The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that every year 2.2 million workers die of fatal accidents at the work place while 270 million other sustain serious injuries and 160 million suffer severe diseases every year due to improper working conditions at the work places.
This was stated by labour leaders while talking to Business Recorder at "International Day for Safety & Health" being observed throughout the world including Pakistan on April 28 in a bid to raise awareness on the need of promotion of "Safety Culture" at work place and prevent accidental and occupational diseases of the workers, thereby raising productivity.
According to recent study 20 companies in the UK has demonstrated the good example for observing safety practices at work places which not only helped the prevention of the accidents and occupational diseases of the workers, but also help to raise productivity.
They stressed that in order to promote safety culture at the work place, continuous education and training of the employers and workers and the officials of the government concerned are essential as well as the enforcement of safety & health laws should be ensured.
Pakistan Workers Federation, General Secretary, Khurshid Ahmad said that despite industrial & commercial and agriculture development in the country, the safety culture has not developed on the sound ground, that resulting the highest rate of accidents in coal mines in Balochistan in the world.
There are also high number of accidents in electrical and chemical, transport and construction and engineering industries etc, while there is rising occupational diseases in the Agriculture and Textile on account of lack of proper working conditions and use of chemical pesticides in the Agriculture, he added.
They added that there was also lack of awareness among employer that promotion of safety at work place not only ensures the workers for their health, but also it reduces the accidents' rate. He said the working class rightly expect that new elected democratic will take urgent steps to ensure safe working conditions.
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