Jump to content

Activist calls for review of safety measures at dangerous sites


rooster59

Recommended Posts

Activist calls for review of safety measures at dangerous sites

By WICHIT CHAITRONG 
THE SUNDAY NATION 

 

29c6cc7d65c556c98e2734e293e74596.jpeg

 

A LABOUR academic has urged business leaders and authorities to review safety measures at wastewater treatment facilities and other dangerous sites following the tragic death of five people at the Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) plant in Bangkok on Friday.

 

Similar tragic accidents have often happened in Thailand when workers or people went into the toxic gas pit, resulting in death because of suffocating toxic gases, said Lae Dilokvidhyarat, a veteran economist who specialises in labour issues.

 

His comments came after a female student fell into a wastewater pit of CPF on Friday and four employees of CPF tried to rescue her, resulting in all five losing their lives. 

 

Lae said the latest incident suggested that the concerned parties did not take enough precautions to prevent such a tragic event. They should have known that a wastewater treatment pit is much more dangerous than a general sewer due to the high level of toxic gases, hence strict measures should have been enforced, said Lae.

 

He also pointed out that environmental authorities in the past examined factories or plants only when people in the community complained about foul smell or other pollution. Authorities also often mistakenly thought that large and modern companies, would completely comply with environmental regulations, so there was no need for inspection, said Lae. 

 

Regular inspections needed

 
“From now on, authorities should undertake regular inspections of factories and wastewater treatment facilities, and concerned parties must take extra safety measures when dealing with dangerous facilities,” he suggested. 

 

He said when labour unions celebrate May Day every year, there are often calls for a safer environment at the work place, as labourers know that they are not only working for a living but also risking their lives in hostile conditions there. 

 

About 50 people, family members, friends and university lecturers gathered at the Department of Forensic Medicine of Chulalongkorn University yesterday to express their condolences over the death of Punthi Katasuwan, a student at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Veterinary Science.

 

Meanwhile, Naree Archayotha, relative of victim Pornsak Boonban, met police at Bang Na police station seeking documents to secure the release of Pornsak’s body from Chulalongkorn Hospital. Naree said Pornsak lost his life trying to rescue Punthi. 

 

She said that CPF had informed the family about the compensation. Regarding the possibility of taking legal action against CPF, Naree said the family’s next course of action would depend on the outcome of the police investigation. 

 

Police said they are now gathering evidence to find out if the tragic incident was an accident or a result of negligence by any party. Police will seek more information from victims’ relatives, witnesses and look at results of the forensic tests of the victims from the Department of Forensic Medicine Chulalongkorn Hospital. 

 

Parisothat Punnabhum, CPF’s senior executive vice president for human resources, also met with relatives of victims at Chulalongkorn Hospital to express his sympathy and pledged that the company will support the victims’ families, including education expenses for their children. He admitted that there was no CCTV at the site. The area was a restricted site and walking there was prohibited, he said. The company would find out what really happened and take additional steps to prevent such an incident happening gain. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30319027

 

 
thenation_logo.jpg
-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-06-25
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very sad to hear of the loss of 5 lives, especially 4 being rescuers. Sadly, when you put together a combination of dangerous situations, staff who are not properly educated or trained to deal with them, alongside a save money at all costs mentality, such tragedies will continue.

It it a step in the right direction in calling for regulation and inspection, but I suspect it will take many years before any of it has any significant impact.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is a sorry state when so called "activists" have to raise this issue when the government through it's various safety authorities has all those well paid seat warmers sitting in comfortable offices playing with their smartphones. If they were doing their job properly then well meaning "activists" should not have cause to speak out.

Of course military ministers responsible for such matters have more important things to do in attending to the quirky demands of their leader. Like afternoon exercises.....wonder how that's going?

Edited by Cadbury
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Best intensions but little or no significant action will be taken I'd assume .Like many tragic events in Thailand it will be forgotton when next tragedy takes priority

 

RIP  The 5 who died

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Dave67 said:

Best intensions but little or no significant action will be taken I'd assume .Like many tragic events in Thailand it will be forgotton when next tragedy takes priority

 

RIP  The 5 who died

 

Indeed, the entire article and not one word from any government occupational safety official. That pretty much tells the story here.

 

And given that it's CP Foods, you can pretty well forget about the police doing anything substantive or meaningful in this case. Just a tragic accident, sorry people died (again), no one's at fault, som nam na.

Edited by TallGuyJohninBKK
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.








×
×
  • Create New...
""