KARACHI, Nov 2: A probe into the Pakistan Steel accident that had left nine dead and many injured in June has concluded that substandard aluminium could be the cause of the worst ever industrial disaster in the country.

The inquiry ordered by Pakistan Steel chief, retired Lt. Col Mohammad Afzal, was conducted by a board headed by technical services director, Dr N. I. Khowja.

The report says that the accident may have happened as a result of the cumulative effect of the following factors:

i) Improper quality of aluminium used for deoxidation of the molten steel which contained certain contents of zinc and other undesirable elements such as Lead and Copper.

ii) Inadequate purging of the molten steel in the ladle on account of lesser duration of one minute.

iii) Prolonged holding of the heat (i.e for 25 minutes at the casting turret before the start of the heat and 11 minutes on the purging station after purging) at the casting turret before the start of the heat.

The inquiry found that the aluminium being used prior to the accident belonged to segregated material from rejected 4th consignment of imported aluminium, due to non-availability of quality cleared material.

According to the required specifications of the Pakistan Steel, there should be at least 95 per cent of aluminium, while the aluminium content found in the ingots samples, at an average, was 88.6 per cent.

Similar was the case with other materials found in the ingots as these also did not meet the specifications.

The report says that it is obvious that aluminium was of varying quality in the segregated material.

It is interesting to note that on one hand the Pakistan Steel is claiming that it was over staffed and employees were being shed under different schemes, and on the other it was employing temporary workers. The report says: “temporary workers have an average experience of about 10 years.” Some of the workers killed in the accident were temporary workers.

Meanwhile, the People’s Workers Union of the Pakistan Steel has said the irregularities in the purchase of substandard material not containing the specific percentage of the aluminium, that was also rejected by the quality control department also, had eventually resulted in the death of nine workers at the Steel Mills.

It has urged the authorities to institute an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the organisation, particularly in its purchases and sales.

The union maintains that if the substandard material had been returned to the supplier and replaced with quality material, the accident would not have happened.

The union has also demanded that criminal proceedings be instituted against those responsible for not returning the substandard material to the suppliers.