With the objective to ensure decent working environment and improve the labour inspection services, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), with financial assistance from Netherlands, Canada and United Kingdom and ILO’s (International Labour Organization) technical assistance, formulated four thematic Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
The four SOPs — pertaining to labour complaints and investigation, registration and licensing of organisations, approval of factory layout plan and investigation of occupational accidents —
drafted by a team of experts comprising DIFE senior officials were on Wednesday (4 November) approved by DIFE Inspector General Shib Nath Roy, claimed media reports.
The four SOPs are namely ‘Labour Complaints and Investigation’, ‘Approval of Factory Layout Plan’, ‘Registration and Licensing of Organizations’ and ‘Investigation of Occupational Accidents’.
If ‘Approval of Factory Layout Plan’ SOP explains the application and approval processes for factory layout plans and the approval procedures for any modification or expansion in the factory layout plan, the ‘Labour Complaints and Investigation’ SOP discusses the types of grievance and labour-related complaints, complaint submission and investigation procedures and post-investigation activities.
Similarly, the SOP titled ‘Investigation of Occupational Accidents’ includes methods and strategies for investigating workplace accidents, accident diagnosis and follow-up steps, accident investigation checklist and samples of accident investigation reports while SOP on ‘Registration and Licensing of Organizations’ discusses the process of registration and licensing of organisations has been dwelled in detail in the light of labour laws and regulations.
Expressing hope that these tools would help DIFE deliver its services to the doorsteps of employers and workers alike, DIFE Inspector General Shib Nath Roy called upon labour inspectors and stakeholders to implement these instruments.
The new SOPs would simplify and enhance services provided by the DIFE, reportedly underlined Shib Nath Roy.
