Occupational Health Hazard In Cement Industry †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Occupational Health Hazard In Cement Industry. Answer: Introduction: Cement industry is one of the oldest industries of the world and becomes one of the strongest economical backbones of a nation. A huge amount of workers are found to be working in a cement industry as this industry requires a huge labor phase to conduct each and every steps of preparation of cement industry (Sousa, Almeida Dias, 2014). Preparation of cement is energy as well as the resource intensive process that often remains accompanied with global health, environmental as well as different safety impacts. Therefore it becomes extremely important for a company to recognize these potential adverse effects and thereby incorporate strategies often referred as the Cement sustainability initiatives called CSI that will help to make hazardous situations come under control. Therefore it is first important to check the different hazardous impact that the cement workers face and how the company is able to maintain occupational health hazard safety programs to minimize the risks associated with their life. Details about company and its workers: The company that is portrayed here is called the Strength Cementing and has been a leading producer of cement in South Africa. The main work force that acts as the labor constitutes about 80 percent and is 3100 in number. The managerial level workers are usually less in number and numbers to 120. However the organization had taken a high risk as more than half of the managers have very limited level of theoretical and scientific knowledge and have been promoted from the labor level to managerial level. Therefore although they have good knowledge about the production procedures and allocation of work but they have very less idea about the different health hazards the workers are exposed to and how to provide a safe environment. Basically the labor force and the mangers have an average age of 28 with the most constituting of illiterate work force joining the industry as novice and learning work o the work floor. As the plant is situated on the countryside, therefore it had attracted th e poor rural workforce joining the pace at cheap labor price as their economic background is very low. Therefore the company is making them work at a cheaper price and making the most profit by its high production of cement. However, maintenance of occupational health hazard is to be incorporated in the plant as a result of the governmental inspection and therefore it had become extremely important for the employer to look over the matter with concerned thoughts. Health hazards and risks associated with them: First hazards and risks: It has been found that the cement workers who work in the plant are exposed to different types of occupational hazards which often lead to different types of diseases as well as injuries in the factory. Cement is produced with the help of different raw material like shale, clay, iron, limestone, sand and many others. Often plants are also found to incorporate industrial by products and replace the natural raw materials to achieve sustainable development 9Mohammadafam et al., 2016). These raw materials are inhaled by them during breathing procedures and can also be found to work pass through skin. A large number of respiratory diseases remain associated with it and poor economic condition makes the treatment of such diseases. Such diseases mainly include a large number of allergic reactions that interfered with the breathing processes of human (Sansakom et al., 2015). Moreover chronic bronchitis, asthma as well as emphysema have been found to be associated with the chemical intake thr ough breathing. Others also include lung cancer, pneumonia, tuberculosis, cough, wheezing as well as shortness of breath. Chest pain has been found to be highly reported in cement factory workers and the workers in the plan also reported of irregular heart beat. Moreover entry of cement through skin has also hazardous impacts that involve selling of legs and feet, high blood pressure, irritation, skin allergies, fatigue related with anxieties (Anjali, Heer Pranab, 2016). Second hazard and risks: Cement is usually provided by a number of processes that include quarrying, followed by crushing, milling blending and then kiln burning. In the plant there is a trend of ever increasing pace of production activities which thereby states that avoidance of accidents can hardly take place. Both in natural cement and also in artificial cement, irrespective of the types that the plant produces, the limestone and clay remain the important components although their concentration are found to be varied (west et al., 2016). These raw materials are introduced into heating procedures that undergoes different types of chemical reactions and undergoes different processes like Tri-calcium silicate, Di-calcium silicate, Ferrite phase and Tri- calcium aluminates phase. These chemical reactions occur at high heat and illiterate labors that does not have proper ideas about self protection or the organization that does not have proper accident protection policies can contribute to sever accidents thre atening even lives. Often fall from slurry tanks can take place due to improper settings and proper protective strategies that failed to be incorporated when building the plant. Such an accident had already taken place in America. Moreover, the workers of the Strength cementing are also vulnerable to any kind of explosion that may occur in the cylinder that remains present in the fine coal crusher as lack of maintenance of the crusher is found (Noweir et al., 2013). Such an accident had occurred in India in July 2016 in ACC Cement Company. Maintenance of raw meal silos is also important as it holds the huge tones of raw materials. Collapse of such a silo may destroy the lives of huge number of workers as that had happened in June 2016 in Pakistan in Fauji Cement Company plant at Tehsil Fateh Jang, Punjab. Often death due to scaffold may also take place and hence the organization should be careful. Often improper maintenance and proper renovation of different instruments and structur e in the cement plant result in sever accidents (Mohamed, Shafeek Aman, 2016). Hot clinker which is actually the furnace need to be maintained properly and cement stone may get busted from the clinker producing hot ashes that