CONTENTS PAGE

1. Executive Summary …………………………………………………….. 1

2. Introduction of the topic …………………………………………….. 2

3. Types of Accidents ………………………………………………………. 3
4. Theories of Accidents ………………………………………………….. 4
5. Causes of Accidents …………………………………………………….. 5-8
7. Importance of Accident prevention in industry ………… 19-24
8. Analysis ……………………………………………………………………. 25-26
9. Recommendation …………………………………………………… 27-28
10. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………….. 29
11. Bibliography …………………………………………………………….. 30
 Executive Summary

In modern industries occupational accidents and diseases remain the most

appalling human tragedy and one of its most serious forms of economic waste.
An accident is a phenomenon of diverse and multiple etiology. An accident
often is the result of an occurrence, or series of occurrences, from the accident
itself. These characteristics make the search of time causative factors of
accidents costly, difficult and time consuming. In some highly industrialized
countries industrial accidents are responsible for the loss of four or five times
as many working days as industrial disputes. As per factories act 1948,
industrial accident has been defined as "an occurrence in an industrial
establishment causing bodily injury to a person which makes him unfit to
resume his duties in the next 48 hours".

The economic burden on the community cannot be expressed in

compensation cost alone. It also includes loss of production, disruption of
production schedules, damage to protective equipment and in the case of
large scale accidents, major social dislocations.

There has been a steady development in safety and health legislation aimed at
improving the lot of those who work in factories, mines, and even in offices.
Developments in the field of safety extend throughout much of the world,
indicating and increasing concern for the quality of working life.

ACCIDENT CAUSATION & PREVENTION

Introduction

An unwanted, unplanned, uncontrolled event which can't be anticipated in

advance may be termed as an accident. It is always a sudden process and
not a gradual one. An occurrence of an unwanted event which stops or
hinders the systematic progress of work in an industrial undertaking may
be termed as an industrial accident.

Any kind of unsafe work, conditions, occupational diseases, can be referred

as accidents.

Accident prevention is nothing but a problem solving, and this kind of

problem solving involves two basic principles:

1. Establish the causes of accident.

2. Eliminate the causes of accident.

By finding the causes of accidents, steps can be taken to prevent them.

Always first establish the causes, and then act to eliminate them. That is
how accident problems are solved.

TYPES OF ACCIDENT
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'. An
accident that does not render the employee disabled is termed as ‘minor
accident’.

When an employee gets injury with external signs of it, is called 'external
injury'. Injury without showing external signs such as a fractured bone is
called an 'internal injury'.

When an injury renders an injured employee disabled for a short period;

like, a day or a week, is called a 'temporary accident'. On the other side,
making injured employee disabled for ever is called 'permanent accident'.
Disability caused by accident may be partial or total, fatal or non-fatal.

THEORIES OF ACCIDENT
According to some theories, accidents can occur anywhere. It exist on some
high risk or high danger or any accident prone zones. It has been observed
by safety specialists, that about one-third of industrial accidents take place
in and around handling and lifting zones especially where will barrows and
hand lift trucks are involved.

Extremely serious accidents normally take place in the vicinity of machines

under operation, eg. Band saws, hydraulic presses, pulleys, conveyors etc.
Some serious accidents do also occur on catwalks, ladders, scaffolds etc.
Any kind of electrical equipments and gadgets as well as small tools like
hammers, chisels etc are the prime sources of major accidents.

Industrial accidents usually occurs as a result of the combination of a

number of factors, but the main factors are - the technical equipments, the
working environment and the worker. Some survey view regarding the
causes of accidents as follows:

(i) Workers who are trained and experienced generally meet less accidents
or injuries as compared to untrained and young workers.

(ii) Workers who are addicted to alcohol or drugs meets higher rate of
accidents.

(iii) Working under stress and bad attitude of workers meet more
accidents, than the normal workers.

(iv) A healthy, safe working condition reduces the rate of Accidents.

(v) The frequency of accidents during the night shift is more, as compared
to day shift.

(vi) Lack of rest, overtime working, personal life problems, lack of

knowledge & literacy; also increase the probability of accidents.

