Prevention Of Major Industrial Accidents - Research Paper Example

Prevention Of Major Industrial Accidents Abstract. The term paper explains the causes of accident costs and measures that can reduce the costs. It lists out the common accident that includes road accident, slips and flips and medical negligence. The main accident causes listed out are, being over-confident, ignoring safety procedures, poor housekeeping, incomplete instructions, work mental distractions and lack of work pre-plan. The term paper also has defined the precautions of reduce accident costs such as good weather condition, safety transit, Personal Protective Equipment and shipshape safety in the working stations. Introduction. An accident is an unplanned and incidental circumstance or event with the lack of necessity and intention (Rahdert, 2004). Preventive measures include studying negative impact that might have been prevented or avoided if the circumstances that might lead to the accident, recognizing their contribution, and follow up before its occurrence. Prevention of injuries refers to the activities created to avoid and oversee accidents. The events of accidents occurrences are increasing worldwide, and it is becoming a big problem globally. In result, accidents results to rise of costs in the affected area. Accident costs are more than people’s perception. Mostly they affect organization or individuals directly or indirectly; hence, they are direct and indirect accident costs. Commonly accidents are investigated to determine the course and ways of avoiding such occurrence in future. It is sometimes termed as cause analysis, though it does not entirely apply to accidents, which are unpredictable. The cause of a purely and uncommon random accident can never be known with certainty, hence same accidents remain accidental (Rahdert, 2004). There are many types of accidents. There are major four accidents include; Work accidents. Many people think that their working environment is safe. Hazards are present every time in the workplace. Some of the environments are prone to accidents than others. For instance, building sites and factories are more risky to have accidents than offices. However, there is no working station without its risks. The employees and employers need to ensure that the working environment is safe from risk to injuries. They should make sure they receive full safety and healthy training and order the appropriate tools for completing their job safely. However, if they get injured while doing their duties of their work, they are entitled to claim for compensation from their employer (Teasdale & Davies, 2000). Road Accidents. Most roads globally are dangerous, congested and in poor conditions. Driver's at night often thinks they are safe and the car they have has a massive protective technology. Ironically, they often get involved in bad accidents. Unfortunately, this is the case in most country as negligence plays a major role to the course of accidents. Compensation is available only in non-fault accidents that one is entitled to claim for compensation from insurance companies. One is allowed to recover their damage losses to the car, and for any injury or any subsequent suffering (Teasdale & Davies, 2000). Medical Negligence. For instance, in UK, there is a very high standard set in the health system with the medical professionals that are well qualified to undertake many complex medical procedures. However, there are situations where activities go wrong and resulting to devastating injuries to the patients who are victims in this case. Medical staff they are responsible in ensuring that the patients are safe in their stay in the hospital. Hence, a legal obligation to do their duties as expected. If the patient inquires injuries due to a medical procedure then, he is entitled to compensation (Chris, 2014). Trip or slip accident These accidents are mainly due to the sheer hazards that people face as they move from one point to the next. For instance, slipping over a local supermarket wet floor or tripping on an even pavement. If there is any organization or a person responsible for the suffered area of accident then, they should be responsible for compensating the victim (Chris, 2014). Causes of Accidents. Accidents happen for many reasons. In many industries, individuals try to search for things leading to and on when accidents occur. The main reason being it is much easier to prevent compared to losses because of the damages. Some of the causes that results to accidents include; Being over confident- Confidence in individual’s abilities is a good thing but overconfidence can be dangerous at times. For instance, when one believes that he can use certain tool in any manner, and he ends up hurting himself hence causing severe injuries. Hence, improper tools, procedure or methods in the workstations can lead to injuries (OSHA, 2012). When someone begins a task with instructions that are not complete: To carry out the task right and safely for the first time, one must have complete instructions and follow them every time. For instance, a worker being sent to perform a task without part of the job instructions can end doing the wrong task that is not professional at and hence resulting to injuries. Therefore, workers should not be shy on inquiring explanation on the job safety and procedure precautions to avoid minor injuries (ABC, 2013). Poor Housekeeping- When managers, safety professionals or clients walk through someone’s workstation, everyone’s’ attitude is accurately indicated by the production, safety and quality of housekeeping. Poor housekeeping results to hazards especially slippery floors. An area that is well-maintained sets a standard that is followed by others. A good housekeeping involves safety and pride (OSHA, 2012). Ignoring Safety Procedures- Some individuals purposely fail to observe the safety procedures provided thus, endangering themselves and their co-workers. People should understand the firms’ safety policies are to protect and avoid rebellion. Hence, casual attitude towards safety can result to casualties. Work Mental Distraction- When someone experiences a bad