PNS | Vijayawada
Chief Secretary Dr KS Jawahar Reddy has directed that a third-party safety audit be conducted in all hazardous industries across the state. A state crisis group meeting was held in Vijayawada on the prevention of chemical accidents in industries under the chairmanship of CS. On this occasion, the CS said that there is a need to take strict safety measures to prevent accidents in chemical industries.
CS Jawahar Reddy reiterated that a third-party safety audit should be conducted on the safety protocol and safety measures followed in all such industries. Similarly, he ordered the officials of industries and factories to set up labs in the industries that use different solvents (chemical solvents) so that the severity of the solvents can be tested beforehand. He further directed the officials to conduct a special mock drill every year on the prevention of accidents in dangerous industries. The CS clarified that the state, district, and local level crisis groups should meet frequently and review the guidelines, safety measures, and protocols being followed for the prevention of industrial accidents.
In the last two years, 11 accidents in chemical industries took place and the CS ordered strict measures to prevent such accidents from happening again. Similarly, if there is no staff with adequate technical knowledge in chemical industries, the respective industries should provide adequate training to the staff working there on their management.
State Factories Director D Chandrasekhar Verma explained the agenda of the meeting through a PowerPoint presentation and said that following the Factories Act, 1948, according to the Chemical Accidents Act, 1986, crisis groups have been formed at national, state, district, and local levels. The Inspector of Factories and RDO are the presidents of the local group and meet frequently to review these accidents. He said that according to the Factories Act of 1948, 1129 factories in the state will come under the hazard. He explained that in the last six months, 600 mock drills have been completed with the coordination of various departments. He said that 637 factories have installed sensors to alert on accidents and the rest have to be installed. He said that 243 industries have been shortlisted for third-party safety audit and safety audit has already been completed in 216 industries.
