National Seminar on Pharma Industry’s Fire, Electrical, Security, and Automation Practices Wraps Up
Hyderabad, November 8, 2024- The two-day National Seminar FESA 2024(Fire, Electrical, Security and Automation) for the Pharma industry concluded on Friday evening at HICC in Madhapur, Hyderabad.
Day two had many technical sessions including a Panel Discussion on the latest trends in safety and security in the Pharma industry.
C. Laxmi Prasad, retired director of state disaster response and fire services said there are many latest monitoring systems and devices, tools such as video, robots, remote monitoring etc are available. Unlike fires in residential and other commercial buildings, the fires in the Pharma industry pose a major challenge because of the limited escape time available for winners to go to safe places. The time available for escaping is limited because of hazardous chemicals and gases used in the industry. So, this has to be taken into consideration while designing the exit rules for the industry, he said
Another panelist Shiva Prasad Reddy, General Manager of EHS Hetero Drugs Ltd suggested adopting a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach. The probability of fire shouldn’t exist. Eliminate the possibility of the fire, he stated.
Fire emergency preparedness is need of the hour, he added.
The need for an independent training institute for Fire Management in the Pharma industry was emphasised.
A participant suggested that life insurance companies and managements must together work out an insurance plan such that in the event of a loss of life due to fire in a Pharma industry, they must be offered double the sum assured. This will encourage more workers to come forward to work in the Pharma industry.
The other panellists on the panel P. Ashok Kumar, Associate Vice President of EHS, Neuland Labs, and Chigurupati Srinivasa Rao, Director of EHS Biocon highlighted that pharma industries must be free from fire accidents.
The two-day seminar was organised in the backdrop of about 97 fire accidents taking place in pharma industries in the past year. The seminar was industry-specific and the first of its kind in the fire industry.
300 senior managers from over 100 pharma companies have participated in the seminar.
It was organised by the Fire and Security Association of India (FSAI). FSAI is 22 years old, a pan-Indian, not-for-profit non-profit trade body representing the Fire Protection, Life Safety, Security, Building Automation, Loss Prevention and Risk Management domains. It has 25 chapters and 10,000 members all over India said Mr Srinivas Valluri, National President, of FSAI
Amusing/fun facts about Fire–Inputs for a Box Item
Earth is the only known planet where fire can burn. Fire can double every 30 seconds. Given the right conditions, it takes just ½ a minute for a fire to double in size. It is self-sustaining. It’s a process that fuels itself endlessly. Fire can make trees explode. You can make water with fire. You can start a fire using water. An odd fact about fire is that even though firefighters use water to put out fires, water can also be used to start a fire. Pure water isn’t flammable but one of its main components, hydrogen, is. Once a forest fire begins, it can spread at a rate of up to 25 kilometres per hour,