High Level Probe Needed
in Gas leak from the SAIL’s Bhilai Steel plant
Probe must examine and address
safety status requirements of all public and private sector steel plants
Upcoming Budget must
allocate sufficient fund for Occupational and Environmental Health
infrastructure and man power
June 14, 2014: In the wake of the ongoing poisonous gas leak
in the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)’s Bhilai Steel Plant, death and
injury of workers and birds, there is a compelling logic to order a
trans-disciplinary high level probe must examine and address safety status
requirements of all public and private sector steel plants besides that of the
plant in question. It must evaluate all the previous accidents and deaths in
these plants to set matters right.
There is a need for a team from Indian Council for Medical
Council to visit and attend upon those workers who have been exposed to the
poisonous gas. It is not clear whether Bhilai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital and
Research Centre at Sector 9 has qualified doctors who can diagnose the
occupational and environmental exposures of toxic gases.
So far seven people have died and some 50 people have been
injured due to the gas leak incident of June 12, 2014. The victims include
Deputy General Managers B K Singh and N K Katariya, master technician A Samuel
and senior operator Yarad Ram Sahu, Assistant Fire Station Officer, Ramesh
Kumar Sharma and contract labourer Vikas Verma besides a contractor.
Notably, this plant had 8 minor accidents in 2011, six in
2012 and 12 in 2013. These accidentals deaths show that no lessons have been
learnt from Bhopal gas leak disaster.
The Additional District Magistrate level probe that has been
ordered by the Durg collector, R Sangeetha and another inquiry by the Deputy
Director Industry Safety and Assistant Labour Commissioner, instituted under
the Industrial Safety Act are structurally insufficient.
The reported sentencing
of two SAIL officials to a year’s imprisonment on account of an employee’s
death due to accident and death of 13 SAIL employees in last 15 months merits
attention as well.
These accidental deaths underline the fact that all previous
governments have neglected issues of occupational and environmental health
infrastructure, qualified manpower and budgetary allocation. The upcoming
budget must attend to these crying needs.
The way the charge of ministry of labour has been assigned to
the minister who is also in charge of steel and mines ministry reveals that
labour issues are not accorded adequate priority else how could this conflict
of interest arrangement been made. While the current steel and mines minister
who also holds the labour portfolio was quite receptive when a delegation
including ToxicsWatch Alliance met him recently, the fact remains this
structural arrangement is inherently problematic. It is quite important for the new government
to appoint a separate labour minister who can safeguard the interests of
workers and their health and safety and ensure industrial peace.
In the matter of Bhilai gas leak accountability and liability
must be fixed for those responsible for lapses that led to loss of workers'
lives and workers' health to send a strong message that such dereliction of
duty will be deemed unpardonable by the new government.
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