Workplace accidents: Inside India's 'factories of death'

It's a factory of deaths.

A man is pointing towards the second floor of a burnt building in India's capital.

He last saw his sister, who was trapped and suffocating, trying to find a way out of the burning building.

Muskan was one of 27 people who died in a fire at an electronics manufacturing unit.

In the days after the fire, a top police official told media that the building's owner had not obtained clearance certificates from the fire department and police before subleasing three floors to two brothers who ran the manufacturing unit The public relations officer said that the unit did not have the required licenses.

The factory owners did not respond to the calls from theBBC. The lawyer wouldn't give us his details where we could send queries.

India's aim is to become an industrial powerhouse with government schemes and reforms tailored to encourage investments and innovation. Disasters like the Delhi fire are all too common, with desperate and vulnerable workers often paying the price.

Hundreds of people are killed in industrial accidents each year. In five years, at least 6,500 workers have died while working in factories, ports, mines and construction sites. According to the Labour activists who have worked in the field for years, the figures could be higher.

The most fatal accidents in India are reported by sectors such as manufacturing, chemicals and construction. More than 160 workers were killed in accidents in Indian manufacturing industries in the year 2021.

According to news reports, workers in small, unregistered factories are more likely to be injured in accidents. Poor workers and migrants who don't have enough money to fight legal battles are the victims.

The labour commissioner at the Delhi Municipal Corporation and officials at the federal labour ministry have not yet responded to the questions sent to them by the British Broadcasting Corp.

In the middle of the night, Rakesh Kumar is loud. He lost three of his daughters in the fire at the Delhi factory.

He thinks his daughters must have suffered a lot.

The police called the family for a DNA test to identify their remains after the fire. The girls were killed in the fire.

Mr Kumar wants justice for the people.

The Delhi police charged five people in the case. They include cause of death by carelessness.

Many factories in the capital and its suburbs violate at least one industrial or safety law, but action is rarely taken.

In many industrial accidents, the accused are released on bail and the cases linger for years.

In the past five years, 663 factory accidents have been reported in Delhi, which has resulted in the deaths of 241 people. 84 people were arrested in relation to these accidents

Police say they try to ensure immediate action against the culprits after labour activists say the initial investigation in these cases is often flawed. Delay in getting forensic results and opinions from technical experts are some of the reasons why convictions may not happen in a lot of cases.

Many of the families the BBC met were the only breadwinners and were still grappling with the loss of a loved one.

It can be difficult to get compensation from the companies because of legal red tape.

According to a senior lawyer, legal proceedings on worker compensation cases usually last for years.

The government will often announce a lump-sum payment to the families.

By the time a case is taken up, the families of the migrant workers may have moved back to their village or another city in order to find a new job.

Workers don't have a lot of trust in the legal system. According to a civil society organisation that helps informal workers, they take whatever money they get from the government and leave.

The families of the 17 people who died in a Delhi factory fire last year were not contacted by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The case is the same for those who have been injured.

Three years ago, Sangeeta Roy lost an arm while working at her company. She waited three years for a government pension for injured workers because she didn't get any compensation from her employers.

There is no national data on disabled workers. 3,955 serious accidents took place over the course of two years, according to a survey by the Safe in India Foundation. A majority of the injured lost their fingers or hands while pressing metal.

Ten million workers are employed in India, which is a major auto manufacturing hub. A lot of the manufacturing is done by small companies.

Many states don't accurately report such cases according to the founder of the non-profit.

Provisions for occupational safety, health and working conditions are included in India's new labour codes.

Activists are worried that the compliance bar might be even lower.

Image source, Getty Images

The earlier law stated that any company with more than 10 workers should have a safety committee.

According to the 2016 Economic Census, just 1.61% of non-agricultural establishments, 2% in manufacturing and 1% in the construction industry employed 10 or more workers.

The majority of India's workforce is employed in the informal economy.

Many companies are shifting to hiring contract workers over permanent ones in order to weaken workers' rights.

Workers are hesitant to join unions because of the bad economy.

The government is trying to make the process simpler for companies. The role of labour officers will change to that of mediators under the new codes.

Labour experts say this makes it less likely for factory owners to pay attention to worker safety.

Sidheshwar Prasad Shukla, an academic and labour activist, says that workers' safety will eventually be someone else's responsibility.