GJ-WORKERS-STUDY

Lack of safety gear key cause of injuries in industries: Study
    Ahmedabad, Aug 11 (PTI) Poor quality or no safety gear
is one of the main reasons for injuries suffered by automobile
sector's supply chain workers, says a report compiled by
alumni of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA).
    The report, titled 'Crushed', released by IIMA
Director Errol D'Souza last week, is based on experiences of
over 1,300 workers injured in industrial accidents at various
units in Gurugram, Haryana.
    "Around 47 per cent of the total injured workers
lacked or had poor quality safety gear. There was lack of
regular provision of safety gears for workers in auto sector
supply chains," said the report compiled by Safe In India
Foundation (SII), an NGO formed by three ex-students of IIMA.
    "The accidents resulted in permanent disabilities in
many, who lost hands or fingers, and it will impact their
earning capabilities in future," it said.
    Around 65 per cent of workers injured in the
industrial accidents were below the age of 30 years, it noted.
    Nearly 83 per cent of machines surveyed by the NGO had
no or malfunctioning safety sensors and no automatic safety
control system, the report said.
    As the NGO is based in Gurugram, the study was
conducted on workers of automobile industries in that area.
    "But this is a national issue as auto brands are
national and similar factors prevail in the supply chain
factories across the country," it said.
    The factory conditions are similar in rest of the
country, specially in auto sector hubs which use a large
number of power presses and injection moulding machines - two
"most accident-prone machines", it said.
    "Our organisation comes across thousands of workers
who have lost their hands and fingers in auto sector supply
chain. The reality is obviously far worse," the report said.
    "While big auto companies appear to have their health
and safety policies in place, it is the suppliers to these
companies who need to strengthen their safety practices,"
SII's co-founder and CEO Sandeep Sachdeva said after the
release of the report.
    He said the NGO shared its key findings confidentially
with some leading automobile companies in the country to
discuss and take constructive action to prevent such mishaps.
    "None of them has objected to the report's findings
and all have accepted there is need for action," he claimed.
    The other two co-founders of the NGO are Ravi Gulati
and Prabhat Agarwal. PTI PD
GK GK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from a PTI feed.)