Vedanta Conducts Workshop on Industrial Safety & Accident Prevention in Orissa’s Jharsuguda

Jharsuguda: A day long workshop on ‘Industrial Safety and Accident Prevention’ was held today at Hotel City Palace Conference hall, here at Jharsuguda. The workshop was jointly organized by Directorate of Factories and Boilers, Govt. of Orissa and Vedanta Aluminium Ltd wherein all major leading industrial houses in Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Bargarh participated. Imbibing a culture of safety within all industries and minimizing the human-error element present therein emerged as a major concern and there was a general consensus that Safety is a Management Responsibility and all accidents can be prevented. Mr. Jagar Singh, Commissioner cum Secretary, Labour and employment, Govt. of Orissa, Mr. Jamil Ahmed khan, RDC Northern Division, Sambalpur, Mr. S. K. Mishra, Director of Factories and Boilers (Safety), Mr. D. K. Das, Collector Jharsuguda, Mr. P.K. Pattnaik, Collector Sambalpur, Ms Kavita Jalan, SP Jharsuguda, Mr. S. Singh, SP Sambalpur, Mr. Pankaj Khanna, Executive Director, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd, Mr. Abhijeet Pati, Chief Operating Officer, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd. Senior Officials of Vedanta Aluminium and representatives of other industrial houses among others were present. The Workshop started off with an introductory address by Mr. Pankaj Khanna, Executive Director VAL who welcomed the participants and urged the need for addressing Safety issues in rapidly developing industrial sector in the region as a whole. He reiterated Vedanta’s total commitment to the cause. “Safety is a Management Responsibility. It is the most concerned area at our sites. Constantly improving our practices for safe accomplishment of job is of paramount importance. Very concrete efforts have been made which will provide the organization, necessary direction and values on safety” he said. During the workshop it was highlighted that a little over than 5% of all fatalities relate to lapse in safety practices in Industries and the reason for Most of the industrial accidents are: Fall from Height, Electrocution and Vehicle related. Mr. S.K.Mishra said that though it is a difficult task but if the human failure element is eliminated, the magic figure of zero percent can be achieved. Speaking on the occasion Mr. Jagar Singh said “We have become more adventurous and risk taking. We need to focus on safety as our basic duty”. He emphasized that “Safety First” should form part of our culture. Mr. Jamil Ahmed Khan thanked Vedanta for the great initiative the company has taken in facilitating and organizing the workshop on awareness on Industrial Safety and Accident prevention. He appealed to all Industrial Houses to disseminate the learning and knowledge to the Ground level workforce and conduct more such programmes within their locations and sites involving all the labour force in place. Mr Abhijeet Pati voiced for setting up a Govt. Regional Directorate governing Safety and Occupational Issues in Jharsuguda considering the rapid industrialization in the region. He stated that Vedanta will organize here in Jharsuguda an International level 3 days Safety Workshop having international Experts from across the globe. It was followed by Paper Presentations on “Enhancing Effectiveness of Safety management – Ways and Means” by Mr. S.K. Mishra, “World Class Safety Management” by R.S. Rathore, Director, ACC ltd Bargarh, “Safety Management System at Vedanta Aluminium Ltd.” by Mr. B.K. Verma, Associate VP SHE, “Accident Prevention at Bhusan Power and Steels Ltd.” By Mr. P. Kar, DGM, “Safety Management System at L&T Ltd. By Mr. A. Dandapat, Head safety. Documentary Films on “Industrial Safety at work place” and “Safety measures during construction activities” were screened during the workshop. Vote of thanks was given by Mr. Abhijeet Pati, COO Vedanta Aluminium Ltd. In his concluding remarks he congratulated all the participants for their valuable contribution and advocated for a shared knowledge base among industries on the subject. “It is time we must start learning from others mistake and refrain from committing the same.” he said.