How Can We Support Victims of Workplace Accidents and Improve Safety Together?

As all of you know, in our country, even though safety legislations are in place, plenty of workplace accidents are occurring. Even the government can't provide authentic data on the number of these accidents happening across the country. In this situation, what should be done about the compensation of these injured workers? It's truly a pathetic condition.

Many NGOs across the country are working to uplift such poorer people. One leading NGO is the People Training Research Center based in Gujarat. The core member of PTRC, Mr. Jagdish Prasad, is an active member in CiteHR. With his idea in the thread linked below and the motivation of Mr. Raghu, I am starting this new thread:

https://www.citehr.com/437051-injury...-kitchens.html

I now request Mr. Jagdish Patel to come forward and show the path for this cause. If the members of CiteHR are interested in organizing for this noble cause, how can we contribute to the upliftment of those poor employees/victims of occupational health and workplace accidents?

I believe that if we are able to meet, it will surely benefit each of us personally and professionally. We can plan to meet at a common place in each state for discussions and to create an action plan to progress further with these noble thoughts.

Looking forward to hearing the views, suggestions, and comments of other members.

I am so glad that after Ramesh Bahrdwaj's post and subsequent responses, Raghu inspired Dipil to initiate a new thread. Dipil immediately acted upon it and introduced the thread. We are all concerned about the working people in hotels and restaurants in this thread.

Safety and Health of Workers

Safety and health of workers can be ensured by:

1. Workers themselves to some extent, although there are limitations. They can be trained and made aware of what needs to be done through pamphlets, etc. (formal and informal methods and routes).
2. Owners who have a major responsibility. They may also be approached by civil society groups offering them technical help as needed.
3. Government also has a responsibility by drafting policy, collecting data, publishing and analyzing it for further refinement on policy or laws, enacting laws, enforcing them, prosecuting violators, and creating a conducive social environment.

We have no law at the moment giving legal protection to the hotel and restaurant workers' safety and health at work. Even without a law, workers can be protected, but if a law is there, it becomes mandatory and makes a great difference.

For any campaign, we would need some good case studies to start with, and I invite one and all to share their experiences.

Sure, I'll be a part of our team for this noble cause. I have no issue with the meeting spot. I have a few questions that I hope will help us implement the program:

- How will we start our project?
- How will we implement our program in the future?
- How do we connect with people who are unable to attend the meetings but are willing to join our team?
- How do we invite people other than the CiteHR family?
- We need to find a suitable name for our program.
- How do we share our case studies through our program with others?
- One more important thing: How do we shed light on our program to generate interest in others joining our team?

I have a few more questions. Seniors, please feel free to come forward and help us create the right path.

@Dipil, thanks for opening a new thread and getting involved in this topic.

Dear PTRC/Sudhir sir, appreciate your interest. Keep on rocking.

I usually miss such threads where I have no expertise. However, at Raghuvaran's request, I read the contents with interest. I also accessed the web, as is my habit, and read a good article at http://worksafebc.com <link fixed>.

In another dissertation at http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/c...0prevention%22, I found the following advice and wonder how many establishments really collect such data!

"Hotels collect data regarding workplace injuries in order to identify activities that may only result in a moderately severe injury but have a high probability of occurring. The information collected for each injury should at a minimum include:

• The date and time of the injury;
• The name of the injured employee;
• The location of the injury;
• The activity being performed by the employee at the time of the injury;
• The type of injury sustained (body part and diagnosis);
• And the direct cost incurred by the hotel as a result of the injury."

I am based in the UK and can participate in discussions at CiteHR but am not able to attend any meetings, as I cannot afford travel expenses to come just for that.

Wish the group all the best.

Regards,

Thank you, Raghu, for setting the agenda of the meeting. Dipil is right in saying that at the meeting, these and other issues may be discussed. For a successful intervention, emotions alone would not work. We need to know how many are active and how many of them may be interested in such a meeting. The rest can be decided later.

Dear PTRC, you're right, sir. "For successful intervention, emotions alone wouldn't work." We will see how many of them we will get in our team; we will wait for some reasonable time, and then we'll move forward with the members we have in our team.

"Little drops of water make the mighty ocean." We will begin with our team, this noble cause, by contributing our first drop.

Note: In a couple of days, I will confirm my arrival. I should attend our first meeting with our team.

Dear PTRC, you're right, sir. "For successful intervention, emotions alone wouldn't work." We will see how many of them we will get in our team and will wait for some reasonable time. Then we'll move forward with the members we have in our team.

"Little drops of water make the mighty ocean." We'll begin with our team in this noble cause by contributing our first drop.

Note: In a couple of days, I'll confirm my arrival. I should attend our first meeting with our team.

Thank you.

First of all, let me thank Mr. Dipil for initiating the thread and Mr. Raghu for encouraging everyone to get involved in this discussion. In India, there are many Acts/Rules available for regulating every activity. However, the problem lies in implementing the same in the concerned area. Normally, in the restaurant and kitchen area, the accidents are of the burn type injuries only. The hotel industry must have a tie-up with a nearby hospital where burn injuries are treated to safeguard the life of the victim.

While discussing with the Factories Inspector in Surat, he informed that 75% of accident victims are newly employed and engaged in work within a period of 2 months due to ignorance of safety norms. Accidents happening after 2 months of services are due to gross negligence of safety norms.

I also will join my hands (even though I am not a safety professional) for this noble cause at Chennai Group.

Regards

When a safety practitioner becomes aware that an employee, contractor, volunteer, or even a visitor sustains a serious injury or dies (for whom your employer is responsible), be mindful that if you conduct an investigation, your report (and any findings or recommendations, etc.) may not be subject to professional legal privilege in a subsequent court hearing. I suggest immediately contacting your employer's insurer, who may be able to arrange an investigator to conduct a thorough investigation. They can release their report to the employer's lawyer, which may include findings, recommendations, faults, etc. You are therefore protected while your actions are professionally managed. You can therefore manage and drive safety improvements to prevent further lost time injuries.

Regards,
Ron

Analysis of Factory Inspector's Quote in Surat

The quote from the Factory Inspector in Surat is intriguing. They have collected all the data and have the capability to analyze and publish their findings. However, they do not do so and instead make such statements without basis. I find this hard to accept.

I collect newspaper clippings throughout the year from the newspapers I purchase, such as the Gujarati daily Divya Bhaskar and the Indian Express. A volunteer from Surat regularly collects clippings from the dailies published there and sends them to me. I collate these and prepare a write-up for my Gujarati bimonthly magazine.

Currently, I am in the process of analyzing data from the past five years. I have been collecting clippings since 1989. My overall impression of fatal accidents in Gujarat, particularly in Surat, is that the majority of those who died are young migrant workers and minorities. There is a lot of work waiting for those who are genuinely interested in reducing these pains.

Regards