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The two day Conference is being organised by Greentech Foundation, a Delhi based NGO which works in the areas Environment, Occupational Health and other fields.
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Speaking further Dr. T. K. Joshi added that if the Cardiovascular diseases are due to sedentary lifestyles, Occupational Cancers are the biggest killer in workplace. He also informed that the estimated global work-related mortality is 1.1 million per year based on 1990-1995 data. The Workplace related disease include Cancer 34%, Injuries 25%, Chronic respiratory 21%, cardiovascular 15% and other which include pneumoconioses, nervous systems and renal disorders informed Dr. T.K. Joshi.
The core elements in occupationl health are Anticipation, Prevention, Protection, Promotion of Health and wellness; Treatment and Rehabilitation. Off all these the most important is anticipation. And quoted a real life example. It is my observation that Government Drivers are the most reckless drivers. Hence, I advised Health Minister to make it compulsory for all VIPs to wear seat belts. Just after two days of my request, Union Minister Gopnath Munde died in road accident. So the anticipation is most important of all in preventing occupational health problems he told . Anticipation is very advance stage of prevention, he said and added that develop anticipation culture in industries to prevent accidents, he said.
He said our laws are very deficient. The Factories Act and any other Indian Acts don’t mandate health surveillance to prevent Occupational Health problems, he said. Globally the biggest occupation health disorder is low back pain. Nearly 38% of the workers suffer with this problem. It is a compensable disease. Employees can sue the company. The pack pain comes due to manual lifting of the heavy weights by the workers. American Institute of Occupational Health that is why decided the maximum cabin baggage allowed is 23kgs in any airlines. Whereas in India we continue with age old laws which allow lifting up of weight upto 50kgs and above.
A disease that arises due to the nature of any occupation in which an employee was employed at any time within the prescribed period is regarded as a compensable occupational disease. Low Back Pain Caused by Occupational Lifting is compensable disease Dr. Joshi said.
Worldwide, LBP(Low Back Pain) arising from ergonomic exposures at work was estimated to cause 21.7 million DALYs(disability-adjusted life years) in 2010.
Breast Cancer is another disease that comes out of workplace related issues. Contant exposure to Light is among the emerging health risks at modern workplaces. Denmark has become the first country to pay government compensation to women who developed breast cancer after long spells of working at night informed Dr. Joshi.
Earlier welcoming the gathering Mr. Kamleshwar Sharan, President of Greentech Foundation said the Occupational Health and Safety start from us. No amount of legislation is ineffective, as long as the initiation doesn’t come from within us, he said.
Earlier Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, DG &CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt of India and Ms. Cecilie Hersleth, Group Director of Sustainability, Telenor formally inaugurated the meet. Followed by the inauguration, held a panel discussion on Safety Management Beyond Compliance moderated by Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee. The panelists include: Dr. R.K.Elangovan, Director—Regional Labour Institute, Chennai; DR. R.K. Suri, Director(Retd)-Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt of India; Ms. Cecilie Hersleth, Group Director Sustainability, Telenor and Mr. V. K. Sharma, Chief Inspector of Factories(Retd), New Delhi.
Participating in the Panel Discussion Dr. Elangovan said Society is becoming zero tolerant. We need to hormonise standards. We need common safefty standard which comply local as well as international standards. We need to move towards total safety culture. Even the Safety Officers need to be qualified. Participating in the discussion Dr. R.K. Sure said occidents don’t happen. They occur, due to defect and human error. Safety at workplace means, safety at home too.
The meet organised by Greentech Foundation in supported with National Safety Council of Australia, Safety and Health at Work Promotion Association-Thailand; Asian Professional Security Associaton—India Chapter; Safety Appliances Manufacturers Association(SAMA); Fire & Security Association of India—Hyderabad Chapter; NTPC and AFCONS informed Kamleshwar Sharan, President of Greentech Foundation in a press note issued in city today.
The participants will deliberate on issues such as Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Management; Safety Culture; Regulatory Framework for Industrial Waste Management; Occupational Health Surveillance and other. There will be two Panel Discussions---on Safety Management Beyond Compliance and Occupational Health and Ageing Workforce.
P. Sravan Kumar President of Fire and Security Association of India—Hyderabad Chapter spoke about Fire Safety in Commercial Kitchens. While electrical faults account for the largest number of fire accidents, it is known that kitchen fires cause most of the hotel fire accidents. He will talk about hotels becoming increasingly aware of fire protection measures in Kitchens.
Dr. T. Vijaya Kumar, Associate Vice President—Business Assurance, Ethics & Compliance, Uninor, Gurgaon talked about Emergency Preparedness & Crisis Management.
The meet will conclude on Sunday. During the meet Awards will also be presented for professional excellence to distinguished companies and safety officers.
