Panel slams firm for deadly blast
6 killed; probe says SB Organics was clueless
A committee formed to probe the reasons for the explosion at SB Organics Ltd (SBOL) at Chandapur in Sangareddy district, in which six workers died, has indicated that it could not obtain proper information from the company.
The panel with the deputy chief inspector of factories, Sangareddy, as the convener, has flagged non-cooperation at every stage by the firm.
The SBOL team had no understanding of the process and the conditions in the reactor that led to the explosion. The shift incharge was unqualified for the post and did not understand the process and there was no documentation on the process or design of the reactors, said Dr P.G. Rao, member EPTRI.
The incident happened during the production of guanidine nitrate from urea.
The committee comprised representatives from the factories, fire, disaster, environment departments, TGPCB and EPTRI. The panel has recommended process safety management programmes in every hazardous industry and said unqualified personnel should not be employed in them.
Elaborating the failures at the management level at SB Organics, it found “unqualified, improperly qualified personnel, lack of documentation on the process technology and design, manual operation sans safeguards, inadequate employee training and missing hazard analysis and risk assessment.”
It has recommended personal interviews with key witnesses.
The report said, “Process safety is not in the domain of the ministries of environment and labour. The environmental clearance process does not appraise the project for process safety. The labour ministry has no safety management regulations or inspections.”
The report has not been signed by the deputy chief inspector of factories (DCIF), Sangareddy, M. Praveen Kumar. He said due process was being followed and it will be signed in four to five days.
“The DCIF as member convener can only facilitate obtaining signatures of all the members of the committee and cannot withhold the report unilaterally. He has been making lame excuses,” alleged Dr K. Babu Rao, former chief scientist, IICT, and a team member.