CAUSES OF ACCIDENT
A large number of factors combined to cause accidents. Each of these factors is
different in different situations. An accident is not only a single cause but a
multiplicity of causes, which are sometimes closely related to each other.
Their combination may be of unsafe work, unsafe acts, and unsafe work
environment or both.

1. Unsafe Acts
Unsafe acts committed by the workers, may lead to an accident. The lack of
proper knowledge or skill coupled with wrong decisions & certain types of
physical defects can commit unsafe acts. Some examples of unsafe acts are as
follows:

(a) By not using proper safety devices and personal protective equipments.

(b) Using hazardous equipments by improper manner.

(c) Neglect to obtain necessary equipment or warning from other fellow

workers of possible hazards.

(d) Operating machines or gadgets without approval of the relevant authority.

(e) Lifting of goods in a wrong manner.

(f) Doing operations like loading, unloading, removing, placing, intermixing by

adopting unsafe or wrong methods.

(g) Working on machines with irregular speed limits.

(h) Consumption of alcohol or drugs during working.

(i) Carelessness during the maintenance and repair work on machines and
gadgets which are hazardous by nature.

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 N.B: Some individual characteristics like overconfidence, unusual attitudes,
useless brawls, gambling etc give rise to unsafe acts by defying safety rules,
regulations and procedures.

2. Unsafe Conditions
It has been observed that, most of the accidents occur due to unsafe
conditions. The 'job related causes' as well as 'technical causes' are the prime
function of unsafe conditions. Unsafe conditions stem from the following
sources:

(i) Machines: An industry is highly dependent on the machines and

machineries, but improperly guarded machines, their sudden breakdown or
improper maintenance of machines, defective or improper construction and
design, faulty layout and locations of machines, lack of supervision and
hazardous arrangements and procedures increase the rate of accidents.

(ii) Equipment: Any kind of defective or outdated, worn out and hazardous
equipments can be cited as example.

(iii) Unhealthy working conditions: Improper ventilation, noise pollution,

defective lighting system and poor housekeeping can be cited as examples.

(iv) Inadequate safety provisions: Inadequate safety precautions, rules &

regulations including bad and hazardous storage facilities are included in this
category.

(v) Shifting duties: It has been observed that less accidents occurs during day
shifts, while most of the accidents occurs specially in the night shifts. Fatigue
coupled with lack of rest causes the most kind of accidents during the night
shifts.

(vi) Psychological working environment: Some psychological conditions

like fatigue, monotony, hard labour, frustration, emotionally disturbed; affects
the workers more prone to accidents.

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N.B: Some jobs, which are inherently hazardous and dangerous at its own, are
also included as unsafe work conditions. Compared to other kind of works, a
'blast furnace work' is more dangerous than working in the sheet metal
section.

3. Multiple Causes
Multiple causes of accidents arise mainly with the combination of Unsafe Acts
and Unsafe Conditions. Some of these causes can be explained as follows:

(i) Harsh and rude behavior of the management or supervisors toward

workers.

(ii) Excessive long duration of work.

(iii) Unhealthy work environment like smog in the atmosphere, dust & fumes,
excessive heat generation in factories, reduced hearing capacity of workers
due to excessive sound pollution.

(iv) Lack of proper inspection and supervision by the superior staff.

(v) Careless handling of hazardous materials, ie. Petrol, Explosives.

(vi) Type of leadership adopted by the management.

(vii) Some political influences adopted by the workers.

(viii) Feeling of job insecurity among workers.

(ix) Maritial status of the workers.

(x) Conducting unusual pranks, sarcasm, false arguments, fights, bad advices
among the workers.

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 Unsafe Act Unsafe Conditions

Fig: Unsafe Conditions, Unsafe Acts, Near Miss and Accident

THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCIDENT PREVENTION IN INDUSTRIES

The policy on accident prevention can be a best described by the objective; to
achieve, year by year continuing reduction in the number of accidents. An
Accident Prevention Program can help reduce the number of accidents within
the workplace and lower the experience mod, which ultimately reduces costs
to the employer. Good safety and good production go together hand in hand.
Safety and productivity are the two faces of the same coin. Safety should not
be a live concern only, the top officials must have a concern for employee
safety.

