Safety officers have been appointed at expansion project sites in the Chennai airport, said S. Raheja, Member (Planning), Airports Authority of India (AAI), here on Friday.
Inspection
Mr. Raheja, who is in Chennai in the wake of an accident at the new domestic terminal project site on Wednesday, in which a construction worker was killed, said the decision was taken after inspecting the project sites at the airport and discussions with AAI officials here.
Under the earlier system, more than 20 persons were looking after the safety management system, which was headed by an officer in the rank of manager who was directly reporting to the Project Director of the AAI. Now, the AAI had roped in other agencies involved in the project such as Voltas and Areva and the responsibility of safety management had been distributed.
Already a well-laid safety management system was in place and a foreign company had been appointed by the AAI as a project management consultant to look after the safety aspects.
Risk analysis study
The AAI had also done a risk analysis study.
Talking about the crane involved in the accident, Mr. Raheja said it was manufactured in 1989 and bought by a Gujarat-based company in 2007. Only on June 15, a safety certificate was issued. However, standards and maintenance of cranes were not good in the country, he observed.
The AAI would take up repair work on the damaged portion of the Air India building. Already the AAI had sought the help of a former professor from IIT-Madras.
Ultra sound testing
It also planned to conduct ultra sound testing of the damaged building before executing the repair work.
The AAI was also looking at the possible use of simulators for carrying out works such as lifting truss and other heavy materials before executing the actual work, Mr. Raheja added.
