KARACHI: Sindh Information and Labour Minister Nasir Hussain Shah admitted Labour Department’s negligence in the past, which resulted in incidents that gravely endangered lives of labourers in provincial industries. “But rest assured, things are bound to get changed in near future as the government has started visiting the industrial units on a regular basis, issuing warning letters to negligent industries whereas strict action would be taken against officials of departments who have not been performing their duties”, said Shah. Addressing the 7th Fire Safety and Security Convention, jointly organised by National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) and Fire Protection Association of Pakistan (FPAP), the minister said slackness on the part of concerned authorities led to undesirable circumstances under which industrial accidents took place in the past. But, provincial Labour Department had resolved to fully implement labour safety laws in industries through a constant process of strict inspection, he said. He said a recent step to ensure safety and security of workers and labourers at their workplace was taken in the last meeting of Sindh Cabinet on October 5 which approved the proposed Sindh Occupational Safety and Health Bill 2017. He said the proposed bill would be presented in the upcoming session of Sindh Assembly for passage. He said Sindh government, for the first time in the country, was going to convene a tripartite conference with representation of industries’ associations, industrialists, government and labourers, to discuss issues related to safety and security of labourers at industrial units as per standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). He said the provincial government had been doing its best to provide complete financial assistance package to the victim families of 2012 Baldia factory fire incident, to the complete satisfaction of the ILO and other concerned international labour agencies. He said Sindh government had started the process of procuring new fire engines, one each for every industrial estate, in the province as the concerned association of every industrial zone had assured the government to fully meet the expenses related to operations and maintenance of the fire engines. He said it was shared responsibility of everyone whether government, Labour Department, municipal agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), associations of industries, or industrialists themselves, to ensure complete safety and protection of labourers. Federal B Area Association of Trade and Industry President Babar Khan said officials and inspectors belonging to Labour Department and civil defence organisations had no interest in inspecting the industries for any bona fide cause other than minting money from the industrialists. “I myself urged several times the inspectors of Labour Department and civil defence to conduct emergency drills for labourers of my factory but they never showed up again to conduct any practical exercise,” he maintained. He said Labour Department and civil defence should be purged of corrupt practices, which had become rampant, so that they could play their due part for safety and security of labourers at their workplace. Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Muffasar Atta Malik lamented that local government agencies lacked fire fighting resources to such an extent that the city’s authorities could not handle two major fire incidents at a time. He said there should be a functional fire station for every group of 100,000 people in the city. Instead of having 150 fire stations, the city had been doing with a mere 15, he said. He said there was a time when 70 fire tenders were available to the city’s fire brigade which was now down to a meagre 14, whereas, only two snorkels were available for firefighting operations for the ever increasing high-rise buildings in Karachi. He said the KCCI was ready to provide a platform to the concerned government agencies and industrialists to sit together and mutually review fire and other emergency safety measures in industrial units of the city. Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Vice-President Mirza Ishtiaq Baig said fire fighters who lost their lives in the line of duty should be formally declared heroes and martyrs of the nation while the government should announce gallantry awards for them. SITE Super Highway Association of Industries President Dr Kaiser Waheed lamented the situation that industrialists had to look towards the provincial government for doing fire fighting arrangements as the relevant municipal agencies had completely failed to discharge their responsibilities in this regard. NED University of Engineering and Technology Earthquake Engineering Department Chairman Prof Mohammad Masood Rafi said due safety measures were not being adopted in compliance of the building codes while constructing commercial and residential buildings in Karachi. He said a fire incident in a populous area like Gulshan-e-Iqbal could spread like a wildfire and could engulf a number of buildings as a chain reaction, if the fire was not contained in the earliest possible time through due emergency and firefighting procedures. Managing director of a fire safety consultancy firm, Fawad Barry, said large number of buildings in a posh area in the city, like DHA, lacked any emergency exit. He said that every industrial unit should install its own fire suppression system with safety measures including emergency drills on a regular basis for its workers while always considering that the fire brigade is the last line of defence in case of a fire at any industry. FPAP President Imran Taj said fire protection association had been doing its best to improve situation of fire safety measures at industrial concerns across the country. Published in Daily Times, October 19th 2017.