How, one-by-one, three Bangalore factory workers walked to death

The death of three workers, due to inhalation of poisonous gases when they went to fetch furnace oil from an underground tank, at an industrial unit in Bangalore highlights yet again the laxity with which many smaller industries function where employees are forced to work without basic protective gear.

Nagaraju Shatranju, his brother Krishna and another worker Srinivas Narasappa were killed when they entered an underground tank to carry out furnace oil at Hi-Tech Forgings in Bangalore’s Peenya Industrial Area on Thursday. All three entered the tank without wearing protective gear.

The three, all in their twenties, were told to enter the tank despite not wearing any protective gear and them expressing apprehensions over the odour of chemicals emanating from it. They were told they had to go since the oil pumping motor wasn’t working, a Times of India report stated .

Nagraju was the first to enter the tank and when he didn’t emerge after some time his brother Krishna followed him in, and when both failed to return Srinivas also went into the tank. All three were killed by the fumes from the oil which consist of asphyxiating gases, the Hindu reported .

The police had to wait for the emergency services to arrive before they could remove the three bodies from the tank.

The factory owners were found to be at fault having sent the three into the tank without protective gear and workers at the unit complained that there was no protective gear for any of them.

The factory manager Suresh has been arrested while the owner of the factory is reportedly in Andhra Pradesh.

Despite the fact that the two factory officials have been arrested it perhaps only highlights the laxity in safety procedures in many factories across India. Police officials quoted the factory manager as saying that workers normally entered the tank in the past without safety gear but was clueless why the three workers in this case had died.

Statistics from the Ministry of Labour between 2007 and 2009 indicate that the accident rate across factories in India has reduced gradually over the years, but the delay in the reportage of accidents and its possible under-reporting  has caught the eye of the Planning Commission.

In its five year-plan for 2012 to 2017, the Commission notes that “All these are indicative of the fact that an enormous amount of relevant data having significant bearing upon injury statistics does not figure in the national database published by Government of India.”

It also noted that there is a need for a national body to maintain occupational safety and health across the nation, improve reportage of accident and most importantly ensure the rights of workers in the unorganised sector are represented.

The deaths of the three workers in Bangalore, for no fault of their own, should perhaps only help emphasise the need to ensure industries across the board maintain a standard of safety that keeps their employees safe.