Chennai: Press release issued by National Human Rights Commission to all State Chief Secretaries:
It has been revealed that an average of three workers were killed and 11 injured per day due to accidents in registered factories during the period 2017-2022. Also, 3,331 workers who worked in factories died during the period 2018-2022. But only 14 people have been jailed as those responsible for this.
While this data is available from registered factories, it is noteworthy that 90 percent of the employees are working in unregistered factories.
Based on the newspaper report in this regard, the National Human Rights Commission has voluntarily registered a case in this matter.
Notices are being sent to the Chief Secretaries of all the State Governments to give an explanation in this regard. They are required to send a report within 6 weeks containing details of casualties, disabled persons, relief given to their heirs, action taken against company owners and the number of safety officers for those factories within 6 weeks.
The report should mention year-wise action taken by the Factory Inspector against the erring factory owners and steps taken by the State Government to strictly enforce the Factory Acts.
Apart from this notice is also sent to the Secretary of the Ministry of Labor Welfare. He has been directed to give an explanation regarding the implementation of the workplace safety rules and the measures taken to protect the human rights of the factory workers.
