Fir Against Safety Officer - Doc Download

Dear All,

Recently major incident happened in chemical company (Tarapur-Maharashtra). 5 people dead in the incident. Police filed FIR against Safety Officer. I think its unfair as Safety Officer has only advisory role as per Factories Act. Nobody supports Safety Person as the word SAFETY is very generic term & every body thinks that Safety Officer is responcible for incidents happened in factory. This may ruined the carrier of Safety Officer. This type of incidents force me to think that 'WHY I AM IN SAFETY FIELD?'

In my organization i am trying to convince our managment that Safety is everybodies responsibility but they are not convinced. Even my organization is least bothered about roles and responsility of Safety Officer mentioned in factories Act. They consider that being a Safety Officer i am the only person who is responsible for unsafe acts and unsafe conditions happened in factory.

"CAN ANYBODY GUIDE ME THAT HOW DO I CONVINCE OUR MANAGEMENT FOR MY ROLE ?."

Regards,

Vaibhav More

The Safety officer is needed generally in factories having more than 1000 workers.Legally manager/occupier is responsible for safety unless they prove exemption u/s 101.He who is responsible for accidents in factories where SO is not mandatory,will be legally liable in other factories also As seen in this case sometimes even the safety committee also will be held liable in the incredible India where the occupier of Union Carbide factory was let off as a VIP.
VARGHESE MATHEW

Dear Mr. Vaibhav More,

I strongly blame your management for being ridiculous and possessing non-safety attitude. through SAFETY OFFICER, If your management could have succeeded in implementing and making your employees practice to work safely and adhere to highest safety standards, i am sure any incident could have been prevented.



Your management should declare every employee as a safety officer and its the responsibility of every employee to apply logic, utilize their commonsense and take complete responsibility in delivering their roles/responsibilities without hurting themselves nor inviting troubles. An employee has all rights to warn, stop him(employee) from being arrogant and being unsafe at workplace which may cause trouble to co-workers.

I wonder, how can police register FIR against your safety officer?

On what ground they had registered FIR against him?

Did police carry out necessary investigation?

In India, SAFETY has no meaning and THERE IS NO VALUE FOR LIFE as well. I still blame our government for not enforcing SAFETY STANDARDS in Industries and in all organisations.

With profound regards

Dear friends,

It's no secret, as many pointed out, to escape they found a scape goat in Safety Officer as if others don't have any responsibility w.r.t. to safety. It's prima facie possible to fix the responsibility on SO as on record he is the designated officer who has to take care of all omissions and commissions so far as safety aspects are concerned. Whether the SO did his job as provided for in his manual/within the mandate is a moot point. Whereas legally the owner should be responsible for any lapses, the SO could be co-accused. It's easy in India for big bosses to escape the gallows. SO has nothing left except fight it out legally for which he should have his record clean which I doubt very much. Logically who should be held responsible depends on the circumstances of each cash. For e.g. attached is the HC of Delhi judgment on road accident due to man hole not maintained, and we all know about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy these could throw some insight into the subject.

kumar.s.

Safety officer is easily available scape goat. I have been advocating Association of safety officers to protect themselves, Few years back, we established Safety Professional Association and got it registered under T.U.A ct. We organized several program and our delegation mt Labor minister.Our advocacy efforts resulted in changes in Guj. Safety Officers Rules,1981 But then somehow members were not much interested in the Association and now it is defunct.

Dear All,

The Police will register FIR on Prima Facie evidence. In other words, Police is bound to follow this procedure and then the investigation takes place. During the Investigation, the concerned Safety Officer has to prove that there is no lapse on his part and it is for the Police to file Charge Sheet on people responsible based on its investigation. It does not end here. The accused can prove his innocence in court of law with documentary and oral evidence. Hence, it is a legal process in which some time innocent people will have to undergo this process which is more painful. Further, it is for the employer to protect their Officer who in not directly responsible for such mishap.

It is a fact, that employer don't heed to the Safety Norms or the advise and as a Safety Officer, one should have necessary documentary records/proof to show what precautions are taken by him.

While driving on road, we see many accidents but don't stop driving. Similarly, don't get panic and one have to undergo legal process to prove his innocence.

I appreciate Mr. Kumar. who have given High Court citation and other materials. I also appreciate other member Mr. PTRC who initiated to form a Union but could't.

All this will happen in India.When an army chief submitted his matriculation certificate to prove his age our SC rejected it.When a juvenile rapist murderer submitted the same ,court accepted it. Our nethas loot the country and go freely.But when somebody comments on them in social media FIR are registered or the comments are blocked.Still we claim as the largest democracy.
VARGHESE MATHEW
9961266966

Dear Vaibhav,
Other members have given their opinions. Now what you need to do is to protect yourself first. Therefore, contact lawyer who handles industrial safety cases and find out whether FIR registered against you can be squashed. However, for this you need to have sufficient evidence as well. Therefore, start generating evidence.
Before hiring a lawyer check whether he has handled safety related cases. Do not get carried away by the glib talk of the lawyers.
Ok...
Dinesh V Divekar

Normally, police look a the angle of crime- whether the incident was some will full mischief or not. They write to the Factory Inspectorate to clarify and once they receive the report from FI that the incident is PURE ACCIDENT and that FI is investigating, police would close the file

CiteHR Human Resource Management Community Knowledgebase - View Profile: vaibhavd.more

There is some confusion here, I think people misunderstood what u said.

The case of fir against the safety officer was not in your factory right ?

If so, you are trying to ensure that you do not fall into the same situation.

(Some posts assume that you are the safety officer of the tarapur factory)

Now, for your problem, you need to speak to the HR head, Operations Head and the occupier and explain to them the safety related problems and what the implication will be. You need their help to make safety an important factor in the factory decisions and in normal day to day operations. I know it's a tough mindset to change. I know of a factory where the safety rules require the workers to use leather gloves in certain process due to sparks emitting from the machine. They workers were refusing and the union even threatened to go on strike though the management was forcing the matter solely for workers benefit.

If the management is not interested in listening, then it's time you find a job in a different factory where you are needed. Till you leave, make sure you are putting your suggestions in writing to the management. Keep a copy of the same in a separate file at home to use as evidence if the management goes hostile. Every time you find unsafe practices, follow that up with a notice / memo / mail to the concerned manager and his superiors so they can't claim ignorance.

Hope that helps