District Fire Safety Officer Chintada Krupavaram has asked all the 38 major industries to accord a top priority to maintenance of the fire safety equipment and their constant monitoring to prevent mishaps.
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Citing the industrial mishaps owing to the poor maintenance of safety equipment during the closure of factories during the COVID-induced lockdown last year, he said the factory managements must ensure the functioning of fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, fire sprinklers and fire hydrants among others.
“Inspection of all major industries including pharmaceutical companies were completed last week. A few companies were found to have failed in meeting the norms and standards prescribed by the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Response and Fire Safety Department. We have issued notices to them and submit a report explaining the steps taken to ensure absolute safety on the respective premises,” Mr. Krupavaram told The Hindu .
He said that the proper maintenance of safety equipment could have saved 34 lives and property worth ₹24.7 crore last year. Property worth ₹14.95 crore have been lost in industrial accidents in the last three months.
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Training of staff
“We are giving utmost priority for internal training of 192 personnel working with 14 fire stations in the district. They should ensure proper maintenance of all vehicles and fire fighting equipment regularly. They should reach the fire accident spot at the earliest. The time of the rescue call and reaching time of the team are observed to ensure improvement of the efficiency of the staff,” said Mr. Krupavaram.
He said that Assistant Fire Safety Officers B.J.D.S. Prasanth Kumar and K.Srinu Babu were monitoring the internal training programmes and practical classes for the fire officers and other staff.
The department would continue inspections of hospitals, theaters, shopping malls to ensure installation and maintenance of fire fighting equipment.
Mr. Krupavaram said that the government hospitals including Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Srikakulam had been advised to give utmost priority for safety of the equipment.