Dear All,
This is a good discussion. The Safety Officer's role is a suggestive one. Many times, his suggestions are not taken into consideration by management. When an accident occurs, everyone, including management, looks to the safety officer for an explanation. If it is a reportable accident, he has to undergo criminal proceedings. How challenging a safety officer's job is!
Please view the attachment for "How to handle deviations from a safety officer's suggestions."
Regards,
Srinivasa Rao. M
From India, Calcutta
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21This is a good discussion. The Safety Officer's role is a suggestive one. Many times, his suggestions are not taken into consideration by management. When an accident occurs, everyone, including management, looks to the safety officer for an explanation. If it is a reportable accident, he has to undergo criminal proceedings. How challenging a safety officer's job is!
Please view the attachment for "How to handle deviations from a safety officer's suggestions."
Regards,
Srinivasa Rao. M
From India, Calcutta
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Hi Srinivasa Rao,
Great attachment. What I understand from the same is that there is a requirement to install one swing. Different views regarding the same from people are shown through the pictures, in which only the Safety Officer comes forward to think about a standard swing.
I hope I correctly understood, or else please correct me and come forward with the right interpretations.
Great contribution! Keep participating and sharing your expertise with us.
Thank you.
From India
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Great attachment. What I understand from the same is that there is a requirement to install one swing. Different views regarding the same from people are shown through the pictures, in which only the Safety Officer comes forward to think about a standard swing.
I hope I correctly understood, or else please correct me and come forward with the right interpretations.
Great contribution! Keep participating and sharing your expertise with us.
Thank you.
From India
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Dear All,
Following news paper report may interest you:
Nandesari fire: KDAC Chem employee held
Owner, Three Others Booked In Case
The Times of India, 25th November 2010
Vadodara: Police have arrested one person in connection with Nandesari-GIDC fire incident that claimed one life and left seven injured. C M Jhalani, security manager of KDAC Chem Private Ltd, was arrested as he was responsible for the factory’s security and safety. A police complaint was registered against four persons including owner of KDAC on Monday night.
The cops have registered offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under IPC section 304 and others which included vitiating atmosphere so as to make it noxious to health. The other accused have been identified as owner Dhansukh Gaur, Kamal Chandani and K K Patel. “We will seek remand of Jhalani from a local court on Wednesday. He was arrested as he was responsible for the security of the factory premises,” said Chhani police inspector T P Parmar.
“We will arrest the other accused soon as investigations are on,” Parmar added. Jagdish Gohil, an employee of the KDAC was killed when several blasts ripped through the company’s plant on Monday morning. Police officials and officers of Directorate, Industrial Health and Safety (DISH) Department are jointly investigating the reasons behind the accident.
An officer from DISH visited the factory premise on Tuesday to ascertain whether any more bodies were trapped inside the plant. “We checked the factory premises and found that there was no other casualty. We are now trying to ascertain the reasons behind the event,” said P M Shah, factory inspector.
The incident spread panic in Nandesari-GIDC that houses hundreds of chemical units. About 20 factories located in the vicinity of KDAC suffered damages due to the blasts and fire. When the first blast occurred, most of the workers rushed out of the factory even as Gohil stayed back to close the valve of the boiler. However, a second blast flung Gohil in air and his badly charred body was recovered some time later by firebrigade officials.
“The incident has again raised issues of safety in industrial areas. The government just doesn’t understand the hazards of chemical disaster. If reports prepared after such accidents are not taken seriously, citizens might face face worse tragedies than the Bhopal gas leakage,” said environment activist, Rohit Prajapati. “I had demanded details of accidents in chemical units, reports made after the accidents and action taken by the government from Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority in June this year under the RTI Act. But, my application was directed to another department. I’m yet to get any information,” Prajapati added.
From India, Coimbatore
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Following news paper report may interest you:
Nandesari fire: KDAC Chem employee held
Owner, Three Others Booked In Case
The Times of India, 25th November 2010
Vadodara: Police have arrested one person in connection with Nandesari-GIDC fire incident that claimed one life and left seven injured. C M Jhalani, security manager of KDAC Chem Private Ltd, was arrested as he was responsible for the factory’s security and safety. A police complaint was registered against four persons including owner of KDAC on Monday night.
The cops have registered offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under IPC section 304 and others which included vitiating atmosphere so as to make it noxious to health. The other accused have been identified as owner Dhansukh Gaur, Kamal Chandani and K K Patel. “We will seek remand of Jhalani from a local court on Wednesday. He was arrested as he was responsible for the security of the factory premises,” said Chhani police inspector T P Parmar.
