Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Five questions to ask before starting work

Usually during the first toolbox meeting or "Take 5" (that's what they call toolbox meeting during my time in shipyard), it's always very natural to be awkward as everyone is strange with each another. Personally, I usually use these 5 questions to break the ice on translating safety awareness to them for the first time. I'll begin with...

Before you start your assigned task, it's important to ask yourself

Q1. Based on the assign task, what could go wrong?
  1. Will I be caught in, on under or between?
  2. Will I be in contact with chemical, heat, electricity or sharp item?
  3. Will I be strike against or by item or object?
  4. Will I fall from the same level or from elevation?
  5. Will I overexert which led to sprain, strain, repetitive motion or excessive noise?

Q2. Why am I doing this job this way? Is there a safer way to do it?

Q3. How could doing it this way hurt me or others?

Q4. How can I do it more safely?

Q5. What am I going to do to protect myself / others?

Only by having answering all these 5 questions with positive replies, you can be certain that your assigned task is safe to proceed. It's most encourage to have a open discussion with your colleagues. Ensure them that they have the right to refuse any jobs that could endanger their life or health. Ensure them that with their reasonable reasons, they will not be penalised for refusing to proceed with the assign task. I'd met too many workers who are afraid to say no to their unethical employer as they are afraid that they might be send back to their hometown or be sack for refusing a job. With such fear in them, it's just another accident waiting to happen. As a Safety Officer, it's our job to protect and ensure that the workers are able to complete their assigned tasks without compromising their safety. Complacent takes your job, ethic protects your conscience.

Work safe, Be safe.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

New invisible difficulty faced by Safety Officer

During my 2 years being a Safety Officer, I faced lots of difficulties such as uncooperative worker to stingy bosses. However, I came across a new type of problem that perhaps will only occur during bad times, which might have very great impact to your safety level. The problem is fear. The psychological state of most employee will be badly affected due to the poor economy. As you know, during bad times, retrenchment, reduce of overtime, pay cut are some of the usual practice conducted by most company. Although knowing that it's inevitable to do cut cost to allow the company to stay afloat, the damage caused to the employee is relatively huge too. I'd spoken to some of my foreign colleagues from China & India & they told me that their hometown is also badly affected. While the normal inventories continue to increase in cost, salary continue to be reduced. Maintaining a sustainable life seems to be harder. Worries caused them to stay off focus on their job & in this instant, it's just a matter of time for accident to happen.

I fully understand that as a Safety Officer, this type of psychological problem is never easy to resolve. Having putting effort to prevent morale from dropping, there are very little solutions to smoother a worry heart. I would strongly recommend that top management NOT to stay in their comfortable office to avoid confrontation with the employee. On the contrary, they should linger with the company employee, irregardless of ranking, gather their respect & trust so as to face the problem together.

I must emphasis here that my view on Safety is not 100% via Enforcement. Education plays a major part in Safety. Injecting fear (via enforcement) to the employee no longer applicable as our employee now are relatively educated, not like our fore-fathers. Only by understanding via education can led the workplace safety to another higher level. If you are from a Top Management, talk a stroll down the alleyway of your production area. It's time to communicate with them. Safety Starts With Me! Just my personal thoughts.

Work Safe, Be Safe...

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Classification of chemical

Chemical usage had entered into our human daily life. The convenience & effectiveness had usually blind our rational in decision if using a chemical is required. Nonetheless, chemicals had already establish a firm ground to stay, for a very long time. They may appear in solid, liquid or gas form. Some may be visible, some may not. Some may come with a odor, some odorless. Some can kill instantly (acute effect), others may kill you slowly (chronic effect) & some may not have significant effect on humans. So, to ensure everyone know of the potential harm associated when they use the chemicals, it's best to classify your chemical in an international format so to alert users of the danger when they attempt to use the chemical. I'd attached a Hazard Rating list (courtesy from BRADY), integrated with the types of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to be use. You may use this as a guide to classify your chemicals in ensure Chemical Safety in your workplace.

Please take note, you are to classified your chemicals ONLY via the information stated in the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) of the chemical.

E.g: With reference to the chemical MSDS, you may rate a chemical with slight toxicity, a flash point of 85°F, stable condition under normal condition with recommended PPE of safety glasses & glove as 130B. Of course you may consider giving it a number for your easy reference.

Of course, to truly understand the types of hazards associated with the chemical, it's to your best interest to read up the MSDS for more details. Shall you have intention to use or purchase this rating sticker, please visit BRADY websites for more information.

Safe working always.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Confined Space

Working in a confined space can be very dangerous if you are unaware of the types of potential danger that dwell in a confined space. Before we discuss on the danger, perhaps it will be very beneficial to identify what is a confined space.

