A dipping graph in occupational safety and health

News: Recently, the Safe in India (SII) released CRUSHED 2021, which shows a grim reality of occupational safety and health in the auto sector.

This article says that there is a need for a comprehensive review of labour inspection and the labour statistical system in India, as the Government is in the process of framing the Vision@2047 document for the Labour Ministry.

Why there is need to review labour laws?

First, industrial accidents occur frequently, but only major accidents are reported. Occupational safety and health (OSH) have not received due attention from law-makers and even trade unions in India.

Second, it is not clear why the Labour Bureau has not considered expanding the scope of statistics on injuries by adding sectors such as plantations, construction, the service sector, etc.

Third, data produced is not representative of the situation in India because several major States default in the provision of data. For example, during 2013-14, several major States such as Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal defaulted.

This makes the data reporting volatile. The fluctuations of data on industrial injuries published by the Labour Bureau shows that reported figures for fatal injuries for all-India is less by around 40%-50%.

Fourth, even if States send their data to the Labour Bureau, the States’ data are more likely to suffer from underreporting. For example, the SSI’s report shows massive under-reporting of industrial injuries occurring in Haryana.

Fifth, major States such as Maharashtra (38.93%), Gujarat (57.52%), Tamil Nadu (58.33%), and Bihar (47.62%) has poor employment rates of inspectors. In 2019, there was one inspector for every 487 registered factories and 0.04 inspector per 1,000 workers. It reveals that inspectors are over-burdened.

Hence, the inspection rate has declined from 36.23% during 2008-11 to 34.65% during 2012-2015 and further to 24.76%. The inspection rates fell in almost all the States over the last 12 years.

It shows that the factory inspectorates are less in number, and they are inadequately equipped to conduct inspections. Also, to an extent, inspector raj is a myth cultivated by powerful industry groups.

Sixth, the low conviction rate and less penalty do not act as deterrent. The conviction rates for 2015-2019 stood at 61.39% and the average fine per conviction was ₹12,231. Also, the penal system has low efficiency as the percentage of decided cases out of total cases is 15.74% during 2015-19.

What are two major issues associated with the current legal and labour policy aspects?

First, mindless liberalisation of the inspection system does not promote sound labour market governance.

Second, simplifying the annual returns and self-certification systems has weakened the already poorly placed labour statistical system. For instance, low reporting by firms to State labour departments and the Labour Bureau.

What is the way forward?

First, OSH is a human and labour right. Hence, there should be a strong monitoring mechanism and comprehensive database to frame corrective actions and policies.

Second, India has ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (C081) and Labour Statistics Convention, 1985 (C160). The defects mentioned above violate the conventions. Hence, the labour codes, especially the OSH Code should be reviewed.

Source: This post is based on the article “A dipping graph in occupational safety and health” published in The Hindu on 14^th Feb 2022.