“We will arrest the other accused soon as investigations are on,” Parmar added. Jagdish Gohil, an employee of the KDAC was killed when several blasts ripped through the company’s plant on Monday morning. Police officials and officers of Directorate, Industrial Health and Safety (DISH) Department are jointly investigating the reasons behind the accident.
An officer from DISH visited the factory premise on Tuesday to ascertain whether any more bodies were trapped inside the plant. “We checked the factory premises and found that there was no other casualty. We are now trying to ascertain the reasons behind the event,” said P M Shah, factory inspector.
The incident spread panic in Nandesari-GIDC that houses hundreds of chemical units. About 20 factories located in the vicinity of KDAC suffered damages due to the blasts and fire. When the first blast occurred, most of the workers rushed out of the factory even as Gohil stayed back to close the valve of the boiler. However, a second blast flung Gohil in air and his badly charred body was recovered some time later by firebrigade officials.
“The incident has again raised issues of safety in industrial areas. The government just doesn’t understand the hazards of chemical disaster. If reports prepared after such accidents are not taken seriously, citizens might face face worse tragedies than the Bhopal gas leakage,” said environment activist, Rohit Prajapati. “I had demanded details of accidents in chemical units, reports made after the accidents and action taken by the government from Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority in June this year under the RTI Act. But, my application was directed to another department. I’m yet to get any information,” Prajapati added.
From India, Coimbatore
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Thanks to all friends who commented on the issue.
The case mentioned by Mr. PTRC in Baroda has a lot of administrative and legal implications. As Mr. Kesava rightly pointed out, there is no standard approach for reporting or making recommendations despite the law providing for a reporting system. I strongly believe that the reporting line of the SHO should be reviewed. The SHO should report to the CEO if, by law, they are both accountable for accident occurrences.
Thank you, Mr. Pillai, for your comments.
From Mauritius, Vacoas
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The case mentioned by Mr. PTRC in Baroda has a lot of administrative and legal implications. As Mr. Kesava rightly pointed out, there is no standard approach for reporting or making recommendations despite the law providing for a reporting system. I strongly believe that the reporting line of the SHO should be reviewed. The SHO should report to the CEO if, by law, they are both accountable for accident occurrences.
Thank you, Mr. Pillai, for your comments.
From Mauritius, Vacoas
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Dear Abhay,
I always find something intersting in your posts which makes me happy too.
You may check with the statutes. No where it states that safety of the industry is vested with Safety Officer. You have to deal with the top brass for absolute responsibility for safety of his industry is vested only with him. He runs the industry. All others including Safety Officer are under his direction. Because of this now one of the Directors is made answerable for complying with statutory requirements on safety, health and welfare in India. Even appointing a Manager as in the past to escape responsibilty is not possible.
Arresting a Security Officer or safety Officer is only mokery. It may be to pacify the people aroud. In a mass psychology just for peace police have to play many games for chances of riot at accident scenes are quite common. After a few days everything goes normal.
It is better we don’t discuss much about the caliber of a safety officer in India as of now. If he is good at entertaining the Inspector he will be good. With that there will not be any adverse remarks and mangement will also be happy with it.
How often the Inspector really inspects a factory, what he inspects etc. is known to you too. If statutes are enforecd with the spirit of making it; I am sure there will not be any industrial accident at all in India.
Even proper safety education is not provided here. The Post diploma in industrial safety is not the end. You can not make a safety officer with that curriculum. What they learn is not sufficient to shape a competent safety officer. You are right in that respect. Most safety officers require perfect training if they are to do justice to their calling.
Again HRM can not escape responsibility. They have absolute responsibility for choosing the right candidate for the post of S.Officer and for that matter for every post.
I am attaching an incomplete power point presentation with a request to all in the field to complete the presentation. Let us see where we stand. It may take about 25 slides to complete it.
Regards,
Kesava Pillai
From India, Kollam
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I always find something intersting in your posts which makes me happy too.
You may check with the statutes. No where it states that safety of the industry is vested with Safety Officer. You have to deal with the top brass for absolute responsibility for safety of his industry is vested only with him. He runs the industry. All others including Safety Officer are under his direction. Because of this now one of the Directors is made answerable for complying with statutory requirements on safety, health and welfare in India. Even appointing a Manager as in the past to escape responsibilty is not possible.
