Safety gear to workers not part of GHMC contract

Full body suit, gloves, boots and helmet do not find place in agreement with contractors, let alone oxygen cylinders

Sewage workers continue to die in manholes despite legal provisions against manual scavenging, but ironically, officialdom hides behind the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 when it comes to safety precautions. GHMC includes no clause about safety gear for workers in its agreements with contractors when it comes to cleaning or de-silting of sewerage or stormwater drains. The agreements merely contain one perfunctory clause about the contractor’s responsibility towards workers’ safety, and medical insurance for them. Safety gear such as full body suit, gloves, boots and helmet do not find place in the agreement, let alone oxygen cylinders. When questions are raised about the same in the instance of death of workers, contractors and GHMC officials end up blaming each other. Contractors’ refrain is that the civic body does not include cost of safety gear to workers in the tender document, while officials say it is the contractor’s obligation.