1. health and fitness
2. disease
3. cancer

Price 150/- | May 2015 | Vol. 01 | Issue 08
the complete
magazine on HSE
safe limits
of Daily
Radiation
How safe
are mobile
towers?
Acute
water
shortage
Imminent
Safety Messenger | May 2015
1
contents
08
Cover story
Safe Limits of Daily Radiation
John Ebanazer ……………...........................…………Page 8
Mobile Towers: Towering Threat
14
Jayas Manadath……………........…...............……..Page 52
Endovascular Therapy to save Stroke Patients
N-Power Plants: Boon or Bane?
Radiation Resisting Systems
…………..............……….....................................….Page 28
Dr. M. Dinesh and Dr. Ram Madhav............................Page 22
Getting Rid of Nuclear Waste
Prostate Cancer Growing in India
......................................................……..........….Page 94
Dr. A. N. Brijesh Nair ………...............................……..Page 46
Dr. R. Vijayan ………………...........................…….Page 58
Safety
Spice up to Keep Cancer Away....................…..Page 64
Ray Safe i2 Personal Dosimeter
Staff Monitoring System.................................Page 95
Looking After the Eyes
Safety News
India in for Severe Water Shortage
…...................................................................…. Page 89
Products
CLEAR-PB Mobile Barriers
Radiation Area Monitoring System
Safe Food Supply Chain is the Need
of the Hour……................................................….Page 86
………........................................................................Page 35
Global NCAP: Get Car Safety
Standards to Smaller Economies By 2020
Wildlife Crimes Cry for Urgent Attention
.................................................................................Page 87
Jisha Tijo……..................................................………Page 70
Who Links Food Safety and
Nutrition for Increasing Deaths
Air Pollution Plagues India
.........................................................………..Page 77
28
Promoting Positive Health and Safety Culture
Health
ENVIRONMENT
64
HSE TRAINING
C. Mahadevan …………........................…………….Page 14
Dr. Deepa M G ……….........................................…….Page 40
4
22
….........................................................................Page 88
Safety Messenger | May 2015
…....................................................................…Page 96
Emergency Response Kit Survey
Meter W/Dual Detectors.............................Page 97
Mobile Phone Radiation Protection
‘Nightholder’ .....................................................Page 97
HSE Conferences …................….. Page 69
News digest ….....................…........... Page 90
Safety Messenger | May 2015
What is in the
next issue?
June 2015 issue
Focus on School Safety
Highlights
Articles and features by experts on :
• Safety issues specific to schools
• Discussion on school crimes, drug abuse,
bullying, ragging etc.
• Laws relating to school safety in India and abroad
• News and views from around the world on school safety
Health, Environment and other stories...
5
Subscription Form
Term
Face Value Subscription
Rate
Savings

3 YearRs. 5400/-Rs. 4400/-Rs. 1000/2 YearRs. 3600/-Rs. 3000/-Rs. 600/1 YearRs. 1800/-Rs. 1500/-Rs. 300/These rates are valid in India Only
Mailing Address
Living dangerously...?
A scene from the
Kudankulam nuclear power plant.
Name Mr. /Mrs. .....................................................................................................................................
Designation ...............................................................................................................................................
Organization ............................................................................................................................................
Address ..........................................................................................................................................................
Chief Editor : M.V.Thomas
EDITORIAL
I would like to subscribe to the safety Messenger Magazine as
indicated below
Executive Editor : K.K.Madhusudanan Nair
(Former Dy.Editor, Mathrubhumi Daily)
Consulting Editor : Jose Philip
T
here is growing concern in both developed
and developing countries about the health
hazards of living in a cellular world. Most of the
latest studies from across the world have cautioned
against the harmful effects of cellphone usage and
living under the electromagnetic fields of mobile
towers. Mobile towers are especially dangerous
because they emit microwaves at a frequency of
1,900 MHz.
What happens when human population centres
are flooded with massive amounts of powerful
wireless microwave radiation? Nobody knows…yet.
But we will soon. Because we are exposed to 100
million times more electromagnetic radiation than
our grandparents were, and cell towers are making
this figures grow exponentially.
Some of the most powerful cell tower
installations are on mountains and hilltops outside
urban areas. Alarmingly, these electromagnetic
fields have been impacting humans, animals as
well as the ecological balance. Studies of people
and farm animals living around these towers point
to chronic problems like stress and sleep disorders
to birth defects, cancer and Alzheimer’s. A number
of studies have also shown relationship between
mobile telephone use and reduced sperm count
and sperm quality.
Studies have demonstrated that artificial
frequencies higher than 10 Hz can create stress and
serious health problems. And, a mobile tower emits
microwaves at 1,900 MHz! These higher energy
waves can actually destroy chemical and molecular
bonds, creating chaos in our basic biochemical
structures. One of the problems is that this damage
is cumulative in the tissues, and can take years,
Sub Editor : Jisha Tijo
...................................................................................................................................................................................
Editorial Office : 34/1354 C, Edappally, Kochi.editor@safetymessenger.in
...................................................................................................................................................................................
Printer & Publisher : M.V.Thomas, Managing Director
NIFE Fire Systems & TNTI Fire Equipments Pvt. Ltd, Kochi, Kerala.
City................................................................................... State .................................................................
Design & Layout : Prasad
Pin code :
Corporate Office : 34/1354 C, Edappally, Kochi 682024.
PH: 0484-2806457, 2803046.
Phone (Res:) ...............................................................Mob...................................................................
Chief Admin. Manager : Shiney pATHROSE, info@safetymessenger.in
Email .................................................................................................................................................................
Marketing Coordinator : Sithara Shibu, admin@safetymessenger.in
Marketing Contacts
Enclose Cheque /DD No ............................................................................................................
Dated ...................................................................... For Rs ..................................................................
(All cheques & Drafts should be in favor of Safety Messenger only)
Your Subscription will start from the next available issue. You can
email us your orders at info@safetymessenger.in or Send us to
the below address.
Safety Messenger
34/1354 C, Mother Theresa Road
edappally P.O, Kochi-682024, KERALA
Chennai
Jose Rajan, rsmsdch@safetymessenger.in
Bangaluru
Kiran Kumar N, General Manager, gm@safetymessenger.in
V. Unnikrishnan, bangalorecsm@safetymessenger.in
Avijit Gouda, bnglrso@safetymessenger.in
Hyderabad
Subash Chander, rsmshyd@safetymessenger.in
Cochin
Nishad K Subair, marketing@safetymessenger.in, Mob: 8589857776
Finoy Francis, rsmkerala@safetymessenger.in
Disclaimer: Every effort is made to provide accurate and
the latest information possible. The publisher cannot accept
the responsibility for any unforeseen mistakes and for the
consequences arising from the use of information provided in the
publication. The views and opinions expressed in this magazine do
not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or Publisher.
6
Edited, published and owned by Mr. M. V. Thomas, Maliakal House,Mytri
Lane, M G Nagar, Mamangalam, Kochi-682 024, Kerala.
Printed at the Five Star Offset Printers, 39/ 3144,
Chelaveettil Estate, Valanjambalam, Ernakulam, Kochi 682 016.
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Living dangerously
in a cellular world
Safety Messenger | May 2015
even decades, to show up.
In the case of India, the issue has not yet become
as alarming as in developed countries like the US,
but India is fast heading towards such levels if the
growth of mobile phone usage and other wireless
gadgets are any indication. According to a report
submitted by a 13-member committee constituted
by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT),
there is no cause of alarm regarding possible illeffects on human health electromagnetic field (EMF)
radiation from cellphone towers and cellphones
because the limits adopted in India account for
all biological effects of radiation. In fact, the limits
set by India are much lower than the internationally
adopted recommendations of the International
Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection
(ICNIRP), the report says, which is really a welcome
step.
Of course, we cannot escape completely from
radiation in day-to-day life since it is all around us
in various forms. In this issue of Safety Messenger,
we have consciously chosen radiation safety as
the focal theme on account of the advent of newer
sources of radiation like the cellphones and cell
towers, which make life more difficult on Earth.
Hope the various aspects of radiation discussed
in the following pages will create more awareness
about the gravity of the issue and possibly open the
eyes of the authorities concerned to take necessary
safety and preventive measures.
M.V. Thomas
Chief Editor.
7
Cover Story
Cover Story
Mobile Towers
Towering Threat
15
N-Power
Plants
Boon or Bane?
28
Getting Rid
of
Nuclear Waste
47
SAFE LIMITS OF
DAILY RADIATION
Whether it comes from the ground, the sky, or medical treatment,
humans are constantly exposed to radiation from the world around
them. Radiation exists all around us. It is in our homes as a part of
our radios and microwave ovens, and, we, like all other creatures and
objects on Earth, experience extremely low levels every moment from
our natural environment. But the crucial issue is how much radiation
are we exposed to normally, and what is the safe level?
I
n simple words, radiation is energy that travels
through space as either waves or high-speed
particles. There are two types of radiation:
non-ionizing radiation and ionizing radiation.
Together, these two types of radiation form the
electromagnetic spectrum.
John Ebanazer
8
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Non-ionizing radiation does not have as much
energy as ionizing radiation; thus, it is generally
less harmful. The energy contained in non-ionizing
radiation is enough to make the electrons in atoms
or molecules wiggle and dance but not enough
to strip the electrons away. In contrast, ionizing
radiation has enough energy to ionize (strip away
an electron, leaving an unpaired electron behind)
atoms and molecules.
9
620 mrem per year (1 mrem is one-thousandth of 1
rem). That is just an average though, and the actual
figure may fluctuate widely per person depending
on where he lives and the medical procedures he
has had that year. The international standard is to
allow people who work with and around radioactive
material – researchers, nuclear-power plant workers,
X-ray technicians, etc. – to have exposures of no
more than 5,000 mrem total per year. The 5,000
mrem annual dose is considered to be safe and not
increase significantly the risk for radiation-related
health effects.
At high biologically effective doses, ionizing
radiation can cause serious tissue damage. For this
reason, anyone doing experiments with radioactive
materials must monitor how much radiation he is
being exposed to. This can be done simply with
a Geiger counter. Geiger counters are tools that
detect and measure ionizing radiation.
Geiger counters typically give readings in
some fraction of sieverts, or rems, per hour. You
can use this information and the time you spend
experimenting to calculate your total exposure dose
(time in hours multiplied by the Geiger counter’s
mrem-per-hour reading). It is always wise to
decrease your exposure as much as possible.
Harmful effects of ionizing radiation
This process and the resulting ions can cause
serious damage to tissues and cells. It causes
damage through several mechanisms, including
breaking important chemical bonds; producing free
radicals which are extremely reactive ions in the body
that interrupt normal function and cause cellular
and tissue damage when they react with biological
pathways; creating new, harmful, chemical bonds
between macromolecules that would otherwise not
occur and directly damaging molecules like DNA,
RNA, and proteins that are responsible for normal
cellular function.
Depending on the amount and duration of
ionizing radiation exposure, all or none of these
types of damage can occur. Extremely high doses
of radiation can lead to radiation sickness or even
death. An above-average amount of radiation
exposure can be responsible for increasing one’s
chance of developing cancer.
Not all ionizing radiation is bad though. Ionizing
radiation can be used in the medical field for imaging,
for example X-rays to look at bone, or treatment as
in the case of cancer radiation. Ionizing radiation
is capable of causing significant damage to living
cells – this does not mean that just any exposure will
10
cause harm. A small amount over a short period of
time may be harmless. To answer whether a specific
exposure is harmful or harmless, scientists focus on
quantifying and measuring the dose.
When working with radiation, the biologically
effective dose is what matters most for personal
safety. For X-rays, the relative harm factor is 1, which
means that a 1 rad absorbed dose is equivalent to a
1 rem biologically effective dose.
Medical procedures account for nearly all
(96%) human exposure to manmade radiation.
For example, a chest x-ray typically gives a dose
of about 0.01 rem (10 millirem), and a full-body CT
gives a dose of 1 rem (1,000 mrem).
When experimenting with ionizing radiation
like X-rays, diminishing your and everyone else’s
exposure should be the first priority. Ionizing
radiation can have serious health effects at high
biologically effective doses, including skin burns, an
increase in cancers, radiation sickness, and even
death.
In normal case, a single chest X-ray or dental
X-ray, both of which are considered to be medically
safe, exposes a patient to 10 mrem of radiation.
Limiting your exposure for a single experiment to
10 mrem would be similar to getting an X-ray. The
international safety standard is 5,000 mrem or less
per year. Your annual exposure, both normal and
experimental, should fall below the 5,000-mrem
level.
Three components
There are three components that figure in the
total radiation dose: time, distance, and shielding.
Time: The less time you spend exposed to
radiation the lower your dose. When experimenting,
make sure you know exactly what you need to get
done with the radiation. If necessary, go through a
dry run by practicing all your motions without the
radiation. Only use the radiation when you have
worked out all the other potential problems with your
experimental procedure.
Distance: Like most other physical phenomena,
radiation decreases with distance in accordance
with the inverse square law. This means that the
further away you are from the source of the radiation,
the less radiation you will be exposed to. Try to plan
your experiments so that you and anyone else
around are standing as far away from the radiation
source as possible.
Shielding: As ionizing radiation passes through
matter, the intensity of the radiation is diminished.
Thus, to protect yourself from radiation, you should
erect a barrier or shield. However, the material you
use matters significantly; some materials reduce the
intensity of radiation more than others do.
 Nasa's Astrobiology
Lab
Among these medical procedures, x-rays,
mammography, and CT use radiation or perform
functions similar to those of radioisotopes. However,
they do not involve radioactive material, and, hence,
are not regulated by the United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC). Instead, most of
these procedures are regulated by state health
agencies in United States.
Safe limits
According to the American Nuclear Society,
the average person is exposed to a dose of about
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
11
different characteristics. The common ionizing
radiations generally talked about are:
Alpha radiation: It consists of heavy, positively
charged particles emitted by atoms of elements
such as uranium and radium. Alpha radiation can
be stopped completely by a sheet of paper or by the
thin surface layer of our skin (epidermis). However,
if alpha-emitting materials are taken into the body
by breathing, eating, or drinking, they can expose
internal tissues directly and may, therefore, cause
biological damage.
Beta radiation: It consists of electrons, which are
more penetrating than alpha particles and can pass
through 1-2 centimetres of water. In general, a sheet
of aluminium a few millimetres thick will stop beta
radiation.
 Radiation resistant
Types of radiation
The term ‘radiation’ is very broad, and includes
such things as light and radio waves. In our context,
it refers to ‘ionizing’ radiation, which means that
because such radiation passes through matter,
it can cause the matter to become electrically
charged or ionized. In living tissues, the electrical
ions produced by radiation can affect normal
biological processes.
circuit from mechanical
parts
There are various types of radiation, each having
I
Neutrons: Neutrons are uncharged particles
and do not produce ionization directly, but their
interaction with the atoms of matter can give rise to
alpha, beta, gamma, or X-rays which then produce
ionization. Neutrons are penetrating and can be
stopped only by thick masses of concrete, water or
HOW RISKY IS RADIATION?
f you watch TV or use a cellphone, you are getting radiation.
If you smoke cigarettes, you are definitely getting it, too.
While not all types and sources of radiation are the same,
scientists agree their net effect is to increase your risk of
cancer and other health problems.
How dangerous is radiation? Radiation consists of several
types of subatomic particles, principally those called gamma
rays, neutrons, electrons, and alpha particles, that shoot
through space at very high speeds, something like 100,000
miles per second.
They can easily penetrate deep inside the human body,
damaging some of the biological cells of which the body is
composed. This damage can cause a fatal cancer to develop,
or if it occurs in reproductive cells, it can cause genetic defects
in later generations of offspring.
However, every person in the world is struck by about
15,000 of these particles of radiation every second of his or her
life. These particles, totalling 500 billion a year, or 40 trillion in a
lifetime, are from natural sources. In addition, our technology
has introduced new sources of radiation like medical X-rays.
With all of this radiation exposure, how come we are not
all dying of cancer? The answer to that question is not that
it takes a very large number of these particles to cause a
cancer; what saves us is that the probability for one of these
particles to cause cancer is very low, about 1 chance in 30
quadrillion (30 million billion, or 30,000,000,000,000,000).
12
Gamma rays: Gamma rays are electromagnetic
radiation similar to X-rays, light, and radio waves.
Gamma rays, depending on their energy, can pass
right through the human body, but can be stopped
by thick walls of concrete or lead.
Every time a particle of radiation strikes us, we engage in a fatal
game of chance at those odds. Of course, every extra particle
that strikes us increases our cancer risk; so many people feel
that they should go to great lengths to avoid extra radiation.
To put the matter in a nutshell, hazards of radiation must
be treated quantitatively. To discuss radiation exposure
quantitatively, we must introduce the unit in which it is measured,
called the millirem, abbreviated mrem. One millirem of exposure
corresponds to being struck by about 7 billion particles of
radiation, but it takes into account variations in health risks with
particle type and size of person.
For example, a large adult and a small child standing side by
side in a field of radiation would suffer roughly the same cancer
risk and hence would receive the same dose in millirems, though
the adult would be struck by many more particles of radiation
being a larger target. In nearly all of our discussions about
radiation, we will be considering doses below about 10,000
mrem, which is commonly referred to as low-level radiation.
paraffin.
Though we cannot see or feel the presence
of radiation, it can be detected and measured in
the minutest quantities with quite simple radiation
measuring instruments.
Protection from radiation
It has long been recognised that large doses
of ionizing radiation can damage human tissues.
Over the years, as more was learnt, scientists
became increasingly concerned about the
potentially damaging effects of exposure to large
doses of radiation. The need to regulate exposure
to radiation prompted the formation of a number
of expert bodies to consider what is needed to be
done. In 1928, an independent, non-governmental
body of experts in the field, the International X-ray
and Radium Protection Committee, was set up. It
was later renamed the International Commission
on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Its purpose
is to establish basic principles for, and issue
recommendations on, radiation protection.
These principles and recommendations form
the basis for national regulations governing the
exposure of radiation workers and members of the
public. They also have been incorporated by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into its
Basic Safety Standards for Radiation Protection,
published jointly with World Health Organisation
(WHO), International Labour Organisation (ILO),
and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA).
These standards are used worldwide to ensure
safety and radiation protection of radiation workers
and the public.
An intergovernmental body was formed in 1955
by the United Nations General Assembly named the
UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic
Radiation (UNSCEAR). UNSCEAR is directed to
assemble study and disseminate information on
observed levels of ionizing radiation and radioactivity
(natural and manmade) in the environment, and on
the effects of such radiation on humans and the
environment•
How dangerous is 1 mrem of radiation? The answer can
be given in quantitative terms, but, in most situations, for each
millirem of radiation we receive, our risk of dying from cancer
is increased by about 1 chance in 4 million. This is the result
arrived at independently by the United States National Academy
of Sciences Committee on Biological Effects of Ionizing
Radiation and the United Nations Scientific Committee on
Effects of Atomic Radiation.
Safety Messenger | May 2015
It has long been
recognised that large
doses of ionizing
radiation can damage
human tissues.
What are X-rays?
X-rays are a type of ionizing radiation that
exhibit both wave-like and particle-like properties.
The wavelengths of X-rays are so short that they
can travel very far through matter. For this reason,
they are both useful and dangerous. Safety
precautions need to be taken to make sure that
the ionizing radiation does not damage living
tissue.
X-rays are produced when electrons give up
some of their energy when they react with either
the nucleus of an atom or orbital electrons. There
are two atomic ways for this to occur. In both
cases, free electrons are shot at a target of heavy
atoms. In the Bremsstrahlung process, the highvelocity free electrons slow down as they interact
with the target atom, especially its high protoncount nucleus. This slowdown is translated into
electromagnetic energy and radiated out in the
form of X-rays.
In the K-shell emission process, the highvelocity electrons knock out electrons from the
inner orbit (K-shell) of the target atoms. Higherenergy electrons from the target atoms’ outer
orbit descend in to the lower-energy inner orbit
to fill in the space created in the inner orbit. The
descent releases excess electromagnetic energy
in the form of X-rays.
Medical X-ray machines and homemade
X-ray machine use X-ray tubes to produce and
control X-rays. These tubes have a cathode which
releases electrons in to the vacuum and an anode
that collects the electrons. This flow of electrons
from cathode to anode is known as the beam.
When the vacuum tube is hooked up to a highvoltage power supply, the energy is sufficient to
accelerate electrons to extreme velocities until
they collide with the metal anode.
This collision knocks off inner-orbital electrons
from the anode atoms. The subsequent act of
other orbital electrons filling in the gap is what
causes X-rays to be emitted. The energy of the
X-rays emitted is directly proportional to the
voltage applied through the tube. The minimum
voltage needed to produce X-rays from a vacuum
tube is about 20,000 V (20 kV).
Safety Messenger | May 2015
13
Cover Story
MOBILE TOWERS:
TOWERING THREAT
The remarkable increase in the users of mobile phones in India and
the mushrooming of mobile tower installations in every nook and
cranny of cities and towns have raised concerns over its probable
impact on human health and wildlife. The common man is still not
fully aware of the potential risks of the mobile phone. Multinational
companies and telecom operators have been asked to provide
better-quality services that are also ecologically safe. C.Mahadevan,
HSE Consultant and chemical expert explains the regulations and
possible hazards of cell phone towers.
M
C Mahadevan
illions of mobile subscribers had taken
part in the delayed rollout of 3G wireless
telephony networks in India. Now, mobile
subscribers will experience it all over
again. The Department of Telecommunication has
given a timeline for telecom operators and mobile
phone makers to adhere to the globally permissible
and safe levels of electromagnetic radiation
emissions. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment
and Forests has asked the Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) not to permit installation
of cell towers within one kilometer of existing ones.
This is to ensure that there is no potential risk of
electromagnetic radiation (EMR) harming humans,
animals and other biological systems.
The DoT has finalised tougher norms for
radiation emission from cell towers. India currently
follows the guidelines set for exposure to radiation by
International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation
Protection (ICNIRP), a German independent body.
14
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
15
guidelines for issue of clearance for installation of
mobile towers. All mobile-phone service providers
were directed to follow the following guidelines
strictly at the time of installation of mobile towers:
1. Installation of base station antennas within the
premises of schools and hospitals may be avoided
because children and patients are more susceptible
to electromagnetic field (EMF). Installation of base
station antennas in narrow lanes should be avoided
to reduce the risks caused by earthquake or windrelated disaster.