A confined space is
  1. Any workspace which is not meant/design for human occupancy.
  2. Any workplace where there are limit to the natural lighting.
  3. Any workplace where the source of ventilation is compromised.
  4. Any workplace where the point of exit is limited & the movement out of the workplace required restricted body movement.
Now, since you had identify that your workplace is a confined space, what are the items that you might want to focus on?
  1. The workplace might face Oxygen deficient or enriched. (Typical oxygen level is between 19.5% - 23.5%)
  2. Any release of flammable or toxic gas from the workplace? (e.g: methane, sulphur dioxide)
  3. Sufficient ventilation in the confined space?
  4. How many workers are allowed in the confined space? (This question could be very tricky)
  5. Which type of lighting is allowed?
Knowing the potential problems, it's now to tackle them. How?
  1. First, you will definitely need a portable gas meter (to measure the oxygen level, Carbon dioxide (CO2), Lowest Explosive Limit - Combustible gas (LEL - <10%) & Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S).
  2. A adequate portable ventilation fan to provide ventilation to your confined space, with proper ducting.
  3. Ensure that the workers enter the confined space with minimum of a buddy system. (The one will the portable meter shall enter the confined space & his buddy shall await at the entrance.
So, what is the proper procedures on entering a confined space?
  1. Quite identical to all works, apply for a permit to enter a confined space from your safety officer / confined space assessor.
  2. Before entering a confined space, ensure that the opening for the confined space are opened. Identify the types of cargo that are stored inside the confined space to evaluate on the potential hazards (e.g: types of hazardous gas).
  3. Conduct an initial gas check with a gas meter to check on the oxygen level, carbon dioxide level & any present of hydrogen sulphide & combustible gas.
  4. Shall any of the four parameters failed to meet the safe condition, connect the portable ventilation fan with ducting into the confined space & ventilate the area to a reasonable time. Preferable to conduct gas checks at every 30 mins interval.
  5. Shall the gas meter identify that the confined space is well ventilated, enter the confined space in this order. First to go in, last to come out. The first person shall be the one who carried the portable gas meter. He/she shall wear the portable gas meter at least above 1m from his feet. He/she shall evacuate the group when he observed any danger indicate from the gas meter. He/she shall also be the last person to exit from the confined space.
  6. Shall the confined space be previously contain any flammable or toxic substance, the confined space shall be scheduled for a every 3hr gas check. Other situation will be at an interval of 6hr. The records of the air level shall be recorded & display at the entrance of the confined space at all times together with the permit.
  7. Once all work had been done, conduct a last check in the confined space, ensure that no tools & foreign materials are left in the area. Upon ensuring that the area is vacant, exit from the confined space & locked up the area. Inform your safety officer / confined space assessor to close the permit.
Shall anyone be had fainted or unconscious in the confined space, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RESCUE HIM IMMEDIATELY. Conduct a gas check in the confined space to check for any deficiency or outrage on harmful gases. You may either enter the confined space when the area is free from danger OR enter the confined space with appropriate rescue gears such Self-Contained-Breathing-Apparatus (SCBA). Please ensure that you are well trained to conduct rescue before you attempt to conduct one.

Shall you required to know more about the legislated requirements, you may purchase a copy of CP 84 Code of Practice for Entry Into and Safe Working in Confined Space at Spring Singapore. Remember, work safe. Take no chance.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Hot Work Assessor

The demand for a Hot Work Assessor is extremely high, especially in the Oil&Gas (O&G) & Shipyard Industry. The reason is, a lot of cutting, welding, gouging, grinding of metal is involved in these two mentioned industry. A Safety Assessor certification can be obtained from NTUC LearningHub. So, what is the standard procedure?

  1. Hot work permit will be raised by the supervisor responsible for the work in the daily safety committee meeting.
  2. Hot work assessor will then check if any incompatible work conducted within the period of hot work. (eg: spray painting in the adjacent or in the actual tank). Coordinating the works will be recommended.
  3. Hot work assessor will then conduct check on the location of hot work to be conducted. Ensure that you check not only at the actual location but also at the adjacent location.
  4. Ensure that any fire protection requirements (e.g fire cloth) are in place before the work is allow to proceed.
  5. If the cleaning job or fire-protection placement are unsatisfactory, reject the hot work permit. Request improvement before conducting the 2nd check.
  6. Repeat step 4 & 5 until satisfactory.
  7. Allow hot work in confined space for up to 7 days. Non-confined space for up to 14 days.
  8. Supervisors are to renew the permits if expired. Expired hot work permits are not allowed to be use.
  9. After the hot work had completed. The supervisor shall inform the Safety Committee & return the hot work permit to the Hot Work Assessor for record keeping.
So, is it very dangerous? Well, the answer will be yes if you are not willing to spend quality time in addressing the status of the area where hot work is going to be conducted. For example:

