Inspect factories regularly to curb floor accidents, labour officials told

GURGAO: Taking note of the rising factory accidents that maim workers, the state labour department on Sunday directed officials to carry out periodic inspections of the shop floors in their respective areas to ensure that industries are following the safety provisions.
Reviewing the progress of the department, state labour commissioner Sujan Singh stressed upon the need to ramp up the factory machinery to minimise the floors accidents. He also called for a dedicated awareness campaign in the industrial areas to ensure that workers are able to avail the benefits of labour welfare and social security schemes.
“There’s a need for intensifying the inspection drive and thoroughly assessing whether the factories are following provisions and laws that mandate the creation of a safe and accident-free work environment,” said Singh.
Besides the assessment of the security provisions in the factory, the department officials have also been directed to ensure that employers are providing accurate data of the workers employed. Moreover, special emphasis needs to be paid to investigating whether workers are compensated fairly, he said.
“Carry out the inspection drive with due diligence and ensure that all the workers are drawing proper wages. Also, wherever the workers are being asked to work overtime it should be ensured that they are being compensated double their wages for the extra time they put into their work,” the labour commissioner said.
The commissioner also called for a dedicated awareness campaign in the industrial areas to ensure that workers are able to avail the benefits of labour welfare schemes and social security provisions.
In December, TOI reported that factory accidents in Gurgaon and Faridabad increased by 54% in 2021-22 as compared to the previous year.
In its fourth report of the CRUSHED series, Safe In India Foundation, which has been studying mishaps on shop floors of automobile manufacturers and supply chains for years, attributed the accidents to infrequent inspections from the labour department, lack of training and safety prerequisites.