The British Safety Council has partnered with the Work Fair and Free Foundation and Aajeevika Bureau to improve occupational safety and health (OSH) awareness among migrant labour communities in India.
The Work Fair and Free Foundation, incubated by Aajeevika Bureau, is a not-for-profit knowledge institution based in Bengaluru, India. It focuses on advancing worker-centric knowledge and action to ensure that informal labour migration becomes more secure and dignified. The foundation combines grounded and rigorous research, insightful policy work, and innovative teaching and training, all supported and informed by impactful practice in urban industrial centres and rural migration clusters.
Since its foundation in 1957, the British Safety Council has campaigned tirelessly to protect workers from accidents, hazards, and unsafe conditions. Its audit and consultancy services are internationally recognised and provide the best way to ensure that health, safety, and environmental management systems (and associated arrangements) are suitable for business requirements, promote continual improvement, and are effectively implemented.
The British Safety Council will share its global experience in building safer workspaces through this partnership. Its experts will work closely with Work Fair and Free's community trainers, building their capacity through "train the trainer" programmes and supplying resources.
Speaking about the partnership, Mike Robinson, Chief Executive Officer of the British Safety Council, said, "We are excited to be working with the Work Fair and Free Foundation to support migrant workers, an extremely vulnerable segment of informal sector workers. As an organisation, the British Safety Council is passionate about keeping workers safe and healthy. We have worked with different groups of vulnerable workers, including young workers, and look forward to extending our training experience to the Indian workforce through this partnership."
Divya Varma, Co-Founder and Director of Knowledge and Policy at the Work Fair and Free Foundation, said, "We are delighted to partner with the British Safety Council. We believe such high-impact partnerships have the potential to catalyse an ecosystem-wide change in labour rights and standards. We are confident this will lead to a wider and deeper impact for vulnerable labour migrant communities."
Both organisations will work at the intersection of knowledge, policy, and practice to achieve an equitable and dignified world of work for migrant labour communities in India. They will focus on ensuring that migrant workers are aware of their rights, safe workplace practices, and ensuring that employers and workers follow labour standards in India.