Overview
- A sudden CO2 discharge during a scheduled cylinder replacement at Schaeffler India’s Talegaon plant killed two contract workers and injured three in June, leaving families and colleagues demanding answers.
- Technical inspections by the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health and police found a ground-level pit holding fire-extinguishing cylinders that lacked required permission and formal approval from regulators.
- Investigators reported multiple safety lapses at the site, including no emergency exit for the suppression system, unauthorized ventilation in a basement area, insufficient personal protective equipment, and no on-site rescue team.
- Police this week arrested managing director and CEO Harsha Gopal Kadam on occupier-liability grounds and took six other people into custody, with Kadam examined medically and placed in judicial custody at a hospital.
- Schaeffler India says it is cooperating with investigators and reviewing legal options while criminal and regulatory probes continue, a process that could prompt stricter enforcement of factory safety rules and contractor oversight.