FICCI announced its 3rd Safety Systems Excellence Awards for Manufacturing. The Awards were presented by Kodikunnil Suresh, Minister of State for Labour & Employment in the presence of Ajay Shankar, Member Secretary, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) and Mrs Naina Lal Kidwai, President of FICCI.The focus of the third edition of FICCI Safety Systems Excellence Award was to encourage and build strong safety systems in manufacturing unit/organization. In all, seven awards were given with three each in large and medium size category and one in small size category. In terms of broad sectors, Cement, auto, chemical, engineering and oil sector Following are the awardees of FICCI Safety System Excellence Awards for 2013
In his inaugural address, Kodikunnil Suresh, Minister of State for Labour & Employment, said that the government is in the process of comprehensively reviewing the 44 existing labour laws.
He said that the Government of India attaches utmost importance to the safety of the workers. Currently, over two million workers in India’s organized sector are working in hazardous factories. And, many more in the unorganized sector where safety practices need to be followed.
The Government is trying to develop a systematic approach to improve occupational safety and health and as a part of this approach the National Policy on Safety, Health and environment at workplace in 2009 was brought out, Mr. Suresh added.
Ajay Shankar, in his address, underlined the need for a change in mindset that a workers are a cost and assigning low wages to them was important to improve bottomlines. “This must change. It must be borne in mind that worker safety and his well-being are central to business success and therefore it is necessary to treat workers as partners in business.”
Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, President of FICCI, said that there is a need to pay more attention to the occupational diseases which relate to workplace safety. She said that Research and Development in the area of occupational diseases that can cause terminal illness needs to be supported by our government along with the industry. More than accidents, occupational diseases are known to be the major cause of work-related deaths, Ms. Kidwai noted.
Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, FICCI Manufacturing Committee & Managing Director, Hindustan Tin Works Ltd; said that that these awards showcase not just the industry’s best practices but also encourage others to adopt these best practices. He also welcomed the Ministry’s decision to review the labour laws.
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