3-monthly inspection planned

The measure follows the blast at Bangkok Synthetics on Saturday that killed 11 workers at its plant in Hemaraj Industrial Estate, Map Ta Phut, Rayong province. On Sunday, another accident happened at Aditya Birla Chemicals, also in Map Ta Phut, due to a chlorine leak. 

Witoon Simachokedee, permanent secretary of the Industry Ministry, yesterday said factories currently had to be inspected when applying for operating licences, when expanding their licences, and during licence renewal, which takes place every five years. But to prevent serious accidents, inspections now will be required more frequently. 

He said that of the roughly 140,000 plants nationwide, about 3,000 were categorised as major hazardous operations. These plants, particularly large-scale operations, are the major targets of the proposed regulation requiring three-monthly inspections. 

“We expect to finalise the ministerial regulation within this budget year, that is, by September,” he said. 

Witoon said the ministry had to revamp other regulations such as the process of granting manufacturing licences. It may have to set up a specific committee to consider and approve such licences, particularly for hazardous plants. Currently, the Department of Industrial Works handles this job alone, and this may not be sufficient if Thailand wants to prevent serious accidents in the future. 

He said the ministry was also thinking about the establishment of an ad hoc centre to analyse industrial disasters. The centre would have to provide correct information to villagers living near factories whenever accidents happen. 

The Industry Ministry has also assigned relevant departments and the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand to review risk-assessment and risk-analysis reports as to whether they reflected proper scrutiny or skipped some processes to deal with the situation as fast as possible.