Organisational and regulatory failures cause Escientia pharma blast: Scientists for people

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Scientists for People organisation has expressed concern over recent industrial accidents in the Visakhapatnam area, attributing them to organisational failures and a lack of safety culture.
In a letter to the Anakapalli Collector Vijaya Krishnan, the organisation's convenor Dr. K Babu Rao highlighted that the accidents at Visakha Solvents (2 died in 2020), JNPC (2 died in 2021), Laurus Labs (5 died in 2022), Sahithi (6 died in 2023), and Escientia (17 died in 2024) are all during physical operations.Deaths at JNPC were due to toxic exposure. Those accidents were all preventable through proper training and qualified personnel.
He emphasised the need for foreign expertise in establishing a Training Institute for Safety, given the absence of safety education in the Telugu states. He pointed out that China has made significant progress in process safety education, with 156 universities offering courses in the field. "We should implement PSM and RSM. We could get Chinese studies on the decomposition of the reaction product that caused the detonation. China developed a new accident investigation model called the 24 model. We should work towards building our capabilities," he said.
The organisation also called for reforms in the functioning of the Pollution Control Board (PCB) and the director of factories. Dr Babu Rao noted that developed countries enforce Process Safety Management (PSM) regulations in hazardous industries, but the ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and PCBs do not consider process safety while issuing environmental clearances. The explosions at Escientia have generated toxic gases, and the lack of regulation to prevent such releases undermines the AIR Act and Environmental Protection Act.
While a high-level inquiry into the Escientia incident has been proposed, Dr. Babu Rao emphasised the need for immediate action to prevent similar incidents from recurring. He suggested that the state should conduct a meeting with industries, encouraging them to implement safety programmes and prioritise workplace safety. The organisation advised giving industries a grace period to implement safety measures and warned of action for failure to comply. Dr. Babu Rao stressed the importance of involving owners in the process to ensure effective implementation of safety programs.