EHS (Environment, Health and Safety)
EHS constitutes of one of the four major pillars of Ranbaxy on which the company judges its employees. It is one of the most hot-selling points to the foreign customers. EHS stands for Environment, Health and Safety. This department looks after the different aspects of environmental issues that are associated with production of API, such as maintaining regulatory boundaries, checking of different forms of pollution etc. This also takes care of the occupational health (not general health) of its employees, and observes that all the safety measures have been taken in the different fields of the plant. The company lays down very strong policies for this aspect of its business, and has it hung on practically every wall inside plant. The company also boasts of two important certifications that it owns i.e. ISO 14001 (for environment) and OHSAS 18001 (for occupational health and safety)
Environment Waste management is the primary objective in this department. The three category of generated waste are solid, liquid and gaseous wastes. Solid Wastes Solid waste after being incinerated to ash is disposed in a particular disposal area (TSDF- Nimbua in case of Ranbaxy Toansa) with proper packing. Liquid Wastes They are treated in the ETP division of EHS department (explained later). Gaseous Wastes If waste is less they are allowed to escape, if more they are scrubbed before releasing in the environment, and if dangerous then the water used for scrubbing them is treated thereafter.
The company is certified with ISO 14001. Under this certification, the EHS department identifies and assesses environmental aspects and impacts of its business. The company expects its employees to actively participate in company programs for minimizing pollution and protecting the environment.
Health This involves the occupational health (and not general health) of the employees working in the plant. The company owns a major certification OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series) in its achievement in the field of occupational health. It is widely seen as the worlds most recognized occupational health and safety management systems standard. Exposure (both acute and chronic) of chemicals to the employees is prevented or brought down to tolerable level.
Safety In this the following aspects are being taken care of. a) Fire Prevention For this the company has emergency core group members which are trained specifically if any fire accident is to happen in the plant. Mock drills are conducted for checking the preparedness of this group. The company also has On-Site Emergency Plan (OSEP), if any unintended and unexpected major accident takes place inside the plant. Work permit system is very helpful when taking permission for maintenance of equipment (welding, cleaning, etc.). Static Electricity is also being taken care of under accidents from fire. Every new employee goes through a mandatory NEST (acronym of New Employee Safety Training) before they join the company.
b) Spill/leakage prevention For this various strategic locations for storage of the material is planned out depending upon the nature of the product, and kept accordingly by the Warehouse department. Various modern tools of communication (such as NFPA 704) is used to convey the severity of a particular category (flammability, heath, reactivity, etc.). Material Safety Data Sheet for the chemical used in plant are kept with the Supervisor in case of spill/leakage.
c) Fall from Height Care is taken that for every job which requires working at height greater than 6 feet or 180 cm, proper work permit for working at height is obtained from the required authority. d) Electricity Shock The importance of safety shoes are being communicated to the employees at regular intervals, and are other safety aspects are expressed through posters/messages/symbols to educate the masses.
Effluent Treatment Plant: It is to treat the industrial as well as domestic effluents. To remove pollutants from the waste water and to make it suitable for land discharge is the motive here. The basic discharge parameters which are to be maintained prior to disposal are: pH, TSS (total suspended solids) , TDS (total dissolved solids), chlorides, sulfates, phosphates, COD (chemical oxygen demand), BOD (biological oxygen demand) etc. It consists of: 1. Primary Treatments: 1.1.Equalization. 1.2.Neutralization. 1.3.Flocculation. 1.4.Clarification/ Sedimentation. 2. Micro-Biological Treatments: 2.1.Anaerobic. 2.2.Aerobic. 3. Tertiary Treatments: 3.1.Carbon Adsorption. 3.2.Chlorination. 3.3.RO/ UV/NF. 3.4.Ion exchange. The following treatments are done to ensure that on the discharge of effluent from the plant, company is following the government regulations of approximately what quantity of which compound (below maximum allowable) can be discharged to the environment to minimize its effect on ecology. The liquid treated can be utilized for On-line Bio-Assay or for utility make-up/ on-land discharge.
