Six workers were killed and 17 injured in a boiler blast at a thermal power plant in Tamil Nadu's Neyveli. This was the second such incident at the plant within two months. The explosion occurred when workers were attempting to restart operations after a shutdown. Investigations are ongoing, but overheating and high pressure are suspected causes, as with the previous explosion. Safety experts are calling for a safety audit to prevent future accidents during restart processes.
Six workers were killed and 17 injured in a boiler blast at a thermal power plant in Tamil Nadu's Neyveli. This was the second such incident at the plant within two months. The explosion occurred when workers were attempting to restart operations after a shutdown. Investigations are ongoing, but overheating and high pressure are suspected causes, as with the previous explosion. Safety experts are calling for a safety audit to prevent future accidents during restart processes.
Six workers were killed and 17 injured in a boiler blast at a thermal power plant in Tamil Nadu's Neyveli. This was the second such incident at the plant within two months. The explosion occurred when workers were attempting to restart operations after a shutdown. Investigations are ongoing, but overheating and high pressure are suspected causes, as with the previous explosion. Safety experts are calling for a safety audit to prevent future accidents during restart processes.
Six workers were killed and 17 injured in a boiler blast at a thermal power plant in Tamil Nadu's Neyveli. This was the second such incident at the plant within two months. The explosion occurred when workers were attempting to restart operations after a shutdown. Investigations are ongoing, but overheating and high pressure are suspected causes, as with the previous explosion. Safety experts are calling for a safety audit to prevent future accidents during restart processes.
A successful plant At least six people have died and as many as 17 others shutdown starts with a safe workforce. A documented suffered serious injuries in a boiler blast at a Thermal procedure, Power Station in Tamil Nadu’s Neyveli. This was the second communication, and well- boiler explosion in two months at the same plant. The trained team are key. mishap occurred at the fifth unit of the thermal power Restarting the operations station-II when workers were in the process of resuming in full flow after a long operations. shutdown needs particular and utmost safety measures. WHY? The cause of the blast could not be ascertained. However, it is suspected that overheating and high pressure might have led to the explosion just like the previous incident.
HOW?
According to the sources, “Unit V shut down after it tripped
on the previous night of the incident . The workers and engineering staff were attempting to revive it when a fire broke out in the boiler, resulting in the explosion. DISCLAIMER: This accident analysis is based on open source data and may differ from actual, purpose of this case study is done for safety awareness. Anyone reading it only for their awareness purpose only. POSSIBLE SAFETY MITIGATION SAFETY AUDIT
In this incident, various
experts in the field are insisting that the management undertake safety audit which could have avoided this accident in the first place.
PRIOR TO SHUTDOWN - SAFETY CHECKS
Drain- Transfer all the system fluid in dynamic inventories in static
holding tanks. FLUSH- the system if fluid is handled is likely to jam rotary equipment/ valve stem etc. Also, ensure no pockets of fluid in the system at the drain/ bends FILL – the system with suitable inert media ISOLATE – the power supply to equipment ENSURE– full draining of heat exchangers on secondary side (cooling water) •All the above activities must be based on approved SOPs & documented in form of OTO (order to operate) / checklists. P& IDs must be comprehensive, detailed, updated & should b e as built and duly approved
STARTUP AFTER SHUTDOWN
HOW WE CAN HELP? Lubricate all the valves and check its freeness check prior to operation Safety Audits by Lead Auditors Follow the startup SOP (after long shutdown) by checklist i.e with more than 20 years of prepared by, checked by, approved by. expertise in auditing. Understand the need of SOPs if the existing experienced Behaviour Based Safety manpower is not available due to lockdown / left the job & Training for Top, Mid and Low joined other company level management & BBS Keep the bypass valve of steam traps open till steam starts Implementation people which flowing. helps in improving safety Take full protection against all the potential hazards like toxic culture and safe work behavior. release, chemical, heat etc., by using proper PPEs Process Safety Management Lineup one by one system and one by one equipment of each Training & Implementation system For more information reach us Before starting any rotary equipment give the start kick to at info@thesafetymaster.com check direction of rotation and its freeness Consulting- thesafetymaster.com While operating the rotary equipment, the behaviour of Online Course- thesafetyguru.online equipment w.r.t temperature (including bearings ), pressure, Products- bookmysafety.com current, vibrations must be observed for 15 minutes. Source Reference- The Hindu- Online News story