Safety,Health & Environment

Lack of Safety Awareness

2012-01-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

Other day I was travelling in a Auto Rickshaw and was delighted to see that There are provisions made to keep the fire extinguishers ,that can be used in case of eventualities.But this moment of delight was temporary.I saw that the news paper was stuffed in the place that was meant for fire extinguisher.Just asked the Driver for this Great(??) action of him,the reply was "I do not require this and there cannot be any fire in his auto".He also informed me that the manufacturing company has made such provisions just to make the auto to look good.....
God save our country!

Updates on Swine flu available at Health Ministry Website

2009-06-30T04:49:00.000-07:00

I am sure most of you are tracking our Indian Ministry for Health and family Welfare Website.This website has a separate dedicated link for Swine Flu updates.
Do track this website regularly to obtain information on various aspects,measures taken by the ministry and also Daily Press releases.
You can use the informations in the website and specifically in the Draft plan for Pandemic preparedness and response to prepare a plan that would suit your community or office

Very good and updated informations are available in this website.Hope this information is helpful

Pandemic Phases : Phase 1 to Phase 6

2009-06-30T04:26:00.000-07:00

The World Health Organization(WHO) has raised the Pandemic alert for H1N1 Influenza A(Swine Flu) to Level 6.This has caused 'situation of panic' among many countires.However,what we fail to understand is the meaning of this!!.The alert level has been raised on the basis of spread and certainly not on the basis of severity.
It is important to understand what does different phases.There are actually 1-6 phases and each of these are described as follows:

Phase 1 : Low risk of human cases
Phase 2 : Higher risk of human cases
Phase 3 : No or very limited human to human transmission
Phase 4 : Evidence of increased human to Human transmissions
Phase 5 : Evidence of significant Human to Human transmission
Phase 6 : Efficient and sustained Human to Human transmission

I hope this information helps in better understanding!

Have a Influenza-free life!!!!!!

EHS- Head of Department required

2009-04-14T00:21:00.000-07:00

One of the reputed company in Bangalore is looking for a person to head the EHS function.Interested candidates can send in your resume to
sunny@abcconsultants.net
Requirements:

10-15 years of experience
Good knowledge of EHS practices,Policies,Legal requirement

So,wishing you all the best!

Asst EHS Manager required

2009-04-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

One of the reputed company is looking for an Asst Manager-EHS.The candidate must be a BE degree holder and must have proficiency in Local language Kannada.

For more information contact veena@imsysindia.com

Best of luck!

Watch out - Color to your eyes,Poison to your health

2009-03-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

I just thought of sharing this with you,after my visit to a vegetable shop yesterday.Just look at the photo carefully.The GREEN peas.This is what attracted me.I just took few peas and rubbed it with water.The color of the water changed to green.This means that the peas are smeared with some chemicals,to give it a fresh look!!!

I asked the shop owner about this.He politely told me "this is not for "You".Go for something else."...Well if this is not for me certainly it must not be for "You" right???

This is what we mean when we say"Color to your eyes,Poison to your health"..

So WATCH OUT!!!!!!!!!

Yahoo Groups -Environmental Health & Safety

2009-03-13T04:34:00.000-07:00

There are lot of Yahoo groups related to EHS.But the following are the groups I found very active,in which all informations related to EHS are exchanged and discussed.These groups have EHS professionals across various industries.You may like to join

India Safety Professionals Click here to join
Universal Safety Professionals Click here to join

I am already a member of these two groups and has tasted the usefulness of these groups.So thought of informing you

Earth Hour Campaign -Participate in it

2009-03-06T20:48:00.000-08:00

This years Earth Hour will be on 28th March.All the building lights will be switched off from 8.30pm-9.30pm.
Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour.
This year it is estimated that more than 1 billion people will participate in this campaign,by switching off the lights..both at home and at office.
You can visit this website to know more about Earth Hour campaign.
Participate in this program and also spread this message in your community/friends......Let us do our bit for the environment
After all let us not forget "Little drops of water makes a mighty ocean".

One tip for energy saving

2009-03-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

The buzz word currently making rounds is the Cost reduction.In a company like atmosphere,it is very important for everyone to contribute for Cost reduction.
One area which each and every individual can contribute is in energy saving.Just give a thought on the following tip

The AC temperatures in most of the offices are set in the range of 21-23oC.Just think whether this range ia actually required.Try to change it to 24-26oC.Out body may take some time to adjust,but sure this will not be uncomfortable,as we get used to it.

