Health and Safety

  Pressure Vessels A pressure vessel consists mainly of a series of sheets of metal suitably shaped and welded together. They are designed to contain stored energy above atmospheric pressure. Pressure vessels, typically steam boilers and air receivers, are inherently potentially dangerous items of plant and there is a long and tragic history of accidents associated with them. -Typically injuries relate from: The impact from the blast of an explosion or release of compressed liquid or gas. Impact form parts of equipment that fail or any flying debris. Contact with the released liquid or gas, such as steam, and fire resulting from the escape of flammable liquids or gases; and Oxygen depletion or enrichment. -The typical causes of pressure system failure are: Poor equipment and or system design. Poor maintenance of equipment. An unsafe system of work. Operator error, poor training, and supervision. Poor installation: and Inadequate repairs or modification. St

  Ionizing radiation is the energy generated from natural and man-made radioactive materials. It is present in the environment because of naturally occurring radioactive minerals remaining from the very early formation of the planet earth. This leads to exposure to gamma rays and radioactive radon gas from certain rocks and from radioactive material in food and drink. Exposure also occurs from natural ionizing radiation that passes through the atmosphere from outer space, the so called ‘cosmic radiation’. There are three main sources of artificial or man-made ionizing radiation.         It is used in medicine for treating cancer and for the diagnosis of many diseases.        Radioactive materials are used in industry, primarily for measurement purposes and for producing electricity. Bothe medical and industrial uses of radiation produce radioactive waste.       It is present as fallout from previous nuclear weapon explosions and other accidents/incidents worldwide. The damagi

  Welcome to my blog ‘ healthsafetyknowledge.blogspot.com ’ on managing the risk of falls.   The regulations on falls aim to prevent deaths and injuries. The hierarchy of risk controls sets out the order of managing those risks. Starting from eliminating the need to work at height. This removes all possible risks of falling. To substitution , which involves replacing the hazard with one that presents a lower risk.   Followed by engineering controls , which requires structural changes like erecting barriers.   Administrative controls cover work methods or procedures that are designed to minimize exposure to a hazard.   Finally, using suitable and fitted personal protective equipment .    When managing a risk of a fall, the regulations also layout the equipment and systems to match, running from eliminating the risk of a fall by doing all or some of the work on the ground or undertake the work from a solid construction.    A solid construction is fixed and includes a safe means of en