Creeping Risk: Industrial Accidents and the Neglect of Safety Protocols

This editorial analyzes the systemic causes behind recent industrial accidents in India, particularly boiler explosions like the one in Sakti, Chhattisgarh. It argues that such disasters are not sudden events but result from risks accumulating over time due to neglected maintenance, unstable operating regimes, and inadequate regulatory oversight. The article highlights similarities with past incidents in Visakhapatnam and Neyveli, criticizing the current inspection framework for prioritizing fabrication standards over continuous auditing and penalizing necessary downtime. Furthermore, it addresses the human cost, noting that contract laborers and migrants are disproportionately affected due to language barriers in safety manuals and a lack of clear criminal liability for principal employers under the OSHW Code 2020. The piece contends that the push for 'ease of doing business' has weakened safety enforcement through self-certification. Until the culture of treating accidents as operational costs is dismantled and regulatory gaps are addressed, industrial infrastructure pushed to its limits will continue to expose workers to hazardous conditions.