You will surely contribute to energy saving......Hope that you will give it a try....What say you???

New Rules - Hazardous waste

2009-02-20T22:50:00.000-08:00

Many of my friends have been asking me about the new rules related to Hazardous waste Management.Well....its easy to find Click here to find the new rule ..The Hazardous Wastes (Management,Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules,2008.
Hope this helps!!

Environmental engineers required

2009-01-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

Hi All
Bangalore based MNC requires environmental engineers for its new project.The requirements are as follows:

2 Years of minimum experience in environmental field
Good knowledge of legislations
EMS and ISO 14001

You may send your resume to this Id

If interested,you may want to apply.Freshers need not apply for this post.

Regards

Conducting Safety Quizes :Awareness increasing tool for sure

2008-12-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

Conducting the safety quiz :This is the method used by many and specially the EHS professionals to keep the knowledge and awareness current.Safety quizes are conducted in Schools,Colleges and Companies and the general response to this is always good.This also gives an opportunity to the quiz master to updates his knowledge and skills.
Browsing through the internet ...google search,I found the following websites very useful

Of course,if you search through the web,you will find a lot of websites related to EHS quizes.Hope this information helps.Also do not forget to read about the safety quiz which I had hosted on this blog

Parking ethics - Park vehicles properly without troubling others

2008-11-17T21:41:00.000-08:00

This was my observations yesterday,when I visited a famous shopping mall.Look at the photo,which is self explainatory.

I do not know who parked first ,but it will be really interesting to see who will take out the car first!!!!

We all must understand the mirthy proverb of the world-:"Live and let live".We do not have rights to trouble others.If you do not get a parking slot,or do not know how to park,then just get out of the mall do not trouble other users.

Language converter :Useful tool for Preparing training material

2008-11-11T03:04:00.000-08:00

All professionals will agree,that most effective way of training,is to present to the trainees in the language they understand.It is often found that,majority of the trainers use English as the medium of training.

Just imagine that,you are training a group of contractors on construction safety and they only understand languages like Kannada,Tamil etc.Then to make the session more interesting,prepare the training material in trainees langauge.

Here is a tool.When you click on this,you get a typing space and choose the language you want and type the pronounciation in english.Corresponding local language letters will appear.After this it is easy to cut and paste this on a poerpoint or word training material

It really helps.Try this out and give me your feedback

Celebrate Diwali Safely

2008-10-27T23:09:00.000-07:00

It is the festival of lights and is celebrated with lot of enthu from people of all ages.I wish you alla happy and prosperous Diwali.Yes....In this enthu kindly do not forget

To ensure your's and your family's safety while bursting crackers

Never allow children to burst crackers without you being around

Always keep the first aid like plasters/band aid,Ointments ,so that they are readily avaiable

Ensire that you do not inhale too much of a smoke .that generated after bursting of the crackers

Never allow the sparks to get into your eyes

As far as possible burst low decibel crackers...If you cannot than atleast ensure that the children and Old aged persons are at safe distance.

Keep the contact number of the nearby hospital ready.

Wishing you a Happy Diwali again and thanks a lot for reading this safety message on my blog

Check Expiry Dates before you purchase medicines

2008-10-20T03:56:00.000-07:00

Just a small reminder for all.....when you intend to buy medicines next time in a medical store,do not forget to check the expiry date on it

Do remember that the medicines are inaffective after the expiry date and may result in serious side effects.

The other day,when I visited a medicine shop,I saw a person purchasing the medicines.Out of curiosity ,I asked him whether he has checked the expiry date.The reply I got was a shock.He said that he only checked the price and not the expiry date.

Many of us,as a result of our hectic schedule.may forget to check this....But always remember that ,this cannot be an excuse!!!

