Mumbai: Directorate of Industrial safety and Health, Government of Maharashtra have even formed MahaMARG group for the entire state to work on safety and training programs post Covid 19..

The program started by Directorate of Industry safety and Health (DISH) called as ‘Mutual Aid Response Group’ (MARG) has gained much momentum since Covid 19.  MARG that was started by DISH under the Maharastra government to provide aid to factory workers during emergency has been working extensively to look after the safety and health of the factory workers across sectors. 

S.P. Rathod, Director, Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health, Govt. of Maharashtra while speaking at the inaugural event of OSH India organised by Informa markets, a two day conference at Nesco started on December 16 said, “MARG is very much active and working at its best to help the workers at factories. It has gained much momentum since Covid 19, as safety is a priority. We have been enforcing provisions of factory act made for safety and health of workers. While it is duty of factory owners to maintain factory in safe condition, the Government is also enforcing the law and providing safety and health training to the industry. Under MARG we are doing training program for workers at reactors, electrical safety industrial, Chemical factories, confined industry, machine guarding etc. Not only this we have come up with a group for whole Maharastra together called as MahaMARG. 

MahaMARG is a WhatsApp group formed by the state government along with factory owners, health and safety trainer to, share and train workers to keep them safe and healthy.

The ninth edition of Osh Indai is organised to create awareness and building business in occupational safety and health industry in the new normal. It started with participation of over 120 Leading Brands, expected to attract over 4000 visitors, Innovation and Technological breakthroughs at display. 

The expo brought together internationally renowned exhibitors, consultants, business experts and key government officials on a single platform to discuss global best practices and seek solutions to some of the most pressing challenges in the field of workplace safety and health. 

The event was inaugurated in the presence of Guest of Honour: S.P. Rathod, Director, Directorate of Industrial Safety & Health, Govt. of Maharashtra and Mr. D.P. Antapurkar, Director, Directorate of Steam Boilers, Govt of Maharashtra, along with dignitaries – Dr. Bishwadeep Paul, Vice-President, Indian Association of Occupational Health; Mrs. Wendy Leslie Pereira, Vice-President, Safety Appliances Manufacturers Association; Mr. Pankaj Jain, Group Director, Informa Markets and Mr. Prashant Jain, Project Director, Informa Markets in India amidst an august industry gathering. 

Pankaj Jain, Group Director, Informa Markets said, “We as an event organiser are here to bring all stakeholders together which include the Exhibitors, safety heads and safety managers from various firms. This is a platform to bring the entire community in the segment together. This event helps to increase awareness in the community and marketplace.”

The participation of over 75 leading exhibitors and over 120 brands  across India reaffirmed the need and focus of OSH India as an industry event.  These include Gold Partners -Ansell & Venus Safety & Health, Silver Partner – ABN Equipments & Redstar Safety, Hygiene Partner – M.N Rubber ( Shuklaz hand gloves ) and other key brands include,  Diamond Protect, Udyogi International, Ion Science, Tarapro, Youngman, Garware Technical Fibres Ltd, Portwest UC, Joseph Leslie, Lancer Footwear, IPAF, System 5S, H2 Safety, Axnoy and many more.  

Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets in India said, “Covid-19 has forced companies to act quickly and decisively to keep workers safe at work. The government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative is also providing a massive boost to the manufacturing sector, thus creating an enabler environment and ensuring complete safety standards at various manufacturing facilities is the need of the hour. OSH India resonates Government and  industry’s support in ensuring the safety and health of the growing workforce in our country and is geared up to filling this vital gap with innovation and knowledge through its exhibits and conference in these two days.” 

This year, the expo is well supported by associations such as – International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), World of Safety & Health Asia ( WSHASIA ) and Safety Appliances Manufacturers Association (SAMA). 

The key sessions and panel discussions at the conference are attended by industry

 experts from across the country and leading international organizations such as–

 Tata Coffee, Tata Consulting Engineers, Nayara Energy Limited, Hindalco Industries 

Limited, PiramalEnterprises Limited, Sterling and Wilson Solar, Dupont Sustainable 

Solutions, JLL Property Management Consultants India,  National Peroxide Limited, 

Bosch Ltd, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, Rustomjee Constructions, Pfizer and

 more.

OSH India 2021 is amply supported by its AllSecure & Travel Safety Guidelines – a safety standard initiative by Informa for its exhibitors, attendees, visitors, speakers or sponsors, customers are visiting the event. This has been introduced to conduct physical trade exhibitions amidst the new normal and has a detailed set of enhanced measures. 

by Sachin Murdeshwar