Safety and Health in Composite Industry

This chapter discusses on the introductory and background of safety and health in general aspect. In this section, the elaborations on theories and theroretical frameworks of accident and its causes are outlined accordingly. Later, this section narrows toward the foundation of safety and health in term of composites and engineering perspectives, such as safety engineering, chemical engineering, ergonomics and human factor engineering, industrial engineering and fire protection engineering. The preventive concepts and strategies in order to comprehend the accidents occurred in workplaces were also revealed. Lastly, this section identifies the details on significance and importance of safety and health monitoring.

Currently, the application of composite materials has been ubiquitous in defence, automobile, aerospace, sports, household products and medical equipment. The composite materials were made up from two major phases called as fibre as reinforcement and polymeric matrix. The combination of both phases allows the material to be lightweight and high strength to be implemented in wide applications. Most of composite materials are commercially available in vast sources including synthetic (man-made) and natural-based materials. This chapter elaborates on the background and types of composites which are commercially available. Moreover, the processing and manufacturing of the composites are discussed comprehensively at the end of the manuscript.

Composite production contributes to air pollution by releasing hazardous pollutants into the atmosphere. This study reviews the emission of styrene from the fibre reinforced plastics composites and thermoset composites manufacturing, formaldehyde emission in wood-based composites production, the national standard for hazardous air pollution in composites production, environmental issues related to health and safety, and the control measures of the composites pollution. Based on the review on styrene emission in fibre reinforced plastics composites and thermoset composites, the styrene emission by composites production through the process of open mould process and closed mould process. Other than that, the production of the wood-based composite is used to produce furniture components, support building as well as interior and exterior uses. Those wood-based composites release volatile organic compounds, VOCs that consist of formaldehyde that is carcinogenic to humans and deteriorating indoor air quality, contributing to environmental issues related to health and safety. For example, the emissions of VOCs and formaldehyde cause cancer and other respiratory diseases, due to the main route of those emissions entering the humans’ bodies is through inhalation. Thus, some of the studies have shown that the emission of chemicals also might cause skin and eye irritations and allergic reactions. In addition, the national standard for hazardous air pollutants in composites production need to be complimented to reduce the air pollutant and control the hazards. Some of the regulations and acts are applying to these issues, including the Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments 1990, Industrial Code of Practice (ICOP) on Indoor Air Quality, Occupational and Safety (Use and Standard of Exposure Chemical Hazardous to Health) Regulation 2000 (USECHH Regulation), and International Regulations and Guidelines. The controls are made to reduce air pollution or to improve the effect of emissions from composite production to comply with the regulations.

In this chapter, it reveals on the review of safety in composite laboratory. Throughout this topic, it elaborates on the steps and safety measures needed to be taken in the laboratory in three periods such as before, during and after handling composites. Several safety and protective equipment also have been mentioned to allow reader to understand the functions and post-effect if not wearing or using it appropriately. On the top of that, specific composite processes such as pyrolysis would potentially cause several hazards, which could harm the operator during its handling process. Thus, this part deliberates comprehensively on the composite processes step-by-step and its hazards which could harm the users. At the end, the emergency safety equipment such as fire extinguisher and emergency showers explains thoroughly in the manuscript, which functions during post-accident events. This manuscript also presents the guidelines of important facts and basic concepts that can be used as a guide to preventing accidents and injuries in Biocomposite Technology Laboratory, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). The objective of these guidelines is to be used to prevent accidents and injuries in biocomposite laboratories in particular while increasing the safety and health of students/customers.

This chapter introduces the basic fundamental and concept for design for safety. It reveals the technical gaps between design for safety and current state of the art to produce a new products. This chapter introduces the background of design for safety which covers those ten paradigms for safe designs to guide the designer to do right things at the right times. Moreover, the several concurrent engineering approaches have been described and used to be integrate with the design for safety in order to produce a new product. Detail discussions has been expanded with its examples and current progresses.

