CHENNAI: A 30-year-old woman working at an Aavin plant in Tiruvallur died after her dupatta, which she had wrapped around her neck, got stuck to a conveyor belt and her head got severed in the impact on Tuesday night.
According to Aavin, the victim, K Umarani, was a contract worker of Sasi Enterprises, a firm responsible for packing of milk products. She is survived by her husband and three children.
The Tiruvallur taluk police arrested Varun Kumar, supervisor of the Kakkalur dairy unit, on Wednesday under the charge of causing death due to negligence.
Ajith Kumar, deputy general manager of the unit, has also been suspended. Departmental action has also been initiated against officials of the company’s engineering department and two other staff members, Aavin said in a statement.
Revised SOP to mandate wearing overcoat, says Min
According to police, Umarani of Bommiampatti in Salem district started working at the plant six months ago in the packing section. Her daily tasks included packing milk packets from the conveyor belt into plastic trays. “On Tuesday night, around 9.20 pm, Umarani’s shawl accidentally got stuck to the conveyor belt.
Before she could react, she was pulled in and her hair was caught too. She was instantly decapitated. Other workers alerted plant authorities and police,” police said. “Staff raised an alarm. Officials visited the spot and notified the police. Aavin has taken steps to ensure the kin of the deceased receive benefits through ESI, EPF and compensation from the contractor,” a statement from Aavin said.
Milk and Dairy Development Minister T Mano Thangaraj described the incident as an unfortunate accident caused due to negligence. He said, “According to the standard operating procedure (SOP) at Aavin plants, wearing a shawl is not allowed in the packing section. However, a few female staff members preferred to wear it, so they were permitted to do so. The SOP will be revised to make wearing an overcoat mandatory.”
He also mentioned that the conveyor belt in the packing section moved slowly and there were no mechanical faults.