The death toll rose to nine on Wednesday after another worker died in the accident at the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) in Andhra Pradesh, also known as the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, on Monday, officials said.
Contractual worker K Bedi Raju succumbed to serious injuries at Seven Hills Hospitals at 8.17 am on Wednesday, Visakhapatnam District Joint Collector G Vidyadhari said. She added: “One of the workers was among the six injured who suffered 90% burns.”
Vidyadhari added that the body was taken to King George Hospital for autopsy and then handed over to his family members.
On the other hand, a three-member expert committee appointed by the Union Ministry of Steel to investigate the cause of the accident visited the accident site for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. The committee is headed by Bokaro Steel Plant CEO Priya Ranjan and includes Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Director General Jitendra Kumar and retired SAIL Director General Gopal Singh.
A senior official familiar with the matter said that a preliminary investigation by experts revealed that an explosion in the ladle may have been caused by the sudden release of gases trapped inside the molten metal.
“At the time of the accident, a crane was rotating a ladle filled with molten metal as part of the billet production process. Experts suspect that moments before the sliding gate at the bottom of the ladle opened to release the molten metal, the gases trapped inside were exposed to intense pressure, causing a powerful explosion,” the official said.
The official explained that in the steel making process, pig iron is smelted at temperatures ranging from 1540 to 1630 degrees Celsius. To turn molten iron into steel, oxygen is injected under high pressure. Oxygen reacts with impurities such as carbon, manganese and silicon, converting them into slag and gases. “Some of these gases are still trapped inside the molten metal, and may have been released suddenly,” he said.
According to the preliminary assessment by RINL authorities, the incident at Steel Melt Shop-1 (SMS-1) may have caused losses exceeding $120 crore, including damage to machinery and equipment alone, besides stopping steel production.
“The workers are so panicked that they are refusing to report for duty even after two days due to safety concerns. Senior officials at RINL tried to convince the employees to join the duty, but they remained outside the unit,” the officials said.
The Continuous Casting Department (CCD) of SMS-1 has six machines, five of which are in operation. During the afternoon of Monday ‘B’, the second, third and fourth machines were in operation. The explosion occurred near the second machine at about 4.30pm, damaging cables and other equipment throughout the department.
The closure of CCD has affected operations in other sections of the steel plant, disrupting the overall production process.
D Adinarayana, a senior employee and leader of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), said the employees were warning the RINL management about the lack of safety measures at the steel plant.
“Also in December, the trade unions wrote a letter to the district and state labor authorities, apprising them of the serious safety lapses, environmental hazards and public health risks prevailing at the factory,” he said.
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The trade unions warned in the letter that if the situation was not addressed immediately, it could lead to a “large-scale industrial disaster.” They cited failure to implement safety guidelines, and regular violation of standard operating procedures, maintenance and hazard identification procedures, and risk assessment protocols.
“We also highlighted the mass workforce reduction through VRS [voluntary retirement scheme]“With no replacement recruitment, illegal retrenchment of contract workers, reduction of core maintenance force, arbitrary transfer of highly experienced personnel without consultation or training, severe mental stress and exhaustion due to overwork,” Adinarayana said.
On Wednesday, YSR Congress leader and former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy visited the accident site. He demanded a tip $1 crore over and above what is owed, plus a job for the relatives of the deceased in the steel plant accident.
Jagan also asked the state assembly to pass a resolution opposing the privatization of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. “The government is proud of $Rs 11,440-crore package for the steel plant, but the amount is not aimed at improving safety standards or employee welfare. Instead, this measure aims to reduce the number of employees through VRS, settlement of bank dues, and other similar measures.
