Workplace Safety: For Occupational Health and Safety (Safety at Work Series)

302 Pages·1999·7.83 MB·English

by  John Channing MSc(Safety) MSc(Chemistry) FIOSH RSP

Workplace Safety

Volume 4 of the Savety at Work Series

Edited by
John Ridley and John Channing

OXFORD AUCKLAND BOSTON JOHANNESBURG MELBOURNE NEW DELHI
Butterworth-Heinemann
Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP
225 Wildwood Avenue, Woburn, MA 01801-2041
A division of Reed Educational and Professional Publishing Ltd

A member of the Reed Elsevier plc group

First published 1999

© Reed Educational and Professional Publishing Ltd 1999

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ISBN 0 7506 4560 1

Composition by Genesis Typesetting, Laser Quay, Rochester, Kent Printed and
bound in Great Britain by
Biddies Ltd, Guildford and King’s Lynn
Contributors

John Adamson, LRSC, FBIOH, Dip. Occ. Hyg., MIOSH, RSP
Manager Health, Safety, Hygiene and Fire, Kodak Chemical
Manufacturing
Chris Buck, BSc(Eng), MIEE, FIOSH, RSP
Consultant
Ray Chalklen, MIFireE
Fire and Security Manager, a major pharmaceutical manufacturer
John Channing, MSc(Chem), MSc(Safety), FIOSH, RSP
Manager Health, Safety and Environment, Kodak Manufacturing
Edwin Hooper
R. Hudson, FIOSH, RSP, FRSH, ASSE
Construction safety consultant
John McMullen, BSc, CEng, MIMechE
Eagle Star Insurance Co. Ltd
John Ridley, BSc(Eng), CEng, MIMechE, FIOSH, DMS
Professor P. Waterhouse, PhD, BSc, FIOSH, FIRM
Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xi
List of contributors xiii
Introduction 4.1

1 Science in engineering safety J. R. Ridley 4.3
1.1 Introduction 4.3
1.2 Structure of matter 4.3
1.3 Properties of chemicals 4.5
1.4 Physical properties 4.9
1.5 Energy and work 4.15
1.6 Mechanics 4.16
1.7 Strength of materials 4.17
1.8 Modes of failure 4.19
1.9 Testing 4.20
1.10 Hydraulics 4.20
1.11 Summary 4.21

2 Fire precautions P. Waterhouse and revised by Ray Chalklen 4.23
2.1 Introduction 4.23
2.2 Basic combustion chemistry 4.23
2.3 The combustion process 4.27
2.4 Classification of fires 4.29
2.5 Ignition sources and their control 4.30
2.6 Protection against fire 4.38
2.7 Extinction 4.42
2.8 Firefighting 4.46
2.9 Fire risk 4.55
2.10 Means of escape in case of fire 4.55
2.11 Legal requirements 4.60
2.12 Liaison with the fire brigade 4.64
vi Contents
3 Safe use of machinery J. R. Ridley 4.68
3.1 Introduction 4.68
3.2 Strategy for selecting safeguards 4.68
3.3 Safeguarding techniques 4.78
3.4 Powered trucks 4.79
3.5 Lifting equipment 4.95
3.6 Pressure systems and gas containers 4.100
3.7 Conclusion 4.104

4 Electricity E. G. Hooper and revised by Chris Buck 4.107
4.1 Alternating and direct currents 4.107
4.2 Electricity supply 4.108
4.3 Statutory requirements 4.110
4.4 Voltage levels 4.111
4.5 Electrical accidents 4.111
4.6 The basic electrical circuit 4.112
4.7 Dangers from electricity 4.113
4.8 Protective means 4.116
4.9 Competency 4.118
4.10 Permits-to-work 4.120
4.11 Static electricity 4.120
4.12 Use of electricity in adverse or hazardous environments 4.123
4.13 Electrical equipment in flammable atmospheres 4.123
4.14 Portable tools 4.126
4.15 Residual current devices 4.127
4.16 Maintenance 4.127
4.17 Conclusion 4.128

5 Statutory examination of plant and equipment J. McMullen 4.130
5.1 Introduction 4.130
5.2 Legislation 4.131
5.3 Pressure systems 4.131
5.4 Lifting and handling plant 4.139
5.5 Power presses and press brakes 4.148
5.6 Local exhaust ventilation 4.149
5.7 Electrical equipment and installations 4.152
5.8 Other considerations 4.153
5.9 Conclusions 4.156

