Safety at work place; at home and in the industry is such an important global concern that I was not conscious of unless I participated in OSH India 2025, South Asia’s largest Occupational Safety and Health Event at Bombay Exhibition Centre from 16-18th September 2025. In the past, I have experienced the effects of Tsunami and have done workshops in Pondicherry with children, where they have shared their horrific experiences of losing their loved ones, many earth quakes in hilly areas and also Nepal, where I used to travel frequently for work and my engagement with the communities, and also COVID19, that came across as a huge jolt for everyone. In day-to-day life, the tragedies that occur in air, on earth, in space teach us important lessons and be it man-made or natural calamities, the biggest loss is that of human lives. The families who lose their dear ones suffer throughout their lives and it is for sure that money, sympathy and compensation cannot heal the setbacks faced by the families of the sufferers.
Extensive knowledge was shared during the three-day conference, though various panel discussions wherein experts shared their experiences, policies, products and practices. While I was part of the event representing unique partnership with OSH India as Chief Executive Officer of Rural Education and Development (READ) India, my deep thoughts were percolating on how this knowledge could travel to rural India, where the youth is preparing for suitable employability and my concern was to leave a thought in the minds of these industry leaders on how we can fill in this knowledge gap and reach to the last mile.
My experience from the past 30 years while travelling to rural India have been varied and seeing how people face day to day challenges, whether it be through road accidents which occur due to non-availability of street lights; fire; drowning in water; infections while working in the fields; snake bites and so on; where there is no doctor, no equipment and no knowledge as per my experiences; is really heartbreaking. My submission is that special efforts should surely be taken to fill in these gaps, maybe through school and university curriculum or special projects under CSR.
This matter does not end at physical safety, it extends to advocacy for mental health, be it for the service providers or the receivers. The deep trauma which they experience needs to be healed with special mental health workshops, hand holding, taking care of their children’s education and holistic development of the geographies where these calamities occur and there is loss. Corporate Social Responsibility can play a big role to tackle this concern and while discussing these issues with Industry experts, who hold great power to address it, comes in a concern of the need for collective action, while keeping in view the human lives, their concerns and rigorously following the systems and strategies by keeping the Standard Operating Systems in place.
