Industrial Accidents: Types and Causes of Accidents (explained with diagram)
Article shared by Smriti Chand
Industrial Accidents: Types and Causes of Accidents (explained with diagram)!
The
ever increasing mechanisation, electrification, chemicalisation and
sophistication have made industrial jobs more and more complex and
intricate. This has led to increased dangers to human life in industries
through accidents and injuries. In fact, the same underlines the need
for and importance of industrial safety. Let us first understand what
industrial accident actually means.
Industrial Accident:
An
accident (industrial) is a sudden and unexpected occurrence in the
industry which interrupts the orderly progress of the work. According to
the Factories Act, 1948: “It is an occurrence in an industrial
establishment causing bodily injury to a person who makes him unfit to
resume his duties in the next 48 hours”.
In other words, accident
is an unexpected event in the course of employment which is neither
anticipated nor designed to occur. Thus, an accident is an unplanned and
uncontrolled event in which an action or reaction of an object, a
substance, a person, or a radiation results in personal injury. It is
important to note that self-inflicted injuries cannot be regarded as
accidents.
An
industrial injury is defined as “a personal injury to an employee which
has been caused by an accident or an occupational disease and which
arises out of or in the course of employment and which could entitle
such employee to compensation under Workers’ Compensation Act, 1923”.
Types of Accidents:
Accidents
may be of different types depending upon the severity, durability and
degree of the injury. An accident causing death or permanent or
prolonged disability to the injured employee is called ‘major accident. A
cut that does not render the employee disabled is termed as ‘minor’
accident. When an employee gets injury with external signs of it, it is
external injury.
Injury without showing external signs such as a
fractured bone is called an internal one. When an injury renders an
injured employee disabled for a short period, say, a day or a week, it
is a temporary accident. On the contrary, making injured employee
disabled for ever is called permanent accident. Disability caused by
accident may be partial or total, fatal or non-fatal.
The various types of accidents are now shown in Figure 20.1.
No
accident occurs automatically. Instead, certain factors cause
accidents. It has been noticed that an accident does not have a single
cause but a multiplicity of causes, which are often closely related. The
same is discussed subsequently.
Causes of Accidents:
The industrial safety experts have classified the various causes of accidents into three broad categories:
1. Unsafe Conditions
2. Unsafe Acts
3. Other Causes?
These are discussed, in brief.
1. Unsafe Conditions (work-related):
Unsafe
working conditions are the biggest cause of accidents. These are
associated with detective plants, tools, equipment’s, machines, and
materials. Such causes are known as ‘technical causes’. They arise when
there are improper guarded equipment’s, defective equipment’s, faulty
layout and location of plant, inadequate lighting arrangements and
ventilation, unsafe storage, inadequate safety devices, etc.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Besides,
the psychological reasons such as working over time, monotony, fatigue,
tiredness, frustration and anxiety are also some other causes that
cause accidents. Safety experts identify that there are some high danger
zones in an industry. These are, for example, hand lift trucks,
wheel-barrows, gears and pulleys, saws and hand rails, chisels and screw
drivers, electric drop lights, etc., where about one-third of
industrial accidents occur.
2. Unsafe Acts:
Industrial
accidents occur due to certain acts on the part of workers. These acts
may be the result of lack of knowledge or skill on the part of the
worker, certain bodily defects and wrong attitude.
Examples of these acts are:
(a) Operating without authority.
(b) Failure to use safe attire or personal protective equipment’s,
(c) Careless throwing of material at the work place.
(d) Working at unsafe speed, i.e., too fast or too low.
(e) Using unsafe equipment, or using equipment’s unsafely.
(f) Removing safety devices.
(g) Taking unsafe position under suspended loads.
(h) Distracting, teasing, abusing, quarrelling, day-dreaming, horseplay
(i) One’s own accident prone personality and behaviour.
3. Other Causes:
These
causes arise out of unsafe situational and climatic conditions and
variations. These may include excessive noise, very high temperature,
humid conditions, bad working conditions, unhealthy environment,
slippery floors, excessive glare, dust and fume, arrogant behaviour of
domineering supervisors, etc.
Of late, industrial accidents have
become common happening in our country. A brief catalogue of major
accidents in the recent past in India is produced here:
Exhibit 20.1 Major Accidents in the Last Decade:
Bhopal,
December 1984: In world’s worst chemical disaster, a methylisocyanate
gas leak from the Union Carbide plant in the city killed over 4000
people. Thousands suffered irreversible health damage.
Delhi,
December 1985: An oleum gas leak from the Sriram Foods and Fertilisers
Plant in Delhi severely affected workers and those living in the
neighbourhood.
Rourkela, December 1985: Blast furnace accident in Rourkela Steel Plant. 18 workers affected.
Durgapur,
June 1987: Chlorine leak at Durgapur Chemical Factory created panic all
around. Long distance trains were halted. Over 100 were affected.
Bombay, November 1988: Fire at the Bharat Petroleum Refinery at Mahul, north-east Bombay, killed 32.
Ramagunaam, September 1989: Major gas leak at Fertilisers Corporation of India unit at Ramagundam, killed 7.
Nagothane,
November 1990: Explosion at the Indian Petrochemicals, Nagothane
complex, 35 persons killed, over 50 suffered 70 per cent bums.
Bombay, July 1991: Accident in a Hindustan Organic Chemicals unit near Bombay kills 7 workers.
Gwalior, December 1991: Blast at the dyeing department of GRASIM unit at Gwalior. 14 Killed and 22 severely injured.
Panipat, August 1992: Ammonia leak at the National Fertilisers Plant, Panipat killed 11, many injured.
Kahalgaon, October 1992: Boiler explosion in the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), 11 killed and several injured.
It
is reported that in every twenty seconds of every working minute of
every hour throughout the world, someone dies as a result of an
industrial accident. Industrial accidents cause losses to the employees
and organisations as well. Table 20.1 gives an idea about the enormous
losses that accidents have caused to the industrial establishments in
our country.
Table 20.1: Accidents—Estimated Loss:
Accidents
causing losses to the industrial establishments need to be avoided.
Adequate safety measures can avoid accidents. The subsequent discussion
focuses on certain questions: What? Why?, and How safety?
Safety:
In
simple words, safety means freedom from the occurrence or risk of
injury or loss. As regards, industrial safety, it means the protection
of employees/workers from the danger or risk of industrial accidents. In
other words, industrial safety refers to protection against accidents
occurring in the industrial establishments.
