(Top and above) Labourers engaged in the construction of a flyover at Rajmahal Square in Bhubaneswar work without proper safety measures. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 21: A question mark hangs over the safety of construction workers while the city witnesses a construction boom. Safety guidelines for construction work are being flouted with impunity. Most workers at construction sites work under hazardous conditions.

Though safety equipment such as helmets, safety shoes are mandatory while working on these projects, hardly any employer in the city adheres to the norms. Labourers who work at heights are required to wear safety belts and those engaged in welding need to protect their eyes.

With a number of multi-storey buildings and construction of various roads under progress, the need for implementing these guidelines is being felt all the more.

Working president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Odisha, Ganesh Chandra Sahoo said the lives of the workers were being put in danger with rules not being implemented. “A number of accidents have taken place because these rules are being flouted. The authorities must ensure that the guidelines are followed,” said Sahoo.

On Saturday, a worker died after falling from a building while working. He was working without a safety belt. The death has made trade unions question the government’s sincerity in implementing the safety norms. Another person had died last year when construction of the police commissionerate building was under progress.

According to the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, any employer found not following these guidelines could be penalised.

Deputy labour commissioner Narendra Kumar Samantray said the responsibility of looking after the safety guidelines lay with the directorate of factories and boiler. “We are only concerned about wages and other facilities available to the workers,” said Samantray.

On the other hand, deputy director of factories and boiler Mohan Kumar Pradhan said that without getting detailed information from the labour commissioner’s office, they could hardly do anything. “Though we are supposed to check the safety guidelines, the labour commissioner needs to intimate us about the ongoing projects,” said Pradhan.

Sources at the labour commissioner’s office said lack of co-ordination among various departments and a shortage of adequate manpower were the main hurdles to the proper implementation of the safety guidelines.

Another major area of concern was workers not enrolling themselves at the labour office, which results in their being deprived of compensation in the case of accidents. The family of a registered worker, who dies in an accident at work place, is entitled to Rs 50,000.

“There is a proposal to raise the compensation amount to Rs 1 lakh but (for their families) to claim the money the workers need to register themselves with us,” said a senior official in the labour commissioner’s office.