Displaying items by tag: Accident

India: One construction worker has been killed and two others injured at a cement plant being constructed in Durg district of Chhattisgarh.

"22-year-old Tapan Banjare was trapped under the debris when earth caved in from the 40-feet-deep foundation unit of an under-construction cement plant in Nandini area of Bhilai region of the district," Bhilai ASP Prashant Thakur told the Press Trust of India. He said the injured workers were admitted to a private hospital, where their condition was said to be out of danger.

Central African Republic: Two cement plant builders have been killed accidentally by French troops in Bangui in Central African Republic (CAR). The bodies of one Indian and one Nepalese national have been sent to Gabon in a French Military aircraft for repatriation, according to Indian media. In addition, six injured Indian nationals, who were flown to Chad, have been reported as stable.

The dead workers were employed by MIs Jaguar Overseas to build a cement plant in the capital of CAR. A release from the company said that about 100 employees of the company were currently stationed at the plant. It stated that the regional stabilisation force in Bangui, as well as the French forces, had been visiting the plant to reassure employees of their safety. The release added that there had been visible improvement in the situation, with local staff returning to work and utilities restarted.

A stark reminder came this week of the thankfully rare but potential risks of working in the cement industry. Five deaths were reported at Ambuja Cement's Bhatapara cement plant in India on 31 January 2013.

According to a press release Ambuja issued, the steel construction supporting a fly ash hopper located on top of a building, and connected to the cement mill, collapsed at the Bhatapara plant. Further details in local press reports added that about 200t of fly ash fell from a height of 15m. Five labourers and plant employees working at the site were buried under the debris and subsequently died. Four officials from the company have since been arrested and the plant closed while investigations are conducted.

Previously in January 2013 burn injuries were reported as another Ambuja cement plant, this time at Darlaghat. Eight workers received burns after a blast from a boiler unit.

However, despite these incidents the safety figures for Ambuja Cement and the other major Indian producers are high. In Ambuja Cement's 2011 sustainability report it recorded that its lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) was 1.04 for total employees and supervised workers. Its LTIFR has been dropping steadily since 2008, when it was 3.18.

This compares to other major Indian cement producers as follows. UltraTech Cement reported that its LTIFR for permanent employees was 0.82 in 2011-2012, a consistent drop year by year since 2008-2009. ACC reported that its LTIFR for its own and subcontracted employees was 0.31 in 2011. Shree Cement reported a LTIFR of 0.91 in 2010-2011 for employees and contractors. For international comparison the Mineral Products Association set a LTIFR target of 1.79 or lower for 2014 in the UK. Lafarge's global LTIFR in 2011 was 0.63 and Holcim's was 1.6.

An Ambuja's plant in Rajasthan picked up two national awards from the Government of India for Safety Performance in mid 2012. One was for first place for outstanding performance in Industrial Safety based on 'Lowest Average Frequent Rate'. The second was a runners-up prize for the category 'Accident Free Year'. Lafarge India, UltraTech, ACC and the other major producers all hold similar accolades. Sadly, any safety record is only as good as the shift that has just finished.

India: Four officials at Ambuja Cement have been arrested following an accident with five fatalities at the company's cement plant at Rawan in Chhattisgarh.

"Vice President of Ambuja Cement Sanjay Kumar Badopadhyay, DGM Production K Venkat Stayanarayan Murty, DGM Mechanical Rajendra Singh Kurmi and GM electrical Sanjay Kumar Mishra have been arrested in connection to the Ambuja cement factory (incident)," said a police officer to the Press Trust of India. They were booked under IPC sections 287 (negligence with machinery), 337 (endangering life or personal safety) and 304A (causing death by negligence).

Five workers were killed on 31 January 2013 when a fly ash container crashed into the mixing unit of the plant at Rawan village. A case has been registered against Ambuja Cement management and the labour department has ordered a halt to factory operations until an investigation into the incident has been completed.

Chief Minister Raman Singh has directed the factory management to provide compensation of US$18,800 to the kin of each victim and a job to one member of their families. A six-member panel headed by additional collector of Balodabazar district has also been formed to conduct magisterial probe into the incident, which has been asked to submit its report in one week.

China: An accidental explosion at a quarry supplying a cement plant in southern China has killed ten people and left 18 with confirmed injuries.

Workers were in the process of unloading 13t of explosives from three trucks at a quarry of the Longshan Cement Company in Yingde city in Guangdong Province when some of the explosives ignited on 27 August 2012. Of the 18 injured, nine are workers from the cement company and the others are residents in the nearby town of Yinghong, which is separated from the quarry by a river.

At least nine people living in a nearby town were also injured in the blast when windows shattered. Among the dead were quarry workers and others who transported and unloaded the explosives.

An investigation team has been set up and sent to the site of the accident to search for evidence and handle the remains of the explosives. A probe into the cause of the blast is underway.

Longshan Cement Company, a subsidiary of Anhui Conch Cement, employs 950 people, including 240 who work at the quarry.

UK: A worker was killed in an industrial accident at the Cemex plant in Rugby in the early hours of this morning.

A spokesman for the plant confirmed that a man working for a sub-contractor was killed at the plant and emergency services attended the scene. Police officers and the Health and Safety Executive are currently at the site investigating what happened. Another man suffered a broken arm in the incident and had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

Cemex community affairs manager Ian Southcott said, "Regrettably one person has died and our thoughts and sympathies are with their family and friends. Cemex is cooperating fully with all of the investigations taking place." Southcott refused to reveal any more details about the accident while investigations are on-going.

The cement plant is currently in its annual shutdown period for regular maintenance. There are a number of contractors working on the site as a result. In December 2011 Cemex was fined for a worker's death in 2008 at the same plant.

UK: Cemex UK has been fined Euro230,000 following the death of a worker in an explosion at its Rugby cement plant. The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Cemex after the death of 28-year-old Peter Reynolds on 15 January 2008.

Leamington Spa Crown Court heard that Reynolds was treating waste cement dust in the bypass dust plant at the company's Rugby Cement Works. While he was clearing a blockage in the lower mixer, there was a violent explosion of steam and dust from inside the machine. The force of the explosion blew Reynolds out through the side of the building onto the road ten metres below. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

HSE's investigation into the incident found that Cemex had recognised the potential for blockages to cause explosions as steam pressure built up within the mixer but it took no action to prevent them. The court also heard the company had failed to review its risk assessment following a previous incident in May 2006, when another man was injured using the same machine. This explosion bent a metal-cladded external wall, pushing it out by 50cm.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Principal Inspector Neil Craig said, "This was an entirely avoidable tragedy, which has left a young family without a husband and a father. If Cemex had investigated the previous incident properly, Mr Reynolds would still be alive today."

"Cemex's protection against the build up of pressure was for the plant to be continuously vented when processing waste cement dust, but it frequently blocked. These blockages then caused steam to build up to a high pressure."

"The company could have made a number of changes to the mixer to reduce the flow of dust and improve the venting and cooling systems, or devised a new system of work. However, no action was taken and employees were expected to operate this dangerous piece of machinery."

Cemex UK pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined Euro230,000 and ordered to pay Euro200,000 costs.