Diwali dawned rather dark this year. It started with the news of 41 construction workers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel, that they were building, near the town of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand. It seemed to be like a 2-day operation. But as the rescue efforts progressed, it was realised to be easier said than done. The terrain and the existing metal construction posed a great challenge. After breaking down several times, the auger machine used to drill the escape passage gave in. Then came the ‘rat-hole’ miners who typically build narrow pits manually, just large enough for one person to descend and extract coal. The miracle that everyone hoped for happened. What machines were struggling for last few days, equipped with shovels and spades, the miners dug through the final stretch of debris within 24 hours. Seeing the workers out alive, marked Diwali for a nation of 1.4 billion people who were glued to the rescue operations.
What caught my attention was the first words of one of the rescued workers. He assured that they would immediately resume work from where they left. Yes, it shows, the Indian grit and determination but the entire incident also zooms in at the lack of safety.
India is embarking on its development journey and this will be propelled by massive constructions. With almost two-thirds of the country to be built, the sector will be the most thriving. As per the report, ‘Skilled Employment in Construction Sector in India,’ released by Knight Frank India and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), construction sector is the second largest employment generator. As of 2023, 71 million are estimated to be employed in the sector. This is expected to grow to 100 million to attain our economic growth targets. However, 81 per cent of this workforce is still unskilled.
Worldwide, construction industry is considered the most hazardous as the workers are prone, to both fatal and non-fatal accidents and injuries. The skill level of workers and the unorganised nature of a major portion of the business, prove a challenge to increase safety measures. According to a research paper by Nazeer Ahamed M F and M Mariappan, the average rate of fatal accidents in Indian construction industry is 15.8 (FAFR; incidents/1,000 employees/year), which is 50 times more than US. Also, the risk of fatal and non-fatal workplace injury rates are 2.5 times more than in Europe and North America. It shows that the condition of workplace safety and health in India is worse when compared to global standards.
While one of the debates is on unmindful construction activity, it is also necessary to focus on safety aspect. The general Indian attitude towards safety has been, let’s see when it happens. The concept of prevention is not adhered too. Often, safety is seen as an additional cost, for a benefit which may or may not occur. Even while buying costly phones and laptops, people shun to pay a bit extra, for either protecting or even insuring the device. A similar response is seen in every sphere of life. It is quite a rarity to see garbage pickers wearing gloves, construction workers wearing safety gears, as they go about their daily jobs.
Unless the concept of safety and safe work environment is ingrained, people will not be able to question on the lack of it. The world’s most populous nation can afford labour at highly competitive price but, that does not mean workers life can be put at risk!
