ILO Resolution on Safe and Healthy Working Environment

Mahendra Parida

In a historic step, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and its constituents have passed a resolution to include the principle of “safe and healthy working environment” in the ILO’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW). In the 110th International Labour Conference held in 2022, the two Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Conventions, namely the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No.155), and the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No.187), have been included as Core Conventions in addition to the existing eight. This will motivate the labour sector in promoting safe and healthy working environment and ensuring decent work for all in conditions of freedom and dignity.

The present OSH regulatory framework in India is of limited scope and low coverage with a majority of workers falling outside its purview. As it is even the scanty regulations see poor implementation. The OSH and Working Conditions Code, 2020, regressive in essence and content, is increasing the vulnerability of the workers. In such a context, there is a dire need to revisit and strengthen the current occupational safety and health framework in India. 

Frequent industrial and work-related accidents, diseases and tragedies in both the formal and the informal sectors highlight the gravity of the issue. These inflict ineffable sufferings, disability, loss of precious human lives, loss of family income, and significantly affect the communities around. The occupational diseases, loss of businesses, damage to property and resources, constitute a national loss.

This can be witnessed across sectors, from agriculture, industry and services to sanitation, housekeeping and home-based workers. Workers buried alive during blasting and other mining operations, workers dying in sewage chambers and manholes in cities, workers gutted in fire accidents in congested industrial areas, workers losing lives after inhaling toxic gases due to leakages and such other incidents keep repeating. Gender specific safety and health needs remain unidentified, undocumented, unaddressed and no adequate data is available.

India has laws and policies on OSH in place from 2009, but they are inadequate and have limited coverage. This is worsened by a weak enforcement machinery, which is not even enough to protect workers who are already covered under it. The reluctance on the part of the government to ensure stringent inspection in all workplaces, particularly the hazardous ones, has further worsened the situation, leading to phenomenal increase in work-place accidents, including fatal accidents, throughout the country during recent years. The aggressive manpower management by the employers by way of drastic reduction in permanent workforce together with increase in deployment of workers through contract, or as trainees / apprentices, has made the OSH situation worse. It leaves out a large number of workers, especially those who are in the informal sector and those who are outside formal employment relationship such as migrant workers, gig and platform workers and workers in non-standard forms of employment.

The obligations of employers and hazardous conditions in various kinds of work defined under the existing statutory provisions have been almost negated in the enactment of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, and by way of repealing the earlier OSH related laws. This has further weakened the system of enforcement and inspection and left the workplace hazards in various workplaces completely undefined under the law and to be decided by the appropriate governments.

There is a need for a comprehensive national OSH system to ensure protection of workers and their rights to safe and healthy working life given the changes related to technology and environment. The right to safe and healthy work should be applicable to all. This needs to be supplemented by developing and implementing time-bound national and state OSH programme, consisting of actions, targets, allocating adequate resources and determining roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders.

In this context, it is worth recalling the Constitution of India, namely, Article 24, Article 42, Article 39(e); the commitments of India under different international instrument and treaties, especially Article 7(b) of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the UN. In the National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at Workplace, 2009, the Government of India acknowledged that without safe and clean environment as well as healthy working conditions, social justice and economic growth cannot be achieved and that safe and healthy working environment is recognized as a fundamental human right.

India, being a founding and permanent member of the ILO, must respect the resolution passed at the ILC on 10 June 2022 for the inclusion of the principle of a “safe and healthy working environment” of the ILO's Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and ratify and implement the two core conventions, namely C155 and C187.