Arresting a Security Officer or safety Officer is only mokery. It may be to pacify the people aroud. In a mass psychology just for peace police have to play many games for chances of riot at accident scenes are quite common. After a few days everything goes normal.
It is better we don’t discuss much about the caliber of a safety officer in India as of now. If he is good at entertaining the Inspector he will be good. With that there will not be any adverse remarks and mangement will also be happy with it.
How often the Inspector really inspects a factory, what he inspects etc. is known to you too. If statutes are enforecd with the spirit of making it; I am sure there will not be any industrial accident at all in India.
Even proper safety education is not provided here. The Post diploma in industrial safety is not the end. You can not make a safety officer with that curriculum. What they learn is not sufficient to shape a competent safety officer. You are right in that respect. Most safety officers require perfect training if they are to do justice to their calling.
Again HRM can not escape responsibility. They have absolute responsibility for choosing the right candidate for the post of S.Officer and for that matter for every post.
I am attaching an incomplete power point presentation with a request to all in the field to complete the presentation. Let us see where we stand. It may take about 25 slides to complete it.
Regards,
Kesava Pillai
From India, Kollam
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Dear Mr. Keshav Pillai,
I tried to add something to the presentation, as you mentioned there are about 25 slides to complete. Could you please repost it with headings under which we are supposed to brainstorm? Otherwise, I don't think anyone in this forum will even attempt to do so.
Please provide at least an index on which we can base further thinking.
Thank you.
From India
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I tried to add something to the presentation, as you mentioned there are about 25 slides to complete. Could you please repost it with headings under which we are supposed to brainstorm? Otherwise, I don't think anyone in this forum will even attempt to do so.
Please provide at least an index on which we can base further thinking.
Thank you.
From India
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Dear All,
SHO is a statutory appointment. He is a "mini-inspector" whose basic responsibility is to ensure the implementation of the law. In that sense, he is a representative of the Factory Inspectorate. Still, the law does not require him to submit any confidential reports, which may provide him with the opportunity to speak out. In some state rules, he is not accorded any protection against management wrath if he is fulfilling his legal duty honestly. I knew of a case where an SHO was asked to resign and leave. We invited SHOs and had several rounds of discussions to form the Safety Professional Association with the objective of safeguarding the interests of SHOs. We got it registered and campaigned with the state government to provide protection to the SHOs. We presented a memorandum to the concerned Minister when we called on him at his office. We also organized a seminar where we invited the then Labor Commissioner and presented the problems faced by SHOs. At that time, I was working as a Safety Officer at a Chemical Factory. Although there is a clause of protection in the Model Rules, the state government had not included it. After our efforts, the government agreed and amended the Rules. However, I found that the SHOs are not very interested in organized efforts to safeguard their interests or the social interest. The association is now defunct. I hope that incidents like when an SHO is picked up by the police and put behind bars should once again generate interest among SHOs to get organized, discuss the problems, and empower themselves.
Jagdish Patel
From India, Coimbatore
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SHO is a statutory appointment. He is a "mini-inspector" whose basic responsibility is to ensure the implementation of the law. In that sense, he is a representative of the Factory Inspectorate. Still, the law does not require him to submit any confidential reports, which may provide him with the opportunity to speak out. In some state rules, he is not accorded any protection against management wrath if he is fulfilling his legal duty honestly. I knew of a case where an SHO was asked to resign and leave. We invited SHOs and had several rounds of discussions to form the Safety Professional Association with the objective of safeguarding the interests of SHOs. We got it registered and campaigned with the state government to provide protection to the SHOs. We presented a memorandum to the concerned Minister when we called on him at his office. We also organized a seminar where we invited the then Labor Commissioner and presented the problems faced by SHOs. At that time, I was working as a Safety Officer at a Chemical Factory. Although there is a clause of protection in the Model Rules, the state government had not included it. After our efforts, the government agreed and amended the Rules. However, I found that the SHOs are not very interested in organized efforts to safeguard their interests or the social interest. The association is now defunct. I hope that incidents like when an SHO is picked up by the police and put behind bars should once again generate interest among SHOs to get organized, discuss the problems, and empower themselves.
Jagdish Patel
From India, Coimbatore
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@ Kesava Sir ,
Thank you very much for explanation . I'll also try to complete presentation.
@ All Seniors ,
Is there any booklet or articles or special notes which guide safety & welfare officer to interprets all sections of factory act -1948 with examples ?
Regards,
Abhay
From India, Mumbai
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Thank you very much for explanation . I'll also try to complete presentation.
