CHENNAI: A day after an accidental fire inside Sounding Rocket Complex (SRC) in Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Srikarikota, which injured two persons, it has now come to light that senior technician KV Krishnaiah ignored the standard safety protocol, which led to a minor explosion that almost killed him.
A colleague in Second Vehicle Assembly Building (SVAB) told Express that Krishnaiah was a very experienced technician, but in this case he ignored the safety protocol. He reportedly used test lamps, instead of ‘Megger’, an instrument routinely used during maintenance to check electrical insulation resistance.
“He was doing the maintenance work in an electric panel and was checking the insulation resistance (IR) of the old cables. It’s a critical parameter and is directly related to personal safety. It is important for the engineers to identify it to avoid any accidents due to electric shock. For this, Megger instruments are used and not test lamps. This might have led to the explosion,” a source said.
The accident took place around 3.40 pm. Along with Krishnaiah, a casual helper Muniraja also sustained burn injuries. However, the degree of burns was comparatively minor and was given treatment at a hospital in Sullurpet.
Calls made to SHAR director P Kunhikrishnan went answered.