National Occupational Safety and Health Framework

Introduction
Well-being of its people including workers in every economic sector is one of the major
concerns of all nations. In spite of huge efforts being paid towards that end, the incidents
related to industrial accidents and health problems around the world have not been dramatically
declining up to the level what we would like to attain because ILO estimates that over 2 million
workers die each year from work-related accidents and diseases and that trend is still on the
rise.
In the Age of Industrialization, the main focus of every business organization is to
maximize profit caring little to the workers. Contrast to that, in the atmosphere of Today’s
Information Age, profit alone does not cover every aspect and it is needed to consider people
and planet. In considering people, occupational safety and health for the workers is becoming a
major issue because it is increasingly recognized by many nations that a healthy workforce is a
prerequisite for the success of economic and social policy and a crucial condition for the
achievement of sustainable development.
What has been happening is that Occupational Safety and Health is the major issues and
unavoidable challenges in many developing nations. Myanmar is also no exception because it is
stated in the ILO report of Promotional framework for Occupational Safety and Health that
“Occupational hazards and risks are recognized to be more widespread in SMEs than in large
enterprises. SMEs have limited resources and technical capacity, and also limited awareness of
the existence of occupational safety and health standards, or how to comply with them without
undermining business performance. There is a reluctance to seek advice associated with
inspection. In developing countries most SMEs are not yet properly covered by safety and health
legislation and a large number of SMEs operate in the informal economy beyond any coverage
by the formal OSH or inspection services.”
Under the waves of climate of changes, Myanmar has been in its transition to a
democratic nation. With enormous efforts towards reforming the Sate, many foreign direct
investments are just around the corner.
Together with these investments, there is growing public alarm at the anxiety of OSH
because ILO stated that “Globalization has had a profound impact on the world of work in both
positive and negative ways. One effect is that much of the manufacturing sector has moved to
less developed nations, which often use technology that is considered dangerous or obsolete in
their production processes.”

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 Being stricken by the challenges and the state-of-the-art technologies, the social
protection for the workers is catching the attention of all stakeholders. With this intent of
providing social protection to the workers, the Government of Myanmar particularly Ministry of
Labour has been paying due attention to OSH.
As the limited coverage of the existing 1951 Factories Act, shortage of OSH inspectors,
weak co-operation among governmental agencies, employers and employees and to perform
better management regarding OSH in line with the changing state-of-the-art technologies, a new
Occupational Safety and Health Law has been under drafting by the Factories and General
Labour Laws Inspection Department in accordance with the ILO Conventions and international
norms.
Regionally, the ASEAN-OSHNET has called on all its member states to assure the success
of the ASEAN-OSHNET plan of action and, three priority areas have been identified as: raising
the profile of OSH in ASEAN, benchmarking OSH performances in ASEAN and strengthening
regional and international co-operation beyond current partner countries and international
organizations.
In this connection, Myanmar has formulated its National Occupational Safety and Health
Framework on the implementation of activities under the plan of action as followed.

Background
Myanmar is also a member of the South-East Asian countries. At present, the total
number of the population is approximately 60 million including 29.84 (Male), 30.54 (Female). Of
this number, 31.39 Million are its workforce and total factories and establishments covered by
the existing labour legislation are 17042.

Myanmar being an agricultural country has been attempting to be an industrialized one.

Thus we have introduced industrialization process in Myanmar since early 1950s. In line with this
process, in order to safeguard the safety and health of the workers, labour laws have been
formulated in this regards.
The most central occupational safety and health legislation is the 1951 Factories Act
while other laws related to OSH are Oilfields (Labour and Welfare) Act, the Electric Law,
Myanmar Mines Law, Pesticides Act and some others. These statutes mainly apply to work
carried out in an employment relationship in formal economy.
To date, Factories and General Labour Laws Inspection Department, in line with the
existing Labour Laws, is becoming a sole Governmental Agency responsible for both
Occupational Safety and Health issues.
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 In conformity with this 1951 Act, it is compulsory for the owner or employer to report
any accidents happened at his or her workplaces to the Department. Based on the accidents
reported to FGLLID, the serious and fatal cases of accidents have been still on the rise and the
major contributions to these accidents are of machines.
Table (1) Reported Industrial Accident Statistics
Sr Accidents
Fiscal Year Total
No. Minor Serious Fatal

1 2005-2006 126 57 7 190

2 2006-2007 69 56 17 142
3 2007-2008 75 69 32 146
4 2008-2009 59 75 34 168
5 2009-2010 15 48 33 96
6 2010-2011 11 46 23 80
7 2011-2012 3 32 20 55

Limited Coverage
In 1951 Factories Act, the factory is defined as: any premises whereon ten or
more workers are working with the aid of power or whereon twenty or more workers are
working, without the aid of the power. Moreover, this Factory Act extends to printing work,
edible oil mill, auto repair and painting work whereon one or more workers are working. In light
of this, some dangerous processes which employ less than ten workers fall short of the
application of this Act.
In the section (57) of the same Act, it is mentioned that the President may make rules
prescribing that all or any of the provisions of this Act shall apply to building operation. However,
due to inability to may make such rules yet, construction sector has been left uncovered but
Ministry of Construction has been attempting the safety of only Public Construction Works.

Fragmented OSH Landscape

Regarding OSH in Myanmar, Factories and General Labour Laws Inspection Department
has not been a single Department. Boiler Inspectorate and Electrical Inspectorate under Ministry
of Industry have been responsible for the safety of boilers (not included unfired pressure
vessels) and electricity while Division of Occupational Health has made its commitments to
occupational health but lacking of back-up legislation.

