New Delhi: Occupational safety, health and welfare of persons employed in all mines – coal, metalliferous and oil – all over the country comes under the domain of the Central Government. Provisions for occupational safety of persons employed in mines are contained in the Mines Act, 1952, and the Rules and Regulations framed thereunder. The responsibility of implementation of the provisions of the Mines Act and the legislation framed thereunder lies with the mine management. The Directorate General of Mines Safety under the Ministry of Labour & Employment oversees compliance of the same through a system of periodic inspection and inquiry. Recognizing the need for involvement of the work persons in safety and health matters, the Government has been promoting the concepts of “Self-Regulation” and “Participative Management” with a view to influence human behaviour at work so that a real breakthrough in accident prevention could be achieved. A variety of safety educational/ promotional measures have been conceived, formulated and promoted from time to time for the cause of safety. National Safety Awards (Mines) Scheme is one such measure.
To recognize and encourage any notable and exemplary performance for prevention of accidents in mines, the Union Ministry of Labour launched the National Safety Awards (Mines) in the year 1982-83. These awards were given away for the first time in the year 1984 for the contest years 1982 & 1983 and thereafter, regularly every year.
For the purpose of the contest for National Safety Awards (Mines) all mines have been divided into 7 different groups depending upon the type of mineral and nature of workings. The indicators of safety performance for determining eligibility of these awards are:
· Longest accident free period (LAFP) in terms of manshifts worked during three consecutive years ending with the contest year
· Lowest injury frequency rate (LIFR) during three consecutive years ending with the contest year
To scrutinize and adjudge applications from mines for awards, a tripartite National Safety Awards Committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The Committee comprises of eight representatives from mine managements, eight representatives from trade unions and Government represented by Director General as Chairman and one officer of DGMS as its Member Secretary.
In all, there are 37 Winner prizes and 34 Runner-up prizes which will be given away to the winning mines in the award function organized by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The award for each mine is received jointly by one management representative and one workers’ representative. Awards for the contest year 2013 & 2014 will be given away by Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind on 17th August, 2017 at 1200-1300 hours at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
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