Who is responsible for regulating the factories?

After a fire incident in an ink factory and godown (see previous post) where fire services fought for 22 hours to control the fire, it is not clear which government department is responsible for looking after safety. Pollution control board feels the factory/godown does not come under them as it is not polluting. Industries department, a single window, says it is only for facilitation. Factories department too is not responsible as the factory in question employs less than 10 employees. The role of municipality which gave water connection and that of electricity department that provided electrical connection is not known.
From the above, it is really surprising how safety of the employees, public and environment can be ensured and this can be the reason for existence of illegal units in industrial areas.
This calls for changes in the Acts such that however small and whatever be the nature of operation, permissions should be obtained from departments of factories, pollution control, explosives, electricity, municipality, fire, health, police, etc and then only the local revenue or some identified department permits setting up of the plant.
It is mandatory even for shops to register with local municipality and pay taxes as required. Hence, the ambiguity in safety during industrial activity must be removed by proper legislation.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Factory-fire-Govt-departments-pass-the-buck/articleshow/15523227.cms

Conveyor belt fire in a thermal plant - 4 killed

In a fire incident yesterday in the afternoon hours, on the moving conveyor belt of a thermal plant where through which coal is transferred to crusher before using for heating, four persons died due to severe burns and six others received burn injuries. The employees working in the area spotted fire on the moving belt and rushed to extinguish. When the fire grew big uncontrollably, they tried to escape and jumped 25 m down on coal heaps.
It is not clear whether the conveyor belt was halted by pull-chord / emergency switch when it caught fire and whether there is regular cleaning of the conveyor belt and rollers system to clean the dust collected.
4 killed in thermal plant fire

LINK

Fire in a chemical godown

A fire occurred yesterday (15.08.2012) at about 1000 hr in a chemical godown that stored solvent drums. It is reported that nobody was injured. However, 150 tins of solvents and thinners stored in ground and first first floor were gutted. The compound wall and first floor got collapsed in the fire incident and it took more than 8 hr to control the fire by using water and foam. The people in nearby areas suffered breathing problems due to chemical pollutants in the atmosphere due to fire. 

As it is claimed nobody was present during that time, the reason for fire is not known. I am unable to guess the reason for fire. It could be due to accumulation of solvent vapors and insufficient ventilation and the ignition source can be some glowing lamp. 

It is reported that there are many chemical godowns in the area that does not have permission from PCB authorities. There should be a single window system for clearing industrial activities wherein all concerned departments like factory department, pollution control board, water authority, electricity authority, police department, revenue department, health department, etc scrutinize the applications and then only authorize for setting up the facility and permit connections for electricity, water, etc.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/article3778402.ece

http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20120815/2044726.html

Chevron's safety record hit by accidents

A spate of accidents in Chevron Corporation reveals a lot is to be done by oil industry as even the best organization with commitment to safety suffers from accidents. The statistics are wonderful with an incident rate of 0.2 per million man-hours worked. Though there are organizations where zero accident rate is reported for many years, the approach and methodology varies from industry to industry.
There are many organizations where safety is only a stage talk and give least importance in practice. Unless everybody from top to bottom assume responsibility for safety, no organization however best it is, will fail and therefore needs continuous vigil on its operations so that accidents do not occur.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Chevron-s-safety-record-hit-by-accidents-3791793.php#page-1

Act on near misses instead of cleaning after accidents

In an article,  http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/08/st_essay_close_calls/, it is stated that there is an 80% drop in serious accidents at Dow Chemical after the company implemented close call reporting. Though, it looks cumbersome and time consuming initially to act upon the near misses, it is an opportunity to purge the system of unsafe conditions and will be prove beneficial in the long run to the organisation. Managers should encourage their employees to report all near misses and appreciate them instead of chiding them and be grateful to the workers for reporting near misses.

Contract workers - no concern for their safety?

Safety of contract workers is given less importance compared to regular employees. In industrial areas, we can find this difference glaringly. Even the contractor who provides manpower also is not concerned though he may be charging the organization for use of safety appliances by his personnel. These daily wage earners are treated like no entity and the contractors who earn money by using these people are nothing short of leeches. Factory managements and factory inspectors should penalize heavily such contractors so that they feel it is better to provide safety appliances rather than paying the penalty. Ordering the closure of factory also will do good as managements can ensure safety for contract workers also by whatever means it is appropriate. Sometime back I listened to a talk wherein the speaker said that the contractor will be penalized Rs. 5,000/- for every violation and this money is credited into safety awareness fund. After three violations, the contractor will be blacklisted. I feel such measures will help in creating awareness by force among all and ensure safety for all.

Fire in Tamilnadu Express train on 30.07.2012 at 0420 hr

In a train fire incident on 30.07.2012 at about 0420 hr in Tamilnadu Express train that travels from New Delhi to Chennai, 32 passengers died and 28 received burn injuries, a few them in critical state. The incident took place immediately after the train crossed the Nellore railway station (the train after a stop at Vijayawada stops only at its terminal stop i.e. Chennai central, running nonstop for 7 hours between these two stations  covering 430 km distance). The station master or others at Nellore did not see any thing wrong while the train passed but an alert gateman of a level crossing at about a  kilometer from Nellore railway station saw flames from the toilet of S-11 coach and alerted the station. When someone pulled chain, the train stopped after travelling for about 5 minutes. 

