Industrial accidents are still a life threatening fear in India. It’s in everyone’s descrying the recent Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) gas pipeline blast which has happened in Lanco’s Kondapalli power plant near Vijaywada on Saturday 28th June 2014.

The result of blast is stated as, the gas which leaked from the pipeline ignited when a tea vendor lit his stove. The blaze scorched the houses, greeneries and everything else for half a kilometer from the plant. An 18 inch pipe was extinguished by mid- morning which claimed 14 lives. The main cause for this accident is the carelessness over the leaking pipe. The pipelines were set in 2001 and capable to work till 2016, but a proper auditing, maintenance of the machineries & equipment is also much necessary especially in oil & gas industries. Regular Auditing plays an important role as the working condition of every process can be checked for its standards and safety level. A qualified auditor for quality and safety should be recruited by every industry. International courses in Auditing are available for HSE where completing those courses skill a professional to know how to control the risk factors involved in a workplace environment and the process. Knowledge on OSHAS, EMS guidelines and regulations are very important for a company to be in compliance.

This bad incident has contribution of influence from the authorities who have approved this industry to be located near the residence to the engineer who maintained the conditions of machineries and equipment inside the company. This kind of industrial accidents has great chance to ruin one’s life who is working inside the industry to the poor lives living near the industries. Fortunately the non-presence of workers during the blast is a much blessed condition. Safety is a very basic need an industry should maintain.

Accessibility to emergency exit, block sprinklers and firefighting equipment should always be available. Proper waste disposal is very important as it can turn in to any hazard. Maintenance and proper auditing of machineries for friction spark, overheating, leakage is mandatory to have a controlled and safe environment. Reporting electrical hazards, Safe usage & storage of chemicals, proper use of smoke area by the employees, building security, precautions in explosive atmospheres, fully charged fire extinguishers; emergency help numbers are the major safety procedures which could help to reduce accident chance and situations.

Normally Oil & Gas industry will have high risk to catch fire & to explode because of its nature to deal with highly flammable products. Safety knowledge is a mandatory qualification for each and every employee working in any industry. The workforce with much risk involved environment and work, should possess all way to protect themselves and the organization with smart safety actions. Being careless with the safety measures can ruin yours as well as other’s life. Safety precautions and factors is a needed weapon still many countries need to save their nations lively and economically.

Industries should have qualified safety professionals and should train their workforce in safety. There are lots of qualifying courses and studies related to HSE to work in industries. NEBOSH and British Safety Council Fire Safety courses, British Safety Council Risk Assessment, First Aid, IOSH Managing Safely, IOSH working safely are some international courses which will increase an organization’s reputation in safety level. Only a constant safety consciousness of an organization and timely safety action of their employees can prevent any deadly drowning industrial accident in the future. Moreover it’s a legal obligation for an organization to provide a safe environment for their employees. Safety education should be given more importance. Safety certifications and training benefits should be known by every working people especially in the industries and this can drastically reduce the level of industrial accidents. Safety professionals can qualify themselves with many available international safety courses which teaches the global standards of safety procedures which are proven to be effectively reducing the accident rates. This at least makes a  family to feel happy about having a secured life rather to just receive the useless ex-gratia relief or compensation amount for the loss of their beloved one’s lives. Be responsible, take safety in hand. Its time not to condole, but to think safety. Prevent accidents & save life!