Safety in Indian Construction

International companies in building and construction are forcing Indian companies to upgrade their safety norms and procedures. Safety in construction is frequently pushed to the bottom rung of priorities by the builders, contractors and engineers. While monetary loss heads the list, loss of man hours and material progress are equally irreparable when scaffolding fails, a roof collapses or a fatal accident takes place at site of work, the human life is irreplaceable.

It is high time that a Construction Safety Manual is evolved, made a part of decision-making criteria submitted along with standard tender document by every bidder and strictly enforced by the supervising agency. Findings of the International Labour Organisation reveal that the accident rate among industrial workers is highest in India, touching 4 per 1000 and a major share of it is accounted by the building and construction sector. Indian construction industry is highly labour-intensive. Though mechanization in construction projects is inevitable, induction of machinery and equipment is taking place in a very slow manner. Unskilled and semi-skilled labour is cheap, unorganised, being unaware of their rights, builders find it convenient and profitable to use manpower than machines. Governments and private bodies worldwide have conducted a lot of research and numerous studies on the subject, which is of global concern.

However, compared to other countries, there is precious little authentic data in respect of the accident rates, causes or preventive measures taken by the Indian construction industry. No agency till date has been assigned the responsibility to compile such records, and no voluntary efforts have been made in this regard. However, as per one report at an all India level, 165 per 1,000 workers get injured during construction activities. This is very high compared to the rates in the developed countries and even certain developing countries.

The reason why no agency has made any efforts in this direction is the lack of specific legislation on safety in the construction industry till as recent as 1996. Before the passing of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 (BOCW Act), construction safety fell within the mandate of Industrial Disputes Act, Central Labour Act and other related legislations. Central Rules and the State Rules need to be made and the enforcing agencies need to be notified. However, till now apart from the Centre only two states, namely Delhi and Kerala, have set up the necessary State Rules.