Why Accident Prevention Program Is Necessary:

1. To protect life and health: The most obvious reason is to preventing
destruction of life and health is the primary concern to any organization. This
is a moral obligation for the health and well-being of the employees. In fact,
the failing to take precautions to predict accidents and occupational injuries
or illnesses makes management morally responsible for those accidents. If a
potential problem or threat exists, and no action steps are taken to prevent an
accident, the outcome will fall on the management.

2. To prevent downtime: The second reason for preventing accidents is

because accidents and occupational illnesses, limits the efficiency and
productivity because of downtime. This is an indirect cost from an accident,
but a very costly one. Replacement of labor can cost your company time and
resources, along with possible sick pay, repairing damaged equipments.

3. To protect companies reputation: The reason for preventing accidents is

because accidents can produce a far-reaching social harm to companies
reputation. When accidents happen and it always paints a negative picture of
the company in the public eye.

4. To Prevent Violations of Factories Act-1948: The fourth reason for

preventing accidents is because legislation of Factories Act-1948 mandates
management responsibility to provide a safe workplace. This act violations
could cost the company some big amount of money under section-94. Even
the most unintentional violation can cause serious harm to the company.
SOME APPROACH AND RESPONSIBILITIES TO PREVENT
ACCIDENT:
Organised accident prevention requires a teamwork approach. No single level
management can do the job alone. It requires the efforts of all level, from top
most level to first-line supervisors and to lower most worker level.

The teamwork approach means a proper division of responsibilities. Each

level of management must do what it can best to do promote accident
prevention. there are four requirements for an organised accident prevention
program based upon the teamwork concept:

 Establishment of management responsibilities.

 Communication of management responsibilities.
 Development of required knowledge and skill.
 Development of favourable motivation.

Organisations should not limit themselves to one approach to reducing

accidents. In fact a proper organisation should adopt a comprehensive
program using multiple approaches together. Each approach has its own
merits and responsibilities, when used in combination; they improve the
likelihood of reducing accidents. Some responsibilities of the management in
safety programs are as follows:

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 Operation Head's Responsibilities :

 Establishment of a basic accident prevention program.
 Communication of safety objectives.
 Provision of the necessary means.
 Evaluation of progress made.
 Stimulation of earnest effort.
 Allegiance two safety rules and codes.
 Departmental Safety Head's Responsibilities :
 Managing the program.
 Basic supervisory safety training.
 Safety meeting with supervisors.
 Accident investigation.
 Safety inspections.
 Job safety analysis.
 Planned safety observations.
 Initial safety orientation and job instructions.
 Maintenance of safety disciplines.
 Analysis accident data.
 Implementing safety rules and regulations.
 Personal protective equipment (PPE) program.
 Emergency evacuation trainings.
 Mobile equipment operator selection and trainings.
 Miscellaneous responsibilities.

 General Supervisor's Safety Responsibilities :

 Management of safety program.
 Supervisory safety trainings.
 Supervisory safety meetings.

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 Accident investigation
 Planned safety inspection.
 Job safety analysis (JSA).
 Planned safety observations.
 Initial safety orientation and job instruction.
 Maintenance of safety disciplines.
 Personal protective equipment.
  Other safety
responsibilities.

The above responsibilities of

managers, assistants,
departmental heads, general
supervisors and the whole
safety department
personnel; if all levels of these management accept
the responsibility with conviction and willingness will the operation achieve
its accident prevention objective to achieve a continuing year by year
reduction in accidents.

