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withdrawn.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.
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