.
Ndukwu C.
Benjamin, Onwugbuta C. Godpower (2007). Principles of Safety Sciences. Davidstones Publishers Ltd.
Ndukwu B.
G. Onwugbuta G. C. Ndukwu G. U (2009). Elements of indsutiral safety. Davidstone Publishers Ltd.
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