AICyberLex Nexus

Key words: Building workers, Construction workers, Occupational safety, ILO, India

1.Introduction

Besides the agriculture and service sector, the industrial sector is the prime sector providing employment to the largest number of people. Knight Frank India and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), 2023 says that India's construction sector is the second largest employment generator with 7.1 crore workforce employed currently. Construction workers constitute one of the largest groups of workers in the industrial sector. These are highly labour-intensive and mechanized jobs, which leads to increased threats to workers' occupational safety and health. Efficiency in the building and construction sector increases employment and profit growth in related manufacturing industries like cement, iron and steel, chemicals, bricks, paints, etc. Building and construction workers include not only domestic workers but also migrant workers. In India, occupational diseases in the construction sector may vary from 924,700 to 1,902,300 per year, and deaths to be 121,000. In the construction industry, the environment for work is also a reason for causing occupational hazards. Such workers are not fixed, and the relationship between employer and workers is temporary.

To protect the health and well-being of the construction workers, the central government and state government enacted various legislations. Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1996 is passed with the object of regulating the employment and its conditions of service of building and construction workers and to protect their well-being, health, and safety. Besides, the Factories Act, 1948 fixed the working time as 8 hours. The works of such workers is unsafe due to inadequate working conditions, insufficient safety implications, nature of work, low pay, etc. As compared to manufacturing industry, the accidents in construction industry are higher. Increased rate of accidents in construction sites is due to poor inter-departmental communication and improper inspection. Lack of awareness among the workers about the occupational safety measures also leads to increased accidents. It is also a duty of the state to ensure the safety and health of the workers in their occupation. Article 39 directs the state to make laws to protect the worker’s right to health and livelihood. There should be just and human conditions of work thereby the whole people have the responsibilities to ensure adequate working conditions.

In National Campaign for Central Legislation on Construction Labour v. Union of India and ors, the supreme court made an intervention by way of contempt of court against the Union of India for the effective implementation of the provisions of BOCW Act 1996 and the proper utilisation of cess collected under the BOCW Cess Act 1996.

2.Research problem

The safety and well-being of building workers in construction industry remain a significant concern despite the existence of regulatory frameworks such as The BOCW Act, 1996. It aims to identify gaps in the enforcement of safety regulations, assess the adequacy of safety measures provided, and evaluate the impact of these regulations on reducing workplace accidents and health hazards. The core problem addressed is whether current practices and compliance with the Act are sufficient to safeguard the health and safety of building workers.

3.Review literature

Occupational health is to promote social physical and mental health of workers in its occupations. There are lot of studies which has undertaken about the effectiveness of occupational problems construction workers in several parts of India. Miss. Guddi Tiwari states that the illiteracy of the workers is the core problem which leads to ill effects of work and the remedial measures. Above 19% of the construction workers are working in urban areas and 38% of the construction workers in urban areas do not receive sufficient payments for their work. The author studies that how the wages depend upon the risk to occupational safety of the workers. The occupational risk is also a factor for determining the wages, but the employer not adequately consider it. Milu Anna Ittycheria conducted a study on the level of knowledge among the workers about the occupational hazards and the measures to prevent it. The study reveals that out of the total respondents 90.5% workers are aware of the occupational safety measures and they are regularly use it. Increasing knowledge among the workers will reduce the number of occupational accidents. The fatal accidents in construction industry are 8 times higher than other manufacturing industries in India. The right to occupational safety of the workers gets violated by employing poor working mechanisms and insufficient working conditions.

4.ILO conventions on occupational safety of construction workers

4.1.Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1)

The convention was ratified by India on 14th July 1921. This convention applicable in the areas of mines, quarries, construction, manufacturing and transportation industries. The working hours in both public and private industries shall not be exceed 8 in a day and 48 in a week but not to apply persons employed in the position of supervision or management, persons employed in confidential capacity or those employed on shift basis.

4.2. Night Work (Women) Convention, 1919 (No. 4)

The object of the convention is to fix night working time there by protect women from harassments. The women shall not be allowed to work with in 10 P.M. after sunset to 5A.M. before sunrise. There are certain exceptions such as in case of uncertain interruption in the industry which is impossible to foresee and where immediate work is demanded by the deterioration of the materials. In the case of seasonal workers, the night period reduced to may be reduced to 10 hours on sixty days of the year.