Emergency Escape route :Keep it clear and clean

2008-10-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

Just thought of writing this post after my return from an audit.
We must always ensure that the emergency escape routes/staircases are free of obstructions.Kindly ensure that you do not store any materials in this path,as it would proove detrimental in case of real emergency.
The route/path must be free,so that people can easily run out and evacuate as early as possible.
I think below are the few measures you can take to ensure this:

Include checking the emergency escape route/path as a check-point in your Housekeeping cheklist and let this be checked atleast once after the end of the shift(No problem,if your housekeeping persons wants to check this every hour/frequently)
Educate all employees on the importance of following this very important rule
Display good visual controls,to inform all that it is not a good practice to block emergency escape routes

Pollution Pollution every where! no place to spare

2008-10-03T04:16:00.000-07:00

I have been always telling people proudly about my native district Uttara Kannada's(Karwar) greenary and the way people are preserving the environment.

But this time around when I travelled to my native place Kumta,I decided to give a try and confirm whether my understanding was correct.

While driving I observed lot of plastic waste being thrown all the way.The above photoes I took at a small canal in karki ,a place near Honnavar says the story.You can find lot of plastic wastes just thrown around all places including the small canals,rivers(including the famous river Sharavathi).

I hope commonsense prevails and the people become aware of these issues.I am confident that the people of uttarakannada will surely understand the importance of saying "No to Plastics"

Parking ethics - Do not block fire fighting equipments

2008-09-19T03:40:00.000-07:00

This is what I found ,when I visited Ginger Hotel at Pantnagar,during my visit this time.The hotel had fire hydrant posts near the parking area.The hotel authorities had designated the area infront of this hydrant post as a No parking area.During my observation,I saw a car being parked in this no -parking area,right infront of hydrant post.I tried talking to the driver of this car and tried to educate him on this to which initially he said that,he does not care.But when the importance of the hydrant post was told to him,he oblized and removed the car and parked in a different location.

I had the pleasure of atleast educating a person!

Save Water - Do not waste the resource

2008-09-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

This is the common scenario.Many of us speak a lot on natural resource conservation.But what about actually practising it?

Leaking taps,leaking water supply pipes are common scenes in our house,our localities.Whenever you observe this,kindly take immediate countermeasure-calling the plumber,or immediately informing the water supply board.

Kindly do not neglect the water resource.If I remember correctly,I had read an article on internet that the third world war will be fought on the issue of water.

Remember:

Use water carefully,do not waste water

Ensure that the tap is closed when you are applying soap/handwash.Turn the tap on only when you finish rubbing your hand with soap solution

Adopt rainwater harvesting

Do not unnecessarily water plants during rainy season

Spread the message to your family,friends and network

Blog Report 18/July to 30/Aug

2008-08-29T22:19:00.000-07:00

I wondered before writing this-whether I need to have something called as a monthly report??.I gave a thought and decided to go ahead.Eventhough,my blog is just new,I am proud to present this report.

The Alexa ranking of the blog jumped from 18,781,964 to 12,279,173.For the people who have not heard about Alexa,they are the website who rank blogs and website based on the traffic
As of today I had 1039 visitors,25 e-mail subscribers.For a new blog this quite fascinating.
The Quiz competition hosted on this blog received a tremendous response and once again congratulations for the winners and thanks for the Sponsors-Amrutha Agency
I have been receiving lot of appreciations from the EHS Community for starting this blog and everyone's expectation is that,I continue to provide more and more informations

This is it.Hope that I will have more things to write in my next blog report.Till then Happy reading.

Thanks

Plastic Drinking water bottles - A menace

2008-08-21T03:29:00.000-07:00

How many of us have seen this??How many of us are practising this??.Using the same old plastic bottle to drink water and than throw it in the dustbin.These bottles get mixed with the regular paper wastes/garbages and later on poses great difficulty in disposing.

There are situations where using a plastic bottle may be very much necessary,but what about in other situations.

Following things needs to be practised,for better environment upkeep.

Take your own water bottles(food grade and not low grade plastic bottles) to office.Fill it with the drinking water available.This would avoid,throwing away plastic bottles after one gulp.You can use your bottle for months together,thus avoiding daily dump

Advice your family members also on this.Advice you collegues on the importance of not using new plastic bottles everyday,and throwing the used one

Advice you company administration department on the plastic menance and also cost reduction of not using new plastic bottles everyday.

Protection of environment and prevention of pollution must start from "YOU".Never develop the attitude that one person i.e YOU not caring for environment will not have negative impact.Just imagine what will happen if 1000 people think like you.

SAY NO TO PLASTICS !

