Dear Safety Professionals,
Please find below the news of recent fire/explosion occurred in chemical factory located at Nandesari, Vadodara district. The company was having ISO 9001/14001, OHSAS 18001 certifications??? The police have registered offence under IPC section 304 & arrested company’s safety/security officer.
The moral of the incident is: We all are safety professionals & many of us are deputed in factories hence we have to be very cautious & keep all our internal/external safety related communications like reporting unsafe act/conditions, statutory non-compliances etc. in written & always keep hard copies of such specific communications with us which can certainly help us if trapped in such situations. Under section 101 (Exemption of occupier or manager from liability in certain cases) of Factories Act, the occupier or manager can escape from the charges & held some one else responsible/actual offender (he can be a safety officer!!!) in the court.
Explosion in chemical factory: One killed, seven injured
Vadodara: A series of explosions at a chemical factory in the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) premises at Nandesari killed one worker and injured seven others, including the plant supervisor, on Monday morning.
The mishap occurred at K-Dac Chemicals, owned by Vadodara businessman Laxmikant Gaud, at 5 am, when the night shift was about to end. The boiler contained synthetic aromatic chemicals and silica.
Plant supervisor Jatin Joshi said Jagadish Gohil from Fazalpur died in the second explosion while trying to close the valve near the boiler section after the first explosion had occurred. His body was flung several feet away killing him instantly. Seven others sustained injuries as the blast scattered glass in all directions.
"Thirty-five workers had just evacuated the premises after finishing work when the first explosion occurred. Gohil ran towards the boiler trying to switch off the valve and died in the second explosion. Some of our workers sustained injuries when glass flew in all directions from the boiler. The fire spread to the other parts quickly," said Joshi.
Four of the injured were from the neighbouring shed who were asleep at the time of the explosion. The injured workers have been admitted to the Shreeji Hospital near Chhani Jakatnaka in Vadodara.
Vadodara Municipal Corporation officials said seven fire tenders were rushed from Vadodara to douse the blaze.
"A 25-member squad was formed to tackle the fire. The presence of hazardous chemicals in the factory premises kept the blaze alive for four to five hours," said H J Taparia, Chief Fire Officer, VMC.
Vadodara Collector Vijay Nehra said the Joint Director of Department of Industrial Safety and Health and Vadodara police will investigate the accident. "We are not directly conducting any inquiry, but the joint director of industrial safety and health will submit the report to the Collector's office after investigating the cause of the blast. The Vadodara police will investigate the incident that led to the death of one worker," said Nehra.
According to the various government agencies, this was the fourth such accident at a chemical unit in Nandesari GIDC.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Rakesh Sharma said: "We have started the preliminary investigation on the cause of the fire, including the shift timings of the workers and the safety norms followed by the owners of the factory."
Kantibhai Gohil, brother of the deceased worker said workers in the unit dealt with hazardous chemicals like hydrogen peroxide without basic safety requirements. The company uses hazardous chemicals like hydrogen peroxide, DMS, acetic acid, caustic soda, Hydrochloric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate and has 200 metric tonnes of production capacity for aromatic substances.
The factory inspectors have now issued a prohibitory order against K Dac Chemicals from setting up the plant again.
"We have issued the prohibitory orders against the company that before they set up the plant anywhere, they must file a safety report. To further ascertain the cause of the fire, our team will examine the site on Wednesday," said P M Shah, Factory Inspector, Department of Industrial Safety and Health.
Nandesari Industries Association President, Babubhai Patel said the association should be empowered to keep strict vigil on the plants for safety regulations.
"We always tell our member industries to follow the safety precautions while operating with hazardous chemicals. But we cannot stop anyone from manufacturing, as we do not have the authority to do anything," said Patel.
Source: The Indian Express/IANS
Regards,
Dilip kasar.