2. The base station antennas should be at
least 3 metres away from the nearby building, and
antennas should not directly face the building.
Further, the lower end of the antenna should be at
least 3 metres above the ground or roof.
3. Cases of multiple transmitter sites at a specific
locality sharing of a common tower
infrastructure
should be explored, and, as far as possible,
coordinated through a nodal agency.
The DoT’s new regulations regarding radiation
emissions from cellular towers and mobile phones
are came into effect on 1st September 2012.
Mobile phone towers installed on top of buildings
are a definite threat to human health. According to
experts, radiation from mobile phones used for long
duration is higher than those from mobile towers.A
good part of a telecom tower is a single installed
unit can be home to multiple telecom providers. This
means that the same telecom tower can be used by
multiple companies for distributing the signals.
History of regulations in India
If towers are responsible for radiation effects, is
the Government doing anything about it? Are there
any regulations that mobile companies have to
follow?
1. The Government framed a policy in 2006,
which included guidelines, rules and regulations
for installing a tower. Under the guidelines, mobile
service providers have to get clearances from the
Government before installing a tower.
exposure, without accounting for people who live
close to cell towers 24/7.
4. In August 2010, Government set up an InterMinisterial Committee on Electric and Magnetic
radiation from cell towers and mobile handsets as
well as their effects on health.
5. In 2011, the committee submitted the report.
6. In 2012, the DoT framed rules mandating all
mobile-phone manufacturers to comply with the
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) and announced that
the new regulations regarding radiation emissions
from cell towers and mobile phones, to be effective
from September 1, 2012.
Important guidelines for installing
towers
4. Access to base-station antenna sites should
be prohibited for the public by suitable means such
as wire-fencing, locking of the door to the roof, etc.
Access to tower site, even for the maintenance
personnel, should be for a minimum period as far
as possible.
5. Sign boards/warning signs are to be provided
at base-station antenna sites, which should be
clearly visible and identifiable. A warning sign
should be placed at the entrance of such zone.
The warning sign should discourage longer stay in
the zone, even for the maintenance personnel. The
signboard may contain the following text:
Danger! RF radiations Do not enter!
Restricted Area.
6. The operators and maintenance personnel
7. All local authorities should ensure that, before
giving any permission for installation of the mobile
towers, the aforementioned guidelines should be
followed.
8. Permissions or documents required
8.1. Structural safety certificate from designated
institute
8.2. Housing societies, before giving permissions
to service providers to erect towers for a rent,
should check the structural stability of the building
according to the Development Control (DC) rules.
This is important certificate for installation of tower
in building.
8.3. Consent from authority
Mobile phone operators and building owner have
to get consent of municipality or other competent
authority.
The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,
and rules made thereunder and the DoT issued
8.4. Indemnity bond
This is required from owner or service provider for
the installation of tower. Indemnity bond is to take
care of any loss or injury due to accident caused
by the tower.
2. In 2008, DoT decided to adopt the International
Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection
(ICNIRP) guidelines in the Telecom sector.
8.5. Other documents required as per guideline of
DoT
3. Till 2009, India had not adopted any standards
for safe exposure from mobile phone and mobile
towers. In 2009, the country adopted radiation
norms specified by ICNIRP guidelines of 1998.
However, the ICNIRP guidelines are outdated as
they are only intended to protect the public against
short-term gross heating effects and NOT against
‘biological’ effects such as cancer and genetic
damage from long-term exposure. Besides, these
safety standards are based on 6-minute-a-day
16
who are dealing with radio frequency devices,
especially with base station antennas installed on
towers and at any other outdoor sites,
should
be protected from electromagnetic radiations. It
is required that operators and
maintenance
personnel should be educated for possible hazards
from these devices.
8.5.1. Copy of Access Service
Registration Certificate from DoT
License/IP
8.5.2. Copy of SACFA clearance for the said location
issued by WPC Wing of DoT
8.5.3. Other clearance at state-level/ local authoritylevel: From Pollution Control
Board for DG sets;
from Fire Safety Department, if applicable; and
from State Environment and Forest Dept. where
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
17
lakh per tower per company if rules are flouted.
The decision follows a report of the interministerial committee formed by the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology to
study the hazards posed by electromagnetic field
(EMF) radiation from base stations and mobile
phones.
India Brings strict norms
A
n Inter-Ministerial Committee comprising the Department of Telecom,
Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Department
of Biotechnology, and Indian Council of Medical Research was set up in
August 2010 for studying radiation from cell towers and mobile handsets.
The group highlighted the adverse effects of radiation on human health
and made very specific recommendations of not permitting cell towers near
schools, residential colonies and hospitals.
Keeping public interest in view and to have regular interactions between
TERM Cell of DoT and state/district administration, state and district
telecom committees were formed for review of all telecom infrastructurerelated issues at state/district level.
India’s current radiation exposure limit (9.2 watt/m²) for mobile towers is
higher than in countries like Russia (0.2 w/m²) and China (0.4 w/m²). In the
United States, Canada and Japan, however, the radiation exposure limit is
much higher (12 w/m).
Based on the government circular dated 31/8/2012, the Government
of India implemented stricter radiation emission norms from September 1,
2012, for mobile towers, which must reduce emission to one-tenth of the
prevailing standard – from 9.2 w/ m² (watt per square metre) to 0.92 w/m²
– or else, face penalties.
The DoT also issued directions for reducing the Specific Absorption Rate
(SAR), a measure of the amount of radio-frequency energy absorbed by the
body while using a phone as the guidelines prescribed by the International
Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). The ICNIRP
lays down the basic restrictions and reference levels for limiting exposure to
electromagnetic radiations from mobile base stations and handsets. Thus
mobile handsets with the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) values of 1.6 watt/
kg averaged over 1 gram of human tissue will be allowed in India, which
is 50% more stringent than current norms, though ICNIRP has stipulated
that manufacturers must ensure that the maximum SAR level of a cellphone
does not exceed 2 w/kg.
For handsets, SAR is an indication of the amount of radiation that
is absorbed by body while using a mobile phone. This is measured in
watts per kilogram (w/kg) and the higher the SAR rating, the more is the
radiation absorbed. At present, mobile handsets are compliant with 2 watt/
kg averaged over 10 gram of human tissue. Mobile phones with new SAR
values will be permitted to be manufactured or imported into the country.
Since every handset has its own SAR levels, DoT is considering
making it mandatory for handset manufacturers to display the radiation
levels on mobile phones through the menu options, making it easier for
the consumers to know the exact levels for each mobile device. The lower
the SAR value, the less dangerous it is. Ideally go for a phone which has
SAR value of 0.2-0.8 w/kg. The new norms will place India among the more
radiation-conscious countries.
18
necessary.
8.5.4. Copy of NOC from building owner
8.5.5. Nominal, one-time administrative fee as may
be decided by the local body to recover its costs on
the issue of permission for installation of tower.
8.5.6. Electricity connection may be provided to
BTS site on priority.
8.5.7. For BTS tower, the following details are
required: Data sheet; name of service/infrastructure
provider; location; tower reference: height, weight,
ground/rooftop, and the number of antennas
planned on tower.
8.5.8. Copy of structural stability certificate for
ground-based BTS, or, in case of rooftop BTS
towers, structural stability certificate for the building
based on written approvals of authorised Chartered
Structural Engineer (local bodies); Central Building
Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee; or reputed
engineering colleges like IIT and NIIT.
8.6. Avoid base station antennas in narrow lanes (≤
5 metres)
8.7. In respect of rooftop towers with multiple
antennas, the rooftop usage desirable to be totally
restricted.
8.8. In case of both ground-based towers and rooftop
towers, there shall be no nearby
buildings right
in front of the antenna with height comparable to
the lowest antenna on tower at a distance threshold.
Tougher norms include tower providers to avoid
installing base station antennas in lanes narrower
than 5 metres while totally restricting rooftop towers
with multiple antennas. To safeguard consumers,
telecoms will have to maintain distance from a
building depending on the number of antennas they
want to put up. For instance, a building should be
75 metres away from a tower that has 12 antennas.
A tower with only two antennas can be 35 meters
away. It is gathered that 95% of nearly 500,000
towers across the country are already adhering to
the high standards.
Objections
operators
raised
telecom
The telecom operators are, however, resisting
the move. According to them, lowering of EMF
limits will give no health benefits but affect services.
Deteriorated coverage will mean the handset
will have to work harder/at a higher power which
will cause greater personal exposure. Also, if the
handset operates at a higher power, the battery
will discharge faster, giving consumers lesser talktime/standby time, leading to a degraded customer
experience. They also argue that the steps are not
needed, as there is no proof of direct correlation
between the radiation emitted by cellphone towers
and phones and health. They also has opposed
a Government’s proposal to make it mandatory
for mobile-phone manufacturers to specify the
radiation levels (SAR) emitted by the device on the
handset’s screen menu.
Telecom manufacturers also oppose a move
from DoT to set up a Conformity Assessment Body
Reducing risks
Lowering of the limit is a preventive step against
serious health risks posed by radiation emitted from
towers, which include the possibility of developing
certain types of cancer, though the cause-and-effect
relationship has not been established yet. The new
radiation exposure limits from towers were 10 times
more stringent than those adopted by 90% of the
world and telecoms were bound to comply. Mobile
phone companies would have to provide selfcertification of compliance with the new norms and
register with the Telecom Enforcement Resource
and Monitoring (TERM) cells. TERM cells would
conduct random audits, and, in case of complaints.
The Telecom Department can impose a fine of Rs 5
Safety Messenger | May 2015
by
(CAB), which will measure radiation from mobile
base stations and provide certifications to the
operators. There are over 3 lakh mobile towers in the
country, which are known to emit electromagnetic
radiation. Cellular operators argue that the level of
radiation at any tower is under permissible levels
and the assessment body will only result in delays.
It should not insist on making SAR a part of the
handset menu. In this regard, they maintain that
most of the handsets sold in India comply with the
global emission norms, and their SAR values are
displayed either in the device manual, or on the
website of the mobile manufacturer – hence the
display of SAR values through menu options on
screen is not required.
According to the
guidelines framed in
2006, there are rules
and regulations for
installing a tower.
No tower would be
installed within a
100-metre radius of
hospitals or educational
institutes.
Location of tower
According to the guidelines framed in 2006,
there are rules and regulations for installing a tower.
No tower would be installed within a 100-metre
radius of hospitals or educational institutes.
However many towers have been installed flouting
these guidelines. Regarding the location of towers,
cell operators shall avoid residential areas for
erection of the same.
• First preference shall be given to the location
of tower in the forest areas
• Second preference shall be given to the
location of tower in the open or public areas away
from residential locations
• Where it is not possible to avoid the location
of the tower in residential area, the same shall be
located in open space or park, with prior consent of
owners of adjoining residential houses
• Erection of tower shall not be allowed within
a radius of 100 metres from residential buildings,
schools and hospitals•
Safety Messenger | May 2015
19
What is mobile tower radiation?
brain, which consists of about 90% water.
How can one detect whether one is being
harmed or not? Who can one complain to?
If one lives close to a mobile tower:
• One can request the operators to reduce the
power transmission
• Change the angle of the antennas so that
no house falls in the main beam of the antennas, or
• Go for shielding solution
For detection, NESA has come up with a lowcost, simple and easy-to-use Cell Tower Radiation
Detector, DETEX 189, which is based on the health
recommendations by Bio-initiative Group. It has an
LED indicator as well as buzzer to find if one is living
in a safe, caution, or danger zone. Unfortunately,
right now, in India, there is no e-mail address or
authority to which one can complain directly, other
than DoT.
M
obile phone towers hold antennas and
other communications equipment.
They flood the area for miles around
with powerful, high-frequency radio waves to
support the use of cellphones. This radiation
allegedly causes health problem – ‘allegedly’
because our Government has said in Parliament
that mobile-tower radiation does not cause
health problems.
How exactly does mobile radiation cause
health problems?
Mobile
phones
and
towers
emit
electromagnetic radiation having health effects,
which can be divided into thermal and nonthermal. Thermal effects refer to heating effect
which you feel if you hold the phone for long
near your ear. Non-thermal effects on the cells,
genes and the DNA and are more harmful
than thermal effects. Excessive use of mobiles
can lead to headache, sleep disturbance,
lack of concentration, memory loss, tinnitus
(ringing in the ears) and increased risk of
brain cancer. Having mobile towers in your
neighbourhood can pose health problems like
severe headache, sleep disturbance, constant
body pain, memory problems, joint pains,
20
• Use text as compared to voice wherever
possible. Put the cell phone on speaker mode.
• Do not press the phone handset against
your head. Radio Frequency (RF) energy is
inversely proportional to the square of the
distance from the source – that is, being very
close increases energy absorption much more.
• Do not carry your phone directly on your
body, even on standby mode, and do not use it
less than 1 metre away from another person, in
order to reduce the effect of ‘passive’ radiation.
• If the radio signal is weak, a mobile phone
will increase its transmission power. Find a strong
signal and avoid movement. Use your phone
where reception is good.
• When a mobile phone is ON, it automatically
transmits at high power every one or two minutes
to check (poll) the network.
• Reduce mobile phone use by children
since a younger person is likely to have a longer
lifetime exposure to radiation from cellphones.
With their lighter body weight, the radiation
is more damaging, especially to the brain,
weakening the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB), and to
the reproductive organs/ovaries, etc.
• People having active medical implants
should preferably keep the cellphone least 15 cm
away from the implant.
etc. The more severe health effects noted include
infertility, miscarriage, neurodegenerative disorders
(Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc.), heart problems and
cancer.
In May 2012,WHO classified radio frequency
EMF associated with a wireless phone as “possibly
carcinogenic to humans.” The UN’s health body
urged phone owners to restrict their use and take
pragmatic steps to reduce exposure like use of
hands-free devices and texting. WHO study also
says that electromagnetic waves from mobile
towers could be possible carcinogens for a kind of
brain cancer.
How and why does mobile radiation affect
humans?
Human body is itself is electromagnetic (very
low – around 10 hertz frequency). Each of our cells
has its own electromagnetic field. When we are
exposed to the cellular tower frequency, which is
very high our body’s EMF (electromagnetic field)
is disturbed and this causes very serious types
of damages to our cells, brain, etc. Human body
consists of 70% liquid. It is similar to that of cooking
in the microwave oven where the water in the food
content is heated first. The ‘microwave absorption’
effect is much more significant in the body parts
which contain more fluid (water, blood, etc.), like the
Safety Messenger | May 2015
• Use the phone only in conditions of optimum
reception: do not use it in a confined space such
as an elevator, basement, underground station,
caravan, etc. In these situations, the strength of
the signal, both sending and receiving, is much
greater, and hence the radiation is much more
intense.
HANDLE CELLPHONE WITH CARE
The following are some of the basic precautions
to be taken to minimise exposure to radiation while
using a mobile phone:
• Hold the cellphone away from body to the
extent possible.
• Limit phone calls to those that are absolutely
necessary, and restrict these to a maximum of 6
minutes, which is the time the body needs to adjust.
World health Organisation (WHO) has urged phone
owners to restrict their use and take pragmatic
steps to reduce exposure like using hands-free
devices and texting. Use a hands-free kit and hold
the phone 20 cm-30 cm away from your body in
order to limit the impact of radiation on yourself.
• Use a headset (wired or Bluetooth) to keep
the handset away from your head.
• Limit the length of cellphone calls.
Safety Messenger | May 2015
• Do not use the phone while you are in
a moving vehicle, including the train, bus, etc.,
since its antenna will be constantly scanning for
contact using the maximum signal strength, and
the radiation from both incoming and outgoing
signal will be intensified.
•
Do not use the phone while in any
vehicle, even when stationary. An enclosed
metal container produces the ‘Faraday cage’
effect, which maximises the damaging impact
of radiation, reflecting not only on the person
using the phone but also on other passengers,
especially children. So it is essential to step out
of the vehicle before making a call.
• Do not keep a mobile phone beside the
bed at night switched on, because even when on
standby mode, it is in contact with the nearest
phone mast and emits radiation at regular
intervals•
21
HEALTH
RADIATION
RESISTING
SYSTEMS
Radiation protection, otherwise referred to as radiological protection,
is the science and practice of protecting people and the environment
from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation, which is widely used
in industry and medicine, and can present significant health hazard.
The technology and methodology of radiation protection is still
evolving for the better. This article prepared by Dr. M. Dinesh & Dr.
Ram Madhav of AIMS, Kochi is an analytical overview of radiation
hazards and protection systems.
I
n the beginning, the dangers of radioactivity and
radiation were not immediately recognised. The
discovery of X-rays in 1895 led to widespread
experimentation by scientists, and incidence
of burns, hair loss and worse began to appear in
technical journals as early as 1896. In 1902, William
Herbert Rollins made public his warnings about
the dangers involved in careless use of X-rays.
By this time, Rollins had proved that X-rays could
kill experimental animals, could cause a pregnant
guinea pig to abort, and that they could kill a foetus.
Meanwhile, many physicians and corporations
began marketing radioactive substances as patent
medicine. Marie Curie protested against this sort of
treatment, warning that the effects of radiation on
the human body were not understood well. Curie
later died from aplastic anaemia, likely caused by
exposure to ionizing radiation. By the 1930s, after
a number of cases of bone necrosis occurred and
many radium treatment enthusiasts died, radium-
22
Dr. M. Dinesh
Professor
Radiation Oncology Dn.
Dr.Ram Madhav
Asst.Professor
Radiation Oncology Dn.
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
23
Regulation of dose uptake
In most countries, a national regulatory
authority works towards ensuring a secure radiation
environment in society by setting dose limitation
requirements that are generally based on the
recommendations of the ICRP. The principles they
follow are:
Justification: No unnecessary use of radiation is
permitted, which means that the advantages must
outweigh the disadvantages
Limitation: Each individual must be protected
against risks that are far too large through individual
radiation dose limits
Optimisation: Radiation doses should all be
kept as low as reasonably achievable. This means
that it is not enough to remain under the radiation
dose limits. As permit holder, you are responsible
for ensuring that radiation doses are as low as
reasonably achievable, which means that the actual
radiation doses are often much lower than the
permitted limit.
Minimising radiation risks
containing medicinal products had been largely
removed from the market.
Now it has been widely accepted that ionized
radiation causes microscopic damage to living
tissue, which can result in skin burns and radiation
sickness at high exposures, and statistically elevated
risks of cancer at low exposures. Fundamental to
radiation or radiological protection are the reduction
of expected dose and the measurement of human
dose uptake, thereby protecting people and the
environment from the harmful effects of ionizing
radiation.
 CT Scan
 Result of radiation
exposure on a child
the protection of patients, and public radiation
protection, which is protection of individual
members of the public, and of the population as a
whole. The types of exposure, as well as government
regulations and legal exposure limits are different
for each of these groups.
ALARP is an acronym for an important principle
in exposure to radiation and other occupational
health risks and stands for As Low As Reasonably
Practicable.’ The aim is to minimise the risk of
radioactive exposure or other hazards while keeping
in mind that some exposure may be acceptable to
further the task at hand.
The application of radiation can aid the
patient by providing doctors and other health care
professionals with a medical diagnosis, but the
exposure should be reasonably low enough to keep
the statistical probability of cancers or sarcomas
below an acceptable level, and to eliminate
deterministic effects like skin reddening or cataracts.
This policy is based on the principle that any
For radiation protection and dissymmetry
assessment, the International Committee on
Radiation Protection (ICRP) and the International
Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements
(ICRU) recommend, develop and maintain the
International System of Radiological Protection,
based on evaluation of scientific studies available.
These recommendations flow down to national
regulators, which have the option of incorporating
them into law.
amount of radiation exposure, no matter how small,
can increase the chance of negative biological
effects such as cancer. It is also based on the
principle that the probability of the occurrence of
negative effects of radiation exposure increases
with cumulative lifetime dose. At the same time,
radiology and other practices that involve use of
radiations bring benefits to population, so reducing
radiation exposure can reduce the efficacy of a
medical practice. The economic cost, for example
of adding a barrier against radiation, must also be
considered when applying the ALARP principle.
Various kinds of shielding materials are used to
protect against radiation. Different types of ionizing
radiation interact in different ways with shielding
material. The effectiveness of shielding is dependent
on the stopping power of radiation particles, which
varies with the type and energy of radiation and
the shielding material used. Different shielding
techniques are, therefore, used depending on the
application and the type and energy of the radiation.
In some cases, improper shielding can actually
make the situation worse, when the radiation
interacts with the shielding material and creates
secondary radiation that absorbs in the organisms
more readily.
Radiation protection instruments
Practical radiation measurement using calibrated
radiation protection instruments is essential in
evaluating the effectiveness of protection measures
and in assessing the radiation dose likely to be
received by individuals. The measuring instruments
for radiation protection are both installed ones and
those can be carried.
Who all need protection?
Radiation protection is divided into occupational
radiation protection, which is the protection of
workers, medical radiation protection, which is
24
In most countries, a
national regulatory
authority works
towards ensuring
a secure radiation
environment in
society by setting
dose limitation
requirements that are
generally based on the
recommendations of
the ICRP.
Installed instruments are fixed in positions
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
25
Gamma radiation ‘interlock monitors’ are used
in applications to prevent inadvertent exposure of
workers to an excess dose by preventing personnel
access to an area when a high radiation level is
present. These interlock the process access directly.
Personnel exit monitors (PEM) are used to
monitor workers who are exiting a ‘contaminationcontrolled’ or potentially contaminated area. These
can be in the form of hand monitors, clothing frisk
probes, or whole body monitors. These monitor the
surface of the workers body and clothing to check if
any radioactive contamination has been deposited.
These generally measure alpha or beta or gamma,
or combinations of these•
Protecting spacecraft
On long-duration manned missions, advantage
can be taken of the good shielding characteristics
of liquid-hydrogen fuel and water.
The NASA Space Radiation Laboratory
makes use of a particle accelerator that produces
beams of protons or heavy ions. In a 2002 NASA
study, it was determined that materials that have
high hydrogen contents, such as polyethylene,
can reduce primary and secondary radiation to
a greater extent than metals such as aluminium.
The problem with this ‘passive shielding’ method
is that radiation interactions in the material
generate secondary radiation.
