INTERNATIONAL GENERAL

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UNIT IGC3 THE HEALTH AND Sheet Number 1 of 5

SAFETY PRACTICAL APPLICAITON

Student number: 00268752

Location: FAZAL Steel (Pvt.) Limited Islamabad Date of review: 26/January/2015

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1. Introduction
The report is based on the good and bad practices related to occupational health and safety
carried out in FAZAL Steel (Pvt.) Limited situated in Islamabad, Pakistan. FAZAL Steel (Pvt.) Limited
deals in production of reinforcement steel bars ASTM 615A Grade-40 and Grade-60. FAZAL Steel
(Pvt.) Limited is situated on the service road connected to main highway. The number of workers
present in the Steel mill is 170. Most of the process is carried out by automatic machines but some
processes may involve manual operation.
FAZAL Steel (Pvt.) Limited consists of following units:

Physical Testing Lab

Steel Re-rolling mill
o Pre-heating Furnace
o Rough Stand
o Intermediate Stand
o Pinch Roll
o TMT
o Tail Breaker
o Shear Machine
Water Turbine unit
Coal Gas Production unit
Sales Services Department
Logistics Parking Area

There is a road connecting Physical Testing Lab, Steel Re-rolling Mill, water Turbine Unit, Coal gas
production Unit, Sales Services Department and Logistics Parking Area with each other.
Physical Testing Lab monitors the Standards and Grading of Steel, Coal gas production unit
provides burning gas to produce fire and heat to melt the billets in Heating Furnace at a temperature
of about 1100C, Water Turbine Unit supply water to the mill for the cooling and quenching process
as well as drain out hot water from the mill and allow it to cool in open air in large tanks. Logistics
Parking Area is for the parking of loading trucks for the movement of raw material i.e. billets as well as
products i.e. Steel bars.

2. Executive Summary
The overall housekeeping of the mill was very convincing for me, there was no contamination or any
kind of spillage of oil was present in the mill, no obstruction on the floor. The structure of the Steel Mill
was well maintained and ventilated. Adequately maintained first aid boxes were present in the control
room. Emergency alarms were properly fitted on different prominent places to alert the workers about
emergency situation.

But on further inspection unfortunately I noticed that a number of areas were open to the risk of injury
and can even cause death, beside equipment damage. Most of the operations were automatic but
some are manually operated both type of operations were creating significant risks for the workers
which were present there due to mismanagement and lack of maintenance. Some machines were
INTERNATIONAL GENERAL
CERTIFICATE Candidate report template

UNIT IGC3 THE HEALTH AND Sheet Number 2 of 5

SAFETY PRACTICAL APPLICAITON

Student number: 00268752

Location: FAZAL Steel (Pvt.) Limited Islamabad Date of review: 26/January/2015

_______________________________________________________________________________
without safety guards which may result in entrapment and entanglement of the worker. On some
areas workers were not using proper Personal Protective Equipments and they were unaware of
safety practises. There were no sign boards present in the working area which was very alarming
situation. There were no appropriate welfare facilities like clean drinking water and toilets present for
the workers. No prohibition of Smoking in the working area. No designated fire exit, for the evacuation
of the people in case of fire, was present. There were no proper and defined pathways for pedestrian
and loading truck which may cause collision and severe accidents.

All these conditions were showing that a review of the procedures and bad practises and health and
safety lags by the employer is very necessary. Information, instruction and training for the workers are
necessary to promote health and safety culture in the mill and to avoid risks and hazards to minimum
possible level.

3. Main findings of the inspection

3.1 Risk of Collision of loading truck and pedestrian:

For the supply of raw material i.e. Billets as well as for product i.e. Steel bars, there is a traffic of
loading trucks in the mill and also there is movement of different workers and vulnerable people in the
mill, but there is no separate and defined paths for the loading trucks and pedestrian which can cause
serious accident and collision.
This seems to be clear violation of The health and safety (safety signs and signals) regulation 1996
and also international labour office 1995.
There should be designated and separate pathways for the pedestrian and loading trucks, this can be
done by painting the path with different colours. In this way segregation of pedestrian and loading
truck will be done which may lessen the accident and collision risk. Banksman should also be present
for the safe movement of loading trucks

