Chennai: Health is last on the mind of these utensils makers

CHENNAI: Off Wall Tax Road, the rows of shops selling bamboo baskets, provisions and knick-knacks obscure from view the rows of dark asbestos roofs where the machines whir all day long and hands incessantly sort, assemble, and weld into shape sheets of

steel

into household utensils.


It’s quarter to two in the afternoon and 22-year-old Maran gulps down his meal of tomato rice, appalam and pickle with his grimy hands, before he begins work again. Next to him is a heap of metal objects covered in dark polishing powder. The room, material and the maker cramped in a room with no windows are all covered in the soot-like powder used to shine the steel.

For these workers the wheezing and skin irritation is an occasional deterrent to their work
Working from 9am to 6pm, most of the employees in the

units

from nearby localities are daily wagers who have mastered each step.

"The money is low but it’s a stable job. Everyone uses steel you see," says a 45-year-old worker from another assembling unit next door, who does not mind the overtime when the demand goes up during the marriage season and festivals.

The workers covered in a cocktail of chemicals have a quick break for lunch amid their wares

Wiping sweat off his forehead, Maran nonchalantly speaks about how the dirt and grime of a steel manufacturing unit marks its workers. "I have been working here since childhood. I live nearby and this is the only work I know," he says. His older colleague laconically answers questions about the process of making the steel utensils, which include pots, plates, glasses, tiffin boxes and jugs that are sold in the wholesale market across Tamil Nadu and also Andhra Pradesh.

No one complains of the sweltering heat and the cocktail of chemicals that they breathe and eat. For them the wheezing and skin irritation is an occasional deterrent to their work and an occupational hazard they have learned to live with.

The finished product from the dark cramped units is the shiny kitchen utensil