Cutting of vertical metal panel will require your full attention. You'll be surprise that the cutting sparks can fly or travel up to 15 metres or more. Mainly depends on the height of work to be conducted. Any oil, sludge residue or fuel fumes will be ignited if the sparks falls on it. Hence, proper & thorough cleaning is required. The greatest obstacles that you will be facing will be from the Project Engineer. He/she might attempt to save cost in cleaning the oil/sludge area & rush you to approve the work. Hence, you (as a safety officer) need to check & inspect until you feel confident & satisfied with the condition before you sign the hot work permit. Remember, once signed, you are responsible for any mishap occur from the hot work.

You might wanna note that a fire watch is mandatory required whenever a hot work is being conducted. The Fire watch shall be equip with a working fire extinguisher & to stand-by at the hot work area at all times. His duty is to extinguish any open flame that occur during the course of hot work. Notwithstanding, he's required to monitor the hot work after completion for a consecutive 4 hours.

So, that's the brief explanation of a Hot Work Assessor. I would recommend that conduct regular inspection of hot work to improve your judgement. In this field, experience is everything. It's perfectly alright to be extra careful. Don't let peer pressure get you. Remember, it's you who sign the permit. Not them. They just want to complete their job ASAP. Be firm! All the best to you.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Fire Safety @ Petrol Station

Some Fire Safety video to share, courtesy from Youtube.




Hope that this video created some fire safety awareness. Cheers!!!

Friday, June 5, 2009

WSHC video - Worker who lost right arm in an accident

Hi there,

Need some video to flash for safety promotion? Try this. This video from WSHC can help to create hand safety awareness.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Having headaches creating Risk Assessment for your workplace?

Fret not my friend. I have just what you need to heal your headache. Click HERE.

Got this from MOM website. Take your time to digest it.

Cheers

Another tragic happened in Singapore (1 Jun 09)

A foreign worker (China) had died from multiple fractures after been trapped in a machine at Yishun plastic factory on Monday (1 Jun 2009) night. For more infor, please view the attached newspaper cutting.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Forklift Safety

Calculation of Incident Rate, Injury Severity Rate & Injury Frequency Rate

Hi all,


I guess it's inevitable that one day, accident might happen in your workplace. May it be minor to major, as long as the incident is recordable (more than 3 days Medical Leave), your safety statistic will be affected. Your boss will be asking from you shortly, what is the updated Incident Rate, Injury Severity Rate or Injury Frequency Rate. Not very familiar to you? Well, here is how we calculate these 3 items.


1) Incident Rate = (No. of recordable injuries X 200,000) / No. of hours worked (since the last recordable injury)

*Recordable Injuries = Any work related injury or illness that requires more than first aid
treatment and/or results in loss of consciousness, restriction of work motion or transfer to another job.



2) Injury Severity Rate = (No. of loss time injuries X 1,000,000) / No. of hours worked (since the last injury)


*Loss time injury = Any work related injury or illness which prevents that person from doing any work day after accident.


3) Injury Frequency Rate = (No. of accident x 1,000,000) / No. of hours worked (since the last injury)

It's important that we, as a Safety Officer provides correct information to our employer on the correct definition of the terms used in Safety. We are the professionals right? The following treatments are considered first aid and are not to be counted as recordable injury cases:

• Non-prescription medication at non-prescription strength
• Tetanus immunizations
• Cleaning, flushing, soaking surface wounds
• Wound coverings, butterfly bandages, steri-strips (not closure devices such as sutures,
stitches or staples)
• Hot or cold therapy
• Non-rigid means of support
• Temporary immobilization device used to transport accident victims
• Drilling fingernail or toenail, draining fluid from blister
• Eye patches
• Removing foreign bodies from the eye with only irrigation or cotton swab
• Removing splinters or other foreign material from areas other than the eye by irrigation,
tweezers, cotton swabs or other simple means
• Finger guards
• Massages
• Fluids to relieve heat stress


These statistics are especially critical to MNC organization. Most of the data that you need for the calculations usually are easily retrieved from Human Resource Department. As a Safety Officer, it's always good to keep a regular update records of all the employees in your company. Information like date join, previous medical information, records of injuries, etc. could be very helpful during an incident investigation.

Hope that my information here helps someone out. As usual, work safety & GOD bless everyone.