Stone-crushing case: Supreme Court wants data on silicosis patients

Takes up case of death of 18 labourers due to prolonged exposure to dust

ISLAMABAD:

Supreme Court has asked all the provinces to submit reports on workers who fall ill in stone crushing industry due to absence of health and safety measures.

The apex court directed provincial health secretaries to collect and submit data of patients suffering from silicosis, a respiratory disease caused by inhaling dust.

The three-judge bench of the apex court headed by chief justice Nasirul Mulk took up on Wednesday the suo motu case on the death of 18 stone-crushing labourers in Gujranwala. Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, the former chief justice, had taken notice of their deaths on his last day in office on July 5.

The bench directed the provincial environment protection agencies to submit report about the pendency of cases in the Environment Tribunals.



The court has also directed the Punjab Labour and Human Resource Department to report about the unregistered stone crushing units working in Lahore.

Earlier, two members of the Public Lawyers Front (PLF), Usama Khawar and Yahya Faird Khawaja, moved an application to the chief justice under Article 184(3) of the Constitution over the deaths of the labourers.

Raheel Kamran Sheikh, counsel for the applicant, pointed out that though the deceased labourers made repeated requests to the factory owners, they were neither provided with any masks to protect them from silica powder inhalation, nor did the factory owners install any dust control equipment.

He also stated that the main purpose of this case is to prevent silicosis, treatment of its patients and compensation to the heirs of stone crushing workers.

Kamran also told the court that 57 stone crushing units are working in Lahore, but only three are registered.

Compensation

Meanwhile, Additional Advocate General Punjab Razaq A Mirza submitted reports on behalf of District Officer Labour, Gujranwala.

The report submitted that it has distributed compensation to the legal heirs of the 13 deceased workers. Dependents and legal heirs of the remaining deceased labourers will be paid on provision of succession certificates, says the report.

For the compensation to the legal heirs of the diseased workers, the report says that claims were lodged by the inspector of factories in the court of Workmen Compensation Commissioner Gujranwala under Workmen Compensation Act 1923 and the same have been decreed in favour of the legal heirs of diseased workers at the rate of Rs200,000 each diseased workers.

Occupational hazard

The report also states that the labour department has conducted a survey of stone crushing units and issued notices to 19 employers to remove the workers from unsafe stone grinding process until appropriate standardised safety measures were adopted.

Due to the non-enforcement occupational safety and health standards at the workplace, the prosecutions against all stone grinding factories were lodged in the court of law.

“During the course of inspections, workers and employers were educated about the occupational safety and health hazards as well as hazards of the silicosis. Complaints of public nuisance were also filed against the stone crushers in the court. Ultimately, the indifferent attitude of delinquent factory owners was brought into notice of the district administration for taking legal action against them,” the report stated.

The report also says that the Special Judicial Magistrate Gujranwala imposed a fine on the delinquent employers at the rate of 5,000 per violation. However, it states that the factory inspectors challenged the amount as being too meagre to act as a deterrent.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2014.