KARACHI, Dec 20: The Sindh labour department has proposed that necessary precautionary steps be taken to avoid accidental deaths at the Pakistan Steel, says an inquiry report.

The department carried out an inquiry into the death of a steel mills worker, Mohammad Dawood, who was crushed under a 450-kilogram billet on Nov 19.

Mohammad Dawood, a rigger who used to tie and untie sling of a crane mounted on rail track used to move the billets, after loading the billets on the truck sat in the back of the truck along with the billets.

The report says that as the truck was moving it came across a jump due to uneven ground, the worker, who was sitting over the billets, fell off the truck due to the jerk, his head hitting the rail track. Due to the same jerk one of the 12-foot-long billets also fell off the truck on him, hitting his neck and chin.

The inquiry team which visited the spot in its report said that the light arrangements for working in the night, as per international requirements, were insufficient; and that the workers were still loading billets on trucks with crane but were not tying the billets after loading these on the trucks.

The report had proposed that billets should be tied with a strong rope or chain after loading these on the trucks and proper lighting arrangements, meeting the international requirements, be made; and that no worker be allowed to sit on the open portions of the trucks.