Engineers Responsibility

for Safety - 2
By
USMAN ILYAS
Assistant Professor
Civil Engineering Department
University of Management and Technology, Lahore
 CONCEPT OF SAFETY
 Safety, as also risk, do not fall under deterministic
but are probabilistic.

 Safety and risk happen in future when a product is

used by customers; But there is a need to estimate
the risk and provide for it.

 Nothing can be made absolutely safe. The degree of

safety proposed to be attained depends upon
product and cost of risk.
 SAFETY
• Eliminating hazards at the design or planning stage
is often easier and cheaper to achieve than making
changes later when the hazards become real risks in
the workplace. Safe design can result in many
benefits, including:
 more effective prevention of injury and illness
 improved use-ability of structures
 improved productivity and reduced costs
 innovation, in that safe design can demand new
thinking to resolve hazards that occur in the
construction phase and in end use.
 SAFETY
• The duty of a person conducting a business or
undertaking to ensure health and safety is qualified
by what is reasonably practicable. Deciding what is
‘reasonably practicable’ requires taking into account
and weighing up all relevant matters including:
 the likelihood of the hazard or the risk occurring
 the degree of harm that might result from the
hazard or the risk
 knowledge about the hazard or risk, and ways of
eliminating or minimizing the risk.
 SAFETY
 the availability and suitability of ways to eliminate
or minimize the risk, and
 after assessing the extent of the risk and the
available ways of eliminating or minimizing the risk,
the cost associated with eliminating or minimizing
the risk, including whether the cost is grossly
unreasonable to the risk
 SAFETY & COST
 Perception about safety and cost needs to be
clarified. Providing safe products is ethical and
mandatory. Manufacturer cannot compromise
safety considering the expenses involved in
providing for it.
 As the safety of the product is not known
beforehand, it can be ascertained only during the
testing stage. Proper testing as per standard
practice should be done even if it adds to the cost.
 We have to take into account the customer while
designing the product. In addition to proper
documentation for the use of a consumer, the
product is so designed and help lines are provided
so that the consumer does not find it difficult to
use.
 PRODUCT SAFETY
 Warnings against possible misuse;
 Being aware of and meeting industry and
mandatory standards;
 Incorporating safety into product design;
 Developing appropriate safety standards through
product improvement;
 Implementing a quality assurance program, which
includes consumer feedback; and responding
quickly to safety concerns that arise
 DESIGNING FOR SAFETY
 In the realization of a product, the point at which the
question of safety must be considered is the design stage.
It is at this stage that the product takes a physical form and
many of the details of the practical aspects of the
conceived product are seriously considered. This involves
product detailing, analysis and design, prediction or
assessment of possible risks, and incorporating safety
features in the product. In assessing the possible risks, the
consumers of the product need to be considered.
 Engineers are responsible for ensuring that the product is
safe for the consumer. Safety does cost more but will be
worth it, and so cost should not be a prime consideration
at this stage.
CASE STUDIES
 CHERNOBYL
 Nuclear disaster; happened on April 26, 1986 at
Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine
 50 people lost their lives and many more died
later and suffered from various ailments
 Design faults in the reactor and components,
Lack of operator training, communication gaps
and slow response system were found to be
the major causes for the accident
 UPHAAR CINEMA TRAGEDY
 Fire due to explosion in a transformer on June
13, 1997 at Uphaar cinema, New Delhi
 59 people lost their lives and more than 100
people seriously injured
 Faulty design of exit signs, negligence on the
part of the owners, licensing authorities and
power department officials were found to be
the major cause for the tragedy.
 FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT CASE
• The powerful earthquake which hit Japan on 11th March 2011 caused a
tsunami which added to the destruction of millions of people’s homes and
livelihoods. A consequence of this terrible natural disaster was a man-made
disaster - a nuclear power plant which supplies electricity to thousands of
homes was damaged.
• Not long after the disaster it was announced that radiation had been found
in water in Japan’s capital city Tokyo and that it was unsafe for babies to
drink. Tokyo is 220km (136 miles) away from the radiation leak.
• Scales such as the Richter scale which measures earthquakes, or Celsius
which measures temperature, provide us with more information to help us
understand what is going on. The same applies to the International Nuclear