 Juno Spacecraft Taking
Shape In Denver
S
pacecraft, both manned and unmanned, must
cope with the high radiation environment of
outer space. Space radiation produced by the Sun
and other galactic sources, and trapped in radiation
‘belts’ in space is more dangerous and hundreds of
times more intense than radiation sources such as
medical X-rays or normal cosmic radiation usually
experienced on Earth. When the intensely ionizing
particles found in space strike human tissue, it can
result in cell damage and may eventually lead to
cancer.
Active shielding, that is, using magnets, high
voltages, or artificial magnetospheres to slow
down or defect radiation, has been considered
to combat radiation potentially in a feasible way.
So far, the cost of equipment, power and weight
of active shielding equipment outweigh their
benefits. For example, active radiation equipment
would need a habitable volume size to house it,
and magnetic and electrostatic configurations
often are not homogenous in intensity, allowing
high-energy particles to penetrate the magnetic
and electric fields from low-intensity parts, like
cusps in dipolar magnetic field of Earth•
Radiation Protection Products & Services
Our Solutions
Nuvia is recognised internationally as a world-class provider of radiation safety products and
services. We provide complete services related to provision of radiation safety requirements in
the fields of energy, health, education, science and industry.

Radiation Monitoring Instrument (RMI) Calibration
Services
 AERB accredited
 Traceability of test measurements and results

Quality Assurance( QA) of X-ray diagnostic equipments
 AERB accredited

Training Programmes
 Radiation Protection
 Waste Management & Decommissioning
 Introduction to the Nuclear Industry

Environment Monitoring & Assessment
 Geological & Geophysical survey products
 Airborne Radiation Monitoring
 Mobile Radiation Monitoring
 Portable Gamma Ray Spectrometry

Nuclear/ Radiation Measuring Products
 Contamination monitors
 Whole body counting system
 Modular containment System
 Radiation shielding material

Radiation Protection Consultancy and Advice
The usual method for radiation protection is
material shielding by spacecraft and equipment
structures, usually aluminium, possibly augmented
by polyethylene in human spaceflight where the
main concern is high-energy protons and cosmic
ray ions. On unmanned spacecraft in high-electron
dose environments such as Jupiter missions, or
Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), additional shielding with
materials of a high atomic number can be effective.
26
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Nuvia India Pvt Ltd
www.nuvia-india.com | info@nuvia-india.com
011 - 49384300
Calibration facility, New Delhi
which are known to be important in assessing the
general radiation hazard in an area. Examples are
installed ‘area’ radiation monitors, gamma interlock
monitors, personnel exit monitors, and airborne
particulate monitors. The area radiation monitor
will measure the ambient radiation, usually X-ray,
gamma or neutrons; these are radiations which
can have significant radiation levels over a range
in excess of tens of metres from their source, and
thereby cover a wide area.
Cover Story
N-POWER PLANTS: BOON OR BANE?
Nuclear power plants have come to stay despite their potential to cause health hazards, and, all
the more so, when something like the Chernobyl happens. This is because the humanity is badly
in need of atomic energy for survival in the context of depletion of many other natural energy
sources. The following is an analytical overview based on expert opinions on the pros and cons
of having nuclear power plants as a major source of energy.
28
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
29
It may be noted that
the Soviet Chernobyl
reactor, built on a
much less safe design
concept, did not have
such a containment
structure; if it did, that
disaster would have
been averted.
N
uclear-power
technology
produces
materials that are active in emitting
radiation and are, therefore, called
radioactive.’ These materials can come
into contact with people principally through small
releases during routine plant operation, accidents
in nuclear power plants, accidents in transporting
radioactive materials, and escape of radioactive
wastes from confinement systems.
Since natural radiation is estimated to cause
about 1% of all cancers, radiation due to nuclear
technology should eventually increase our cancer
risk by 0.002% (one part in 50,000), thereby
reducing our life expectancy by less than one hour,
according to Prof. Bernard Cohen, of the University
of Pittsburgh
Nuclear plants and safety
 Anti-nuclear power
plant rally in Tokyo
 Satellite view of the
Fukushima nuclear power
plant after earthquake
Very high radiation doses can destroy body
functions and lead to death within 60 days, but
such ‘noticeable’ deaths would be expected in only
2% of reactor meltdown accidents; there would be
over 100 in 0.2% of meltdowns, and 3,500 in 1 out
of 100,000 meltdowns. To date, the largest number
of noticeable deaths from coal burning was in the
1952 London air pollution incident where there were
3,500 extra deaths in one week. Of course, the
nuclear accidents are hypothetical and there are
many much worse hypothetical accidents in other
electricity generation technologies like collapse of
hydroelectric dams.
Hazards of radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is one of the main sources of
hazardous nuclear radiation; hence the radioactive
waste products from the nuclear industry must be
isolated from contact with people for very long time
periods. The bulk of the radioactivity is contained
in the spent fuel, which is quite small in volume,
and, therefore, can be handled easily with great
care. This ‘high level waste’ will be converted to a
rock-like form and emplaced in the natural habitat
of rocks, deep underground.
The average lifetime of a rock in that environment
is 1 billion years. If the waste behaves like other rock,
it is easily shown that the waste generated by one
nuclear power plant will eventually, over millions of
years, cause one death from 50 years of operation.
By comparison, the wastes from coal burning plants
that end up in the ground will eventually cause
several thousand deaths from generating the same
amount of electricity, according to nuclear experts
Experts say that there has been much
misunderstanding on genetic diseases due to
radiation. The risks are somewhat less than the
cancer risks; for example, among the Japanese
A-bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
there have been about 400 extra cancer deaths
among the 100,000 people in the follow-up group,
but there have been no extra genetic diseases
among their progeny. Since there is no possible
way for the cells in our bodies to distinguish
between natural radiation and radiation from the
nuclear industry, the latter cannot cause new types
30
Even in the Three Mile Island accident, where
at least two equipment failures were compounded
severely by human errors, two lines of defence were
still not breached. Essentially, all of the radioactivity
remained sealed in the thick steel reactor vessel,
and that vessel was sealed inside the heavily
reinforced concrete and steel-lined ‘containment’
building, which was never even challenged. It
was clearly not a close call on disaster to the
surrounding population. It may be noted that the
Soviet Chernobyl reactor, built on a much less safe
design concept, did not have such a containment
structure; if it did, that disaster would have been
averted.
Risks from reactor accidents are estimated by
the rapidly developing science of probabilistic risk
analysis (PRA). A PRA must be done separately for
each power plant. Typically, a fuel meltdown might
be expected once in 20,000 years of a reactor
operation. “In 2 out of 3 meltdowns there would
be no deaths; in 1 out of 5, there would be over
1,000 deaths; and in 1 out of 100,000 meltdowns,
there would be 50,000 deaths. The average for all
meltdowns would be 400 deaths. Since air pollution
from coal burning is estimated to be causing 10,000
deaths a year, there would have to be 25 meltdowns
each year for nuclear power to be as dangerous as
coal burning,” experts say.
of genetic diseases or deformities, or threaten the
‘human race.’
Nuclear power plants’ design strategy for
preventing accidents and mitigating their potential
effects has to be foolproof. If something fails, there
is a backup system to limit the harm done; if that
system should also fail, there is another backup
system for it. Of course, it is possible that each
system in this series of backups might fail one after
the other, but the probability for that is exceedingly
small. The media often publicise a failure of some
particular system in some plant, implying that it was
a close call on disaster; they completely miss the
point of defence in depth, which easily takes care
of such failures.
The much larger volume of much less radioactive
– ‘low level’ – waste from nuclear plants will be
buried at shallow depths, typically 20 feet in soil. If
we assume that this material immediately becomes
dispersed through the soil between the surface and
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
31
Radioactive waste
is one of the main
sources of hazardous
nuclear radiation;
hence the radioactive
waste products from
the nuclear industry
must be isolated from
contact with people for
very long time periods.
Major nuclear accidents
was mostly restricted to 50 mSv, though occasionally it was many times this.
None of the men developed any symptoms of radiation sickness, but they
must be considered to have a considerably increased cancer risk.
Fukushima
The accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan in
March 2011 released about 940 PBq (iodine-131 equivalent) of radioactive
material, mostly 4 to 6 days after the tsunami. In May 2013, UNSCEAR
reported that “radiation exposure following the nuclear accident at
Fukushima Daiichi did not cause any immediate health effects. It is unlikely
to be able to attribute any health effects in the future among the general
public and the vast majority of workers.” The only exception was the 146
emergency workers who received radiation doses of over 100 mSv during
the crisis.
 Evidence of nuclear
exposure in ancient India
ground water depth, despite elaborate measures to
maintain waste package integrity, the death toll from
this low-level waste would be 5% of that from the
high-level waste.
Other radiation issues
The effects of routine releases of radioactivity
from nuclear plants depend somewhat on how the
spent fuel is handled. A typical estimate is that they
may reduce our life expectancy by 15 minutes, says
Prof. Bernard.
 A pictorial
representation which
shows radiation effects
on a fetus through food.
Potential problems from accidents in transport
of radioactive materials are largely neutralised
by elaborate packaging. A great deal of such
transport has taken place over the past 50 years
and there have been numerous accidents, including
fatal ones. However, from all of these accidents
combined, there is less than a 1% chance that
even a single death will ever result from radiation
exposure. Probabilistic risk analyses indicate that
we can expect less than one death per century in
from this source.
Mining uranium to fuel nuclear power plants
leaves ‘mill tailings’ – which are the residues from
chemical processing of the ore, which lead to radon
exposures to the public. However, these effects are
grossly overcompensated by the fact that mining
uranium out of the ground reduces future radon
exposures. By comparison, coal burning leaves
ashes that increase future radon exposures. The
all-inclusive estimates of radon effects are that
one nuclear power plant operating for one year will
eventually avert a few hundred deaths, while an
equivalent coal burning plant will eventually cause
30 deaths, according to studies.
Nuclear radiation exposures
The average annual radiation dose to
employees at uranium mines (in addition to natural
background) is around 2 mSv, ranging up to 10 mSv
(a millisievert – ‘mSv’ – is defined as the average
accumulated background radiation dose to an
individual for 1 year, exclusive of radon). Natural
background radiation is about 2 mSv. In most
mines, keeping doses to such low levels is achieved
with straightforward ventilation techniques coupled
with rigorously enforced procedures for hygiene.
Reprocessing plants in Europe and Russia treat
used fuel to recover useable uranium and plutonium
and separate the highly radioactive wastes. These
facilities employ massive shielding to screen
gamma radiation in particular. Manual operations
are carried by operators behind lead glass by using
remote handling equipment•
32
Thyroid doses in children were significantly lower than from the Chernobyl
accident. Some 160,000 people were evacuated as a precautionary
measure, and prolonging the evacuation resulted in the deaths of about
1,100 of them due to stress, and some due to disruption of medical and
social welfare facilities.
Safety Messenger | May 2015
 Chernobyl Victim
Chernobyl
I
n the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster
in 1986, very large doses of radiation were
experienced. Apart from the residents of the
nearby Pripyat who were evacuated within
two days, some 24,000 people living within 15
kilometres of the plant received an average of
450 mSv before they were evacuated. In June
1989, a group of experts from World Health
Organisation (WHO) agreed that an incremental
long-term dose of 350 mSv should be the
criterion for relocating people affected by the
1986 Chernobyl accident.
Certainly, the main radiation exposure was to workers on site, and the
146 with doses of over 100 mSv were be monitored closely for potential
late radiation-related health effects at an individual level. Six of them
had received over 250 mSv – the limit set for emergency workers there,
apparently due to inhaling iodine-131 fume early on. There were around 250
workers on site each day.
Three Mile Island
The March 1979 accident at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant
in the United States caused some people near the plant to receive very
minor doses of radiation, well under the internationally recommended level.
Subsequent scientific studies found no evidence of any harm resulting from
that exposure. In 1996, some 2,100 lawsuits claiming adverse health effects
from the accident were dismissed for lack of evidence•
Out of the 134 severely exposed workers and
firemen, 28 of the most heavily exposed died as
a result of acute radiation syndrome (ARS) within
three months of the accident. Of these, 20 were
from the group of 21 that had received over 6.5
Gy, seven out of 22 had received between 4.2
and 6.4 Gy, and one out of 50 from the group
that had received 2.2-4.1 Gy. A further 19 died
during 1987-2004 from different causes.
After the shelter was built over the destroyed
reactor at Chernobyl, a team of about 15
engineers and scientists was set up to investigate
the situation inside it. Over several years, they
repeatedly entered the ruin, accumulating
individual doses of up to 15,000 mSv. Daily dose
Safety Messenger | May 2015
 Fukushima Waste
33
Environment
INDIA IN FOR SEVERE
WATER SHORTAGE
India is heading for acute water scarcity. While it is estimated that over 2 billion people
worldwide live in regions facing water famine, in India, this is a particularly severe crisis.
Millions of Indians are living without clean drinking water, and the situation is getting worse
since India’s demand for water is growing at an alarming rate.
34
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
35
is estimated that, 30 years from now, about onethird of our population will suffer from chronic water
shortages.
whereas the United States has nearly 8,000 cubic
metres per person now.
The second cause is poor water quality resulting
from insufficient and delayed investment in urban
water treatment facilities. Water in most rivers in
India is largely not fit for drinking, and, in many
stretches, not even fit for bathing. Despite the
Ganga Action Plan, which was launched in 1984
to clean up the Ganga river within 25 years, much
of the river remains polluted with a high coliform
count at many places. Moreover, industrial-effluent
standards are not enforced because the state
pollution control boards have inadequate technical
and human resources.
According to the Planning Commission, the
total water resources are about 178 million hectare
metres, but because of limitations of physiography,
topography, geology, dependability, quality and
the present state of technology, only a fraction
of it could be utilised. The demand for water for
irrigation is increasing rapidly due to rapid increase
in population, and new technology will have to be
developed for making optimum use of the available
water resources.
Water-scarce cities
A survey conducted by Tata Institute of Social
Science (TISS) showed that 50 lakh households
in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kanpur
and Madurai are water-deficient. World Health
Organisation specifies that minimum water
requirement should be 100-200 litres a day, which
is way above the average urban figure of 90
litres. Chennai and Bangalore suffer from 53.8%
and 39.5% water deficiency, respectively. Andhra
Pradesh has extremes: deficiency is a moderate
24.2% in Hyderabad, and an alarming 91.8%
Visakhapatnam. In the north, Delhi records 29.8%
water deficiency, and Lucknow, 27.3%.
W
orld Health Organisation (WHO)
estimates that 97 million Indians lack
access to safe water at present, second
only to China. As a result, World Bank
estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in
India are related to unsafe water. Without change,
the problem may get worse as India is projected
to grow significantly in the coming decades and
overtake China by 2028 to become the world’s most
populous country.
India has about 16% of the world’s population
as compared to only 4% of its water resources.
With the present population of over 1,000 million,
the per-capita water availability is around 1.170 cu
m/person/year. Severe water shortages have led
to a growing number of conflicts between users in
the agricultural and industrial sectors, as also the
domestic sector. The lack of water availability and
poor management practices also have manifested
in poor sanitation facilities, one among the biggest
environmental and social challenges India faces
today, a report of the UNICEF points out.
New Delhi demands 36 million cubic metres
of water a day. The New Delhi Jal Board supplies
just over 30 million cubic metres a day, but only 17
million cubic metres actually reach consumers due
to infrastructure problems, such as leaking pipes.
The Government has neglected proper maintenance
of pipes and canals, which is now causing major
inefficiencies in water use.
 A joint effort of pulling
up some water that lies
bineath
Nearly 40% of water demand in urban India is
met by groundwater, so groundwater tables in most
cities are falling at an alarming rate of 2-3 metres
a year. Another factor is water leakage. Delhi loses
at least 30% of its water due to leakages in its
83-kilometere-long pipeline network. Mumbai loses
about 20% of its water due to leakage.
It is estimated that, in India, 85% of rural and over
50% of urban water supplies depend on groundwater
for meeting drinking and domestic water needs.
Increasing demand for water in agriculture sector
puts a heavy strain on our water resources, and
groundwater resources are overexploited. In some
districts of Punjab and Haryana, the groundwater
level is falling at an alarming rate of over 1 metre
a year.
Root causes
India’s water crisis is rooted in three causes. The
first is insufficient water per person as a result of
population growth. The total amount of usable water
has been estimated to be between 700 to 1,200
billion cubic metres (bcm). With a population of 1.2
billion according to the 2011 census, India has only
1,000 cubic metres of water per person, even using
the higher estimate. A country is considered waterstressed if it has less than 1,700 cubic metres per
person per year. For comparison, India had between
3,000 and 4,000 cubic metres per person in 1951,
 Children in Myanmar
engaged in collecting
water
The third problem is dwindling groundwater
supplies due to over-extraction by farmers. This is
because groundwater is an open-access resource
and anyone can pump water from under his own
land. Given how highly fragmented land ownership
in India is, with millions of farmers and an average
farm size of less than 2 hectares, the tragedy of the
commons is inevitable. India extracted 251 bcm of
groundwater in 2010, whereas the United States
extracted only 112 bcm. Further, India’s rate of
extraction has been steadily growing from a base of
90 bcm in 1980, while this rate in the United States
has remained at more or less the same level since
1980.
In a developing country like India, more and
more power plants are being built to meet the everincreasing demand of electricity. This will lead to a
clash of competing necessities – between drinking
water and energy demand. Thermal-power plants
are posing a threat to the country’s freshwater.
According to a recent research done in India and
three other countries ( the US, China and France),
electricity is one of the biggest source of water
consumption as the power plants need cooling
cycles to function, for which water is needed in large
volumes.
In addition to the increasing population, over
the years, growing industrialisation, expanding
agriculture and rising standards of living have
pushed up the demand for water. Efforts have
been made to collect water by building dams and
reservoirs and creating groundwater structures
such as wells. Recycling and desalination of water
are other options, but the cost involved is very high.
But, still, the situation is not promising.
It is the human nature that we value things only
when they are scarce or are in short supply. As such,
we appreciate the value of water once the rivers,
reservoirs, ponds, wells, etc., run dry. Our water
resources have now entered an era of scarcity. It
36
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
37
scarcity an unnecessary yet critical problem.
Tamil Nadu model
India’s agricultural sector currently uses about
90% of the total water resources. Irrigated agriculture
has been fundamental to economic development,
but, unfortunately, it has caused groundwater
depletion. Owing to water pollution in rivers, India
draws 80% of its irrigation water from groundwater.
As water scarcity becomes a bigger and bigger
problem, rural and farming areas will most likely be
hit the hardest. If India wants to maintain its level
of food security, the farmers will have to switch to
less water-intensive crops; otherwise, India will end
up being a net importer of food, which would have
massive ramifications for the global price of grain.
India receives an average of 4,000 billion cubic
metres of rainfall every year. However, only 48%
of rainfall ends up in India’s rivers. Owing to lack
of storage and crumbling infrastructure, only 18%
can be utilised. Rainfall is confined to the monsoon
season, June through September, when India gets,
on an average, 75% of its total annual precipitation.
Once again, due to India’s storage crunch, the
Government is unable to store surplus water for the
dry season. Such uneven seasonal distribution of
rainfall has not stimulated the development of better
capturing and storing infrastructure, making water
38
Some states like Tamil Nadu has started
rainwater harvesting in a big way which has proven
to be a model for all. The rainwater harvesting
movement launched by the Tamil Nadu Government
in 2001 has had a tremendous impact in recharging
the groundwater table all over the state. There are
1821 water bodies maintained by town panchayats,
with an extent of 6286.84 acres in Tamil Nadu. To
restore the 243 water-bodies, Rs 55.52 crore has
been allocated for the years 2011-12 and 20122013 under IUDM and NABARD, according to the
State Government’s website. Similarly, during 20132014, 561 improvement works such as de-silting
and strengthening of bund and sluice works were
taken up at a cost of Rs 8.40 crore under General
fund. It has been proposed to taken up 88 waterbody improvement works in 68 town panchayats at
an estimated cost of Rs 28.15 crore.
Amendments made to Section 215 (a) of the
Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920, and
Building Rules, 1973, have made it mandatory to
provide RWH structures in all new buildings. To
consolidate the gains, various measures have been
taken up for rejuvenation of RWH structures created
already in both public and private buildings, besides
creating new ones.
India’s 12th Five-Year Plan (2012–17) has
focused attention on all aspects of the water scarcity.
The Plan puts great emphasis on aquifer mapping,
watershed development, involvement of NGOs, and
efficiency in developing irrigation capacity. Because
water is a state subject in the federal constitution,
state governments are expected to play a big role
in these efforts. At the same time, many active
NGOs are now able to enforce compliance with
environmental obligations through the Right to
Information Act, active and competitive media, and
growing awareness on water issues.
(Source: World Bank Report)•
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety
LOOKING
AFTER
THE EYES
Eye injuries at the workplace are very
common. It is estimated that over 2,000
people injure their eyes at work each day.
What are the situations where workers eyes
got injured and what are the protective
measures to be taken to avoid eye injuries?
Dr.M.G.Deepa, Senior Resident in the
department of Ophthalmology, Govt. Medical
College, Cochin explains these issues in this
article.
E
ye injuries in the workplace are very
common. It is estimated that over 2,000
people injure their eyes at work each day.
Three out of five who suffered these were
not wearing eye protection, according to the Bureau
of Labour Statistics. About 1 in 10 injuries require
one or more missed workdays to recover from. Of
the total amount of work-related injuries, 10%-20 %
will cause temporary or permanent vision loss.
Simply using the proper eye protection on the
job could prevent many of the eye injuries each
year. Common eye injuries occurring at work can
result from chemicals or foreign objects in the eye
and cuts or scrapes on the cornea. Other causes
of injuries include splashes with grease and oil,
burns from steam, ultraviolet or infrared radiation
exposure, and flying wood or metal chips.
Dr. Deepa M G
40
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
In addition, health care workers, laboratory and
janitorial staff, and other workers may be at risk of
acquiring infectious diseases from eye exposure.
Some infectious diseases can be transmitted
through the mucous membranes of the eye as
a result of direct exposure to blood splashes,
respiratory droplets generated during coughing, or
41
spectacles or goggles.
differ for each type of hazard. High-risk occupations
for eye injuries include construction, manufacturing,
mining, carpentry, auto repair, electrical work,
plumbing, welding, and maintenance.
