Dispensable objects.

Byline: Afshan Subohi

OCCUPATIONAL safety and health practices in the country are either poor or non-existent, leaving a large number of workers sick or dead before time. The environment is generally hostile but people working in the construction, mining, storage, agriculture and transport sectors are the most vulnerable.

Many labour experts, engaged in the consultative and training business, concur that the work environment in Pakistan is far from satisfactory. According to them, the factors responsible for lack of progress in this crucial area include people's desperation for a job, lack of awareness on safety standards, rudimentary legal framework, insufficient and inefficient inspectorates, government and employers' apathy towards the plight of workforce, and lack of societal oversight.

Meek efforts have been made to gauge the status of occupational health and safety situation in the country by the relevant ministry of the federal government and to upgrade the relevant legal framework by provincial governments.

However, realistically speaking, the fate of sick, maimed and workers on the verge of a physical or mental breakdown is not expected to change much any time soon. Pakistan has not even ratified International Labour Organisation's (ILO) conventions concerning occupational safety.

In a transformational society where an archaic mindset and old structures coexist with modern-day mounting demands of the market, the stress level for people is already high and often becomes unbearable, driving them to act irrationally and destructively. A hostile work environment acts as the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Suicides and fatal accidents in occupational sites routinely make headlines, but the silent suffering of hundreds and thousands of workers toiling in farms, factories and the service sector goes unreported. The public tendency to internalise blame and accept it as fait accompli doesn't help either.

When media owners get their expensive cameras insured and leave the cameraman uncovered, it speaks volumes about the mindset regarding occupational safety and health in the country

The fact is that complying with international standards of occupational health and safety can bring about a quantitative change in the lives of people who keep the wheels of the economy moving.

Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, the founder of Centre for Labour Research, shared his take on the issue with Dawn. In a written response, he said: 'The compliance and ensuring safe...