COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) has warned field staff that disciplinary action would be initiated if they do not follow safety protocol at work.
The TNPDCL Director of Distribution has sent a letter to Chief Engineers (CE), Circle Superintendents (SE), Division-level Executive Engineers (EE), and Section-level Assistant Engineers (AE) to monitor compliance. They have been instructed to conduct random and surprise inspections to ensure work is performed with the necessary safety gear.
TNPDCL has provided mandatory personal protective equipment (PPE), including helmets, rubber gloves, safety belts, safety shoes, earthing rods, voltage sensors, and line testers, to prevent accidents. Field staff, such as line inspectors, wiremen, gangmen, and contract labourers, often climb poles to carry out their work and would be supervised by foremen.
“Despite several instructions, field workers on some occasions neglect to use safety gear, leading to accidents, including fatalities. Therefore, the department has issued strict guidance to superior officials to ensure that their subordinates adhere to safety protocols while working,” said a senior official from the department.
“If any field worker is found without safety gear, he will be suspended and disciplinary action will be taken against the responsible section AE. If a safety violation occurs a second time in the same sub-division, directly the action will be initiated against the AE. Officials in the four ranks are also required to report their daily inspections of safety measures to the headquarters,” the official said.