Occupational Health And Safety

Occupational Health and Safety (OH & S) Health and safety of the employees is an important aspect of a company's smooth and successful functioning. It is a decisive factor in organizational effectiveness. It ensures an accident-free industrial environment. Companies must attach the same importance towards achieving high OH&S performance as they do to the other key objectives of their business activities. This is because, proper attention to the safety and welfare of the employees can yield valuable returns to a company by improving employee morale, reducing absenteeism and enhancing productivity, minimizing potential of work-related injuries and illnesses and increasing the quality of manufactured products and/ or rendered services. The Constitution of India has also specified provisions for ensuring occupational health and safety for workers in the form of three Articles i.e. 24, 39(e and f) and 42. The regulation of labour and safety in mines and oil fields is under the Union list. While the welfare of labour including conditions of work, provident funds, employers' invalidity and old age pension and maternity benefit are in the Concurrent list. The Ministry of Labour , Government of India and Labour Departments of the States and Union Territories are responsible for safety and health of workers. Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) and Directorate General Factory Advice Services & Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) assist the Ministry in technical aspects of occupational safety and health in mines and factories & ports sectors, respectively. DGMS exercises preventive as well as educational influence over the mining industry. Its mission is the reduction in risks of occupational diseases and casualty to persons employed in mines, by drafting appropriate legislation and setting standards and through a variety of promotional initiatives and awareness programmes. It undertakes inspection of mines, investigation of all fatal accidents, grant of statutory permission, exemptions and relaxations in respect of various mining operation, approval of mines safety equipment, appliances and material, conduct examinations for grant of statutory competency certificate, safety promotional incentives including organization of national awards and national safety conference, etc. DGFASLI is an attached office to the Ministry of Labour and relates to factories and ports/docks. It renders technical advice to the States/Union Territories in regard to administration and enforcement of the Factories Act. It also undertakes support research facilities and carries out promotional activities through education and training in matters concerning occupational safety and health. Major Initiatives undertaken by DGFASLI during the Xth Five Year Plan are:

Improvement and strengthening of enforcement system for safety and health of dock workers in major ports.

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Development of safety and health information system and data bank.

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Establishment of Regional Labour Institute at Faridabad.

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Setting up of a National Board on occupational safety and health.

Legislations The statutes relating to OH&S are broadly divided into three:

Statutes for safety at workplaces

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Statutes for safety of substances

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Statutes for safety of activities

At present, safety and health statutes for regulating OH&S of persons at work exist only in four sectors:

Mining

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Factories

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Ports

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Construction

The major legislations are:The Factories Act, 1948

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It regulates health, safety, welfare and other working conditions of workers in factories.

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It is enforced by the State Governments through their factory inspectorates. The Directorate General Factory Advice Service & Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) coordinates matters concerning safety, health and welfare of workers in the factories with the State Governments.

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DGFASLI conducts training, studies and surveys on various aspects relating to safety and health of workers through the Central Labour Institute in Mumbai and three other Regional Labour Institutes located at Kolkata, Chennai and Kanpur. (For details on this Act, refer to Sub-Section "Laws relating to Working Hours, Conditions of Service and Employment")

Mines Act, 1952 

It contains provisions for measures relating to the health, safety and welfare of workers in the coal, metalliferous and oil mines.

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The Mines Act, 1952, prescribed duties of the owner (defined as the proprietor, lessee or an agent) to manage mines and mining operation and the health and safety in mines. It also prescribes the number of working hours in mines, the minimum wage rates, and other related matters.

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Directorate General of Mines Safety conducts inspections and inquiries, issues competency tests for the purpose of appointment to various posts in the mines, organises seminars/conferences on various aspects of safety of workers.

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Courts of Inquiry are set up by the Central Government to investigate into the accidents, which result in the death of 10 or above miners. Both penal and pecuniary punishments are prescribed for contravention of obligation and duties under the Act. (For details on this Act, refer to Sub-Section "Laws relating to Working Hours, Conditions of Service and Employment")

Dock Workers (Safety, Health & Welfare) Act, 1986 

It contains provisions for the health, safety and welfare of workers working in ports/docks.

