Dear Editor,

I thank the Honourable Manzoor Nadir,Minister of Labour,for providing a response to my letter captioned “Lack of information causes accident” (KN 07.10.09). This is the only Minister if I can remember well who has admitted twice in the media the shortcomings in his Ministry and is willing to have suggestions from members of the public to improve the quality of service in his Ministry.

Minister Nazir should be commended for his openness and I hope that other Ministers of the government can follow in his footsteps in taking time off from their busy schedules to respond to queries from letter writers in the press.

Occupational safety and health matters are indeed critical issues.New technologies,new materials and chemicals, all pose new problems for the workers. What is important, however,is that there are too many workers unknowingly being harmed at their workplaces.

The final task of the Ministry of Labour is that of educating. Workers must be informed on an ongoing basis about matters of occupational health and safety and moreso about the workrules applicable to safety and health.Workers must be made aware of the hazards inherrent in their jobs and the dangers to which they are exposed.

They must also be convinced that they are adequately protected against the hazards and dangers by the safety measures applied, and that the protection is only possible if they follow established procedures and observe all safety rules. It is good to know that Mr Nadir intends to maximise inspections and visits to the workplace and to reorganise the department to further maximise the capabilities of his ministry to reduce accidents at workplaces.

Yours faithfully,

Mohamed Khan