3.2 Risk of fire and fire spread:

As different tasks carried out in the Steel mill involve the flame and also there are some maintenance
works also done in the mill which involve hot work i.e. hydrogen welding using hydrogen cylinders.
Hydrogen gas is a very inflammable gas and improper handling of cylinder may cause explosion as
well as fire by completing fire triangle. Workers were not using cylinders properly in upright direction
during welding and also they were moving here and there by revolving the cylinder instead of using
moving cradle which was a risk to explosion and fire.
All the above hazards can cause some serious accidents also breaching Dangerous substances and
Explosive atmospheres regulation 2002
There was only one fire extinguisher present in such a large area of the mill, which was insufficient
and cannot stop the fire spread.
To minimize the risk of fire from the hydrogen cylinders, always use the cylinder in upright position
and use moving cradle for the movement of cylinder, the number of fire extinguisher should be
increased according to the area of the steel re-rolling mill and properly checked.
Fire drill exercises should also be organized periodically to make the worker aware of emergency plan
in case of fire emergency.

3.3 Absence of sign boards and safety guards:

INTERNATIONAL GENERAL
CERTIFICATE Candidate report template

UNIT IGC3 THE HEALTH AND Sheet Number 3 of 5

SAFETY PRACTICAL APPLICAITON

Student number: 00268752

Location: FAZAL Steel (Pvt.) Limited Islamabad Date of review: 26/January/2015

_______________________________________________________________________________
Sign boards i.e. prohibition sign-boards, mandatory sign-boards, fire exit sign-board etc. are one of
the best and simple way of informing the people, it also shows the management commitment towards
the development of the health and safety culture in the organization.
But unfortunately in the whole area of the Steel Mill there were no sign board present which may be a
cause accident
There is violation of the safety signs and signals regulation 1996

There should be an erected signboard besides the road, connecting different Units of Steel mill,
showing the speed limit of the moving vehicle, also there should be No Parking boards besides the
gates. No Smoking boards should be present where ignition can cause fire risk; similarly high
voltage danger signboard should also be present where the high voltages electricity is present. Out of
Bound for irrelevant people note may also be pasted on the doors of control room. There should be
pictograms showing the correct and safe techniques of manual handling of load.
I strongly recommend installation of signboards on their appropriate places which may reduce the
probability of any accident or any ill-health.
It was also noticed that there were no safety guards on different equipments like shear cutting
machine and side guards on intermediate roll stand which was one of the most common reason of
accident in the mill, because the red hot bar coming out of the pre-heating furnace slips down and
slides towards the worker and the machine causing damage.
Safety guards should be adjusted where it is necessary and always check the presence of safety
guards before starting the mill/ machines.

3.4 Risk of manual handling:

During the inspection it was observed that the works were unloading billets from the loading truck to
the conveyor belt of pre-heating furnace, the continuous loading of billets with no breaks leads to the
serious injury. This poor manual handling technique could quickly lead to backache, MSDs or other
injuries to worker and long term absence from the work due to ill health. Also the workers were not
seems to be fully trained for the manual handling. Manual handling risks should be avoided where
reasonably practicable and where risks remain they are minimized by proper protection measures,
training and supervision. Workers should be reminded of the manual handling risk by installing
pictogram boards. It is the duty of the employer to provide proper refresh training to the workers about
the manual handling techniques. The training should be short and can be done at their monthly
meetings.
Employer need to comply with the risk assessment requirements set out in the Management of Health
and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 as well as the requirement in the Manual Handling Operations
Regulations 1992 (as amended) (MHOR) to carry out a risk assessment on manual handling tasks .
Also use the over head crane for loading the billets instead of manual handling. The work practices
should be monitored for a period after training and it is recommended that awareness training is done
as part of the annual department meetings to minimize the accident rate.

3.5 Welfare facilities and Personal Protective Equipment:

Drinking clean water is an essential need of every human; similarly provision of clean drinking water
to worker is one the basic need of the worker, after that toilet is also a basic need for a worker working
in the workplace.
The condition of water cooler present in the mill was very bad the coolers tap and glass was
contaminated by the oil and greasy material which may cause severe illness with acute and chronic
illness effects. There was no toilet present in the mill; the toilet which the workers were using was very
 INTERNATIONAL GENERAL
CERTIFICATE Candidate report template

