How Can We Identify All Potential Hazards in Industrial Premises to Prevent Accidents?

Hi Dipil Ji, I hope you are doing well. Thank you for your reply. There was no problem, but I have been waiting for your response for several days, and finally, today is the day.

Accident Prevention: A Sensitive Topic

Accident prevention is a very sensitive topic; in safety, everything carries equal importance. However, this aspect is crucial as it can save lives and shows immediate effects. I aspire to study and learn more in this area as I strongly believe in the term "ALL ACCIDENTS ARE PREVENTABLE."

Questions on Accident Causes and Mitigation

I have several questions:

1. What are the major causes of accidents?
It varies according to the process and work activity. In general, the major cause is unsafe acts/other factors, with an 80/20 ratio.

2. What are the major factors that lead to unsafe acts?
It may include gender, age, workload factors, etc.

3. What are the mitigation measures for these unsafe acts?
Training, awareness, and addressing skill-based errors like slips of action through behavior-based safety concepts can help mitigate these issues.

Human and Machine Failures

Regarding human failures, what are the causes for machine or process failures? Factors like maintenance, poor guards, poor design, or device failures can contribute to these failures.

Identifying Potential Hazards

My requirement now is to know if there are any new procedures for identifying all potential hazards in industrial premises. This could involve creating a safety culture that encourages reporting every near-miss and incident without fault-finding. Utilizing pre-operation and post-operation user checklists before starting work and ending shifts can also help in hazard identification.

As you mentioned, it is challenging to obtain all accident records. Thus, I am interested in an effective methodology to identify all potential hazards, making it easier to implement cost-effective control measures.

Thank you for taking the time to read this email. I appreciate your patience and guidance. I am also grateful for Raghu Ji's assistance and information. I look forward to your suggestions and corrections.

Thanks a lot,

Ashok

Before trying to answer your query, I would like to mention a few things:

1. If you expect a reply from me only regarding your query, please send me an email instead of starting a thread addressing only me. Other forum members might feel odd about such communication and may not share their views. Let it be an open thread with the hope that some of our forum members will help you by replying to the thread.

2. If you are particular about starting a thread, you can send a private message asking for participation in that specific thread.

3. In this thread, you have raised many issues. For a member to participate and provide a satisfactory answer, they need to spend a significant amount of time on it. Try to be concise in your postings—perhaps two or three queries or concerns at a time. This will likely increase the level of participation.

Now, let me share my views on what you asked:

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS?

We believe there are three causes behind every incident, even if it's a near miss:

- Physical Cause
- Human Cause
- System Cause

It's not always the employees making mistakes. Why are your systems allowing them to make mistakes?

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR FACTORS THAT LEAD TO UNSAFE ACTS?

Many factors start with the mental stress of an employee. You may refer to the attachment I downloaded from the internet.

WHAT ARE THE MITIGATION MEASURES FOR THESE UNSAFE ACTS?

As you rightly mentioned, training and behavior-based safety are very good tools.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF MACHINE OR PROCESS OR ACTIVITY FAILURE?

It's due to a lack of operating discipline. This is the key to safety in running plants, covering broad concepts from housekeeping to preventive maintenance.

NOW MY REQUIREMENT IS THERE ANY OTHER NEW PROCEDURE FOR IDENTIFYING ALL THE POTENTIAL HAZARDS IN THE INDUSTRIAL PREMISES?

I know about HIRA, JSA, etc. There's nothing new that I don't know. Let's hope some of our other members will comment on this.

Regards.

For the last point of identifying ALL the hazards, I have something to add.

1. Identification of Hazards
Identification of hazards is an ongoing process. It can be reactive as well as proactive.

2. Reactive Type
As and when there is any near-miss or incident, the hazard for that activity is to be identified.

3. Proactive Type
In addition to HIRA and JSA, you can also try HAZOP, FTA, and ETA. I remember reading on the Internet about the Columbia satellite accident in which Kalpana Chawla died along with six other astronauts on February 1, 2003; the FTA was not complete and had an open end.

4. Design Stage Tools
In the design stage, the latest tools are FMEA and FEA.

5. Implementation of ISO 28001
This standard is on security management to counter terrorist threats. We might not have imagined this hazard, but it has become vital after the Twin Towers attack.

If anyone has any more views on this, please share.

Regards,
Sudhir

I am still not very convinced of tools like ETA, FTA, RA, etc., being used indiscriminately without understanding the requirement. I have been more aligned with the conventional school of safety management, having led programs to complete millions of accident-free man-hours in large companies like Tata Steel, Torrent Power, and Reliance in India.

Recommendation for Safety Management

I recommend implementing simple programs like JSA interlaced with a meticulously conducted Hazards Catching Program in a company with a mission to achieve, step by step, firstly one million and then progressively ten million accident-free man-hours. At each step, we must conduct a thorough review of our existing practices and near misses that could have jeopardized the achievement of the targets. Never compromise on safety - it should always be zero.

Regards