Friday, October 31, 2014

TOI : Bhopal's tormentor Warren Anderson of Union Carbide dies at 92

This event had no impact on his life except the anonymity of death. Anderson this is one obituiry where I cannot write rest in peace. I am sure that the souls kd the 40,000 people you killed in Bhopal Union Carbide Tragedy will tornment you in the afterlife. Raghudon is sad that even 30 years on no justice is served.

Bhopal's tormentor Warren Anderson of Union Carbide dies at 92
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bhopals-tormentor-Warren-Anderson-of-Union-Carbide-dies-at-92/articleshow/44993670.cms via @timesofindia


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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Building safety into maintenance

Building safety into maintenance

Don't bypass one system to service another


Matt Dodds, OMRON Automation and Safety
10/14/2014


While light curtains are reliable safety devices that constantly check for errors or false tripping, they are not completely foolproof. Courtesy: OMRONMaintenance is an important task to keep equipment running smoothly. Everyone thinks about greasing the bearings and oiling the hinges, but what about the safety devices? How often do you have the brakes inspected on your car? Do you wait until your car no longer stops, or are you proactive and have your brakes inspected at the recommended service intervals? 

When a machine system is built, the maintenance interval of the safeguards needs to be specified and adhered to as laid out in safety standards. There are a lot of safeguarding devices that are not properly applied or not securely fastened, bypassed, or damaged that could be remedied during a regular maintenance inspection. 

Standards such as ISO13849 use the concept of performance levels to select a safeguarding device that is suited to the application and usage. However, this is assuming the device was properly applied in the first place. For example, mechanical safety switches incorporate the use of at least one set of positive opening contacts. When the specified force is applied to the actuator, it has a high probability the contact will open for the life of the product. 

An example of this is a keyed or tongue door switch, probably the most widely used switch for a hinged door. They are also the most widely misused and under-maintained. Standards clearly state that these types of switches are to be used with a stopper and an alignment device to ensure the operation key enters the switch at the proper position and there is no damage to the key opening. 

However, most of these switches are not used with either, and a few things may occur. Excessive wearing of the key slot may lead to the extraction of the operation key without the operation of the switch. Next, damage to the operation head is possible. If the key strikes the head, it may loosen it from the body to the point that when the key is extracted from the head, the mechanism will operate but the switch contacts will not change state due to the separation distance. Some manufacturers may claim that their design will work even if it is damaged, but what is the guarantee under all circumstances? Another failure that can occur is damage to the key-the key could break off in the head and not operate.



It is continually important to examine relays and safety switches on a regular basis and to train employees on the proper procedures when working with such safety devices as light curtains. Courtesy: OMRONAdjustable operations key 
The number-one thing that is misapplied is the adjustable operation key. When most people are asked, "Why do you use an adjustable operation key?" the most common answer is "for doors that don't align properly." This, however, is the wrong answer; this type of key was designed for short radius doors to allow the operation key to be adjusted and flex to enter the operation head at a 90-degree angle to the opening. 

If a switch is damaged, do not attempt to repair it. Taking a head off of another switch and replacing the damaged one will not ensure its proper operation. There are two things to note here: 

1) Were the screws or threaded holes damaged? 
2) How many electrical cycles has the switch gone through? Always replace the entire switch and ensure is it properly applied such that damage will not occur again in the future.  

But what about other popular safeguarding devices such as light curtains, laser scanners, and safety mats? Type 4 light curtains are the most reliable as they continually check themselves for errors or extraneous light that may cause false tripping; however, they are not completely foolproof. Beams can be covered up and blanked and effectively bypassed by a piece of electrical tape, which is why it is important that only qualified personnel have access to enable these types of functions. 

Another way light curtains can be fooled is by the proximity to a reflective surface, although the beams operate at very tight angles. If they are mounted too close to shiny surfaces when a part of the human body enters the detection zone, they may not immediately sense that could lead to an injury. All light curtains on equipment should be supplied with a test object that is moved around the entire sensing field of the product to ensure that it is continually sensed. Never use your hand. This is true for all light curtain manuals and standards relating to the use of these products. Be wary of older light curtain products. If the product meets the IEC61496-1 and -2 standards, then you are probably OK; however, if you are using older products that do not meet these standards, it is recommended to update them to newer, safer design. 

