Indo-German Dialogue on occupational health & safety in the construction sector

Indo-German Dialogue on occupational health & safety in the construction sector
Indo-German Dialogue on occupational health & safety in the construction sector

An Indo-German Dialogue entitled “Share experiences, develop solutions – Occupational Health and Safety in the Indian Construction Sector” was held on Thursday, 25 September at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. The one-day workshop brought together German experts in the field of occupational health and safety and protective equipment manufacturers with Indian construction firms, technical experts, safety research and advocacy bodies, workers unions and civil society. The dialogue was organised by the Indo-German Social Security Programme of Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ – Germany’s enterprise for international cooperation) and supported by the German Embassy in New Delhi.

It was a first-of-its-kind dialogue to engage actors across the occupational health and safety (OHS) spectrum from two countries of significance in the construction sector. On the one hand, Germany has had long-standing expertise on OHS in the construction industry and was the first country worldwide to establish a workers' compensation scheme 130 years back. On the other, India has a very large workforce engaged in the construction sector, which, together with ancillary industries such as cement, steel, brick-making and others, is its second largest employer after agriculture.

The emphasis of the deliberations was on close interaction amongst the participants, understanding each other’s concerns and evolving workable solutions. The workshop began with keynote addresses focusing on OHS from the public health and implementation perspectives. This was followed by a marketplace of ideas that have worked – a selection of six case studies where OHS has been successfully implemented.

The following session was the main body of the dialogue, where participants split into six working groups. The topics were risk assessment, risk management, personal protective equipment, information, education and communication related to OHS, achieving international OHS standards, and response to workplace accidents. The exchange of ideas and discussions culminated in presentation of specific suggestions from each group, followed by the final discussion on concrete areas of action.

At the end of the day, key proposals that emerged included establishment of an Indo-German technical committee to develop customised safety solutions for the construction sector in India, initiating an awareness campaign down to the kindergarten level to inculcate the culture of safety, developing a smartcard-based enrolment system for all construction workers across the country, continuation of similar dialogues at a regional level across India and establishing a knowledge portal to share experiences and make online training on OHS accessible and free of cost.

Contacts for more information:

Helmut Hauschild
Programme Director, Indo-German Social Security Programme (IGSSP)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
21, Jor Bagh, New Delhi – 110003
Tel: +91 11 2460 3832
E-Mail: helmut.hauschild@giz.de

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