What is Industrial Safety?

The concept of industrial safety is mainly related to the minimization of various industrial hazards. Any physical or chemical situation which can result in the injury of an individual or can cause any kind of harm to the health of a person is termed as a hazard. Hazards can result in some types of dangers or threats. Due to the occurrence of millions of industrial accidents causing either the death or momentary or permanent disability of the manpower and huge losses caused to the property and assets damages and unutilized man and machines hours, the significance of industrial safety is becoming more important.

Currently, a lot of attempts are made towards controlling the frequency and intensity of accidents. In order to Protect societal interest different types of rules related to safety are formulated for different areas.

In the entire world, the industries and corporate world comprehended the benefits which are obtained from the prevention of accidents.

Need for Industrial Safety?

There are some specific advantages that can be obtained from an accident-free plant. Huge cost savings, high legal and moral grounds, improved productivity are some of the important benefits.

• Cost Saving:

Whenever there is an accident, the management faces two types of costs. In the case of a fatal accident, the compensation which is given to the dependents of the victim are the direct costs and in the case of normal accidents, the expenses incurred in facilitating the medical treatment to the victim. No direct costs have to be paid by the management to the victim if the victim is insured as per the ESI scheme.

On the other hand, management will facilitate medical expenses and compensation, if the affected employee does not have insurance coverage. This can be seen as the risk management cost which has to be managed by the management. In comparison to the direct cost, the hidden costs of an accident cannot be ignored by the management. In reality, as opposed to the direct costs, the indirect cost can amount up to three to four times. Slow production rate by the other employees, loss account due to downtime of the employee, damage to the material and equipment, the labor involved in the cleaning are the parts of hidden costs.

• Increased Productivity:

The plants which have improved safety are considered to be productive plants. Broadly, productivity results from safety. In safe plants, employee devotes more time towards the quality and quantity improvement of the output and they will not be too much concerned about the safety and security.

• Moral:

From the aspect of humanity, safety is quite a critical dimension. In order to control the pain and suffering caused to the injured employee and his/her family members who have faced the accidents, different initiatives must be taken by the management. An employee is not only the worker who works in the factory, but he is also the one who earns the livelihood for his family.

•  Legal:

Safety initiatives are also related to the legal framework. Different laws are formulated focusing on occupational health and safety, and intense penalties can result in case of non-compliance with these laws. Ensuring the safety and well-being of the nearby community is also included under these laws.

Objectives of Industrial Safety

The various goals of industrial safety are discussed below:

• There is a requirement of industrial safety in order to prevent any kind of incident resulting in the accidents causing loss of life and permanent disability of the employees in the organization, damages to machines and material which can cause the organizational level losses.
• For preventing the kind of accidents resulting in the seizing of work and loss of the production.
• By controlling the hazard to the minimum level, accidents in the industry can be avoided.
• This is also required for having lower compensation to be paid to the employees, lesser insurance premiums, and the accident cost.
• This is also important to aware the employees of the different safety guidelines in order to prevent industrial accidents.
• Improved morale of the manpower can also be obtained by it.
• Having improved human relations in the industry is quite helpful.
• It is necessary for having improved production tools to higher living standards.

What is the Importance of Industrial Safety?

The significances of industrial safety are discussed below:

• Accident Avoidance:

The chances of an industrial accident are controlled effectively with the help of employee safety, which can be obtained by haying the required safety equipment and informing the manpower about the various dimensions of safety.

• Cost Prevention:

Different types of direct and indirect costs which can result from industrial accidents in any organization can be avoided. The direct costs of any accidents are mainly the total compensation amount which is paid to the employees for any kind of disability or death; on the other hand, indirect costs are the costs incurred in the payment of hospitalization and treatment of the victim employee.

• Improved Employee Satisfaction and Commitment:

With the help of employee safety, a working environment having greater motivation and satisfaction of the manpower can be created. Broadly, having a safer working environment for performing the operations is expected by a worker from his or her employer. Greater job satisfaction and higher motivation can be obtained by the workers if these expectations are fulfilled by the employers.

• Legal Compliance:

By facilitating the worker’s safety, adherence to the different laws which are made for facilitating a safe and healthy working place to the employees can be ensured. Different types of employee safety actions are initiated by the organizations not only to have improved job satisfaction, motivation of the workers, and controlling the HR cost but also helps in adhering to the statutory guidelines.

• Better Industrial Relations:

Cordial and harmonious labor-management relations can be ensured with the help of employee safety provisions. For creating a work environment that is healthy and free from any kind of accidents, different types of safety methods are used by the employers and this will manifest in the form of good feelings in the workforce towards the firm. A harmonious industrial relationship in long term can be obtained if there are no serious industrial accidents in the organization.

Safety Measures in Factory

Commonly in any industrial organization, the below-mentioned safety guidelines must be employed:

• There will be a greater possibility of injuries when the material handling is done by individuals. Appropriate protection for the various material handling types of equipment such as guided vehicles, robots, conveyors, automotive, cranes must be used for the various gears and different types of unsafe moving parts in order to avoid any kind of physical contact with these parts when the operation is being performed.
• In order to avoid the accident over traveling of a loads block, limit switches must be installed in all hoist devices. Only a professionally trained individual should be allowed to operate the hoisting equipment particularly cranes so that any kind of accident or miss-happening can be prevented.
• The standard signal should guide the operator while working on a crane and proper training must be provided to the signaller.
• In the case of gasoline-fuelled cranes, it is important to have full protection against fire and explosion hazards.
• All the loading stations must have the safe load signs displayed intensively in case of manual loading on conveyors which moves in a vertical direction either completely or moderately.
• Conveyors which move in tunnels, pits, or any kind of enclosed location, must be facilitated with all the suitable lighting, drainage, escape paths, ventilation, and guarding.
• One should not allow any kind of riding on the conveyor. Tight clothes and safety shoes must be used by all those individuals who have to perform their tasks near the conveyors.
• Suitable guarding must be used in order to safeguard the different types of rotating, reciprocating, and projecting components of machines and equipment, e.g., gears, sprockets, and so on.
• It is important to develop and implement an effective lubrication schedule.
• It is important to have frequent inspection and if there is any kind of damaged parts, replacement of it must be done on immediate basis.
• Proper training must be provided to the workers so that safe working habits can be adopted by them and when the activities are being performed by the workers, it is important to have the appropriate monitoring.
• Proper training for having safe working practices while lifting and settling down the different materials, must be facilitated to the industrial employees and unskilled workers. It is important to educate them for being cautious of pinches and shear points and to have firm grips while handling or lifting the articles.
• It is important to have full wiping of the material before handling any kind of elements that have wet or dirty or slippery sides, e.g., greasy or oily and wet objects. Performing tasks with oily and greasy hands must be avoided.
• It is important for the handlers to use protective clothing such as leather hand gloves, sleeves, and so on for avoiding any kind of injuries to the hands. For avoiding any kind of foot injuries, foot guards must be used by those workers who handle materials.
• Proper training must be imparted to the unskilled industrial laborers so that they can have correct feet, back, and neck positions.
• While lifting and moving the material from one place to other they should hold the objects near to the body, having ‘right and tight group, chin position and applying the suitable body weight while carrying setting down with the help of hand. Any muscle pull or back injuries can be avoided by using these guidelines.
• If any material has to be stored, clearance and free accessibility of any kind of electrical panels and installations and fire extinguishers and hoses must be ensured. For ensuring free movement, all the paths, exits, and entries must not be obstructed.
• Greater storing capacity can be obtained with the help of bins and racks and it will also facilitate the ease of material movement from one location to another and greater industrial safety can be ensured.