Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Javaid Laghari said that due to the lack of safety measures, the workers at construction sites often were exposed to health hazards and every day, hundreds of labourers fell prey to the mismanagement in the implementation of safety laws.
He was addressing the International Workshop on Safety Management and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards held at the main campus of National University of Sciences and Technology on Thursday. NUST School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, under a joint Pak-US research programme, patronised the event in collaboration with the HEC.
Dr Laghari opined that OSHA had set precedence for developing countries like Pakistan to reduce fatalities at work places by implementing safety laws in letter and spirit. He said that the mission of OSHA was to save lives, prevent injuries and protect the health of workers in America. He said that the vulnerability to health hazards and injuries of workers in Pakistan could also be curbed provided that a safety mechanism was put in place following the example set by OSHA.
A professor from East Carolina University, Dr Syed Mahmood Ahmad, gave an introduction to OSHA. He said that OSHA, a US agency, was established in 1970 as until then there were no national laws for safety and health hazards in the US. The agency, he said, developed job safety and health standards and enforced them through worksite inspections.
Dr Ahmad recommended that a body should be formed with representation from all the stakeholders including HEC to put in joint efforts to improve safety situation at the work sites. Among other prominent speakers were Dr Jimmie W Hinze from University of Florida, Dr Salman Azhar and Dr Rafique Muhammed Chaudhry. The daylong workshop concluded with the chief guest presenting souvenirs to the participants.
