The Hindu Business Line : Setting standards in safety

European nations are striving to strengthen safety and consumer protection, not only by improving laws, but also by supporting EU safety and consumer associations, obligatory safety inspections, information and education campaigns. Europe truly offers a model for the rest of the world on safety standards.

Mohan Murti

We recently had, our good German friend and lover of India, the ZDF German Television Director-General, Mark Schachter, over for dinner. During our chitchat, a topic that whipped up and ardently debated was the total lack and disregard to safety standards in every facet of Indian society.

Last Friday, during prime-time, the 60-minutes disgraceful and appalling documentary in the ZDF television was about the poor working conditions and the absolute lack of safety standards in Bollywood.

Indian film-makers were accused of employing “crude and insurrectionary” production techniques, disregarding the safety of the crew; that safety procedures are non-existent and crews including stuntmen (and stuntwomen) often operate uninsured.

From Aishwarya Rai to Nadia Khan, Amitab Bachan to Shah Rukh Khan, it is a fact that deadly accidents on the sets have made Bollywood’s so-called booming, but unregulated, film industry a dangerous place to work. But, mishaps in India are not restricted to Bollywood.

The reputation of the Indian disrespect for safety standards in every aspect of life is spreading throughout Europe.

Accident-prone roads and railways, drunken drivers who “hit and run”, buildings and bridges collapse due to sub-standard materials used by building contractors, ill-equipped airports, fire-hazard prone public places, dangerous work practices in industrial establishments, spurious drugs administered by fake doctors in hospitals, counterfeit products, all costing innocent lives.

Safety and Consumer Protection

In contrast, European nations are striving to strengthen safety and consumer protection, not only by improving laws, but also by other means such as supporting EU safety and consumer associations, obligatory safety inspections, information and education campaigns and gathering information on safety and consumer opinions and problems.

Product safety

Living in the European Union, there is no need to worry about the safety of products. Product liability laws are extremely harsh. EU rules on product safety stipulate that it is the responsibility of producers and distributors to place only safe products on the market.

Moreover, if faulty products are discovered, protection measures are taken rapidly and retaliatory measures are taken on the defaulter. Toys, cosmetics and electrical equipment have to adhere to further strict safety requirements.

Surveillance authorities in each EU country are responsible for making sure that products meet the safety requirements. If products do not fit the bill, authorities can withdraw them from the market, request a recall from shops, issue warnings, or take any other appropriate measures.

Early warning on dangerous products

If a hazardous merchandise is found in one country, information on the product is passed on to the other EU countries via a swift alert system.

The system facilitates cooperation between national and European authorities to track down dangerous products and remove them quickly from the market.

Banning the marketing of dangerous products

Certain categories of products or substances presenting a risk for the safety or for the health of people may be totally banned from the EU market. The use of plastic softeners called phthalates, which can be toxic when ingested by young children, has been banned in the manufacture of toys since the late 1990s. In 2006, the European Commission also prohibited the marketing of disposable lighters not equipped with a child-resistant mechanism.

Ensuring the safe use of chemicals

In 2006, a new set of rules known as the REACH framework on the manufacturing, marketing, import and use of chemical substances in the EU was adopted.

These rules involve safety checks on some 30,000 chemical substances in use today, and companies have to provide evidence to demonstrate that their use is safe for people and for the environment.

EU laws on food safety and labelling

Different laws have been established within the EU on the safety of food, on consumers’ rights and on the protection of people’s health. Full details of the ingredients used to make a food product must be given on the label, along with details of any colouring, preservatives, sweeteners and other chemical additives used.

If an ingredient is one to which some consumers may be allergic — for example, nuts — it must be marked on the label even if the quantities used are very small.

EU food labelling laws regulate which products can be called “organic”. EU law also enables you to know if food is genetically modified (GM) or contains GM ingredients. If it is, then it must be labelled as genetically modified.

Personal Liability Insurance

This is mandatory and most Europeans get insurance covering cases of liability for injury or damage to other persons or their property. For instance, I am covered by insurance whether the negligence was mine or that of a family member or even my pet dog.

Drunken Driving

This is a very severe offence and the minimum punishment is with “wilful negligence” in driving under the influence of alcohol, several thousand euros in legal costs, punitive fine and a mandatory confiscation and suspension of driving privileges for six months — even for tourists.

Consumer Protection

Over the years, the European Union has achieved a high standard of consumer protection for its citizens. The common objectives of this strategy are to shield consumers from risks which may be beyond the control of individuals and that cannot be effectively dealt with by individual Member States. Product safety laws that seek to redress consumer and worker injury.

As for consumer protection in Europe, one can be redressed through perfect systems of monetary compensation for their flawed consumption objects ranging from cigarettes to cheeseburgers and computer keyboards to airbags.

Europe truly offers an extraordinary model for the rest of the world on safety standards in every facade of human life.

(The author is former Europe Director, CII, and lives in Cologne, Germany. Feedback may be sent to mailto: mohan.murti@t-online.de)

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