Steel Navratna’s pride in tatters: Is safety ignored at VSP?
During the national safety
day celebrations at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) in March this
year, CMD AP Choudhary said productivity of the organisation is directly
linked to its safety performance which, in turn, will have a huge
bearing on the plant's profitability. He went on to claim that VSP had
made giant strides in improving safety in the plant. D Chandra Sekhar
Varma, joint chief inspector of factories, who also spoke, was no less
eloquent when he lauded the VSP for showing 'very positive' signs of
declining rate of accidents.
Contrary to their claims, eight major mishaps have taken place in the steel plant in the last one year. While Wednesday night's disaster was waiting to happen, a big question mark hangs over safety at VSP with lives of workers and officers in danger. A safety department is in place since 1990 and each of the process plants has a dedicated safety officer who is responsible for advising the plant with regard to safety aspects. But shockingly, safety norms have been neglected by the authorities even as the plant expansion works taken up at Rs 12,500 crore are on at a feverish pace. Sources said a risk strategy group was allegedly disbanded during the tenure of CMD PK Bishnoi. "Safety is not about wearing helmets or shoes. Focus should be on the safety of the equipment and those who handle the key units in a highly combustible environment but the management is clueless," pointed out a senior executive in the blast furnace unit. Enquiries have revealed that too much dependence on contract labour even in critical units is leading to mishaps at regular intervals. "Had the senior managers isolated the valve to absolve the abnormal pressure building up in the oxygen plant, the explosion could have been averted but who will take the call," the officer sought to know.
The blast on Wednesday night was caused by improper supply of oxygen to the converter in the steel melting shop II. The technical staff reportedly blew oxygen not once, but thrice to the converter, due to which the gas gushed back at great pressure and exploded. According to industry experts, the oxygen section is a crucial part of a steel plant as it helps facilitate the extraction of steel from iron. Once the iron is melted in the blast furnace, it is taken into the basic oxygen furnace where oxygen is blown over the molten iron to remove impurities such as carbon, sulphur, etc. Once the carbon in the molten iron is brought below a certain percentage it becomes steel. "Oxygen is a dangerous commodity but it cannot explode unless there is a highly explosive mixture. There seems to have been some problem with the oxygen flow and perhaps when they were not getting adequate oxygen, they tried to fiddle with it causing the blast," pointed out a former officer. "The blast surely must have been caused by some slippage somewhere. All accidents occur due to negligence," reasoned a former top gun of VSP.
Plant sources said skilled persons and experienced officials are not at hand to manage key units such as pressure gauge, motor guards and circuit section. "Where the hot metal at 3,000 degrees and water interact, even a slight aberration could lead to a catastrophe. It's like an atom bomb which could explode any moment," explained YSR Congress leader Jupudi Prabhakar, who worked as a metallurgical engineer in Midhani.
Another point in question is that employees and officers sent abroad for training on blast furnace management get posting in sinter plant and other units. Some time back, a group of officers and employees was sent abroad for training in blast furnace but they were posted in another wing after they returned. "Previously, the management used to send newly-recruited employees to Bhilai, Rourkela and Bokaro steel plants for training. But now the focus is more on commissioning of new units, expansion of business and filing success reports," rued Bharat, a senior official in the steel melting shop (SMS).
Contrary to their claims, eight major mishaps have taken place in the steel plant in the last one year. While Wednesday night's disaster was waiting to happen, a big question mark hangs over safety at VSP with lives of workers and officers in danger. A safety department is in place since 1990 and each of the process plants has a dedicated safety officer who is responsible for advising the plant with regard to safety aspects. But shockingly, safety norms have been neglected by the authorities even as the plant expansion works taken up at Rs 12,500 crore are on at a feverish pace. Sources said a risk strategy group was allegedly disbanded during the tenure of CMD PK Bishnoi. "Safety is not about wearing helmets or shoes. Focus should be on the safety of the equipment and those who handle the key units in a highly combustible environment but the management is clueless," pointed out a senior executive in the blast furnace unit. Enquiries have revealed that too much dependence on contract labour even in critical units is leading to mishaps at regular intervals. "Had the senior managers isolated the valve to absolve the abnormal pressure building up in the oxygen plant, the explosion could have been averted but who will take the call," the officer sought to know.
The blast on Wednesday night was caused by improper supply of oxygen to the converter in the steel melting shop II. The technical staff reportedly blew oxygen not once, but thrice to the converter, due to which the gas gushed back at great pressure and exploded. According to industry experts, the oxygen section is a crucial part of a steel plant as it helps facilitate the extraction of steel from iron. Once the iron is melted in the blast furnace, it is taken into the basic oxygen furnace where oxygen is blown over the molten iron to remove impurities such as carbon, sulphur, etc. Once the carbon in the molten iron is brought below a certain percentage it becomes steel. "Oxygen is a dangerous commodity but it cannot explode unless there is a highly explosive mixture. There seems to have been some problem with the oxygen flow and perhaps when they were not getting adequate oxygen, they tried to fiddle with it causing the blast," pointed out a former officer. "The blast surely must have been caused by some slippage somewhere. All accidents occur due to negligence," reasoned a former top gun of VSP.
Plant sources said skilled persons and experienced officials are not at hand to manage key units such as pressure gauge, motor guards and circuit section. "Where the hot metal at 3,000 degrees and water interact, even a slight aberration could lead to a catastrophe. It's like an atom bomb which could explode any moment," explained YSR Congress leader Jupudi Prabhakar, who worked as a metallurgical engineer in Midhani.
Another point in question is that employees and officers sent abroad for training on blast furnace management get posting in sinter plant and other units. Some time back, a group of officers and employees was sent abroad for training in blast furnace but they were posted in another wing after they returned. "Previously, the management used to send newly-recruited employees to Bhilai, Rourkela and Bokaro steel plants for training. But now the focus is more on commissioning of new units, expansion of business and filing success reports," rued Bharat, a senior official in the steel melting shop (SMS).
