Government initiates dialogue on the ratification of convention 155- Occupational safety and health and the working environment
In Pakistan, Safe Day celebrations on 28th April 2015 were characterised by a series of events across the country including the 10th OSH awards organised by the Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) in collaboration with the Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF), the Provincial and Federal Labour departments and the International Labour Organization (ILO). The event brought together over 170 participants and during the event, the Federal Government announced its intention to initiate social dialogue on the ratification of Convention 155 concerning Occupational Safety and Health and the Working Environment.
6 May 2015
KARACHI (ILO News): To mark World Day on Safety & Health at Work under the theme: “Join in Building a Culture on prevention on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)”, the Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP), in collaboration with the Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF), the Provincial and Federal Labour departments and the International Labour Organization (ILO) held the 2015 OSH awards in Karachi. The event brought together over 170 participants representing Government, Employers, Chamber/s, Workers, Academia as well as media.
A national occupational safety and health culture is one in which the right to a safe and healthy working environment is 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 annual event raised awareness on OSH, recalled stakeholders commitments around the theme of the commemorative event and awarded employers who showed progress since the last awards in the area of OSH at the workplace. Over 20 organizations/employers were given the OSH awards including the Pakistan Refinery which won the first prize while the Pak-Arab Refinery were the runners-up in overall best performance in terms of effective OSH measures at the workplace. Industries and businesses also secured prizes in various business sectors i.e. Oil, Gas and Energy, Food & FMCGs, Services, and Processing and Allied sectors.
The Chief Guest at the event, Mr Sikandar Ismail, Federal Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Development (OPHRD) announced that the federal government would initiate a tripartite dialogue to consider the ratification of new ILO conventions including Convention155 concerning Occupational Safety and Health and the Working Environment (Entry into force: 11 Aug 1983). He also stated that the Government at Federal and Provincial level, would continue its efforts aimed at strengthening reporting on-and the compliance to, already ratified conventions by Pakistan. Mr Ismail urged the Government of Sindh to accelerate the implementation of the Joint Action Plan on OSH (2013-2016) which was developed in 2013 by the tripartite constituents in response to the Baldia Town Factory Fire-deemed the largest industrial disaster in Pakistan which left over 250 workers dead and rendered more than 1200 workers as jobless.
Brother Zahoor Awan - representing PWF, emphasized the need for more collective bargaining around OSH issues at enterprise level and stated that charter of demands by the workers should ask for better working conditions for the workers in order to ensure decent work for all. Speaking on behalf of EFP, Mr Khawaja M. Nauman restated the need to reinforce the tripartite inspection mechanism for effective adoption of OSH practices by the work establishments whether formal or informal. Ali Ashraf Naqvi, Joint Director Labour (Sindh) shared the updates on implementation of ‘Joint Action Plan on OSH’ and expressed optimism that the Sindh OSH Act will soon see the light of the day.
In his address during the event, Mr Francesco d’ Ovidio- Country Director of the ILO in Pakistan congratulated Employers Federation of Pakistan on organizing the awards ceremony which allowed participants to share the progress and highlight the challenges faced by the constituents in implementation OSH related initiatives at enterprise level 9formal and informal). He echoed the Federal Governments call for the speedy implementation of the JAP-OSH as a model that can be replicated in other provinces of Pakistan and reconfirmed ILO’s commitment to further support provincial and government in fulfilling their commitments to building a preventative culture on OSH through capacity building initiatives and analytical work. Mr d’Ovidio also welcomed the government’s decision to initiate a tripartite dialogue process for unratified ILO conventions including the C-155 referring to the comprehensive national labour inspection and OSH profile which has recently complied. This will pave way for the affirmative actions on improvements and mitigating the OSH risks at the workplaces as well as address decent work deficits across Pakistan.
Senior Programme Officer, ILO Country Office for Pakistan
Email
Tel. +92 51 2276456-8
A national occupational safety and health culture is one in which the right to a safe and healthy working environment is 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 annual event raised awareness on OSH, recalled stakeholders commitments around the theme of the commemorative event and awarded employers who showed progress since the last awards in the area of OSH at the workplace. Over 20 organizations/employers were given the OSH awards including the Pakistan Refinery which won the first prize while the Pak-Arab Refinery were the runners-up in overall best performance in terms of effective OSH measures at the workplace. Industries and businesses also secured prizes in various business sectors i.e. Oil, Gas and Energy, Food & FMCGs, Services, and Processing and Allied sectors.
The Chief Guest at the event, Mr Sikandar Ismail, Federal Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Development (OPHRD) announced that the federal government would initiate a tripartite dialogue to consider the ratification of new ILO conventions including Convention155 concerning Occupational Safety and Health and the Working Environment (Entry into force: 11 Aug 1983). He also stated that the Government at Federal and Provincial level, would continue its efforts aimed at strengthening reporting on-and the compliance to, already ratified conventions by Pakistan. Mr Ismail urged the Government of Sindh to accelerate the implementation of the Joint Action Plan on OSH (2013-2016) which was developed in 2013 by the tripartite constituents in response to the Baldia Town Factory Fire-deemed the largest industrial disaster in Pakistan which left over 250 workers dead and rendered more than 1200 workers as jobless.
Brother Zahoor Awan - representing PWF, emphasized the need for more collective bargaining around OSH issues at enterprise level and stated that charter of demands by the workers should ask for better working conditions for the workers in order to ensure decent work for all. Speaking on behalf of EFP, Mr Khawaja M. Nauman restated the need to reinforce the tripartite inspection mechanism for effective adoption of OSH practices by the work establishments whether formal or informal. Ali Ashraf Naqvi, Joint Director Labour (Sindh) shared the updates on implementation of ‘Joint Action Plan on OSH’ and expressed optimism that the Sindh OSH Act will soon see the light of the day.
In his address during the event, Mr Francesco d’ Ovidio- Country Director of the ILO in Pakistan congratulated Employers Federation of Pakistan on organizing the awards ceremony which allowed participants to share the progress and highlight the challenges faced by the constituents in implementation OSH related initiatives at enterprise level 9formal and informal). He echoed the Federal Governments call for the speedy implementation of the JAP-OSH as a model that can be replicated in other provinces of Pakistan and reconfirmed ILO’s commitment to further support provincial and government in fulfilling their commitments to building a preventative culture on OSH through capacity building initiatives and analytical work. Mr d’Ovidio also welcomed the government’s decision to initiate a tripartite dialogue process for unratified ILO conventions including the C-155 referring to the comprehensive national labour inspection and OSH profile which has recently complied. This will pave way for the affirmative actions on improvements and mitigating the OSH risks at the workplaces as well as address decent work deficits across Pakistan.
For further information please contact:
Syed Saghir BukhariSenior Programme Officer, ILO Country Office for Pakistan
Tel. +92 51 2276456-8