(Translation) Viewing Safety Management through the “Refrigerator Warehouse Incident”
Thread Content
Recently, a story about cold storage and character has been circulating in friend circles. The story goes like this: A woman worked at a meat processing plant. One day, after finishing all her tasks and going into the freezer for a routine inspection, suddenly, at that unfortunate moment, the door closed accidentally, locking her inside and out of sight of everyone. Although she screamed and pounded with all her might, no one could hear her cries. By this time, most of the workers had already left work, and in the cold warehouse, no one could hear what was happening inside. Five hours later, when she was on the verge of death, the factory security finally opened the warehouse door and miraculously saved her. Later, she asked the security guard how he could go open that door; it wasn’t part of his regular duties. He explained, \"I have worked at this factory for 35 years; hundreds of workers come in and go out every day, but you are the only one who greets me in the morning when I start work and says goodbye to me in the evening when I leave.\" Many people consider me transparent and invisible. Today, you came to work as usual and said “Hello” to me; but after work, I didn’t hear you say “Goodbye, see you tomorrow.” So, I decided to go and take a look at the factory. I look forward to your “hi” and “goodbye,” because those words remind me who I am and make me very happy. I didn’t hear your goodbye; I know something might have happened. That’s why I searched for you in every corner of the factory. Moral of the story: Be humble, and love and respect those around you. Go and influence the people around you every day, because you never know what will happen tomorrow. The woman in the cold storage incident was lucky; she was humble, kind, and respectful of those around her, and was eventually rescued. However, safe production is not the responsibility of just one person; it is a systematic process that requires the participation of all of us workers. We need to learn risk assessment techniques, master hazard identification methods, apply risk control measures, eliminate safety hazards, and prevent accidents.
The labeling system used for work in confined spaces could be used as a reference
It is recommended to take the following technical measures: 1. Install escape doors (doors that can be opened from the inside outward). 2. Install alarm bells and emergency phone facilities. 3. Place escape tools such as crowbars and escape hammers. Management measures such as entry procedures also need to be implemented.
Prevention is best achieved through technical measures; the final line of defense is human intervention. This includes preventive actions based on institutional management. As an additional measure for the third floor, it is necessary to establish rules regarding procedures or management systems: critical tasks or those with a high risk level should be carried out by two people, with one of them acting as a supervisor. This applies to situations such as the cold storage in this case, as well as to confined spaces that we encounter frequently. . .
From this story, we can draw the following conclusions from a safety perspective: 1. There are safety hazards in the design of the cold storage: it cannot be opened from the inside, and no alarm system is in place; 2. There are issues with employee safety training: employees in such cold stores should be trained to take measures to prevent the doors from being closed before entering; 3. The company has shortcomings in terms of safety inspections: no one noticed anything abnormal for 4–5 hours
In fact, in the design of cold storage facilities today, an emergency internal door lock mechanism is installed on the inside of the refrigeration doors, along with prominent signs, to prevent people from being accidentally locked inside the cold storage and suffering frostbite.