Nov 27: “Mining companies should put more thrust to meet ‘Zero accident potential’” called Minister of State for Labour & Employment Oscar Fernandes on Monday in an inaugurating day of 10th national conference on ‘Safety in Mines’ in New Delhi.
Forcing on ‘safety of worker’ Fernandes said, “Safety is not only a concept or practice but it also recognised the dignity of work”. “The mining companies should do all efforts to protect their workers.” He was speaking yesterday in a two-day conference organised by Directorate-General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Dhanbad, an apex body of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Appraising the efforts on safety measures of the mining companies, he said, “various techniques of risk assessment and risk management has contributed greatly towards improving safety during mining operations” but he also feels the government’s support is essential as per safety of the mine workers.
“The government needs to supplement these efforts with development and implementation of suitable legislation. The investment in safety had a direct bearing on the overall performance of a mining company.” added Minister of State for Labour & Employment.
He was speaking in the presence of Minister of State for Mines T. Subbarami Reddy, and Minister of State for Planning M.V. Rajasekharan.
Fernandes asked for more companies to put their efforts in mining works and more inputs to protect their worker by enhancing safety budgets. “There is a need for resources — for research, subsequent development of new processes, equipment and work method and above all, for training and establishment of a suitable reward system.”
Relising on the companies’ efforts as per their safety, Oscar correlated the safety of the workers to progress of the company and country. “The investment in safety has a direct bearing on the overall performance of the mining company.”
Ministry of State for the Mines T Subbarami Reddy said, “Mining is very important for the growth of the economy and, therefore, all efforts should be made to make mining totally safe for workers.”
“We should also learn from countries like South Africa, Australia and Canada in this regard.” Speaking on the ‘Safety of Worker’ Reddy asked to learn the lesson from the foreign countries, whose safety measures are of high standard.
Minister of state for planning Rajasekharan also favoured the statements of both the ministers delivered over ‘Safety of Worker’. In his speech, he said, “The progress achieved will be meaningless if adequate security is not provided to the workers.”
Despite of talk over safety measure, some other important topics were also discussed as per official release. Some of the specific issues were: (i) Contract workers in mines — problems and issues vis-à-vis safety, health and welfare (ii) Safety issues in unorganised mining sector (iii) Occupational health surveillance and notified diseases (iv) Mechanisation with a view to phasing out manual loading and to improve safety standards (v) Reduction of risks from roof and side fall in Indian coal mines (vi) Below ground communication and tracking system (vii) Safety issues in oil mines (viii) Safety management systems: Strategies for implementation and path forward and (ix) Implementation of ILO Convention 176 in mines.
|
|
Comments:
