An unnoticed situation

The general situation

India’s rapidly growing economy and thriving agricultural sector create an extremely high demand for the several agricultural chemical products such as insecticides pesticides and fertilizers as well as industrial chemical products.

The Indian economy consists of a significant number of chemical related industries. Chemicals are manufactured, processed and sold in India. Chemicals are imported for further processing and either exported back out or sold in the local market. Along with several large multinationals involved in chemical manufacturing the chemical industry is thriving in India. Thus an industry of this size would require the appropriate ancillary industries such as the transporting and handling of the chemical between factories or between the several chemical zones in India

Safety standards within the walls of the factories are impeccable and stringent and to the letter but this are limited to the four walls of the organization. The products are transported by rail road and air throughout the country. Both the consigner and consignee take the required safety precautions on departure and delivery but there is no safety in the intermediate step of transportation. The logistics of this specialized industry is carried out by unspecialized companies which seems t be an obvious mismatch. The lack of knowledge and safety standards among transportation companies and the lack of stringent standard from the transport authority lead to an impending disaster.

Whereas International logistics is done with packaging as per UN norms and the standards set by the Indian Packaging Institute, the transport management of the same is where the safety standards fail. Very little or no knowledge of safety rules and the lack or almost non existence of Emergency management Protocols only increases the possibility of disasters, many of which have and must have affected the environment and human kind, most of which may have gone unnoticed.

India also being a country with the largest number of languages spoken and written decreases the possibility of availability of experts who can impart knowledge in all languages. Transport Emergency (TREM) cards do exist but illiteracy is the largest drawback.

Situations that require our attention!!

In transport by truck.

I have noticed that the drivers transporting cargo which are hazardous and dangerous in nature do not even carry any safety equipment with them. General precaution items such as Rubber boots, safety gloves, wiser or safety goggles are not present in their trucks which can be easily and cheaply supplied. If a mishap takes place the driver is at the highest risk. Many of the vehicles are not equipped with Spark Arrestors which is a general requirement for all vehicles which are carrying such goods. On closer view it was also seen that the trucks are not maintained to standards for carriage of such cargo and the possibilities of breakdown are considerably very high.

Storage of chemicals

All cargoes that are transhipped at Warehouses en route to the final destination are handled by untrained staffs who do not even understand the perils of handling the cargo. Hazardous material is handled without the use of gloves or safety apparatus. Due to the high availability of labour the health and safety laws are maintained loosely at best for these workers. The most important requirement of a means of decontamination such as mandatory showers is completely ignored. Chemical residue from working with hazardous goods could easily be transferred to people and can also be ingested which could cause severe damage.

Misuse of chemical containers in squatter settlements, slums and villages.

It is noticed in various parts of the city slums and villages where the second hand drums have been sold at cheap rates to households which use them for storage of water. This water is sued in their daily activities like bathing, washing utensils and preparing food. The possibilities of traces of previous cargo are very high in some cargoes that are imported into India and the usage of such kind of drums is further affecting the health of the average human kind. Further it was noticed that the food grain produce is repacked in bags that were used for storage of insecticides and pesticides. The residual traces from this would be further transported to the general household thereby affecting humans who have no knowledge of the initial packaging. Furthermore it was noticed that cans used for consumer distribution of chemicals were being used for storage of everyday foods in the kitchens of villages and slums.

Even in areas of high governmental involvement such as the port I have noticed at the port that people involved in actual clearance are unaware of the perils of the cargoes handled by them. There were instances when samples were taken without the intervention of experts or knowledgeable professionals.

next post : compelling evidence in the form of pictures of the above mentioned situations