I read a blog post today where it is mentioned that i) many managers consider safety implementation as a nuisance, reduces productivity ii) enforcement agencies are short of man power, iii) long battles in courts to penalize, iv) penalties are considered as added cost to the product rather than a warning for not following safety, and so on. The situation is not different here also.
Let it be any country, whatever be the rules and penalties or punishments are, it is the commitment of the management and its support that ensures safety at the workplace and this in the long run reduces the cost of production. Very few understand this as bypassing safety shows immediate increase in output, but in the long run leads to accidents as a result of fall in safety standards and reduces the productivity. One must remember that what we see today is the result of efforts (constructive or destructive) made in the past. One must not be elated and relax when going is smooth (safe) and should be on constant vigil and be committed to improve safety.
The blog post and comments under suggested that penalties should be on the persons rather than on the organization to warn the erring persons to implement safety. Though, we say occupier (the one who got ultimate control over the day-to-day affairs of the organization) is responsible, long delays in punishing the culprits are allowing them to run the organization as per their wishes. In this regard, the blog post suggested need for having industrial courts to handle such cases and give verdict quickly. Along with person based penalties, awarding of punishments also will act as a deterrent for the people to run organizations only for profit and drive them to implement good safety practices.