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Regarding need for comprehensive safety measures to control
industrial accidents in Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)
plants in the country-Laid
SHRI KIRTI AZAD (BARDHAMAN-DURGAPUR): I wish to draw
the attention of the Government to rising industrial accidents and
safety lapses in Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) plants,
especially the recent accident at the Durgapur Steel Plant. Officials
have highlighted a growing number of such accidents in organised
steel units of SAIL, with 131 fatalities occurring across SAIL plants
over the last ten years. Many of these could have been prevented
with adequate safety arrangements and vigilance, indicating
repeated violations of labour laws and the Factories Act, 1948. In
other plants, such as Bokaro Steel Plant, similar mishaps involving
hot metal spills and equipment failures have exposed serious
lapses in risk assessment, standard operating procedures and
protection for workers, especially contractual staff. I urge the Union
Government and the SAIL management to immediately order
independent safety audits of all plants, enforce strict compliance
with safety norms, provide mandatory protective gear and training
to all workers, fix accountability at the level of plant and corporate
management, and submit a detailed report to Parliament on action
taken in all major accidents and fatalities in the last decade, so that
workers are not forced to risk their lives merely to earn their
livelihood in our public sector units.