ROURKELA:A day after a labourer sustained critical burn injuries in a mishap at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), another fire mishap was reported in the steel melting shop (SMS-II) on the plant premises on Sunday after hot liquid metal spilled out of a ladle. Sources said the mishap occurred around 10.30 am when Crane No.3 A was carrying the ladle filled with liquid hot metal to the Converter-C of the SMS-II. Due to fault in the crane’s coupling, the ladle automatically got lowered and spilled the liquid hot metal on the floor and generated heat and fire. Fortunately, no one was present at the site.
Sources said till Sunday evening, cleaning work at the accident site was underway. Total restoration of the Converter-C site may take several days. After the mishap, production of crude steel slabs at the SMS-II went down to about 20 per cent of its rated capacity of 9,000-10,000 tonnes daily as only Converter-A was in operation. Converter-B is down for repair. As a result, liquid hot metal production at Blast Furnace- IV and V also went down to 50 per cent on Sunday.
Incidentally, at about 4.30 am on Friday, another ladle, carrying about 160 tonnes of liquid hot metal, fell on the floor between the LHF (Ladle Heating Furnace) and the ARS (Argon Rinsing Station) of SMS-II when the ropes of the crane broke down. A contract worker was critically burnt. As production was affected at SMS-II, the BF-V on Friday was operated for 20 hours without hot metal production and simultaneously the Sinter Plant (SP) - 2 and 3 were shutdown along with Old Plate Mill. On Friday, in order to utilise the restoration time effectively, the RSP had advanced scheduled repair jobs of some key units.
BMS-affiliated Rourkela Ispat Karkhana Karmachari Sangh (RIKKS) general secretary H S Bal came down heavily on the management and held it responsible for the frequent mishaps. He said back-to-back mishaps and production losses at SMS-II have demoralised the workers and simultaneously show lack of vision on the part of the management. He said financial implications due to the production losses are huge and demanded action against officials concerned for ignoring safety aspects and repair and maintenance.
INTUC-affiliated Rourkela Shramik Sangh spokesperson NR Samal said the management is ignoring Standard Operating Practices to achieve higher production target. Officers, lured with promotional benefits, are putting the lives of workers at risk.