Industrial Safety, Health Environment And Security

William Shakes Peare in his famous Drama, Henry IV, has said “Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety”. In God’s creation, danger and human falibility do exist in all spheres. Industry too has it’s share. Since independence, India has tried to take wide strides by embarking upon a planned economy with a view to generate all-round industrial development. In recent years, industrial development has resulted in advent of large enterprises with huge labour force. Obviously, the larger the labour force, the greater are the potential problems, particularly, their safety. Besides, the recent trend indicates that the employee can no longer be viewed as a commodity one must heed the writing on the wall. The state must move the alert manager to a recognition of the importance of the safety approach. The labour force today is better organised through the increasing strength of trade unions and their mighty movements. Worldwide, every year, around 60,000 people die and huge numbers are disabled for life in accidents. The I.L.O. findings portray an alarming picture on this score. Compared to other countries, there is precious little authentic data in respect of accident rates, causes and preventive measure taken by the Indian industries. No agency till date has been assigned the responsiblity to compile such records and no voluntary efforts have been made in this regard. However, as per one report at an all India level, 165 per one thousand workers get injured during construction activities. This is obviously very high, compared to the rates in the developed countries. Findings of I.L.O. reveal that the accident rate among industrial workers is highest in India, touching 4 per 1000 and a major share of it is accounted for by the building and construction sector. The chief cause of the majority of safety related losses is the absence of systematic process to identify and mitigate work place hazards and total unsafe work practices. It is the product of failure of supervision and management to effectively communicate the importance the safety has, on the continuing economic viability of the organisation employing them. The connotation of safety is far more than a worker, wearing a hat in the workshop of a factor on construction sites. It is rather a philosophy that identifies and eliminates job site hazards throughout life cycle of a project. It is a philosophy that discourages work practices that place individuals at risk of injury and death. It is the integration of safety in to the daily work process. It is also the promotion of an environment, where each person in the hierarchy, has a role and responsibility for safety. It is an established fact that out of one hundred accidents, eighty eight account for human error and only twelve relate to machine failures. There are numerous international codes, laws, and legislations in developed countries regulating the whole gamut of industrial activities starting from the drawing and design state up to completion and regular operation, upkeep and maintenance.