National Safety Day 4mar
Health and safety at work in the COVID-19 pandemic is a key to reviving the labour market and the economy

National Safety Day is celebrated on 4 March to commemorate the foundation of the National Safety Council to raise awareness about the safety measures to prevent mishaps and accidents due to lack of awareness. The Campaign is aimed at renewing the commitment of employees and the general public to work safely throughout the year. The ultimate objective of the Campaign is to to ensure that safety and health are integrated into work culture and lifestyle, renew the commitment of the employees towards safety and health at the workplace.
History of National Safety Council of India:
The Ministry of Labour, Government of India set up the National Safety Council of India (NSC) on 4 March 1966. To develop and sustain the movement on SHE that is focusing on safety, Health and Environment at the national level. Basically, NSC is an autonomous body. Therefore, the foundation day of the National Safety Council was decided to observe as National Safety Day in 1972. It was also decided to celebrate it as National Safety Week (NSW) Campaign that will last for one week.
The world of work is profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Widespread workplace closures due to the lockdown have resulted in significant loss of labour income through higher levels of inactivity and unemployment. It has been monitored that the estimated working-hour loss was 17.3 percent in the second quarter of 2020. Despite the gradual lift of the quarantine measures, the disruption of labour supply has continued in the third quarter, and is likely to persist in the fourth quarter.
Facing this unprecedented challenge, it is critical to maintain essential services, protect businesses and jobs, and bring the economy to a recovery trajectory. However, working should never come at the expense of workers’ health or lives. If the COVID-19 pandemic persists, strict quarantine measures could further delay the economic recovery. Therefore, ensuring health and safety at workplace should constitute a crucial policy to revive the labour market.
The COVID-19 pandemic calls for a new way of living and working through strengthened OSH measures, adaption of work arrangements, and management of stress and other psychosocial risks
The crisis has highlighted the need for the ILO and its tripartite constituents – governments, workers and employers – to jointly address the issue of COVID-19 in the world of work through effective social dialogue. The key question is to find the right balance and sequence of health, economic and social policy interventions.
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, working conditions for health workers may deteriorate. In addition to the risks of infection with COVID-19, health workers continue to experience other occupational health and safety risks of biological, physical or psychosocial nature. Therefore, for the protection of physical and mental health, safety and well-being of health workers, WHO recommends a combination of measures for infection prevention and control, occupational health and safety and psychosocial support.
Health workers participating in pandemic response are exposed to many different occupational risks to health and safety. These include: COVID-19 infection, illness, and transmission to others; fatigue from working longer hours and heavy workload, insufficient sleep or rest, dehydration, and inadequate nutrition; musculoskeletal injury from handling of patients and heavy objects, prolonged work while using personal protective equipment which can cause heat stress, skin and mucosal damage; workplace violence and stigma, and a variety of mental health problems, emotional distress and occupational burn-out.
 The occupational Safety and Health Act aims at securing the safety, health and welfare of workers and the protection of persons other than the workers against the risk to safety and health arising out of, or in connection with the activities of persons at work. The Act sets objectives to promote and improve occupational safety and health standards.
Why is Occupational Health and Safety Important?
Do you find yourself overwhelmed by Health and Safety in the workplace? You’re probably not the only one. Although it may seem confusing to begin with, Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) is extremely valuable and is rightly being incorporated into more and more workplaces around the world.
For that reason, it’s important to break it down and begin to understand exactly what Occupational Health and Safety is, and why it’s so important. In today’s article, we’ll explain exactly what EH&S is, how everybody can benefit from it, and why some of the safety courses offered by our Safety & Access team can be beneficial to all.
What is Occupational Health and Safety?
Let’s keep it simple. Occupational Health and Safety is designed to create a safe, healthy work environment. It can generally be considered as two separate entities.
Occupational Safety covers the risk factor in your workplace, and potential safety hazards that could possibly cause injury. Occupational Health, on the other hand, looks at potential health concerns and wellbeing. Think of Safety as an employee’s physical well-being, and Health as everything else, including mental health.
Whether you’re stacking shelves, working from an office, or using heavy machinery, there are health and safety risks. That being the case, your employer has a responsibility to minimize those risks and reduce the likelihood of any workplace accident or mistreatment.
Why Occupational Health and Safety is Important
Mental Health and Well-Being
Your employer must consider the conditions you work in. OH&S puts a care of duty upon every employer to make sure that their staff work in reasonable conditions, and that their mental health is a top priority.
Long hours, few breaks, little recognition, and impossible demands will quickly leave staff fatigued, stressed, and suffering from poor mental health. At best, workers will suffer slight mental health problems and only require a break from work. At worst, this could lead to life-changing and long-term mental health problems.
Companies want to make sure that their staff are mentally healthy and contributing to the business. OH&S makes sure that staff health is looked after.
Increased Awareness and Safe Working Culture
You don’t spend thousands upon thousands of pounds putting your staff on mandatory training courses just for the sake of it. OH&S training courses, all the way from Working at Height to Supply Chain Management, are all designed to create awareness of workplace surroundings and create a safe working culture.
This sounds good on paper, but it’s even better in practice. Once they’ve completed the relevant OH&S training courses, staff will work in a much safer way, and will understand how to minimise workplace risk. As they learn to avoid hazards and raise concerns about potentially dangerous tasks, workplace-related injuries will reduce.
This keeps workers safe and improves trust throughout industry.
Increase in Productivity
Healthy staff are productive staff. When OH&S is implemented correctly, staff should feel protected, and loyal to their work. They know that they’re being looked after while they’re at work, and that they won’t be putting their safety or their health at risk.
This is also significant because when staff speak up and raise concerns about a potentially hazardous task, they do so in the knowledge that their opinion will be listened to and considered. Colleagues trust one another and, with a positive mindset, will work efficiently. Fail to protect your staff with the appropriate OH&S measures, and you’ll only see your staff retention rate decrease.
Correct Training and Use of Tools
Particularly on some of our Scaffolding Training Courses, our experts explain that shortcuts will always create workplace risks. This is true in just about every industry, but when heavy machinery is involved, the risk is much more significant.
When OH&S training is carried out correctly, staff know how to use the tools that are required for their job. Injuries are less likely to occur, and the work will be carried out to a higher standard as well. You’ll have highly trained staff and a reduction in man-hours lost to injury and illness.
New Opportunities
OH&S will also create new opportunities in your workplace. Staff that have been trained can take on the responsibility of becoming mental health ambassadors, setting a good example and serving as a point-of-contact for their colleagues.For others, OH&S also creates the opportunity to share success stories and examples of best practice. Staff can also be recognised for fine examples of OH&S in the workplace, and by highlighting examples of best practice, the culture of health and safety at work will only improve.