The phrase “carbon footprint” has been increasingly used over the last decade and is now all over the media. This can be credited to the strong correlation between carbon emissions and climate change, not to mention the ever-worsening effect on the earth and its inhabitants. Carbon footprint calculations are in demand due to climate change being high up on the political and corporate agenda. Despite its popularity, there is a relative lack of academic papers expressing the relationships between carbon footprint and the most important sector in the human world, healthcare. This review intends to explore and summarize research articles related to carbon footprint and healthcare; the carbon emissions by healthcare, the ways to reduce carbon emissions by the healthcare sector, and the effects of the carbon footprint on healthcare. Here, we have found that the most used method of analysis to be the Life-cycle Assessment methodology (LCA cycle): process-based LCAs and economic input–output LCAs. Though there is a lack of research on the carbon emissions by the healthcare sector, we found that the healthcare sector, especially the hospitals produce the most carbon emissions compared to other non-industrial buildings as they operate all day round, 365 days a year. Hospitals contain several high-energy consuming activities, that includes advanced temperature-adjustment and ventilation systems, computer use, laboratory equipment, sterilization, refrigeration, laundry, as well as food preparation. Medical activities such as conferences and operations were also found to emit relatively high carbon dioxide. This study have concluded a few ways to reduce these emissions and that recycling is not enough to significantly reduce the emissions. The emissions from the healthcare sector are ironically affecting the healthcare sector itself. Studies have shown that climate change and air pollution increase healthcare expenses. When more people require health care services, healthcare, in turn, needs to use more energy and emit more greenhouse gasses. This continues to be a vicious cycle that has to be stopped.

People who work in the fibre reinforcement industry are susceptible to certain diseases, e.g. respiratory problems, skin irritation, and cancer. Respirable particles of reinforced fibres are the main problems contributing to the health issues. This shows the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE) to minimize health problems among workers. The need to address safety, health, and environmental hazards in the processing and manufacturing of composites and their use are key aspects of continued growth and development within the composites industry. There are four aspects of protective measures and actions, which are engineering controls, administrative control, PPE, and medical surveillance and screening. PPE is a supplemental option in supporting other advanced levels of exposure controls. Several types of PPEs are suitable to be used in composite handlings, such as organic vapor respirator, safety goggles, flock lined latex gloves, and disposable bodysuit. Training is required for each employee at the company. The existing, secure, corporate training system can be modified to guide workers about the exact types of composite products used by the company. This level of specificity is a greater safety benefit than prior general knowledge. In fact, the theory is similar to degree materials but the practice is an opportunity rarely offered or encountered during our working life. As far as reasonably practicable, training programs offer long-life learning that benefits us in many ways.

The applications of polymeric materials have been widely used to meet the usage and requirements of conventional fire retardants. However, the presence of halogen-based and phosphorus compounds generates corrosive and toxic combustion products. The compounds, which are organic pollutants, have been persistent global environmental concerns as they are harmful to humans, living things, and the environment. The window of options to combat the issue has become narrower as the incorporation of non-toxic nanofillers shows the positive potential towards flame retardants. Next, this review paper consists of qualitative methods and results but, arguments about short-term and long-term effects still exist. Thus, it is crucial to fundamentally understand the fire responses which comprise the experimental results with theoretical modeling simulation. The eco-friendly agents used in conventional fire retardants will be highlighted as they cause so much impact on the ecological system. The use of various types of nanofillers was also explored and their performance was simultaneously compared with traditional systems, which creates an insight into different testing standards and combustion mechanisms.

There are increasing concerns regarding the health hazards from composites these days. There are a few types of composites discussed in this study, e.g. carbon fibre, dental composite resin, nanocomposite of Low-density Polyethylene (LDPE), Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF), and concrete compound. Health hazards from carbon fibre include the fibrous dust and airborne particles released during burning that can be inhaled and deposited in the deep lung parts. Next, health hazards in dental composite resin arise due to degradation of the composite that releases (Hydroxyethyl)methacrylate (HEMA) and Triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) molecules. The third issue is health hazards in composites used for the food packaging industry such as low-density polyethylene (LDPE) nanocomposites. LDPE can leach estrogenic chemicals when in contact with high temperature. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), formaldehyde and wood dusts released from MDF has been classified as Group 1 human carcinogen alongside the non-carcinogenic effects. Last but not least, concrete compounds have been found to cause silicosis in humans through inhalation of the particles.