4.3. Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 6)

The convention was adopted to prohibit the working of young person who are under the age of 18 years from working during night. But young persons between the age of 16 -18 may be employed in certain industries which by its nature demands continuous work such as manufacture of iron and steel, glass works, manufacture of paper, manufacture of raw sugar and gold mining reduction work.

4.4. Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention (Revised), 1934 (No. 42)

Article 2 of the convention lists out occupational decease for which compensation shall be payable to the workers. This provides protection to both men and women workers. India ratified it on 13th January 1964.

4.5. Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925 (No. 19)

This convention provides equality of treatment in terms of occupational accidents to both domestic and migrant workers. The convention mandate that the condition as to residence shall not be a ground for avoiding equality of treatment.

5.Research objective

The study aims to assess the effectiveness of enforcement mechanisms employed by regulatory bodies in ensuring occupational safety of building workers and to understand the impact of current safety measures on reducing accidents and improving safety conditions for workers. It also intent to identify and categorize the primary occupational safety issues and hazards faced by building workers in the construction sites.

6.Provisions of occupational safety and health under Building and Other Construction Workers (Conditions and regulation of employment) Act 1996

Act covers and applicable to every establishment employing ten or more than ten building and construction workers in any establishment dealing in building or construction work on any day of the proceedings twelve months. If the building workers working or employed in different shifts in a day either by the employer side or on contractors shall be considered and counted while calculating the number of employed workers.

As per the BOCW Act 1996, the Building or Construction work means thereby construction, demolition or maintenance, alteration, repairs of roads, streets, buildings, railways, airfields, tramways, drainage, embankment and navigation works, irrigation, flood control works and activities (comprising storm water drainage activities or works). Generation, transmission, and further distributing power, water works (comprising different channels for distributing water), electric lines, radio, oil and gas installations, wireless, television, telephone, telegraph and overseas communications, reservoirs, dams, tunnels, canals, bridges, viaducts, watercourses, aqua ducts, pipelines, cooling towers, towers, transmission towers and other related work, functions, operations and activities as specified by the appropriate Government, through publishing notification but excluding building or construction work for which statutory provisions contained in the Factories Act, 1948 or Mines Act, 1952 apply.

The Act defines Building Workers means thereby an individual or person employed or engaged to perform any skilled, semiskilled, unskilled, supervisory, manual, clerical, or other relevant activity or work for any reward or hire Whether the employment terms be clearly expressed or otherwise implied relevant with any building or construction activity or work but excluding any such individual or person (1) who is engaged or employed or working particularly in a managerial or administrative position: or (ii) who, being employed or engaged in a particular supervisory position is extracting wages more than rupees one thousand and six hundred per mensen or handles, either by nature of activity attached with office or due to the causes of the powers he is handling or functions or activities particularly of a managerial type.

Chapter vi, vii, viii of the Act 1996 and The Building and Other Construction Workers ‘(Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Central Rules, 1998 lays down the measures for the implementation of occupational safety and health.

The employer must impose adequate measures to mitigate excessive noise or radiation harmful to the workers. He shall properly fence the motors and machineries using in the construction sites. Regulation 35 imposes a duty on the employer to arrange fire extinguishing equipment at the construction site, train its operators, and provide adequate water to protect from fire. In a construction industry with more than 500 workers, the employer shall maintain an action plan to handle emergencies. Health and safety policy shall be prepared by the employer and submitted to the central government. Regulation 43 cast a duty on the employer to make necessary precautions to avoid the concentration of fumes and gases. Regulation 46 provides head protection for workers by wearing helmets, waterproof boots, and coats for those who work in water or wet concrete tested by national standards. It is the duty of the employer to store the building material and equipments in such a manner which does nor endanger the life of the workers. He shall ensure that the debris in construction sites handled or disposed of shall not cause danger, accumulate, and keep within the permissible limit. It is the duty of the employer to maintain the lifting conditions prescribed by the Act. They are,

Regulation 208 provides for the constitution of safety committees, which an equal number of employers and workers shall represent. In every site where more than 500 workers are working, the employer shall appoint a safety officer bound to ensure the safety of the workers. Under regulation 210, the safety officer shall report the accidents to the inspectors within 72 hours.

