On Wednesday, a poor 17-year-old teenager from Budgam died at an industrial unit in Lessipora area of Pulwama district and leakage of some kind of gas is suspected to bring an immaturely end to a precious life.
The incident went almost unnoticed even though it would mean manifold miseries to his family grappling poverty. It also followed toxic disaster that killed several people and left hundreds sick near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh earlier month. In between, there was a boiler blast at NLC India Limited’s thermal power station in Neyveli in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore.
What happened in Visakhapatnam or elsewhere is a warning for industries across India, Jammu and Kashmir being no exception. The incidents referred to above came at a time when the world is plagued by COVID-19 pandemic and continues to cause unprecedented humanitarian challenges to countries irrespective of economic stability.
Not only India but all countries are also now shifting to reopen the economy especially ensuring the opening of critical industrial units like pharmacy, vital equipment, packaging, packed food and other manufacturing units.
On last Sunday, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) released fresh guidelines on the restarting protocols regarding manufacturing and chemical industries after the end of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-necessitated lockdown period. Some of the manufacturing facilities have pipelines, valves that may have residual chemicals, which may pose risk and similar is the case of storage facilities with hazardous chemicals and flammable material. Early warning signs like weird sounds or smell, exposed wires, vibrations, leaks, smoke, abnormal wobbling, irregular grinding indicate the need for immediate maintenance or if required shutdown.
It is also important that every industry maintains better sanitization and ensures spaces in the common areas including lunchrooms and common tables are cleaned with disinfectants after every single use. Managerial and administrative staff should work one shift at 33 percent capacity as per the MHA guidelines preferably with those associated with safety and maintenance and week’s trial run is mandatory.
Special teams of SIDCO, SICOP, and other technical experts must be assigned to supervise all arrangements for these units. The administration must adhere to all guidelines by NDMA while giving permission to these industries to restart.
Apart from measures against COVID-19, there is a need for the government to strengthen the approach to public and occupational safety to prevent terrible mistakes which invariable claim human lives and bring about untold miseries to affected families irrespective of them being affluent or poor.
Avoid Industrial Mistakes
