Vijayawada: The high-level committee headed by retired IAS officer Vasudha Mishra would inspect the factories where accidents occurred in Anakapalli district, as also other factories across the state to assess their industrial safety standards.
The committee, recently formed by the state government with 11 members including the director of factories as its convener, met at the Secretariat on Thursday. Notably, 17 workers died and 40 were injured in an industrial mishap at M/s Escientia Advanced Sciences at APSEZ of Atchutapuram in Anakapalli district on Aug. 21.
The members discussed the terms of reference of the panel and the methodology for the inspection within the time frame.
The committee decided to first visit the factories that had mishaps in Anakapalli district, the next week, and continue the visit to other factories thereafter. The panel would hold meetings with the stakeholders in different areas and receive suggestions to strengthen the safety at work in industrial units.
Chairperson Vasudha Mishra proposed a study of aspects like the existing legal provisions, inspection procedure, compliance and follow-up procedure, emergency management system and the best practices on industrial safety. She also proposed a study of the workers’ training protocols in factories to check whether they required improvements.
The committee’s terms of reference include: a study of the two recent industrial accidents, identifying the reasons and suggesting organisational, legal and administrative measures to enhance industrial safety; suggest measures for strengthening the processes and timelines of safety inspections and audits etc.
The other members are environment special CS, home principal secretary, labour secretary, industry and commerce secretary, director general of fire services, APPCB member secretary, director of boilers, director of industries and vice chairman and MD of APIIC.
