Safety goes for a toss at construction sites

Kukatpally: The death of five construction workers at Rampally village is still fresh in memory but it seems there has been no effect on contracting agencies. Thousands of workers (mostly migrants from Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh) have no safety equipment and are working in precarious conditions at construction sites in the city. Raj bhai, 27, a construction worker from Gopalpurworking at a site in Kukatpally, said, “I work at least 20feet above ground level without any safety equipment.”

“There should be two experienced supervisors present at the site, one for the top level of the building and the other at the bottom level. Other than the safety measures, workers should be encouraged to take up insurance which will help them to be extra safe,” said Venkat, an employee of VS Constructions.

Ram Mohan, a supervisor of GN Constructions who was overlooking a construction at Madhapur, said, “We provide gloves, rubber boots, goggles and other safety gear but workers are reluctant. They just refuse to wear rubber boots and complain that they are not used to the equipment.”