OH&S Policy Statement
Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Policy Statement:
Adaah is firmly committed to a policy enabling all work activities to be carried out safely, and with all possible measures taken to remove, or at least reduce, risks to the health, safety and welfare of workers, contractors, visitors, and anyone else who may be affected by our operations.
India’s Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (OSH) is a bill, currently under consideration for enactment by the Indian Parliament. The proposed OSH Code repeals and replaces 13 labour laws relating to health, safety and working conditions. This code does not apply to self-employed persons working from private houses. However as per industry best practices, we at Adaah endeavour to take due care of workforce health and safety, which shall be governed under this policy.
This policy takes into scope all physical offices of Adaah (herein ‘Adaah’ or ‘Organization’ or ‘Company’) for the users (herein ‘users’ or ‘worker’ or ‘workforce’ which includes permanent employees, contractors, sub-contractors, transporters, interns and other agencies), which will be operating inside the physical premises of Adaah. This policy is, prima facie, not applicable to remote users, although there are non-mandatory guidelines mentioned in the policy under the section ‘Guidance for Remote Workforce’, which are highly advisable to be followed by the remote users at their discretion and expense. However, Adaah shall be fully responsible for monitoring the remote workers’ well being by keeping in touch with them and supporting them in the best possible manner, as mentioned in the policy under the section ‘What company will do to monitor the remote workers’.
Responsibilities:
The Management will:
- provide and maintain a safe working environment through recognizing, assessing, controlling and evaluating hazards at workplace periodically
- ensure that food, metal and other waste substances are disposed of safely and implement emergency management plans/procedures
- provide and maintain facilities for the welfare of workers
- information, instruction, training and supervision that is reasonably necessary to ensure that each worker is safe from injury and risk to health
- assign clear roles and responsibilities at different levels in terms of health and safety at work
- provide a commitment to consult and co-operate with workers in all matters relating to health and safety in the workplace
- provide adequate budget for occupational safety and health programs, including return to work program
- integrate health and safety in all decisions including those dealing with purchase of equipment, machinery, material and selection and placement of personnel
- provide a commitment to continually improve our performance through periodically reviewing policy, regular monitoring and effective safety management.
We ensure that each worker of the enterprise shall:
- comply with any direction given by management for health and safety
- comply with safe work practices with the intent of avoiding harm/injury to himself or herself and others and damage to plant and equipment
- take reasonable care of the health and safety of himself or herself and others
- wear and maintain personal protective equipment and clothing where necessary
- not misuse or unnecessarily interfere with anything provided for health and safety
- report accidents and incidents, no matter how minor, occurring on the job immediately
- report all known or observed hazards to their supervisor or manager
We ensure that our users entering the premises of the enterprise and visitors shall adhere to the health and safety rules of the company. Adaah is responsible for prevention of, correction of, and compensation (per the employee contract) against, the occupational hazards only for users operating physically inside our organization premises.
Special precautions for COVID:
All employees, contractors, sub-contractors, and visitors operating inside our organization premises shall:
- keep a physical distance of at least 1 meter and wearing of masks is compulsory
- opt for working from home, teleworking, working in shifts, or split team work arrangement at the discretion of their supervisor
- avoid workplace events and social gatherings inside or around the organization premises
- maintain hygiene and frequently utilize the facility of soap, water and alcohol-based sanitizers inside the organization premises
- ensure respiratory hygiene by covering mouth & nose with flexed elbow/handkerchief during cough and sneeze
- avoid physical contact like hugging, touching, shaking hands
- Take special care if you have pre-existing medical conditions, are pregnant or above 60 years
- Stand in position markings in queues at entrance/exits
- Avoid crowding by staggering working hours at the discretion of the supervisor, to reduce congregation inside the organization premises
- If you show symptoms of COVID-19; such as soar throat, fever, cough, difficulty in breathing, then isolate yourself, take medical advice and do not come to work.
Guidance for remote workforce:
Remote users are the workforce that operates from outside of the company’s physical premises, typically from their homes or otherwise, using their own devices (laptops, desktops, mobile devices, etc). Such remote users are advised to ensure that:
- the work environment at home is free of hazards such as poorly positioned cords or wires, or ungrounded or overheated electrical equipment
- a home-based workstation includes an appropriate, quality desk and ergonomic chair that is adjustable to suit the user. The keyboard is at the right height so that arms and wrists are in a neutral position. Lighting is also sufficient, with minimal reflection or glare
- they opt for natural breaks during the work hours. Spending long periods in the same position, doing repetitive motions that may lead to musculoskeletal injuries.
- emergency measures, such as evacuation, first aid facilities, and other measures as necessary are in place for the safety of teleworkers.
- regular contact is maintained with the supervisor through phone calls, email or meetings on online platforms, and keep him/her informed of the physical and mental well-being.
Declaration for remote workforce:
All the equipment, facilities, accessories and arrangements advised for remote workers in the above section, shall be considered as special instructions from Adaah, and not as a mandate for the remote users, and thus the cost of the same has to be borne by the user itself.
Company’s teleworking platform and remote access to organization’s IT systems and resources shall be provided to the users at company’s cost. The access to these systems and resources shall be governed by our security and privacy policies and by the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) signed between the company and the users. Adaah shall not be held liable for prevention of, correction of, or compensation against, the occupational hazards for remote users. Our OH&S policy is applicable only to the users operating inside our organization’s physical premises.
What company will do to monitor the remote workers:
Adaah shall maintain contact with employees who are working from home or in isolation. We shall ensure clear and regular communication is established, to:
- set realistic and clear instructions on workload, roles and tasks allocation and timelines
- check in with staff to ensure they are able to access the systems and technology required to do their job
- monitor work levels
- check that work can be successfully completed from home and adjust work tasks as necessary
- keep employees informed of organisational and work team activities, updates, training and opportunities
General declaration:
Adaah truly believes in developing an indiscriminate, unbiased and non-toxic work environment. Mental health is equally important as the physical health. We, at Adaah, have zero tolerance towards sexual assault and harassment, cyber-sexual harassment, cyber-bullying, discrimination based on physical disability/ mental disability/ gender /age group, etc. As we work towards safeguarding the rights and freedom of all our users keeping diversity & inclusion principle at heart of our organization, we encourage our workforce to respect the diversity and inclusion amongst itself.
Any breach of our OH&S policy shall be reported to the local police or to the relevant authorities. Any disputes arising out of non-compliance to our OH&S policy shall be adjudicated in Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Policy statement endorsed by: Manikaran Singh (Founder & CEO)
Date: 25 March 2022
Date: 25 March 2022