A review of factors affecting industrial locations and health and safety in industrial settings.

INDUSTRY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Industry is defined as the production of goods or services within an economy or, in some cases, economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories.

INDUSTRIAL LOCATION

Industries’ locations are generally primarily influenced be economic considerations whilst non-economic considerations still exists as major factors affecting siting. As such these factors affecting industrial locations are as follows:

Availability of Raw Materials –

Despite developments in transport technology, industries need to be within reasonable proximities to the raw materials they each utilise so as to maximise production and work rates. Furthermore, it must be noted that in some instances, the finished product of one industry may be the source of raw materials for another.

Availability of Labour-

Mechanisation in many facilities nowadays has reduced the traditional requirements of a large labour force, thus also reducing labour costs which are of great importance to any company. However, mobile, skilled and reliable persons in various areas of expertise remain needed in order to supervise, program and use machinery as well oversee the working of the existing labour force, despite its size.

Energy Supply-

All industries possess a power necessity of some sort and being economically driven, the cost and availability of cheap power is usually the determining factor of the type of power source used. While the use of modern-day cleaner power sources (water, wind, etc.) and virtually infinitely accessible electricity aid in making energy supplies less of a contributing factor, many industries still use the combustion of fossil fuels to power processes.

Land and Infrastructure-

Cost of land and subsequently the cost of infrastructure as well as geographical elements are crucial in industry siting as they may sometimes determine the efficiency of an industry’s operations as well as possible consequences of having various constructs within certain regions. Level of ground, surrounding waterways, nature of vegetation and effects on the surrounding environment are examples of such elements which may influence location.

Transport and Access to Markets-

Transport is the link existing between and industry’s production of goods/services and its relative market/clientele. Markets are accessible locations that facilitate the sales of products. The modes and rates of transport utilised are usually defined by the nature of the transported materials as well as transport policy of the local Government. Therefore provided that products are of satisfactory quality, the correlation between a good transport system and favorable profits and income may be clearly noted.

Government Policies and Legislation-

Governments, though not directly involved in each individual industry, play an indirect role in deciding industrial locations. Industrial development is encouraged in some areas and restricted in others. Government policies regulate modes and costs of communications (telecommunications transport, etc.) and also the costs of utilities (power, water, waste disposal, etc.). Industries located in developmentally depressed areas may sometimes receive financial incentives and assistance from varying sects of the government. Also, acts such as the Environmental Management Act, Industrial Designs Act, Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Act and the Pollution Control Rules instated by environmental authorities become determining factors.

HEALTH AND SAFETY IN INDUSTRY

All industries possess general safety requirements as outlined by the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Act and Pollution Control Rules of local environmental authorities. As such, in elaborating on this topic the concrete batching plant, Contech Ltd. will be referenced due to their success in exemplifying and upholding of safety standards in the industrial setting.

Contech Ltd., now in operation for less than a decade have made use of various technologies and strategies to ensure safety onsite, offsite and in surrounding areas which may be affected by the nature of work done on a daily basis. Some of the strategies are as follows:

Dust/Air Control

-Stockpiles are located in a centralized area and away from onsite structures and local population

-Entire compound is surrounded by black dust screens so as to minimise spreading of dust pollutants during all operations

-Compound is surrounded by and consists of vegetation, also acting as a dust screen.

Water

-Concrete plant is located nearby a river. Thus water quality monitoring is often done so as to maintain the quality of the water source.

-All drainage systems possess sediment traps and filters so as to ensure nearby waterways are not polluted.

-Filtered storm water flows into the nearby river.

Noise

-All of the plant’s machinery is placed at an adequate distance away from major buildings and local population as a form of noise control.

Other

-Plant Fuel Storage is placed in a relatively secluded area away from buildings, vehicles and all sites where damage may potentially occur in an emergency.

-Electrical Panels possess safety locks and fail-safes.

-Work areas are kept clean to avoid presence of potential hazards in time of emergency

Worker Equipment

-Safety harnesses

-Hard hats

-Safety boots

-Striped reflective jackets and trousers

-Fire extinguishers strategically placed around compound

-Washing bay and water tanks available for cleaning purposes

-Manual override panels

Vehicles

-Backhoes and front-end loaders

-Cargo Trucks

-Semi-trailer trucks

-Cranes

-Concrete mixing transport trucks and concrete mixers.

In addition to the equipment, vehicles and strategies outlined, all workers are kept informed and well updated on all of the plant’s operations and safety mechanisms.