The Sixth International Congress on Work Injuries, Prevention, Rehabilitation and Compensation, will be held during 8-11 June 2003, in Rome. The bi-annual meeting is organized under the auspices of ILO-SafeWork Programme and European Union Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs. The ILO-SafeWork Programme, recently developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO), is aimed at dealing with occupational safety, and health and work injury prevention.
In the recent years, the promotion of occupational safety and health at the workplace has assumed greater relevance and significance worldwide. There are 125 million work-related accidents worldwide annually. Out of these, 220,000 are fatal, meaning that about 700 employees lose their lives daily in their work environment, mostly in the developing countries.
In Pakistan, the conditions are pretty bad. Accidents are common in various sectors, affecting a large number of workers. There are a number of health problems too. Sadly, no statistics are available about work-related accidents, injuries and diseases. The working conditions in most establishments are substandard, with no concept of preventive and control measures, specially in the informal sector.
At present, the enforcement of rules, regulations and legislature is not effective and the observance of employee’s and employer’s reciprocal rights and obligations is lacking in most cases. Our social and cultural characteristics also contribute largely to the present unsatisfactory situation, which inhibits workers from taking safety precautions, using protective clothing and equipment, and disseminating information about diseases.
Regrettably, our current laws on the subject are obsolete and non-conforming to the international practices. The laws have lost their effectiveness over the years, and need immediate redrafting in the light of the current industrial and technological developments. Furthermore, there is no surveillance at the workplaces by the concerned authorities, and health promotional activities are lacking.
Protection of workers against work-related illness, disease and injury is one of the tasks assigned to the ILO under its constitution. It has adopted a number of conventions on the issues. The range and scope of occupational safety and health covers all the industrial, commercial, agricultural and service sectors of Pakistan. Major industries like textile, leather, paper, metal, rubber, fertilizer, paint, cement, plastic and ceramics generate major environmental hazards and resultantly cause illnesses and injuries not only to workers but also to general public.
Textile is our single largest industry in terms of production output and employment. In it many chemicals are used for various processes, and these processes generate noise, dust and emissions of toxic chemicals — all these are injurious to health. In addition, large quantities of waste are generated, adding to air and water pollution. Except for a few units in the organized sector, conditions of the workplace are deplorable.
Similar is the case with the engineering, iron and steel sector, the second largest industry in Pakistan in terms of employment, where different processes generate dust, smoke, poisonous gases and substances, vibration and noise. Safety in the use of chemicals is of prime importance.
The work-related diseases range from tuberculosis, in the mineworkers, to other common ones such as asthma, skin diseases, allergies and stress-related illnesses. The work-related cancer has also been investigated in various cases as a result of the harmful effects of chemicals and radioactive materials. Traumatic injuries are the result of electrical and construction industry, whereas muscle-skeletal disorders result due to manual lifting and logging operations. Disabilities related to machine operations are common. Major accidents take place during the transportation of hazardous materials.
Another problem is protecting the atmosphere and environment from air and water pollution, and acidification. The management of environment and occupational health and safety are interactive, thus a new system is to be developed by International Standards Organization (ISO). To be known as Quality, Environment, Safety and Health System (QUENSH), it will be an integration of ISO 9000 quality management standards (which already deals with workplace quality) and ISO 14000 series environmental management standards with the proposed one, and will be applicable universally.
Realizing the needs and aspirations of society, the Government of Pakistan has taken initiative in this direction. The Labour Policy 2002 was announced in September 2002 and the Government promulgated the Industrial Relations Ordinance 2002 in October 2002. The new Labour Policy adequately deals with the issues of safety measures and quality of working conditions. A National Occupational Safety and Health Council will be established and it has also been decided by the Government to consolidate and rationalize the existing laws governing the safety, health and working conditions corresponding to the latest developments in the industry and technology. Various countries have ratified ILO Conventions on the subject, and Pakistan may seriously consider, and prepare itself to be a party to the related Conventions.
The success, however, lies in the implementation of the action plan as outlined in the Labour Policy 2002 and evolving effective methods for dealing with the major problems related to the issue. The foremost need is to change the attitude and mindset of the employer as well as of the employee and to create awareness of the problems the present working conditions pose to safety and health.
