HYDERABAD, Oct 23: A three-day seminar organized by the Wapda Hydro Electric Central Labour Union in collaboration with the ILO on the topic of “Safety and Health” concluded on Monday night.

The chief guest of the concluding session, Zila Nazim, Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman said that life was a gift from God and it must be protected.

He called upon the Wapda employees to adopt all precautionary measures before starting their work as their job was very risky.

He appealed to Wapda employees not to misbehave with the consumers saying that he himself and all the Nazims and the councillors would cooperate with them in checking power theft and recovering outstanding dues.

Speaking on the occasion, the secretary general of the Wapda Central Labour Union, Khursheed Ahmed said that through the efforts of the union, labour halls had been constructed in Hyderabad, Larkana, Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad.

He said the children of the employees were being imparted free computer training by the union and added that the union was making all out efforts to get the problems of the workers resolved.

The president of the union, Abdul Latif Nizamani, in his presidential address, said that the Wapda employees were working day and night to bring about an improvement in the department, especially where checking power thefts and recovering outstanding dues was concerned but their problems had not yet been resolved.

He warned the officials not to harass the employees and “to change their attitude”.

He said the employees must never ever forget to wear protective gear while working on electric poles.

He said the chief executive, Hesco, Brig M Ali Khan had taken some very good decisions which will pay rich dividends in the long run.

The general secretary of the union, Sindh, M Iqbal Kaim Khani, and the director seminar, Osama Tariq, also addressed the concluding session.

Earlier, the speakers of the seminar called upon the government and the employees to take concrete steps to check accidents and occupational diseases of the workers engaged in industries having a hazardous nature of work such as electricity, textiles, mines, construction, engineering, and chemicals.

The first session of the seminar was held under the auspices of the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions.

The speakers said that thousands of workers died every year due to fatal accidents and thousands of others were disabled due to occupational diseases.

They said that the causes of fatal and non-fatal accidents and occupational diseases of workers required to be tackled through the promotion of safety, which would also help increase productivity and workers efficiency.

The seminar demanded that outdated labour laws which were promulgated 60 to 80 years back such as the Factories Act 1934, Mines Act 1923, Railways Act 1910 should be progressively amended in conformity with ILO conventions.

It asked the government to set up tripartite national and provincial industrial safety and health councils comprising the representatives of the government, employers, and workers.

It further demanded that bilateral safety committees should also be set up in each industrial enterprise comprising representatives of workers and employers for the enforcement of labour laws and safety practices.

It also stressed the need for adequate medical treatment of workers, guarantees for old-age benefits, and compensation to the workers in case of fatal and non-fatal accidents at the place of work.

The workshop was attended by a large number of trade unions’ representatives.