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It is administered by Director General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes, Directorate General FASLI as the Chief Inspector there are inspectorates of dock safety at 10 major ports in India viz. Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Kandla, Mormugao, Tuticorin, Cochin and New Mangalore

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overall emphasis in the activities of the inspectorates is to contain the accident rates and the number of accidents at the ports.

Other legislations and the rules framed thereunder:

Plantation Labour Act, 1951

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Explosives Act, 1884

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Petroleum Act, 1934

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Insecticide Act, 1968

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Indian Electricity Act, 1910

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Indian Boilers Act, 1923

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Indian Atomic Energy Act, 1962

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Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996

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Beedi and Cigar Workers' (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966 .

National Safety Council of India (NSCI) The National Safety Council of India (NSCI) was set up to promote safety consciousness among workers to prevent accidents, minimize dangers and mitigate human suffering, arrange programmes, lectures and conferences on safety, conduct educational campaigns to arouse consciousness among employers and workers and collect educational and information data, etc. It has launched new initiatives in three sectors:

Road Transportation Safety

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Safety of Health in Construction Sector

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Safety, Health and Environment in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises(SMEs)

At the international level, NSCI has developed close collaboration with International Labour Organisation (ILO); United Nations Environment Programmes (UNEP); World Bank ; Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC),Bangkok; World Environment Centre (WEC), New York; and the member organizations of Asia Pacific Occupational Safety and Health Organisation (APOSHO) of which NSCI is a founder-member. The National APELL (Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at Local Level) Centre (NAC) has been established since April 2002 in the NSCI Headquarters under the MoU with the Division of Technology, Industry & Economics (DTIE) of UNEP, Paris. It is the first APELL Centre in the world. It has the technical support and information from UNEP and other international sources and the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India and the stakeholders. It is dedicated primarily to strengthen chemical emergency preparedness and response in India through the use of the internationally accepted APELL process. Policy

Announcement of the National Policy On Safety, Health And Environment At Work Place was also a step towards improvement in safety, health and environment at workplace performance. Objectives of the policy were:

Continuous reduction in incidence of work related injuries, fatalities, diseases, disaster and loss of national assets.

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Continuous reduction in the cost of work place injuries and diseases.

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Extend coverage of work related injuries, fatalities, and diseases for a more comprehensive data base as a means of better performance and monitoring.

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Continuous enhancement of community awareness regarding safety, health and environment at workplace related areas.

Awards In order to encourage occupational health and safety, certain awards have also been instituted by the Government:

The National Safety Awards for factories and docks, were instituted in 1965, to give recognition to good safety performance on the part of the industrial undertakings and to stimulate and maintain the interest of both management and workers in accident prevention programmes.

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The National Safety Awards for mines were instituted in 1983, to give recognition to outstanding safety performances of mines of national-level which comes within the purview of the Mines Act, 1952.

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The Shram Vir Awards, now known as Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar were instituted in 1965. These are meant for workers of factories, mines, plantations and docks and are given to them in recognition of their meritorious performance, which leads to high productivity or economy or higher efficiency.