and Radiological Event Scale (INES) which measures how bad a nuclear
event is.
• The event was considered a Level 7 ‘Major Accident’ and can be compared
to the worlds largest nuclear disaster which took place in Chernobyl,
Ukraine in 1986.
 FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT CASE
• Although both accidents have been classified level 7, the emissions from
the Chernobyl disaster far outweigh those from Fukushima. But we are
warned that the radioactivity released in Japan might eventually go
beyond that emitted in Chernobyl. At the time of the incident over 85,000
people were evacuated from their homes around the power plant.
The shutting down and halting of emissions and nuclear leaks from the
plant may take as long as a decade. There are concerns over leaking
contaminated water which has leaked into the Pacific Ocean. Radiation
for the Fukushima accident was still being released into the atmosphere at
the end of 2014, and it is expected that the fallout will reach its peak by
the end of 2015.
• Let’s take a look at what radiation is, what it means to life on earth, and
why we have nuclear power stations...
 MAN-MADE DISASTERS
 Hazardous materials
 Nuclear materials and waste
 Oil spills
 Chemical and biological materials
 Building and bridge collapse
 Severe traffic accidents
 Floods and landslides due to deforestation
 PHASES
Mitigation is of two types. The first is before
the disaster, when it is possible to lessen the
impact of any disaster using proper designs.
The second aspect of mitigation is after the
disaster has occurred when, by proper
management of resources and available
facilities, we can reduce the impact, thus
saving lives and reducing damage to property.
 PHASES
Preparedness - includes planning for any
disaster, forecasting likely disasters, keeping a
disaster management plan ready, training
personnel and members of the society to
manage disasters, and having alternative
communication systems ready for
coordination. Natural disasters can be
expected to damage vital links and these must
be provided for.
 PHASES
Response - Once a disaster occurs, two types of
actions will be required. The first action is the
response to emergency needs. This will include
limiting the impact of the disaster by relocating
people, providing food and shelter, preventing
diseases, and ensuring the establishment of vital
links such as communication, road, and rail networks.
This phase of disaster management is known as
response. This is a vital phase as this is when the
management of disaster calls for speedy and timely
actions.
 PHASES
Recovery - Recovery is the second phase of the
response to disaster. This, in many situations, is a long-
term process. Depending upon the disaster type, it may
take months or years to achieve recovery. This is the
process of bringing the area to its earlier state, which
may not be fully attainable. In the case of a nuclear
disaster, for example, the danger from exposure to
radiations continues for a long period of time. The
process of bringing the neighborhood to its former state
would take a very long time and continuous monitoring
of the area would be required.
 SAFE EXIT
 Safe exit is the provision for people to escape
with minimum damage when something
untoward happens.
 Products are designed with low probability of
failure, and, if at all fails, the consequent
damages are minimum and people have an
escape route.
 In the case of Uphaar cinema, safe exit was not
properly provided for.
 ETHICAL ISSUES
 Public safety and welfare must be the prime concern
of professionals. These should not be compromised
while designing and manufacturing products and
services.

 Loyalty to employers must not come in the way of a

professional resisting an attempt to compromise on
safety for the purpose of cutting costs or increasing
profits.
 ETHICAL ISSUES
 The professional must use his/her right of expose in
case he/she has to fight attempts to compromise on
safety.

 Employers/Owners must also realize that

compromising on safety for short term gains will not
help. The economic loss coupled with loss of
credibility, brand value, and market share will be
costlier in the long run in case something untoward
happens.
 ETHICAL ISSUES
 Building safety measures in the beginning is
cheaper and much more sensible than
correcting something later after a mishap has
occurred.

 Owners and employees are morally bound to

keep public safety in focus at all times.

 Engineers have to be sensitive to safety issues

and all decisions must ensure public safety.
 SUMMARY
Safety is a very important aspect of engineering.
Engineers have to keep in mind the safety of the
public, which should hold a paramount position in all
their dealings. Risk analysis and risk management are
essential to avoid risks that endanger public lives.
The many case studies described in the lecture show
a lack of concern among the people involved in
maintaining safety. Commercial consideration should
not overshadow safety aspects in any activity.
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THANKS