SOME MEASURES OF ACCIDENT PREVENTION :

Accidents are some unplanned events that there is no way to completely
eliminate them, but there are certain plans, preparations, and actions that can
be taken to reduce them. The prime objective in accident prevention is to
control hazards at work, so as to reduce or eliminate accidents. Some of these
techniques are discussed as follows:

 Know The Hazards - Try To Identify And Reduce Them :

 Hazard is a term or state, which has the potential to cause harm, injury,
damage or loss. Be aware of surroundings, Look around and identify
workplace hazards that could cause harm.
 Identification of hazards may carried out by: (i) Workplace inspection,
(ii) Management- ground level communication, (iii) Safety audits, (iv)
JSA and hazard operability studies.
 Look for ways to reduce or eliminate hazards by (i) identification, (ii)
evaluation or assessment and (iii) control. Report unsafe areas or
practices.
 Implement the Hierarchy Method of hazard control -
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  Create A Safe Work Area and Environment :
 Keep an orderly workplace environment. Poor housekeeping can
cause serious health and safety hazards. The layout of the workplace
should have adequate egress routes, clean and be free of debris.
 Make sure of the good physical conditions like lighting, ventilation,
temperature control, noise control, dust and fumes control, hygiene
are properly maintained.
 Fire extinguishers should be provide at all fire hazardous working
places.

 Safe Lifting Techniques and Ergonomics :

 Some safe Lifting Techniques like: (i) lifting from a proper position of
power, (ii) lifting a load from closer, (iii) properly erect the body
while lifting, (iv) never twist while lifting etc can prevent a worker
from accidents.
 Training in body mechanics can reduce strain injuries and keep
employees safe during lifting and moving.

 Personal Protective Equipment :

 The proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can
dramatically reduce the risk of injury. Examples of PPE include gear
such as earplugs, hard hats, safety goggles, gloves, air-purifying
respirators and safety shoes.
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 Motivation :
  Motivation increases productivity and safety both. Motivation
reduces accident proneness and labour turnover. Reduced labour
turnover helps to increase productivity.

 Education and Training :

 Ensure everyone has the proper knowledge and safety training
relating to the hazards of the job.
 Conducting safety campaign and training programs to incalculate
safety consciousness among employees so that they concerned and
aware of safe practices as well as safety rules and regulations.
 Notify workers about safety signs, hazardous area indication sign,
safety slogans, safety posters to prevent accidents.

Fi
g:

Analyse any possibility, Safety Planning, Actions and think for substitution

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ANALYSIS ACCIDENT PREVENTION

In every sphere of human activity there is the possibility of an accident and
work is no exception. However before any accident can actually happen, two
set of factors - those in the environment and those in the individual - must be
bought together the identification and evaluation of each of many components
in the anatomy of an accident is of paramount importance.

Industrial accidents are quite fatal and can cause quite a loss. Those that occur
in the workplace can cause harm to employees, environment and damage to
the equipment. Industrial related accidents, injuries and fatality data
demonstrate that continued efforts and effective measures are necessary to
reduce the number of industrial accidents, illnesses and fatalities. A worker
dies of occupational injury every three minutes and about every second at
least four workers get injured according to the International Labor
Organization (ILO).

There have been a number of incidences of industrial accidents as we

discussed so far. Industrial accidents are still prevailing in most of the places
due to a variety of factors. There have been several proposed organizational
health security and measures to be followed by every industry. Every
organization is to have a set of rule and regulations that have to be followed in
order to ensure the safety of its workers. Proper understanding of these steps
and measures is to be done and given to the worker so as to make sure such
fatalities don’t occur. Each had their benefits and cons that were looked into
when creating the new proposed system. India happens to be one of the
nations with the most elevated record of such Industrial accidents.

When looking into Indian industrial accident data, it’s found that about 47
factory workers are injured and a handful of them die every day. When
looking into Indian Industrial accident data, it's found that about 47 factory
workers are injured and a handful of them die every day.

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Data from the Labor and Employment Ministry reveal that in three years
(2018-2020), 3,562 workers lost their lives and

51,124 were injured in accidents that occurred in factories across the country.
Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are the top three states when it comes
to fatalities. All though neither the government nor the public has held Indian
industry adequately account for the thousands of deaths each year.

Also, according to International Labor Organization, every year, 250 million

accidents occur causing absence from work, the equivalent of 685,000
accidents every day, 475 every minute, 8 every second and 12 million children
working undergo occupational accidents around with 12,000 are fatal. The
few reasons for fatal accidents in factories are mainly due to lack of
management commitment, failure to develop safety culture and
noncompliance of safety systems.