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 In parallel with this, Planning and Inspection Department of Ministry of Mine has been
carrying out the mine safety throughout Myanmar. At the same time City Development Councils
have also carried out safety and health practices in its municipal areas. In the same way,
Ministry of Construction is responsible for the Construction Safety but its main focus is for the
government projects. However, in conclusion, some areas are left untouched and some
overlapped.

Government's Commitment
ILO called for its Member States to put occupational safety and health agenda on high
level of political commitment for effective implementation of national OSH systems. Being a
member of ASEAN-OSHNET, Myanmar shows its political will to safeguard and promote the
rights of the workers including occupational safety and health. This can be traced to 2008
Myanmar Constitution.
In the section 24 of its 2008 Constitution, it is stated that "The Union shall enact
necessary laws to protect the rights of workers". In light of this, the State has enacted "Labour
Organization Law and the Settlement Labour Dispute Laws in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Parallel with this, Ministry of Labour has been assigned to formulate "Occupational Safety and
Health Law" so as to promote safety and health of workers.

National Vision, Mission and Objectives

Putting these circumstances and findings into considerations, the National Occupational
Safety and Health Committee has made this strong commitment to bring about a safe working
place for every Myanmar worker. In order to accomplish this national enthusiasm, the guided
national vision, mission and objectives are:
Vision
All workplaces in Small and Medium Enterprises of Myanmar must be free from machine-
related accidents.

Mission
Through strong leadership and with the co-operation of all stakeholders, the Committee
will contribute to an environment where the OSH legal framework supports safety and health of
all workplaces in SMEs.

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Objectives
-To reduce machine-related accidents of SMEs to less than 20%
-To introduce OSH-MS actual practices at least 50% of all SMEs
-To engage with all stakeholders in OSH
-To enhance the OSH awareness of employer and employee in SMEs
-To Update and Upgrade the Existing OSH Legislations

National Strategy
To achieve these objectives of the National Occupational Safety and Health Framework,
the Committee set the following specific tasks as the national strategy:
-Introducing National Guidelines on Safe Use of Machinery
-Developing New National OSH Enforcement Framework including all governmental
agencies
-Strengthening the Current Inspection System for the effective protection of workers
in SMEs of Myanmar;
-Strengthening activities aimed at compliance with OSH regulations and principles;
-Improving the system for occupational accidents registration;
-Improving the effectiveness of health protection;
-Mainstreaming OSH into education and training;

National Bodies
In order to carry out the respective tasks of the National OSH program, the National
Occupational Safety and Health Committee will be set with following Tripartite National Bodies.
(1)Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
(2)Ministry of Industry
(3)Ministry of Health
(4)Ministry of Electric Power(1)
(5)Ministry of Electric Power(2)
(6)Ministry of Science and Technology
(7)Ministry of Mining
(7)Ministry of Information
(8)Ministry of Education
(9)Ministry of Labour
(10) Ministry of Construction

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 (11)Ministry of Energy
(12)Ministry of Railway

Workers' Organization
(1)Myanmar Labour Confederation
Employers' Organization
(1)Federation of Employers’ Organization
Reliable Third Parties
(1)UMFCCI
(2)Myanmar Engineering Society
(3)Myanmar Industrial Association

With the intent of smooth operation and effective implementation of the work plans, the
Committee will work closely with the following governmental and local agencies as well as
international NGOs and institutions.
Governmental Agencies
(1)Regional and State Authorities
(2)Department of Labour
(3)Social Security Board
(4)City Development Councils

INGOs and NGOs

(1)International Labour Organization
(2)JICA
(3)IALI
(4)ASEAN-OSHNET
(5)KOSHA

Time Frame
The Program will be carried out from 2013- to 2017.

State/Regional OSH Committee

In order to implement the assigned tasks, the State/Regional OSH Committee will be
formed as follow:

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 (1)State/Regional General Administration Chairman
(2)Ministry of Industry Member
(3) DOL Member
(4)Ministry of Health Member
(5)Myanmar Fire Brigade Member
(6) SSB Deputy- Secretary
(7)FGLLID Secretary

The functions of the State/Regional OSH Committee are assigned as follow:

(1)Introducing a comprehensive accident reporting and registration process
(2)Policy Recommendations to the National Occupational Safety and Health Committee
(3)Reviewing and Recommending the Implementation Stage at the District/Township Level
(4)Technical and Financial and Other Necessary Assistance to the District/Township Level

District/Township Implementation Working Group

(1) Head of District/Township General Administration Chairman
(2)Township Development Committee Member
(3)Head of Industrial Zones Member
(4)Head of Ward and Village General Administration Member
(5)Township Information Officer Member
(6)Township Medical Officer Member
(7)Relevant NGO & INGO Member
(8)SSB Member
(9)FGLLID Secretary

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 National Occupational Safety and Health Program
National Work Plan
For effective implementation of the National OSH program, the following areas need
national action:

Areas Requiring National Action

(1)National Policy, Recommendation & Guidelines
(2)OSH Research
(3)OSH Data
(4)National Guidelines on Machinery Safety
(5)OSH Awareness
(6)OSH Information
(7)Enforcement
(8)Certification

Work Plan
The following work plans will be implemented to achieve the national objectives:
(1)Awareness-Raising Workshops
(2)Broadcasting OSH Information
(3)Release OSH Information through Media
(4)In-Plant OSH Training
(5)Basic and Refresher OSH Training Courses
(6) National Guidelines on Machinery Safety

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