Promoting Workplace Safety in Sindh: A Strategic Dialogue

Majyd Aziz

September 11, 2012 was to be just another mundane day in the lives of 257 families residing mostly in low income areas of District West in Karachi. Alas, that fateful day turned into 9/11 Duex for them and for some 600 other families. A well-known apparel manufacturing company, employing between 1200-1500 workers got engulfed in a fire incident that some attribute to the boiler and many who suspect it to be the handiwork of Karachi’s ruthless extortionists. By the time the smoldering ashes subsided and the fire-fighting crew left the premises, this tragedy became the worst and most deadly industrial event in the history of Pakistan.

It is over a year now that this avoidable disaster occurred. During the past one year, it fully exposed the flaws and inadequacies in the systems of industrial operations, the role of governmental agencies and departments, the exploitation of workers, the callous attitude and mindset of employers, the lack of security provisions, and the disregard of rules and regulations by the workers. However, most importantly, the total deficiency, ignorance, and implementation of occupational safety standards that are fundamentally vital in the smooth functioning of an enterprise, where there is substantial human involvement, were either lacking or adopted casually.

The blame game reached a crescendo within no time and the social activists, media and worker representatives demanded exemplary punishment for the Directors. The payola factor enabled the company to keep itself off the records of the provincial Labor Department and other worker-related government organizations. The internationally-based certification agencies had very nonchalantly issued the required certificates without intensive checks. The foreign buyers were more concerned with getting products at dirt-cheap prices and so turned a blind eye to the shortcomings in the implementation of various standards. Globally, the negative image of Pakistan was further highlighted in a brandish tone. It seemed that Pakistan’s value-added textile products would face a very disturbing backlash in various foreign markets.

There have been clarion calls emanating from various sections that the concept of inspection of industries is missing and that sanity would only prevail if inspectors from the Labor Department, from the Civil Defence, and from other government organizations were empowered to conduct detailed inspections and to penalize the errant industrialists. This is better said than done. The rationale behind the discontinuation of these so-called inspections was that the inspectors were mostly concerned with their proverbial pound of flesh rather than a facilitative and productive inspection. Moreover, the obsolete Factory’s Act 1934 is still on the statute books despite outliving its conditions.

The AFL-CIO, the largest workers’ representative organization in USA, in its report, “Responsibility Outsourced” castigated the role of Social Accountability International (SAI) that issues the SA8000 Certificate after exhaustive inspection, audit and monitoring. In the Baldia case, SAI outsourced the task to RINA who further subcontracted it to a local agency. The report says: “Far from enabling major multinationals to ensure safe conditions  . . . . .  SAI appears to have problems .  . . . in delivering credible corporate accountability services.” Germany’s largest discount clothing retailer, KIK, also blindly accepted the flawed certification and continued with its orders to this unit.

The Wal-Mart syndrome is also a root cause for the unsafe environment prevailing in enterprises in the developing countries. For mega companies like Wal-Mart to continue to offer products at competitive rates, it is imperative that they source countries for a bottomless reserve of cheap and low-priced goods. This exploitation compels manufacturers to disregard costly safety standards and a working environment that is conducive. The charm to become a formidable and sustainable supplier becomes an incentive as well as a noose around their necks. The factory in Baldia got caught in this vassal-type whirlpool too.

In an article, “SITE Inferno” penned after the Baldia tragedy, this writer stated, “Karachi has seven industrial estates where about 10,000 industries are based. Moreover there are atleast 50,000 cottage and small industries in the informal sector that are based in residential areas too. Many factories are like a cauldron waiting for its contents to overflow. It is also important to state that corruption, lax conformation of safety rules and regulations, ill-planning of units, usage of shoddy material such as electric wires, switches, gas cylinders etc are prime as well as disturbing reasons for such incidents.”

In Bangladesh, the eight-storey Rana Plaza, where thousands of workers earned their livelihood, collapsed on April 24, 2013 resulting in the death of 1126 people. This enterprise too had the required Suppliers Code of Conduct, ISO 9000 and ISO 14000, SA 8000, and other types of certification.  But, here too, this disaster will always remain a testimony to unbridled greed, political influence, and outright sleaze.

Taking due cognizance, The International Labor Organization also became pro-active and authorized and funded a project to develop a “Joint Action Plan for Promoting Workplace Safety and Health in Sindh”. This report would be officially launched on October 3, 2013 in Karachi at the “Promoting Workplace Safety in Sindh:  A Strategic Dialogue”. This event has been initiated by the US Consulate General in Karachi and is being supported, endorsed, and approved by Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, ILO, Sindh Labor Department, WEBCOP, PILER, SGS, and enlightened industrialists such as this writer. 

The idea behind this Dialogue is to end the blame game and to inculcate in the ranks of employers the crucial need to understand, accept and implement safety standards in their units. It will also promote the concept of safety among the workers and the employees. Moreover, there would be the demand of employers that the concerned government officials should become facilitators rather than inspectors who are more concerned with penalties and fines rather than improving the quality of the workplace. The role of TDAP is extremely important since a recurrence of another tragedy may force importing countries to withdraw various trade facilities and benefits given to Pakistan. At this crucial juncture, all eyes are on Brussels where EU is to decide on GSP Plus for various countries and Pakistan is well-poised to be granted this from January 01, 2014. The best message for all who have a laidback outlook towards overall safety standards is what Captain E J Smith, the Captain of Titanic said: “it will never happen to me”. The rest, as they say, is history!