Nirajan Pudasaini

Nepali industries are failing to make workplace safe for their employees
WE all have heard the old saying, prevention is better than cure. And as oil mogul Basil Butler puts it, “Prevention is not only better, but, cheaper than cure”. Being safe refers to preventing ourselves from undesirable happenings to our health and hygiene.

We often hear that many workers serving at different industries in Nepal fall prey to accidents and get disabled or even lose their lives. Minor injuries are countless. For every 300 near misses (improper, unsafe activity which always dœs not lead to an accident), there occur nearly 30 minor injuries, 6-8 major injuries (like disability) and one death. So safety practices should be strictly followed in industrial settings. In most industries in Nepal, safety practices are not up to par. Safety practices are typically applied in a reactive, rather than preventive manner. This is the reason approximately 20,000 workers meet accidents and 200 lives are lost at Nepali worksites each year. Industries would be wise to be proactive about safety, thinking of safety measures as a sort of insurance policy. If an accident occurs leading to injury, disability or death, the company should be held responsible and provide compensation. It will cost a company much more in terms of compensation and manpower lost to react to injury than to prevent it. As such, safety measures should be seen not as an expenditure, but as an investment.

But while companies should have an accident-free vision, employees must also make the decision to work safe. About 40 percent of accidents can be prevented by the people working at the site. Whenever an unsafe practice is observed, workers should immediately correct it, stop the machine or disconnect the electricity. If they cannot correct the problem themselves, they should report it to the engineer or concerned office as soon as possible. A near miss reported can be an accident avoided.

Most workers fall prey to shortcuts, for example climbing on chairs to reach high objects. Chairs are not meant for this purpose and can slip or topple over resulting in serious injury. Workers should always use a ladder secured on a firm base to reach for anything up high. Cell phones can also be dangerous to industry employees. At a petrol pump, a man’s trouser caught fire when the mobile phone in his pocket rang. It was later discovered that the ringer of the cell phone produces a spark which can ignite gas fumes. If gas leaks, any employee carrying a cell phone turned on can be at risk. But simply turning the phone off can prevent any chance that this will occur. Such near misses can be easily avoided, but employees need to know about them. Regular employee awareness programmes serve this end.

Even while exercising caution, accidents may occur. After any accident resulting in injury, first aid treatment should be immediately applied. Every worker should know where the first aid box is. Industry management should ensure the availability of first aid materials and regularly replace dwindling or old stocks. If a fire or gas leakage occurs, the site should be immediately evacuated. For this to happen, every worker must know where the emergency exit is located.

Workers should themselves be conscious about the ways to prevent themselves from death, disability or any other harmful injury. All injuries should be reported to the concerned engineer or office immediately. Offices and workplaces must be kept clean and regularly maintained. Worn out carpets and broken electrical switches and plugs should be replaced as soon as they’re noticed. Spills are everyone’s responsibility to clean.

The failure on some of these fronts have been largely responsible for the deaths of Nepalis working in various Arabian countries. Many of them have little idea of the safety measures they should adopt in case of emerging emergencies. In industrial settings, a number of machines are often used, their operation ranging from very basic to quite complex. Machines are often the site of accidents. As such workers must not operate machinery until they have learned to do so safely.

Senior employees should be given the task of teaching new hires how to safely use machines and instructing them on necessary personal protective equipment like a mask, apron, safety belt, head cover or gloves. Not only are junior employees learning proper safety procedures, senior employees are encouraged to keep practicing them appropriately as they are responsible as role models. Junior employees must be made to feel comfortable to ask questions related to safety.

Many minor and major injuries occur in Nepali industries because of a hesitation to ask questions. Safety signboards should also be displayed in places where injuries are possible. The simple measure of hanging a “No open flame” or “Danger” signboard can save lives. Everybody should try to find out what to do to prevent accidents in their workplace and what should they do if they find out something misplaced. Safety is everybody’s job. Individuals are responsible for their own safety and companies are responsible for the safety of those whom they employ. Safety is also good business.

Serious mishaps not only cost companies huge amounts of money in compensation, they can tarnish a company’s good name. It’s not very difficult to create a safe workplace; mutual co-operation between all levels of employees can make a big difference. Nepali industries may not currently have a great safety record, but some simple changes can seriously improve it. Safety is a right of every employee and isn’t worth taking a risk on.

Published on: 17 April 2011 | The Kathmandu Post