• Goggles in lasers: Laser safety goggles are
protection against specific wavelength of the laser.
• Anti-glare measures: They are special-purpose
spectacles with anti-glare coating; they adjust the
illumination at your work area, monitor height and tilt
adjustments, and they have tinted lenses.
Everyone, including children, should get their
eyes examined regularly. It helps protect your
sight and see your best. Eye examination can also
find eye diseases like glaucoma, which have no
symptoms.
• Protective eyewear works best when you know
how to use it properly. Combined with machine
guards, screened or divided workstations, and other
engineering controls, using the correct protective
eyewear can help keep you safe from any type of
eye hazard.
Common eye injuries at work places are:
• Conjunctivitis
• Foreign body embedded in the eye
• Corneal abrasions
• Chemical splash and burns
First-aid
• Welder burns
• If any small foreign body, like dust or wood chip
or metal piece, falls into the eyes, flush the eyes
with sterile eyewash solution, if available, or clean
drinking water.
• Lacerations
from touching the eyes with contaminated fingers or
other objects.
Two major reasons for eye injuries on the job are:
1. Not wearing eye protection
 Wearing a full head
and eye protection helmet
helps from harmful rays
are work
2. Wearing the wrong kind of protection for the job
The type of safety eye protection you should
wear depends on the hazards in your workplace:
•If you are working with chemicals, you must
wear goggles.
•If you are working near hazardous radiation
(welding, lasers, or fibre optics), you must use
special-purpose safety glasses, goggles, face
shields, or helmets designed for that task.
The eye protection chosen for specific work
situations depends on the type of hazard, the
circumstances of exposure, other protective
equipment used, and individual vision needs.
According to the United States Bureau of Labour
Statistics (BLS), 70% of the ocular injuries are owing
to the following:
Types of eye protection
•If you are working in an area that has particles,
flying objects, or dust, you must at least wear safety
glasses with side protection (side shields).
The
Occupational
Safety
and
Health
Administration (OSHA) of the United States require
the use of eye and face protection whenever there
is a reasonable probability of injury that could be
prevented by such equipment. Personal protective
eyewear, such as goggles, face shields, safety
glasses, or full-face respirators must be used when
an eye hazard exists.
Main causes of injuries
• Blunt injury: contusion/black eye
In addition, the employers need to take steps
to make the work environment as safe as possible.
 A free eye checkup
camp
While contact lenses cannot provide significant
protection from ocular hazards in the workplace, the
improved vision many patients experience can have
a positive impact on workplace safety.
Contact lenses cannot provide significant
protection from eye hazards in the work place.
However, there is no evidence that the wearing of
contact lenses increases the risk of eye injury.
• No rubbing of eyes. Better not to touch a corneal
foreign body, as it may abrade the cornea more.
Seek medical help.
• Safety glasses provide eye protection for general
working conditions where there may be dust,
chips or flying particles. Additional side-protection
can be provided by the use of side-shields and
wraparound-style safety glasses.
• In chemical injury: Wash with plenty of clean
water or eyewash solution for at least 15 minutes.
Water need not be cold. Once considerable amount
of chemical is washed off, seek medical help. Avoid
rubbing the eyes.
Safety lenses are available in glass, plastic,
and polycarbonate materials. While all these types
must meet or exceed the minimum requirements for
protecting your eyes, polycarbonate lenses provide
the highest level of protection from impact.
•
Goggles: Goggles are modified spectacles
which fit the face immediately surrounding the eyes
and form protective seal around the eyes, thereby
prevent entry of foreign body under or around the
goggles. This is especially important when working
with molten metal that may splash.
• After thorough wash, if any superficial particles
are seen on the lid or conjunctiva, try to remove it
with a sterile bud.
• If sharp foreign bodies have pierced in, do not
wash the eyes, and do not attempt to remove them.
Seek immediate medical help.
 Players in protective
wear
• In blunt injuries, like pipe hitting the face: Give
cold compress around the orbit and seek medical
help•
• Face-shields: Face-shields provide protection
for the entire face/ part of the face, but they are
secondary protection and does not protect from
impact hazards when worn alone. Hence use in
combination with safety spectacles or goggles for
additional protection is advised.
•
Flying objects: Wood, metal, plastic, glass,
cement and dust can arise from diverse operations
such as woodworking, cutting, coarse grinding,
spot-welding and almost any job involving hand
tools.
• Scrap materials, waste, windblown dust
• Safety spectacles with side-shields: They give
primarily protection for eyes from thermal hazards,
and also give adequate protection when used along
with heat-effective face-shield.
• Chemical or chemical products
• Smokes, noxious/poisonous gases
• Ultraviolet light/optical radiations
• Blood-borne pathogens
• Optical radiation filter lenses: The most important
factor here is wearing the correct filter-shade
number, considering the degree and type of radiant
energy at the workplace.
Some working conditions include multiple eye
hazards. Proper eye protection takes all hazards
into account. The best methods of eye protection
•
Helmets: Helmets are secondary protectors,
shielding the eyes from optical radiation, heat as
well as flying objects. They are used in addition to
• Welding light and electrical arc flash
• Thermal hazards
42
 A Doctor performing
Cateract surgery
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
43
Some Tips to Protect Your Eyes
of a desk, with the keyboard at the front edge
of the desk or in a keyboard drawer. A bigger
monitor and bigger font size is good for this.
6. Keep some distance while reading books:
Reading books holding very close to the eyes
might reduce strain or mitigate nearsightedness.
Propped up on the lap such as with aid of a
pillow, or on a low desk propped at an angle on
something, is good. A computer can be better
for reading in that it holds itself up.
7. LCD monitors are less harsh to look at than
CRT monitors:
W
e are exposed to more harmful radiations
and pollution these days. So it is really
important to protect our eyes from all
things that are harmful to ensure good eye health for
a lifetime. Given here are some simple and useful
tips for daily protection of your eyes.
1. Get a pair of quality- good sunglasses:
Your eyes need more care. Choosing polarized
(selectively blocks direct sunlight and its reflections)
sunglasses are better than merely dark sunglasses.
2. Never stare into direct sunlight or at any object
reflecting the sun's rays. (Shiny metallic objects,
sand/water, etc.)
Even if you're wearing sunglasses, never look
directly at the sun. It is also important to not stare
into darkness; this can damage your eyes as well.
Be sure to either close your eyes or use a flashlight
in the dark.
3. Get a vision test approximately every 6 months
from an Eye Doctor
Try to use LCD Monitors, while using a CRT
monitor ensure that the refresh rate is set well
above 60 Hz, for instance at 85 Hz.
8. Wear Protective Goggles at work:
When doing anything that may get particles
or fumes in your eyes, be sure to wear protective
glasses/goggles. Ensure that there is a water
source nearby to wash out contaminants that
get into the eyes. Do not wear contact lenses in
these situations as they can hold contaminants
in.
9. Wear goggles in the pool: Swimming goggles
protect your eyes from chemicals used in
cleaning the pool.
10. Wash your eyes with fresh water immediately,
if anything that isn't completely sterile/clean gets
in your eyes.
11. Get plenty of sleep: Sleeping helps your
eyes relax so your eyes don't strain to stay open
during the day.
12. Do not rub your eyes: This is what normally
causes eye infections, because the bacteria on
your hands or fingers get between your eyelids•
4. Use eye drops as directed for itchy, watery, dry,
or red eyes. See a doctor if you think you may have
pink eye.
5. Protect your eyes from eye strain when at the
computer or watching television:
If you are watching TV., keep a good distance
from the screen. As for computer, try to stay at a
distance (which might help to reduce, avoid or
mitigate nearsightedness over time), be sure to
keep blinking, and look away every now and then. A
laptop should be on the lap or some distance away
on a low desk, slid back on a desk, or on a keyboard
drawer, not close in front of the face lying prone on a
bed. A separate monitor should be toward the back
44
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Environment
GETTING RID OF
NUCLEAR WASTE
With the increase in population, nuclear energy is consider to be the safest solution. However
disposal of nuclear waste is a big question still not answered completly. Dr. A.N. Brijesh Nair,
Professor, VIT University, Vellore gives here a detail account of the nuclear waste and its
management.
U
Dr A N Brijesh Nair
46
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
nited Nations estimates that the world
population will cross 10 billion by 2050.
Everyone agrees that, to meet the
huge energy needs of a population of
this magnitude, nuclear energy is the safest bet.
However, the debate on how to dispose of safely
the huge amount of nuclear waste that is generated
is still not completely answered.
47
radioactive waste.
To understand how to dispose of nuclear waste
properly, one needs to understand the classification
of nuclear waste based on its radioactivity. The
nuclear wastes are classified as follows:
Low-level waste (LLW): This category of waste
includes those nuclear wastes that have low levels
of radioactivity. LLW represents about 90% of the
total volume of radioactive waste, but contains
only 1% of the radioactive content of all radioactive
waste generated from nuclear power. This includes
materials used to handle highly radioactive parts of
nuclear reactors like cooling-water pipe and waste
from medical procedures involving radioactive
treatments and X-rays.
 A nuclear waste spill
 Nuclear waste
container of Nevada
48
Any activity that produces or uses any radioactive
substance can generate radioactive waste that
may be in gaseous, liquid or solid form. These
radioactive wastes can remain radioactive for a few
hours to several months to even thousands of years.
Owing to its hazardous nature and its property of
remaining radioactive for so long, it is very difficult
to find suitable methods/facilities to dispose of
Intermediate-level waste (ILW): This category
of waste includes those nuclear wastes that has
higher amount of radioactivity and needs some
kind of shielding. ILW represents about 7% of the
total volume of radioactive waste, and contains 4%
of the radioactive content of all radioactive waste
generated from nuclear power. These types of
wastes are typically generated from reprocessing
of the spent fuel and maintenance work of nuclear
reactors. ILW commonly consists of metals like
graphite from the reactor cores, reactor components
and sludge from the treatment of radioactive liquid
effluents. These wastes are solidified by mixing them
with either sand or cement and then pouring them
to concrete drums. These drums are transported to
repository for burial after temporary storage on the
site of nuclear power station.
High-level waste (HLW): This category includes
nuclear wastes that are highly radioactive, including
Safety Messenger | May 2015
the waste arising from the burning of uranium fuel in
a nuclear reactor. HLW represents about 3% of the
total volume of radioactive waste, and contains 95%
of the radioactive content of all radioactive waste
generated from nuclear power. HLW contains the
fission products and transuranic elements (those
unstable chemical elements with atomic number
greater than 92, which decay radioactively into other
elements) generated in the reactor core. HLW emit
sufficient radiations that it increases the temperature
of the vicinity. Since it is highly radioactive and hot
due to decay heat, HLW require shielding and
cooling. HLW consists of both long-lived and shortlived components.
The nuclear wastes should be disposed of based
on the nature of the waste present and their halflives as well as in accordance with the complicated
regulatory laws dealing with radioactive wastes.
If the concentration of the radioactive element in
waste is short-lived, then ‘delay and decay’ method
can be adopted, by which waste will be free of all
radioactive elements.
Another approach normally adopted is ‘dilute
and disperse’ so that threat to the environment
is reduced considerably. When the radioactivity
is long-lived, the only possible approach that
can be adopted is ‘concentrate and contain’ the
radioactivity. The concentration of the waste is
carried out using various methods like chemical
precipitation, ion exchange, reverse osmosis and
centrifuging. The resultant concentrated radioactive
material will be ‘contained’ in a secured location to
prevent its contact with the environment.
Different methods are employed for the safe
Safety Messenger | May 2015
disposal of nuclear waste. The various options are:
Deep geological repositories: The radioactive
waste is contained inside host rocks that are
crystalline or argillaceous or salty or tuff. This
method of disposal of radioactive waste has
been followed by different countries from 1957
for handling long-living nuclear waste. The rocks
in which these radioactive wastes are stored are
stable over hundreds of thousands of years to
contain long-lived radioactive waste.
Ocean dumping: This is considered to be the
least option of dumping radioactive wastes by
dumping them into oceans. From 1946 through
1993, the nuclear-capable countries used ocean
 India's thorium based
fast breeder reactor
under construction
 Nuclear waste storage
in Plymouth
49
the sediment on the ocean floor.
Transmutation of radioactive waste: This method
involves use of transmutational devices to remove
radioactivity by neutrons to produce stable nuclides
that are not radioactive. However, this method has
not yet proved to be practical and cost-effective.
to dispose of their nuclear wastes. The dumping
into the ocean was banned completely in 1993
following international treaties like London Dumping
Convention. Before the treaty came into effect, the
United States dumped over 112,000 containers of
nuclear wastes at 30 locations in the Atlantic Ocean
and the Pacific Ocean. In Europe, around 28,500
containers of radioactive wastes were dropped into
the English Channel between 1950 and 1963 by
various European countries. The 1993 treaty remain
in force till 2018, after which the ocean dumping
option will be reconsidered by the UN.
Sub-seabed
disposal:
The
sub-seabed
disposal method involve three options, namely,
shallow penetration of the sea bed, deep burial
through drilling, and subduction involving tectonic
dissipation of spent nuclear fuel. These three options
are closely related in which the nuclear waste is
disposed of through penetration of the seabed and
placing waste containers several metres beneath
50
Dispatching to the Sun: This method involves
placing highly concentrated radioactive wastes in the
Earth orbit and then accelerating it so that the wastes
would drop into the Sun. This method is theoretically
possible but involves a lot of further study and is not
cost-effective compared to other methods. Another
worry in this method is that a foolproof system of
containment needs to be developed to ensure that
no waste would be released in the event of failure of
the space transport system.
Let us look forward to a world self-sufficient
in energy needs by using nuclear energy, and,
at the same time, a world free of worries from
nuclear-waste management. For that to happen,
international bodies and governments have to set
up a mechanism to develop new technologies for
nuclear-waste management and to use the existing
disposal method more effectively•
 Swedish KBS-III
Capsule for Nuclear waste
Nuclear waste management in India
According to the Annual Report-2013 of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), India
has 21 nuclear reactors producing 5,308 MWe of
power. This is very much less than countries like
the United States (100 reactors, producing 99,081
MWe of power) or France (58 reactors, producing
63,130 MWe of power), or Japan (48 reactors,
producing 42,388 MWe of power). Also, as of year
2013, according to the same report, India’s share of
nuclear-electricity generation as percentage of total
electricity generation in the country is only 3.5%,
while it is 18.3% in the UK, 19.4% in the US, 36.4%
in Switzerland, 42.7% in Sweden, 50.7% in Hungary,
and 52.1% in Belgium. India ranks in the last five
The safe and proper disposal of nuclear waste
is of great significance as improper disposal is
going to harm entire biosphere, thereby making the
whole world unhealthy to live in. Stringent laws by
international bodies have made countries that use
nuclear power to develop new technologies for the
proper disposal of nuclear waste.
The nuclear wastes
should be disposed
of based on the
nature of the waste
present and their
half-lives as well as in
accordance with the
complicated regulatory
laws dealing with
radioactive wastes.
on the scale of nuclear share of total electricity
production as per the IAEA report.
 Dumbing of nuclear
waste drums
Since India’s usage of nuclear power is less
than that of other countries that use nuclear power,
the magnitude of radioactive waste management
in India is diminutive compared to other countries.
India has radioactive waste management facilities
at Trombay, Tarapore, Rawatbhata, Kalpakkam,
Narora, Kakrapar, Jaduguda, Kudankulam, along
with fuel reprocessing plants. Multiple-barrier
approach is followed in all nuclear facilities to
handle solid nuclear waste.
 Workers in nuclear
protection Hazmat Suite
 Fukushima Nuclear
power plant disaster
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
51
HSE Training
It is important that management shows its
commitment to health and safety as this sets the
standard within the organization.
3)Communication
Good lines of communication both up and
down are essential in improving health and safety.
If employees can see that action is being taken
when defects are reported they will feel that the
organization is committed to improving health and
safety.
4)Competence
It is important that employees feel properly
trained and competent to carry out the functions
that are required of them.
5)
Employee Representative
It is very important that employees feel that they
are represented in the decision making process
on health and safety matters as they then will take
“ownership” of the procedures laid down.
EXTRENAL INFLUENCES
There are many external influences on an
organization. They will have varying influence
depending on the current state of health and safety
within the organization. Some of the more important
influences are:
1)Economic
Promoting Positive Health
and Safety Culture
Jayas Manadath
2)
Social Expectations
Society today has a great awareness of health
and safety and environmental issues and expects
organizations to meet their responsibilities. Bad
publicity can have an adverse effect on a business
3)Legislation
There is a vast amount of legislation on health
and safety in many countries and it is continually
growing. Meeting the requirements of legislation
puts increasing costs on to industry which can
create conflict.
For legislation to influence organizations they
must either want to comply or there has to be a real
prospect of punishment for non-compliance.
4)Enforcement
Enforcement has a significant role in influencing
an organization’s level of performance with regard
to health and safety. If the focus of the enforcement
agency is on technical specifics then organizations
will tend to follow this lead and deal with these
issues. It is therefore important that the enforcing
agencies demonstrate the value of an interest in
seeing organizations use technical, procedural
and behavioural preventive measures. The relative
influence of the enforcement agencies is highly
dependent on them being sufficiently field active to
contact a significant number of organizations.
It would not be a balanced influence if the only
time they were seen was when there had been
an accident. They therefore have to be seen by
organizations before accidents occur, encouraging
planned preventive actions.
5)
Insurance companies
All private sector employers must have
approved insurance policies against liability for
injury or disease sustained by their employees in
the course of their employment. Most insurance
companies which provide liability insurance have
terms of qualified and competent surveyors who
undertake surveys of client’s premises. They
Safety Messenger continues with the syllabus of NEBOSH (National Examination Board in
Occupational Safety and Health), a UK based independent examination board delivering vocational
qualifications in health, safety & environmental practice and management. Safety Messenger is neither
an approved trainer nor an accredited agency for NEBOSH, but those who attend the training in any
accredited schools can get tips for preparing NEBOSH exam through the pages of the magazine.
Jayas Manadath, authorized trainer for NEBOSH, takes you to the concept of health and safety culture
and its various components. This part of syllabus discusses on the factors influencing on health
and safety, safety culture and the human factors which plays a vital role within job and the working
environment. Also visit the following websites for reference: www.hse.gov.uk |www.osha.gov | http://
www.iosh.co.uk| www.iso.org
I
nfluences on Health and Safety
There are two basic issues influencing health
and safety and these are:
a)Internal Influences
b)
External Influences
INTERNAL INFLUENCES
1)
52
Companies are generally expected to make a
profit for the shareholders and obviously the drive
to make this profit can conflict with good health and
safety practice and encourage “cutting of corners”.
operation.
Production Demands
When production is a priority then health and
safety issues can be seen as a hindrance. Good
health and safety practice should be seen as helping
organizations to meet their production targets. Any
health and safety procedure that is seen to slow the
job down or make the job harder will generally be
ignored.
2)
Management Commitment
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
53
report back on their general impression of the
organization. Obviously premiums can rise if the
report is unfavourable or there are unacceptable
levels of accidents and claims.
6)
SAFETY CULTURE
Definition
The HSE DEFINE Safety Culture as:
The product of individual and group values,
attitudes, competencies and patterns of behavior
that determine the commitment to, and the style
and proficiency of, an organization’s health and
safety performance. Organizations with a positive
safety culture are characterized by communications
founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of
the importance of safety, and by confidence in the
efficiency of preventative measures.
At its simplest, an organisation’s culture has
been defined as, “the way we do things around
here”-Deal and Kennedy 1982. The four elements
involved in creating a safety culture are:
a) Control
b)Co-operation
c)Communication
d)Competence
a)CONTROL
Performance standards are necessary to
ensure the effective operation of an organsiation.
54
•Lack of leadership and commitment
•Reduced staff complaints
•Lack of monitoring
•Reduced absenteeism
Failure to implement remedial action
•Lack of
involvement
Trade Unions have always been involved in
attempting to improve working conditions and
this has involved health and safety matters. The
aim is make representation with the government
departments on matters relating to health and
safety.
A major area of Trade Union involvement in
health and safety is compensation claims. The
unions offer their members free legal representation
for undertaking claims. Many unions have retained
firms of solicitors, who specialize in dealing with
compensational claims. In previous years this was
of great benefit to those who could not afford to take
out claims, although this situation is changing with
solicitors offering ‘no win no fee’. Those who are not
members of Trade Unions are now much more able
to take civil actions. In the U.K, Trade Unions are
represented on the Health and Safety Commission.
•Reduced damage to equipment
•
Trade Union
A number of trade unions sponsor Members of
Parliament. However, very little legislation regarding
health and safety grants any rights to Trade Unions.
One obvious piece of legislation is the Safety
Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations
1977 which granted Trade Unions the right to
appoint Safety Representatives.
•Perception of growing blame culture
consultation
and
employee
•Poor working environment
•
External influences
•
Health and safety seen as low priority
•Lack of supervision
•Reorganisation and uncertainty
The safety culture of the organization can be
improved by:
•
Senior management commitment
•Ownership of health and safety at every level
Management
systems,
their
creation,
implementation and maintenance are, therefore,
essential.
•
Effective communication and consultation
•
Training for all levels of employee
•
Shared perception of risks
•Policy Formulation
•
Standards of acceptable behavior
•Organisational development
•Learning from experience through monitoring
and review
•Planning
• Balance between health and safety and
production
•Auditing
•
Monitoring
•Reviewing
The benefits of a positive culture to the employer
are:
b) CO-OPERATION
•Increased levels of compliance with health
and safety rules and procedures
Performance and standards should be
established to determine the nature and frequency
of:
•
Health and safety committee meetings
•
Team briefings
•Problem solving
particular issues
meetings
to
•Improved production
•Improved staff morale
•Improved company reputation
•Reduced accidents
address
•Reduced ill health
c) COMMUNICATION
Performance standards need to be established
to ensure staff are competent and should cover
selection and training of staff at all levels from senior
management to employee on the shop floor and
must include supervision.
•Attitude
•Reduced fines and compensation claims
HUMAN FACTORS
The term “Human Factors” covers a wide range
of issues such as the perceptual, mental and
physical capabilities of people and the interactions of
individuals with their job and working environments.