Even with various existing safety measures and systems that have been
proposed or being followed, there isn’t an exact accurate one present that can
help in eliminating such fatalities to increase. Every organization present in
the world follow a certain set of rules and regulations that ensure workers
safety and their security in the work they have been assigned. The mishaps
that occur fall into the responsibility of organizations for which compensation
would be required for the causes.
Around 600,000 lives would be saved every year if available safety practices
and appropriate precautions were used. Proper knowledge, training and skill
are a necessary to predict and reduce future accidents.

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 SOME RECOMMENDATION ON ACCIDENT
PREVENTION

An Accident is such that severe kind of situation, no matter how much you
prepare, an accident can still occur, and an employee can still get injured.
When that happens, make sure you're prepared to get them the care they
need, quickly. After all of this, some recommendations to prevent an accident
are still remains to share. Here are some of these:

1. Obey Safety Requirements

One of the main causes of injuries and accidents on the job is failure to comply
with safety regulations. An employer should be sure to provide proper safety
training for the employees and post warnings and instructions throughout the
workspace to ensure that the employees know what they should and
shouldn’t be doing. An employee should know what the rules are and have to
follow them for their own safety.

2. Communicate

Another way to help prevent accidents on the job is to be in constant

communication with other workers in the area. If someone is working with
heavy machinery, make sure everyone knows what he's planning to do. If
anyone need to walk through a hard hat zone, make sure he talk to someone
and know what work is being done in the area so that he is on the alert.

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3. Provide or Get Proper Training

As an employer, make sure the workers know what they are doing. Provide
proper training to anyone who is going to use heavy machinery, chemicals, or
dangerous products of any kind. As an employee, make sure someone know
how to properly use a machine, a chemical, or any other dangerous product,
never assume that someone can figure it out by himself.

4. Keep Machinery & Equipment in Working Order

When was the last time any machine got a tune-up? Does it have any parts
that need replacing? Is there damage that someone don’t know about? Always
make sure that, using a machine that has been recently inspected and has
received proper maintenance and repairs before someone take it out on the
job.

5. Don’t Take Shortcuts

Faster isn’t always better, especially when safety can be jeopardized. Do the
work in right way and always make sure to keep safety your number one
priority, even if it takes a little longer. Anyone could save a life – possibly even
his.

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 CONCLUSION

The policy and implementation of safety measures to prevent accidents are

growing day by day. Fortunately there are people and management officials,
working with a sense of purpose, often behind the scenes, towards
understanding and managing safety and accident prevention better, and their
efforts have not been wasted. People are working and researching in the field
of safety, to innovate new ideas and plans to control / reduce the chances of
any kind of Accidents.

Adoption of safety measures by industries to minimize and eliminate

industrial accident is the responsibility of the management and can be seen in
the form of training, reinforcements, supervision, regular staff meetings,
conducting physical and medical check to screen unqualified employees,
educating the workers about the imminent dangers and rewarding employees
for accident free days. Implementing mandatory protective equipments such
as safety goggles or plastic eye shields to protect the eyes from the wild fire
from welding and fumes, harden protective caps and helmets to prevent head
injuries, gas masks to protect oneself from inhalation of poisonous and
dangerous fumes, gloves to protect the worker’s hand from acidic substances
and safety shoes, overalls and skin guards apparels to protect the workers is
essential to avoid accidents. By making sure that there is an adequate staffs to
work in shifts, the management can avoid employee exhaustion and fatigue.

By implementing and following such measures, the management can ensure

that there is a orderly workplace environment. The workers are to be given
psychological counseling after a life threatening accident to ensure that the
worker doesn’t suffer from 'Post Traumatic Stress Disorder' and
proportionate compensations to be given in both monetary form and in
benefit.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Industrial safety management - N.K.TARAFDAR, K.J.TARAFDAR

 Industrial health and safety management - A.M.SHARMA
 Safety management - R.K.MISHRA
 Industrial Accidents: Types and Causes of Accidents - SMRITI
CHAND
 Reasons for accident prevention - JOHN CAMBRE
 Accident prevention and its importance - LISA ANN
 Accident prevention plan - The verge
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