Various news reports say the train travelling at 80-110 kmph and at the time of the incident, all four doors of the coach and windows are in closed condition due to rains. A loud sound was heard between berths 40 & 44 as told by survivors and the escape of passengers inside was restricted due to unauthorized passengers sleeping on aisle in the coach, fire in the vestibule connecting S-11 and S-10 coaches, jamming of the three doors out of four and one out of two emergency escape windows due to heat. (In every coach, generally side lower berths will be under reservation-against-cancellation (RAC) with two passengers sitting on the berth and it is likely that one of the two in every berth may sleep on the aisle or space between main berths). Few lucky escaped through S-12 coach. Piling of dead bodies near the door is an indication of inability of passengers to escape due to jamming of doors. At the time of the incident, a long goods train with two engines passed for five minutes and thus nobody could escape for that period from the emergency window by which time many succumbed due to asphyxiation and burns. It is reported that fire tenders reach by 0445 hour and used gas cutters to open the doors for fire fighting.

Various theories are reported for the reason as below.

1. Finding of a kerosene can wrapped in a jute bag in the gutted coach, leading to sabotage theory.
2. Short circuit in the battery power supply unit, with sparks flying to ceiling fan near the gate leading to spread of fire. It is reported that 110 V supply is used in the trains and this is unlikely to lead to short circuit.

Similar fire earlier on 31.07.2008 at 0000 hr in Goutami Express near Kesamudram in Warangal district with fire starting from the toilet of S-10 coach spreading the fire to S-11, S-12 caused 32 deaths.

A committee constituted by former railway minister with Dr.Anil Kakodkar as Chairman observed that most of the train fire incidents took place between 0200 and 0600 hr due to lack of proper detection, warning and fire fighting system and recommended many measures including fire detectors as smoke detectors can't be effective in running train, banning of use of gas cylinders for cooking in pantry cars, etc. Though, smoking is prohibited, still passenger smoke in the toilets or near the doors and this too can lead to fires. 

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/andhra-pradesh/article3702051.ece?homepage=true

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3704655.ece

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3704654.ece Tamilnadu Express incident list

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article3704435.ece About Indian Railways guidelines on fire safety

http://m.indianexpress.com/news/fire-in-train-coach-kills-at-least-25-in-nellore/981358/

http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/tamil-nadu-express-fire-toll-mounts-to-32-may-rise-further_790551.html

Education system - stress on children

Every few years, syllabus of lower classes is being increased by adding that from higher classes and this is making the children to spend more time to study with no time for sports, etc thus causing stress in them. People say that increasing competition is leading to stress, but when we compare how we were and what our children are, it is apparent that the present syllabus in classes VI-X is heavy and contains some portions from higher classes of our time. Though, experts say young brains are capable of grasping whatever is fed to them, but there should be a limit to it. One should remember that innovations and technologies of present day are due to efforts of people who studied earlier with the syllabus not so heavily loaded. 

With the shortsightedness of some people who review and decide syllabus, children are getting stuffed with more and more syllabus with passing years. For an adult, syllabus of lower classes appears easy but not for the kids who have to actually go through. This appears to be a reason why syllabus is increased at regular intervals without realizing its effects on the growth of the young children.

More syllabus is leading to shortcuts in studies for getting marks, without understanding. Students are fed with questions and answers, asked to remember the answers and in the process killing their interest, logical thinking abilities, and eventually harming the future generations. Even parents also join the race by forcing their wards to study with no relaxation. If a kid comes to parent for explanation, many of the present day parents are not in a position to clarify the doubts. When left with no other option, they ask their kids to memorize without understanding.

The results are already visible with many students in colleges (after 10+2) having back log of subjects because no body feeds them with questions and answers in higher classes unlike in lower classes. Many corporate HR managers of the view that the present day job aspirants do not have good understanding of the subjects though they got good marks in their college examinations. 

Sometimes, I read in news papers that the syllabus are trimmed by some governments but unless it is done for all states, no gains can be seen forcing the children to memorize the lines.

Road accidents in India

In an article in mint daily on 24.07.2012, it is stated that fatalities due to road accidents in India are on the rise and in the year 2011, 11.8 persons died per lakh of population compared to 11.4, 10.8, 10.5 in 2010, 2009 and 2008 respectively. Within the country, highest fatalities due to road accidents are in the state Goa where 23 persons per lakh die, followed by Tamilnadu (21), Puducherry (19), Haryana (19), Dadra & Nagar Haveli (18.4), Andhra Pradesh (17.9), Delhi (12.3), Maharashtra (11.6), Uttar Pradesh (11), Bihar (4.9).
As per WHO, every hour 40 persons under the age 25 die in the globe and this is 14/hr in India in 2009. The report says drunken driving is a major factor along with speeding, low use of helmets/seat belts, etc. Deaths are on rise progressive states like Maharashtra, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh.
From the road safety statistics above, it appears that road accidents are less in states with good rail network compared to others and this calls for increasing the coverage of the country with good rail network. This will also help in decongestion of roads, reduction in import of fossil fuels thus saving foreign exchange, less pollution and better health.


http://www.livemint.com/2012/07/23233225/Path-to-safety.html?h=B news item
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/5973996/Users/Pooja/G-ACCIDENTS.pdf road accident statistics
http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,5519345,00.html WHO report

Safety audit of Parliament reveals security hazards

The news item about hazards in the Parliament appeared in today's edition of Times of India can be read in the following link.
Safety audit of Parliament reveals security hazards

The report of safety audit points to temporary nature of jobs that have become permanent, like cabins, partitions, loose wiring, addition of air conditioners, piling of broken furniture along the stairs, etc restricting/altering access, creating hazards and putting the lives of the persons in the building at risk. It is reported that the furniture is removed based on the audit report and canteen kitchen is being moved to avoid use of gas cylinders as explosives and recommended for use of piped gas. Though it is not reported, vehicle parking also should be looked into from safety and security aspects. It will be a Herculean task for the security officials to screen these vehicles apart from the persons, but requires attention.
LINK