day at their homes, and they worry about it when they are working at their site it can result to hazards. When a person drops their mental guard, they pull their focus away from their workstation safe procedures. Someone can also be distracted by their friends when their working and cause less concentration and thus ending up hurting themselves. Failing to have a work Pre-Plan- Some of the work done in offices and industries do not have a pre-plan. Hence, workers do the job without any knowledge with what to expect and thus, end up with injuries. Hence, companies perform Job Hazard Analysis are less prone to experience hazards in the workstations (ABC, 2013). Accident Costs When accidents occur, they cause consequences that cost the individual or organization. Hence, they are accident cost that rises after accidents happen to an individual or an organization. The cost is in two categories; direct and indirect costs. According to researchers, there are less direct costs caused by the accidents than the indirect costs (ABC, 2013). Direct Costs. These costs accrued from the accident directly. The business often insures them. The direct costs include; Workers compensation premium- These are the insurances that pay for the bills relating to medical treatment and the injured employees’ salaries that were injured at work. The benefits include income, medical, burial and death benefits. Hence, firm’s managers get responsibility of insuring the costs. Costs for replacement or repair of damaged materials or equipment- The cost for repairing or replacing damaged equipment’s and materials incurred when the company’s equipment is destroyed during the accidents, and they cannot get used again (ABC, 2013). Indirect costs. These costs are less obvious impacts of an accident that can incur costs. Even though the indirect costs that are created by the accidents are hidden and mostly paid from the sale of products profits (ILO, 2013). They are very complex to calculate and sometimes tend not to be insured. They include; The away time from work has no cover by the employees’ compensation insurance. Some of the workers that get involved in the accidents may need some time like one to two days or even the entire week to heal. Therefore, this will lead to time away from the job that the company can find it difficult to cover with other workers. Hence, the company has the costs of losing some of the workers working time. They are also payments of the uninjured workers after an accident. For instance, when the accident occurs some of the workers stop working and help those workers who are injured or look after them. In addition, also some need output from those who are injured so that they can complete their tasks. Hence, the company ends up having costs of paying those workers for jobs that are yet to get performed ( Rahdert, 2004). The damage cost of the equipment or materials that get involved in an accident. When accidents occur, so many damages occur such as window breakage and machines breakdown due to several frictions caused by the accidents. Hence, the company is forced to buy other windows and machines to replace the damaged ones or repair them. Therefore, the organization incurs costs for purchasing and repairing. Overtime costs also are imposed by accidents. For example, the company will have to increase costs in the loss of production, additional heat and light and additional supervision. Hence, there will be more costs in the company performance due to the overtime activities (Rahdert, 2004). There will also be wage costs for the supervisors who are paid for the time spent on the activities linked with the accidents. They include, investigating the accident, taking care of the injured and supervising the necessary activities to resume the business operations. Hence, these activities will cause destruction to the supervisor’s productivity (Runyan, Casteel & Perkis, 2005). Some of the costs get associated with training, repositioning and instructing the workers for production resuming. In some activities, it may result to a hire replacement with the associated hiring costs (Harrington, 2006). It is because some of the workers may be badly injured in that they cannot perform any duties hence the company hires and train other workers to replace their working station. There are also medical costs incurred by the affected company or individuals. The costs that are paid for the injured by the employer have no insurance. They costs may include, personnel, supplies, facilities and equipment. Therefore, the employers will have to pay for the costs because they have a responsibility to take off their workers. There is also the cost of clerical personnel and managers that are processing and investigating the claim related paperwork and forms. In addition, they also investigate the claims made through the telephone calls and interviews. It is because some of the workers may claim to be injured, and the company already insures demand for compensation and them. Hence, reducing the accidents cost for the firm management (Harrington, 2006). Decrease of production can also influence wage costs when the injured worker returns to work. It is due to the restricted nervousness or movement on the injured part of the employee and the accident discussion time spent with other workers. Hence, the company will pay the worker for an incomplete job due to the restrictiveness and discussions. Lastly, some of the costs are brought about as a result of enforcement due to the accident. For instance, imposed remedial works costs and prosecution fines. Some accidents may make the injured to file cases on their workers or whoever took part in the accident. Hence, in such situations the employers will be forced to pay for the prosecution files (Calabresi, 2006). Ways of reducing accident costs. Even though employers have a responsibility of creating a working safe environment, every worker has the responsibility to maintain the safety actively. Therefore, employers should make sure their employees follow practices such as: Avoiding shortcuts and shortcomings Workers always to finish their job ahead of time or on schedule but with