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| Tuesday, 12 October 2004 |
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Occupational Health and Safety Week - Oct. 12 - 16: Industrial workers - accidents at work by Aryadasa Ratnasinghe There is the common belief that most of the accidents take place either at home or on the road, mostly due to negligence, carelessness and stupidity. Factories too contribute their share involving the workers while at work, who are at risk when concerned with power-driven machinery. Falling from heights, or heavy objects falling from heights also causes serious, if not fatal, accidents. Mishandling of goods is also responsible for many accidents, which could have been easily avoided by being careful. Among industrial accidents photophthalmia (disorder of the conjunctiva or even the retina of the eye) is caused by intense light, specially during electric arc welding or by the use of oxy-acetyline torches. "Beyond momentary glare and dazzle, there is no immediate effect of exposure to intense ultra-violet radiation. A few hours later, however, the victim many observe coloured rings around lights, which arise due to oedema of the corneal epithelium. This condition may be followed by pain and a feeling, as if grit in the eye, excessive secretion of tears and intolerance to light. Fear of blindness may lead to emotional upset." says Dr. Donald Hunter, an authority on industrial accidents. Consumption of excessive liquor Inexperience of the worker and the consumption of excessive liquor are the two principal factors that lead to accidents at work. Accidents which were formally charged against fatigue, are now attributed to personal equations. It is said that accident statistics show that they are mainly attributed among those exposed to risks. In the prevention of accidents in factories and the protection of workers, emphasis has been laid to observe care and alertness while at work. Most workers, believing on their experience, do not take any serious view over them. Transmission machinery Transmission machinery is responsible for many accidents in factories, which are very often serious, if not fatal. They are caused by the workers coming into contact with revolving shafting, or other moving parts of machinery, while engaged in oiling bearings, adjusting belts, cleaning shafts, or doing other work, while machinery are in motion. Such accidents usually happen within the fraction of a second, with no time to prevent such an occurrence. The enforcement of law has reduced workers' susceptibility or proneness to accidents in factories, though it is rarely observed, or not at all, until something goes wrong. In the old days, high-powered Ruston Hornsby engines were used to drive the machinery, but, today, electricity has replaced them, mostly in tea factories. The law insists that every employee should be protected, while at work, by supplying the necessary material, and providing good supervision. If loose clothing, such as an apron, a sarong, a saree, a coat end, ragged sleeves or a cloth in hand of a cleaner, were to come in contact with the running shaft, it may, at once, wrap around the shaft, and before the person is aware of what is happening, he may be caught, whirled around and killed or severely wounded. (I know of a case where a woman, while bending to pick up something from the ground, was caught in the shaft, when her long hair got entangled with it whirling her away and removing the scalp from the head). Transmission machinery with moving belts are a real danger as they cause fatal accidents. every kind of transmission machinery is a potential hazard prone to accidents, and the law requires that such vulnerable places must be guarded from outside contact. Now, with electricity available in most factories, motors or engines are driven independently, without using belts to produce power transmission. Industrial accidents It was in England that steps were first taken to protect the workers from industrial accidents. By the Factories Act, 1937, as amended by the brief Act, 1948, the safety and health of the factory workers were looked into and First Aid equipments were made available in factories for treating causalities. In Sri Lanka, the Factories Ordinance No. 45 of 1942, came into force in 1950. The provisions of this Ordinance are based, generally, on the Factories Act (1937) of Great Britain. It lays down various requirements affecting the safety, health and welfare of workers employed in factories. Notification of accidents causing loss of life or disabling a worker, for more than three days, must be reported. Dangerous occurrences, such as the bursting of a revolving vessel, wheel or grindstone, the collapse of a building, or failure of a crane and certain fires and explosions, should also be notified, whether or not injury results. The use of underground workrooms is only allowed, subject to stringent requirements as to the conditions involving the workers. Lifting or moving of excessive loads by persons is prohibited under the law. The Workmen's Compensation Ordinance and the amendments thereto, provide for the payment of compensation to workmen who suffer personal injury by accident, arising out of and in the course of employment. Insurance of the worker is not compulsory, but optional, if he so desires. Different types of implements or machine tools are prone to cause accidents, whether serious or not, whenever they are not guarded from direct contact by workers handling toothed gears, chain gears, belts and pulleys. Such accidents are generally severe, and usually result in permanent mutilation of the hand or hands. There are many guards for power presses which include fixed, automatic or interlocked types. Unfortunately, some workers are loath to use safety devices, because they consider them as useless for an experienced worker, but only suitable for the young and the inept. They think that there is something professional about them, to escape from accidents, in the same way that a barber will not demean himself by using a safety razor. In certain occupations, protective clothing is of great importance. Stiff hats, helmets, rubber aprons, thick coats, overalls, skin guards, rubber boots, gloves and goggles are standard articles used widely by workers handling chemicals, which are toxic when they come in with human contact. Doctors, engineers and physicists have constantly collaborated in their efforts to save workers from possible injury. The longest English word is the name of a lung disease contracted by miners, i.e., 'Pneumonoultramicrocsopiscilicovolcanoconioses' (a 45 letter word) that has enriched the English Vocabulary. Safety Week The Occupational Health and Safety Week falls from October 12 to 16 in every year, and workers are warned to protect themselves from accidents at work, by observing greater care than usual. Lead, manganese, phosphorus, arsenic, mercury, carbon bisulphide, benzene, dinitrophenol, tetrachlorethane, tri-cresyl phosphate, dioxide, methyl bromide, chlorinated naphthalene, nickel carbonyl, nitrous fumes etc. are poisons relating to industrial disease from which workers suffer due to improper use, without any safety precautions. |
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