It also considers the influence of equipment and
system design on human performance and the
organizational characteristics that influence safety
related behaviour at work.
The traditional approach to health and safety is
to concentrate on the “hardware” aspects of work,
i.e., the plant, equipment, premises, guarding, etc,
an approach reflected in the UK in legislation made
under the Factories Act 1961 and earlier Statutes.
Companies which achieved high standards of
compliance with this legislation often dropped to a
plateau of accident numbers and ill health but found
it difficult to improve and achieve better results.
Modern legislation and safety management
techniques have emphasized the importance
of Human Factors in accident prevention. The
Accident Prevention Advisory Unit of the Health
and Safety Executive have indicated that some
90% of fatal accidents are preventable and of these
about 70% -75% were directly related to failures in
management, rather than physical failures.
The DuPont Company did an accident trend
study, results of which indicated that the traditional
approach using technical improvements had
reduced accidents to a certain level, process and
software had reduced them further and the last step
reducing accidents is human factors.
1)
The Organisation
2)
The Individual
3)
The Job
THE ORGANISATION
Morale
The attitudes and patterns of acceptable or
“normal” behaviour will vary enormously from
organization to organization. Organizational factors
have the greatest influence on individual and group
behaviour.
•Accidents
•Absenteeism/sickness rates
•
•Reduced Insurance premiums
When considering human factors there are three
areas that can be taken into account in contributing
to safe/unsafe behaviour and these are:
Indicators of either a positive or negative culture
could be:
•
•Reduced staff turnover
Staff Turnover
•Compliance with rules
Organisational Factors are the management
elements which contribute to a positive health and
safety culture, which obviously if not provided could
•Complaints about working conditions
Factors that can cause the culture to decline:
•Lack of effective communication
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
55
programmes;
• Supporting active
committee meetings;
involvement
in
safety
• Being accompanied by employees or their
representatives on safety tours and inspections;
•Giving
employees
responsibilities
mentoring young and inexperienced workers.
for
Education
•Clear policy with health and safety being given
obvious equal priority to other business objectives
(production, quality, etc).
•
Experience
•
Home Life
Social and Cultural Influences:
•Peer groups (work colleagues)
•Job satisfaction and security
Psychological Attributes:
•Good consultation and communication with
the workforce.
•Attitude
•Perception
Control
The personal factors that might place an
individual at a greater risk of harm while at work are:
•
The setting of realistic and achievable targets;
•Proactive monitoring of health and safety
standards;
•A ‘no-balance’ culture.
Review and Audit
•Learning from success and from mistakes
The organization and its managers are responsible
to ensure health and safety. Practical measures
managers could take to ensure health and safety
include:
• Setting good
commitment to H & S
example
and
showing
• The recognition of good health and safety
performance (e.g. by giving praise and/ or offering
financial incentives)
•Involving employees in carrying out risk
assessments and drawing up safe systems of work
•Improving the company’s health and
safety culture and demonstrating a high level of
management commitment
Motivation
•A generally poor attitude to work
•Low motivation
•Issues relating to physical capabilities (such
as lack of stature, strength and/ or stamina) and to
mental capabilities
Ensuring a good working environment
•Providing training
communication
•
and
good
Setting good example
•Realistic goals
•Addressing environmental factors, e.g. lighting
and noise that might cause distraction or otherwise
hinder the perceptual processes
The reasons a person may fail to comply with a
safety procedure although they are competent are
complex but may include:
•Lack of employee motivation
•Unrealistic working procedures
•Lack of management commitment
•Repetitive work leading to boredom and lack
of concentration
An employee’s attitude to health and safety
issues may be affected by:
•Peer group pressure
•Culture
• Willful disregard of laid-down procedures
coupled with inadequate or ineffective supervision
•
•
Experience
•Peer groups
•
Management commitment
•
Home Influence
PERCEPTION
Fatigue and stress
•Lack of information, training and consultation
and
•Job Insecurity •
Perception is the way people interpret and make
sense of presented information, e.g. in relation to
their surroundings.
Factors which affect a person’s perception are:
• Sensory input i.e. seeing, hearing, touching ,
smelling and tasting
• Encouraging hazard spotting and the reporting
of defects;
So what motivates or demotivates people in
work?
•
•Incentives
•
Familiarity with the situation
•Recognition
•
Feeling of being in ‘control’
Safety Messenger | May 2015
•Identifying, including by the use of surveys,
the reasons for employees’ misperceptions in order
to show how improvements might be achieved and
how currently held views might be challenged;
Attitude is the tendency to behave in a particular
way in a certain situation.
•Age-related behavioural factors associated
with immaturity
MOTIVATION
•Increasing knowledge, e.g. Training
•Over-familiarisation with the tasks to be
performed
For example a person’s attitude to wearing PPE
may be affected by the actions of colleagues.
• The levels of training and experience of the
individual
•Involving people in the risk assessment
process;
ATTITUDE
Motive is the drive a person has to achieve a
particular goal.
•Organising training courses and information
ensuring
•Poor perception of risk, perhaps influenced by
alcohol or drugs
• Medical conditions affecting physical or
mental capacity
An employee’s perception may be improved and
managed by:
•Increasing awareness of hazards, e.g. safety
campaigns or posters
•Involving employees in risk assessments,
accident investigations, and the development of
safe systems and procedures;
Setting up suggestion schemes;
in
Employers can motivate their workforce by:
•
•
Monitoring
56
•Gender
•Competence and training of the workforce;
The provision of a good working environment
involvement
• Disciplining employees who choose to ignore
safe working procedures
•
•
management/
Threat of discipline
Planning
senior
•Committed
decisions
The level and nature of training
•Personal characteristics such as age, attitude
and sensory impairment.
•Realistic Goals
•
•Physical condition (health)
of
•Peer Approval
Individual employees at all levels will have
different habits, attitudes, skills, personalities,
knowledge, physical and mental capabilities. Some
of these will change from time to time as people are
influenced by different factors including:
•Physique (size and strength)
leadership
•Confidence in others abilities and judgments
Team Spirit
Safe environment
lead to a negative culture and also cause employees
to work unsafely even if competent. These may be
considered under the following headings:
and
•Peer group Influences
•
•
•Age
•Commitment
management;
•
•Personal Achievement
THE INDIVIDUAL
Physical Characteristics:
Organising
•Job Satisfaction
•Personal Protective Equipment
• The nature of the hazard, (e.g. obvious or
hidden, immediate or delayed effects)
•Previous experience
Safety Messenger | May 2015
57
HEALTH
PROSTATE CANCER
GROWING IN INDIA
Prostate cancer has been a major health problem and leading cause for
cancer deaths in males. In this article Dr. R. Vijayan, Senior Laparoscopic
and Reconstructive Consultant Urologist at Specialists Hospital, Kochi
analyses the causes, symptoms and remedies of this common disease.
P
Dr. R. Vijayan
rostate cancer is the most common cancer
in males in the West, and is a leading cause
for cancer deaths in males. Though the
incidence in India is nearly 10 times less, it
is increasing by 1% every year. We can, therefore,
no longer ignore this cancer and push it aside as a
predominantly Western disease as we once did for
breast cancer.
Causes of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is more likely to occur as one
grows older. It is rarely seen in men below the age
of 50 years. Besides age, the only other definite
correlation is that it is slightly more common among
first blood relations. The higher incidence of the
disease in the affluent Western society may point
towards a more fatty Western-type of diet and
sedentary life style. This may be the reason why
the incidence of the disease increases in Asian
population that has immigrated to the West and
Bladder
Prostate
Urethra
Prostate
cancer
pressing on
urethra
58
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
59
develop an aggressive, fast-progressing disease
and who will have a cancer which is unlikely to affect
one’s life in any way. A lot of research is progressing
to answer this question, but, many a time, we still
cannot answer this question with absolute certainty.
Therefore, a screening programme may save lives,
but, at the same time, will diagnose and treat a large
percentage of people whose cancer may not have
affected them.
Treatments available
adapted a Western lifestyle. The third-generation
Asians in the West have the same incidence as the
local population.
Symptoms
The prostate is commonly affected by two
common diseases. Non-cancerous enlargement
of the prostate is very common and presents with
symptoms of difficulty to pass urine, frequency of
micturition especially at night, bleeding, feeling
of incomplete voiding, etc. These are also the
symptoms of prostate cancer. In fact, symptomatic
prostate cancer in most instances is already
advanced and too late for a curative treatment. In
most instances, for curative treatment, therefore,
one has to detect the disease even before the
person is symptomatic.
 Locating the source
before surgery
HEED THE WARNINGS
Symptoms
RISK FACTORS
REMEDY
• Frequent urination,
especially at night.
•It is very rare in men younger than 40, but the probability
increases rapidly after the age of 50.
Combination therapy of drugs
to reduce the size of prostate.
•A weak or interrupted
urinary stream.
•About 6 in 10 cases of prostate cancer are found in men
over the age of 65.
Hormone treatment.
• Difficulty in Uriantion.
•Prostate cancer seems to run in some families, which
suggests that in some cases there may be an inherited or
genetic factor.
Removal of prostateProstatectomy.
•Retention incontinence.
Prostate cancer is a slow-growing disease, and,
therefore, even when the disease has spread outside
the prostate gland, it can be effectively contained for
a significant period of time by hormone treatment
and later by chemotherapy. Unlike chemotherapy,
the side effects of hormone therapy are very much
less. Hormone therapy is done by neutralising the
male hormone testosterone either medically or
surgically.
• Blood in urine or semen
However, if one is able to detect the cancer
early, curative treatment is possible. This is done in
two ways: by surgery or by radiotherapy. Surgically,
one can remove the prostate gland completely.
Complete surgical removal of the gland is done
by open surgery or by keyhole surgery. Key hole
surgery can also be facilitated by robotics. The
same can be achieved by radiotherapy. Generally,
if one is physically fit to undergo a long surgery,
surgical removal of the gland is advocated as the
therapeutic effect is immediate and side effects are
comparatively less when compared to radiotherapy.
Radiotherapy is appropriate for a less physically fit
person. The therapeutic effects of radiotherapy are a
little delayed. With modern radiotherapy techniques,
the side effects are becoming less and less.
Important: Dont dismiss the symptoms as minor or too embarassing to discuss with a physician
•Pain associated with
urination and ejaculation.
• Erectile dysfunction.
• Having a father or brother with prostate cancer more than
doubles a man's risk of developing this disease. (The risk is
higher for men who have a brother with the disease than for
those with an affected father.)
• The risk is much higher for men with several affected
relatives, particularly if their relatives were young at the time
the cancer was found.
If treated early
prostate cancer
cure easy
Pre-symptomatic detection
In the West, prostate cancer is detected often
in the very early stages of the disease. In India,
however, this is sadly not the case. Even in this day
and age of cancer awareness, many patients in
India present only after the onset of symptoms and
the diagnosis is made only when the disease has
spread outside the prostate gland.
Once diagnosis of prostate cancer is done,
medical management is taken up through medicines
and surgery. There are drugs in the market, which are
usually administered by doctors in combination with
others to decrease the size of the enlarged prostate.
Usually, known as combination therapy, these drugs
are given from 6 to 12 months to prostate cancer
patients. Second management involves surgery.
Interestingly, prostate takes a long time to grow,
a good enough reason for patients to get themselves
checked. Doctors pointed out that prostate cancer
diagnosis is highly matured in US and UK, which
could be followed in India. Anybody who turns
50 in western countries, usually go for a prostate
examination because there is a lot of awareness,
doctors said.
The American Cancer Society recently updated
its recommendations for cancer survivors with some
specific guidance for men with prostate cancer:
•Avoid weight gains during prostate cancer
treatment, whether you are at a healthy weight or
overweight.
Early detection of prostate cancer is possible
only by regular screening programme. Screening
for prostate cancer involves internal examination
by a urologist and blood test for prostate-specific
antigen. Prostate screening is recommended to be
done by all males after the age of 50 years, unless
one has a first blood relation who has suffered
from this disease – in which case, the screening is
advised from 40 years of age.
•
Weight loss after recovery from treatment
may benefit survivors who are overweight or obese.
E
very year, a whopping 15 lakh prostate cancer
cases among men are detected in India of
which 85 per cent are stage four cancers,
which means doctors do not give them more than
three years to live. The irony is that unlike other
cancers, if prostate cancer is detected early, then
chances of treating it is almost 100 per cent, cancer
specialists point out.
Screening for prostate cancer has become
controversial as prostate cancer is a very slowgrowing disease, and we are still not sure who will
60
Radiation Therapy.
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
•Research has linked obesity to a greater
risk of death from prostate cancer.
•
Studies show that exercise is safe during
prostate cancer treatment and can improve many
aspects of health, including muscle strength,
balance, fatigue, cardiovascular fitness, and
depression.
•Physical activity after a prostate cancer
diagnosis is linked to living longer and a reduced
61
risk of the cancer returning.
•In a study, men with localized prostate
cancer who engaged in at least 3 hours of vigorous
activity per week were nearly 60% less likely to die
from the disease.
•
The most health benefits are associated
with a diet high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains,
poultry, and fish; low in refined grains, beef, pork,
lamb, and processed meat (such as hot dogs,
sausage, and bacon); and low in high-fat dairy
products.
•A diet high in saturated fat, including red
meat (beef, pork, and lamb) and high-fat dairy
products, has been linked to an increased risk of
prostate cancer.
Industrial World
Research findings shows that prostate cancer
has become a major health problem in industrialized
world during the last decades of the 20th century
contributing to three fourth of the registered cases
across the globe. Incidence rates of prostate
cancer vary by more than 25 fold worldwide, the
highest rates being in Australia/New Zealand
(104.2/100,000), Western and Northern Europe,
North America, largely because the practice of PSA
has become widespread in those regions. Although
incidence rates of prostate cancer are considered
low in Asian and North African countries, ranging
from 1 to 9/100,000 persons), demographic and
epidemiological transitions in developing countries
like India have shown an increasing trend in the
burden of various cancer cases including prostate
cancer. The incidence rates of this cancer are
constantly and rapidly increasing in all the PBRCs.
The cancer projection data shows that the number
of cases will become doubled by 2020.
The PBCRs at Bangalore (APC: 3.4%), Chennai
(4.2%), Delhi (3.3%), Mumbai (0.9%) and Kamrup
Urban District (11.6%) recorded a statistically
significant increasing trend in incidence rates over
time.
PBCR
common cancer), Bangalore (3rd most common
cancer) and Pune (2nd most common cancer) as
compared to the smaller cities like Kollam, Bhopal,
Nagpur and Wardha. As far as different regions of
India are concerned, prostate cancer has ranked
among top ten in all the regions like north (Delhi—
2nd most common), south (Trivandram—2nd most
common), east (Kolkatta—2nd most common) and
west (Mumbai—3rd most common).
The incidence of PCa is relatively low in some
states like Gujrat (Ahmedabad and Wardha PBRCs)
and Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal PBCR). But the
incidence of Prostate cancer is lowest in north east
region of India. Northeast India is the eastern-most
region of India connected to East India via a narrow
corridor squeezed between Nepal and Bangladesh.
It comprises the contiguous Seven Sister States—
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and the Himalayan
state of Sikkim. PBCRs from Assam state (Cachar
District and Dibrugarh District) shows absence
of prostate cancer among top ten leading site
of cancers except Kamrup district where it is 6th
leading site of cancer. PBCRs from Manipur state,
Mizoram State, Sikkim state, Meghalaya state,
Tripura state and Nagaland show that PCa is not
among the top ten leading site of cancer in these
states•
Annual % changeDuration
Bangalore3.4%
1982–2009/10
Chennai4.2%
1982–2009/10
Delhi3.3% 1988–2009/10
Mumbai0.9%
1982–2009/10
Prostate is the second leading site of cancer
for four PBCRs namely Delhi, Kolkata, Nagpur
and Thiruvananthpuram. It is also evident from the
table that prostate cancer incidence are highest in
metro cities like Delhi (2nd most common cancer),
Mumbai (3rd most common cancer), Kolkatta
(2nd most common cancer), Chennai (4th most
62
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Health
SPICE UP TO KEEP
CANCER AWAY
Many of the spices that we use in our daily diet have medicinal value.
People have been using these spices for ages though they were not
necessarily aware of their medicinal properties. This article deals with
the medicinal merits of Indian spices in helping prevent and fight cancer
and the need to include those spices in our diet.
T
he concept of diet in India was developed
over thousands of years ago and it was
based on a mix of religious and secular
beliefs. An example is that the ayurveda
system prescribes over 700 plant-based medicines
that contain spices and food addictives to promote
health. Many of these foodstuffs have been
studied for their disease prevention capabilities,
including turmeric, cumin, chillies, kalakhar, amrita
bindu, and various plant seeds. Among the most
studied in recent years is turmeric, an ingredient
in the common Indian curry and a spice that has
been shown to be a potent antioxidant and anti-
64
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
65
around 250,000 flower stigmas (saffron crocus) that
make just about half a kilogram, few saffron threads
come loaded with benefits you won’t regret paying
for. Saffron threads can be used in various ways.
Cumin: Cumin aids digestion and probably
that is why we like chewing a handful of cumin
seeds at the end of every meal. However, its health
benefits go beyond. A portent herb with antioxidant
characteristics, cumin seeds contains a compound
called thymoquinone that checks proliferation of
cells responsible for prostate cancer. So, instead of
loading your usual snack options with calories and
oil, add this seasoning to your bread, fried beans
or sauce and make the dish rich in flavour and high
on health.
 Ginger
inflammatory agent with additional promise as a
disease-preventive agent.
Amrita bindu – a dietary supplement that is a
salt-spice-herbal mixture – was found to protect
rats against cancer induced by N-methyle-NNitroguanidine, a potent carcinogenic nitrosamine.
Other studies conducted on rats and mice have
found the anti-carcinogenic effects of 9 Indian
spices on induction by dietary benzopyrene of
squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) of the stomach
in mice and induction by dietary 3’-methyle
-4-dimethylaminoazobezene of hepatomas in rats.
Based on this study, the cumin seed and basil leaves
decreased significantly the incidence of both SCC
and hepatomas; poppy seed significantly inhibited
BP-induced SCC; and other 6 spices showed no
effect.
Curcumin promotes apoptosis (programmed cell
death/cell suicide) that safely eliminates cancerbreeding cells without posing a threat to the
development of other healthy cells. In cases of
conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the
surrounding cells too become a target in addition
to the cancer cells, thereby leading to side effects.
Fennel: Armed with phytonutrients and
antioxidants, cancer cells have to accept defeat
when the spice is fennel. Anethole, a major
 Saffron
 Cinnamon
constituent of fennel, resists and restricts the
adhesive and invasive activities of cancer cells.
It suppresses the enzymatic regulated activities
behind cancer cell multiplication. A tomato-fennel
soup with garlic or fresh salads with fennel bulbs
make for an ideal entree before an elaborate course
meal. Roasted fennel with parmesan can be another
star pick.
Saffron: A natural carotenoid dicarboxylic
acid called crocetin is the primary cancer-fighting
element that saffron contains. It not only inhibits
the progression of the disease but also decreases
the size of the tumour by half, thus guaranteeing a
complete goodbye to cancer. Though it is the most
expensive spice in the world since it is derived from
Cinnamon: It takes not more than a half teaspoon
of cinnamon powder every day to keep cancer
risk away. A natural food preservative, cinnamon
is a source of iron and calcium. Cinnamon, useful
in reducing tumour growth, blocks the formation
of new vessels in the human body. Some of the
effective ways of including cinnamon in your diet
are:
• Start your day with a cup of cinnamon tea (in
leaf or sachet).
• Make your breakfast meal a super-healthy
one: just add this wonder spice to your breakfast.
• A fruity delight comprising chopped apples, a
few walnuts and your magic potion cinnamon.
• Consuming a glass of milk mixed with honey
 A mix of Indian spices
Described below are some of the most commonly
used Indian spices and their ability in keeping many
deadly diseases at bay:
Turmeric/Curcumin: This is the king of spices
when it comes to dealing with cancer diseases,
besides it adding a zesty colour to food on the
platter. Turmeric contains the powerful polyphenol
curcumin, which has been clinically proven to retard
the growth of cancer cells that cause prostate cancer,
melanoma, breast cancer, brain tumour, pancreatic
cancer and leukaemia among a host of others.
66
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
67
automotive and many others.
T
owards promoting ecological sustainability in
industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) has embarked on to conduct the 4th edition of
GreenCo Summit 2015 on 25 & 26th June in Mumbai.
The event would be the appropriate forum to learn
more on the best practices and technologies for
environmental sustainability, and will also provide
a platform for various stakeholders to showcase
and deliberate on the benefits of adopting green
practices, products and services.
 Powder made out of
top Indian spices
This event will serve as an excellent platform
for companies pursuing green to assess where
they stand and help in defining the path forward in
following areas:
•International Experiences
Environmental Sustainability
in
Green
and
 Fennel seeds
off, too.
Oregano: More than a pizza or pasta topping,
oregano confirms its worth as a potential agent
against prostate cancer. Consisting of anti-microbial
compounds, just one teaspoon of oregano has the
power of two cups of red grapes. Quercetin, the
phytochemical present in oregano, restricts growth
of malignant cells in the body and acts like a drug
against cancer-centric diseases.
Ginger: This humble spice boasts of medicinal
qualities that help lower cholesterol, boost
metabolism and kill cancer cells. Easily added to
vegetable dishes, fish preparations and salads,
ginger enhances the flavour in cooking. Chew on
fresh parsley if the odour bothers you.
Cayenne Pepper/Capsaicin (chilli pepper): This
is a promising spice with anti-cancer properties.
An overdose of chilli pepper, however, is bad.
Capsaicin induces the process of apoptosis that
destroys potential cancer cells and reduces the
size of leukaemia tumour cells considerably. It can
be concluded that, apart from setting our tongues
on fire, chilli pepper can scare cancer pathogens
Others: Cloves, anise, basil, garlic, caraway,
fenugreek, mustard, mint leaves, rosemary, limonin
(fresh lemon), virgin olive, vinegar and avocado are
the other cancer-fighting diet components.
Cancer-preventing dietary habits
•
A plant-based diet with a variety of fruits,
vegetables, nuts, grains and beans is the best
organic way to fight cancer.