may cover the entire plant. Moreover accidents may also occur when cleaning the crusher because if the machines are not maintained properly, it may result in death by entrapment in the cement crusher. Moreover breaking of fire may be caused at any time as different chemical reactions need to occur in furnaces, crushers as well as in hot air generators, coal mills and others (Mutz Nanadan, 2014). Hence, a large number of falls and accidents can take place at the plant and therefore it is important for the organization to develop policies and take actions that will prevent such accidents. Third hazard and risks associated: Noise associated with entire preparation and processing of the cement is also resulting in health hazards in cement industry. This is said so because the milling plants that are used to grind cement is responsible for the production of high tension of noise. This noise can simply damage individual laborers. The main laborers who are at a higher risk for hazards to noise pollution are the cleaning and the maintenance workers (Koivupalo et al. 2015). Researchers have shown that in the industry, those workers who are more than 10 years experienced are more vulnerable to issues with noise and had reported severe irritation, headache, and loss of proper hearing, mental fatigue, heart attacks and others. From the above risks associated with the lives of the workers working in the cement industry, it becomes extremely important for the organization to assess the risks and thereby introduce changes that will help in preventing not only different accidents and falls associated with the laborers working in the cement industry but will also help in addressing the diseases associated with working in the industry. Business risks and mitigation ways: Business risk Impact Likelihood Mitigation strategy Contingency plan Lung disorders, cardio-pulmonary disorders, skin infections and others affecting health of workers and harming productivity High Highly Provide resources to workers protecting them from such disorders and giving training Introduction of Masks, covered dresses, proper preventative medication, training program Accidents and falls causing death lead to loss of reputation and financial loss by providing money to victims family as insurance, legal obligations High, Highly Training program and introduction of floor supervisor monitoring issues Makes the worker aware of the different accident risks that they face every day, how they can prevent such consequences, effective use of protective tools Noise pollution affecting health and heart attack with decreased hearing ability of workers [High, [Highly Head gears and hearing cover instruments Advise the workers to use proper tools that protect them from hearing defect Management of the problems: The health and safety inspection manager should first pay importance to the risk engineering procedure in order to properly assess the risks and take proper initiatives. The better the adoption of risk engineering procedures, the lesser is the risk associated with the workers. Risk engineering procedure involves the undertaking surveys at different levels during the project life cycle. This mainly involves the prevention of losses that mainly works by examining the performance as well as progress of the works, identification of the main areas that posses threats and risks, provision of recommendations, evaluating losses as well as sharing the lessons that are learnt with the operational teams (Pinto, 2014). The sequential steps that the inspection manger incorporate in risk engineering is reviewing the tasks, implementation of proper engineering, correct guarding, evidence based methods introduction, providing correct information to the workers and also alter worker behavior to assur e occupational safety. The engineer should regularly visit the site and idiscuss with the workers and monitors the risks associated themselves (Hull Bowman, 2014). One of the most important aspects of risk engineering is the proper reporting of the risks and the progress to the management that will inevitably incorporate recommendations to the management that will include recent and imminent changes and highlight the different problems that had been encountered. They would also discuss the delays that had been faced and also the different responses o the workers and also noting the recommendations told by workers in surveys. This is done to help the management understand the various issues and take initiatives accordingly. The management procedure should incorporate risk control procedures that should eliminate the risks or reduce them. The order that should be maintained for achieving this is elimination of the risks, substitution of the working procedure or the objects, isolation, engineering control, control in the administrative systems and personal protective equipments. Researchers have suggest that a proper health and safety procedure should first incorporate the preventative as well as the protective measures that should first control the risks and then the second importance would be given to the different further actions that can be taken for reduction of risks sufficiently (Berhane, Kumie Samet, 2016). This can be explained by an example. The first one is the preventative measure and the second one is the residual risk control. The workers who are working at a height may have the risk to fall so they need to use a harness to reduce the risk. However, there is a chance that he might not use t he tool properly and then only the secondary factor is used which will include incorporation of another manager who will monitor the activities of people working at height. As risk cannot be eradicated but can be only managed therefore an organization need to be proactive than reactive. Risk management is an itinerative process consisting of distinctive steps that include proper sequencing of procedures, support of better decision making that include better contribution of insights into risks and impacts (Gizaw, Yifred Tadesse, 2016). The important steps that should be incorporated by the organization is proper supervision of the workers in the workplace by eminent mangers who are not only experienced but also have sufficient scientific and theoretical knowledge and have very developed managerial sense. The risky behaviors of the workers should be correctly assessed and corrected by allowing them to be properly educating them and