How many lost hands behind new cars? | India News

The number of accidents in which workers have got maimed in the automobile sector in Haryana in the past one year is more than six times the number of injuries reported by all other industries put together. Between April 2019 and March this year, the state’s automobile sector – located in the Gurgaon-Faridabad region, home to three auto giants, and manufacturing around 50% of India’s vehicles – accounted for 86% of industrial accidents while the remaining factories reported 14%, a survey by SafeInIndia, a private research agency, has revealed. The auto industry employs nearly 35 million people across the country, or about 9% of India's working population.The share of accidents reported by automobile factories in 2019-20 has also seen a rise. The auto sector accounted for 76% of factory accidents in Gurgaon and Faridabad between December 2016 and March 2019. The percentage, however, rose to 86% between April 2019 and March this year. medium nocaption78314352The nature of injuries ranges from workers losing limbs to severe bone fractures and nerve damage. In 2019-20, the percentage of workers to lose a hand to shop floor accidents rose, to 70%, from 61% in the 2016-2019 period. More than 75% of these workers are migrants and over half of them under 30 years of age, according to the survey, published as part of SafeInIndia’s third annual report. medium nocaption78316884 !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}(); The severity of injuries can be gauged from the fact that of the 1,873 workers that SafeInIndia interviewed in the past one year, around 500 had lost their limbs in factory accidents. The frequency of accidents is such that workers are hardly surprised by them. Shyam Dev Pandit from Bihar is one such. “When I moved to Manesar, I shared a room with two other workers from the automobile sector who too had lost both their hands. My colleagues would often joke that I would lose my fingers while working someday. And see, I did,” said Pandit, who lost his fingers in an accident last year.Power presses, widely used in factories in the Gurgaon-Manesar belt despite being dubbed a “dangerous machine” in the Punjab Factory Act, have been the most lethal. The machines, used for cutting, shaping, blending and pressing any metal sheet into the required shape, were behind 52% of the accidents between December 2016 and March 2019. In 2019-20, its share in factory accidents rose to 59%. Other machines that contributed to accidents were moulding machines, milling machines, hobbing machines, broaching machines, flattening machines, etc. medium nocaption78316898 !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}(); “Over the past few years, we have observed that the power press is one of the main reasons behind accidents in auto factories. So, we did a separate analysis on that,” said Sandeep Sachdev, founder of SafeInIndia and an IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus. He pointed out that in 88% of the cases, the safety sensor installed in the machine did not work. Also, since most of the workers are hired on a contractual basis, they lack basic training in handling such equipment. Ram, who works on such machine, said "I learnt while working as a helper. I never received any training." Another worker, Nand Raj, complained of poor safety gear. "“When there is a safety audit, the company provides us with shoes, gloves, helmets, ear safety, but as soon as the auditors leave, these are taken back and everything is back to what it was.” medium nocaption78316934 !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}(); The increasing number of accidents is not the only concern. Inspections by government agencies of safety measures in these factories have also seen a downward trend. From 2,744 in 2011, the number of inspections came down to 460 in 2017, according to the survey (click on chart below to see values). There is no data available after that. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}(); Most workers in the state that SafeInIndia spoke to could not recollect having seen an inspection officer in their factories. The few times that they heard of a possible inspection, they were told to take a day off. Sachdev said he believed Haryana has been under-reporting data on such accidents. He pointed out that in 2017, the auto sector in Haryana reported just 38 injuries and 49 deaths (switch between non-fatal and fatal injuries on chart to see year-wise data). medium nocaption78317017 !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}(); Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, who also holds the labour portfolio, did not revert to a query for a comment. He had told TOI during an interview in July, that the state government was forming a committee to carry out inspections and ensure the safety of workers.There is, however, a silver lining. Agencies involved with workers maimed in accidents believe there has been an increase in awareness among companies on safety. “If we want to be world leaders in the auto sector, we cannot achieve that with our workers losing their limbs. We need to ensure their safety, and in this regard, we are ready to take the required measures,” said Vinnie Mehta, director-general of the Auto Component Manufacturers’ Association. Anil Sachdev, former director of Eicher Motors and founder of the School of Inspired Leadership, said, “We need to come up with ways so that companies can take pride in no-accident days. These can be published on their websites as well. And just like sustainability, we need to hold the bigger players responsible for the adoption of safety standards across their supply chain.” Source: CRUSHED 2020 report by SafeInIndia