Deaths in a Karachi Effluent Treatment Plant: Occupational Hazard?

Four workers in an effluent treatment plant in Karachi's Korangi Industrial Trading Estate, have allegedly died due to a methane gas leak in one of the plant's desludging pipes. This incident, reported widely in the daily newspapers, is the latest in a long list of events that amount to gross negligence on part of the employers and to a failure of the regulatory system.

Provisions related to Occupational Safety & Heath are spread across a number of legislation, including the Factories Act, 1934; Provincial Factories Rules; Hazardous Occupations Rules, 1963; Mines Act, 1923; West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance, 1969; Provincial Employees Social Security Ordinance, 1965; Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 and Dock Laborers Act, 1934. While there may be a case--oft pleaded by experts--for consolidating and updating these provisions, there appears to be neither a work safety culture nor any momentum for change. In 2001, the Government of Pakistan promised to set up a National Occupational Safety and Health Council but that initiative has yet to see the light of the day. Similarly, a National Labour Protection Policy was published in 2006 which called for improving work safety and working environment for labour. No report on whether this policy is being implemented or not, has been published by the Government.

The existing laws are overlapping in scope and tend to be soft on reporting requirements, making data collection on the actual number of casualties, injuries and health concerns due to poor work environment a very difficult task. The existence of a large number of informal businesses compounds this problem because they are unregulated and hence no official data can be compiled on them. Curiously enough, the Labour Force Survey 2005-06 claims that at 41%, the majority of OSH related casualties/injuries took place in the agriculture sector, with manufacturing (15%), construction (14.5%) and mining (.3%) lagging far behind. Conventional wisdom would suggest the exact opposite in terms of results and this clearly points to under-reporting in the non-agriculture sectors.

Moreover, there is little confidence in the regulator's willingness and ability to ensure compliance with these standards. But as I have often argued on this blog, the employers must deliver on their responsibilities as well and develop work safety standards that meet international benchmarks, not just the outdated ones found in the current Pakistani legislation. While this is already happening in export-oriented sectors who have to meet exacting international standards set by the buyers, there is a need for the rest of the sectors to catch up.

New Petroleum Policy Promotes Better CSR Practices

The newly announced Petroleum Policy calls for better CSR practices in the form of raising the social welfare obligation in exploration phases by $5,000 in every zone i.e. from $25,000 to $30,000 a year; calling for more direct benefits to the locals in terms of offering at least 50% of the non-skilled jobs to them; and fostering more inclusive management of the exploration areas through local participation.

While these are welcome measures, the track record of compliance by the oil and gas exploration companies doesn't exactly muster much confidence. Despite the the concession agreements signed between the government and the MNCs working in the sector clearly including CSR-based action points, the MNCs have often left the locals holding the shorter end of the straw. Worse still, the regulators have demonstrated neither any clear willingness nor the ability to enforce the agreements, further exacerbating the plight of the locals.

One NGO, Participatory Development Initiatives, has been actively advocating for better enforcement of the agreements in Sindh province. With support from Oxfam GB, their 'Community Mobilization and Networking on CSR of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Companies in Sindh' project has done good work in raising awareness about the manner in which the local population is being denied their right to benefit from the investments in the sector.

The new policy is a step in the right direction. But it can only come up trumps for the locals if the Government is serious about ensuring compliance and better still, if the private sector companies are sincere the promoting CSR.