Question : Accidents at Steel Plants

(a) the details of the number of accidents occurred in various Steel plants of the country during each of the last three years and the current year along with the nature of such accidents, plant-wise;
(b) the number of persons injured/killed in these accidents and the total loss of property reported as a result thereof;
(c) the amount of compensation paid to the family members of those injured and killed in these accidents;
(d) the details of average annual expenditure incurred on the maintenance of these plants and instruments during the above period; and
(e) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to prevent recurrence of such accidents in future?

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR STEEL (SHRI VISHNU DEO SAI)

(a)&(b): There are two steel manufacturing Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in the country namely Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL). A statement showing the plant-wise and year-wise number of accidents, both fatal and non-fatal in the public sector in SAIL and RINL during the last three years is at Annexure. The accidents at these plants have occurred due to reasons such as fall from height, hit by falling/moving object, hot metal burns etc. There has been no significant loss of property due to accidents during the said period.

Steel is a deregulated sector. There are a large number of steel factories/plants in the country. As regards the private sector steel plants, the requisite data/information is not maintained by the Ministry of Steel.

(c) 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 Employees’ Compensation Act, Employee Family Benefit Scheme and company policy. In case of contract labour, compensation/dependent benefit is paid under the Employee State Insurance Scheme (ESIS) by the ESI Corporation. SAIL and RINL have paid approximately Rs.2,89,29,180/- as compensation to the injured persons and families of deceased during 2015-2018.

(d) The average annual expenditure on maintenance of different plants (including maintenance of equipments) of SAIL and RINL during the last three financial years was about Rs. 6650 crore and Rs.1154 crore respectively.

(e) Both SAIL and RINL have taken a number of measures to avoid occurrence of accidents. These measures, inter alia, include adherence to maintenance schedule, thrust on systematic approach to safety management, strict adherence to safety procedures, regular inspection, mandatory training and special training on safety awareness, conduct of safety audit, enforcing use of personal protection equipment and proper implementation of emergency plan prepared as per the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 etc.

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