The British Safety Council has opened its office in Mumbai, which will serve the Indian market.
The British Safety Council’s vision is that no-one should be injured or made ill at work. It believes that workers have a fundamental right to return home fit and well each day. The organisation works with companies of all sizes and in all sectors to help them achieve this aspiration, while promoting the business case for investment in proportionate health and safety management.
In India, where around 80% of the estimated 465 million-strong workforce are not protected by the existing health and safety legal framework, the British Safety Council hopes to raise awareness of the importance of health and safety. It will also challenge traditional views and approaches, and support employers in adopting practices which better safeguard the health and safety of their workers.
In India:
• Overall workplace deaths are twenty times higher than in UK,
• 24% of these fatalities are in construction sector,
• 80 % of India’s workforce is still employed in an unsafe environment,
• Only 20 % of India’s workforce are covered under the existing health and safety legal framework,
• There is just one factory inspector for 506 registered factories (sources: see the attached document: Business Case).
The construction industry, which is the second largest employer of workforce in India, contributes to 24.20% of all occupational fatalities, the highest in the country annually. In comparison, in the UK, there were 137 fatalities in 2016 and 30 of them occurred in the construction industry (21%).
For over thirty years, the British Safety Council has been providing its world-leading products and services to the Indian market from its UK office in London. In the future, working in conjunction with its team in Mumbai, who have local knowledge and first-hand experience of working in India, the British Safety Council will be able to offer a better, more flexible and responsive service to both its existing and new customers in India. By establishing a new company, British Safety Council (India) LLP, it will offer a greater range of products (audit, training, e-learning, qualifications and membership) increasingly tailored to the needs of the Indian market. To support the delivery of its audit and training products, the British Safety Council has formed a strategic partnership with the NIST Institute, a leading safety training organisation in India.
Commenting on the significance of the announcement, Lynda Armstrong, Chair of the British Safety Council, said: “Over the years, we have worked with some of the largest Indian businesses, giving them access to the best health and safety expertise from around the world, while focussing on best practice assurance. By opening our office in India, we will build on this. In partnership with NIST, we will be able to cost-effectively provide our full range of products and services and support a more diverse range of customers”.
