Trade and labour organisations on Thursday called for an effective safety system for labourers in the factories and workplaces throughout Sindh.
Speaking at a seminar organised by the National Trade Union Federation Pakistan (NTUF) titled ‘The Dire State of Occupational Health and Safety at Workplaces and the Imperatives of Workers’ Struggle’, labour leaders said that protecting workers’ lives was not an act of charity or a matter of employers’ discretion, but a fundamental human and labour right.
They demanded labour inspection systems free from political and administrative interference and pressure from employers, and availability of health and safety committees at every workplace with meaningful participation of elected worker representatives and trade unions.
They demanded that the government establish a national, publicly accessible database of workplace deaths, injuries, occupational diseases, inspections, notices, prosecutions and compensation claims.
They said the government must ensure that all workers, including women, home-based workers, informal workers, migrant workers and those employed against contract or daily wages were covered by occupational safety, social-security and compensation protections.
They said the government must recognise heat stress and climate-related hazards as occupational safety concerns with mandatory water, rest, shade, ventilation and heat-action plans for exposed workers.
The speakers called for mandatory provision of personal protective equipment, fire-safety systems, emergency exits, first-aid facilities and emergency medical services. They said there should be enforcement of international safety standards in hazardous industries, particularly mining and ship-breaking, and independent and transparent investigations should be carried out into all industrial accidents with legal action against responsible employers and government officials.
They called for an end to the use of contracting and third-party employment arrangements to evade safety responsibilities. It was said that poor occupational health and safety standards in Pakistan had turned industrial units, mines, ship-breaking yards and other workplaces into death traps for workers.
The speakers said recurring fires, machinery-related accidents, exposure to toxic chemicals, unsafe buildings, inadequate ventilation, lack of protective equipment and fatal mining accidents demonstrated that workers’ lives and health were still not being given the importance they deserved.
NTUF General Secretary Nasir Mansoor said the September 11, 2012 Baldia factory tragedy remained a tragic example of the failure of industrial safety in Pakistan, in which 260 workers were killed and dozens injured.
He expressed concern over the fact that even 14 years after the tragedy, the required improvements in basic workplace safety standards had still not been achieved. He added that similarly, in the November 2016 Gadani ship-breaking tragedy, at least 26 workers were killed and dozens injured following an explosion and fire.
