Tata Steel Awarded worldsteel Safety and Health Excellence Recognition 2024 for Process Safety Management
Bengaluru: Tata Steel has been honored with the World Steel Association (worldsteel) Safety and Health Excellence Recognition 2024 for its innovative online purging assistance model. This model primarily focuses on eliminating the risk of explosion in the gas cleaning plant (GCP) area of the blast furnace. Among the global steel producers recognized, Tata Steel stands out as the only Indian company to receive this prestigious recognition this year.
For the 2024 recognition, worldsteel evaluated steel producers from around the globe based on their demonstrable improvements in safety and health. The evaluation was conducted under four broad categories: safety culture and leadership, occupational safety management, occupational health management, and process safety management.
Rajiv Mangal, Vice President of Safety, Health & Sustainability at Tata Steel, expressed his thoughts on receiving the award: “Tata Steel accords the highest priority to the safety of its employees and stakeholders, and has been investing in latest technology and digital tools to ensure this. We are delighted that our efforts in this direction have been consistently recognised by worldsteel which further reaffirms our commitment to building a ‘zero harm’ company.”
The new purging assistance model developed by Tata Steel enhances safety through real-time tracking of the purging process. It utilizes a set of remote-operated valves installed at strategic locations, and gas analysers placed at vents. Moreover, a system of logic and interlocks has been devised, which allows operators to monitor and control the purging of the entire gas line directly from the control room. This model effectively eradicates the risk associated with the inadequate purging of the gas line, which was previously dependent on manual tasks such as opening nitrogen valves and measuring gas through vents.
In specific terms, the new model has resulted in zero high potential risk incidents due to inadequate purging and has led to estimated savings of around $215,000 per shutdown due to reduced purging time. Additionally, it achieves a 50% reduction in purging time and ensures 100% safe shutdown and startup of the plant.
To further enhance its excellence in process safety management, Tata Steel has been actively leveraging digital technology to promote timely maintenance of Process Safety Critical Equipment. This proactive approach has led to significant reductions in the failure rates of critical equipment. The company has also established the Process Safety School of Excellence, aimed at improving process safety competency among employees at all locations.
This recognition for process safety management builds upon Tata Steel’s previous achievements. The company was also awarded the worldsteel Safety and Health Excellence Recognition in 2023 for its ongoing efforts and dedication to elevating safety standards within the steel industry.
