The explosion of a 3,000-kg reactor at the production wing of Tyche Industries Limited on March 11 was caused due to lack of safety mechanisms and a risk assessment failure, officials said.
Two supervisers were killed and four workers severely injured in the blast that occurred at the pharmaceutical firm located on the outskirts of Kakinada. The four injured workers are still battling for life at a private hospital.
Speaking to The Hindu, Deputy Inspector of Factories (Kakinada) V. Suresh said there were several safety lapses at the pharma unit. “The incident indicates lack of safety systems at the pharma unit. Inadequate calculation of the capacity of the reactor is also a prime reason behind its explosion, due to heavy pressure beyond its capacity. The size of the safety system installed in the unit is much lower than the actual requirement,” Mr. Suresh said.
Referring to the preliminary investigation, Mr. Suresh observed that the staff dealing with the reactor operations failed to calculate the scale of risk.
“The Tyche management has been directed to shut down the unit until further orders from the Directorate of Factories. The State government is preparing to order a technical probe into the incident soon,” said Mr. Suresh.
Negligence
Kakinada DSP V. Bheema Rao told The Hindu that their probe into the incident will be speeded up. “The case has been registered against the Tyche Industries Limited management under Sector 304 A on the grounds of causing death by negligence. The investigation into the case will be speeded up based on the technical report to be submitted by the Directorate of Factories,” he said.
The management of Tyche Industries is yet to respond over the incident.