6 Safety on construction sites R. Hudson 4.161
6.1 Construction accidents 4.161
6.2 Safe working in the industry 4.162
6.3 Site hazards 4.171
6.4 Access 4.176
6.5 The Construction (Lifting Operations) Regulations 1961 4.178
6.6 Welfare facilities 4.184
6.7 Other relevant legislation 4.185
Contents vii
7 Managing chemicals safely John Adamson 4.192
7.1 Introduction 4.192
7.2 Chemical data 4.192
7.3 Source of information 4.193
7.4 Risk assessments 4.194
7.5 The management of risk 4.198
7.6 Legislative requirements 4.202
7.7 Storage of substances 4.212
7.8 Transport 4.216
7.9 Plant and process design 4.217
7.10 Further safety studies 4.226
7.11 Plant modifications 4.226
7.12 Safe systems of work 4.226
7.13 Laboratories 4.228
7.14 Emergency procedures 4.230
7.15 Conclusions 4.231

8 The environment - issues, law and management
J. E. Channing 4.234
8.1 Introduction 4.234
8.2 Major environmental issues 4.234
8.3 Environmental regulation 4.248
8.4 Environmental management systems 4.245
8.5 Conclusion 4.247

Appendix 1 Institution of Occupational Safety and Health 4.249
Appendix 2 Reading for Part 1 of the NEBOSH Diploma
examination 4.250
Appendix 3 List of Abbreviations 4.251
Appendix 4 Organizations providing safety information 4.257
Appendix 5 List of Statutes, Regulations and Orders 4.259
Appendix 6 List of Cases 4.267
Appendix 7 Safety at Work Series - Index 4.272
Foreword
Frank J. Davies CBE, O St J, Chairman, Health and Safety Commission

My forty years experience of working in industry have taught me the
importance of health and safety Even so, since becoming Chairman of
the Health and safety Commission (HSC) in October 1993, I have learned
more about the extent to which health and safety issues impact upon so
much of our economic activity. The humanitarian arguments for health
and safety should be enough, but if they are not the economic ones are
unanswerable now that health and safety costs British industry between
£4 billion and £9 billion a year. Industry cannot afford to overlook these
factors and needs to find a way of managing health and safety for its
workers and for its businesses.
In his foreword to the third edition of this book my predecessor,
Sir John Cullen, commented on the increasing impact of Europe in the
field of health and safety, most notably through European Community
Directives. We have since found this to be very much so. I believe that
the key challenge health and safety now faces is to engage and influence
the huge variety of businesses, particularly small businesses, and to help
them manage health and safety more effectively. I would add that the
public sectors, our largest employers these days, also should look at their
management of health and safety to ensure they are doing enough.
Many businesses are willing to meet their legal obligations if given a
gentle prompt and the right advice and HSC is very conscious of the
x Foreword
important of having good regulations which are practicable and
achievable.
It is, of course, vital and inescapable that an issue as critical as health
and safety should be grounded in sound and effective legislation.
This book covers many of these and other important health and safety
developments, including environmental and industrial relations law
which touch on this area to varying degrees. I welcome the contribution
it makes towards the goal of reaching and maintaining effective health
and safety policies and practices throughout the workplace.
Preface

Health and safety is not a subject in its own right but is an integration of
knowledge and information from a wide spectrum of disciplines. Safety
at Work reflects this in the range of chapters written by experts and in
bringing the benefits of their specialised experiences and knowledge
together in a single volume.
While there is a continuing demand for a single volume, many
managers and safety practitioners enter the field of safety with some
qualifications already gained in an earlier part of their career. Their need
is to add to their store of knowledge specific information in a particular
sector. Equally, new students of the subject may embark on a course of
modular study spread over several years, studying one module at a time.
Thus there appears to be a need for each part of Safety at Work to be
available as a stand-alone volume.
We have met this need by making each part of Safety at Work into a
separate volume whilst, at the same time, maintaining the cohesion of
the complete work. This has required a revision of the presentation of the
text and we have introduced a pagination system that is equally suitable
for four separate volumes and for a single comprehensive tome. The
numbering of pages, figures and tables has been designed so as to be
identified with the particular volume but will, when the separate
volumes are placed together as a single entity, provide a coherent
pagination system.
Each volume, in addition to its contents list and list of contributors,
has appendices that contain reference information to all four volumes.
Thus the reader will not only have access to the detailed content of the
particular volume but also information that will refer him to, and give
him an overview of, the wider fields of health and safety that are covered
in the other three volumes.
In this way we hope we have kept in perspective the fact that while
each volume is a separate part, it is only one part, albeit a vital part, of a
much wider spectrum of disciplines that go to make occupational health
and safety.
John Ridley
John Channing
October 1998