Safety Quiz - Results

2008-08-18T00:24:00.000-07:00

Its now time to announce the result of the quiz hosted on this blog
Of all the entries received 90% of the participants have given correct answers.The only question that required lot of tweaking was the 2nd Question.Eventhough the correct answer is 75 cms,many of them have sent proofs/etc that it is 100cms and 150 cms,depending on the weight of the extinguisher.
The purpose of this quiz is not to create confusion or arguments,so the sponsors Amrutha agency have instructed me that to consider the answer if it is 75-100-150 cms as correct..
So the answers are:
1.Waste eletrical and electronic equipment
2.75-100-150 cms
3.Iron
4.Methyl Iso cyanate
5.Hazard and Operability Study.

Of the correct entries,Amrutha agency has selected the following as winners through drawing of lots.
I prize(Rs 1000) : Ms.Shilpa Kumari
II Prize ( Rs 500):Mr.Bhaumik Amin
III Prize (Rs.250 each)
-Dr.Chetana Rohit
-Mr.Sundar.P

Winners kindly contact me at ehshegde@yahoo.com. along with the address to which the cheque has to be sent and also the correct name to be mentioned on the cheque.
Thanks for participating in the quiz.There will be more quizzes on the way and the prize amount will also be more.

Cheers!

Job Opportunity : Safety Officers for MNC

2008-08-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

An automobile giant in Bangalore is looking for qualified safety professionals ,who are well verse with Safety Legislations,Audits,trainings for its plant in Bangalore.Those interested can mail their resume to bnvijay@tkm.co.in

Toys for Children - Safety Hazard

2008-08-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Just look at these photoes.This was a toy Piano bought by one of my neighbour for his 2 year old child.The cost of this is Rs.125.This gives an impression to everyone that it is a good buy.I tried playing with it(of course to test the quality),the sound output was fantastic and I also watched the child thoroughly enjoying with it.My neighbour had a feeling that he had purchased a product which was really worthy.This was the feeling till I stumbled upon a greatest safety hazard in the toy.

The toy is battery operated and if you carefully observe the battery chamber,you can see that the outer cover has not been secured with a screw.This will eventually lead the battery to be exposed.Just imagine the situation,if the child gets hold of this batteries.

I have seen the similar products in other countries(like Singapore,USA).There it is ensured that the battery is housed in chambers and the outer cover has a screw that is present to tighten it.This will ensure that the child playing with the toy,will never get hold of the batteries

The question to ask is why this double standards.In countries like Singapore great safety standards are practised and when it comes to India "Anything is OK" mindset.

What are the authorities saying??

Quiz -So far

2008-08-03T07:01:00.000-07:00

Friends,Its been great going..We are receiving lot of entries for the quiz competition we had hosted.The sponsors are really thrilled by the way people are responding.
Keep going and remember the last date is 15th August 2008.You may also like to request your friends to participate.
The sponsors have given me a hint that they will be hosting many such competitions and in future the prize amount also will be increased.
Happy quizzing.

You may also like to subscribe to this blog and receive instant updates.
Regards

Quiz Questions - Answer correctly and win prizes

2008-07-31T00:12:00.000-07:00

Friends,here are the 5 questions of the EHS Quiz,that my friends in Amrutha agency are sponsoring on my blog
Amrutha agency are the stockists of Medicines and they have informed me that,they would host many more such competitions,based on the success of this quiz.
Prizes:
I Prize : Rs 1000
II Prize : Rs.500
III Prize : Rs250(two prizes of Rs 250 each).
Questions:
1.What is the full form of WEEE(related to e-waste)?
2.Portable Fire extinguishers are supposed to be mounted or placed on a
platform at what height(in cms) from the floor?
3.Haemoglobin in blood contains which element?
4.Which gas was mainly responsible for Bhopal Gas tragedy?
5.What is the full form of "HAZOP"?
What you need to do:..........

Send in your answers to ehshegde@yahoo.com by 15th August 2008 with "Quiz Answers" in the subject line

The decission of Amrutha agency and me would be final.In case there are more than one person sending all correct answers,then,the winners will be decided by drawing of lots.

Note:
a.The prizes will be given in Indian Rupees only
b.I will be sending the winners cheque from my personal account,as amrutha agency have
already credited the prize amount to my account. Contact me if You have any clarifications
Happy quizzing & winning!!!!

