Accidents and First Aid

In case of fire or accident call the laboratory instructor at once if possible. But there are times when seconds count, and the student should be ready in such cases to administer first aid to himself and others and to put out a fire before it spreads. 

For burning oil, if carbon dioxide is not available, use a mixture of sand and sodium bicarbonate, or of sand and anunonium chloride. Do not use water, as it will only spread the fire. 

Burning clothing. If the clothing should catch fire, remove it if possible, or avoid running, as this will fan the flame. Smother the flame by wrapping the body in a laboratory coat or, preferably, in a woolen blanket kept under the first-aid cabinet for that purpose. 

The basis for the treatment of all burns is to maintain sterility and to promote granulation and the formation of new tissues. In the case of burns from chemicals, the first important aid is immediate washing with water, followed by washing with a very dilute solution of another substance that will neutralize the chemical which caused the injury. Following are specific treatments. 

The ointment is applied to the skin and, if necessary, the part is bandaged. The use of cotton is to be avoided. If the pain is severe, a compress moistened with a 3 per cent solution of aluminum acetate, Al20(C2H302)2-4H20,may be applied and left until the pain is reheved. Then the skin should be dried, and either ointment or antiseptic talcum powder should be applied. 

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You should consult your employees (through safety representatives, if you have any) about the policy statement. Everyone should be able to see from the policy statement exactly who is responsible for different things, such as advice, reporting an accident, and first aid. 

State how the Data Protection Act has changed the way in which we record accident and first aid information at work. 

In the area affected, medical care is rendered in maximum possible amount and in the shortest time, both by rescue teams and first-aid brigades, promoting favorable outcome of the accident. 

The experimenter should be aware of the potential hazards of the work to be undertaken and of the appropriate precautions to be taken to reduce the risks before starting the work the same applies to the procedures to be followed and first aid help needed in the event of an accident. 

It is vital to know what to do in case of an accident. This includes being familiar with the fire fighting and first aid equipment, and knowing how to get assistance from qualified personnel. 

In dealing with accidents, incidents and emergencies several tasks have to be performed by the employer. First of aU he is obhged to prepare an action plan or an alarm plan which contains procedures to be followed if any such events occur. The arrangements also include regular safety drills and first-aid facilities. In order to restore the situation to normal, the employer... 

Minor accidents are common place and need to be dealt with in a common sense way, within recognised classroom practice and first aid regulations. Horrible accidents are fortunately very rare, nevertheless, in the event of an accident teachers should know how to deal with it. 

Emergency and first aid procedures. This section usually includes recommendations for firefighting procedures, first aid treatment, and steps to be taken if the material is released or spilled. Again, the measures outlined here are chosen to encompass worst-case scenarios, including accidents on a larger scale than could conceivably occur in a laboratory. 

First Aid Anyone working with electrical circuits and equipment should know rescue methods and first aid for electrical accidents. Too often attempts at rescue in electrical accidents result in a rescuer becoming part of the circuit and an additional victim. 

The safety audit is designed to take accoimt of quantitative information available through data on injuries, incident reports, insurance claims, accident reports, first aid records and any other documents that can provide an indication of performance. In looking at the administrative structure, attention is drawn to the support mechanisms that provide the foimdation for hazard management and accident prevention. 

Once the plan has been formulated, it becomes necessary to establish procedures in a clear and concise manner. Such procedures should include a general policy on security, an organisation chart indicating levels of responsibility for security, employment practices for the hiring of security staff, including detailed job descriptions and the duties and responsibilities of such staff, such as arrest and search powers. Detailed systems should also be developed to ensure the security of premises, protection of property, control of persormel and vehicles, including traffic control, security liaison with the fire control function, accident control and first aid to the injured. 

First aid at scene of accident yes no From whom . Nature and extent of injuries and first aid given ... 

Monticello employees are instructed to summon a member of the Accident Response Team when a visitor has an accident or a medical problem in their area. The Team Member offers comfort and First Aid (from one of Monticello s three First Aid stations) where appropriate decides whether to summon the Rescue Squad and obtains information about the circumstances of the mishap, including eyewitness accounts and names, addresses and telephone numbers of the eyewitnesses. 

If you have only a few accidents and incidents, you might want to move down one step to examine near misses and first aid-related cases. It is only a matter of luck or timing that separates the near miss or first-aid event from becoming a serious, recordable, or reportable event. The truth is you probably have been lucky by seconds or inches. (A second later and a tool would have hit someone or an inch more and it would have cut off a finger.) Truly, it pays dividends to take time to investigate accidents and incidents occurring in the workplace. 

Figure 13.4 The development in the frequency of lost-time and first-aid accidents and near accidents at an industrial plant after the introduction of new near-accident reporting routines.

The number of reported near accidents per reported lost-time injury. According to Heinrich, this ratio should be of the order of 300 1. In practice, far lower ratios are acceptable. The total number of recordable incidents (lost-time and first-aid accidents and near accidents) per lost-time injury (TRI/LTI) is a variation of this... 

Figure 15.S Distribution of lost-time and first-aid injuries at two offshore installations by type of event and department. In the living quarters, cut injuries predominate. A further analysis shows that they have mainly occurred in the kitchen. In the drilling section, squeezing accidents predominate, indicating safty problems associated with the handling of heaving drilling equipment.

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