With over six million deaths due to COVID-19 in the past two years, safety and health has become the focus of every local, national and international discussion. As accidents, injuries and diseases are prevalent in many industries, all of which directly and indirectly affect the well-being of workers and their families, it ensures a preventive safety and health culture is an important component of any workplace. Globally, an estimated 2.9 million deaths and 402 million nonfatal injuries are attributable to occupational accidents and diseases. In order to move the world of work through the pandemic in a more human-centred and resilient way, there is a need to strengthen occupational safety and health (OSH) mechanisms to establish workplaces that are not hazardous to workers.
Since 2003, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has observed 28 April as the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, to leverage the strength of our tripartite and social dialogue to emphasize the prevention of accidents and diseases. Our new publicationEnhancing social dialogue towards a culture of safety and healthAnd this year’s theme, “Work together to build a positive safety and health culture,” explores the role of social dialogue in creating a positive safety and health culture at workplaces, which can be fostered by collaboration between employers and workers. And that will be made possible by discussion. ,
OSH code implementation
Occupational accidents and diseases cost 5.4% of global GDP annually. While less clearly, they materialize in the form of attendanceism (working with reduced effectiveness), productivity loss associated with permanent impairment, and staff-turnover cost (ie loss of skilled workforce). Government of India declared National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at Work In February 2009 and compiled the available OSH information: National OSH Profile in 2018, The next important step is to launch a strategic national OSH programme. effective implementation of Code of OSH and working conditions of 2020 OSH protection is expected to expand to more sectors, especially for informal workers who make up almost 90% India’s workforce, and provide fair and effective labor inspections, as labor inspection visits declined from 1,21,757 in 2011 to 93,846 in 2016. The code should also promote active workplace OSH committees.
At the national level, the government needs to involve all relevant ministries to ensure that workers’ safety and health are prioritized on the national agenda. This requires allocating adequate resources to increase general awareness of OSH, knowledge of hazards and risks, and understanding of their control and prevention measures. At the state level, workers and employers’ organizations should, through bilateral discussions, incorporate safety and health training at every level of their supply chain to ensure protection against workplace injuries and diseases. Social dialogue is essential to improving compliance and plays a vital role in building ownership and establishing commitment, paving the way for rapid and effective implementation of OSH policies.
OSH coverage across India
There are some good practices in India to increase OSH coverage. The Uttar Pradesh government in collaboration with employers and workers organized participatory OSH training workshops for metal and apparel home-based workers. Most of these workers are in the informal economy and out of reach of other occupational health and safety initiatives. The Government of Kerala implemented ILO’s participatory OSH training practices and reached out to small construction sites for OSH improvements. Government of Rajasthan created OSH awareness among workers and employers in stone processing units to prevent occupational lung diseases.
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A reliable occupational accident and disease reporting system is critical to recovering victims and creating effective prevention policies for safe and healthy workplaces. While India has such a system, it is under-utilised, with many injuries, accidents and diseases unregistered. Lack of awareness about health hazards at workplaces leads to misdiagnosis by doctors. Corrective action includes training doctors on various occupational diseases and workplace hazards and risks.
Occupational injuries and diseases cause immense suffering and loss to the victims and their families. In addition, they also do economic damage to enterprises and economies. Therefore, strong social dialogue mechanisms to appropriately address occupational safety and health, by investing adequately in its prevention, will contribute to the creation of a safe and healthy workforce and support productive enterprises, which are the key to a sustainable economy. bases are formed.
Dagmar Walter is the Director of the ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team for South Asia and the Country Office for India, part of the UN Team India.