arranging for training sessions where basic knowledge about safety precautions needs to be provided. The safety management should consider inadequate safety education of the workers and use proper illustrations and demos to make sure that they make the correct use of safety tools like harnesses (Nordy et al., 2016). The correct provision of tools like using masks to prevent dust entry into lungs as much as possible, using covered attires to prevent skin infection, proper provision of safety harness should be provided to the workers by the management. The right employment of competent safe ty officers by the sub contractors should be introduced. Correct training procedure should enhance the proper behavior of the workers which will ensure that they will reject improper PPE (personal protective equipment) and will also know the correct equipment that they need to use in different domains while working in the industry (Nguyen et al., 2015). In case of emergency: Organisation Name Contact Title Phone number ALL Mr. Allan Gernanrd Overall supervision and employers assistant 221 5456 22323 State Emergency Services (SES) Baywood Services for Emergency and crisis Crisis management 221 5465 1234 Police Mr. Billy McArthy During accidents and other information, theft, discrepancy and others 221 4567 2369 Fire Jason fire and Co. During fire break out 221 4578 5639 Ambulance Baywood Government and Hospitals For concerns and management of health issues and treatment in accidents 221 7878 9696 Fire: In case of fire emergency, the following procedure can be included: Procedures Brief outline of procedures Evacuation point/ address Reference to full procedure document Supporting documentation Fire evacuation problem The alarm should be immediately put on The managers instructions will be followed and there should be no running with panic. The training procedure should be recalled and the already instructed safety evacuation plan should be implemented Fire exit should be immediately opened. Care should be taken that the exit doors are properly maintained and repaired before hand After proper evacuation it should be taken care that The manager clarifies that all the workers have been properly evacauted Back gate that leads to the filed leading t the Bay road near the river The full procedure should be provided to the workers during the training schedule. Moreover it should be also be uploaded to the workers login site so that they can use it when required by them Present on the board. Conclusion: A large number of occupational health hazards are intricately associated with the workers in cement industry. A large number of cardio-pulmonary diseases are associated along with workers along with skin infections and allergies. Noise pollution is another such hazard. Moreover falls, explosions and accidents are also common. Hence the health supervisor should assess the risks and initiate activities that will help in development of a proper risk management plan that will manage the risks and hence save the workers and provide tem quality lives. References: Anjali, N. A. G., Heer, V. Y. A. S., Pranab, N. A. G. (2016). Occupational health scenario of Indian informal sector.Industrial health,54(4), 377-385. Berhane, K., Kumie, A., Samet, J. (2016). Health Effects of Environmental Exposures, Occupational Hazards and Climate Change in Ethiopia: Synthesis of Situational Analysis, Needs Assessment and the Way Forward.Ethiopian Journal of Health Development,30(1), 50-56. Gizaw, Z., Yifred, B., Tadesse, T. (2016). Chronic respiratory symptoms and associated factors among cement factory workers in Dejen town, Amhara regional state, Ethiopia, 2015.Multidisciplinary respiratory medicine,11(1), 13. Hull, M., Bowman, D. (Eds.). (2014).Nanotechnology Environmental Health and Safety: Risks, Regulation, and Management. William Andrew. Koivupalo, M., Sulasalmi, M., Rodrigo, P., Vyrynen, S. (2015). Health and safety management in a changing organisation: Case study global steel company.Safety science,74, 128-139. Mohamed, I. K., Shafeek, H. I., Aman, M. (2016). Development and Application of SAPR Software for Computer Aided Safety and Productivity Measurement in the Cement Industry.Life Science Journal,13(7). Mohammadfam, I., Kamalinia, M., Momeni, M., Golmohammadi, R., Hamidi, Y., Soltanian, A. (2016). Evaluation of the Quality of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Based on Key Performance Indicators in Certified Organizations.Safety and Health at Work. Mohammadfam, I., Kamalinia, M., Momeni, M., Golmohammadi, R., Hamidi, Y., Soltanian, A. (2016). Developing an integrated decision making approach to assess and promote the effectiveness of occupational health and safety management systems.Journal of Cleaner Production,127, 119-133. Mutz, D., Nandan, V. (2014). Co-processing waste materials in cement production: experience from the past and future perspectives.International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management,17(2-4), 300-309. Nguyen, Q. A., Hens, L. (2015). Environmental performance of the cement industry in Vietnam: the influence of ISO 14001 certification.Journal of Cleaner Production,96, 362-378. Nordby, K. C., Not, H., Eduard, W., Skogstad, M., Fell, A. K., Thomassen, Y., ... Kongerud, J. (2016). Thoracic dust exposure is associated with lung function decline in cement production workers.European Respiratory Journal,48(2), 331-339. Noweir, M. H., Alidrisi, M. M., Al-Darrab, I. A., Zytoon, M. A. (2013). Occupational safety and health performance of the manufacturing sector in Jeddah Industrial Estate, Saudi Arabia: A 20-years follow-up study.Safety science,53, 11-24. Pinto, A. (2014). QRAM a Qualitative Occupational Safety Risk Assessment Model for the construction industry that incorporate uncertainties by the use of fuzzy sets.Safety Science,63, 57-76. Sansakorn, P., An, M. (2015). Development of Risk Assessment and Occupational Safety Management Model for Building Construction Projects.Development,1, 28627. Sousa, V., Almeida, N. M., Dias, L. A. (2014). Risk-based management of occupational safety and health in the construction industryPart 1: Background knowledge.Safety science,66, 75-86. West, G. H., Lippy, B. E., Cooper, M. R., Marsick, D., Burrelli, L. G., Griffin, K. N., Segrave, A. M. (2016). Toward responsible development and effective risk management of nano-enabled products in the US construction industry.Journal of nanoparticle research,18(2), 1-27.