Five states account for more than 70% of on-site worker fatalities

Five states accounted for more than 70 per cent of the 988 workers who died of injuries in factories in 2021, the latest year for which such data is available.

As many as 3,791 workers were injured in factories registered with the government in 2021. An estimated one-fourth of these injuries resulted in fatalities, according to data from the Directorate General Factory Advice Service & Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), Ministry of Labour & Employment.

In 2017, as many as 1,084 factory workers died of injuries at workplaces. The 2021 figure would mean every day three workers die of injuries at factories. Gujarat recorded 235 such deaths in 2021, Maharashtra had 180, Tamil Nadu 147, Andhra Pradesh 65, and Chhattisgarh 82. (Chart 1).
 

Although the number of factory workers being injured has declined, fatal injuries have increased in the last five years. In 2017, as many as 18 per cent of injuries led to deaths. The share has increased to 26 per cent since then.

Approximately 6,000 people die of work-related accidents every day worldwide, said a report by the International Labour Organization this week. Nearly 3 million deaths annually result from work-related accidents and diseases, said the report called 'A Call for Safer and Healthier Work Environments'.

More than 2,100 lives were lost as a result of slips and injuries in Indian factories between 2012 and 2021, as per data from DGFASLI. Other causes of deaths included moving machines by mechanical power, explosion, and fire in the workplace. (Chart 2)
 

India had around 29 per cent of the total sanctioned posts for state-employed factory inspectors vacant in 2017. The number has increased to 32 per cent in five years. (Chart 3) More than 50 per cent of the posts for medical inspectors at factories are vacant.