The deaths of five people, most of them young, who fell into an Ammonia vat at a factory in Horana has once again highlighted the importance of preventing workplace injuries and casualties. This was an accident that could have been prevented if the factory management had taken certain precautions. It also highlighted the glaring lack of knowledge of safety and rescue measures among fellow workers – only one person fell into the vat accidentally, while the others died trying to save him. Such incidents are rather common in Sri Lanka, especially, at construction sites. Several buildings which were under construction collapsed in recent times, killing many young workers. The most common reason is the lack of safety standards.
Yesterday, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, was an opportunity to ponder on these issues under the rather appropriate theme of “vulnerability of young workers.” The World Day for Safety and Health at Work is an annual international campaign to promote safe, healthy and decent work. It is held on April 28, and has been observed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) since 2003. It is an awareness-raising campaign intended to focus international attention on the magnitude of the problem and on how promoting and creating a safety and health culture can help reduce the number of work-related deaths and injuries.
Accident
According to the United Nations, every day 6,300 people around the world die as the result of a workplace accident or work-related disease. That adds up to over 2.3 million deaths per year. This is on top of the 3.17 million annual non-fatal accidents that happen on the job. Not surprisingly, it is young people who suffer the most workplace injuries as they are given tasks involving machinery, chemicals, climbing, etc which more senior workers cannot be given or are reluctant to do. Moreover, despite legal restrictions many young people under the legal working age (16 in most countries) are employed in risky environments, which makes them vulnerable to various hazards.
The UN has launched a campaign aimed at accelerating action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 8.8 of safe and secure working environments for all workers by 2030 and SDG target 8.7 of ending all forms of child labour by 2025. The 541 million young workers (15-24 years old) around the world - which includes 37 million children in hazardous child labour - account for more than 15 per cent of the world’s labour force and suffer up to a 40 per cent higher rate of non-fatal occupational injuries than workers older than 25.
The UN’s workplace safety campaign highlights the critical importance of improving safety and health for young workers above the minimum legal age for work, not only to promote decent youth employment but also to combat hazardous child labour as part of an integrated approach to eradicate all forms of child labour. Some types of work, e.g. mining, are inherently dangerous and prohibited for children under the age of 18 under any circumstances. The campaign also stresses the critical importance of removing children below the minimum age for work from all forms of child labour, including hazardous work, and ensuring they have access to quality education and attend school at least until they complete compulsory education and reach the minimum legal age for work.
Sri Lanka is one of the few countries in the region that has worked towards creating a national occupational safety and health culture that assures the right to a safe and healthy working environment. This culture of safety should be respected at all levels, where governments, employers and workers actively participate in securing a safe and healthy working environment through a system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties, and where the highest priority is accorded to the principle of prevention.
The authorities alone cannot stop deaths and injuries on the job. Governments are responsible for providing the infrastructure — laws and services — necessary to ensure that workers remain employable and that enterprises flourish; this includes the development of a national policy and program and a system of inspection to enforce compliance with occupational safety and health legislation and policy. But it is employers who are responsible for ensuring that the working environment is safe and healthy. Workers too must play an important part - they should strive to work safely at all times and to protect themselves. For example, if a worksite calls for helmets to be worn at all times, the workers should adhere to that directive. In the event of an accident, it might not be possible to legally hold the employer/construction company responsible if the workers had not followed safety precautions. Worker education is also vital, as the Horana rubber factory incident shows. Moreover, all workplaces should follow minimum workplace safety standards and conduct safety and fire drills regularly.
There are many new and emerging occupational risks brought about by technical innovation or by social or organizational change, such as: New technologies and production processes, e.g. nanotechnology, biotechnology; new working conditions, e.g. higher workloads, work intensification, poor conditions associated with migration for work, jobs in the informal economy and emerging forms of employment, e.g. self-employment, outsourcing, temporary contracts. There have also been a couple of incidents in fully robotised factories abroad where the robots had accidentally killed human co-workers. (But robots and devices like drones can do tasks that are too dangerous for humans and they can also reach areas which humans cannot access). Prolonged exposure to chemicals at some factories may also give rise to complications among workers.
Technology may be the answer to workplace safety worries. For example, companies such as Cisco and Cortexia Vision Systems are making the move to improve workplace safety through artificial intelligence.
With aims to reduce risk and human error while encouraging productivity within a company, AI-SAFE will ultimately use video cameras above the entrances and exits of different operational areas and detect whether those entering/exiting are wearing the right equipment. This includes headwear, eyewear and footwear, helping to reduce the risk of injuries. AI-SAFE will then restrict access to those who aren’t compliant and alert the correct authorities.
Workplace
How many times have you heard the words, “safety first” or “everything starts with safety”? That is the one mantra that you should chant at the workplace. Millions of employees go to work expecting to return home safely to their families. But the reality is that some workers will never return to their loved ones, and their lives will be changed forever, shattered by unsafe workplace incidents that, for the most part, could have been prevented. It is thus imperative to give priority to safety at work and create a culture of workplace safety.