Hyderabad: With as many as five contract employees of the electricity department falling to their deaths while attending repair calls and around 20 employees injured severely in just a month, employees are now blaming officials for not providing adequate safety equipment.
Power employees claim a lack of close monitoring by senior officials is also leading to such incidents. Contract employees who have served a strike notice to the government now want an increase in compensation for families of the deceased. They also want the injured to be given cashless medical benefits, immediately.
Electricity employee unions say that as per procedure whenever there is a fuse-off call, an official of the assistant engineer rank should assess the nature of the call and through a line inspector direct it to the staff concerned. But now, as soon as they get information about the call, the officers are directly assigning the job to employees.
“As there is no direct supervision or coordination among superiors at the work site, supply issues may arise which may lead to fatal accidents,” said Telangana Vidyut Contract Employees Association general secretary S. Sailu.
Infographic
The unions also blamed poor training of employees and work procedures.
While permanent employees are given extensive training (on procedure and equipment), contract employees do not undergo any such training.
“Contract staff comprises persons who actually climb the poles for repairs, but they are not actually trained to handle the issues and problems. Those who are trained limit themselves to just supervision; they don’t directly do the work.” Mr Sailu added. In addition to these complaints, the lack of adequate safety gear for field staff adds to the risks.
The safety gear, even if supplied, is of poor quality and does not even meet the standards said Mr K. Srinivas Reddy, coordinator of the Telangana Electricity Trade Unions Front.
“Getting the immediate compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the deceased has also become a big struggle. This should be increased to Rs 25 lakh. The services of contract employees should be regularised and the department should take complete responsibility for these staff till then,” Mr Srinivas Reddy said.
He said filling up vacancies would reduce burden on the staff.
Power officials say workers are ignoring safety gear, rules
While employee unions blame officials, the electricity department denies the allegations saying that most of the accidents reported occur due to the employee’s negligent attitude towards wearing safety gear.
Officials now say that strict action will be taken against employees found working without safety gear. The supervising officer will also be pulled up for not ensuring safety standards. Officials from southern discom say that all employees attending fuse off calls, including contract employees are well trained by operations and maintenance personnel and senior officials.
They are supplied with protective gear which includes a helmet, safety belt, gloves, earth rod – all of which are compulsory for every employee to carry. Safety jackets will also be supplied to them soon, they said.
In addition to the equipment given to employees, more is kept in store as back up. An autorickshaw is provided to each fuse call team consisting of two employees. They go with the equipment to the site. In the latest incident, the employee who died was supplied with safety gear. But most of them do not carry them as they think it is a burden, officials added.
It’s claimed that some staff overlook safety norms due to their vast experience and ignore safety measures. Some were even found working drunk. “If any employee is found on fuse call duty without wearing safety gear, we will take immediate action against him. Considering the recent incidents, such strict measures should be implemented for their safety,” said southern discom director (operations), Srinivas Reddy.
With the increase in number of incidents in the recent past, the discom is also looking at initiating action against superiors. “If any employee meets with an accident without wearing safety gear, the supervising officer of the concerned area will be held responsible,” Mr Reddy added.
But besides contract staff, workers employed by contractors for laying cables, are also vulnerable. Officials say that while awarding the contract itself, it is made clear that safety precautions have to be taken. “It would be the contractor’s responsibility to ensure safety of his men. We will definitely blacklist contractors if there’s a violation,” Mr Reddy said.
