In air conditioning and air conditioning projects, this aspect must be taken into account, as it is a fundamental part of the development and optimal completion of an installation.
by Camilo Botero*
Dear readers, at the suggestion of the Editor of the journal, I will try to write this column on the subject of Industrial Safety; on which I am not an expert, but I have had innumerable experiences related to this topic that I will bring up, to give it an approach with nuances of practical experience.
Around 1967, finishing my career in mechanical engineering at the UN of Colombia, I took the course that was the curriculum on Industrial Safety, taught by a specialist in this discipline who was at the time Director of the Colombian Council of Industrial Safety, who presented the course in a very didactic way, documenting it with stunning images of workplace accidents; I remember very vividly a photo that presented a torn finger with a marriage ring, indicating that when there is equipment in motion you should not take anything that could produce such accidents.
Throughout my professional life I have always had to do with the issue of Industrial Safety, I remember that when I started as chief assembly engineer at Carvajal S.A in 1974., at that time the concept of safety at work was not so demanding, even though there was already legislation in this regard, for "security" meant rather, security in the plant against theft and bad behavior. I had to witness several serious accidents, but fortunately there was a medical office in the plant that immediately attended to the injured and then they were referred to the Colombian Institute of Social Security: ICSS.
The ISS (as it was later called) handled the risks of disability and death without much distinction of common diseases, and without any pressure for entrepreneurs to develop prevention and training programs on the subject of Industrial Safety, proper. This approach to Industrial Security was maintained in Colombia for approximately 30 years from 1950 to 1980. Law 9 of 1974 (just when I entered Carvajal S.A.) established that: "the health of workers is an indispensable condition for the socioeconomic development of the country" and the Ministry of Labor issued the Industrial Safety Statute.
The year 1979 was momentous for Industrial Safety in the country, since much more specific obligations were dictated for industrialists and the Ministries of Labor and Health were assigned surveillance and inspection tasks, which led industrialists to install their industrial safety departments, with clearly defined functions and strict compliance with the rules.
Law 100 of 1993 marked a milestone in the Social Security model and therefore in the issue of Industrial Security. This gave rise to the ARP Professional Risk Administrators, known today as ARL (L for labor), of a private nature, which would be dedicated exclusively to paying attention in all aspects to workers who have suffered an accident.
A year later, the government created the General System of Occupational Risks, a set of public and private entities, rules and procedures, aimed at preventing, protecting and attending to workers from the effects of diseases and accidents that may occur on the occasion or as a consequence of the work they develop.
Subsequently, the General Risk System was adopted, with the Quality Assurance methodology with ISO 9000 standards, in 2012 it gave rise to the Occupational Health and Safety Management System SG-SST (Eng. Renán Rojas Gutierrez, current executive president of the CCS).
This system, although well-intentioned, has manifested itself as a fairly significant financial burden for SMEs or others with liquidity problems and/or technological change, but I believe that it is appropriate to persist in this approach of greater demand on companies. In Latin America, according to the International Labour Organization ILO, there are 11.1 fatal accidents per 100,000 workers in the industry. And in Colombia, according to the Federation of Colombian Insurers, Fasecolda, there are more than half a million work accidents, which is too high.
Accident prevention in HVAC/R projects and maintenance
As a contractor and even now as a Consulting Engineer, every time I go to an industrial company, due to current regulations; I have to take a fairly detailed Industrial Safety course, and in some factories you have to answer a questionnaire; they always deliver a manual of industrial safety behavior and evacuation procedures in case of accidents.
Safety Equipment
These companies are very rigorous when it comes to the safety equipment a visitor to their plant should have:
- Safety helmet. In some cases with chinstrap.
- Safety boots with metal toecap.
- Safety glasses.
- Hearing protection.
- Certificate of Work at Height
This is a certificate required since 2014, which seems very good to me, because many of the accidents that I had to witness were due to lack of procedures and equipment suitable for working at heights above 1.5 meters. SeNA in Colombia grants this certificate as well as other technical or university entities, approved by the Ministry of Education.
Hot Work Permit
It is a written authorization and approval, which specifies the location and type of work to be carried out. It certifies that the hazards have been evaluated by the Industrial Safety Department of the plant and the necessary protective measures have been taken, for example the presence of a member of the Fire Brigade, if there are open flames.
Includes permits to perform welds
Personnel who perform welds in refrigeration systems must have the required training for this in terms of quality and safety.
The American Welding Society (AWS), gives training and certifications for this discipline.
Confined Space Work Permit
It is also a written authorization and approval, specifying the location and type of work to be carried out; which must always be done, at least in pairs. This certifies that the hazards have been evaluated, for example if there are hazardous atmospheres, if there is a danger of suffocation, or risk of being locked up, This will be reviewed by the Industrial Safety Department of the plant, to ensure that they have taken the necessary protective measures.
Finally, those who execute design, assembly and maintenance of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration projects that represent a danger of death or risks of accidents, for example handling of refrigerants that involve fire or toxicity risks; we must be very aware of these dangers and therefore design, assemble and maintain taking into account all possible risks, always thinking about the safety of all.
In that case, the design engineer, the contractor or the maintenance personnel must be able to advise their engineers, technicians and other personnel involved in everything related to Industrial Safety, to reach Zero accidents!!!
* Camilo Botero is the current Secretary of the Federation of Ibero-American Associations of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration - FAIAR; he was president of ACAIRE and is president of Camilo Botero Ingenieros Consultores Ltda. He has worked as a teacher in several Colombian universities, guilds and currently in ACAIRE in diploma courses of air conditioning projects, energy efficiency in air conditioning and refrigeration, cogeneration and trigeneration, applied psychometrics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer and turbomachinery. ([email protected]).
