Employee safety and health and related Laws in Pakistan

transcript

Employee Safety and Health

To apprise the class with following:

• Importance of work place Safety

• Major causes of Accidents

• Accident preventions

• Safety & Health laws In Pakistan

Introduction

Part-IWhy Safety is Important

Safety and Health at Workplace

• Employer’s responsibilities– Provide a safe and healthy workplace.– Familiar with safety and health standards.– Ensure workplace conditions conform to safety

standards.

• Employer’s rights– Seek advice from government agencies.– Receive advice on safety and health regulations.

Safety and Health at Workplace

• Employee’s responsibilities– Follow all employer safety and health rules

and regulations.

–Report hazardous conditions to the supervisor.

• Employee’s rights–Demand safety and health on the job

without fear of punishment.

Management Commitment

• Accidents can be prevented by reducing accident-causing conditions and accident-causing acts.

• Safety starts with management commitment.

• Management to be personally involved in safety activities.

Management Commitment

• Give safety matters high priority.

• Provide safety training to all workers.

• Safety policy

• Analyze accidents and take corrective / preventive actions.

Part-IIWhat Causes Accidents?

What Causes Accidents?

Three basic causes of workplace accidents:1. Chance occurrence• Beyond management control.

2. Unsafe conditions

3. Unsafe acts on the part of the employees

Unsafe Conditions

What Causes Accidents?

• Unsafe conditions– Improperly guarded equipment– Defective equipment– Hazardous procedures in, on, or around

machines or equipment– Unsafe storage—congestion, overloading– Improper illumination—glare, insufficient light– Improper ventilation—insufficient air change,

impure air source

Danger ZonesHigh Danger Zones• Forklifts, wheel barrows and other

handling and lifting areas.• Metal and woodworking machines

and saws• Transmission Machinery• Stairs, ladders and scaffolds• Crane Operations

Danger Zones

• Work Schedules / Fatigue• Workplace “Climate” or

“Psychology”• Stress and Pressure • Hostility Amongst Employees• Blighted living conditions

Second Basic Cause of Accidents

Part-IIIHow to Prevent Accidents?

Reducing unsafe conditions

Safety engineers to design jobs to remove or reduce physical hazards

Use of safety checklist Special safety gear e.g. cut resistant

gloves Personal protective equipment to fit

properly and trained on usage

Reducing Unsafe Acts

Reducing unsafe acts by emphasizing safety– Through screening, training and incentive programs– Supervisors to show by example:• Praise employees if they show safe behavior• Listen when employees offer safety suggestions or

complaints• Follow safety rules• Visit plants regularly• Tell employees about safety activities• Link bonus to safety improvements

Reducing Unsafe Acts Selection and Placement

Reducing unsafe acts through selection– Screening through recruitment and selection stage to

isolate traits that may predict accidents on the job

Reducing unsafe acts through training– Multi-lingual Safety training

Reducing unsafe acts through motivation– Safety posters serve as constant reminders but not a

substitute for a comprehensive safety program

– Incentive scheme reinforce positive attitude toward safety

How to Prevent AccidentsBehavior-Based Safety– Identifying the worker behaviors that contribute to

accidents and then training workers to avoid these behaviors

Use employee participation– 2 reasons to get employees involved in designing

safety program:• People doing the actual job knows best

• Easier to get employees to accept safety program

– Appointing employees as members of safety teams

How to Prevent Accidents

Conduct safety inspections– Routine inspection on all premises for

safety and health problems, using checklists as aids.

– Involve employees in safety committees.

Part-IVSafety and Health laws

In Pakistan

Safety and Health laws In Pakistan

• There is no independent legislation.• The main law, which governs is the Chapter 3

of Factories Act, 1934.• The Hazardous Occupations Rules, 1963

under the authority of Factories Act is another relevant legislation. – These rules specify some hazardous occupations.– Authorize the Chief Inspector of Factories to

declare any other process as hazardous.