For more than 3000 years, natural fibres are used to reinforce materials generally, or biopolymer composites specifically. Water hyacinth, coir, sisal, oil palm empty fruit bunch, ramie, kenaf, grass reeds, sugarcane (sugar and bamboo), oats, rye, barley, wheat, rice husks, wood fibre, straw, jute are the examples of natural fibres. Hemp, flax, pennywort, kapok, paper-mulberry, Raphia, banana, pineapple leaf, and papyrus are among the types of natural fibres that have been investigated for use in plastics. The natural fibres are advantageous since they have marketing appeal and originate from renewable resources. For example, jute is a common reinforcement in India and have been commercially used in Asian markets for many years. It is increasingly used in many industries such as automotive, packaging materials, textile, agriculture, and also marine activities. The agricultural waste provides the biggest source of natural fibre reinforced biopolymer composites for commercial use. These are associated with the easy availability at a low cost of the natural fibres. Despite all the advantageous stated, this article reviews the health and safety concerns of natural fibre reinforced biopolymer composites.

This book chapter reviews the issues of occupational safety and health administration in the composites industry in three countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia. In the United States, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established in 1971 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. It was the Department of United States of Labour agency that enforced the law and standards and responsible for ensuring safe and healthy working conditions and environments for the workers of both genders. In 1802, Sir Robert Peel introduced the first piece of Occupational Safety and Health legislation in the United Kingdom, The Health and Morals of Apprentices Act. The historical aims of OSH have been mostly safety matters, measurement problems, enhancing difficulty between well-being and health, and associated financial costs. In Malaysia, The Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA) was developed due to increased concern in enormous movement and transformation from year to year and was well-established in Feb 1994 in Malaysia. For further understanding, this paper discusses Occupational Safety and Health management in those countries. Based on the literature, different countries have different management systems in terms of administration. Besides, this paper also confers about the safety and health legislation that has been practiced in these three countries. The United States was concerned with protecting the workers from hazardous materials and chemicals, improving workplace performance, reducing workplace injuries and death, providing adequate information, and training to all employees especially those who engage in hazardous and dangerous works. In Malaysia, the purpose of the bureau is to encourage employers and workers to practise effective safety and health measures at the geographic point. This paper also proposes the safety and health management of composite industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia. Effective safety will solely be achieved once there is proper management of interaction between technological systems and other people.

2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) or widely called as COVID-19 has spread vigorously throughout 2019 until present. This Wuhan-originated virus had been the cause of global pandemic and thus, impaired global economy, industry as well as health issues. Various approaches, non- and pharmaceutical remedies, had been practiced by the publics. The best way to avoid virus spread is social distancing as asserted by World Health Organization (WHO). However, in order to assist and facilitate the healthcare workers, researchers had focused on development of composite applications, including biocomposite and nanocomposite via technologies. From our study, recent research on composite contributions in health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic had been compiled and discussed. It is found that the application of bio- and nanocomposites with the help of efficient tech-based approach had produced useful product for the pharmaceutical uses, such as antimicrobial materials for medical devices manufacturing, bio-based facemasks with high filtration properties and 3D-printing biocomposite-derived face shields and testing tools. The different innovations derived from biocomposites applied for the war against COVID-19, which benefit the health systems, government and the public is highlighted. Furthermore, the technological swift during the pandemic is addressed and its effect towards the environment and society is reviewed.

With the recent development of technology as well as rapid modernisation, transportation has been a vital part of them. Awareness about safety has been prioritised among people. Therefore, safety design in different transportations plays a huge role in ensuring the safety of everyone. In this review, several safety issues are being discussed which are safety in aircraft, train, automotive, maritime, and bus designs. For aircraft design, this paper reviews the fire safety and seat design. It focuses on the airworthiness design as a protective measure from the ignition of flammable fluids. In order to secure the occupants from getting thrown away, the seat design focuses on the crashworthiness design. For train design, this paper focuses on the safety of train design towards the human. It focuses on how every aspect counts in determining the safety of all people. The next safety issue in a bus is vibration, where it focuses on ways it affects human health and its source. For design in maritime transportation, this paper reviews aspects of stability and fire main system in ships by focusing on the factors that affect stability, operation, and installation of fire main system in ships.