Ministry of Steel to Set Up Steel Industry Safety Council

The Ministry of Steel has decided to create a Steel Industry Safety Council (SISC) as the apex safety body for the country's steel sector. The Council will function under the administrative control of the Ministry, and its purpose is to tighten safety standards and working practices, prevent accidents and spread safety awareness across steel plants.

Who will sit on the Council

The Secretary, Ministry of Steel, will be the Chairman of the Council. Its membership will bring together senior officers of the Ministry, the chief executives of integrated steel producers, and representatives of the technical and statutory organisations that already regulate risk in heavy industry. Among these are the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), along with recognised steel technology institutions.

What the Council will do

• Assess where the steel industry stands on safety
• Support studies and improvements in safety practice
• Approve industry safety standards and recommended practices
• Review serious accidents, ordinary accidents and near-miss incidents
• Issue directions on safety awareness, training and preventive measures

A directorate to do the technical work

A Steel Industry Safety Directorate (SISD) will be set up to give the Council technical and professional backing. The Directorate is to hold expertise in process safety, blast furnaces, steel melting, rolling mills, coke ovens, refractory systems, electrical and mechanical safety, occupational health, fire engineering and disaster management.

The Directorate will carry out the Council's decisions, run periodic safety audits and reviews, keep and circulate information on accidents and near-miss events, investigate serious safety incidents, examine emergency preparedness and training programmes, and draw up Steel Industry Safety Standards, Recommended Practices and Guidelines suited to conditions in India.

Why it matters

Steel making involves furnaces, molten metal, gases and heavy machinery, so accident prevention needs a body that can set common rules across producers rather than leaving each plant to its own practice. Setting up the Council along with its directorate is therefore an institutional step towards a stronger safety culture and more uniform safety practice in the Indian steel industry.