Foreseeable Accidents: On the Recent Industrial Accidents in India

UPSC Syllabus: Gs Paper 3- Disaster and disaster management.

Introduction

Recent industrial accidents in Surat and Visakhapatnam have renewed concerns about workplace safety in India. Although these incidents occurred in different sectors, both involved risks that were already well known and for which preventive measures existed. Their recurrence suggests that many industrial disasters are not isolated or unforeseeable events. Instead, they reflect persistent failures in safety management, weak implementation of safeguards, organisational shortcomings, and deeper structural problems within India’s industrial sector.

Recent Industrial Accidents

1. Surat Septic Tank Deaths: Four workers died after entering an unventilated industrial septic tank and inhaling toxic gases. The incident followed a pattern often seen in confined-space fatalities.
2. Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Disaster: A failure involving 150 tonnes of molten steel heated to 1,500°C caused a major fire and killed several workers. The accident occurred in a sector where risks are already well known.
3. Atchutapuram Pharmaceutical Factory Explosion: An electrical fire triggered a large explosion in August 2024. The accident caused 18 deaths and 41 injuries.
4. Thane Chemical Factory Explosion: A boiler explosion at a chemical factory in Maharashtra killed 10 people and injured more than 64 individuals.
5. Common Pattern Across Accidents: Despite occurring in different industries, these incidents reveal similar weaknesses in safety management and workplace protection.

Causes of Industrial Accidents

1. Reduced Staffing and Heavy Workloads: Allegations of lower staffing levels and increased workloads indicate that operational pressures can weaken workplace safety.
2. Ageing Equipment and Deferred Maintenance: Older equipment and delayed maintenance can increase the likelihood of failures that may escalate into major accidents.
3. Dependence on Contract Labour: Greater reliance on contract workers can create safety risks as they may receive less training and work within systems of fragmented accountability.
4. Accumulation of Organisational Weaknesses: Major industrial accidents often result from multiple weaknesses building up over time rather than from a single event.
5. Investment Constraints: Financial pressures and constraints on investments can affect maintenance, staffing, and other safety-related requirements.

Why These Accidents Are Foreseeable

1. Known Hazards in Confined Spaces: The dangers of toxic gases in septic tanks and other confined spaces are well understood and recognised by industry.
2. Established Safety Measures Already Exist: Measures such as ventilation systems, rescue personnel, breathing apparatuses, harnesses, retrieval lines, and communication systems have long been available.
3. Repeated Pattern of Similar Fatalities: Similar deaths have occurred in Surat’s industrial sector in recent years, showing that these risks are not new.
4. Known Risks in Steel Manufacturing: Steelmaking involves extreme temperatures, pressurised gases, heavy equipment, and large amounts of heat energy, making it an inherently hazardous activity.
5. Small Process Failures Can Cause Multiple Casualties: Even relatively minor failures in industrial processes can trigger accidents resulting in several deaths and injuries.
6. Septic Tank and Manual Scavenging Deaths Reflect Safety Failures: Such deaths are rarely unforeseeable events. Their recurrence points to persistent failures in basic safety management and the absence of necessary safeguards.

Legal and Policy Framework for Industrial Accidents

1. Factories Act, 1948: This law provides the basic framework for workplace safety. It contains provisions related to health, working conditions, and accident reporting.
2. Environment (Protection) Act, 1986: Introduced after the Bhopal disaster, it empowers the government to prevent industrial accidents and control hazardous pollution.
3. Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code: The code defines employer responsibilities regarding safe workplaces, safety equipment, inspections, and accident reporting.
4. Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013: The Act completely prohibits manual scavenging and provides for the rehabilitation of sanitation workers. It adopts a rights-based approach to protect human dignity and uphold the constitutional principles under Article 17 and Article 21.
5. Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991: Industries handling hazardous substances must maintain insurance coverage. This helps provide immediate relief to victims without requiring proof of negligence.
6. International Safety Commitments: India follows frameworks such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UNECE Industrial Accidents Convention. These support risk assessment and accident prevention efforts.

Occupational Safety and Regulatory Challenges in India

1. Large Informal Workforce: Nearly 90% of India’s workforce works in the informal sector. Most of these workers remain outside formal safety protections.
2. Severe Inspector Shortage: Around 300 inspectors oversee more than 300,000 factories. Limited inspection capacity weakens monitoring and enforcement.
3. Weak Accountability Mechanisms: More than 3,300 factory-related deaths between 2018 and 2020 resulted in only 14 convictions. This reflects a significant accountability gap.
4. Diluted Regulatory Scrutiny: Greater reliance on self-certification has reduced independent physical inspections. This may weaken safety oversight.
5. Higher Risks for Contract Workers: Contract workers often receive less training and operate under fragmented accountability systems. Occupational safety research consistently finds them more vulnerable.
6. Data and Surveillance Gaps: The absence of reliable databases on workplace injuries and occupational diseases limits informed policymaking.
7. Manpower Shortages in Hazardous Sectors: Many industries continue to face shortages of skilled personnel. This can affect safe operations and supervision.
8. Cost Over Safety Mindset: Financially stressed units may prioritise cost reduction over preventive safety investments. This increases exposure to industrial hazards.

Conclusion

Recent industrial accidents demonstrate that many workplace deaths arise from known hazards, inadequate safety practices, and accumulated organisational weaknesses. Their repeated occurrence shows that such incidents are often foreseeable rather than accidental. Strengthening enforcement, improving accountability, protecting vulnerable workers, and ensuring effective implementation of safety standards remain essential for preventing recurring industrial tragedies.

Question for practice:

Examine why recent industrial accidents in India are increasingly viewed as foreseeable safety failures rather than isolated and unforeseeable incidents. Discuss the causes, regulatory challenges, and existing legal safeguards related to industrial safety.

Source: The Hindu