Related Laws• Dock Laborers Act, 1934• Mines Act, 1923• Workmen Compensation Act, 1923• Provincial Employees Social Security Ordinance,

1965• West Pakistan Shops and Establishments

Ordinance, 1969• Boilers and Pressure Vessels Ordinance, 2002

Health and safety provisions under the factories act, 1934

Chapter 3 of the Act has general provisions on health and safety at the workplace. Provincial governments are allowed to make rules under

this Act and inspectors under this Act also have discretion in defining the rules.

Chapter 3 refers to various safety arrangements.

Labor law covers the following issues.• Cleanliness• Disposal of wastes and effluents• Ventilation and temperature• Dust and fume• Artificial humidification.• Overcrowding• Lighting• Drinking water• Latrines and urinals• Spittoons

• Precautions against contagious or infectious disease• Compulsory vaccination and inoculation• Power to make rules for the provision of canteens• Welfare officer• Precautions in case of fire• Fencing of machinery• Work on or near machinery in motion• Employment of young persons on dangerous machines

Cont’d

• Striking gear and devices for cutting off power• Self-acting machines• Casing of new machinery• Prohibition of employment of women and children

near cotton openers• Cranes and other lifting machinery• Hoists and lifts• Revolving machinery• Pressure plant

Cont’d

• Floors, stairs and means of access• Pits, sumps, opening in floors, etc.• Excessive weights• Protection of eyes • Power to require specifications of defective parts

or tests of stability• Safety of building, machinery and manufacturing

process

Cont’d

• Precautions against dangerous fumes• Explosive or inflammable dust, gas, etc.• Notice of certain accidents

Cont’d

Chapter 5 of the Mines Act provides for various health and safety arrangements. Similar provisions in the Pakistan Dock Laborers Regulations for dockworkers.

How Government Ensures Enforcement All the laws require the appropriate government (Federal or

Provincial) to appoint qualified individuals as inspectors. It is the duty of inspectors to enforce these laws. The usual powers of inspectors include the right to enter and

inspect any workplace, taking evidence from persons for carrying out their duties.

A person can’t be appointed as inspector or continue to hold the office of inspector if he or she becomes directly or indirectly interested in the workplace (it is factory under the Factories Act, a dock or a ship under Dock Laborers Act and a mine under the Mines Act.

Special provisions on working of women and adolescents in factories or mines

Pakistan has ratified the following conventions relating to the special treatment for women and adolescents in the occupational safety and health context.

• C45 Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935 • C89 Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948• C90 Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1948

Article 2 of the C45 requires that no women should be employed in on underground work in any mine. In accordance with the provision of this convention, article 23-C (1) of Mines Act prohibits the employment of women in any underground mine.

As for young persons, who are not seventeen years of age yet, they can’t also be employed in any part of a mine unless they present a certificate of fitness on a prescribed form by a qualified medical practitioner (section 26-A of Mines Act).

Cont’d

For safety reasons and under the above conventions, labor laws also limit the employment of women and adolescents at night. Section 45 of Factories Act limits the employment of women up to only 07:00 p.m. (or if employer arranges for pick and drop and with employees own accord), a female worker may worker until 10 p.m. Section 54 of the Act requires that children (over the age of 14 years) should not be employed after 07 p.m.

Cont’d

Provision on prohibition on employment of children and women in any part of the factory for pressing cotton in which a cotton-opener is at work (section 32). The referred section also talks about certain exemptions from this provision.

Section 33-M authorizes the provincial government to make rules prohibiting the employment of children (above the age of fourteen) to any specified class of factories or to any specified parts thereof.

Cont’d

Section 28 of the Factories Act also requires that no young person shall operate a machine until he has received sufficient training for operating it and is under adequate supervision by some other person with thorough knowledge and experience of machine.

Note: the term young person has been used collectively for children and adolescents. The Employment of Children Act 1991 defines a child as the one who has not completed fourteen years of age while an adolescent is defined as the one whose age is greater than 14 years but less than 18 years.

Cont’d

Conclusion

Employee safety and health and related Laws in Pakistan

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