In a tragic incident at Aavin milk factory in Thiruvallur district, a woman employee named Umarani lost her life after a conveyor belt severed her head. The incident occurred on Tuesday night, 20 August 2024, while Umarani was stacking milk packets in the factory. Her dupatta and hair got caught in the machinery, leading to the horrific accident.
When the tragedy struck, Umarani, a 30-year-old Salem district resident, worked at the Aavin factory. Her husband, Karthi, is employed at a private factory in Irungattukottai. The couple had two children. The police were quick to arrive at the scene, recovering Umarani’s body and sending it to the Thiruvallur District Government Medical College Hospital for an autopsy. The incident has left the employees of the Kakalur dairy and the local community in shock, with milk supply from the facility temporarily suspended.
Addressing the media, DMK Milk & Dairy Development Minister Mano Thangaraj expressed his sorrow over the incident and provided insight into the safety protocols at the Aavin factory. “There are SOPs in place for everything. The machines have operated for 25 years, and we have never encountered such an accident. She [Umarani] may have tilted towards the conveyor belt, causing her dupatta to get caught. The packaging conveyor belt moves slowly, not fast, so we are investigating how this accident occurred,” he said. The minister also mentioned that employees are generally not allowed to wear dupattas due to safety concerns, but some workers insist on wearing them as part of their cultural attire. “We are considering introducing a coat as part of the uniform and are discussing this with the labourers. Either we will ban the dupatta, or they will have to agree to wear the coat,” he added.
When a reporter asked if it was the employee’s fault or if there was some issue with the machine, he said, “This is surely carelessness, but whether it is carelessness or an accident is unclear. This will not happen frequently, nor has it happened before. Her dupatta was slightly longer than usual, and how it got entangled is unknown. This would have been possible only if she had bent/tilted to that side. This is unlike the other belts, which move quickly since they are in the packaging department. It moves very slowly, and it is more likely that this occurred due to her carelessness. But we have asked for this to be investigated.”
The incident has also drawn criticism from opposition leaders. AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami condemned the DMK government for failing to ensure worker safety at the factory. In a statement on his X account, Palaniswami said, “I was shocked to hear the news that Umarani, a female employee who was working at Aavin Dairy Farm in Kakalur, Thiruvallur district, tragically died after her clothes and hair got caught in the conveyor belt. My deepest condolences to Umarani’s family. The management should have ensured the safety of dairy workers while working with dangerous machinery. But in this DMK regime, there is no protection for workers anywhere from firecrackers to dairy farms. Aavin’s safety protocol is that there must be no contamination in the milk. But as a result of this DMK government not providing proper safety facilities, today, a woman worker got her hair caught, and her head was cut off. I strongly condemn the DMK government for being lax in security. I urge the DMK Chief Minister to provide appropriate relief to the family of deceased Umarani and to ensure that adequate safety facilities are provided to the workers in the dairy farms in case such accidents happen again.”
திருவள்ளூர் மாவட்டம் காக்களூரில் உள்ள ஆவின் பால் பண்ணையில் பணிபுரிந்து வந்த உமாராணி என்ற பெண் ஊழியர் கன்வேயர் பெல்டில் துணி, தலைமுடி சிக்கியதால் பரிதாபமாக உயிரிழந்த செய்தி கேட்டு அதிர்ச்சியுற்றேன். உயிரிழந்த திருமதி. உமாராணி அவர்களின் குடும்பத்தாருக்கு எனது ஆழ்ந்த இரங்கல்களையும்… pic.twitter.com/QIeDCXqpMK
— Edappadi K Palaniswami – Say No To Drugs & DMK (@EPSTamilNadu) August 21, 2024
The accident has raised concerns about workplace safety at Aavin’s dairy farms, with calls for stricter enforcement of safety protocols and better protection for workers operating around hazardous machinery.
'பெண்ணின் கவனக்குறைவே காரணம்..' கன்வேயர் பெல்டில் துப்பட்டா சிக்கி ஆவின் பெண் ஊழியர் உயிரிழந்தது குறித்து அமைச்சர் விளக்கம்…#Chennai | #MinisterManoThangaraj | #Aavin | #WomenDeath | #PolimerNews pic.twitter.com/cnyIWafvWM
— Polimer News (@polimernews) August 21, 2024
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