Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India] : With an aim to prevent electricity-related accidents during monsoon, the Yogi government has issued a set of guidelines for the department officials, which include rectifying faults occurring during rainfall and adhering to prescribed standards in maintenance work.
M Devraj, Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL), has issued directives to prevent accidents, involving especially outsourced workers of the Electricity department during the monsoon season and has directed officials to ensure strict compliance with the directives. The Chairman has stated that the training of outsourced workers should be organized as soon as possible by scheduling it in each distribution area and at the divisional level through the Discoms.
As per the predictions of the Meteorological Department, Uttar Pradesh is likely to face heavy rainfall in the coming days. As the occurrence of local faults increases during rainfall, posing a risk of accidents, the Government has instructed electrical workers involved in distribution to exercise caution and follow specific precautions to prevent accidents. The Government has also warned of strict action as per the rules in case of negligence on the part of an official that leads to an accident.
The guidelines include an arrangement of safety equipment as per the prescribed safety standards for outsourced personnel deployed through the outsourced agency at each 33/11 KV sub-stations, including helmets, gloves, pliers, safety belts, earth chains, safety shoes, ensuring that each gang has the necessary safety equipment during line work.
In accordance with the directives, it has been stated that the chief engineer, superintending engineer, executive engineer, assistant engineer, and junior engineer of the distribution area will be responsible for inspecting the safety equipment on residential premises and ensuring its availability as well as provision to the workers by the outsourcing agency.
The respective chief engineer will be responsible for informing the corporation headquarters about this through their discom. If the outsourcing agency fails to provide the safety equipment, the respective superintendent engineer will be held responsible, the release stated. The concerned officials will also ensure that the outsourced workers use safety equipment, it stated.
UPPCL Chairman M Devraj has also warned of strict action as per the rules if negligence is found to be the reason behind an accident. He further directed that wherever such accidents occur, necessary arrangements should be made for the complete care and treatment of the injured employees, and timely payment of the entitled compensation should also be ensured in accordance with the rules.
