Chapter 1 Flashcards
Industrial safety and health is generally defined as:
The science of the expectation, understanding , evaluation and control of hazards(dangers, risks)arising in or from the workplace that could damage or harm the health and well-being of workers, and possible effect on the surrounding communities and the general environment.
Ethics:
The rules or standards governing the conduct or behavior of a person or the members of a profession,
Understanding the past can help safety & health professionals
•examine the present and future with a sense of perspective and continuity.
Modern developments in health & safety are part of
the long continuum of developments
Safety & health tragedies in the workplace greatly accelerated (made quick or fast) the pace (steps) of
the safety movement
Hawk’s Nest (USA) Tragedy
- Silicosis (lung disease)
- takes 10 to 30 years to show up
- workers began dying within a year
- hundreds died before project completed
- due to drill of a passage through the mountain
- Part of a hydroelectric project
- workers breath dust caused by drilling and blasting
- 10 hrs
- high silica content in the mountain
Bhopal, India Tragedy
- leak of over 40 tons of lethal poison
- methyl isocyanate (MIC)
- hydrogen cyande
- protective equipment was not working properly
- owner accused of:
- Criminal neglegence
- corporate prejudice (collective damage)
- avoidance
- result
- 3,000 killed
- 5,000 disabled
- most dies within 5 years
- compensation: 470$ million
Chernobyl, USSR Tragedy
- graphite moderated reactors exploded
- operator error and inexperience
- resulted in a series of errors - reduced the coolant flow to the reactor
- resulted in overheating, shattering fuel rods, coolant into steam
- steam pressure blew the 1000 ton steel/cement shield
- exposing the hot core to atmosphere
- explosive force was 1 ton of TNT
- 116,000 evacuated from a 30km radius
- result:
- thousands dead
- one million deaths from unconfirmed cancer
- radiation reached other countries (people, food,…)
- disability
Compare, Chernobyl and Hiroshima
- chernobyl was the worst nuclear accident in history
- chernobyl sent out 400 times more radioactive fallout
- contaminating more than 200,000 square km of europe
- 600,000 people exposed to high doses of radiation
- >350,000 had to evacuated
Early safety program were based on
the three E’s of safety:
- Engineering
- Education
- Enforcement
Engineering
aspects of a safety program involve design improvements to both product & process, where the manufacturing processes can be engineered to decrease potential hazards associated with them.
Education
•ensures that employees know how to work safely and why it is important to do so.
Enforcement
•involves making sure employees abide by safety policies, rules, regulations, practices, and procedures. (Supervisors & fellow employees play a key role to ensure this task).
The grandfather of all the organizations is
the National Safety council NSC
the largest organization in the US devoted to safety and health practives/procedures
The first Cooperative Safety Congress met in
Milwaukee in 1912
after the national safety council
national council of industrial safety - NYC
National Safety Council Mission
The National Safety Council eliminates preventable deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the road through:
- leadership,
- research,
- education and
- advocacy. (publicsupport)
OSHA
Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
the government’s administrative arm for the Occupational Safety & Health Act of 1970
- OSHA sets/removes safety & health standards,
- conducts inspections,
- investigates problems
- Encourages both employer and employees to work safely and apply safety standards.
- Issues summons& assesses penalties
- take action against unsafe employers.
- Provides safety training & injury prevention consultation.
- Maintains a database of health and safety
NIOSH
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the Department of Health and Human Services
- required to publish annually a comprehensive list of all known toxic substances.
- provide on-site tests of potentially toxic substances so that companies know what they are handling and what precautions to take
An accident is considered severe if one or more of the following results from this accident:
- At least five fatalities
- At least ten injured
- At least 200 evacuees
- Extensive ban on consumption of food
- Releasesof hydrocarbons exceeding 10,000 tons
- Enforced clean-up of land and water over an area of atleast 25 km2
- Economic loss of at least $5 million
