Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy has ordered that third party safety audits be compulsorily done in all the industries prone to accidents, as per norms, especially those dealing with chemicals such as solvents, and has suggested that their properties be studied in advance so that possible disasters could be averted.
Addressing a review meeting on industrial safety protocols at the Secretariat on Saturday, Mr. Jawahar Reddy said due priority should be given to conducting drills from time to time, and instructed the State and district-level crisis groups to meet regularly to take stock of the preparedness of the industries to meet contingencies.
He observed that 11 industrial accidents had taken place in the last two years, and insisted that any further accidents should be averted. Necessary training should be given to employees to enable them to tackle emergencies, in case there were no experts, he added.
Giving a presentation on the subject, Director of Factories D. Chandrasekhar said crisis groups were set up in compliance with the Factories Act, 1948, and the Chemical Accidents (Emergency Planning, Preparedness and Response) Rules of 1996.
As per the Factories Act, 1948, there were 1,129 hazardous industries in the State and 600 drills were held in the last six months. Sensors were installed in 637 factories to trigger alerts, and safety audits were being done in 243 short-listed industries.
Commissioner of Industries Pravin Kumar, State Disaster Management Authority Director B.R. Ambedkar, Director of Municipal Administration Koteswara Rao, AP Special Police DIG B. Raja Kumari, State Fire Services Director D. Murali Mohan, and AP Pollution Control Board joint chief engineer Bhaskar Rao were present.
