Efficient labour inspection mechanism required: PILER

The government should ensure an efficient labour inspection mechanism to address the problem of poor occupational health and safety conditions in the industrial sector, the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) said in a statement issued on Friday. “Employers have a legal compulsion to ensure that hazards in the workplace are eliminated, minimised, or controlled in such a way that work accidents are avoided,” it added. PILER pointed out that in Pakistan, the situation of occupational health and safety is appalling and there is no independent legislation on subject except for the “Hazardous Occupation Rule 1963” under the Factories Act 1934.
Practically, these laws are obsolete and do not conform to international practices. Official statistics of the Labour Force Survey 2010-11 indicate that 73.8 percent of the workforce is working in the informal sector. A large number of small and medium scale industries such as textile, leather, metal and pharmaceutical factories are operating in Pakistan without any moral and legal obligation for workers’ occupational health, safety and social protection. In these factories, occupational health and safety measures are given no importance and employers tend to deny medical treatment and financial compensation to workers in case of permanent injury or death in an industrial accident.   
According to the Pakistan Labour and Human Resource Statistics, the number of industrial accidents increased from 354 to 419 during 2000 to 2008. In year 2011 alone, the reported number of fatal accidents went up to 101. PILER highlighted the recent collapse of a three-storey building of a pharmaceutical company on February 6, 2012 in a residential area of Lahore after a boiler explosion, killing at least 25 people. “This is a clear evidence of the factory’s violation of the existing labour laws,” it added.
“The factory remained operational even when the local authorities reportedly ordered the management to close down because it was not a registered entity. It is no wonder that the factory management remained blatant about violating the occupational health and safety rules as it feared no law and action against their activities.” PILER pointed out that the Punjab government imposed a ban on labour inspection in 2002 and the present provincial government kept this ban intact despite repeated demands by labour rights bodies and even by the former provincial labour minister Ashraf Sohna to lift it.
The Punjab government’s refusal to restore factories’ inspection is a violation of the constitution and the country’s labour laws as well as the fundamental rights of industrial workers. It is also a violation of the ILO Convention C-81.and human rights by the state itself.
Health and safety is the fundamental constitutional right guaranteed to workers under Article 37(e) of the constitution. Approximately 75 percent labour force is employed within the informal sector, while many workers are employed in mining, textile, pharmaceutical, consumer products and other major industries on a contract basis. This “thakedari” system makes it difficult to identify the actual employer. Hence there is a need for special legislation for employed workers to ensure the provision of relevant rights and entitlements including social protection and occupational safety at work. 
 Pakistan had ratified the ILO Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) in 1953. Under this convention, Pakistan is bound to educate and inform employers and workers about their legal rights and obligations concerning all aspects of labour protection and labour laws, advice employers and workers to comply with the requirements of the law and enable inspectors to report to superiors on problems and defects that are not covered by laws and regulations.
However, on ground, the labour protection and inspection mechanism is totally missing and employers are free to violate their legal obligation to provide occupational health and safety environment. Workers are exposed to hazardous chemicals and other harmful substances and there is no concept of workers’ health and safety at the workplace. On its part, the state remains reluctant to protect workers. The government has not ratified ILO Convention 155 on Occupational Safety and Health and Convention 187 of the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health.
 Based on these facts, PILER proposed that it is the right time for the government to ratify the ILO Convention 155 and 187 that provides for the formulation of a comprehensive labour protection and inspection policy in Pakistan. Conventions 155 and 187 will also provide a base line to address the issue of health and safety at the national, industrial and enterprise levels.