Lok Sabha Question No. 1845 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-14
Subject: Accidents in PSUs
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: A. Ganeshamurthi, Andimuthu Raja

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1845

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.03.2022

## ACCIDENTS IN PSUS

1845. SHRI A. GANESHAMURTHI:

SHRI A. RAJA:

Will  the  Minister  of  LABOUR  AND  EMPLOYMENT  be  pleased  to state:

- (a)the number of accidents occurred in the Public Sector Undertakings
- (PSUs) in the last three years;
- (b)whether  any  compensation  has  been  paid  to  the  next  of  kin  of workers  died,  grievously  injured,  including  providing  employment and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)the action  taken  to  fix responsibility against  officers for the negligence of the safety measures; and
- (d)the  steps  taken  to  ensure  that  such  accidents  do  not  recur  in
- future?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

- (a): The number of fatal injuries and non-fatal injuries occurred in the factories  registered  under  the  Factories  Act,  1948  including  PSUs covered  under  the  said  Act  for  the  last  three  years  2018,  2019  and 2020 are at  Annexure-I. The number of accidents occurred in Public Sector Undertakings for the Coal & Non Coal mines for the last three years i.e. from  2019 to 2021 is at Annexure-II.
- (b): The  compensation  to  the  labourers  and  employees  for  the accidents  occurred  in  the  PSUs  are  provided  by  the  respective principal  employer  in  terms  of  relevant  provisions  of  the  Employees' Compensation Act, 1923.

(c): The Central Government has enacted the Factories Act, 1948 and the Mines Act, 1952 for ensuring the occupational safety, health and welfare of the workers employed in the factories registered under the Factories Act, 1948 and the mines including PSUs respectively. There are elaborate provisions pertaining to health, safety, welfare, hazardous  processes,  working  hours,  penalties  and  procedures  etc. under the Act and the Rules framed thereunder to ensure safety and health of the workers working in the registered factories and mines. The Occupier and Managers of the factories registered under the Act are  required  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the  Act  and  the  Rules framed thereunder and in case of violation of any of the provision of the Act and Rules, the Chief Inspector of Factories (CIF)/Directorate of Industrial  Safety  and  Health  (DISH)  of  the  State  Governments  are empowered to initiate penal action against the occupier and manager of the factories.

Investigation  into  cause  and  circumstances  leading  to  a  Fatal accident in mines is carried out by Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) under the  Ministry  of  Labour  and  Employment  and  action  as deemed fit are taken against the persons found guilty on case to case basis. Based on the findings of the enquiry, following actions are taken against the persons held responsible for the accidents:

- (i) Management actions of censure, warning letter, demotion, transfer, withholding of promotion.
- (ii)  Management  action  of  stoppage  of  annual  increment  with  or without cumulative effect.
- (iii) Suspension from duty for a specified period.
- (iv) Termination of employment in certain cases.
- (v) Cancellation of statutory certificate.
- (vi) Prosecution in the Court of Law.
- (d): Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI)  under  the  Ministry  of  Labour  and  Employment  conducts training and awareness programmes for Workers, Supervisors, Technical  personnel,  Safety  Officers,  Factory  Medical  Officers  and Para medical staff of the factories and dock works on various aspects of Occupational Safety and Health. The DISH/CIF of the State Governments/UTs also conducts awareness programmes on Occupational  Safety  and  Health  in  factories  amongst  the  workers working in factories.

Provisions for occupational safety & health for person employed in  a  mine  have  been  made  in  the  Mines  Act,  1952  and  rules  & regulations  framed  there  under.  The  steps  taken  by  Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) to stop recurrence of accidents are as follows: -

- (a) Enquiry into the accident and dangerous occurrences to ascertain the cause and circumstances that led to the accident and suggests suitable remedial measures to the mine management.
- (b) Inspection of the mines: Temporary stoppages of a mine or part thereof;  serving  the  Improvement  Notices  &  Prohibitory  Orders to  rectify  the  contraventions  of  statute  observed  during  the course of inspections;
- (c)  Developmental  measures  such  as  standard  setting,  adopting various recommendations of the ILO Conventions;
- (d) Promotional measures such as holding National Conferences on Safety  in  mines,  conducting  National  Safety  Awards  (Mines), imparting Vocational Training and Other Training, Observance of Rescue safety
- Safety Weeks and Safety Campaigns, Holding Competition, promoting participation of worker in management, awareness and information dissemination;
- (e)  Technical  measures  such  as  Introduction  of  Risk  Assessment Techniques and preparation of Safety Management Plan aimed at mitigation of risks and to ensure safety of  workmen, introduction  of  standard  operating  procedures  to  avoid  unsafe practices in mines, issuing DGMS Circulars as guidelines for safe operations in identified thrust areas from time to time.

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## ANNEXURE  REFERED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  LOK  SABHA  ADMITTED UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 1845 FOR ANSWER ON 14.03.2022 REGARDING ACCIDENTS IN PSUs.

The number of fatal injuries and non-fatal injuries occurred in the factories registered under the Factories  Act,  1948  including  PSUs  covered  under  the  said  Act  for  the  last  three  years  2018, 2019 and 2020 are as follows:

|   Year |   No. of Fatal Injuries |   No. of Non-fatal injuries |
|--------|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
|   2018 |                    1154 |                        4528 |
|   2019 |                    1127 |                        3927 |
|   2020 |                    1050 |                        2832 |

Data Source :      Data  collected by DGFASLI through correspondence with Chief Inspector of Factories (CIF) of states/UTs.

## ANNEXURE REFERED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA ADMITTED UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  1845  FOR  ANSWER  ON  14.03.2022  REGARDING ACCIDENTS IN PSUs.

Number of accidents occurred in Public Sector Undertakings for the Coal & Non Coal mines for the last three years i.e. from 2019 to 2021 are as follows:

|   Year |   No. of Fatal Accidents |   No. of Serious accidents |
|--------|--------------------------|----------------------------|
|   2019 |                       64 |                        234 |
|   2020 |                       62 |                        125 |
|   2021 |                       47 |                        160 |

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