THE MINISTER OF STEEL (SHRI BENI PRASAD VERMA)
(a)&(b): A statement showing details of accidents which occurred in different
public sector steel plants of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) during the requisite period is annexed.
The accidents at these plants have occurred due to reasons such as fall from
height, gas poisoning, electrocution, burn injury, fire/explosion etc.
Steel is a deregulated sector. There are a large number of steel factories/
plants in the country. Therefore in regard to the private steel sector, the
requisite data/information is not maintained by the Ministry of Steel.
(c) Yes, Madam. All fatal accidents are investigated by a plant level enquiry
committee to identify the causes of such accidents and give recommendations to
prevent recurrence of such incidents. Status of implementation of the
recommendations made by the committee is monitored and reviewed at appropriate
levels for their timely compliance. Wherever recommended by the Plant enquiry
committee, appropriate actions are taken against the erring employees/officials
for violation of safety norms leading to an accident. In case of contractual
employees, the same is done as per the penalty provisions given in the terms
and conditions of the contract.
(d) In case of contract labour, compensation/dependent benefit is paid under
the Employee State Insurance Scheme (ESIS) by the ESI Corporation. In case of
fatal accidents of regular employees, the compensation is given as per the law/
company policy. SAIL and RINL provide compensation to their employees in case of
death/disablement due to accident arising out of and in course of employment as
per the Workmen’s Compensation Act, Employee Family Benefit Scheme and company
policy. SAIL and RINL have paid approximately Rs.17,32,04,413/- as compensation
to the injured persons and families of deceased from 2010 till date.
The average annual expenditure on maintenance of different plants (including
expenditure incurred on repairs, change in pipelines, electric repairs and
mechanical maintenance) of SAIL and RINL during the years 2010-11 to 2012-13 was
about Rs. 5738.33 crore and Rs.777.80 crore respectively.
(e) Measures taken by SAIL Plants/Units to avoid occurrence of accidents in
identified areas of concern are as follows:-
(i) Enforcing usage of job specific Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) by
all concerned, mandatory use of full body harness in place of safety belts;
(ii) Campaign and training on rail and road safety;
(iii) Use of retardant dress while handling liquid metal;
(iv) Provisions of automatic gas leak detection and alarm system in hazardous areas,
Conducting periodic mock drills as per emergency plan;
(v) Strict adherence to Inter Plant Safety Standards procedures;
(vi) Enforcement of safety induction training;
(vii) Strict adherence to safety procedures, medical fitness and height pass; and
(viii) Thrust on systematic approach for safety management (OHSAS-18001 implementation,
internal and external safety audits etc.)
As regards RINL, based on the findings of the enquiry committees which probe into
the incident of each fatal accident, the cause of each accident is identified and
the following measures are taken:
(i) Comprehensive safety audit has been conducted by Regional Labour Institute,
Chennai, DGFASLI (Directorate General, Factory Advice Service & Labour Institutes)
in July 2012.
(ii) Review of Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Training programme has
been conducted by Director Safety, Regional Labour Institute, Chennai, DGFASLI
in October 2012.
(iii) Mock-drills as per the emergency plan conducted periodically.
(iv) Automatic gas leak detection alarm in critical and gas prone areas provided.
(v) Enforcing usage of job specific personal protective equipment.
(vi) Conducting special training programmes on Behavioral Based Safety and Legal awareness
(vii) Training programme conducted on ‘Prevention of Fire in Oxygen enriched systems’.