UNIT IGC3 THE HEALTH AND Sheet Number 4 of 5

SAFETY PRACTICAL APPLICAITON

Student number: 00268752

Location: FAZAL Steel (Pvt.) Limited Islamabad Date of review: 26/January/2015

_______________________________________________________________________________
far away from the workplace which may be a source of wastage of time as well as mental fatigue and
stress for the workers. According to ILO occupational Health and safety convention CI55, its the
responsibility of the employer to provide welfare facilities to its employees.
Another observation was that some PPE were present but most of the PPE were not present i.e. hard
helmets, hard shoes etc. According ILO occupational Health and safety convention CI55 and
recommendation R164, its the responsibility of the employer to provide PPE to workers free of cost.
So proper PPEs should also be provided to the workers so as to minimize the risks

4. Conclusions
The overall housekeeping of the Mill was very good and impressive, there was insurance policy for
the workers but there were some basic and essential things regarding health and safety present
creating risk.
The most significant hazards and their causes and consequences are mainly related to Fire, absence
of signboard, vehicle and workers collision hazards, poor maintenance, unsafe working practises,
absence of PPE, machinery safety guards and poor welfare facilities. All the problems, which were
identified in the main findings of the report, can cause severe injury or fatality, which would cause
suffering to victims and their families.
Under the ILO Occupational Safety and Health convention C155, article 16(1) it is the duty of
employer to ensure the safe working environment and equipment, including carrying out the
maintenances to protect workers, visitors and all others who may be in the workplace or in the
working environment.
Besides other aspects the consequences of these hazards are financially very huge, as failure to
manage risk can also lead to prosecutions and penalties which are the indirect cost on the factory and
effects the reputation and financial position of the factory as well.
The total cost of the recommendations are very less than the consequences of the safety issues
discussed and weighted against the loss in accident or the penalties and fines.
I suggested that by considering and implementing my recommendations the mill can decrease its
accident rate and can improve its health and safety culture, which also save the indirect costs relating
to these risks which are sometimes very huge. Beside all these it will also improves the reputation of
the mill in a competitive market.

5. Recommendations include as a table in the following format:

Recommendation Likely resource implications Priority Target date

3.1 Traffic movement in Using different paints colour the

the mill should be floor, making two different paths
segregated from for loading trucks and High 30 January 2015
pedestrian. This can be pedestrian. Estimated cost is
done by designating around 1 lakh rupees.
separate pathways by
painting floor with
different colours.
 INTERNATIONAL GENERAL
CERTIFICATE Candidate report template

UNIT IGC3 THE HEALTH AND Sheet Number 5 of 5

SAFETY PRACTICAL APPLICAITON

Student number: 00268752

Location: FAZAL Steel (Pvt.) Limited Islamabad Date of review: 26/January/2015

_______________________________________________________________________________

3.2 Increase the number Provide at least 4 to 5 fire High 28 January 2015
of fire extinguisher in the extinguishers, estimated cost
mill. 25000 rupees.

3.2 Inspection of fire Annually inspected the tags by Low 26 January 2015
extinguishers. the relevant persons. No
external cost.

3.2 Organize Fire safety Carried out by the safety Low 7 April 2015
drill exercises. personnel, no external cost.

3.3 Erect Speed limit Estimated cost is 25000 rupees. Immediately

board on the road High
connecting different units
of mill, No Smoking board
fire exit signboards and
other signage stickers for
their appropriate places.

3.3 Insert safety guard on Estimated cost is 10000 rupees. High Immediately within
the shear machine and 2-3 hrs
intermediate stand.

3.3 Install fence around Estimated cost is 15000 rupees. High 14 Feb 2015
the water tanks

3.4 Give the appropriate No external cost involves. Just a High Immediately
manual handling training few time of supervisor.
to workers.

3.4 Installing overhead Around 10 lakh rupees may be Medium 1 March 2015
crane to eliminate the risk required for the installation of
of manual handling. overhead crane.

3.5 Provide Electric Estimated cost to be 10000 High Immediately

cooler with filters and rupees.
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CERTIFICATE Candidate report template

UNIT IGC3 THE HEALTH AND Sheet Number 6 of 5

SAFETY PRACTICAL APPLICAITON

Student number: 00268752

Location: FAZAL Steel (Pvt.) Limited Islamabad Date of review: 26/January/2015

_______________________________________________________________________________
keep it clean.

3.5 Construction of toilet Estimated cost is 150000 High 20 Feb 2015

near/ in the re-rolling mill. rupees.

3.5 Provide PPE i.e. Hard Estimated cost is 1 lakh rupees. High Immediately
shoes, ear plugs, hard
helmets and safety
goggles.