• Govt, workers disagree on safety regulation enforcement
THE International Labour Organisation (ILO) has called for an ‘urgent and vigorous’ campaign to tackle the growing number of work-related diseases, which claim an estimated two million lives per year.
In Nigeria, workers in the chemical sector say the government is not doing enough to protect factory workers, as many employers disobey the constitutional safety and precaution rules that guides the establishment of factories in the country.
In a message on this year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work, ILO Director-General, Mr Guy Rider, said: “Occupational disease impoverishes workers and their families and may undermine whole communities when they lose their most productive workers.
“Meanwhile, the productivity of enterprises is reduced and the financial burden on the state increases as the cost of health care rises. Where social protection is weak or absent, many workers as well as their families, lack the care and support they need.”
He called for the prevention of diseases, saying it is more effective and less costly than treatment and rehabilitation.
He said the ILO was calling for a “paradigm of prevention with comprehensive and coherent action targeting occupational diseases, not only injuries.”
The Head of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), Brent Wilton, said: “The ILO is well placed to lead a concerted and holistic effort to address OSH challenges by providing integrated web-based information that is practical and easily accessible to workplace actors, prevention and treatment centres, employers’ and workers’ organisations, enforcing authorities and labour inspectorates.
‘’We have an opportunity to ensure that countries are better equipped to avert the risk of facing the same OSH challenges by learning from shared experiences, he said.
General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Sharan Burrow, said: “Our societies must not accept that workers can lose their health to make a living. And we must not forget that occupational diseases put a huge burden on families and the public purse – a burden that is preventable.
“Harnessing the knowledge of workers, backed by their unions, is crucial for preventing death and illness. Protection, including through respect for workers’ rights to trade union representation, and government legislation and enforcement following ILO standards and guidance should be expanded.”
In a report, the ILO said despite the fact that occupational diseases kill six times more when compared to other diseases, accidents attract greater attention. Of the estimated 2.34 million annual work-related deaths, the vast majority — approximately 2.02 million — are due to work-related diseases. This represents a daily average of 5,500 deaths.
The ILO also estimates that 160 million cases of non-fatal work-related diseases occur yearly.
Technological and social changes, along with global economic conditions, are aggravating health hazards and creating new risks. Well-known occupational diseases, such as pneumoconiosis and asbestos-related diseases, remain widespread, while relatively new occupational diseases, such as mental and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are on the rise.
Occupational diseases carry an enormous cost – for workers and their families, as well as for economic and social development. The ILO estimates that occupational accidents and diseases result in an annual four per cent loss in global gross domestic product (GDP), or about US$2.8 trillion, in direct and indirect costs of injuries and diseases.
Good quality data is of key importance, providing the basis for an effective prevention strategy. Yet, globally, more than half of all countries do not provide statistics for occupational diseases. Only a few countries collect sex-disaggregated data. This makes it difficult not only to identify specific types of occupational injuries and diseases that affect men and women, but also hinders the development of effective preventive measures for all, ILO said.
“Significantly reducing the incidence of occupational disease is not simple, it may not be easy and it will not happen overnight, but progress is certainly feasible. So, let us, in our respective areas of responsibility, set clear OSH goals, establish a road map and most critically, act and persevere so that, together, we succeed in turning the tide on the epidemic and make good progress on this dimension of decent work,” Ryder said.
The Labour Minister, however, Chief ‘Emeka Wogu, said the Inspectorate Division of the Ministry of Labour and Productivity is doing a lot by way of factory inspection to ensure safety in the workplace.
The General Secretary, National Union of Chemical Footwear Rubber Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), Douglas Adiele, said employers were not fulfilling their legal obligations.
He, however, said some employers were pulling their weight in that area, while others just neglect the safety precautions.
“The Ministry of Labour is not doing enough. They have an inspectorate division. But are they doing enough? There are regulations, but to what extent has this regulation been enforced?” he added.