7.Data analysis and interpretation

An empirical study was conducted on the topic of Right to occupational safety of building workers: An analysis in the light of The Buildings and Other Construction Workers (Regulation Of Employment And Conditions Of Service) Act, 1996 by using questionnaire. The sample fixed to be 140 by dividing 10 from 14 districts of Kerala. Microsoft Excel was used to enter the data that were gathered. This empirical study can be used as an example for understanding the effectiveness of the implementation of the Act for the protection of the building workers on their construction sites and helps know how much the workers are protected under the Act.

Source: Primary data

Source: Primary data

Demographic characteristics focused on age, gender, educational qualification, earnings per day, types of work, and the place of residence of the worker. Out of 140 respondents, the majority (42.8%) of them are within the age group of 26-35, and 68.5% of the total respondents are male. Considering the educational qualification, 67 out of 140 respondents have passed with matriculation. Most of them have only basic education. In construction sites, there are more males than females. In the earning per day variable, the range of rupees 501-1000 involves 72 respondents. This shows that the majority of the respondents get average income. More than 58% of the respondents resided in a rented house, and only 30 respondents resided in workplaces. The category of others in the residence resides in their friend's or relatives' houses near the construction site. Other types of work include head load workers, cement mixers, materials handlers, and carriers of goods on construction sites.

For analysing occupational health and safety measures of building workers, variables such as issues faced by the construction site, availability of safety net, regular safety inspection, availability of personal protective equipment, and availability of first aid facilities are considered. 35 out of 140 respondents (25%) respondents say that they are facing issues from the construction sites, with 12 facing physical abuse and 23 facing verbal abuse. Most construction sites are provided with a safety net for their workers. The safety net includes proper machinery fencing, the availability of experienced supervisors, the prevention of emissions, and the concentration of hazardous gases and fumes, among others. The majority of the respondents (58.5%) do not receive personal protective equipment, and 53.57% of the respondents say that their construction sites are not available with first aid facilities. Personal protective equipment and first aid facilities are important for the occupational safety of workers. The employers in these sites do not comply with these requirements.

The Act imposes several responsibilities on not only employer but also contractors and inspector with respect to the protection of the construction workers. The inspector has the power to inspect into whether the necessary occupational safety measures are arranged by the employer, inspect books of accounts and take cognizance of not complying with provisions of the legislation.

8.Conclusion

The construction workers' occupational safety and health are essential for the country's adequate performance and development. The Act of 1996 and Rules of 1998 impose duties and responsibilities on the employer to arrange necessary measures to protect the construction workers.  This study analyses workers' awareness of the safety measures required on construction sites. The hazardous working environment and increased threats to the workers' safety need to be changed in the modern construction industry. Employers and contractors must do workplace supervision and proper training for the workers and all people associated with it. Campaigns and awareness programs to be conducted to sensitize the use of personal protective equipment during the work.

ANNEXURE 1

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Name: ______________________

2. Age:

Below 18

19-25

26-35

Above 35

3. Gender:

Male

Female

Transgender

Other

4. Educational Qualification:

Primary education (1-9)

Matriculation

Intermediary/ pre- degree/diploma

Others

5. Type of work:

Carpenter

Plumber

Electrician

Mason

Helper

Others

6. What is your earning per day?

Less than 500

501-1000

1001-1500

more than 1500

7. Place of stay:

Owned house

Rented house

Stay at workplace

Others

8.Are you a:

Migrant

Domestic

9.Have you faced any issues in your workplace?

Yes

No

10. If yes, what are the issues you are/were facing?

Physical abuses

Verbal abuses

Sexual abuses

Others

11. Do you know the construction site is covered with safety net?

Yes

No

N/A

12. If yes, whether the safety net is provided to the workers by the employee?

Yes

No

N/A

13.Whether labour inspector/ safety officer conducts regular inspection?

Yes

No

N/A

14. Whether the employer provided PPE (Personal Protective Equipments) for building workers?

Yes

No

N/A

15.Whether the construction site is available with necessary first aid facilities?

Yes

No

N/A