• Add fibre: Replace white rice with brown rice in
meals
• Use wholegrain bread instead of white bread;
choose a bran muffin over a pastry
- Carbon Neutrality
- Water Positive status
Date: 15-17 October, 2015
- Zero Waste company
Venue: The Lalit Hotel, Mumbai•
• Design for Environment : Resource conservation,
nil toxicity & recyclability
• How to use Life Cycle Approach to drive Green
Product development
• Experiences sharing by GreenCo Champions
•Green Branding
The above latest concepts would be discussed
and deliberated extensively by leading national &
international experts.
The strategies and innovations shared at the
event will not only promote ecological sustainability
but will also go a long way in demonstrating that
'Green makes business sense'. This event will
also aim to adequately equip companies to meet
future national & international compliance norms /
regulations on environmental sustainability.
Date: 25-26 June 2015
Venue: Palladium Hotel, Mumbai•
• Eat fresh fruits with skin
Safety India 2015
• Cook with olive oil instead of regular vegetable oil
• Avoid packaged or fried foods that are high in
trans-fats
• Avoid processed salt. Celtic sea salt/Himalayan
salt can be consumed sparingly
• Cancer patients should not load their diet with
turmeric or curcumin supplements without doctor’s
advice or prescribed dosage•
68
•Green Supply Chain, Green Procurement, Green
Logistics, Sustainable Packaging
• Snack on popcorn instead of potato chips
• Omega-3 fatty acids fight inflammation
Safety Messenger | May 2015
The event is motivated with a recent
announcement from the Finance Ministry of India
that the country’s economy could grow by 8.5
percent this fiscal year and, it’s imperative that
safety professionals from every industry sharpen
their skills to be ready to tackle the projects such
explosive growth brings. The World Bank estimates
that more than 10 million citizens will be moving into
urban areas for jobs in the coming years, the largest
migration in this young century. This will require new
roads, the expansion of cities and manufacturing
areas, as well as housing. Such unprecedented
economic growth gives India a chance to show the
world how the country’s political, business and civic
leaders will join together to make safety a priority in
completing and maintaining these projects
For more details, updates, or to register for
the upcoming conference, please visit www.
safetyindia2015.org or contact safetyindia2015@
mci-group.com.
• World Class practices in Green:
and cinnamon helps prevent cancer.
T
he American Society of Safety Engineers,
the world’s oldest professional safety society
is organizing SAFETY INDIA 2015, a twoday professional development conference and
exposition in Mumbai on October 15-17, 2015.
The conference is intended to attract safety
practitioners from a wide variety of industries
including manufacturing, construction, oil and gas,
Safety Messenger | May 2015
HSE Conferences
Greenco Summit 2015
A plant-based diet
with a variety of
fruits, vegetables, nuts,
grains and beans is
the best organic way
to fight cancer.
OSH India Conference
O
SH - Occupational Safety & Health India
2015 is an event of international related with
the health and safety industry of the India.
The fair will provide an excellent opportunity for the
professionals to discuss on the latest opportunities
and new developments in the respective field and
disseminate and publicize their business in the
global markets.
The event will exhibit products based on health,
safety, health service, safety service, Providers of
PPE, fall arrest and working at height equipment,
training equipment, lifting and handling equipment,
occupational health services, noise prevention,
hazardous material storage, handling material
storage, software safety related services, health
consultancy, safety consultancy, safety signs and
posters.
Visitors like health and safety managers,
directors, health and safety consultants, distributors,
business owners and operators, occupational
health specialists, personnel, HR managers and
emergency services professionals are invited for
the expo. Also it is a participation opportunity for
the market observers, business analysts, HSE
directors, managers and professionals, EHS
directors, managers and professionals.
Date: 20-21 August 2015
Venue: Chennai Exhibition Centre, Chennai•
69
environment
WILDLIFE CRIMES
CRY FOR URGENT
ATTENTION
National and international illegal trade in wildlife has grown to such
huge proportions that it threatens seriously the existence of many
species of plants and animals. It is not too late for the governmental
bodies to understand and do something serious about these increasing
crimes against our wildlife. Understanding what is being hunted, who
is hunting them, and how it is being traded can help in tackling this
growing menace.
W
Jisha Tijo
ildlife crimes are increasing on a large
scale. Three of the world’s best-loved
species – elephants, rhinos and tigers –
are under serious threat. Illegal wildlife
trade has exploded to meet increasing demand
for elephant ivory, rhino horns, and tiger products,
particularly in Asia. Controlled by dangerous crime
syndicates, wildlife is trafficked much like drugs or
weapons.
On the occasion of World Wildlife Day, United
Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon released
a statement urging all consumers, suppliers and
governments to treat crimes against wildlife as
a threat to sustainable future. The UN General
Assembly proclaimed March 3 as World Wildlife
Day in 2013 – the anniversary of the adoption of the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Wildlife crimes in India
The scale of the crimes in our country can be
gauged from some of the information put out by the
Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). WPSI,
a wildlife conservation organisation founded by
70
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
71
these laws, so that they can contribute effectively. It
is also vital to understand which institutions control
land in India before any conservation interventions
can be attempted in any landscape.
Crimes related to wildlife and forest play a major
role in financing organised crimes and non-state
armed groups, including terrorist organizations.
In the Indian state of Assam, which is home
to 75% of the world’s remaining great one-horned
rhinoceroses, a multitude of armed groups, including
tribal separatists, rebels, and terrorists poach within
the Kaziranga National Park and adjacent protected
areas of Orang and Pabitora. At least 41 rhinos were
poached in Kaziranga in 2013, double the number
killed the previous year. Most were reportedly killed
by AK-47s and .303 rifles used by militant groups.
The horns are traded for weapons and cash to fund
militant activities, says a report.
Belinda Wright, has recorded over 20,000 wildlife
crime cases. While bringing focus onto the high rate
of wildlife crimes in India, Bollywood actor Salman
Khan was convicted in 2007 for hunting blackbuck
for sport. Other wildlife crimes, involving poachers
and traders, were found to have targeted over 400
species of wildlife. WPSI has information about
16,000 wildlife criminals and their associates, interstate wildlife traders, smuggling routes, and new
poaching and new poaching trade routes.
The most threatened wildlife species in India
are tigers, elephants, leopards and rhinos. Just
26,000 to 30,000 elephants may be left in the wild
in India. According to WPSI data, 18 elephants were
poached between January and September 2014 for
their tusks to meet the demand for ivory. The agency
has recorded the loss of over 120 elephants due
to poaching between 2008 and 2011. During the
same period, WPSI has records of seizure of 781 kg
ivory and 69 tusks, besides ivory pieces and carved
articles.
 Dehorning of a
rhinoceros at a national
park in Zimbabwe
Almost two dozen militant organisations
are active in the region, proliferating arms and
impacting security, and creating opportunities for
the penetration of transnational organised crime.
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and Jama’atul Mujahideen
Bangladesh, Bangladeshi terror groups affiliated
with Al Qaeda, reportedly poach tigers, elephants,
and rhino in the park to raise organisational
operating funds. The groups have been claimed to
have links with crime syndicates in Nepal, Thailand
and China, the report notes.
Another such illegal trade involves ivory, which
provides income to militia groups in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), the Central African
Republic and ‘horse gangs’ in Sudan, Chad and
Niger. Given the estimated elephant populations
and the number of projected killed elephants
within striking range of these militia groups, the
annual income from ivory to militias in the subSaharan Africa is up to US $12.2 million. Around
25,000 elephants are poached in Africa annually,
and African ivory may constitute an ‘end-use street
value’ of $188 million in Asia.
 A poached Tiger
Transnational criminal organisations are making
immense profits by exploiting the natural resources
The Government of India has introduced various
types of legislation in response to the growing
destruction of wildlife and forests. These are:
1. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, (Last
amended in 2006)
The Wildlife (Protection) Act (WLPA), 1972, is
an important statute that provides a powerful legal
framework for:
• Prohibition of hunting
• Protection and management of wildlife habitats
• Establishment of protected areas
• Regulation and control of trade in parts and
products derived from wildlife
to fuel their illicit activities, threatening the stability
and future development of some of the world’s
poorest regions. While there is growing awareness
of the dangers posed by wildlife crime, it will require
a dedicated and concerted international effort
among law enforcement and partner organisations
to combat effectively this threat to global security.
of a dead wild elephant
found in Brahmaputra
River
Steps to curb poaching
There are 12 recommendations issued to curb
environmental crimes. These call for:
• Coordinated efforts to strengthen environmental
legislation and regulations
A statement by the Minister for Environment
in November 2014 indicates how vulnerable the
‘national animal’ is. At least 274 tigers have died in
the last 4 years, according to official statistics. This
figure is the highest for any given period between
two assessment cycles. Only 82 tigers died due to
natural reasons. Over 70% tiger of deaths were due
to poaching or for reasons that forest departments
have not been able to establish yet.
• Strengthening institutional, legal and regulatory
systems to further combat corruption and ensure
that the legal trade is monitored and managed
effectively
• Management of zoos
The WLPA provides for several categories of
protected areas/reserves:
• National parks
• Wildlife sanctuaries
• Tiger reserves
• Conservation reserves
Beyond immediate environmental impacts,
the illegal trade in natural resources is depriving
developing economies of billions of dollars in lost
revenues just to fill the pockets of criminals. As
hundreds of Environment Ministers assemble at
Nairobi for the first United Nations Environment
Assembly (UNEA), the UN has warned that high
profits and low probability of being caught is fuelling
environmental crimes, which now threatens the
security and sustainable development of many
nations.
According to data available on the National
Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) website, 66
tigers were found dead around the country in 2014;
in most cases, the reports on cause of deaths are
awaited. There were 12 instances of seizure of tiger
parts and skins in this period.
• Community reserves
The 2006 amendment introduced a new chapter
(IV B) for establishment of the National Tiger
Conservation Authority and notification of Tiger
Reserves (before this amendment, tiger reserves
were not defined under the law, but were merely
administrative designations to enable funding under
Project Tiger).
 An illegal wildlife trade
caught by customs
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) was
constituted vide the 2006 amendment to monitor
and control the illegal trade in wildlife products. The
WLPA provides for investigation and prosecution of
• Alleviation of poverty
• Identifying end-user markets
• Implementing consumer awareness campaigns
Legal
framework
for
conservation in India
wildlife
India does have strong wildlife conservation
laws. We have some of the most stringent legislation
to protect wildlife and habitats. It is imperative that
all conservationists familiarise themselves with
Funding for militants
72
 Examining the tusks
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
73
offences in a court of law by authorised officers of
the forest department and police officers.
2. The Indian Forest Act (1927) and Forest Acts of
state governments
The main objective of the Indian Forest Act
(1927) was to secure exclusive state control over
forests to meet the demand for timber. Most of
these untitled lands had traditionally belonged to the
forest-dwelling communities. The Act defined state
ownership, regulated its use, and appropriated the
power to substitute or extinguish customary rights.
The Act facilitates three categories of forests. They
are:
• Reserved forests
• Village forests
• Protected forests
3. The Forest Conservation Act (1980)
To check rapid deforestation due to forestlands
being released by state governments for agriculture,
industry and other development projects (allowed
under the Indian Forest Act), the federal government
enacted the Forest Conservation Act in 1980, with
an amendment in 1988. The Act made the prior
approval of the federal government necessary for
de-reservation of reserved forests, logging and for
use of forestland for non- forest purposes.
substances, etc. The Act provided an opportunity
to extend legal protection to non-forest habitats
(‘Ecologically Sensitive Areas’) such as grasslands,
wetlands and coastal zones.
5. The Biological Diversity Act (2002)
The Supreme Court of India has currently
imposed a complete ban on the release of forestland
for non-forestry activities without the prior approval
of the federal government.
India is a party to the United Nations Convention
on Biological Diversity. The provisions of the
Biological Diversity Act are in addition to and not in
derogation of the provisions in any other law relating
to forests or wildlife.
4. The Environment (Protection) Act (1986)
6. National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016)
The Environment Protection Act is an important
legislation that provides for coordination of activities
of the various regulatory agencies, creation of
authorities with adequate powers for environmental
protection, regulation of the discharge of
environmental pollutants, handling of hazardous
It replaces the earlier Plan adopted in 1983
and was introduced in response to the need for a
change in priorities given the increased commercial
use of natural resources, continued growth of
human and livestock populations, and changes in
consumption patterns. It focuses on strengthening
and enhancing the protected area network, on
the conservation of endangered wildlife and their
habitats, on controlling trade in wildlife products
and on research, education, and training.
The most threatened
wildlife species in India
are tigers, elephants,
leopards and rhinos.
Just 26,000 to 30,000
elephants may be left
in the wild in India.
 A Leopard caught in a
man-made trap
The Plan recognises the need to reduce humanwildlife conflict and emphasises the establishment
of effective compensation mechanisms. It includes
the restoration of degraded habitats outside
protected areas as a key objective.
7. The National Forest Policy (1998), The National
Forest Policy (1988)
(NFP) is primarily concerned with the
sustainable use and conservation of forests, and
further strengthens the Forest Conservation Act
(1980). It marked a significant departure from earlier
forest policies, which gave primacy to meeting
government interests and industrial requirements for
forest products at the expense of local subsistence
74
Safety Messenger | May 2015
When the quantity of dust decreases the quality of air we breathe in, life on Earth starts to
deteriorate. It is a serious problem that every person in India faces. When increasing urbanisation
uproots the green protectors of the Earth (the trees), vast green lands and fields in the name of
development, are we not depriving ourselves and the future generations the right to live on Earth?
 Releasing the
translocated rhinos into a
national park
requirements.
As seen above, India has a strong set of laws,
Acts and policies for the protection of forests and
wildlife. It is for the citizens to study these carefully
and apply them appropriately while conducting
conservation advocacy campaigns.
Wildlife Crime Control Bureau
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is responsible
in tackling the wildlife-related crimes in the country.
But, how effective is this bureau in controlling these
crimes is something we need to make a check. The
bureau would detect and prosecute networks and
individuals engaged in poaching tigers and other
endangered species.
 The wildlife trade in
Burma
Environment
AIR POLLUTION
PLAGUES INDIA
Almost two dozen
militant organisations
are active in the region,
proliferating arms and
impacting security, and
creating opportunities
for the penetration of
transnational organised
crime.
The body called the Tiger and Other Endangered
Species Crime Control Bureau will maintain a
database on wildlife items and trade, and help
convict criminals and their accomplices at national
and international levels.
The body will strengthen the ongoing efforts
to control poaching and illegal trade and will
also facilitate training of field staff in intelligence
gathering, crime detection and prosecution. With its
headquarters in New Delhi, the bureau will have five
regional offices and three sub-regional offices.
Global measures
Experts in government, security, and
conservation discuss how dangerous wildlife crime
is and why it threatens not only animals but also
our own global security. WWF is leading a global
campaign to stop wildlife crime. The campaign
focuses on:
• Pushing governments to protect threatened
animal populations by increasing law enforcement,
imposing strict deterrents, reducing demand for
endangered species products and honouring
international commitments made under CITES (the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)
•
Speaking up on behalf of those on the
frontlines being threatened by armed poachers,
so that they are properly equipped, trained and
compensated
• Reducing demand for illegal wildlife parts and
products by encouraging others to ask questions
and get the facts before buying any wildlife or plant
product
To improve the management, analysis
and reporting of the wildlife crimes, the Indian
Government is working along with some of the nonprofit organisations and environmental protection
agencies •
76
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
77
 Construction Dust
A
ir pollution is a worldwide concern. There
have been many investigations into
what causes air pollution and the exact
methods that work best in the prevention
of air pollution. Air pollution is the presence of high
concentration of contamination, dust, smokes, etc.,
in the general body of air we breathe.
The main sources
of smoke pollutants
in urban areas are
petrol/diesel-driven
motor vehicles,
fuel combustion in
stationary sources
including residential,
commercial and
industrial heating/
cooling system and
coal-burning power
plants.
Dust and smoke are the two major components
of particulate matter. Car emissions, chemicals
from factories, dust, and pollen and mold spores
may be suspended as particles. The dust or particle
pollution is a mixture of solid particles and liquid
droplets found in the air. Some particles, such as
dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough
to be seen with the naked eye. Others are so small
that they can only be detected with an electron
microscope.
 Clouds of dust
billowing out of the landfill
These particles come in many sizes and shapes
and can be made up of hundreds of different
chemicals. Some particles, known as primary
particles, are emitted directly from a source,
such as construction and demolition sites, paved
and unpaved roadways, fields, smokestacks or
fires, parking lots, storage piles, handling and
transfer of materials, and open areas. Others form
in complicated reactions in the atmosphere of
chemicals such as sulphur dioxides and nitrogen
oxides that are emitted from power plants,
industries and automobiles. These particles, known
 Debris removal cause
to form dust particles in
the air
as secondary particles, make up most of the fine
particle pollution in the country.
Health hazard
The size of particles is directly linked to their
potential for causing health problems. Small
particles less than 10 micrometres in diameter
pose the greatest problems because they can get
deep into your lungs, and some may even get into
your bloodstream. In fact, dust, when inhaled, can
increase breathing problems, damage lung tissue,
and aggravate existing health problems. In addition
to health concerns, dust generated from various
activities can reduce visibility, resulting in accidents.
Therefore, every government should have stringent
regulations which require prevention, reduction
and/or mitigation of dust emissions.
Pollution in India, particularly in Indian cities, is
far worse than that in developed countries. Ozone,
a gas, is a major part of air pollution in cities. When
ozone forms air pollution, it is also called smog.
Smoke from burning, industries, vehicles, smog
and particulate pollution is far higher, and even nonsmokers in India have 30% lower lung function than
Europeans.
Major causes of air pollution
The dust which comes from natural erosion of
soil, sand and rock is the most common source of
dust. Pollen, microscopic organisms, plant material
and dander (dead skin cells shed by animals) are
also part of the dust in the environment.
•
Dust generated and thrown to general
atmosphere by various industries such as cement
plants, ore/stone crushing units, and mining
industries due to rock drilling and movements of
mining machineries and blasting.
• Waste deposition for landfills which generate
methane
•
Toxic/germ/noxious gasses and fumes
generated from military activities and explosives
blasting in mines.
The main sources of smoke pollutants in urban
areas are petrol/diesel-driven motor vehicles,
fuel combustion in stationary sources including
residential, commercial and industrial heating/
cooling system and coal-burning power plants.
Petrol/diesel-driven motor vehicles produce high
levels of carbon dioxide /carbon monoxide, which
are the major source of hydrocarbon and nitrogen
oxides. Fuel combustion in stationary sources is
the dominant source of carbon dioxide and sulphur
 Commercial under-fired
charboilers emit a large
amount of particulate
matter into the air
Manmade dust is common in urban areas. It
is created by a range of activities from personal
hobbies such as gardening to large-scale industrial
activities such as electricity generation at power
stations. The prime sources of air pollution are the
industrial activities or processes releasing large
quantity of pollutants in the atmosphere. These
pollutants are mainly:
• Smoke coming out from various industries like,
power plants, chemical plants, other manufacturing
facilities, motor vehicles, etc.
•
Burning of wood, coal in furnaces and
incinerators
• Gaseous pollutants from oil refining industries
78
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
79
dioxide.
Facts and figures
According to World Health Organisation
(WHO), 15 Indian cities feature in a list of the 30
most polluted cities in the world. The burning
of solid fuels and wood is the major cause of
high levels of air pollution in Indian cities. Then
there is the fact that all our city roads are terribly
congested by vehicles of all sorts – the sort that
belch out polluting gasses because of age, poor
maintenance and fuel adulteration. There is also the
fact that rising incomes mean that new vehicles are
being constantly added to Indian roads.
Delhi has the distinction of being one of the most
polluted cities in the country. However, since the
most powerful people in the country live there, there
is at least some attention being paid to air quality
in the nation’s capital. This was the first city in the
country to have CNG busses and autorickshaws
pressed into service – a move that other cities have
emulated.
There is also evidence to show that foetuses
exposed to high pollution could be born prematurely,
or be born with low birth weight, or even be born
with birth defects. These children may also be
more likely to have more respiratory and digestive
problems later in life.
Diarrhoea and respiratory problems (very often
related to air and water pollution either directly or
indirectly) are the leading cause of death among
Indian kids, according to a UNICEF report. The
Global Burden of Disease Study has said that air
pollution is the fifth largest killer in the country. The
report also says that about 620,000 premature
deaths occur in India as a result of diseases related
to air pollution.
According to a Delhi-based pediatrician, even
 Fatal dust pollution in
Jammu Kashmir (Left) and
Nuclear pollution (Right)
 Bicycle riders cover
their face from dust
newborn infants now present with respiratory
diseases. Air pollution can cause problems ranging
from allergies, wheezing, bronchitis, ear infections,
pneumonia, sore eyes, asthma, dermatitis, tonsils
problems, giddiness, and headaches. Longterm impacts could include chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchial asthma and
even certain types of cancer and heart problems.
Controlling air pollution
 Smoke from a typical
Indian Kitchen
 Parked cars covered
with dust
Airborne particulate matters (PM) emissions
can be minimised by pollution prevention and
emission control measures. Prevention, which is
frequently more cost-effective than control, should
be emphasised. Special attention should be given
to mitigate the effects, where toxics associated
with particulate emissions may pose a significant
environmental risk.
Measures such as improved process design,
operation, maintenance, housekeeping, and other
management practices can reduce emissions.
By improving combustion efficiency in diesel
engines, generation of particulate matters can be
reduced significantly. Proper fuel-firing practices
and combustion zone configuration, along with an
adequate amount of excess air, can achieve lower
products of incomplete combustion (PIC).
The following steps should be adhered to
control particulate matters (PM):
• Choosing cleaner fuels – natural gas used as
fuel emits negligible amounts of particulate matter
•
Low-ash fossil fuels contain less
noncombustible, ash-forming mineral matter and
thus generate lower levels of particulate emissions
• Reduction of ash by coal-cleaning reduces
the generation of ash and particulate matter
emissions by up to 40%
Despite this, Delhi’s name is at the top of the
list of the 6 most polluted cities in India. Delhi’s air
pollution levels are by far the highest, with 1,478
tonnes a day, followed by Mumbai, Bangalore,
Pune, Chennai and Kanpur. Delhi’s air is polluted
by road dust, industrial emissions and vehicles.