Indian Standard on OH&S management systems Occupational Health and Safety demands adoption of a structured approach for the identification of hazards, their evaluation and control of risks in the organisation. Hence, Bureau of Indian Standards has formulated an Indian Standard on OH&S management systems. It is called as the IS 18001:2000 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. This standard prescribes the requirements for an OH&S Management Systems, to enable an organization to formulate a policy, taking into account the legislative requirements. It also provides information about significant hazards and risks, which the organization can control in order to protect its employees and others, whose health and safety may be affected by the activities of the organization. Organizations interested in obtaining licence for OH&S Management System as per IS 18001 should ensure that they are operating the system according to this standard. The organization should apply on the prescribed proforma ( Form IV ) at the nearest Regional Office of BIS along with Questionnaire ( Form X ) and the prescribed application fee. The application shall be signed by the proprietor or the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization or any other person authorised to sign on behalf of the organization. The name and designation of the person signing the application must be recorded legibly in a space set apart for the purpose in the application form. Each application must be accompanied by a documented Occupational Health and Safety Management System Documentation (such as OHS manual etc.) India and International Labour Organisation (ILO) India is a founder member of International Labour Organization. The principal means of action in ILO is the setting up the 'International Labour Standards' in the form of Conventions and Recommendations. Conventions are international treaties and are the instruments which create legally binding obligations on the countries ratifying them. Recommendations are non-binding guidelines which orient national policies and actions. ILO has so far adopted 182 conventions and 190 recommendations, encompassing subjects such as worker's fundamental rights, worker's protection, social security, labour welfare, occupational safety and health, women and child labour, migrant labour, indigenous and tribal population, etc The approach of India with regard to International Labour Standards has always been positive. India has accordingly evolved legislative and administrative measures for protection and advancement of the interests of labour in India. The practice followed by India so far has been that a Convention is ratified only when the national laws and practices are in conformity the provisions of the Convention in question. India has so far ratified 41 ILO Conventions. The unratified Conventions of the ILO are also reviewed at appropriate intervals in relation to our National laws and practices. List of ILO Conventions ratified by India Sl.No . No. and Title of Convention

Date of

ratification 1.

No.1 Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919

14.07.1921

2.*

No.2 Unemployment Convention, 1919

14.07.1921

3.

No.4 Night Work (Women) Convention, 1919

14.07.1921

4.

No.5 Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 1919

09.09.1955

5.

No.6 Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention, 1919

14.07.1921

6.

No.11 Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921

11.05.1923

7.

No.14 Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921

11.05.1923

8.

No.15 Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 1921

20.11.1922

9.

No.16 Medical Examination of Young Persons (Sea) Convention, 1921

20.11.1922

10.

No.18 Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention, 1925

30.09.1927

11.

No.19 Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925

30.09.1927

12.

No.21 Inspection of Emigrants Convention, 1926

14.01.1928

13.

No.22 Seamen's Articles of Agreement Convention, 1926

31.10.1932

14.

No.26 Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery, Convention, 1928 10.01.1955

15.

No.27 Marking of Weight (Packages Transported by Vessels) 07.09.1931 Convention, 1929

16.

No.29 Forced Labour Convention, 1930

30.11.1954

17.

No.32 Protection Against Accidents (Dockers) Convention (Revised), 1932

10.02.1947

18.@

No.41 Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1934

22.11.1935

19.

No.42 Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention (Revised), 1934

13.01.1964

20

No.45 Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935

25.03.1938

21.

No.80 Final Articles Revision Convention, 1946

17.11.1947

22. ** No.81 Labour Inspection Convention, 1947

07.04.1949

23.

No.88 Employment Services Convention, 1948

24.06.1959

24.

No.89 Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948

27.02.1950

25.

No.90 Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) (Revised), 1948

27.02.1950

26.

No.100 Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951

25.09.1958

27.

No.107 Indigenous and Tribal Population Convention, 1957

29.09.1958

28.

No.111 Discrimination (Employment & Occupation) Convention, 1958

03.06.1960

29.

No.116 Final Articles Revision Convention, 1961

21.06.1962

30.#

No.118 Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962

19.08.1964

31.@@ No.123 Minimum Age (Underground Work) Convention, 1965

20.03.1975

32.

No.115 Radiation Protection Convention, 1960

17.11.1975

33.

No.141 Rural Workers' Organisation Convention, 1975

18.08.1977

34.

No.144 Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976

27.02.1978

35.

No.136 Benzene Convention, 1971

11.06.1991

36.##

No.160 Labour Statistics Convention, 1985

01.04.1992

37.

No.147 Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards), 1976

26.09.1996

38.

No.122 Employment Policy Convention 1964

17.11.1998

39.

No.105 Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957

18.05.2000

40.

P89 Protocol of 1990 to the Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948

41.

No.108 Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958