S AFETY AND H EALTH

AT WORK IN P AKISTAN

A safe and healthy work environment is the basic right of every worker. However, the global
situation falls far short of this right. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that
more than 125 million workers are victims of occupational accidents and disease in a single year.
Of these approximately 220,000 workers die and about 10 million are seriously disabled.
With world population increasing, the above figures are expected to rise significantly if present
conditions prevail. The situation is grim in the Third World. About 75 percent of the global
workforce lives and works in Third World countries which have so many serious problems like
poverty and unemployment that the status of health and safety is very low.

There are almost 820 million unemployed people in the Third World
The number of occupational related illnesses and accidents is high and even then the
management of safety and health is not given the same importance as given to other corporate
initiatives. Profit maximization, quality certification, cost reduction etc. are always considered
priority while the critical job of ensuring safety is often ignored.
SOUTH ASIA
The South Asian region (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) is a large block in terms
of population, natural resources, and gross domestic product. The work force represents more
than 20 percent of the world’s working population. Despite rich natural resources countries here
have slow economic growth rates.
• Under the influence of various economic institutions (World Bank, IMF, ADB) countries
in the region have shed protectionist economics and started to compete for exports.
• Liberalization of South Asian economies has opened their markets to global investors
who import obsolete and hazardous industries as well as new technology.
• Industrializations in South Asia focuses on production; health and safety attain a low
priority.
• Promising investors cheap labor and tax concessions, occupational health and safety
authorities are bypassed in the process.
Demographic and Economic Indicators of South Asian Countries
Banglades Sri
Indicators / Country India Nepal Pakistan
h Lanka
Population (million) 120.00 897.00 18.50 131.60 18.10
Population Growth
2.17 2.00 2.10 2.80 1.40
(percent)
Labor Force (million) 51.20 321.00 7.17 36.70 6.10
Employment
Distribution (percent) - 66.00 65.00 80.00 52.00 37.00
Agriculture
Employment
Distribution (percent) - 12.00 12.50 3.00 19.00 23.00
Industry
Employment
Distribution (percent) - 22.00 22.50 7.00 29.00 40.00
Service
Literary Rate (percent) 35.00 52.00 39.00 38.00 89.00
Per Capita Income (US$) 265.00 265.00 180.00 495.00 709.00
GDP Growth Rate
4.70 7.00 6.10 6.10 5.50
(percent)
Growth Rate (percent) -
n/a 2.40 5.40 6.70 3.30
Agriculture
Growth Rate (percent) -
6.00 11.70 4.90 4.80 9.20
Industry
 Growth Rate (percent) -
n/a 7.00 7.30 5.80 5.10
Service

FACTORIES ACT
• The Factories Act 1948, amended 1954, 1970, 1976, 1987
• The Mines Act, 1952
• The Dock workers (safety, health and welfare) Act, 1986
• The Plantation Labor Act, 1951
• The Explosives Act, 1884
• The Petroleum Act, 1972
• The Pakistan Boilers Act, 1956
• The Pakistan Electricity Act, 1961
• The Dangerous Machines (Regulations) Act, 1983
• The Pakistan Atomic Energy Act, 1975
• The Radiological Protection Rules, 1972
• The Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989

On health this law requires employers:

• To ensure cleanliness of the workplace;
• Make effective arrangement for treatment and disposal of waste and effluent;
• Make suitable and effective provisions for adequate ventilation;
• Maintain temperatures to secure reasonable comfort for workers;
• Remove any dust or fumes from the workplace which may be injurious to workers;
• Prevent overcrowding by maintaining a specific cubic area for each worker;
• Provide sufficient and suitable light;
• Make suitable arrangements to provide clean drinking water conveniently situated for
all workers and;
• Provide suitable latrines and urinals to specified standards.

The Factories Act requires employers to provide basic safety measures including:
• Securely guarding all parts of dangerous machinery;
• Precautions for working on machinery;
• Emergency devices for cutting off power;
 • Maintain hoists and lifts;
• Lifting machines, chains, ropes, and other lifting tackle must be maintained in good
condition;
• Test pressurized vessels regularly;
• Ensure walking surfaces are of sound construction;
• Provide protective equipment;
• Measures to remove gas and dust before entering confined places;
• Measures to prevent fires.
The Factories Act also binds the employer to maintain up-to-date health records of workers, and
to appoint a person experienced in handling hazardous substances to supervise handling, and
provide protective measures and regular medical examinations.
The Chief Factory Inspector of the Factory Inspectorate enforces The Factories Act, But a
major problem is poor enforcement of the law
This law specifies:
• Minimum age of employment is 18
• One day of rest per week
• Limited working hours
• No underground work for women
• Provision of clean water and medical facilities
• Constitution of tripartite committees
• No unsafe mines
• Right of inspectors to survey safety and health
• Emergency plans
• Notification of occupational diseases
In any case the factories Act does not cover the vast majority of workers because they work in
the informal sector where accidents are not reported at all. This invalidates government statistics.

Occupational Accidents: The WHO estimates that over half the world’s
occupational accidents occur in the Asia-Pacific region. Occupational accidents are grossly
under-reported in Pakistan. Even so official figures in 2004 showed 23 injuries per 1,000 factory
workers. This compares with 4 injuries per 1,000 workers in Japan in 2004, and 10 injuries per
1,000 in Singapore.
Occupational Disease: The Factories Act requires notification of occupational
diseases to the government, but they are hardly reported, allowing official statistics to compare
well with industrialized countries.
However independent studies report the existence of many occupational diseases, most notably
respiratory diseases due to dust. Agriculture is India’s largest employer. Workers are exposed to a
wide variety of dust in its fields and factories.
 1. The most common disease is bysinossis caused by cotton dust in the textile industry.
2. Asthma and allergies are common among workers in grain and tea production. Chronic
lung diseases such as silicosis and pneumoconiosis are due to mineral dust.
3. Heavy metal poisoning especially lead, chromium, pesticide and other chemical
poisoning are quite common.
4. Deafness, largely undiagnosed and unreported, is very common in industries like
engineering, heavy machinery, textile and manufacturing.
5. Few doctors are able to diagnose occupational disease. Silicosis and bysinossis are often
diagnosed as tuberculosis. Doctors are not trained in occupational disease.
Few doctors are able to diagnose occupational disease. Silicosis and bysinossis are often
diagnosed as tuberculosis. Doctors are not trained in occupational disease.
Due largely to poverty workers continue to work even when sick or injured.
Voluntary Organizations: Since most Pakistani workers are unorganized, voluntary
organizations play a vital role in reaching and highlighting their problems.
However over the last decade the voluntary sector has generated awareness about health and
safety. In Pakistan NGOs working on labor rights and occupational health and safety have
deciphered technical jargon and try to make ordinary workers understand that they can handle
their own issues with a bit of training and become less dependent on experts who are not always
approachable or available.

CONCLUSION:
➢ Occupational health and safety cannot be isolated from other problems like wages or job
security. The key job is to make workers aware of the importance of occupational
hazards. Trade unions are reluctant to organize on occupational health and safety, mostly
due to ignorance and lack of awareness.
➢ It is unlikely that things will improve unless workers participate in the process. Even
though the Factories Act specifies worker participation in safety management and safety
committee membership, such committees is largely a paper exercise.
➢ It is almost certain that a worker on the shop floor knows about an hazard long before
anyone else including the ‘experts’. Thus, his involvement in health and safety matters is
essential.