KARACHI: Sindh has started occupational health and wages survey throughout the province to prepare labour-friendly laws and policies, said Ali Ashraf Naqvi, the joint director at the Labour and Human Resource Department.
The Sindh Bureau of Statistics and the Labour Department started the exercise in pursuance of the Supreme Court orders on the subject, he said. The survey will be conducted on a sample size of 919 firms, established during May 16 to June 3, 2016.
He also said that a two-day training session was being conducted in the National Institute of Labour Administration and Training (NILAT) in this regard. “More than 50 data collection officers of the Bureau of Statistics are being taught on survey tools,” he said.
Addressing the participants, Labour Secretary Abdul Rasheed Solangi said that this survey would provide the authorities concerned the pre-requisite information on wages and occupational health that would enable the department to prepare labour-friendly laws and policies in the province.
“We are working for the safety and welfare of Labour in Sindh,” he said. Though no case of Silicosis disease has been reported by certifying surgeons in Sindh, but “this survey would enable us to look into figures of Silicosis and other occupational diseases and injuries,” he said.
He also said that the wages’ information would help monitor the situation of labour wages and to ascertain whether minimum wages policy of the government was implemented in true spirit or not. During training session, Bureau of Statistics Additional Director Shah Nawaz Jiskani briefed the participants about the survey tools and questionnaires.
He said that this survey would be conducted in all districts by the trained field staff. Addressing the opening session, NILAT Director General Sheikh Imtiaz assured their cooperation for the survey. Labour Department Director Dr Mustafa Suhag also assured his full cooperation to the survey teams. He suggested to selected firms and companies to cooperate with the teams and provide required information.