Check this website on Health

2008-07-29T00:38:00.000-07:00

Friends,You must check this website on health It gives lot of information on health related issues,diseases and their preventions.You can also find in health related vedios that are quite interesting
This website mainly targets the major causes of diseases in India and also how to scientifically prevent them.
This website is maintained by the Public Health Foundation of India in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India
I would reccomend this as one of the comprehensive website on Health in India

Safety Quiz - prizes

2008-07-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

Amrutha agency have once again confirmed that they would be hosting the Safety quiz from my blog.They have also told me that the following will be the prize details.

I prize : Rs 1000
II prize : Rs 500
III Prize : Rs 250(Two prizes of Rs 250 each)

They have asked me to frame 5 questions related to Safety(of course I will surely include E and H part also). You can expect shortly a post from me regarding the questions.

Based on the success of this quiz,they have promised to host many more quizes,competitions on this blog.

Safety Quiz - Coming soon

2008-07-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

Friends,Its been a while I have been thinking about a safety quiz...Yes the EHS professionals require something.Finally I have got the response.My friends in Amrutha Agency have told me that they will host a EHS quiz on my blog....Prizes to be won,..So wait for announcements

Insect eating plant - Vedio

2008-07-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

Friends,I just received a mail containing a vedio of a insect eating plant.The plant is scientifically called Dionea.This mail was sent to me by my friend Nanjunde Gowda.I have uploaded the same in my blog

About E-waste-Current condition

2008-07-21T03:45:00.000-07:00

The new E-waste Guidelines released and also the new draft of E-waste Management rules(that MAIT is developing) have done one good thing.ie to give a definition to E-waste.
Now we can,to a greater extent define E-waste as "Wastes whole or in part,comprising of or derived from used electrical and electronic equipments that are not fit for its original use and are destined to for refurbishment,recycling or disposal and it shall include but not confined to the wastes listed in the schedule annexed to these rules"
These may take some more time to come into action/implementation,but I think finally we are moving in right direction.
E-waste has always been a hot topic.and many of the companies are targeted for the way they manage the e-waste.The pioneer in this has been the green peace.We all know the series of protests organised by them against the mis-management of E-waste.
You can expect to see lot more posts by me on E-waste,but I wanted this post to be a starter.
In India Ministry of Environment and forests has been leading the way legislations have been developed.Atlast now we are seeing some lights.
The main issue was not of just legislations,it was about infrastructures to support this legislation.Starting Yr 2005 there were very few recyclers,who had the knowlegde of E waste recycling.In those days the E-waste was categorised as Schedule 31.1 in Hazardous waste Rules 2003.As the scenario and awareness changed,more and more recyclers started coming into India.I thought in this post Let me give you names and contacts of few recyclers,with whom I have talked to.
1.E-Parisaraa in Bangalore
2.Tes-Amm in Chennai
3.Trishyiraya Recyclers( Now SIMS) in Chennai
4.TIC Group in Noida
You can expect from me more posts on E-wastes in future.

Safety Awareness!!! Commercial establishments???

2008-07-20T00:26:00.000-07:00

We talk about Safety in industries!! but many of us may not have wondered the same safety awareness in some of the premises occupied by commercial establishments like banks,shopping complex etc.

Visit any commercial establishments to see for yourself.We can at the minimum observe the fire extinguishers been blocked by goods and materials.Any question from you to the owner of the shop will be answered in one similar tone ..."Nothing will Happen".."To us Bussiness is more important than giving importance to such things...!

Just look at the picture...I took this picture(with most difficulty) at one of the nationalized Banks(Name of the bank is not important..as only issue is of prime concern).The bank officials had cooly put a calender ...nicely hooked to fire extinguisher.When asked came a usual reply "Nothing will happen"

The Government need to do a lot for making them understand that in case of a real emergency the staff and customers will be charred to death...

God knows whether these commercial establishments conduct fire evacuation drills???

Expect better posts

2008-07-17T08:01:00.001-07:00

My friends have been asking me about new posts and why I have not uploaded any thing....Well was quite busy last week .So expect some good posting this time.I plan to post a article on E-waste this week and I hope that it will be very informative to all

What to blog??

2008-07-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking for a long time now about what topics I need to blog and which topic will give me more scope and subscribers.I finally stopped at EHS..Why EHS....very simple...this is the area which is becoming more interresting and popular.This area requires lot of reading and tapping correct resources.