Industrial Accidents and
industrial safety
The industrialization
process has brought a large number of problems; one of them is related to
industrial accidents. With advances in industrial processes, new type of
dangers to life, limb and health are being increasingly introduced. Everyday
employees are injured in factories due to accidents. The accidents may be
caused as a result on any kind of unsafe activity, or act in their part or
chance occurrences, or as a result of some unsafe working conditions or unsafe
act of employees themselves, or defective plant or shop layout. The pain and
suffering of the injured as well as the emotional loss to the victims of the
accidents causing permanent disabilities are impossible to be summed up and
evaluated.
What’s the definition of
accident?
The most agreed definition
of accident is “It is an unplanned and uncontrolled event which causes or is
likely to cause an injury”.
Types of accidents in
industry
Accidents in industry can
be classified using different criteria. Specific classifications are shown in
the next lines.
According to causes of
events
Machine accidents
Machines are responsible
for a large number of accidents in an industry. Depending on the way harm is
caused, accidents from machines can be classified into the following groups:
- Contact: physical contact of the body with any moving part of a machine;
- Impact: parts of the body are violently hit by moving parts of machines;
- Traps: parts of the body coming between the moving parts which mostly lead to crushing of parts of body trapped;
- Ejection of particles: parts projected at high velocity from the machine, which causes serious injury when they hit the parts of the moving body.
Non machine accidents
In this type we include:
Fall of persons which can
be due to
- Tripping over obstacles on ground
- Slipping due to oily or greasy substances
- Running inside the shop, sudden fear or excitement
Fall from a height which
can be due to
- Lack of firm foot hold or unsafe postures
- Working on a machine at a height
- Leaning from ladder to reach a distant object
- Strike against the objects
- Pushes by other persons on the slop
According to length of
recovery
- Lost time accidents: lost time accidents are those in which worker loses a day or shift in which accident occurred. These require payment of compensation to employee to employer.
- Home-case accidents: in this type of accidents, worker loses the remainder of shift or turn on which the accident has occurred.
- First aid cases: in these, workers receive first aid attention at plant hospital and then returns to their job.
According to nature of
injury
- Fatal accidents: in which the worker or more are killed.
- Permanent disablement: which incapacitate an employee and makes it impossible for him to engage in any work, which was capable of performing at the time of the accident.
- Temporary disablement: this reduces the earning capacity of an individual in the employment.
