July 2022 - Safetik

July 10, 2022October 23, 2024st_admin_wbLeadership

PHDCCI meet on fire safety: Safety practices a must to avert industrial hazards, says Dy CM

Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak was speaking at an interactive conference and expo on “Uttar Pradesh Industrial Safety, Fire Safety and Disaster Response” organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), U.P. Chapter, in collaboration with Safety Controls and Devices Pvt Ltd in Lucknow on Tuesday.

Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak encouraged stakeholders for more preparedness and awareness towards industrial hazards, safety practices and equipment.

He said chances of dangers and accidents tend to increase hand-in-hand with the size of the industry unit and therefore it becomes very significant to incorporate awareness and protection protocols in any given unit.

Pathak was speaking at an interactive conference and expo on “Uttar Pradesh Industrial Safety, Fire Safety and Disaster Response” organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), U.P. Chapter, in collaboration with Safety Controls and Devices Pvt Ltd in Lucknow on Tuesday.

He said awareness towards the hazards gain more importance in rural areas where the usage of LPG is still new and gathering momentum. The deputy CM also said the state would soon come up with 17 new airports to enhance connectivity.

He said that the government had been able create a safer and healthier ambience and the same was reflected when women and senior citizens were seen moving out on the streets confidently and fearlessly.

Additional chief secretary (home), U.P., Awanish Kumar Awasthi said the government was acting proactively towards the prevention of industrial hazards, especially fire accidents. He said industrial accidents and hazards can be prevented if only careful attention is given to the safety control part and awareness trainings are given to workers.

Awasthi also said the fire services department had succeeded in setting up fire stations in all tehsils of the state and was now aiming to put up fire stations in all 819 blocks of the state to reduce fire accidents.

He appreciated the good work being done by the PHDCCI and said he was elated on being invited to such meaningful symposiums organised by the Chamber frequently.

Avinash Chandra, DG, fire services, U.P., spoke on the significance of industrial safety and disaster response. He said for any given industry unit, it becomes very important to include safety practices in its area of operations and preparedness against the foresighted accidents.

He also said 65% of fire hazards happened due to short-circuits simply because the wiring after it turned old would become danger prone. He said that was why it became very important to do periodic audits to check wiring for any faults.

Rajnish Chopra, managing director, Safety Controls and Devices Pvt Ltd. who was is the chairman of the conference, gave the theme address and appreciated the subject experts who gathered from different parts of the country.

July 8, 2022October 23, 2024st_admin_wbFranchising

When will fire safety regulations be implemented, HC asks state

The PIL also sought directions for the issuance of the final notification on Special Regulations for Buildings Vulnerable to Man-made Disasters in the DCPR-2034

Mumbai The Bombay high court (HC) has asked the state government to report the progress of implementing draft regulations for fire safety in buildings vulnerable to man-made disasters within a week.

The directions were issued after a public interest litigation (PIL), which raised a grievance that though the draft regulations were formulated in 2009 in the aftermath of the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, nothing was done to implement the same.

The PIL also sought directions for the issuance of the final notification on Special Regulations for Buildings Vulnerable to Man-made Disasters in the DCPR-2034. Though the state sought four weeks’ time, the HC declined it and posted the hearing after a week.

The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice M S Karnik, while hearing the PIL filed by advocate Abha Singh, was informed by advocate Hiten Venegaonkar, special counsel for the state government, that it would take at least four weeks to implement fire safety regulations and guidelines, after conducting the requisite research and studies. The state had informed the bench of the guidelines on April 11.

In light of the submission by the state, advocate Aditya Pratap appearing for Singh said that the state was probably not implementing the fire safety regulations due to the interest of developers and builders.

After hearing the submissions, the bench observed that the state ought to have filed an affidavit bringing on record their stand on the status of implementation of the regulations and adjourned hearing of the PIL after a week.

Earlier, the state had filed an affidavit informing the bench that objections and suggestions had been sought from the public on the draft regulations and based on advancements made in the field of science and technology, it wanted to ascertain whether the special regulations needed to be implemented by appointing an expert committee for the same.

The bench also sought to know as to why the state had failed to include the special regulations in the DCPR- 2034, which came into effect in 2018 and the Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR), which came into effect in 2020.

The bench then noted that the state had failed to justify its complete inaction from incorporating the stipulations of the regulations in the DCPR-2034 and the UDCPR. “Unfortunately, a complete abdication of public duties and functions is discernible, which is wholly opposed to public interest and public concern,” added the bench.