Tragedy at Horana factory | Daily News

Tragedy at Horana factory

Accident, a call for urgent action to thwart negligence
The factory at Horana.
The factory at Horana.

H.K Ariyapala had joined the rubber factory in Balapitiya, Horana, only two months previously, when five people, including him, died following inhalation of ammonia gas last Thursday (19). According to his co-workers, when they were going for lunch that day, the supervisor had asked him to close the pipe that released factory waste to the tank. And this is what Ariyapala thought he was going to do when he fell into the tank of ammonia which took his life.

The police reported that the tank into which Ariyapala fell collected ammonia waste from the rubber factory. A group of villagers, residents of the area, and a few factory workers who went to witness the scene, became unconscious, and the police revealed that it was due to breathing the toxic gas.

Ammonia is used in the rubber industry for stabilisation of raw latex to prevent coagulation during transportation and storage.

Four more lives lost in rescue

Along with Ariyapala, his wife Malkanthi, Dodampage Rani (46) and Karunawathi Kusumalatha (47) had joined the factory. Rani said Ariyapala went to close the pipe after the garment factory adjoining theirs had complained about the bad odour.

“We all went to have lunch and the supervisor called Ariyapala to come and close the pipe that releases wastewater to the tank,” she said. “He left his lunch packet and went to close that. After a while we heard screams, we rushed to the tank. And I fainted after that.”

Rani said there were no trained people to handle such situations and whoever the supervisor called, had to carry out these jobs.

Four people, one of the co-workers of Ariyapala and four other residents of Horana who had also jumped into the tank to rescue him, died and 18 others who collapsed unconscious were admitted to the Horana Base Hospital which said that one of the rescuers who was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was not critical anymore.

Police information revealed that the factory had been established in 1993 and, according to the workers, there are two sections in the factory. In one section, the production of latex takes place, where 18 are employed, and in the other, footwear is produced where around 40 are employed.

Balage Samanthi (45) has been working for about a year in the factory in the footwear section and said that they do not often go to the other section.

“We heard people screaming,” she said. “When I went near the tank, I saw Ariyapala and Varuna who had fallen into the tank. When some young guys tried to jump, I stopped them from doing so, but in a few seconds I too fainted.”

Area residents step up

Nishan Kumara is one of the persons who rescued the ones who fell; he had gone to the scene after receiving a call for help. He said that when he went there, the factory staff had already fled and there was nobody to help them rescue the workers in the tank.

“As soon as I understood that that it was a toxic gas, I removed my T-shirt and tied it around my nose,” he said.

He claimed that it was the residents who informed the police and the fire brigade and said that the management was responsible for everything.

“Knowing that the tank was contaminated with ammonium, the management fled leaving four people to die trying to rescue one person,” he said.

Sanjeewa Vithanage (39) was the only one who was saved among the ones who jumped into the tank in the rescue attempt.

“I was just walking on the road and the women shouted for help,” he said. “I climbed down to the tank on a ladder and suddenly I fainted and fell in. I was in hospital when I regained consciousness. “

Vithanage was rescued by the residents and sent to hospital.

He claimed that the management was not there to caution the rescuers to close their noses or not to jump when they were all struggling to save the lives of the people who had fallen.

Chaminda Kumara (34) said that two people were alive when he rescued them, but died after being admitted to hospital.

“Something that I could not bear was that I could not even save one life. They all could have been saved if the management had acted in a responsible manner,” he said.

Factory failed in safety

Medical Officer of Health (MoH) Maduruwela Dr Erandhi Kularathne said that at a place where the workers are exposed to highly concentrated gases, they should be aware of proper protection measures and the factory administration was responsible for it.

“If the factory had followed proper procedures, these lives could have been saved,” she said. “The residents also jumped into the tank without thinking about their own safety.”

Kusumalatha said that there are about seven tanks and the tank into which Ariyapala fell was the last, the one in which wastewater is collected.

“There were instances where I had to clean one of the tanks in which rubber latex was collected,” said Rani.

Kusumalatha explained that when a little wastewater collects, they draw the water with a bucket, adding that they were never exposed to highly concentrated gas before.

When questioned about the safety measures, both Rani and Kusumalatha were not aware of any. They revealed that they were not even provided with any safety equipment before they were assigned to do any work that exposed them to toxic chemicals.

“We were never told that it was dangerous to get exposed to these chemicals,” she said. ”The workers as well as the residents did not know that it was so dangerous and would kill them. Everyone thought it was just a wastewater tank.”

However, Kusumalatha said that only Varuna (the factory employee who jumped into the tank to save Ariyapala) was wearing boots and Ariyapala was not wearing any safety equipment.

The police also revealed that when they rushed to the scene, none of the workers had any safety equipment to protect themselves from exposure to toxic fumes.

One of the IPs at the Horana Police Station said that they were no signboards warning the workers of potential hazards of toxic gases either.

The police said investigations were in progress, but there was enough evidence to prove that the management failed to provide necessary safety equipment to the employees.

