Fire from weld sparks causes 6 injuries, Rs 10 crore property damage

In a fire due to weld sparks on top floor of a shrimp feed factory falling on the plastic bags kept below causes injuries to six employees and property damage worth Rs 10 crore. Three workers fainted due to smoke from the fire and another three were injured due to fall while climbing down. It is reported that fire extinguishers in the factory did not function at the time of the incident, indicating poor upkeep of safety systems.
Any hazardous work in a factory requires following safety permit systems which helps in hazard assessment and taking suitable safety measures for the work. Weld sparks can fly off about 15 m distance and hence the area within this should be free from combustibles. It is better to spray water in this area before hot work. If it is not possible to remove combustibles within this area, they should be covered with fire resistant cloth.
In this incident, sparks fell on the combustible material in the floor below. As the extent of damage is huge and fire extinguishing took about 5 hours, it indicates lack of supervision.
There should be a program to check fire extinguishers at regular intervals, say, once in a quarter. In extinguishers containing CO2 cartridge, the quality of these should be checked as it is likely that any defect renders fire extinguisher useless.
Regular training of all employees or identified employees and ensuring their availability atleast in minimum number in every shift also must be ensured.