20/10/2009

Industry Fatalities High In Developing Nations


Alarming figures on industrial fatalities from Dr Sanjeev Saraf's excellent Risk and Safety Blog. Apparently, data from the International Labor Organization (ILO), shows that, in 2005, there were 11 deaths every 100,000 workers in India, compared with 2 in the US and 0.01 in Japan.

What's more, the lack of formal, national accident tracking systems in some countries means that figures in in some instances are under significantly under-estimated.

Whilst the figures cover all industries, it is not unreasonable to anticipate a similar set of issues in the chemical industry.

We can all understand that manufacturing companies relocate to developing countries for economic reasons but whatever the local legislation, relocating companies have a corporate citizenship obligation to ensure the highest possible standards of health and safety. Clearly there is still work to be done.

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