PERÚ: POBLACIÓN CENSADA Y TASA MEDIA ANUAL DE CRECIMIENTO, SEGÚN CIUDADES PERU: POPULATION ENUMERATED AND ANNUAL AVERAGE GROWTH RATES, BY CITIES

Employee welfare, safety and health problems at work have been engaging attention of the psychologists, sociologists and industrial engineers Psych are concerned with the theoretical considerations of accident causation and the research into accident control, through proper selection, training and education of the employee: and the social and psychological factors that influence the individual’s behaviour in general. Engineers and safety officers usually render necessary practical advise on certain aspects of safety in industry. They look upon prevention of accidents basically as an engineering problem to be tackled through proper designing of mechanical safety devices. In fact, accident prevention and safety are inter related and, therefore, require a multi-dimensional approach. Its importance had increased because of large-scale industrialization in which human beings are subject to mechanical, chemical, electrical and radiation hazards. Besides, modern industry is characterized by complicated mechanisms, intricate job requirements, and fast moving production lines. One of the important consequences of all this is increased dangers to human life, through accidents.

Industrial Accident and Industrial Injury

The life of industrial workers is full of risks and hazards. Every year lakhs of employees are injured in factories, mines, railways, ports and docks, leading to acute ailments or permanent handicaps. The injuries may be caused as a result of any unsafe activity, or act on their part or chance occurrences (like walking past a plate-glass window just as someone hits a ball through it) or as a result of some unsafe work conditions or unsafe acts of

employees themselves, or defective plant or shop lay out, inadequate ventilation, unsafe and insufficient lighting arrangements, or insufficient space for movement inside the plant or shop, etc.

An industrial accident may be defined as “an occurrence which Interrupts or interferes with the orderly progress of work in an industrial establishment”. According to the Factories Act of is ‘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”. In other words, it is an unexpected event neither anticipated nor designed to occur. It is always sudden gradual process does not constitute an accident. Moreover event or occurrence should be so to which a definite time, data and place can be assigned. It must arise in the course of employment in a factory or an industrial establishment. He self inflicted injuries or injuries inflicted with the consent person cannot be regarded as accidents.

An industrial in has been defined as “a personal injury employee which has been caused by an accident or an occupations disease, and which arises out of, or in the course of, employ and which would entitle such employee to compensation under Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923”

Nature of Accidents

The nature of an accident may vary from industry to industry. An employee may fall from a height while engaged on a particular assignment; or he may be caught in a machine while working or he may fall against an machine; or parts of a machine having a horizontal protruding motion may strike against him; or explosive used carelessly may explode, and injure an employee. Accidents may result in disablement or death.

Disablement – whether partial or total – way take the from loss of ability to work or to more. Such incapacity may be partial or total. Both types of disablement may be temporary or pert A temporary partial disablement reduces the earning capacity of individual in the employment in which he was engaged when he sustained an injury at the time of the accident; while a permanent partial disablement is that which reduces his ability to earn income from an employment which he was capable of under at the time the accident occurred. He is entitled to compensation only to the extent to which his ability to earn is reduced impair.

Total disablement, on the other hand, is a disablement, whether temporary or permanent, which incapacitates a workman makes it impossible for him to engage in any work which he capable of performing at the time of the accident which resulted that disablement. In these circumstances, he is entitled to compensation.

Causes of Accidents

Accidents are usually the result of a combination of factors, each one of which may very from situation to situation combination may be of unsafe acts and equipment, of people, factors and conditions. It has been rightly said that an accident does not have a single cause but a multiplicity of causes, which are often closely related.

According to safety experts there are three basic causes/factors that contribute to accidents in organisation. Chance occurrences, unsafe conditions and unsafe acts on the part of employees.

1. Unsafe Conditions (work – related causes): These, of one sort or another, are the biggest cause of accidents. Such causes are associated with defective plants, equipment, tool, materials, buildings, etc. These can be termed ‘technical causes’. They arise when there are improper or inadequate safety guards on machines; when machines break-down; when improper personal protection equipment is installed; when mechanical or construction designs are defective and unsafe; and when control devices, which have been installed to make the operations of machines safe and accident free are lacking or defective; or when there is an absence of proper maintenance and supervision of these devices.

Thus, unsafe conditions include (i) Improperly guarded equipment. (ii) Defective equipment.

(iv) Unsafe storage; congestion; overloading; (v) Inadequate safety devices

(vi) Wrong and faulty lay out, and bad location (vii) Improper illumination – glare, insufficient light.

(viii) Improper ventilation – insufficient air charge, impure air source (ix) Poor house-keeping

The other work related causes of accidents are:

(a) The job itself: Some jobs are inherently more dangerous than others, such as the job of craneman in comparison to that of the foreman. Similarly, work in some departments (like personnel) is inherently safer than the work (line production department).

(b) Work schedules: Accidents increase late in the day. They do not usually occur during the early hours of the work day. They are more frequent during the night shift. This is due partly to fatigue partly to the fact that night is the when one requires rest.

(c) Psychological climate of the work place: also affects the accident rate. Psychological, mental and emotional imbalances are at the root of several accidents. Emotionally disturbed and mentally pre-occupied persons meet more accidents than a normal person. The psychological factors associated with accidents are fatigue, anxiety, ness, overwork, monotony, boredom, lack of self-co-incidence, and frustration. Fatigue often has a psychological origin, and may jhdfkjdf gdsflgkdgdf gdsfgkdjgkdfglkdfdf dkjdfkd kjdjdsd fgjdskgjdgkd dk gdkgj dkgjdkgdkg dg ddsg dg dgdkgdkgdfddsfgj gdskjd ds s social prestige.(Page No. 142)

(d) Unsafe Acts: These acts may be the result of the knowledge or skill on the part of the employee, certain bodily and wrong attitudes. These acts include acts like:

(i) Operating without authority

(ii) Failing to secure equipment or warning other employees of possible danger. (iii) Failing to use safe attire or personal protective equipment

(iv) Throwing materials on the floor carelessly.

(v) Operating or working at unsafe speeds, either too fast or too low.

(vi) Making safety devices inoperative by removing, adjusting disconnecting them. (vii) Using unsafe equipment, or using equipment unsafely.

(viii) Using unsafe procedures in loading, placing, mixing, combining. (ix) Taking unsafe positions under suspended loads.

(x) Lifting improperly.

(xi) Cleaning, adjusting, oiling, repairing, etc. motive a dangerous equipment. (xii) Distracting testing, abusing, starting, quarreling, day dreamining, horseplay.

3. Other Causes : These causes arise out of unsafe situational and climate conditions and variations-such as bad working conditions, rough and slippery floors, excessive glare, heat, humidity, dust and fume-laden atmosphere; very

long hours of work; unsatisfactory behaviour of domineering supervisor; excessive noise and carelessness in the handling of such inflammable materials such as gasoline, oil and grease, explosives, etc.

Certain broad conclusions can be drawn on the basis of experience and studies undertaken by psychological, such as: (i) Young, untrained and new workers generally injuries more frequently than older, train experienced

employees.

(ii) Those addicted to alcoholism and drugs, and those suffer from boredom and fatigue or indulge in exhibitionism, generally account for a higher rate of accidents.

(iii) Unmarried employees generally have more accidents married employees. (iv) Accidents are more frequent during the night shift

(v) Women employees have a better safety record than – male counterparts.

(vi) Workers who work under stress, or who feel their jobs are threatened or insecure, seem to have more accidents those who do not.