Light curtains vs. other solutions 
Safety laser scanners and safety mats are presence-sensing devices, but they typically do not have the same diagnostic capabilities as light curtains, such as the ability to check themselves for degradation in sensing capabilities. Safety mats are usually to conductors separated by and insulator and when activated with the rated force will send a signal to a controller However, depending on the design, physical damage to the mat may cause a change in the sensed performance. Mats should be routinely inspected for damage; do not wait until the controller senses an error before replacing it with a new one. 

Safety laser scanners are becoming much more prevalent in the industry due to increased reliability, longer life expectancy, and better pollution tolerance, but like any safety device they need to be properly maintained. With proper maintenance, the operational costs can be much lower. Laser scanners send out a pulse of infrared light through an opaque-looking window and measure the time it takes to be reflected off an object back to the source. Maintenance of these devices is simple with routine cleaning of this window. 

How the window is cleaned is very important; this is a highly sensitive optic device that can detect carbon black objects, and any scratches or contaminates can lead to false tripping. It is imperative to use proper cleaning cloths or wipes and proper cleaning solutions as supplied or recommended by the manufacturer.

These are just some examples of safeguards on equipment. Almost all devices are tied into some type of safety monitoring device within the control panel. Going back 15 years, almost all monitoring devices were electromechanical incorporating a force-guided relay; these are often neglected until the equipment stops working. 

Force-guided relays, like any mechanical component, will wear over time and need to be replaced. Another question often asked is "When do you change your safety relays?" Most of the time the answer is "when they fail."

Going back to the scenario of the brakes on your car, there is the high probability of an accident. Thankfully, in the design of most safety systems two force-guided relays are used and they are put in series and cross-monitored such that when one fails the circuit cannot be reset. However, don't wait for this to happen-be proactive and change out the relay, safety monitoring relay unit, or other output device at the end of the useful life of the product.

The next time you are on the plant floor, look at a guard and then look closer to see if any of issued mentioned here apply. If they do not, then great-there is nothing to worry about. However, do not get complacent. Just because it is maintained now does not mean it will be maintained in the future. Make sure there is a check and inspection of safeguards, monitoring, and switching devices at regular intervals, and also make sure that safeguards never are bypassed during maintenance or normal operation. 

Matt Dodds is product marketing manager for safety for OMRON Automation and Safety.
"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten"


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Dreaming awake

Woke early morning at 3 and then couldn't sleep. So bought million dollar arm the movie about two Indian kids chosen for a major league baseball team. Interesting line.... "I wanted to play baseball all my life but never dreamt it will be possible. " got me thinking that there are so many things I wanted to do but never started.... Realised there's no right time to start... All that's needed is a dream and passion and the desire to then make me work hard... The dreams that we have while awake are the ones that drive our lives. Here's a good morning from raghudon and hoping you too dream while awake and then work baby steps to fulfill it...


NANDAN does not accept liability for the integrity of this message or for any changes, which may occur in transmission due to network, machine or software failure or manufacture or operator error. Although this communication and any files transmitted with it are believed to be free of any virus or any other defect which might affect any computer or IT system into which they are received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that they are virus free and no responsibility will be accepted by NANDAN for any loss or damage arising in any way from receipt or use thereof.

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Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Earth in True Perspective
Everything is relative. You don't need to be Einstein to understand that. A human is as big to an ant as a building may be to him. However, the world always seems such a huge place; so many countries, cities, forests, oceans, lakes, icebergs. So many animals and species. So much history.

But ever since we developed the ability to look beyond our atmosphere, it became more and more apparent that our blue marble is tiny. Too tiny to even comprehend, when compared to other planets, stars, galaxies and the universe itself. So just to give you an idea of how tiny we really are here on planet earth, here are some visual aids.

