National policy on safety, health and environment to become operational

New Delhi, June 29 (ANI): Minister of State for Labour and Employment Harish Rawat today said that the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) should make an action plan to fully operationalise the national policy on safety, health and environment at work place.

He also advised the DGFASLI to act on time-bound roadmap to implement the various decisions taken for enhanced safety measures for the workers during the "Year of Industrial Safety and Health" that is year 2008-09.

Presiding over the curtain-down ceremony of year of industrial safety and health 2008-09 here, he said, "Our policies and programmes must aim at sustainable development wherein the need for competitiveness, as well as the need to safeguard the interests of work force in terms of safety, health and welfare is accorded high importance."

The Minister said that we must meet the genuine concern of our people in terms of safety and health through various approaches including Legislation.

"Some very painful occurrences of fire in leading shoe manufacturing units calls for our serious concern," he added.

Rawat said that safety, health and environmental issues have become global in nature and would determine competitive ability of a nation.

He said that the national occupational safety and health policy alongwith the existing environmental policy would go a long way in improving the status of occupational safety, health and environment in the country. (ANI)