@ All Seniors ,
Is there any booklet or articles or special notes which guide safety & welfare officer to interprets all sections of factory act -1948 with examples ?
Regards,
Abhay
From India, Mumbai
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Dear Friends,
I want to share with you an interesting court case in Mauritius. The case was lodged in 1999, and the court judgment was in favor of the injured person.
[Court Case]
Construction Company vs INJURED EMPLOYEE (civil case) Source: Defiplus 05/8/2010
DAMAGES PAID TO INJURED PERSON: MUR 1,000,000
[Background]
The accident occurred when the injured person was lifting a door with the help of a Co-Worker. He was knocked by the door and had to have his testicle removed.
[Injured person's version] - Plaintiff
The injured person believes that the accident occurred because he was not given gloves, other equipment, and adequate manpower.
[Witness version]
The witness believes that the accident occurred because there was no equipment, and only two people were assigned the task of lifting a heavy door upstairs.
[COMPANY ARGUMENTS]
The company argued that it was the duty of the main contractor (the company was a subcontractor on a construction site) to ensure the safety of its employees. A doctor witness for the company stated that the injured person already suffered from sterility.
[COURT JUDGEMENT]
The Judge ruled that the company proved negligence by assigning the task to only two people instead of four. Moreover, they failed to comply with the provisions of OSHA 2005 regarding PPE and Risk Assessment.
[LESSONS LEARNED] (my opinion)
No company is immune.
Consider safety aspects before entering a contract.
Ensure compliance with laws regarding Personal Protective Equipment.
Consider health aspects during recruitment.
Conduct risk assessments on tasks and site conditions.
Implement appropriate systems of work.
Provide adequate training.
I have analyzed this case on a PPT. Unfortunately, I failed to upload the same. Can anyone help me?
Regards
From Mauritius, Vacoas
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I want to share with you an interesting court case in Mauritius. The case was lodged in 1999, and the court judgment was in favor of the injured person.
[Court Case]
Construction Company vs INJURED EMPLOYEE (civil case) Source: Defiplus 05/8/2010
DAMAGES PAID TO INJURED PERSON: MUR 1,000,000
[Background]
The accident occurred when the injured person was lifting a door with the help of a Co-Worker. He was knocked by the door and had to have his testicle removed.
[Injured person's version] - Plaintiff
The injured person believes that the accident occurred because he was not given gloves, other equipment, and adequate manpower.
[Witness version]
The witness believes that the accident occurred because there was no equipment, and only two people were assigned the task of lifting a heavy door upstairs.
[COMPANY ARGUMENTS]
The company argued that it was the duty of the main contractor (the company was a subcontractor on a construction site) to ensure the safety of its employees. A doctor witness for the company stated that the injured person already suffered from sterility.
[COURT JUDGEMENT]
The Judge ruled that the company proved negligence by assigning the task to only two people instead of four. Moreover, they failed to comply with the provisions of OSHA 2005 regarding PPE and Risk Assessment.
[LESSONS LEARNED] (my opinion)
No company is immune.
Consider safety aspects before entering a contract.
Ensure compliance with laws regarding Personal Protective Equipment.
Consider health aspects during recruitment.
Conduct risk assessments on tasks and site conditions.
Implement appropriate systems of work.
Provide adequate training.
I have analyzed this case on a PPT. Unfortunately, I failed to upload the same. Can anyone help me?
Regards
From Mauritius, Vacoas
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Dear Sir,
You can easily upload files by following these steps:
1. Click on the "manage attachments" option located below the space where you enter the content to post.
2. A new window will open with a browse option.
3. Click on browse and select the file you would like to upload. Please note that the maximum file size allowed is 10MB, and the supported file types are mentioned in the newly appeared window.
4. Click on "upload" after selecting the file.
5. After uploading, close the window.
6. The file is now attached. Type your message and then click on "submit."
I hope this will assist you in uploading files. If you encounter any further issues, please let me know.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
From India
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You can easily upload files by following these steps:
1. Click on the "manage attachments" option located below the space where you enter the content to post.
2. A new window will open with a browse option.
3. Click on browse and select the file you would like to upload. Please note that the maximum file size allowed is 10MB, and the supported file types are mentioned in the newly appeared window.
4. Click on "upload" after selecting the file.
5. After uploading, close the window.
6. The file is now attached. Type your message and then click on "submit."
I hope this will assist you in uploading files. If you encounter any further issues, please let me know.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
From India
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