• Use of more efficient technologies or process
changes can reduce PIC emissions
What is really alarming is the impact that
pollution has on the children of the country; even on
the unborn child still in the mother’s womb. There
is evidence to show that air pollution could be a
contributing factor for attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) – that kids exposed to very high
air pollution levels before birth are more risk of
being born with ADHD.
• A variety of particulate removal technologies
are available – these are (a) inertial or impingement
separators, (b) electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) ,
(c) filters and dust collectors (bag houses), and (d)
wet scrubbers that rely on a liquid spray to remove
dust particles from a gas stream.
80
•
Advanced coal combustion technologies
such as coal gasification and fluidized-bed
combustion are examples of cleaner processes that
may lower PIC by about 10%
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Safety Messenger | May 2015
81
Prevention
With the use of different methods, air pollution
is becoming easier to control. It is only through
various measures, though, that the prevention of
air pollution is possible. The government plays a
very important role in prevention of air pollution. It
is through government regulations that industries
are forced to reduce their air pollution and new
developments in technology are created to help
everyone do their part in the prevention of air
pollution. The government also helps by making
regulations stricter and enforcing new regulations
that help combat any newfound source of air
pollution.
the poorest relative air quality out of 132 countries.
Pollution in India,
particularly in Indian
cities, is far worse
than that in developed
countries. Ozone, a
gas, is a major part of
air pollution in cities.
 A dust storm
Many countries have set controls on pollution
emissions for transportation vehicles and industry.
This is usually done to through a variety of
coordinating agencies which monitor the air and the
environment. In India, the Air (Prevention and Control
of Pollution) Act was passed in 1981 to regulate air
pollution, and there have been some measurable
improvements. However, the Environmental
Performance Index (2012) ranked India as having
What can you do?
The regulatory agencies play an essential
role in reducing and preventing air pollution in
the environment. In addition, it is possible to
prevent many types of air pollution that are not
regulated through personal, careful attention to our
interactions with the environment.
One of the most dangerous indoor air pollutants
is cigarette smoke. Restricting smoking is an
important key to a healthier environment. Legislation
to control smoking is in effect in some locations, but
personal exposure should be monitored and limited
wherever possible.
Along with controlling the pollution from your
side, ask yourself what else you can do to lower air
pollution in your city and perhaps save your child
from potential health problems•
 Children cover their
face from bad dust
pollution
82
Safety Messenger | May 2015
GULF News
GCC rail network to link
all 6 Gulf States by 2018
UAE has already taken its first steps with the
establishment of Etihad Railways Co, also known
as Union Railways, following a decree by President
Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in July 2014.
With an equity capital of 1bn dirhams, ER will be
responsible for building around 1100 route-km at an
estimated cost of 30bn dirhams. A second decree
issued on October 1, 2014 appointed the ER board
members, who will serve for an initial period of three
years. New chairman Hassem Jasem Al Nowais has
already started looking for potential traffic, opening
negotiations with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Corp
to serve oil and gas fields in the west of the country.
ER is to develop the network within UAE, with
main lines running from Al-Ghuweifat on the border
with Saudi Arabia to Al-Fujayrah and from Abu Dhabi
to Al-Ayn and the Oman border. It has a mandate to
procure its own fleet of freight and passenger trains.
Qatar has also launched its own national railway
project, under the management of state-owned
property development group Qatari Diar. According
to its chairman Ghanem Saad Al Saad, railway
development will run from 2012 to 2026, starting
with a metro network in Doha and a connection to
New Smart
City in Dubai
the Gulf Railway in the south.
To the east, Systra is working with Oman’s
National Engineering Office on plans for an initial
400 km network in the Batinah region, with a
feasibility study to be completed by the end of this
year. The 260 km main line would follow the coast
from Khatmat Malaha on the UAE border near AlFujayrah to Barka, with a 30 km link from Barka to
Rusayl. A 110 km branch from the port of Suhar
would run to the UAE border at Al Buraimi near AlAyn•
The total length of the railway line in
KM in each GCC country
States
The total length
of the railway line in KM
Kuwait145
Bahrain36
Qatar283
Oman306
United Arab Emirates 684
Saudi Arabia
663
Total2117
New Al Burj radars
on Dubai roads
D
ubai: Dubai Police has started replacing 52 old radars across Dubai
roads with the new Vitronic (Al Burj) radars.
D
ubai: The 2,177-km-long GCC rail network,
which will link all six Gulf States by rail
for the first time, will be fully operational
in 2018. The cost of the railway project
connecting the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),
including the linking of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia
through a bridge, is expected to be around $200
billion, according to GCC sources.
The designs of the network, which will run down
the Gulf coast from Kuwait, through Saudi Arabia, to
the UAE and Oman, with branches linking Bahrain
and Qatar, is being prepared and construction on
the network is to start this year. Project is expected
to be fully operational in 2018, Abu Dhabi is leading
the GCC rail network with its Dh40 billion Etihad Rail
project. The 1,200-km line, planned to be completed
in 2018, will link major industrial zones, cities and
ports in the UAE, and will eventually connect with
the GCC railway.
Abdullah Al Shibli, Assistant Secretary-General
for Economic Affairs at the General Secretariat of the
GCC, said that the GCC railway project approved at
84
the 30th GCC summit in 2009, has begun with the
preparation of a detailed engineering design and
the establishment of the Gulf Railway Authority to
supervise and execute the project in the shortest
possible time as per the best global standards.
The railway track would begin from Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia via Dammam and then to Bahrain, Al
Shibli explained. He added that Qatar and Bahrain
would be linked through the Salwa Post, and from
Saudi Arabia it would go to the UAE and then to Abu
Dhabi, Al Ain, finally ending at Muscat via Sohar.
The speed of passenger trains would be
approximately 220km/hour, while freighter trains
would run at a speed of 80-120km/hour.“The project
will be executed as per the best global specifications
and designs available in the railway sector, such
as axial loads, signaling and communications,
operations and maintenance systems. GCC
ministers of transport are closely following up
on developments of the project and are working
to eliminate any obstacles to the project which is
designed to serve the inhabitants of the region.
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Colonel Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, Director of Dubai Traffic Police, said
the new radars will replace the old ones on Shaikh Mohammad Bin
Zayed Road, Shaikh Zayed Road and Emirates Road.
“The old radars we are removing will be placed in other roads in Dubai that
need radars,” he said.
D
ubai Municipality is planning to build a
smart city for Emirati residents which will
be powered by solar energy. The project
will be located near Al Aweer Roundabout
in Dubai. The smart city will be completely
sustainable and will produce 200 MW from solar
panels that will cover the roofs of the residential
units and other buildings. According to directives
of the ruler of Dubai, work on the project will start
immediately and is expected to finish by 2020. The
smart city will accommodate about 160,000 people
over a total area of 14,000 acre. Surrounded by a
green belt, the development will be fully sustainable
and self sufficient in terms of resources, transport
and energy. The city will recycle over 40,000 cu m of
water. Plans are also in progress for a smart-address
project that will provide a digital infrastructure rather
than the traditional naming system•
Safety Messenger | May 2015
The vitronic radar, which was introduced to some roads around April 2014,
has the ability to record eight violations: vehicles speeding, vehicles going
below the speed limit, vehicles not leaving enough distance between other
vehicles, drivers not wearing a seat belt, drivers using their mobile phone, heavy
vehicles not abiding by their designated lanes, heavy vehicles that are on the
road outside their designated timings and vehicles driving on the hard shoulder.
Some of the function have not been activated yet.
“There will also be 32 new radars to be placed on intersections. We will be
receiving them soon from the manufacturer,” Col Al Mazroui said.
This is in addition to 18 devices to catch people driving on the hard shoulder
that is still in the production phase. The 18 devices will be placed on outer roads
including, Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, Al Ain Road, Shaikh Zayed Road, and
Al Hibab road.
Col Al Mazroui said that road fatalities have gone down in the first four
months of 2015, compared with the same period last year.
“This year there were only 51 road deaths in the first four months, as opposed
to the 69 deaths recorded in the same period in 2014.”•
85
T
he Global Food Safety Conference 2015
held at Kulalumpur in the first week of March
resolved to work towards a dependable, safe
food supply chain which is the need of the hour
for sustainable survival of the humanity in these
challenging times.
The annual event brought together over 900
leading food safety specialists in the food and
agriculture industry, such as manufacturers and
retailers, as well as food related associations and
government agencies from over 50 countries to
discuss the roadmap for advancing Food Safety
globally.
rising to 90% by age 14.
The Conference themed “Food Safety: A Shared
Responsibility” provided the best ever opportunity
to meet and network with industry peers, share
knowledge, benefit from thought-provoking
presentations from internationally reputed industry
experts and hear innovative ideas to implement in
respective organizations.
The Scamp study will be led by Dr Mireille
Toledano, of the faculty of medicine at Imperial
College, who has written papers on investigations
into claims of cancer links between low-power
emissions from mobile phones and from power
lines.
The SGS, a leading global solutions provider in
food safety, quality and sustainability, and one of the
main sponsors of the Conference 2015 conducted
a special Session titled “How well do you know
your Supply Chain?” The objectives of this breakout
session were to present findings of the SGS industry
survey on current supply chain management
practices, including supplier approval processes
and a review of their vulnerability and impact on food
safety, dscuss the concept of risk and vulnerability
in the supply chain through available guidelines
and challenges of implementation and evaluate the
available tools and methods to manage traceability
and transparency in the supply chain and how they
support the prevention, mitigation and management
of risk.
The conference emphasized the truly global
nature of the food supply chain, not only by
bringing so many people together but also by
fostering collaborative opportunities in food safety
management•
Mobile Phones (Scamp) will examine about 2,500
schoolchildren at the ages of 11 and 12, collect
data about how they use the phones and how much
time they spend on them, and assess them two
years later on mental functions such as memory
and attention, which continue to develop into the
teenage years.
While no study has ever shown harmful effects
from the low-power radio waves, known as "nonionizing radiation", generated by mobile phones,
almost all have focused on adults.
T
The Study of Cognition, Adolescents and
86
across all automotive markets worldwide. By 2020,
at the latest, we want all new cars to meet basic
standards for both, crash protection and crash
avoidance. They must have crumple zones, airbags,
and electronic stability control".
Global NCAP, at the UN, also set forth ten
recommendations to help transform global car
safety as well as a timeline for its implementation.
Together, these life-saving recommendations
have the potential to prevent tens of thousands of
avoidable deaths, and hundreds and thousands of
injuries every year, Ward said.
The Global NCAP's policy recommendations are:
G
lobal NCAP has proposed recommendations
at the United Nations in Geneva, to enhance
car safety in all the markets around the world
by 2020.
Many cars in the middle and low income
countries fail to meet the basic Global NCAP
safety standards for front and side impacts, the
international automotive safety regulatory body has
revealed. Speaking at the United Nations in Geneva
while launching its new policy report - Democratising
Car Safety: Road Map for Safer Cars 2020 - on
March 10, Global NCAP chairman Max Mosley said,
"Safety improvements stimulated by legislation and
consumer awareness campaigns in high income
economies that have saved hundreds of thousands
of lives are not yet systematically available for
drivers and their families in rapidly growing lower
income markets”.
The last advice on children’s use of mobile
phones came in the Stewart report in January
2005, in which Sir William Stewart suggested that
as a precaution children under eight should not use
mobile phones at all, and that older children should
use it for texting rather than voice calls.
He added that car safety laws accepted as a
norm in Europe for the last 20 years, are yet to be
met by manufacturers in middle and low income
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He
said that manufacturers cannot treat millions of its
customers as second-class citizens when it comes
to life saving standards of occupant protection.
Since then ownership of mobile phones has
continued to rise: an estimated 70% of 11- to
12-year-olds in the UK now own a mobile phone,
Global NCAP secretary general and the author
of this report, David Ward said, "The drive for the
democratisation of car safety must now be extended
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Current UK health guidelines, based on the 2005
Stewart report, say children under 16 should be
encouraged only to use mobile phones for essential
calls, and where possible to use a hands-free kit or
to send text messages. When they do have to make
calls, they are advised to keep them short•
Global NCAP: get car safety standards
to smaller economies by 2020
Need for collaborative efforts
UK launches largest study of mobile
phone effects on children's brains
he Department of Health of the UK government
has commissioned the world's biggest study
into the effects of mobile phones' radio waves
on children’s brains, nine years after a government
study said children should only use mobile phones
when "absolutely necessary".
The Scamp study was commissioned by the
Department of Health through the Research Initiative
on Health and Mobile Telecommunications, which is
funded jointly by the government and mobile phone
operators.
Safety Messenger | May 2015
- That all UN member states adopt the following
two-stage minimum car safety regulation plan and
implementation timescale by the end of the UN
Decade of Action in 2020:
Stage 1: UN Regulations for Frontal Impact
(No.94), Side Impact (No.95), Seat Belt and Seat
Belt Anchorages (No.14 & No.16) by 2016 for all
new car models produced or imported, by 2018 for
all cars produced or imported.
Stage 2: UN Regulations for Electronic Stability
Control (No.13H or GTR. 8), Pedestrian Protection
(No. 127 or GTR.9) by 2018 for all new car models
produced or imported, by 2020 for all cars produced
or imported.
- All UN member states with significant
automobile production should participate in
the World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle
Regulations, to promote a leveling up of the safety
standards in an open and competitive market for
automobiles and their components.
- Fleet purchasers both, in the private and public
sectors and rental companies should adopt Global
NCAP's buyer's guide and choose 'five star' vehicles
wherever possible.
- The automobile manufacturers should improve
the content of its sustainability responsibility
reporting to include data on the applied safety
standards of its global vehicle production•
87
Safety News
Safety News
safe food supply chain
is the need of the hour
food contamination. Food borne illness is a serious
cause of concern. Access to sufficient amounts of
safe and nutritious food is the key to sustaining life
and promoting good health.
Total body irradiation treatment
increases risks on children
Food safety, nutrition and food security are
inextricably linked," said Asheena Khalakdia, the
team leader for communicable diseases at WHO
country office for India.
The study supports the recommendations
of the Children’s Oncology Group for long
term follow up care for children receiving TBI
(survivorshipguidelines.org). Specifically, MulcahyLevy hopes that increasing awareness of likely
effects will help patients and their doctors’ screen
for, detect, and correct likely effects of TBI.
From production to consumption, there were
several potential areas of food contamination and,
safe and healthy food should be the prime focus.
The WHO experts enumerated five key points
for safer food. These include cleanliness, keeping
the raw and cooked food separate from other foods,
cooking thoroughly especially meat, poultry, eggs
and seafood at 70 degrees Celsius, keeping food
at safe temperatures, using safe water and raw
materials.
W
HO connected food safety and nutrition for
the food and water borne diseases kill an
estimated two million people across the
world annually.
Globally, every year, millions of people die of
Stressing on to the five key points, Asheena
Khalakdia said that the food safety is a shared
responsibility. It is important to work all along the food
production chain - from farmers and manufacturers
to vendors and consumers. The WHO Indian
counterpart wants these five keys for safer food to
be made accessible to every consumer. She urged
all the stake holders to come forward on a joint
platform to share this responsibility•
ASEAN presses the need to reform
Aviation Safety Framework
altitude to avoid bad weather.
Though the cause of the crash is still unknown,
aviation experts have seized on the incident to
point to the region's infrastructure suffering from
congested skies and a patchwork of differing safety
standards.
ASEAN is pushing ahead with plans to establish
a single aviation market or "Open Skies" by 2015 that
will allow its members' airlines unfettered access to
each other's markets.
F
or many pediatric cancer patients, total
body irradiation (TBI) is a hazardous part of
treatment during bone marrow transplant–
it’s a key component of long term survival.
But lengthened survival creates the ability to notice
long term effects of radiation as these youngest
cancer patients age. A report from University of
Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in
the journal Pediatric Blood & Cancer details these
late effects of radiation.
These kids basically lie on a table and truly do get
radiation from head to toe. There is a little blocking
of the lungs, but nothing of, for example, the brain or
the kidneys. Of 15 patients who received TBI before
age 3, many developed endocrine and metabolic
problems including testicular malfunction (78%),
restrictive pulmonary disease due to high levels
of blood triglycerides (74%), and cataracts (78%).
Likewise, 90% of patients showed abnormally
low levels of growth hormone, and 71% were
considerably under height.
Additional late effects of TBI included kidney,
liver, skeletal and cardiac malfunction and, three of
four patients whose IQ had been tested before TBI
showed cognitive decline.
T
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has no regional
agencies overseeing aviation safety or co-coordinating air traffic control, unlike
in the more developed European market. The issue has come to the fore after
the Air Asia flight QZ8501from Surabaya to Singapore, carrying 162 people,
crashed in the Java Sea in Dec 2014 shortly after the pilot requested to change
88
Experts point to Europe as the model to follow,
where the European Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) oversees the region's safety standards and
crew training, while Euro-control co-ordinates the
region's air traffic control. While Euro-control was
established back in the 1960s, EASA was set up
only in 2002 when the European Union was already
a much more unified and better-funded bloc than
ASEAN is today•
Safety Messenger | May 2015
The study shows it’s important know about these
problems in order to address them appropriately
and proactively.
Early side effects
Early side effects are those that occur shortly
after the start of TBI and up to six months after TBI
ends.
They can include:
•Nausea and vomiting;
• Sores in the mouth;
• Diarrhea (upset stomach);
•Jaw pain or swollen salivary glands;
• Dry mouth;
• Skin redness;
• Hair loss;
• Fatigue;
•Low blood counts; and
• Sore throat, problems with swallowing, or both.
Late side effects
Late side effects are those that occur six months
to several years after the TBI treatment. They can
include:
•Cataracts;
• Decrease in growth;
• Hormone problems; and
• Sterility•
Endovascular Therapy
to save Stroke Patients
However the group, whose 10 member states
range from developed Singapore to impoverished
Myanmar, has made scant progress on adopting
uniform technical and safety operating procedures.
he rapid growth in Southeast Asia's airline industry is pressing need
for reforms to the region's fragmented safety framework, with a lack of
streamlined standards on air navigation and staff training.
Safety News
Safety News
WHO links Food safety
and Nutrition for
Increasing Deaths
co-authored by an Indian-origin doctor.
"Endovascular treatment using stent retrievers will become the standard of
care for patients with acute ischemic stroke," said Mayank Goyal from University
of Calgary in Canada. The clinical trial randomised 196 patients to receive t-PA,
a clot busting drug, or tPA plus ET.
ET is performed by inserting a thin tube into the artery in the groin, through
the body and into the brain vessels to the clot. This is done under image-guided
care using an X-ray.
E
ndovascular Therapy (ET) could be the best
option for many stroke sufferers for its ability to
reduce the incidence of disability, says a study
Safety Messenger | May 2015
The clot is then removed by a retrievable stent and pulled out, restoring
blood flow to the brain. Overall, positive outcomes for patients increased from
35 percent to 60 percent, the researchers noted•
89
In women, cancer is caused when there is
early menarche and late menopause, obesity and
exposure to viruses like HPV.
Room Heaters can be
harmful to Skin
While doing away with a heater completely
might not be an option for everybody but reducing
your dependence is a way out; so is the undertaking
of certain precautions to prevent harm to body and
skin.
According to WHO, lung and oral cancers
are the most common cancers among men while
cervical and breast cancers are the most common
cancers in women. It is estimated that India records
1.1 million new cancer cases every year thus,
contributing to 7.8 percent of the global cancer
burden.
I
Such habits need to be curbed from the
childhood. Busier lifestyles mean that people are
having more and more processed food and fast
food. Cancer is like any other disease which can
be prevented. At least one-third of cancers can be
prevented by following a healthy lifestyle and good
diet.
Tobacco use - smoking and chewing - is the
single most important factor for cancer in men.
Nearly 60-70 percent of all cancer cases in men are
due to tobacco. While in women, cancer is caused
due to over exposure to hormones.
An important factor in preventing cancer was
getting regular medical care, self-exams and
screenings for various types of cancers - such as
cancer of the breast, colon, prostate and cervix.
This can increase the chances of discovering
cancer early, when treatment is most likely to be
successful. In addition, a significant proportion of
cancers can be cured, by surgery, radiotherapy or
chemotherapy, especially if they are detected early.
According to the World Health Organization
(WHO), nearly 30 percent cancer deaths can be
prevented by addressing the main risk factors
- tobacco use, alcohol, unhealthy diet, physical
inactivity and excess body weight.
Tobacco use is the single most important factor
for cancer, causing 22 percent of the global 8.2
million deaths due to cancer, and 71 percent of the
global lung cancer deaths. The Southeast Asian
A Necklace to Stop
Over-eating
S
cientists have developed
a necklace that acts like
human conscience when one
overeat or overindulge and start
buzzing. So, if eaten according
to what necklace says, you might
achieve an ideal weight.
The necklace which is called
‘WearSens’ is made of a metal
90
Doctors have suggested some simple additional
measures that can prevent the heat from causing
harm to the skin and health:
According to doctors, Lifestyle factors, including
diet, smoking, alcohol, exposure to sun, physical
inactivity, obesity and stress can greatly affect
the risk of developing cancer. A diet low in fruits,
vegetables, whole grains and high in energy-dense
foods that are high in fat (such as red and processed
meats), refined sugar (such as refined grains) or salt
can predispose one to cancer.
n an effort to identify the leading causes of cancer,
experts from various institutes have found that
Tobacco is the leading cause of cancer when
compared. The experts say that the disease can
be prevented by taking simple steps like eating a
healthy diet, managing obesity and proper exposure
to the sun.
W
inter is the time when people resort to
things that can keep themselves warm.
The room heaters play a vital role to do
away the biting cold.
While an indispensable accessory in most north
Indian homes at the winter time of the year, an
electric heater doesn’t just throw heat to warm up;
it also saps away all moisture from its environment,
leaving people vulnerable to dryness and allergies.
Cosmetologists underlines that use of an
electric heater day in and day out without some
necessary remedial measures and precautions can
cause worries for your skin, by depleting of moisture
content in the air.
“The air that is sent out through the heater or
the blower dries up natural moisture in the air, inside
the room. Skin moisture evaporation can cause skin
irritations and eye itching. It also leads to dryness
and roughness in your scalp. If you have sensitive
skin, this could also lead to itching and redness or
give rise to infection. Moreover, if you have a baby,
this could lead to even more damage to your baby’s
sensitive skin. Extreme dryness in infants and
babies, due to overuse of a heater, could lead to
skin rashes and nose bleeds,” says Doctors.
