World Day for health and safety at work

Who are the important components of any production? It is the Workers. And should there be a dedicated day for them or not? Yes, right? So, today, 28th April is an awareness day of their Health and Safety at the workplace 

If you are an entrepreneur or wanting to become one, you have to read this entire article for sure!

With the COVID-19 Pandemic, the World of Work has seen unforeseen circumstances. Considering this, current year's World Day for Safety and Health at Work's primary emphasis would be on strategies to build up national occupational safety and health (OSH) systems to strengthen resilience, in order to overcome the current crises now and also in the future, from the lessons learned and all those experiences from the workplace's world.

International Labour Standards also encourages social dialogue and found it to be the best way to see that the procedures and protocols are implemented very effectively.

It was from the year 2003, International Labour Organization (ILO), started to observe the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, to raise awareness on ‘How to make the Workplace Healthy and Safe’. So, we bring to you an exclusive content on how it all became important and a lot more on it. Read ahead. Do not be bored. Here we try to explain a little bit of background and history...

Why care about the health and safety of workers?

With any industrial setup, the need for manpower surges up. In the industrial revolution, beginning from 1750s, the capitalists, saw an opportunity and out of greed, focused only on the production but not the Health and Safety of the Workers. Initially, though it started to give them profits, later found out that the workers were getting tired and the efficiency of a worker is being reduced. This made them think, and thus, started to take care of the workers, not out of empathy but still out of greed. 

So, the notion of taking care of your workforce came into existence. The capitalists who focused on the health and safety of workers started to achieve more efficiency compared to the ones who were not. When the socialist, democratic republics, communist governments came up in major parts of the world, the focus was on health -physical, mental and social well-being; and safety of the workers. 

So, learning lessons from history, if you are an entrepreneur, apart from profits, you have to focus on the health and safety of the workers too. That would keep them safe and happy and would in return increase their work efficiency (This is the secret of Google, Microsoft etc., being perfect places to work). Also, it protects the equipment and the inventory at the production unit.

Mandatory measures to be taken

An employer should take the following mandatory measures to ensure health and safety at the workplace.

Aesthetics

The standard frequency set up, according to most of the countries, is as follows

Work	Frequency
Factory premises cleaning dust and refuse on floor	Daily
Cleaning with a disinfectant	Weekly
Paint / Whitewash of walls and roofs	Yearly or 14 months
Doors, Windows and other frames metallic or wooden	5 years

Water should never be logged at any place and for that, effective drainage to remove the water to the extent possible must be installed. 

Inside Environment

Light & Air - The entire factory should be well ventilated for sunlight and air to pass through except in certain special conditions where there should be no air / sunlight.

Waste disposal -There should be a proper waste disposal mechanism, which should include proper treatment of waste before disposing it off. 

Proper methods should be installed to prevent dust / fumes from coming into contact with the workers in few chemical / textile / jute industries. It is an offence if such dust or fumes are disturbing the workers. Evidence of actual injury to health is not necessary.

Overcrowding to an extent possible should be avoided in a room. 

Basic Amenities

Pure and clean drinking water (in hot weather, cold water) should be supplied to all the workers which should be separated from the clean and hygienic washrooms separately for men and women.

Safety

All the workers should mandatorily wear safety gear before they enter the factory and all the machinery should have proper emergency on / off in every room. Precautions to be taken to prevent automatic start of the machinery. 

First aid kit containing all necessary medicines and equipment is the most important thing to be checked daily. Fire safety equipment should be intact. All necessary provisions should be taken to handle any kind of emergency situations both foreseen and unforeseen.

Welfare of Women

Every factory should make space for a creche employed with suitable women with free refreshments to the kids. Mothers should be able to feed the infants at regular intervals.

The employee’s rights and responsibility

All labourers have the authority to exercise the following rights and safety, when it comes to health and safety

• Healthy and safe environment can be demanded from the organization
• Employee has the right to request his employer to replace or repair dangerous machinery.
• If actions are not taken, a complaint can be filed about the hazards in workplace.
• To participate in enforcement inspections.
• Employer does not have the right to fire you, threaten you or harass you for exercising health and safety rights.
• Employees have the right to refuse to work on machinery that puts them in immediate danger. But there must be a proof that the machinery is hazardous, else it cannot be taken into account
• Employee has all the rights to get information on the chemicals used in the workplace
• He/she has the right to be aware of the number of tests taken regarding the chemicals used, noise and radiation levels.
• Right to be trained, when any employee is being exposed to toxic substances
• Right to information about the OSHA standards, worker injuries and illnesses, job hazards and also the workers rights

Responsibilities:

There are certain responsibilities that the employee should follow

• Workplace safety and health poster has to read by the employee
• To use or wear protective equipment while working
• Hazardous or dangerous conditions to be reported to the employer
• To report job-related illness or injury to the employer and seek help.

Awareness:

If any health and safety measures are not being followed by the production unit or if the management is refusing to replace or repair or provide a healthy environment, each and every employee has the right to file a complaint

Is your Employer not providing you basic necessities, Do not worry, You can lodge a complaint and track it here - https://pgportal.gov.in/Signin 

All you have to do is, just Sign up.

Health issues of daily wage workers:

Human resource being a very important economic factor we have skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled workers all over the world, Being transported or working in one particular region for various purposes. Now we talked about the health and safety of those workers who are skilled and semi-skilled and there are definite rights and laws for those workers, even though many are unaware it is just the matter of time for us to make them aware.

But when it comes to daily wage workers the rights are unclear and the laws are limited and in some places health and safety cannot be guaranteed for those workers. There are many cases where labourers are working in places like construction sites and other manufacturing sectors where they work only for a limited period of time and the wage they receive is very low. Though some governments are fixing the minimum wage that has to be paid there is a lakh of awareness for these unskilled workers. These workers belong to an association and every settlement and disputes are being taken care of by the contractor who manages these associations. So these disputes and accidents that happen are not being properly reported and they are being settled among themselves, which can lead to unfair conclusions.

Things like equal pay, training, age factor, awareness about the working place whether safe or unsafe is not being defined or limited in our law itself. These are the reasons or problems why these workers were being affected during the lockdown and couldn’t afford basic living.

There is no proper record on how much workers are being physically abused or having health issues and died in job-related accidents, because they are unnoticed. 

Actions to be taken towards their well being

Government has to pay attention towards framing the right laws for daily workers and protect their rights from being violates but factory owners or companies. 

These people have to receive most of the rights regarding health and safety which is given for skilled and semi-skilled workers. They have to receive proper training and must be aware of the hazards in the place which they are working.

Healthy and safe environment must be provided for these workers. Any person who is a labour contractor must take charge for any accidents or health issues caused in the work place. Actions have to be taken against those who are physically abusing these workers or forced labour in dangerous places. Literacy, training and awareness are the three things which these workers need the most. The government is also having a major responsibility to pay attention towards these workers well-being which can help them in having a safe and healthy life.

They deserve to be healthy and safe:

These people whether skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled, they deserve to be working in a healthy and safe environment. They do need the awareness and they do need to know that we care about them a lot. Labour resources are valuable and we cannot afford to exploit them or abuse their mental and physical health. They deserve to live peacefully knowing that they are healthy and they are working in a safe environment. In this way they are more productive and they live a long and happy life. Let us all strive towards a healthy and safe future for each and every human being on this planet. 

If you are budding Entrepreneur, you might help on how Diversity at Workplace would help you. - Click here to read the article

Fact File:

World Health Organization

International Labour Organization

Government of UK

Government of India | Grievance Redressal

Government of Australia