Lapses Cited in Curbing Industrial Mishaps
Experts maintain that no industrial unit would accept a critical safety audit by paying a fee to those who come for the audit. The audit itself would become a farce with the auditors citing only minor deviations and seeking their rectification.
Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh faces inherent lapses to curb the series of industrial mishaps that are claiming several lives in multiple incidents.
Though the government initiated some steps to control industrial mishaps in the aftermath of major industrial accident at LG Polymers in Visakhapatnam in May, 2020, they are failing to provide the desired results.
The third party safety audit on hazardous industrial units is found to be flawed. The government had initiated this method in a goodwill gesture, so as to check corrupt practices by some officials in the factories department. However, the private entities that go for inspection of the industrial units get bribes from the respective managements.
Experts maintain that no industrial unit would accept a critical safety audit by paying a fee to those who come for the audit. The audit itself would become a farce with the auditors citing only minor deviations and seeking their rectification.
Moreover, the system of random inspection by the department officials – say, once in a year -- for hazardous industries and once in two years for those having lesser vulnerability for mishaps, and the automated selection of officers, are all having certain flaws. For one, the local official cannot have any control on the functioning of the industrial unit.
Those who come from far off places lack a thorough knowledge on the functioning of the industrial unit and its compliance with safety norms.
Curiously, the factories department has no regular director for the last one year; and only an in-charge director is taking care of the day-to-day affairs. There is an acute shortage of manpower. Efforts are on to recruit 12 inspectors of factories and fill one or two posts of deputy chief inspector of factories that are lying vacant.
Earlier, there used to be a deputy chief inspector of factories, posted exclusively in the VSP. Subsequently, such a post has been merged into mainstream positions, resulting in no regular supervision on safety in the plant.
A senior official from the factories department said, “May be, the time has come to post a regular deputy chief inspector of factories in the VSP and streamline safety audits in industries to ensure safety for all.
A pity is also that the families of the dead, the casual workers, might not be given any significant compensation.