The experts also cautioned that immediate note
should be taken of some issues like unintentional
weight loss, any kind of lumps, bumps and sores,
chronic cough or hoarseness of voice and lower
back pain occurs•
ring that goes around the neck and has a sensor
which uses the vibrations in the throat to tell when
you are eating and drinking. The device is linked to
a smartphone app which buzzes once you exceed
your permitted daily calorie limit.
India Face Shortfall
in health workers
I
ndia has 19 health workers per 10,000 people of
its total population; the parliament was informed
by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda. The WHO
norms require 25 health workers per 10,000 people.
The researchers said the WearSens works
because each food makes a distinctive pattern of
vibrations in the neck so the device is able to find
out what you are consuming using a sensor, which
measures changes in pressure or force.
As per information provided by the Medical
Council of India and Indian Nursing Council, the
total number of registered doctors is 9, 36,488 of
In a way it can be considered as an ‘accessory’
every man and woman would like to possess•
Safety Messenger | May 2015
The heaters that come enclosed in a non-metallic
case can heat the outer surface when used for too
long. If touched accidentally, this could cause burns
that could be very severe on skin leaving lifetime
marks, especially for the elderly and infants.
Safety Messenger | May 2015
• The problems of imbalance of moisture in air
content can be reduced by simply increasing the
indoor relative humidity. This can be done through
use of humidifiers, vaporizers, steam generators,
sources such as large pans, or water containers
made of porous ceramics. Even wet towels or water
in a bathtub will be of some help. The lower the
room temperature the easier the relative humidity
can be brought to its desired level.
• Always keep the heater in a reasonable
temperature so you don’t overheat the room. To
know, what is the best suited temperature for your
setting, check the user-manual and follow the
instructions.
• Make sure that your heater is checked and
serviced by the manufacturers at least twice a year.
This will ensure that the tubes, coils and the bands
are functioning well so that they don’t emit more
carbon monoxide into the room.
• Ensure that you open the doors and windows
of your room to initiate natural ventilation. This way,
you can get rid of the pollutant and clean the room
naturally.
• Dress appropriately to beat the winter chills
and don’t depend on a heater solely. This will help
your body to adjust to the season and your immunity
to work accordingly, to save you from seasonal
bouts of cold and flu•
registered nurses is 16,73,338, and of auxiliary
nurses and midwives is 7,56,937.
Additionally, there are 7, 90,000 Ayush (ayurveda,
yoga, unani, siddhi and homeopathy) practitioners
registered in the country.
Listing the steps taken to address this shortfall,
Health Minister said that the Medical Council of
India (MCI) with the previous approval of central
government, has amended the Post Graduate
Medical Education Regulations, 2000 to provide
50 percent reservation in post graduate diploma
courses for medical officers in government service,
who have served for at least three years in remote
and difficult areas•
91
News Digest
News Digest
Tobacco is the Leading
cause of Cancer
region is home to 250 million smokers and an equal
number of smokeless tobacco users.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal
disorder which affects women of reproductive age.
Those affected suffer from numerous cysts located
along the outer edge of each ovary.
World could
Suffer Severe Water
Shortfall by 2030
E
If compulsive overeating, characterized by
excessive food consumption, is not treated it
can lead to diseases like obesity, diabetics, heart
disease, hypertension, depression, kidney disease
and high cholesterol, Says doctors•
nvironmentalists in India expressed alarm over
the new budget of the government of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, which they say heralds
substantial cuts in environmental programmes and
fails to address the country’s worsening pollution
and vulnerability to climate change.
The budget for the Ministry of Environment,
Forests and Climate Change for the fiscal year
beginning April 1 has been reduced by 25 percent,
from 22.6 billion Indian rupees ($360 million) to 16.8
billion rupees ($268 million).
Half of the pregnant
women in India
are Anaemic
A
I
f you crave for food even after a sumptuous meal,
you could be a victim of overeating, warn health
experts”. Stress, long hours of starvation and the
wide variety of food options available in the market
contribute to overeating, they say.
Listing the various reasons that lead to
overeating, the dietitian says that when people feel
emotional, stressed or are under any trauma or
have any discomfort, they tend to eat a lot.
Sometimes people overeat when there is a long
gap between two meals. Apart from overeating,
stress can also cause under-eating. Under eating
often leads to hair fall, calcium deficiency, less
immunity, lack of glow on the face and anemia, they
added.
However, the percentage of people who eat
when stressed is lower. Experts add that skipping
or having a late breakfast is also a reason for being
overweight. These days, people leave for work early
and by the time they have their food, it gets late.
Since they have not eaten a proper meal, they are
extremely hungry and end up eating anything which
comes in front of them.
92
nnual World Water Development Report
predicts global water demand will increase
by 55 pc by 2050, while reserves dwindle.
In released report UN warns the countries all over
the world that unless they dramatically change their
water resource usage there could be a 40 percent
shortfall in water in 15 years.
H
alf of the pregnant women and 74 percent
of children under five in India are anaemic, a
malnutrition mapping project stated.
The 'Malnutrition Mapping Project' is an
interactive tool that includes an online map for
country-specific information and insights into the
global challenge of malnutrition.
Developed by the Global Alliance for Improved
Nutrition (GAIN) with support from Amway, the
project report said 50 percent of pregnant women
and 74 per cent of children under the age of five are
anaemic.
In addition, it highlights the fact that 62 percent
of children show insufficient Vitamin A status and
undernutrition is the leading risk factor for death in
children under five.
A few symptoms associated with overeating
include "eating more rapidly than normal, depression
or mood swings, abnormal eating patterns, history
of weight fluctuations, unsuccessful diets and
obesity".
The goal of this project is to raise awareness of
malnutrition in all its forms so that political, health
and business leaders can discuss, develop and
ultimately implement solutions. The map includes
data from more than 30 countries representing low,
middle and high incomes and provides an easy
path to country-by-country statistics and insights
into nutritional challenges.
Apart from weight gain, overeating can also lead
to increase in the percentage of fat, indigestion, and
loose motions. Hormonal imbalance usually seen in
It draws data from the World Health Organisation,
Unicef and Lancet, and includes more than 40
indicators to help track under nutrition and obesity•
Safety Messenger | May 2015
Union Budget Lacks
Environmental Focus for India
Many underground water reserves are already
running low, while rainfall patterns are predicted to
become more erratic with climate change. As the
world’s population grows to an expected 9 billion by
2050, more groundwater will be needed for farming,
industry and personal consumption.
The report predicts global water demand will
increase by 55 percent by 2050, while reserves
dwindle. If current usage trends don’t change, the
world will have only 60 percent of the water it needs
in 2030, it said.
“Unless the balance between demand and
finite supplies is restored, the world will face an
increasingly severe global water deficit,” the annual
World Water Development Report said, noting that
more efficient use could guarantee enough supply
in the future.
In many countries including India, water use is
largely unregulated and often wasteful. Pollution of
water is often ignored and unpunished. At least 80
percent of India’s population relies on groundwater
for drinking to avoid often unsafe surface water.
Currently, about 748 million people worldwide have
poor access to clean drinking water, the report said.
The report, released in New Delhi before World
Water Day, urges policymakers and communities
to rethink water policies and calls for more
conservation and recycling of wastewater as is done
in Singapore. Countries may also want to consider
raising the price for water, as well as searching for
ways to make water-intensive sectors more efficient
and less polluting, it said•
Safety Messenger | May 2015
In his budget speech, Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley announced an increase in the target for
renewable energy generating capacity, to 175,000
megawatts by 2022. But the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy will see its funding for the
coming year reduced by more than two-thirds, to 3
billion rupees ($48 million).
While increasing the tax on diesel fuel, the
government failed to introduce a purchase tax on
highly polluting sports utility vehicles (SUVs), which
use diesel. Environmentalists had hoped for such a
tax, which the previous United Progressive Alliance
(UPA) government tried unsuccessfully to introduce,
because of the growing popularity of SUVs.
Despite some positive signs in the budget,
environmentalists remain skeptical about the
government’s attempts to reduce coal use.
The UPA government established eight missions
under its National Action Plan on Climate Change
(NAPCC), but Jaitley’s budget speech mentioned
only one of them – the National Mission on
Sustainable Agriculture. Its funding is to be reduced
by 80 percent this year, from 15 billion rupees to 3
billion rupees.
Agriculture is cited by experts as a primary
source of greenhouse gas emission in India
because of paddy cultivation of rice, which produces
methane through extended flooding of fields and
the use of cows to farm small plots of land. Farming
is also highly at risk from climate change impacts,
particularly changing rainfall patterns, floods,
drought and storms.
"This government is not at all concerned about
the environment or climate change” pointed out an
environmentalist. Activists are also concerned that
the government is proposing a law allowing it to
acquire and sell farmland and forest from national
wildlife sanctuaries for real estate or infrastructure
development, without seeking the consent of
farmers or forest dwellers•
93
News Digest
News Digest
Stress, mood swings lead
to overeating
females gives rise to irregular menstruation, facial
growth, hair fall and PCOS, Said experts.
RaySafe i2 Personal Dosimeter
staff Monitoring System
Products in this Category
Regular Barrier 56-603: This rugged mobile barrier
can easily fit into the most confining of spaces and
provides exceptional visibility.
RaySafe i2 real-time display features
By tapping the dosimeter name on the touch screen
you can access more detailed information about the
personal dose history:
Deluxe Barrier 56-616, 56-617: The large 48-inch
wide, shatter-resistant CLEAR-Pb Lead-Plastic
window provides unrestricted visibility and maximum
protection for two or more people.
T
he patients choose one healthcare provider
based on their years of experience, expertise,
and reputation. It stands to reason then, that
a healthcare provider should demand the same
qualities from their radiation protection product
supplier.
The Regular and the Jumbo Mobile Barriers can
safely shield one or two persons. The updated
stainless steel hardware provides the “look . These
best-selling models are available in 0.5 mm lead
equivalence.
The mobile barriers are ideal for use in Operating
Rooms, Special Procedure Suites and Cardiac Cath
Labs. This Stainless Steel Hardware Mobile Barriers
are the perfect fit in any imaging room due to their
30 inch width and easy maneuverability.
•A dose dashboard with total dose history and
trip meters
R
Nuclear Medicine Barrier 56-602: Specifically
designed shorter and wider for shielding nuclear
medicine personnel from patient-emitted radiation.
aySafe i2 is an active dosimetry system
that gives real-time insight about personal
radiation exposure, as well as access to time
stamped dose data. By providing easily accessible
information about radiation exposure, RaySafe i2
allows medical staff to immediately change their
behavior in order to minimize their radiation dose.
Ultra Barrier 56-616/56-617: Provides full-body
protection to groups of medical personnel assisting
in or observing a procedure.
Jumbo Barrier 56-604: Large 60x30-inch shatterresistant CLEAR-Pb Lead-Plastic window provides
superb full-height visibility.
• Shatter-resistant lead-plastic window is easily
positioned over table
real-time display
4 dosimeters
•
cradle and storage rack
RaySafe i2 dose viewer
•
dose viewer software
•
mounting material
The dose viewer software helps administrating
dosimeters and viewing personal dose information
while connected to the RaySafe i2 cradle. The
software allows you to view dose data history,
change dosimeter names and reset dose history.
•RaySafe i2 personal dosimeter
RaySafe i2 real-time display
•Adaptable to sterile fields
•Attractive stainless steel hardware
Lead-Plastic Anesthesiology/O.R. Personal X-Ray
Protection Mobile Barrier 56-612: Provides superior
protection from scatter radiation, yet is compact
enough to allow the anesthesiologist to work around
it when necessary•
The RaySafe i2 real-time display is a 10.4" touch
screen which is placed in the examination room. It
shows real-time dose data from all dosimeters in
range. The color indication (red, yellow, green) gives
the individual user insight about the current dose
exposure and the possibility to act accordingly. The
accumulated dose per individual user is displayed
next to the color indication bars.
Eye-catching and durable
•
Easy to handle with sturdy casters
•CLEAR-Pb Lead-Plastic Mobile X-Ray Barriers
Model RK2 Prescription
Radiation Goggles
viewing area. This product offers our standard high
quality, distortion-free SF-6 Schott glass radiationreducing lenses with .75mm lead equivalency.
The Model RK2 fits best for Medium to Large style
heads.
0.75mm Lead Equivalency Schott
•
SF6 Radiation Protective Lenses
• Alpha, beta, gamma
contamination surveillance
P
hillips Model RK2 radiation protective goggles
feature vented side ports to reduce fogging
and neopreme foam that protects against
splashing and sweat. The flame-resistant elastic
headband is adjustable, making for a comfortable
fit, while the large lens pocket allows for a maximal
94
•
SPECS
•
Frame Size: 58-22-ADJ
•
Weight: 70g
radiation
and
• Works with the RDS-31 iTx to wireless transmit
both probe and main detector data
T
hese attachable smart radiation
probes expand the capabilities of
the RDS-31 to include detection of
alpha, beta, and gamma radiation and
contamination. They allow the RDS-31 to
adapt to a wide range of applications and
industries.
•CE Certified
•Rx Frame•
Safety Messenger | May 2015
for
• Plug and play functionality
•Vented Sideports to Reduce
Fogging
The RaySafe i2 dose manager is advanced
software for analyzing, reporting and archiving
dose information. The software handles multiple
dosimeters and can retrieve dose information from
multiple real-time displays through the hospital
network or via USB storage•
PRODUCT FEATURES
•Adjustable Elastic Strap
•
RaySafe i2 dose manager
RDS-31 External Alpha, Beta, Gamma Probes
FEATURES
•
RaySafe i2 dosimeter
•
•Compatible with rotary patient cradles
•
• Detailed views presenting time stamped dose
history
•
Major components of the system:
CLEAR-Pb Lead-Plastic Special Procedures/
Anesthesiology/O.R. Personal X-Ray Protection
Mobile Barriers: Provides upper-body shielding and
crystal-clear visibility during cardiac catheterization
and special procedures.
•Annual personal dose and dose in relation to a
configurable yearly limit
The active dosimeter measures and records the
radiation in every second. Dose data is transferred
wirelessly to the real-time display. The dosimeter
is maintenance-free, easy-to-use and can be
personalized with different names and colors.
Model 56-664 Key Features
•Provide full body shielding
PRoducts
PRoducts
CLEAR-Pb Mobile Barriers
Safety Messenger | May 2015
These probes are appropriate for use in:
•Nuclear Power
• Military & Homeland Security
•Laboratories and Education
•Industry and Manufacturing
• Healthcare•
95
Emergency Response Kit Survey
Meter w/dual detectors
F
or disposal or management of radiation
waste and low-level radioactive items a
broad selection of "bag-out" bags. These
bags are extra heavy-duty, and they are available
in three different materials to accommodate any
application: polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PU),
and polyvinylchloride (PVC).
T
he ERK-525 is a complete, portable radiation
monitoring system designed to measure a
broad range of radioisotope contamination
under field conditions. The system contains a state
of the art, microprocessor based digital display
meter that auto ranges and can detect most of
the common alpha, beta & gamma radiation that
is likely to be present in an emergency situation.
The DSM-525 is a dual probe survey meter that
measures contamination and dose levels from
micro-R to 200 mR/hr levels of gamma isotopes
(Based on 137-Cs calibration).
These bags are also color-coded to differentiate
primary radioactive waste from buffer-area waste. In
addition, there are polyurethane bags with built-in
HEPA filters for maximum compaction.
Extra Packaging is one of the leading manufacturers
of waste transport products and waste transportation
liners. All bags are printed one color in Magenta
with the Trefoil Symbol and the words "CautionRadioactive Waste" or similar•
Radiation Area
Monitoring System
PRoducts
PRoducts
Radiation Packaging Stock Sizes
Radiation Safety
Large Bins
with Wheels
The instrument and accessories are contained in
a very durable water resistant carrying case for
easy storage and portability. The ERK-525 does
not require changing probes to obtain the full
operational benefits of the system; the user needs
only to turn the selector switch to the desired probe
and the rest of the operation is automatic•
Mobile Phone Radiation Protection ‘Nightholder’
The ‘Nightholder’ is also an eye-catcher for your
bedside table with a smart design produced from
brushed stainless steel. Electro -polishing prevents
static and the varnish protects against fingerprints.
To charge your mobile, pull the charging cable
through the gap in the base. The product measures
ca. 10 x 12.5 x 20.5cm (4” x 5” x 8”) (W x H) and
Weighs ca. 950g (2 lbs). The product is made in
Austria•
Pre-printed Tough-Spots,
radiation hazard warning
O
ffered in a wide range of measurement
ranges, the AMP series of area radiation
monitors
provide
real-time
remote
radiological measurement. Featuring waterproof
probes and with available cables anywhere from
25 to 350 feet in length, they can safely measure
in areas where high radiation could otherwise
compromise meter electronics.
Product Features
•Rugged construction, waterproof detector
housing and cable
• Quick-disconnect
connectors
allow
customization of cable length and facilitate easy
decontamination
• Built in communication port for use with WRM2
EXT transmitter
•User-selectable internal alarm thresholds•
96
R
adiation Safety Large Bins with Wheels are
cleaver scientific storage boxes manufactured
with hinged lids and accommodate
interchangeable inserts to hold microtubes,
centrifuge tubes, scintillation vials, universals,
cryotubes and falcon tubes.
Also available is a range of floor-standing and
bench-top bins with anti-slip feet and hinged lids,
which serve as an ideal solution for short-term
storage of radioactive waste or radioisotopes. Both
the Beta and Gamma storage bins are available
in five sizes, and the two largest bin models have
wheels for easy transportation. Optional heavy duty
drawstring bags may also be purchased•
Safety Messenger | May 2015
W
ith the ‘Nightholder’, you can leave your
mobile phone by your bed every night.
Leave your mobile phone switched on
and just place it in the 20.5cm (8”) high metal tube,
with the mobile screen facing away. Your radiation
exposure will be reduced by 75%. The uncovered
side guarantees undisturbed reception. Also perfect
to use your mobile phone as an alarm clock.
Radiation is blocked by the metal structure. The
blocked-off side acts as a radiation reflector. Both
effects influence the direction of the discharged
radiation.
Safety Messenger | May 2015
T
he convenient and printed 3/8" diameter
Tough-Spots save time when labeling and
organizing samples. Radiation warning
symbol makes labeling hazardous samples easy•
97
Readers Page
Safety Messenger is Unique!
Air Safety is
a Rising Concern
Now-a day we see there are a growing number incidents and
accidents in the airline sector. Is it that our systems are advanced so
much or it has become so complicated to manage? Today, we have
large numbers of airlines owned by public and private sectors of each
country. But are we still way back in keeping those safety standards for
safe air travel? The growing number of air crashes and deaths should
be an eye-opener for every countries air operations.
The air travel is considered to be the safest travel, so it is necessary
that this assumption is not altered. Just as the some of the articles of
April issue of Safety Messenger Magazine has mentioned our air travel
safety norms and regulations needs constant updating. Experts in this
field should regularly monitor any loopholes in safety standards and the
safety of every passenger to be confirmed. To attain this objective every
staff in the air travel profession should be trained and keep justice to
their profession and to the passengers who rely on them for their travel
safety.
The efforts of Safety Messenger Magazine is appreciable that it is
trying to focus the prime concern of life on earth i.e., safety. Rarely do
we find magazines with such informative articles. It is a magazine worth
reading and needs to reach on to more hands.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Juhu- Mumbai
Healthy Way of Living needs to be practiced!
In a world, that is fast changing and after a fast culture, health is becoming
a negligible factor. People are becoming only money makers that they forget to
live a happy and healthy life. The result is that the money made is being spent in
hospitals and for treatments. It is not just something that employees can handle,
but every employer should take care of the well being of their employees, if
they are working for you. You can include some recreational activities and
occasionally some physical activities for the employees to relieve their tension
and strain. Sitting glued to one’s seat and computer doesn’t mean that it will
increase the productivity. In turn small intervals and communication can create
a healthy atmosphere within every organization.
If for an employee, it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be considerative of
their health. If we are not taking care of our own health, then who will take care
of it? Each one of us needs to practice a healthy way of living, eating, drinking
and sleeping. We must find time to exercise and practice simple healthy steps
even while at work. We have plenty of health magazines available for our
information. Safety Messenger is one such magazine vivid in focusing the safety
and environment topics too. The magazine is keeping up the trend of health
topics. Good attempt. Keep it up.
K.G Vasudev, Varkala, Trivandrum
98
Study helps in growing, for this a student needs
more exposure and knowledge. It was during one
my visits to our college library that I happened to
notice and read the magazine “Safety Messenger”.
At first I felt there is nothing to entertain. Later on I
realized there are some topics that will help me in
my study and the future. The magazine looked full
with information and yes, it is informative!
For a student like me, it is really useful. As I
looked in more detail I understood that the magazine
is covering three main topics i.e health, safety and
environment. So I feel that this is a magazine that
every student must have in their reading list.
The magazine’s HSE Training section will help
those who want to pursue a course in this area.
Also, the articles on health are really helpful in
understanding various diseases that we often go
unnoticed. Safety is of prime importance in our life,
so is the protection of the environment where we
live. I liked the highlighted subjects of the SAFETY
MESSENGER, which is rarely found in most
common magazines.
Greeshma P., Kalady, Cochin
Impressive coverage of
aviation safety
The coverage of aviation safety in the last
issue of Safety Messeger was topical and made
interesting reading. The analytical features and
recaps were excellent.
Congrats for the editorial team's efforts. The
articles and features assumed more importance
in the backdrop of the latest aviation mishaps
including the Germanwings tragedy in the Alps.
Since India is still opening up its skies for private
carrrier's operations, it is of paramount importance
that the safety standards of Indian avaiation should
be upto world standards. Let these and other
issues highlighted by Safety Messenger serve as an
eyeopener.
Capt. Philip Rodrigues, Kolkatta
Readers opinions, suggestions and
criticisms as very valuable to us. Please feel
free to share your views in the
'readers page' exclusively kept for Safety
Messenger readers.
Send your mail to
editor@safetymessenger.in
Editor
Safety Messenger | May 2015
KERENG/2014/59456
Safety Messenger
Price: Rs.150/-