Safety Health and Environment (SHE / EHS) refers to the principles and practices aimed at ensuring the safety, health, and well-being of employees, as well as the protection of the environment and surrounding communities. This encompasses a wide range of areas, including occupational health and safety, environmental management, emergency response planning, and sustainability.
The goal of SHE is to create a safe and healthy work environment, minimize potential harm to the environment, and promote sustainable practices.
Safety and EHS are nothing but “SAFETY HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION“. Safety is the key aspect for all Sectors (Industries) including Homes.
Best Practices of Safety Health and Environment
To ensure the Safety Health and Environment (SHE/EHS), several best practices shall be adopted by the organizations. Complete guidance on EHS has been given below for reference purposes.
Industrial Safety Definition
Industrial safety can be defined as “measures or techniques implemented to reduce the risk of injury, loss, and danger to persons, property or the environment in any facility or place involving the manufacturing, producing and processing of goods.”
An incident is an unplanned, unexpected, and unwanted event that could lead to loss of life or cause injury or cause damage to property or the environment.
Most incidents are caused by unsafe acts and behaviors and not by unsafe conditions and equipment.
The behavior of all people in the workplace determines whether or not incidents and injuries will occur.
EHS – Unsafe Acts
- Operating without authority
- Working at an unsafe speed
- Making safety devices inoperative
- Using unsafe equipment
- Unsafe loading
- Taking unsafe position
- Teasing, Abusing
- Failure to use PPE
EHS – Unsafe Conditions
- Improper plant layout
- Improper light, ventilation
- High noise
- Unguarded machinery
- Improper ladder, railing, pathway, etc.
- Unsafe design or construction
- Hazardous process
Types of Safety Incidents and definitions
Near Miss:
The incident not resulting in injury to a person.
Ex:- Falling of Objects, Slipping on water, Explosion.
First Aid:
Incidents that require first aid can be done either at a dispensary or on the shop floor. The incident does not require the person to go to a designated Health Professional.
Medically Treated Injury:
These incidents require treatment by Health professionals such as sutures, Antibiotic referrals, etc. After the treatment can return back and can perform normal routine tasks.
Restricted Work Injury:
A person after the incident is able to attend duty but is unable to perform the routine task.
Lost Time Injury:
A person is not able to return to duty in the next 24 hours. The incident which results in the person not being able to report to duty for 48 hours or more should be reported to the inspector of factories as per the Factories Act.
Hazard and Risk
A Hazard is any situation or condition or property of materials, or machines which have the potential to cause damage, injury, or health effects combination of all.
- Electricity
- Static electricity
- Hazardous chemicals and solvents
- Falling objects
- Hot or corrosive materials
- Fire
- High Speed / Rotating equipment
- Toxic / asphyxiating gases
- Pressurized/liquefied gases
- Slippery / Sharp / Hot Surfaces
- Acid Leakages
A Risk is a combination of frequency and probability of interaction with the hazard and measurement of consequences of a hazardous event.
Examples: –
- The person on the beach enters sea water where there are sharks present.
- Working with electricity without plug tops, damaged insulation.
- Handling chemicals or getting exposed to chemicals.
Fire Safety (Fire Triangle)
In order for fires to exist, they need 3 elements:
- Heat
- Oxygen
- Fuel
By removing any one of these 3 elements, the fire will stop. So fire extinguishers are designed to take away one or more of these three elements. For example, Water extinguishers are wet and therefore take away the Heat and cool the fire. Carbon dioxide extinguishers use gas, which is heavier than oxygen, the CO2, smothers the fire and suffocates it. The gas is also very cold and cools the fire.
- Do you know where your fire extinguishers are?
- Do you know the type of extinguisher to be used for different sources of fire?
- What other types of extinguishers are there?
Selection of Fire Extinguisher
There are different types of portable fire extinguishers. Each type of extinguisher may be rated for one or more classes of fire. In some cases, particular extinguishers are not only considered ineffective against certain classes of fire, but they can also be dangerous if used in those circumstances. The classes of fire are:
Fire Classification
Class A Ordinary Combustibles
Class B Flammable and combustible liquids
Class C Flammable gases
Class D Combustible metals
Class E Electrically energized equipment
Class F Cooking oils and fats
Portable fire extinguishers are distinguishable by their labels and their coloring. The most common types of extinguishers are:
Water extinguishers
Solid red is Suitable for Class A fires. Not considered effective for Class B and Class C fires, and dangerous if used for electrically energized equipment or cooking oils or fats.
