NHRC seeks response on of worker’s high death rate in accidents in registered factories

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Centre, States and Union Territories regarding the reported high death rate of workers in accidents in registered factories and measures taken to ensure protection of their human rights.

The move comes after the NHRC took suo motu cognizance of a newspaper article that an average of three people died and 11 others were injured every day between 2017 and 2022, according to the Directorate General of Factory Advisory Services and Labor Institutes of the Ministry of Labor and Employment ( DGFASLI ) as a result of an accident in factories registered in the country.

The NHRC said in a report that between 2018 and 2020, as many as 3,331 deaths were reported, but only 14 people were jailed for offenses under the Factories Act, 1948. “Data collected by DGFASLI from Chief Inspectors of Factories and Directors of Industrial Safety and Health shows that only registered factories have provided data while 90% of workers in India are employed in the informal sector. "Even two years after the adoption of the new occupational health and safety code, there is no need to implement it," adds the report.

The NHRC said that considering the gravity of the matter as highlighted in the newspaper article, it raises serious concerns about the human rights of workers in various business establishments, including factories. "Human rights risk can be mitigated at the stage of structuring contracts or other agreements between employers and employees within the scope of the law that gives due importance to the concept of business and human rights," the statement said.

The NHRC has therefore issued notices to all Chief Secretaries/Principal Secretaries, Labor Departments of all States and Union Territories to provide detailed reports of death/disability of workers/employees due to accidents in factories in their jurisdictions and compensation paid to the injured/next of kin of the deceased, prosecution initiated against to the occupier/owners of factories and the number of security officers employed under Section 40B of the Factories Act, 1948. The NHRC said the reports must include annual reports of the Inspector General of Factories taking action against defaulting factory owners, including prosecutions for the period from 2017 to 2022 in tabular form. "Measures taken by States / UTs for effective implementation of various provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 must also be part of the reports," the report said.

The NHRC further said that a notice was also issued to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Labor and Employment to submit a report on the measures taken with regard to the implementation of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code and the measures taken to improve the human rights conditions of the factory workers after the whole country. "An answer is expected within six weeks," the report added