A chemical plant employing 900 employees (employees work a regular 40-hour work week) has the following safety and health record for the year 2003:
File 1 Forklift truck drops pallet load of packaged raw material; no injuries; some material wasted; pallet destroyed; extensive clean-up required.
File 2 Worker suffers heat cramps (illness) from continuous exposure to hot process; admitted to hospital for treatment: 2 weeks off.
File 3 Worker burns hand on steam pipe; first aid received and worker returns to workstation.
File 4 Worker suffers dermatitis from repeated contact with solvent; 1 week of work lost; another 4 weeks of work restricted to an assembly job.
File 5 Worker fractures finger in packaging machine; worker sent to hospital for treatment; back on the job the next day.
File 6 Maintenance worker lacerates hand when screwdriver slips; five sutures given; worker back on the job the next day.
File 7 Pressure vessel explodes; extensive damage to processing area; miraculously, no one is injured.
File 8 Worker gets poison ivy from exposure a week earlier while removing weeds around the plant perimeter fence; worker receives doctor’s treatment, but no workdays are lost.
File 9 Worker becomes ill from continuous exposure to hydrogen sulphide leaks from furnace area; misses 2 weeks’ work; leaks are repaired.
File 10 Worker gets severe poison ivy from weekend outing with Boy Scout troop; misses 2 days of work.
File 11 Maintenance worker falls from fractionating tower and is killed.
File 12 Worker fractures an arm in transmission system that powers pulverizer mill; loses 3 days of work and an additional 6 weeks of work is in the production scheduling office before returning to regular job.
(a) Calculate the following incidence rates:
1. LWDI
2. Total injury incidence rate
3. Total illness incidence rate
4. Fatality incidence rate
5. Number-of-lost-workdays rate (injuries and illnesses)
6. Specific-hazard incidence rate (fractures)
(b) How does the safety and health record of this firm compare with that of other manufacturing companies and with industries in general?