If you like this post, See more AMAZING SIGHTS OF THE UNIVERSE

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....
Raghunandan JAGDISH
CEO & Director
Nandan GSE Pvt Ltd
www.nandan.co.in.     raghu@nandan.co.in
>>> +91-9322692934 (send me SMS)
Forgive Brevity... composed on my handphone


NANDAN does not accept liability for the integrity of this message or for any changes, which may occur in transmission due to network, machine or software failure or manufacture or operator error. Although this communication and any files transmitted with it are believed to be free of any virus or any other defect which might affect any computer or IT system into which they are received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that they are virus free and no responsibility will be accepted by NANDAN for any loss or damage arising in any way from receipt or use thereof.

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Sunday, October 05, 2014

AN AIRLINE PILOT’S STORY ABOUT BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

The world started taking notice of the 'Indian Ingenuity' about the time when software professionals were needed to help businesses with the Y2K issue. After that, our IT engineers started spreading their wings all over. Everyone has now accepted that India had arrived on the brain map of the world. But we know that this was not the real beginning - our ingenuity has a long history.

I would like to share one incident with you, which took place on one of my flights to prove my point. It could become a case study for any good business management school/ college. You can decide about that after you read the story.

THE FLIGHT

This happened on one of my flights when I was flying the Airbus-310 in Air India to the Gulf. It was on Jeddah – Mumbai sector some time in 1987/88. This was way before 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre. Terrorism had not shown its ugly face on the flights yet.   The atmosphere on the flights used to be very cordial and friendly. I used to follow a  routine  on all my  flights which I continued with  till my retirement in 1998 . After reaching the designated altitude and settling down for some time, I would hand over the controls to my co-pilot and take a walk around in the aircraft. I would go right up to the tail section of the aero plane to meet the passengers on board and the crew as well. This habit of mine kept the cabin crew on their toes and the passengers were happy to see their pilot mixing around with them. The fear of terrorists, terrorism was unheard of. Those were the wonderful and blissful days of freedom on board the aircraft.

On this particular flight, when I reached the tail section I found a very strange group of people. They were really odd looking passengers. Some of them were maimed, some looked polio affected or with some deformity.  They all were dressed very poorly. They did not look like Gulf returnees. After flying in the Gulf for a long time, we could make out a Gulf returnee at first glance.  On seeing such a crowd  I asked our In-flight Supervisor if these people had asked for some sort of help on landing .The answer  was 'No'. A normal passenger in such a condition would certainly ask for a wheelchair.  All that looked very odd to me.  So after my round when I got back to the cockpit it kept bugging me about that odd group. I thought that I must investigate more about them.

So after some time I went back again to the tail section of the aircraft and asked the purser who was working in that section about the group .He told me that the group had two persons looking after all of them. I met those guys and started talking to them. I asked them where are they from. On seeing me in uniform they were very reluctant to talk to me. On persisting one of them said that they were from Eastern UP.  I told them that I had also stayed in that part of our country for some time when I was posted to Air force Station at Gorakhpur .They could not believe me as one of them was from Gorakhpur. After exchanging few notes they were convinced that I was telling the truth. Then the next thing I asked them was if they wanted to see the 'Hawai Jahaj', the airplane. Of course, they were keen. So I took both of them to the front and showed the cockpit from the door. On seeing all that they were just speechless. By now they were very much at home with me. Now when I asked them a few more questions, the whole story came tumbling out - and what a story that was!  What I heard was just mind boggling.

THE STORY

The group was of about 25/30 people. They were all Muslim beggars from Eastern UP. They were brought to Jeddah for 'UMRAH' pilgrimage before the start of the month of 'Ramadan' by their 'Bade Chacha' who was sitting up front somewhere. Now they all were going back after 'Ramadan' and after the Id celebrations, There is NO problem about getting their passports and other permissions as there is no quota for 'Umrah' pilgrimage. They all stayed in a cheap 'Musafirkhana' in Jeddah. Their ONLY job during their stay at Jeddah was that during 'Ramadan' every evening they had to go and BEG in front different mosques in the city. At the end of the day all the money that was collected by them would be handed over to the 'Bade Chacha'. Nothing more was required from them. After they reached their homes in India, they all would be given Rs. 10,000 / (Ten thousand) cash. That sort of money they would never see again in their life. When they told me how all that was done, I had to salute the INGENUITY of their 'Bade Chacha'.

