PRITIPAUL Singh Investment Inc. has given the Occupational, Safety and Health (OSH) Department of the Ministry of Social Protection full access to its Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara facility, to conduct an investigation into the recent ammonia gas leak.

This is according to Pritipaul Singh Investment’s Assistant Managing Director, Vishnu Panday. In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Panday said that OSH officials from the ministry visited the Mc Doom facility on Tuesday, and have launched an investigation into Monday’s ammonia gas leak. “We had these officials and we have allowed them full access to the plant to conduct their own investigation,” Panday said, while noting that the report from the OSH department would be welcome.

The incident, which occurred around 14:30hrs, resulted in 14 employees of the company being rushed to the Woodlands Hospital in the city for medical attention. Some employees reportedly fainted while others complained of feeling nauseated. Of the 14, six were kept overnight for observation, and were reportedly discharged on Tuesday.

Panday said that the company has submitted the required documents to the OSH department. The company also wrote the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams, informing him of the incident in keeping with Condition 7 (1) of the Operations Permit issued to Pritipaul Singh Investments Inc.
The assistant managing director said that the company has launched an internal investigation to have a better understanding of the cause of the gas leak, and a compressive report will be compiled on Thursday the latest. That report will be submitted to the EPA, he added.

However, based on a preliminary investigation, Panday explained that one of the lines through which the ammonia gas flows to the processing plants was damaged after a motor fell on it. “It appears that one of the motors snapped and fell, hitting the line that caused that leakage,” he posited, noting that within seconds the gas spread within the atmosphere.

According to him, employees were immediately evacuated and the damaged pipeline sealed to prevent further leakage. As a precautionary measure, he said that employees who complained of feeling nauseated were taken to a private hospital for medical attention. He noted that while this is the second gas leak within a month at the fisheries, the first was very minor and did not require any evacuation or movement of employees because the incident was resolved almost immediately.

Panday maintained that the company maintains a high standard of operations, and has effective monitoring and maintenance systems in place. “Like anything in the world, there can be an unguarded moment, this is where a motor just fell, hit a line and caused it to be severed,” Panday stated.

He contended that if proper systems were not in place, then the situation could have been worse as he boasted of the many international awards the company has copped over the years. He said it was based on Pritipaul Singh Investment’s outstanding operations that caused it to be recognised internationally. Chief Fisheries Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Denzil Roberts, said that the Department of Fisheries will be launching an investigation into the reported incident as well.