Govt to regulate smaller facilities
PUBLISHED : 22 Jan 2024 at 05:44
The Ministry of Industry is looking to amend laws on setting up fireworks factories following the deadly explosion at one such factory in Suphan Buri, according to a ministry official.
Nattapol Rangsitpol, permanent secretary for industry, said on Sunday Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsutin had ordered the ministry to revise the nation’s factory laws so it can manage small factories that could pose a danger to surrounding communities.
A committee on the revision of the Factory Act 1992 and various safety and environmental regulations will be formed, he said.
The Department of Industrial Works (DIW) has been instructed to revise the act to enable the ministry to compel small fireworks manufacturing facilities, including those using machinery with less than 50 horsepower and those with less than 50 workers, to abide by safety protocols, he said.
The committee is also expected to study laws and regulations on safety and the environment to prevent accidents that could affect factory workers, residents and the environment, he said.
Under the current policy, during the drought season, the DIW, the Department of Primary Industries and Mines, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand and provincial industry offices warn manufacturers whose activities pose a high risk of conflagration, including those in tapioca flour, weaving, furniture, paper, paint, fireworks, plastic and rubber, he said.
During the drought season, heat in a factory may ignite a fire easily.
A safety manual is also issued to manufacturers to prevent workplace incidents. Preventive measures include safety lessons, inspections, maintenance and changing electric equipment and machinery based on service life, Mr Nattapol said.
“This is to answer to Industry Minister Pimphattra Wichaikul’s policy calling on agencies to carry out factory inspections every year,” he said.
He said every sector must inspect safety protocols at factories storing hazardous materials.
Meanwhile, Minister of Social Development and Human Security, Varawut Silpa-archa, said a team comprising social workers, psychiatrists, doctors, police, prosecutors and lawyers is helping the relatives of the 23 victims who died in the factory explosion in Suphan Buri.
The team has compiled information and complaints, so staff can address them and provide home repairs.
Akkaradech Wongpitakroj, United Thai Nation MP for Ratchaburi, chair of a House committee on industry, said the panel will call for a meeting with senior government officials to discuss the explosion and possible amendments to the law on operating a fireworks factory.