MODUS OPERANDI

This is how the things worked.  The BOSS (Bade Chacha) used to collect 25 to 30 Muslim beggars in UP well before the beginning of 'Ramadan'- month of fasting.  He would have no difficulty in getting passports/Visa for them from the Lucknow Passport Office. Any Muslim could apply for 'Umrah' pilgrimage at any time as there are no restrictions on their travel. He would then approach Air India through his travel agent for a group booking asking for the cheapest rates which he could get. After reaching Jeddah he would accommodate them in the cheapest 'Musafirkhana'. As there is no big rush like the HAJ time, he would have no problem on that. He would spend very little on that account. Food for all these people would come from different mosques, where food is distributed to any one before the sunrise and after the sunset. Expenses on food during the day are nil as all of them are supposed to be fasting. So for the whole month of Ramadan feeding this big group was NO big problem.

Now during Ramadan, before breaking their daily fast the local Arabs would like to dole out alms (big amounts) to the needy and poor. So all these people would BEG in front different mosques and the money collected would be given to the Boss. After Ramadan there would be Id celebrations where these people would earn even more. So after a nice stay of more than a month in Jeddah they would head back home. A very smart operation performed by any standard.

After a long chat I told them to get back to their seats with a promise that they will introduce me to their 'Bade Chacha' after landing.

AFTER LANDING

 After reaching Mumbai when we, the cockpit crew, reached the customs hall, I found my friends with their Bade Chacha waiting for their checked in baggage. So I went and met the boss. He looked like a very nice and docile man. When I asked him about his activities, he told me that he was doing all this for these poor people. They would never get a chance to do the HAJ pilgrimage so as good hearted man he was doing all this. I told him that I very much appreciated his good deed and we parted.

While going back home I started thinking about the whole flight and my encounter with this group of people.  I found that this to be a fantastic case of WIN - WIN - WIN situation. Going over in my mind I realised that every single person is happy in this story.

The Arab who doled out alms to the needy before breaking his fast during Ramadan was very happy for doing some good deed for that day.

The Muslim Beggar, who could never have imagined a plane ride and the religious pilgrimage, was able to do so. Then for more than a month he had a food feast! Free of charge. On finishing the whole trip he would be given ten thousand rupees cash in hand. He would be the happiest man on the earth.

Now about the 'Bade Chacha'. When we all thought and calculated about the whole operation we realised that this man even after taking care of all the expenses for the group must have earned a cool amount of ten to twelve lakh of rupees per trip. One can imagine the value of that in 1987. So he too would a very happy man.

 The events on this whole flight got me thinking .Every single person involved in this story was happy and satisfied. But there was a tinge of exploitation somewhere at some stage. I could not pin point it where! So I wrote an article on the episode which published in one of the Marathi newspapers. I thought I had covered all the angles of the story. BUT that was not the case!

TAIL PIECE

After about a month when I was going on a flight, one of the Immigration officers came to me and asked me my name and then introduced himself.  He had read my article in the newspaper and he wanted to talk about that. The information he came out with was even more baffling and much more interesting.  Since he was working at the airport, his info was very authentic.

This was the time when Indian economy had not opened up to the world markets as yet. Gadgets like Washing machines, VCR's, TV's were very much in demand. So the travel agent who had booked this group would import such gadgets on their names as 'UNACCOMPANIED' baggage later on. Those poor people would not know anything about this at all. The custom rule was that passengers can get such stuff into the country within three months of their arrival date. So everything was proper and legal. There was a ready market available for such items which would be sold with very big premiums. So now the travel agent and few officers shared the loot. This was the fourth or fifth angle to my story. MIND BOGGLING.

I hope now you will agree with me that this is qualifies as a case study for any Business Management school/college. This was a Win-Win-Win-Win situation, everyone is happy in the end.

One thing is for sure, you can't beat the INDIAN INGENUITY at beating a system.    

Courtesy: K. Shroff


NANDAN does not accept liability for the integrity of this message or for any changes, which may occur in transmission due to network, machine or software failure or manufacture or operator error. Although this communication and any files transmitted with it are believed to be free of any virus or any other defect which might affect any computer or IT system into which they are received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that they are virus free and no responsibility will be accepted by NANDAN for any loss or damage arising in any way from receipt or use thereof.

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