siliconindia | | February 20179There is a strong need to create OS&H awareness in India among all stakeholders such as lawmakers, employers, employees, contractors and the general publictional Health & Safety (OHS) in India is the primary responsibility of the Ministry of Labour and other State La-bour Departments in the country. The Ministry of Labour has also issued a National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at the Workplace. The Directorate General, Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DG-FASLI) is an attached office to the Ministry of Labour which liaises with the State Factory Inspectorates and advises them on the administration of the Factories Act - 1948. The DG-FASLI provides training to inspectors of factories and technical personnel from the industries and also conducts multi-disciplinary surveys in indus-tries and ports. The Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) assists the Ministry of Labour in the technical aspects of occupational Health & Safety in mines. DGMS is subordinate to the office of the Ministry of Labour and through drafting appropriate legisla-tion and setting standards by over-seeing compliance as intensively as its resources permit, and through a variety of promotional initia-tives and awareness programs, the DGMS exercises preventive as well as educational influence over the mining industry.In addition, India has ratified 41 ILO (International Labour Organiza-tion) Conventions to ensure that oc-cupational health and safety practices are adopted in line with these interna-tional guidelines. Enforcement of la-bor laws must be strengthened in In-dia through empowered institutions, inside as well as outside the formal economy. In the organized sector, both private and public sector have well developed OS&H based on ISO, national & international standards and ILO conventions. On the other hand, currently there is no dedicated gov-ernment agency or department that deals exclusively with OS&H matters in unorganized sectors. OS&H prac-tices in the largest unorganized sector need to be enhanced in India.As per the regulatory require-ments, DGFASLI maintains the data of OS&H incidents, but the data needs to be updated on regular basis by reporting all incidents in a time-ly manner. To create a national data base, there is a need for uniformity in implementing some of the Occu-pational Safety and Health systems in industries. There are several com-panies in India certified with interna-tional standards such as ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and ILO-OSH 2001, which are helping to reduce work-re-lated injuries or illness to the workers at the workplace. Adoption of these standards by all industries will go a long way in reducing occupational injuries and promoting health and well-being of the workers at work.Moreover, in the recent past, some key factors such as globalization, out-sourcing, transfer of technology and new tools are helping the industries towards improved OS&H practices in India. Another important factor in In-dia is a judicial system which has had a positive impact on matters of public interest. Indian judiciary system is very receptive to public interest liti-gation on matters of OS&H.There is a strong need to create OS&H awareness in India among all stakeholders such as lawmakers, employers, employees, contractors and the general public. OS&H prac-tices need to be focused on including educational curricula at all levels of school, university and technical edu-cation. Public awareness on hazards of environmental pollution and dis-eases caused by exposure to harmful substances and poor hygiene should be created through mass media. Par-ticularly, the unorganized sector needs OS&H training and effective awareness campaigns.India by virtue of its sustaining economic growth, having huge young population, and with its abundant nat-ural resources is an important coun-try in the world, but has been slow in adopting the high standards of OS&H. In the recent past, the adop-tion of international OS&H standards in India are steadily improving in In-dian industries with the implementa-tion of ISO standards, evolution of in-ternet for easy accessibility of OS&H standards, and establishment of chap-ters in India by global professional OS&H societies. Ashok Garlapati
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