AP Moots Three-Member Teams For Industrial Safety Audits
Managements of some industrial units are reportedly resisting periodic safety audits, though they are a mandatory exercise: Reports
VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh government plans to constitute three-member teams of experts to conduct safety audits at hazardous industrial units, replacing the earlier practice of assigning a single expert.
These teams will inspect the assigned units covering safety aspects and recommend measures for compliance by respective managements.
Department of Factories has proposed engaging a private agency to conduct the mandatory safety audits. The department has sent a communiqué to the centre seeking permission to implement the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code in Andhra Pradesh, so that safety audits can be conducted according to its provisions.
Incidentally, the proposals have come in the wake of five workers getting killed following an explosion in the boiler unit of TIL Healthcare.
Generally, safety audits are conducted annually for major hazardous industries and once in two years for hazardous industries. The new audit system is scheduled to commence in November.
Significantly, the Factories Department has entered into memoranda of understanding with professors from several universities with expertise in industrial safety and related areas. The department has resumed monthly webinars from September involving officials across the state to discuss industrial vulnerabilities and measures to ensure compliance with safety norms.
The department is also planning an online monitoring mechanism, subject to feasibility, to detect abnormalities such as gas and oil leaks in major hazardous and hazardous industrial units through sensors. Alerts would be transmitted through a mobile application to designated personnel, who would alert field staff, raise the alarm, shut down systems, and move workers to safety.
The technology for real-time online monitoring already exists. The Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Board are currently monitoring volatile organic compounds in industries with high emissions online.
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- AP has a total hazardous industrial unit of 1,339 including 116 major hazardous units.
- Nearly 36 deaths reported in Visakhapatnam-Anakapalli pharma industrial belt from 2020 onwards.
- Some managements of industrial units show resistance for periodical conduct of safety audit and despite it being a mandatory exercise.
