Workers burn alive, govt’s writ nowhere to be seen

Lax safety laws, unregulated industrial units continue to operate nine years after Baldia fire

KARACHI:

This weekend marked nine years since the Baldia factory fire, which left more than 260 workers dead in 2012, and yet little appears to have changed when it comes to worker safety. The laws exist, but factories built like prisons and cages, with single entry-exit points, little to no ventilation and with complete disregard to fire safety practices, or worker safety for that matter, continue to function. The blaze at a luggage factory in Mehran Town, which claimed the lives of 16 workers last month, stands testament to the negligence of employers and the relevant authorities.

Every time an incident happens, where the death toll is high enough to garner attention - one or two workers dying do not seem to trouble the authorities much - the radar shifts towards factory owners not following the basic protocols of running an industrial unit but as soon as the public’s wavers, the authorities too revert back to their indifference.

In the Baldia tragedy, the fire was intentional, but the number of casualties was as high as it was because the workers had no way out. Similarly, in Mehran Town, 16 workers suffocated to death because there was no way out. They ran to the roof and found the gates left. Some 10 workers, who were on the ground floor managed to find their way out, but the rest were trapped inside. The security guard outside failed to assist them, he was instead, allegedly busy notifying the factory owner.

In several instances, including a fire this February at a factory similarly built - barred windows, no emergency exit, built like a prison - in Baldia Town, which killed three workers, and speaking to The Express Tribune, Chief Fire Officer Mobin Ahmed has pointed out that the industrial units are built such that fire officials have difficulty conducting the extinguishing operation. This not only hinders the rescue operation but also significantly contributes to the number of lives lost.

“As soon as Baldia fire happened, which was only highlighted because a political party being held responsible for specific reasons...but has anybody tried to raise the point [as to] why the factory building didn’t have fire extinguishers or emergency exits or were there any emergency drills ever,” asked National Trade Union Federation General-Secretary Nasir Mansoor, shaking his head. “The point here is [that] factory owners use their power against the poor,” he asserted, adding that this callous indifference leads to workers - most of whom are minimum wage earners or making as little as Rs15,000 a month, lose their lives.

Despite several laws, which on paper at least exist to protect workers and regulate industrial units, such incidents are frequent. “We have all the laws, be it freedom of expression or Occupational Health and Safety (OSH), [but] nothing is being implemented,” said Zehra Khan, who is on the committee established to ensure OHS. “Just to understand the seriousness [of relevant authorities] until now, only two meetings have taken place since the committee was formed under the OSH law,” said Khan, who is also the general-secretary of the Home Based Workers Federation. “The teams are there, the law is there but the equipment, which can help in inspection and scrutiny of factories, is not there.”

The metropolis has an estimated 100,000 factories functioning in different areas. Several of them are set up in residential buildings and a meager 23,000 are actually registered.

“Factories established in New Karachi and other adjoining areas pose similar risks as the Mehran Town [factory] because most of them just have one entrance, which can cause deaths if any incidents occur,” she pointed out.

Zehra added that many non-governmental organisations and labour and rights activists have repeatedly called for a ‘Pakistan Accord’ similar to the one implemented in Bangladesh, which empowers union councils, trade unions and health committees to ensure safe labour practices.

In most cases, the scale of the negligence goes unnoticed. “Casualties of 2-3 persons don’t even make a wave in the media. News is only made when the number is high, people only get furious and make it a matter of concern when incidents such as Mehran and Baldia happen,” said Mansoor, stressing that the lives of workers and workplace accidents are not taken seriously. Seconding him, Khan said that on average, 41 workers die each year in factory-related incidents. There are around four million such instances annually, she added.

“[Sindh] Building Control Authority should also be questioned as to how they can approve such maps, which do not have ventilation for air and light and only have one entrance and exit point, despite hundreds of workers employed,” pointed out Khan.

The courts have raised similar concerns regarding the Mehran Town Fire.

To make things better and only strict implementation can help, OSH law of 2017 can help in saving many lives, rights activists believe. Khan said that some 189 brands operating globally have agreed that union rights, wage gap, complaint mechanisms and inspections have to be regulated according to international practices even if they are operating in third world countries. The laws, which were existing when Baldia happened and the laws which were formed after that, were still not enough to save lives for they exist merely on paper.

“Both the fires were similar in terms of construction issues, emergency exits, exploitation of labour laws,” pointed out Faisal Siddiqui, who was one of the lawyers in the Baldia fire case. When Baldia happened there was only one law, which was the Factories Act 1934. It had few provisions regarding OSH, he added, two new laws were passed after that tragedy - the Sindh Factories Act 2015 and Sindh Occupational and Safety Health (OSH) Act 2017. But their implementation remains weak at best and non-existent at worst. The authorities have also been accused of colluding with factory owners or turning a blind eye to unsafe practices.

Mehran Town fire happened because the laws are not implemented. Lives were lost due to similar reasons because nine years later the problems remain the same.

Each factory should be registered, inspections should be regular and then only the OSH can point out what is wrong with such a unit, said Siddique. He added that both the Baldia and Mehran Town factories were unregistered and hence never inspected.

Multiple attempts were made to reach Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani and Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab but they did not get back with their comments in time.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2021.