New Delhi, Sept 16: The Mines Safety Week Celebration is conducted every year under the aegis of Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS),Ministry of Labour and Employment,Government of India.This year, the Mines Safety Week 2024 celebrations were organized at NLC India Limited, Neyveli from 09.09.2024 to 14.09.2024. As part of this, stalls displaying 15 In-House Models prepared by Mine-I, Mine-II and Mine-IA were put up for public exhibition.
The valedictory function of the Mines Safety Week 2024 was held at Lignite Hall on 14.09.2024. The function started with the hoisting of Safety flag by Prasanna Kumar Motupalli, CMD/ NLCIL and Chief Guest T.R.Kannan, Director of Mines Safety, Chennai Region in the presence of Dr. Suresh Chandra Suman, Director (Mines) & Director (Planning & Projects) (AC),NLCIL, Samir Swarup, Director (HR)/NLCIL, M.Venkatachalam, Director (Power)/NLCIL, Appakannu Govindarajan (IPoS),Chief Vigilance Officer/NLCIL, Senior executives of NLCIL, Safety Committee members, Employees, Indcoserve & contract workmen, representatives from Trade Unions, representatives from various Engineering associations and Welfare associations. A safety pledge was also administered in trilingual.
I.S.Jasper Rose, Executive Director (Mines, Services & Land) welcomed the gathering. M.James, Secretary (TNMSA) presented the Tamilnadu Mines Safety Association Report. Dr.Suresh Chandra Suman, Director(Mines), in his keynote address, said that Safety, the backbone of all activities, was the collective responsibility of everyone.
The Chief Guest of the function, T.R.Kannan, speaking on the occasion, stressed upon the importance of safety in Mines, saying that every day was a challenging day for Miners. He also said that First Aid awareness should reach every home as safety began from the home. He thanked the inspection team for having conducted an extensive survey of safety practices in all the Mines in Neyveli.
Delivering the Presidential address, Prasanna Kumar Motupalli, CMD/NLCIL commended Team NLCIL for achieving the highest ever coal production in the first five months of the current Financial Year and for securing the Machhakata Coal Mine which had the potential to be ranked among the top 5 coal Mines of the country. Regarding safety in Mines, all those working in the Mines should be properly trained in the safety aspects to achieve zero accident status, he said.
Mandatory wearing of fluorescent jackets in Mines would be enforced soon, he assured. Ensuring safety is a collective responsibility, both of the individual and the system, he declared. He proudly stated that NLCIL had set a positive trend by deploying a workforce of 30 women in the Mines which was appreciated by the Union Minister of Coal. He gave a clarion call to make all-out efforts to ensure Zero accidents in NLCIL Mines.He also complimented the safety models put up in the exhibition.
As part of the Mines Safety Week, an inspection team from Tamilnadu Mines Safety Association (TNMSA) inspected all three mines and evaluated the performance of the Mines.The prestigious overall I prize was won by Mine-II team and overall II prize was won by Mine-IA team.
As a new initiative to empower women, a First Aid Women’s Team was formed in all three mines and they competed practically at the First Aid Competition held at NLC India Hospital on 01.09.2024 as a part of the Mines Safety Week celebration in which overall I prize was won by Mine-IA Women Team & II prize was won by Mine-II Women Team.
In order to recognize the strength and courage of the Women and to encourage and motivate, the Women’s First Aid teams were honoured with shields by CMD/NLCIL. Also, in Men’s First Aid Team competition, overall I prize was won by Mine-II Team and overall II prize was won by Mine-I Team. They were honoured with shields by CMD/NLCIL.
Following the prize distribution ceremony, a Cultural programme was organized based on this year’s Safety theme “Inculcating Safety as a culture to achieve Zero Harm”. The function ended with vote of thanks by Neeraj Kumar, CGM/Corporate Safety/NLCIL.
