The Tragic Incident of Dombivali Factory Blast

In May 2016, one of the chemical factories owned by Probace Enterprises exploded at Dombivali East in the Mumbai area. The incident caused the death of 12 people and injured around 200 others. The impact of the explosion also affected the people at the nearby residents and shops. The mysterious blast resulted in the shattering of glasses and rooftops in a two-kilometre radius from the factory. Resulting in many reported cases of trauma victims. The incident noted prominent injuries due to the cuts from the shattered glass pieces.

With the cause for the accident still being investigated, the loss of people remains uncompensated. The injuries and deaths left people with deep scars both physically and financially.

An accident of this magnitude has never occurred at Probace Enterprises before, but they do sometimes have smaller incidents of chemical leaks causing injuries to employees. A high percentage of chemical burns occur despite the use of personal protective equipment, the provision of safety instruction, and the availability of treatment facilities. In some cases, the personal protective equipment is faulty or inadequate. In others, it is not properly used in spite of instructions. It could be said then that overall Probace's level of safety was questionable.

While the investigation into the blast was being investigated at the East Mumbai plant and operations were shut down because of the extensive damage, Probace's leadership team decided that they will have to engage in a comprehensive change management programme at its North Mumbai location as it relates to safety. They intend to implement new safety protocols, rules and regulations to avoid any such future incident at this plant.

1. Apply Lewin's Three-Step Change model to the safety change management plan to be implemented at the North Mumbai location. Use examples related to the case in your answer.

2. Describe the process to be used when investigating the cause of the chemical blast at the East Mumbai location.

3. Discuss the cost of the chemical blast to Probace Enterprises and its employees