“When we went there, some people were trying to rescue Ariyapala, the other factory worker, and the three residents who jumped to rescue them,” said one of the policemen who went to the scene. “Unfortunately, there wasn’t any equipment or any rescue measures to immediately use to save them.”

In the meantime, Kularathne said that officers attached to the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) did an inspection five hours after the incident occurred, on the possibility of health hazards in the area and they informed that there was no problem.

She said that they are yet to confirm whether it was ammonia, adding that the tank was not contaminated with the gas, but they suspect that a toxic gas was released through the pipe that he was trying to close.

Public objection to factory

It was revealed that there had been public objection to this factory for numerous reasons, such as releasing wastewater into the river and bad odour emanating from it. However, the Horana Police said even though there was an objection, they had not received any complaints against the factory owner.

The police noted that there were many such factories in their police division, and they had informed the relevant authorities about the matter.

“Amidst public objections, the factory has continued to function, and the management ignored the concerns that were raised,” they said. However, the investigation has probed this matter.”

Saranga Chandralal, a resident of Balapitiya, however added that a case had indeed been filed against the factory.

He denied the police statement that no complaints were made against the management of the factory.

Chandralal disclosed that they release wastewater to the river during the rainy season, and fish and some buffaloes had died as a result.

“The public has been protesting against the management for years now,” he said. “But we were unable to do anything and today we lost five lives.”

The Daily News learnt that the rubber factory in Bulathsinhala, Kobawaka, against which Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development and Cultural Affairs Deputy Minister Palitha Thewarapperuma staged a protest, along with the residents last December, is part of this rubber factory in Horana too.

The protest in Bulathsinhala was launched as the factory had not stopped its operations even after the decision taken at the Bulathsinhala Divisional Development Committee to close down the factory temporarily, and the protest followed after a complaint was filed by residents that the factory was letting out wastewater into the environment without proper waste management procedures.

Legal action against factory

However, soon after the incident occurred, the Horana Police arrested the factory manager on suspicion of negligence. Police, Army and STF were deployed near the factory after people nearby protested against the suspected unsafe handling of chemicals, with some residents even demanded that the factory be closed.

The owner of the factory was summoned to the police to give a statement in this regard on Friday (20), but the owner had informed the police that he had been admitted to the hospital with complaints of being exposed to the toxic gas.

The Central Environment Authority (CEA) in the meantime decided to temporarily suspend the environment permit granted to the factory.

Director of the waste management unit, Ajith Weerasundara said that the permit would be suspended until investigations into the matter ended.

The Horana Magistrate has ordered that the manager of the factory be remanded until April 25.

Horana not alone

The number of reported fatal accidents in factories has been on the rise in the country, but is the Labour Department doing enough to protect the welfare of the workers? Horana is just one incident. According to the Labour Department’s Industrial Safety Division, in the 12 years between 2004–2015, an average of 66 fatal incidents has been reported per year. This, however, is just the number that is reported; it is believed that many more go unreported.

In 2006, when the highest annual rate of fatal accidents (84) was reported, the Department only filed two cases against factories that year. They had received 114 complaints and investigated 97.

The Commissioner General of Labour R.P.A Wimalaweera who spun into action after the incident, said legal action would be taken against the management of the rubber factory with regard to unsafe working conditions.

“The management will be prosecuted for negligence; they have failed to provide the employees a safe and healthy working environment,” he said.

He added that according to the Factories Ordinance, the employer should ensure the safety and protection of the employee and the Labour Commission could prosecute the management for failing to do so.

Wimalaweera said that he was informed by the factory engineers attached to the Occupation and Safety section of the Commission that this factory was previously warned with regard to not maintaining appropriate safety measures.

“The biggest mistake is that they have allowed the employee to do all kinds of work without consideration for their safety. The management should be punished for their negligence.”

He said that for issues like not maintaining safety measures, the management is usually warned, and the responsibility of the Commission included prosecution, prevention and promotion.

Given the seriousness of the issue and the widespread prevalence of such issues in factories around the country, simple warnings seem inadequate, but according to Wimalaweera, they only have 40 Assistant Labour Commissioners and 10 factory engineers and he claimed that even they had issues in inspecting every factory with such a small staff.

“We are preparing to begin training programmes for labour inspectors on Occupational Safety and Health,” he said.

“They will not be able to go into depth into the related matter, but will be able to direct it to the relevant officer if they find anything serious. This is the remedial measure that the commission is intending to take.” He noted that as they could not increase their cadre, they were planning to seek the support of other government officers, such as the divisional secretary and public health officers (PHI), to report to the Commission on related issues.

Occupational Health and Safety is not a sector widely covered by the Factories Ordinance and further the Ordinance does not cover every sector,” said Wimalaweera. “This means that necessary steps should be taken to amend this age-old Ordinance, so that we have the necessary authority to take action.”

Whether they are doing enough with what they have however is the question.


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