Labour Day or International Workers’ Day is celebrated annually on 1st May by the working class and labourers across the world. Globally labour unions celebrate this day to create awareness about issues like forced labour, minimum wage law and rights of migrant workers and improving working conditions of the workforce.
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has reasons to celebrate Labour Day. In its endeavour to formulate Indian standards in the field of Employee welfare, BIS has formulated two main standards IS/ISO 45001 on Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems and IS 16001 on Social Accountability at the Workplace for ensuring the health, safety and social wellbeing of employees.
IS/ISO 45001 is a Management System Standard that provides a framework to increase safety, reduce workplace risks and enhance health and well-being at work, enabling an organization to proactively improve its OH&S performance. Certification to ISO 45001 can be a useful tool to demonstrate that organisation meets its stated criteria of Occupational Health and safety.
This standard entails applicable Acts, norms and laws specific to organisations to promote workers’ health and safety at the workplace.
Benefits of IS / ISO 45001 certification for an organisation
Social accountability is a process, wherein, an organisation can account for its social performances, report on and improve that performance. It assesses the social impacts and ethical behaviour of an organisation in relation to its stated values, objectives and views of its stakeholders.
In order to promote workers’ rights and enable employers to sustainably implement a system-based approach for ensuring decent and ethical working conditions for its employees and stakeholders, which is one step ahead of just ensuring health and safety, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) took the initiative to formulate an Indian Standard, IS 16001 on Social Accountability at the workplace. It is based on the belief that ensuring workers’ rights and well-being is not a ‘burden’ for employers but an investment in human resources that leads to a healthy and sustainable workplace for all.
Indian Standard IS 16001, Social Accountability at the workplace is a Certifiable Standard, which deals with the Social Accountability of an organisation towards its employees, stakeholders and society, with regard to the effective discharge of its various functions and responsibilities at the workplace.
The implementation of IS 16001 aims to promote good practices at the workplace which go beyond mere compliance with the applicable statutory, regulatory and legal requirements.
Social Accountability Standard uses a management system approach to help the organisation in not only improving its effectiveness but also enhancing employee satisfaction and improving the working environment for promoting social accountability at the workplace and within its sphere of influence.
IS 16001 identifies various core elements, which are specific to Indian conditions and complements and supports various labour laws and other Acts that help in securing ethical working conditions for labourers and empower them with a sustainable livelihood and employment.
IS 16001 measures the performance of organisations in the following eleven core areas, which an organisation needs to focus upon:
Benefits of IS 16001Certification
IS 16001 Certified organisations apart from enjoying a competitive advantage, experience other concrete benefits as mentioned below:
The certificates of these Management systems bear testimony to the organisation’s good practices in the applicable system and in return significantly improve workplace conditions. Organisations seeking IS/ISO 45001 and IS 16001 certifications may contact mscd@bis.org.in.
This 1st May 2020, BIS wishes all ‘A Happy Labour Day’ and encourages organisations to take certifications as per IS/ ISO 45001 and IS 16001.
Written by:
(Shalu Varshney)/ (शालू वार्ष्णेय)
Scientist D (Management and Systems)/(प्रबंध एवं पद्धति)
Bureau of Indian Standards