that attitude of doing the job quickly it may lead to accidents ( Rahdert, 2004). Therefore, employees should avoid taking shortcuts and following every instruction and do their work with awareness and diligence of their surroundings. In addition, if they notice any shortcoming in the given instructions, they should not start the work until they confirm, and their entire question answered. Hence, workers should always be familiar and comfortable with a given procedure before starting any work. Ensure the safety in transit. According to OSHA, accidents due to workplace driving cost the employers an average cost of $60 billion annually. Therefore, employers should make sure that all the company’s vehicles are thoroughly inspected every month, and the necessary repairs are done as soon as possible. Works should make sure that before they drive a company’s vehicle they check turn signals, brake light, and gas amount in the tank and tire pressure. Hence, it helps in ensuring that the worker use a vehicle that is in good conditions (OSHA, 2012). Good weather condition. Both outside and inside the working station can expose the worker to extreme conditions. Whether freezing or scorching, both temperature spectrums can have consequences in the workers’ health. If it is cold, the worker is supposed to dress warmly and ensure that they properly cover feet, hands, face, and head. It is because these parts of the body are often prone to frobstle. In addition, the workers should change their working clothes if they get wet. For the employer, they should install on-site devices of heating. In hot environment, the workers should wear loose-fitting clothes, get plenty fluids and frequent cool rest area breaks. If a worker has pre-existing medical conditions, they should consult the doctor working in such extreme heat areas ( Harrington, 2006). The employer should make sure workers working under such conditions; have airflow and ventilations in the room they are working. For instance, the workers can utilize fans or open windows. The workers should have Personal Protective Equipment. All workers should ensure they wear the equipment properly to prevent injuries. The equipment includes face protections and goggles that protect caustic and chemical liquids and flying particles. The gloves also prevent scrapes, cuts, burns, puncture, temperature extremes or chemical absorption. The hard hats safeguards against objects that fall while the safety shoes are important in working areas with heavy objects that could drop and injure the feet. Ear Muffs also protect the ears from damaging due to the noisy environment. Therefore, the employer should provide the equipment and ensure every worker use them appropriately by providing PPE training (Teasdale & Davies, 2000). There should be shipshape safety Most workers do not realize that the negative effects of poor housekeeping. If an unkempt working station turns to a norm with debris, papers, spills and clutter then there are high possibilities for safety and health hazards with injuries. Housekeeping is more than house individual cleanliness, but it also includes an orderly working place, removing fire and waste hazards regularly and taking care of any trip-and-slip hazards. Workers should access their working stations critically and pay attention to the workplace layout, adequacy of storage, aisle marking and maintenance (Pavone, 2014). The workers should report deficiencies or dangers right away. For the employer, they should explain the benefits and significance of good housekeeping and provide a better housekeeping checklist and good housekeeping campaign elements. Therefore, the backbone of reducing accidental costs is to have a safe working environment in an organized proper accident program. The program should incorporate the mentioned practices and encourage the workers to take the safety measures seriously. For the employer, their job is to ensure the employees are comfortable in their working station (ILO, 2001). Conclusion. The term paper clearly shows accident costs are costs that get incurred by accidents that are due to road accidents, tripping or slipping and medical negligence. They are mainly caused by being over confident, ignoring safety procedures, poor housekeeping, incomplete instructions, work mental distractions and lack of work pre-plan. Hence, the accident results to direct and indirect costs. Therefore, to reduce such the costs there should be precautions. They include good weather condition, safety transit, Personal Protective Equipment, shipshape safety in the working stations and avoiding shortcuts. References International Labor Organization. (2013). Safety and health at work. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/safety-and-health-at-work/lang--en/index.htm Date of Access, 26 November 2014. Runyan C. W, Casteel C & Perkis D, et al. (January 2005). "Unintentional injuries in the home Calabresi, G. (2006). The Costs of Accidents: A Legal and Economic Analysis Paperback. London: Yale University Press. Rahdert, M. (2004). Covering Accident Costs: Insurance, Liability, and Tort Reforms Paperback. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Pp. 241 Allerdale Borough Council, (2013). Health and Safety. Retrieved from, http://www.allerdale.gov.uk/business/health-and-safety/accidents/accidents-in-the-workplace.aspx Date of Access, 26th November 2014. Harrington, D. (2006). Accident costs and safety dividends. Washington DC: U.S. Dept. of the Interior Bureau of Mines. Pp. 29 Teasdale L, & Davies R. (2000). The cost to Britain of workplace accidents and work-related ill health in 1995/96. London: The National Archives, Kew. Pavone, C. (2014).The Accident. Crown; First Edition edition (March 11, 2014). Pp. 400 Occupational Safety & Health Administration (2012) Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/accidentinvestigation/ Date of Access, 26th November 2014. International Labor Organization, (2001). Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents: An ILO Contribution to the International Programme of Chemical Safety of UNEP, the ILO, and the WHO (IPCS). Geneva: International Labor Office. Read More