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| Officials of the fire service struggling to put out the blaze |
An explosion at a fuel pump at the Pioneer Food Cannery (PFC), a tuna canning company, last Sunday killed two persons and left five others with various degrees of burns.The incident, which occurred about 5:15 p.m., followed what has been described as the company’s failure to put in place control measures when a fuel pump that connects the steam boiler facility at the company’s production plant developed a fault and was being replaced.
Sparks of fire from the welding works are said to have come into contact with some fuel that leaked from the pumps when the replacement was being done, sparking of the fire in the process.
The deceased’s have been identified as Kelvin Quainoo and Isaac Quaye, both of Matelco Engineering Services. The injured workers who were rushed to the Tema General Hospital (TGH) have since been referred to the Burns Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for further treatment.
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| Some of the injured workers being taken away from the disaster scene |
Items such as the steam boiler, two fuel tanks, computers and accessories running into millions of cedis were destroyed in the two-hour blaze, while the fuel tank spilled its content over the entire premises after the tank had exploded.
The Tema Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Assistant Fire Officer Frances Rockson, who confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic, said a combined team of firefighters from the Tema Regional, Industrial Area and Tema Newtown fire brigades, as well as officials from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), managed to put out the fire in about two and half hours.
Scores of workers who turned up for work yesterday morning were subsequently sent home by officials of the company, who promised to recall them when the situation was normalised.
Company officials who were agitated by events had tightened security at the factory and also barred the media from accessing the facility.
A senior management member, Mr Daniel Nkumda, sacked the Daily Graphic team when it visited the factory to ascertain the level of destruction and also speak to officials.
“We are not granting media interviews and I would ask you to leave the premises immediately. As and when management is ready, we will issue a statement to the public on the incident,” Mr Nkumda said.
Indications are that the incident could possibly cripple the company's operations, as the steam boilers which are used to apply heat to the processed tuna to eliminate microbiological risk in the food would have to be replaced because the damaging effects suggest it cannot be immediately repaired.
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| The factory on fire. |
Negligence
Safety experts have attributed the accident to negligence on the part of the management of the company and the contractor.
It is believed the safe system of work procedure which required the company and the contractor to conduct a risk assessment prior to the commencement of work was not followed, as managers of the facility wanted the maintenance work to be done with during the weekend to enable production to resume fully yesterday.
Similarly, a work permit expected to be given to the contractor by the Health and Safety Officer of the company, spelling out what was to be done before, during and after the repair works were was also said to have been neglected.
According to the Tema Metropolitan Director of the Factories Inspectorate Department, Dr Stephen Ankamah Lomotey, who visited the factory yesterday, the accident could have been avoided if the company’s safety policy had been deployed in its maintenance duties.
He maintained that the failure by many companies to follow closely defined safety procedures in their operations had seen an increasing spate of accidents at workplaces.
Congestion
The PFC, which was built in the early 1990s and presently produces some 55,000 tonnes of canned Starkist tuna brands, has, over the years, outgrown its space capacity following an expansion in the company’s operations.
Presently, apart from the Starkist tuna brands, the company also extracts oil from the head of the tuna, which it exports for the production of the dietary supplement, Omega-rich oils (Omega-3, Omega-5) and brine.
The company also uses the tuna residue to produce animal feed which is sold for agricultural purposes.
Dr Lomotey said the incident ought to be a wake-up call for the company to relocate some of its operations outside the factory.
“We have launched our own investigations and tasked the company to also present its report on the incident for further investigations”, he said.
via: http://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/explosion-kills-two-at-pioneer-food-cannery.html
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