Industrial safety and health be made part of education curriculum

New Delhi, Apr 29 (UNI) Industrial safety and health should be made part of secondary education curriculum at school level and the diploma and graduate courses in engineering discipline should have compulsory subject on industrial safety.

In addition, the occupational health should be made as a compulsory subject in graduate courses in medicine. Post-graduate course and Doctoral course on industrial Safety and Health should be carried out at the academic institutions.

These are among the recommendations of an Expert Group constituted at the National Seminar on Industrial Safety and Health - Vision 2000 organised by the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labout Institute (DGFASLI), an apex body of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

The Group also recommended that occupational Health should be integrated with Public Health Services and also called for updating the list of occupational Diseases. It said the DGFASLI should actively be involved in all the endeavours and work with the institutes concerned and Academic Bodies to formulate the course curricula and modules and others.

Another significant recommendation said specific research studies and surveys should be undertaken with regard to the issues relating to the working women's health as a large number women are employed in high tech industries and there are specific health problems concerning their reproductive health particular to these industries.

It also recommended that Studies should be conducted on safety and health among software industry employees. It said that Safety and Health studies in sunrise industry - IT&ITES industries should be carried out and the DGFASLI should help carrying out these studies. Collaborative research work with different educational institutions, preparation of industry specific training modies to meet the future needs and Networking of Safety Professionals and Institutions through website are some other tasks for DGFASLI recommended by the Expert Group.

Another recommendation of the Seminar is that the Factory Inspectors should be given training on matters connected with latest developments in the field of industrial safety. It also recommending that training in the safety aspects should be imparted to all workers, contract labourers, supervisors and managers.

The Seminar also recommended that insurance aspects of accident prevention should also be looked into.

UNI BBS RL KP1954