The Ministry of Steel, Government of India, has decided to set up a Steel Industry Safety Council (SISC) as an apex-level industry safety body under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel. The initiative is aimed at strengthening safety standards, practices, accident prevention and safety awareness across the steel industry.
The Council will be headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Steel, as Chairman and will include senior officials of the Ministry, Chief Executives of integrated steel producers, and representatives of key technical and statutory organisations including the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and recognised steel technology institutions.
The SISC will assess the safety situation in the steel industry, facilitate studies and improvements in safety practices, approve industry safety standards and recommended practices, and review serious accidents, accidents and near-miss incidents. It will also provide directions for strengthening safety awareness, training and preventive measures.
To provide technical and professional support to the Council, a Steel Industry Safety Directorate (SISD) will be established. The Directorate will have expertise in areas including process safety, blast furnaces, steel melting, rolling mills, coke ovens, refractory systems, electrical and mechanical safety, occupational health, fire engineering and disaster management.
The SISD will oversee implementation of the Council's decisions, undertake periodic safety audits and reviews, maintain and disseminate accident and near-miss information, conduct investigations into serious safety incidents, review emergency preparedness and safety training programmes, and develop and issue Steel Industry Safety Standards, Recommended Practices and Guidelines suited to Indian conditions.
The jurisdiction of the SISD will cover primary and secondary steel and iron producers across the country, as well as mines of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel.
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RESOLUTION STEEL INDUSTRY SAFETY COUNCIL - STEEL INDUSTRY SAFETY DIRECTORATE.pdf
Safety Guidelines Iron Steel Sector
The Iron & Steel industry is hazardous in nature and concerted efforts are needed by all the stakeholders to ensure safe working environment to the employees and also to prevent/ eliminate accidents.
Ministry of Steel during 2019 & 2020 undertook extensive interactions with the stakeholders from the steel industry, the industry associations and the academic institutions of repute to evolve a set of common minimum guidelines for safety which can act as a minimum safety benchmark for adoption by the Indian steel industry. To facilitate formulation of these guidelines, Ministry of Steel constituted a core team of experts in the form of a Working Group comprising experts from the stakeholders.
As an outcome of the valuable inputs & efforts of the stakeholders, twenty five safety guidelines for the Iron & Steel Sector have been formulated. These guidelines pertain to specific activities/ hazards faced by the Indian steel industry (both large & small). These guidelines were uploaded in Ministry of Steel’s website and the stakeholders from the Indian steel Industry have been urged for adoption of these guidelines whole-heartedly. These twenty five safety guidelines in the form of a book viz. “Safety Guidelines for the Iron & Steel Sector”, was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Steel Minister on 17th February 2020.
Subsequently, to move the initiative further, in 2022 it was decided to formulate Process Based Safety Guidelines for the Iron & Steel Sector, based on the specific processes adopted by the sector. To carry out the exercise, small teams of members were formed according to their areas of expertise to discuss and evolve each of the process based safety guidelines. Each of the guideline was prepared by the respective team leaders in consultation with the members of the group. Subsequently, these guidelines were reviewed in the meetings of the Working Group/ Sub Group under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel and given the final shape in the meeting held on 21st May 2024 under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Steel.
These process based safety guidelines comprise of 16 guidelines, out of which 4 guidelines are on workplace safety and 12 guidelines are on specific iron & steel making processes. These guidelines in the form of volume 2 of the book viz. “Safety Guidelines for the Iron & Steel Sector” was formally launched by the HSM on 25th July 2024.
The copies of the two books can be downloaded from the links given below: