Civil society demands better safety at work places

On the eighth anniversary of the Baldia factory fire, which left 260 workers dead, civil society and aggrieved families of the deceased demanded of the government to implement the Joint Action Plan devised after the incident to improve health and safety conditions at work places, and justice for the victims of the fire at Ali Enterprises garment factory.

The demand for a Pakistan Accord on Safety and Health at work places along the lines of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety was put forth at a seminar, organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), titled 'Addressing Safety and Health Hazards in Pakistan' on Friday.

The seminar noted that different probes of the incident revealed that the Ali Enterprises garment factory was functioning illegally - it wasn't registered with any relevant government department or agency, including the building control authority, labour department and SITE Limited. It recalled that garment factory, which produced textile for a German buyer, reportedly employed 1,500 to 2,000 workers but held no official record of its employees as most were hired through contractors. The lack of rescue facilities in the SITE Industrial Area, where the factory was located, the delay in the arrival of fire brigades plus the shortage of water to extinguish the inferno on September 11, 2012, were also noted.

It was recalled that in light of the absence of exist points and lack of occupational safety and health facilities at the factory premises which led to the mass casualty, the Sindh labour department, Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) and the Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) with the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), launched a Joint Action Plan to promote workplace safety and health in October 2013.

However, the seminar noted, implementation on the action plan is awaited even after the passage of seven years.

The demands put forth on Friday include - implementation on the Sindh Occupational Safety and Health Act 2017, functional labour inspection and Occupational Safety and Health Council, a fire and building safety Accord in Pakistan similar to the one in Bangladesh, enactment and implementation of labour laws in all provinces as directed by the Supreme Court in the Silicosis case, and government measures to save workers lives, such as provision of safety equipment and oxygen cylinders, at mining sites in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtukhwa and Sindh. Besides, a demand for Sindh government to provide universal social security in the province as it had agreed in 2017 and similar provisions in other provinces. The seminar also urged certification agency RINA and its accreditation agency SAI to accept responsibility of lapses on their behalf, and compensation for victims in accordance with international standards.

The seminar also recalled that after concerted efforts by the PILER and other labour organisations, victims' families were compensated and receive pension from the fund created using the money provided by the German buyer of Ali Enterprises garments.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2020.