Employees' health and safety: New laws to come in

New regulations are being drafted to ensure the health and safety of all people who are employed, said Director General National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Dr Hemantha A. Wickramatilleka, addressing the AGM of the Sri Lanka Association of Quality (SLAQ).

He said that at present there are laws but it is not implemented effectively while the laws do not cover all sectors. In addition though the statistics are poor the problem is reaching alarming levels. These were the reasons that we had to draft a new set of regulations." At present many people fall sick due to the occupations but it never gets recorded. This is more serious in the informal sector as their prime concern is the job security, he pointed out.

Earlier employers concern over these matters was less while the employees were not aware of the risks and hazards. In the meantime the priority of the unions were other issues and not risks and hazards.But with the opening of the economy and people understanding the importance of health and safety there is a growing concern nationally and internationally and it is a welcome sign.

'Even when drafting the new regulations we are experiencing problems which include barriers to implementation, diseases list, lack of reporting as well as other issues.

Health issues related to work place doesn't get reported and statistics prove that no data relating to the informal sector is available. In addition due to the lack of awareness of the General Practitioners sicknesses don't get reported. Therefore we will start a program to educate the GPs next year," Dr. Wickramatilleke assured.

He said that once the committee considers all matters and the regulations are drafted there will be two acts which include the NIOSH Act and the Safety Health and Welfare Act.

Dr Wickramathilaka said that there will be more regulations and orders and not schedules as changing schedules is a long procedure. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has requested to establish a hospital for workers while he is very concerned about the welfare of the working people, said Dr Wickramathilaka.

SLAQ President Dr Srilal De Silva said that with the implementation of these new regulations he wished to see a reduction of 25% of work related incidents in three years.