• Dr Avneesh Singh, Director General, DGFASLI
• Dr Kamalesh Sarkar, Director of National Institute of Occupational Health
• Representatives of trade unions and employers organizations
• Resource persons, senior government officials
• Distinguished guests and participants

On behalf of the ILO, I would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the National Institute of Occupational Health and DGFASLI for organizing this important tripartite workshop. I have recently taken up the position of Director in New Delhi and this is my first mission within India. I am happy that I start by visiting the city of Ahmedabad, where the father of this nation, the great Mahatma Gandhi established his Ashram to do service to the people of this country.

I am pleased to note that this workshop has brought together our tripartite constituents and professionals from the field of occupational health, and will give us an opportunity to renew our commitments to improve occupational safety and health of India, in particular occupational health aspects. Many employers and workers have been long waiting for practical support measures to prevent occupational diseases and receive better occupational health services.

I will take a few brief moments to share with you the latest ILO global figures on work related illnesses and injuries. Here is what the data show-

• Roughly 2.78 million workers continue to die each year from work related injuries and illnesses.
• Of these deaths, 2.4 million are the result of work-related diseases. It means more than 80% of work-related fatalities are due to occupational health problems!
• These deaths, illnesses and injuries continue to cause incalculable human suffering. It is an unacceptable toll on human lives. We all must act together to bring about a change. The right to safety and health at work is a fundamental human right.
• There are huge economic costs to workers, their families, businesses and national economies from these poor OSH practices. The global economic impact of the current situation is estimated to be 3.94 percent of global GDP per year, currently.

What does this trend reveal? It indicates that we can no longer ignore the fact that we need a proactive prevention-based approach to improving safety and health and make consistent efforts to create a culture of prevention. The key ILO instruments on OSH, especially Safety and Health Convention, No 155, Occupational Health Services Convention, No 161, and Promotional Framework for OSH Convention, No 187 provide us with sound guidance to strengthen national systems of occupational safety and health.

We all know from experience that workplaces which have trade unions, and follow collective agreements towards addressing safety and health, and have active safety and health committees are safer and healthier workplaces. Employers’ and workers’ collaborative activities to improve OSH at the workplace are of vital importance. I have heard that one CEO of a large enterprise of India mentioned that he regards all workers in his company as his safety and health officers. It means that he trains all his workers in safety and health, listen to their ideas for improvements and aims to establish strong safety and health management systems.

It is absolutely critical that we safeguard those who are most vulnerable in the world of work. We need to look at the safety and health of workers working in the micro and small enterprises, informal economy and the rural and agricultural sector. Many of these workers are women. ILO has been extending its efforts to reach vulnerable groups of workers. ILO’s participatory, action-oriented training methodologies such as WISE (Work Improvements in Small Enterprises) have been increasingly applied for providing practical and immediate support to them.

The Government of India has been taking steps towards strengthening national systems of occupational safety and health. In 2009, the 1st National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at Workplace of India was adopted. Since then, this policy has been widely referred to for promoting OSH. In 2017, the government of India, employers’ and workers’ organizations, in cooperation with the ILO carried out six regional and national consultation workshops in Faridabad, Kolkata, Kanpur, Mumbai, Chennai, and New Delhi. As a result of the extensive tripartite consultations, available OSH data and information have been compiled, analysed and published as a draft National OSH Profile.

During the exercise to develop the National OSH Profile, the tripartite constituents of India and ILO noticed that reported cases of occupational diseases are very much limited. Many cases are unreported and do not receive proper treatment and compensation. It was recommended that preventing occupational diseases and protecting workers’ health should be recognized as a priority area for national action. Workers and employers need urgent support to know and eliminate occupational health hazards and risks in their workplaces.

India has a number of occupational health specialists and practitioners who have broad, practical experiences. It is vital to strengthen the collaborative networks among the government, employers and workers and occupational health specialists for preventing occupational disease and providing adequate occupational health services to all workers.

Friends, in the next three days, we will look at details of occupational disease and occupational health service situations of India and review available statistics, case studies, and good practices for prevention. I believe that the government, employers, workers and occupational health specialists, through their exchanging experiences will find innovative joint strategies for solutions.

The ILO is ready to work together with the constituents and stakeholders for these objectives and for realizing Decent Work for all workers.

I wish you all a very productive workshop and thanks for your attention!