[Assam] [assam] Vedanta loses British safety awards after Indian fatality

[bhuban.baruah]

The Guardian UK (May 15, 2012)

Vedanta loses British safety awards after Indian fatality
The suspension of the awards was sparked by a letter from campaigners 
linked to the London Mining Network
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Simon Bowers
guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 May 2012 21.01 BST

A worker leaving Vedanta's Lanjigarh alumina refinery in Orissa state, 
India. Photograph Gethin Chamberlain

Multinational mining group Vedanta Resources has had two British safety 
awards – including one endorsed by the UK's Health and Safety Executive 
– suspended after campaigners drew attention to controversies including 
a fatality at the group's operations in Orissa, India.

The British Safety Council had been due to present representatives from 
a subsidiary, Vedanta Aluminium, with a "distinction" award for its 
Lanjigarh refinery at a black-tie gala dinner at the Grosvenor House 
Hotel in Mayfair on Friday night. An invitation to the event, described 
by organisers as "the Oscars of health and safety", has now been 
withdrawn.

In a statement, BSC said: "Information has been brought to [our] 
attention concerning a fatality at the site in April and in connection 
with earlier occurrences … The BSC has today notified the company of 
its decision and sought full particulars of the circumstances 
surrounding the fatal accident and dangerous occurrences."

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has also 
suspended a "silver award" that was due to be presented to Mukesh 
Kumar, president of Vedanta Aluminium, at a ceremony in Birmingham.

The suspension of the awards was sparked by a letter from campaigners 
linked to the London Mining Network. It comes two years after the BSC 
stripped another Vedanta subsidiary of a safety award after the 
Observer drew its attention to the firm's involvement in one of the 
worst industrial tragedies in India's recent history. At least 40 
workers were said to have been killed by the collapse of a 240-metre, 
part-built chimney in Korba, in the state of Chhattisgarh.

On both occasions, information passed to the BSC was widely available 
on the internet.

Last month, a project manager at a Vedanta contractor firm reportedly 
burned to death and four others received minor injuriesin a fire while 
staying on a Vedanta campus site in Lanjigarh. Kumar told local media: 
"The project manager of our red mud refining agency died during the 
fire accident. I cannot call it lapse in the security measures as I 
believe the rains and possibly a loose electric wire caused the 
accident."

Vedanta reported two fatalities among its employees and 24 contractor 
deaths across its businesses and projects for the year to 31 March. 
"Learnings have now been shared across the group and preventative 
action taken," it said in its annual report.

The BSC allows firms applying for its international safety awards to 
assess themselves. They are barred from receiving an award if there is 
a fatality at the site in question. In the case of Vedanta's Lanjigarh 
aluminium refinery, the fatality occurred after the application had 
been processed, but the BSC had not been informed. Critics of Vedanta's 
practices at Lanjigarh also point to allegations of two caustic residue 
spills – accusations the BSC is taking seriously.

A spokesman for Vedanta said officials in India could not be reached 
for comment.

Roger Moody, of the London Mining Network, said: "The process of 
self-assessment should not be allowed for these awards. Gong-giving is 
quite an art in India and Vedanta are past masters at trading off these 
kinds of awards. The fact that they are endorsed by the official 
British regulator is seen as very, very significant."

A spokesman for the HSE confirmed that the BSC awards did carry a 
general endorsement, but added: "We are not involved in the detail of 
the selection process, or judging the winners.