Foam extinguishers
Red with a blue band or label. Suitable for Class A and Class B fires, with limited effectiveness for Class F fires. Not considered effective for Class C fires, and dangerous if used for electrically energized equipment.
Powder extinguishers
red with a white band or label. These extinguishers are rated as either ABE or BE.
ABE-rated extinguishers are considered suitable for Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class E fires. They are not considered effective for Class F fires.
BE-rated extinguishers are considered suitable for Class B, Class C, and Class E fires, and may be used with limited effectiveness on Class F fires. They are not considered effective for Class A fires.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) extinguishers
Red with a black band or label Suitable for Class E fires. Has limited effectiveness on Class A, Class B, and Class F fires.
Vaporizing Liquid extinguishers
Red with Yellow band or label Suitable for Class A and Class E fires. Has limited effectiveness on Class B fires. Not considered effective for Class F fires.
Wet Chemical extinguishers
Red with an Oatmeal band or label (previously oatmeal color) Suitable on Class F fires and may be used on Class A fires. Not considered effective for Class B or Class C fires and dangerous if used on Class E fires.
Class D fires require special-purpose extinguishers.
Safety Health and Environment – ELECTRICAL SAFETY
Electricity is a good servant but a bad master at EHS. It can prove to be very dangerous if circuits are not properly protected. The major fault that appears in an electrical network or equipment is termed a short circuit. In a short circuit, the supply phase and neutral or earth are short-circuited accidentally due to a foreign metallic substance coming in contact with phase & neutral or earth or due to overload thereby damaging the insulation and resulting in a short circuit i.e. directly connected resulting in the heavy current flow called “short circuit current”.
This short circuit or heavy current flow heats up the terminations, switches, plugs & cables due to which temperature rises to such a high degree that it is sufficient to generate sparks which further lead to a fire.
ELECTRICAL ACCIDENTS
Electrical accidents are caused mainly by careless use of electricity, such as:
1) Lack of knowledge about the functioning of equipment.
2) Using faulty electrical cords/sockets.
3) Use of extension cords without taking proper precautions.
4) Improper earthing of the device.
5) Faulty designs/interlocks.
The major factor which plays a vital role in the severity of electric shock is the amplitude of the current, and the part of the human body through which it passes. For an accident to happen, a current of sufficient magnitude must flow through a vital organ thus impairing its function. When a person accidentally touches a live wire, the severity depends upon the skin resistance of that person, which varies from 1 K Ohm to 11 M Ohms. Generally, a current amplitude of more than 30 milli Amps is sufficient to give shock which can be fatal.
METHODS OF ACCIDENT PREVENTION
Grounding:
It is observed that in many industrial, domestic, and commercial premises, the grounding system has become unreliable. Hence, it is essential that earth resistance should be as low as possible as the current always chooses the path of least resistance. It is specified that for protective purposes, the same should not exceed 0.2 Ohms. • Under no circumstances, earthing wires in the house/flats should be connected to water pipes. This not only gives shock to your premises but to someone else also. Water pipes are coming down from the terrace and are not earthed.
Isolation transformers:
The use of isolation transformers reduces the amount of leakage current considerably.
EHS – General Safety Precautions
Incidents do not just happen – they are the results of unsafe conditions or unsafe acts or a combination of both. In order that prevents accidents, it is necessary to follow the guidelines given below:
1. Doubt causes many accidents; be sure of what you are doing.
2. Immediately report to the person in charge of any dangerous condition or practice you have observed.
3. Before working on motors or other rotating machines, make sure that it cannot be set in motion without your permission by removing fuses & installing a danger board on the controlling switch.
4. Thoroughly discharge all cables to the earth before starting the work.
5. Place rubber mats in front of the switchboards.
6. Do not close any switch unless you are familiar with the circuit that it controls and know the reasons for it being open.
7. Do not work on live circuits. Make sure that all safety precautions have been taken.
8. Do not close or open the switch hesitantly. – do it quickly and positively.
9. Do not throw water on live electrical apparatus in case of fire. Use the proper extinguisher.
SHE – Solvent Safety
What is a solvent?
Chemicals used to dissolve or dilute other materials are called ‘solvents’. Water is a common solvent. Industrial solvents we commonly encounter are methanol, methylene chloride, chloroform, ethanol, Iso Propyl Alcohol, etc. They can be found under a variety of trade names.
How can solvents affect health?
Studies have been done on different solvents to understand what levels of solvent exposure cause short and long-term impacts on health. Based on “Permitted daily exposure” (PDE), ICH guidelines have classified the solvents into Class 1, 2, and 3.
Classification of Solvents
Class 1 Solvents:
Solvents are to be avoided as they are carcinogenic (can cause cancer). They are Benzene, carbon tetrachloride, and 1,2-Dichloroethane
Class 2 Solvents:
Beyond the permissible limits and with repeat exposure they can cause neurotoxicity (nerve-related problems) or teratogenicity (death of the baby in the womb) and other reversible disorders. Exp is chloroform, ethylene glycol, etc.
Class 3 Solvents:
Solvents in this Class may be regarded as less toxic and of lower risk to human health.
Ex: Heptane, Acetone, propanol etc.
Different Solvents can cause different health problems ranging from: – Affect the eyes, lungs, kidneys, and skin; Headache, Nausea, Dizziness, Unconsciousness, etc.
Even death can result from exposure to high concentrations of solvent vapors
Safety Health and Environment (EHS) Q&A
How can solvents get into my body?
- If you breathe in vapors and fumes.
- If they come into contact with your skin and get absorbed.
- If you swallow liquid solvents.
What precautions should I take?
- Get the details of the hazards of the particular solvents you use, the precautions to take when you use them, and the procedures to follow in an emergency.
- Read the supplier’s safety datasheets and container labels and follow the advice on them.
- Use the ventilation equipment provided to remove vapors from the work area.
- Report/ change any damaged or defective protective equipment.
- Wear respiratory protection. Keep protective equipment clean and in a clean place so it is fit to use.
- Prevent vapors and fumes of solvents by keeping lids on containers and using sealed containers for solvent-contaminated waste and using only the required quantity for the job.
- Do not leave solvent-contaminated rags lying around.
- Avoid skin contact with solvents or products containing solvents by wearing suitable protective clothing (gloves, apron, goggles or face shield, etc).
- Do not use solvents to remove paint, grease, etc from your skin.
- During the preparation of acids or alkalis, always add slowly acid or alkali to water and dilute.
The DuPont Bradley Curve
The Bradley Curve makes it simple for everyone to understand the shifts in mindset and actions that occur over time to develop a mature safety culture. It also shows the relationship between mindset change and injury rates. As people become safety conscious and safety culture matures, the injury rate reduces drastically.
Progression of Mindset maturity
Reactive Stage: People do not take responsibility. They believe that safety is more a matter of luck than management, and that “accidents will happen.” To be safe you have to believe in natural instincts.
Dependent Stage: People see safety as a matter of following rules that someone else makes. Accident rates decrease and management believes that safety could be managed “if only people would follow the rules.” To be safe you should have strong supervision to ensure that people will comply with the rules.
Independent Stage: Individuals take responsibility for themselves. People believe that safety is personal and that they can make a difference with their own actions. I am responsible for my own safety. To be safe I have to know and practice safety
Interdependent Stage: Teams of employees feel ownership for safety, and take responsibility for themselves and others. People do not accept low standards and risk-taking. They actively converse with others to understand their point of view. They believe true improvement can only be achieved as a group, and that zero injuries is an attainable goal. To be safe, not only me but others (the entire team) also should practice safety
By strengthening a safety culture, an organization can reduce injuries and improve productivity, quality, and profits.
Material safety data sheets
What is a Material Safety Data Sheet or MSDS?
A material safety data sheet (MSDS) is a written document that provides product users with information and procedures for handling and working with chemicals.
MSDSs have been around in one form or another, since the time of the ancient Egyptians.
Although MSDS formats vary slightly between countries and authors, they generally outline.
- the physical and chemical properties of the product
- potential hazards associated with the substance (health, storage cautions, flammability, reactivity, etc.),
- prescribe emergency actions such as spill response, first aid, safe disposal, etc and
- manufacturer identification, address, MSDS date, and emergency phone numbers.
Why should I care?
MSDS is the most important subject in EHS. An MSDS provides information about the proper storage of a substance, first aid, spill response, safe disposal, toxicity, flammability, and additional useful material. Familiarity with MSDSs allows for precautions to be taken for potentially dangerous products; seemingly safe products may be found to contain unforeseen hazards.
Where do I find Material Safety Data Sheets?
MSDS is available in the Engineering, SHE, Warehouse department, internet, and SHE info site of every organization.
The MSDS can be searched on the internet based on the molecular formula, UniqueCAS (Chemical Abstracts Service) registry number, trade name or product name, manufacturer, generic name, or chemical name
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