ISLAMABAD: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has urged a human rights body to investigate individual claims of silicosis, a fatal lung disease predominantly affecting the stone-crushing industry’s labourers.

A study titled ‘Fighting to Breathe: Occupational Safety and Health in Punjab’s Stone-Crushing Industry’ by Advocate Usama Khawar proposed that after investigation, such a human rights institution should award damages accordingly instead of adhering to strict evidentiary requirements, most of which are not complied with in the informal sector.

The report, the third paper produced as part of the prestigious I.A. Rehman Research Grant Series, delves into the distressing state of poor occupational safety and health (OSH) conditions prevailing in Punjab’s stone-crushing factories, where workers are at grave risk of contracting terminal lung diseases like silicosis.

A key area of the decent work deficit in Pakistan is poor OSH, which applies to both the formal and informal sectors, the study says, adding that most enterprises in the formal sector were not aware of OSH risks and hazards, nor were they inclined to view these with much sense of urgency.

HRCP report urges a national human rights body to investigate individual claims of silicosis

The report regrets that there is no independent legislation protecting OSH in Pakistan despite the Factories Act 1934 (last amended in 2012), the Hazardous Occupations Rules 1963 and subsequent provincially derived legislation following the devolution of the labour subject to the provinces after the 18th constitutional amendment.

In recent years, the Supreme Court has intervened in silicosis cases, directing the government and industry to respond appropriately to address the problem. However, there is still a significant gap between the laws that exist and their implementation on the ground, the study says.

Poor implementation of the laws that do exist, weak unionisation and inadequate or even absent labour inspection mechanisms mean that Pakistan’s OSH standards fall painfully short of internationally accepted benchmarks.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the stone-crushing industry in Punjab, where thousands of workers — lacking protective equipment — inhale crystalline silica dust during industrial processes such as the manufacturing of acid-lining mixtures for the metal industry. In the long term, they become vulnerable to silicosis.

Given an estimated 500,000 people who are directly employed by this industry in Pakistan, establishing the prevalence of silicosis and examining what OSH mechanisms are in place to prevent it, if any, is a key labour rights concern, the report emphasises.

The report highlights that during 2008-22, a total of 165 people died in Punjab due to silicosis-related deaths. Of them, 91 were from Dera Ghazi Khan, 46 from Gujranwala, and 28 from Hafizabad and Sheikhupura.

Likewise, 318 workers were reportedly suffering from symptoms of silicosis in Punjab in the year 2022-23, including 300 in Hafizabad and Sheikhupura, 14 in Gujranwala and four in Dera Ghazi Khan.

The study suggests that the government should set up a special commission to identify all victims of silicosis and their legal heirs and determine the quantum of compensation to which they are entitled.

This commission should be directed to consider factors such as loss of earning capacity, number of dependent family members and all other factors based on the disability-adjusted life years formula developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It asks the inspectors visiting different factories to fine factory owners for not following the proper protective guidelines and exposing their workers to the disease. Individual factory owners must be held liable to pay for the treatment of workers who have contracted silicosis.

The OSH councils envisaged under the Punjab Occupational Safety and Health Act 2019 must be instituted immediately and provided the human and financial resources they need to enforce the provisions of the law.

The report stresses that employers must be required to provide free health insurance to all workers in stone-crushing factories so that families can avail financial relief and easier access to healthcare.

It also highlights that globally, silicosis is said to show symptoms 10 to 15 years after exposure, but in Pakistan, this timeframe appears to be shorter. This means that many workers who may have contracted the disease already are still working at these factories; it is therefore crucial to inhibit their exposure as soon as possible, the study says.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2023