MIS 021 Solved Guess Paper 2026: Safety Philosophy and Principles of Accident Prevention (PGDINDS, PGDINDSOL, PGCINDS, MSCIDS, MAEOH)

The 5S concept of housekeeping

Question: Describe the 5S concept of housekeeping. Why should we implement 5S?

5S: the concept

5S is a process designed to organise the workplace, keep it clean, maintain effective and standard conditions.

The tool was started in the 1920s by Henry Ford as the CANDO programme. It was made popular as 'Japanese 5S' in 1980 by Hiroyuki Hirano. In Japan it is also called 'workplace management'.

The five steps of Japanese 5S

1. Seiri (Sort): Separate necessary and unnecessary items. Remove the unwanted items and put a red tag on them.
2. Seiton (Set in order): 'A place for everything and everything in its place.' Label things so they are easy to find and put back.
3. Seiso (Shine): Clean the workplace. Cleaning is also a form of inspection, so look for loose bolts, noise and heat.
4. Seiketsu (Standardise): Make the first three S a fixed routine. Use checklists and visual management.
5. Shitsuke (Sustain): Make 5S a daily habit and discipline. Use 5S posters, slogans and a 5S Day. This is mainly a management job.

Benefits of the practice of 5S

1. Safe workplace: The workplace becomes cleaner, safer and well organised.
2. Better space: Floor space is used better.
3. Less searching: Time spent searching for tools and papers goes down.
4. Fewer breakdowns: Clean machines break down less, so equipment life increases.
5. Less waste: Errors, defects and material wastage are reduced.
6. Higher morale: Employee satisfaction and productivity improve.

Conclusion: The general concept of 5S is to eliminate waste (Osada, 1993). It is simple, needs very few resources and makes the workplace neat, safe and productive.

Domino theory of accident causation

Question: Discuss any one theory of accident causation. Explain Domino's theory of accident causation.

For every accident that causes a major injury, there are 29 accidents that cause minor injuries and 300 accidents that cause no injury. (Herbert Heinrich, 1931)

Herbert Heinrich developed this theory in the late 1920s. His book 'Industrial Accident Prevention: A Scientific Approach' (1931) studied about 75 thousand accident cases. He found that 88% of accidents are caused by human errors, 10% by unsafe conditions and 2% are unavoidable.

The five dominoes

1. Social environment and ancestry: Family background and social life shape a worker's skills, beliefs and character.
2. Fault of person: Carelessness, bad temper, ignorance or recklessness of the worker.
3. Unsafe act or unsafe condition: A worker error, like standing under a suspended load, or unguarded machinery.
4. Accident: An event like a fall or being hit by a flying object.
5. Injury: The result of the accident, such as cuts and broken bones.

When one domino falls, it knocks down the next. Removing any one domino prevents the accident. It is best to remove the middle one, the unsafe act.

Update by Bird and Loftus

1. Management influence: Visible commitment and leadership of management.
2. Other losses: Losses besides injury, like productivity loss and property loss.

Conclusion: The domino theory shows that accidents follow a chain. Break the chain at the unsafe act to prevent accidents.

Safety audit: how it is conducted and why it matters

Question: (a) What is Safety Audit? How is it conducted? (b) What is the significance of performing a safety audit?

(a) Safety audit and how it is conducted

A safety audit is a constructive process which examines the safety policies, programmes and practices within a work area.

Audit must be done efficiently and consistently by competent auditors. There are three major phases of safety audit.

1. Pre-audit activities: Select and form the team, prepare a pre-audit questionnaire, review relevant regulations, define audit scope and team duties, review audit protocols and develop an agenda.
2. Audit (on-site activities): The team tours the site, reviews records, inspects the facility and interviews staff. A preliminary copy of findings is prepared.
3. Post-audit activities: Feedback response from the site, final report submission, and audit follow-up and closure.

(b) Significance of performing a safety audit

Safety audit checks whether methods and practices follow the laws. It finds the areas that need change and gives remedial actions. A safety audit is essential, as it will help to:

1. Minimise injury: Minimise the risk of personal injury.
2. Customer confidence: Ensure customer confidence.
3. Avoid loss: Avoid material loss from a business.
4. Morale: Promote employee morale.

When an organisation acts on audit results, the chances of injuries, illnesses and deaths go down.

Conclusion: Safety audit is a health check-up of the safety system. It shows weak points before an accident happens.

Personal protective equipment for head, eyes, face and feet

Question: Why are PPE required in industrial safety? Explain the various kinds of PPE used to protect the head, eyes and face, and legs and feet.

PPE are those equipments that protect the users against associated risks and possible dangers at work place.

The requirement for PPE

1. Hazards everywhere: Chemicals, falling objects, sharp edges and flying sparks are present at work.
2. Last line: When engineering and administrative controls fail, the employer must give PPE.
3. Limit injury: PPE is not an accident prevention measure. It keeps the injury to a minimum.

Eye and face protecting equipment

1. Safety glasses and goggles: Protect from dust, debris and chemical splashes.
2. Welding shields: Filtered lenses protect from intense light and sparks.
3. Laser safety glasses: Protect from laser light.
4. Chemical splash glasses: For chemical and hot liquid splashes.
5. Face shields: Cover forehead to chin. Wear goggles underneath for impact.

Head protecting equipment

Hard hats or safety helmets protect from falling objects, bumps, burns and electric shock. A helmet should defend against falling objects, be shock resistant, be water resistant and slow burning, and have a hard outer shell with shock absorbing lining.

Foot and leg protecting equipment

1. When needed: Heavy objects falling, sharp objects, molten metal or chemicals, wet floors and electrical hazards.
2. Guards: Leggings, metatarsal guards and toe guards.
3. Special shoes: Electrically conductive shoes, electrically non-conductive shoes and foundry shoes.

Conclusion: The right PPE, with proper fit, training and care, keeps workers safe from job hazards.

Key factors in accident analysis and investigation forms

Question: (a) Discuss the various key factors considered in analysis of an accident. (b) Explain the various elements of incident investigation forms in brief.

(a) Key facts considered in the analysis of an accident

Investigation of the accidents is primarily regarded as a fact-finding procedure.

1. Nature of injury: The type of physical injury. The more severe one is reported.
2. Source of injury: The object or substance that directly caused the injury.
3. Accident type: Based on recovery: first aid cases, home case accidents and lost time accidents.
4. Hazardous condition: The physical condition that allowed the accident to happen.
5. Accident cause: Unsafe acts (human actions) and unsafe conditions (physical conditions).
6. Agency of an accident: The object or part of the premises where the hazardous condition existed.

(b) Elements of incident investigation forms

1. Date and time: Exact date and time of the incident.
2. Place and area: Exact spot, with maps and sketches.
3. Employees injured: Names, jobs, type of injury and body part affected.
4. Damage to property: List of machines and property damaged.
5. Description: Process details and step-by-step events.
6. Photographs and videos: Pictures and sketches of the scene.
7. Interviews: Of injured employees and witnesses.
8. Supervisor acknowledgement: Supervisor and management confirm the incident.
9. Root cause analysis: The actual cause, and the most important part of the form.
10. Preventive steps: Recommendations with expected completion dates.

Conclusion: Correct facts and a complete form help find the root cause, so the same accident does not happen again.