Nepalis working in domestic industries or enterprises face high occupational risks — any condition of a job that can result in illness or injury. 

Illness or injury associated with jobs is high in developing countries and Nepal is no exception, said director at the Labour Department Varun Kumar Jha, who is also the head of Occupational Safety and Health Project. “At least three per cent Nepalis die or are injured every year due to work related hazards,” he said. 

The risk rate may be up to seven per cent. “However, we don’t have a study on it.” 

It is believed that about 10,000 Nepalis are affected every year in the formal sector that employs around 300,000 people. 

Occupational risks are everywhere and thousands of people have been suffering from it due to unawareness and ignorance. We will be able to get the exact data once we study the formal and informal sectors simultaneously, Jha added. 

Occupational risk is below one per cent in developed countries but above three per cent in developing countries. According to the World Health Organisation, about 2.34 million people die each year from work-related accidents and diseases. Around four per cent of GDP is lost as a result of occupational accidents globally in a year. 

In Nepal, occupational risks and diseases are high in the construction sector, followed by transportation, manufacturing, agriculture and services sectors. However, we cannot rank them due to lack of sufficient knowledge, said Jha. 

The project that was started in 1995 has been raising awareness at the central and grass-root level but it has not reached the informal sector. 

Due to the armed conflict (1996-2006) and political turmoil, the project was 

not able to reach the grass-root level. 

We are planning to expand our services — information dissemination and training — to all sectors from next fiscal year, he said. The project has also been strengthening its monitoring mechanism to expand services. 

The project is celebrating Occupational Safety and Health Week from April 28 to May 4 across the country. The sole aim of the week-long programme is to raise awareness on the issue, he said, adding that the slogan for this year is ‘Prevention of Occupational Diseases’.

Published on: 28 April 2013 | The Himalayan Times