AP to overhaul third party safety audit in factories

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh government will overhaul the third party safety audit in factories to ensure overall safety at the premises. They are discussing measures to be taken on top priority to ensure safety at factories.When contacted, factories and labour minister Vasamsetti Subash said, “We are giving top priority to overhaul the third party safety audit in factories by engaging private agencies with requisite expertise and having over 20 years of experience in safety audit.”The minister slammed the previous YSR Congress regime for making third party safety audit in factories a farce by engaging agencies of its choice with no proper monitoring mechanism. He alleged corruption in safety audit has resulted in compromising safety at factories.Sources in the factories department say there is a high concentration of hazardous units, especially in Anakapalli district. The district has 143 units, unlike in Telangana, where industrial units are spread over Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Medak, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts.A source indicated that too much concentration of hazardous units in a given area could result in mishaps due to inadequate supervision of their functioning on a regular basis.Authorities said the ongoing district level meetings with all stakeholder departments are expected to give them adequate exposure to the challenges being faced.