There was total breakdown in emergency plans: HPC report

‘No help came from LG Polymers plant even after the styrene vapour leak’

The High Power Committee (HPC ) constituted to probe the styrene monomer vapour leak from M6 storage tank at the LG Polymers India Limited plant on May 7 that led to the death of 12 persons and hospitalisation of over 585 others from the neighbourhood, has pointed out in its report that there was total breakdown in on-site and off-site emergency plans.

The committee primarily stated that the factory had failed to provide and ensure the information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure health and safety of all workers during start-up operations, especially after the lockdown.

Standard procedures such the presence of the entire technical team, including safety officer and factory medical officer were not followed during the process.

The technical committee, that supported the HPC in its report, has pointed out that despite styrene being classified as hazardous chemical, LG Polymers had no on-site emergency plan to handle emergencies for toxic chemical release and runaway reactions in tanks/ reactors/ pipelines. The on-site emergency plan was prepared only for fire occurrences and other accident scenarios. This has led to lack of clarity in emergency response at the time of the accident.

The gas detector was calibrated at 2,200 ppm instead of 100 ppm, the permissible exposure value. The HPC mentioned this as serious lacuna in safety management.

The committee in its report mentioned that there are five emergency sirens installed at five different locations and 36 manual call points (MCP) distributed across the plant for siren activation. However, none were activated during the emergency.

‘No alert was sounded’

As per the statement of the production in-charge; by the time he came to the factory around 3.30 a.m., he found people from neighbouring residential areas making a dash for safety, and felt that emergency had already been declared and the authorities concerned alerted. He did not think of switching on the emergency siren assuming that it was unnecessary. “This statement reflects a very casual attitude towards safety protocol,” said the HPC in its report.

The plant management depended on the district administration for on-site control of the accident and also did not take part in any of rescue or evacuation activities, the report said.