Sivakasi…. When we come across this name,  at once it reminds us of the bursting of crackers during the festival seasons, as 90% of the crackers in India are manufactured in Sivakasi. Crackers are invented by the Chinese and the science of designing fireworks is called pyrotechnics. Sivakasi has a nickname “Kutty japan” and is also famous for the manufacturing of matches and offset printings.

But now a day, Sivakasi mostly reminds us of bursting cracker factories rather than crackers. There was a series of fire accidents from 2005,2009,2010 and 3 accidents in 2011.Recently a massive fire accidentally broke out on August 5, 2012 in a cracker factory in Mudallipatti village, virudunagar district, in which more than 60 were killed and 58 were injured. Of this many of them were the innocent village people around the factory who rushed to help the workers trapped inside the factory. The death rate was high due to the continuous explosion of the crackers stored in the Godown.

From the media and press its clear that the factory has violated the Factory norms and the owner of the factory was arrested. Does this solve the problem? The question arises that how the government issued the license for the factory which does not follow the standard norms of the safety practice. Here the government represents a  few  government employees who are not loyal to their jobs. Each Government employee should realize that he has a prestigious position and any mistake from his side will spoil the Goodwill of our Government. Besides that he will be responsible for the consequences arising from it. Those who issued the license for this factory is also responsible for the valuable life of those innocent people.

Basic requirements for a cracker factory is that the work area should be an open space. And 3 mm rubber sheets should be spread on the floor. The workers should be technically qualified and there should be a proper safety and preventive measures. The crackers should not be stored in Godowns. But most of the factories do not follow these basic rules, which results in serious accidents.

Regarding the chemicals used in making crackers, potassium Nitrate or Potassium chlorate , Sulphur and charcoal are some of the important chemicals. Of which Pottassiuim Chlorate is an oxidizing agent and reacts vigorously  even with slightly inflammable substance and when mixed with combustible materials will cause explosions and so it should be handled with care. The chlorate propellants must be kept only in the equipments designed for them. The failure of this is a common cause of an accident. Though Sulphur and Charcoal are not dangerous substances, Sulphur when mixed with potassium chlorate  will result in spontaneous blaze. Charcoal together with Sulphur is used as the fuel component in making gunpowder. Many workers have been seriously injured  while handling these chemicals. There is always risk in handling such materials and those who learn as much as they can about what they are doing stand a much better chance of survival than those who do not.

If each and every worker have the basic knowledge about their work and knows about the facilities or safety measures that is  to be provided to them can  protest against the Factory if they are not provided with a safe workplace . They should see to it, whether the factory has taken enough safety and preventive measures for the safety of the workers. And they should not work  in the factories which do not follow the safety norms. If this happens then the factories which do not follow the safety norms would be eradicated. How will a factory run without the workers?

The government is taking various measures  such as special safety awards are presented annually to Fire  factory managements which perform well without any accidents. And the award for the best worker is also given every year. Moreover safety awareness campaigns are also conducted among the workers., Additional provisions relating to safety have been incorporated in the  Schedule XXIV, under  Rule 95 of the TamilNadu Factories Rules, 1950.But we have to see that all the plans implemented by the government reaches  to the lower level people or not. It should not be stagnated anywhere in the upper levels. So the workers should be aware of the things happening around them and fight  for their basic rights. Because any compensation from the Government will not occupy the space left by them in their  family .….

Article Posted By : sujinishajhil  On September 12, 2012lView All Articles

I am a home maker with a great passion of reading. Writing is my hobby.

Article Source :

http://www.veethi.com/articles/sivakasi---becoming-famous-for-fire-accidents-article-1019.htm

Keywords :
Sivakasi , fire accident , cracker manufacture , employees safety and preventive measures